JP2007217078A - Direction changing device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a direction changing device enabling a reduction in carrying time. <P>SOLUTION: This direction changing device comprises: linear first and second carrying routes 3, 4 having the same length, one of which has the same height as a first carrying rail 16, the other of which is disposed at the lower position than the one, disposed perpendicular to each other and the mid point thereof is positioned on a same vertical line, and carrying a FOUP 5; a turn table 2 and a rotating part 22 for simultaneously rotating the first and second carrying routes 3, 4 around the mid point; a lifting part 23 vertically moving the first and second carrying routes 3, 4 and a control part which, when the FOUP 5 is discharged from the first carrying rail 16 to a carrying route at the same height as the first carrying rail 16, rotates the first and second carrying routes 3, 4 approximately by 90°, and after the FOUP 5 is carried out of the carrying route, controls the first and second carrying routes 3, 4 so that their positions in the vertical direction can be changed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a direction changing device that changes the conveyance direction of an article to be conveyed.

  As a conveying means in semiconductor manufacturing, liquid crystal manufacturing, FA (Factory Automation), etc., for example, there is a conveying device described in Patent Document 1. In the transport device of Patent Document 1, the wheel is rotatably provided so as to protrude from the upper surfaces of the pair of rails, and the article placed on the wheel is transferred along the rail by the rotation of the wheel. It has become. In Patent Document 1, the rails arranged at right angles are provided with director drive rails for changing the direction of the article. The director drive rail is provided so as to be able to turn between two rails arranged at right angles, and can turn the article by turning in a state where the article is placed.

Special table 2003-506289 gazette

  However, when changing the direction of the article as in Patent Document 1, if the director drive rail is turned again after the direction change is completed and does not return to the original position, the next article to be transported on the transport rail can be changed direction. It will disappear. For this reason, it is necessary to return the director drive rail to the original position every time the direction is changed, and during that time, the articles cannot be transported, resulting in a wasteful time and a long transport time. appear.

  Then, the objective of this invention is providing the direction change apparatus which can shorten conveyance time.

Means and effects for solving the problems

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a direction changing device for changing the direction of a work discharged from a conveyance rail that conveys a work, and has the same length, either one of which has the same height as the conveyance rail. , The other is arranged below the other, and is perpendicular to each other, and is arranged so that the two midpoints are located on the same vertical line, and the linear first and second conveyance paths for conveying the workpiece, A rotating section that simultaneously rotates the first and second transport paths around the point, a lift section that moves the first and second transport paths in the vertical direction, and a transport path in which the workpiece is the same height as the transport rail When the first and second transport paths are discharged, the first and second transport paths are rotated by approximately 90 degrees, and after the work is carried out of the transport path, the control unit controls the vertical positions of the first and second transport paths to be switched. It is characterized by having.

  According to this configuration, it is possible to prepare for changing the direction of the next workpiece in a short time after the workpiece is changed in direction and carried out. Specifically, the first transport path is made to coincide with the height of the transport rail, and the second transport path is arranged below the first transport path perpendicular to the first transport path so that the second transport path is The work on the transport rail can be discharged to the first transport path without being obstructed. When the work is discharged from the transport rail to the first transport path, the work can be turned 90 degrees by rotating the first and second transport paths by approximately 90 degrees. And after carrying out a workpiece | work from a 1st conveyance path, the workpiece | work of a conveyance rail can be discharged | emitted to a 2nd conveyance path by changing the position of the perpendicular direction of a 1st and 2nd conveyance path.

  That is, when only one conveyance path is provided in the rotating unit, after the conveyance path is rotated and the work is carried out, it is necessary to rotate the conveyance path to a position where the work can be received from the conveyance rail again. By replacing the vertical positions of the two transport paths as described above, it is possible to shorten useless time.

  In addition, the transport rail, the first and second transport paths of the present invention have a plurality of rollers that can rotate along both sides, and the work placed on the rollers is transported by the rotation of the rollers. Characterize.

  According to this configuration, since the workpiece is conveyed by rotation of the rollers provided along both sides of the conveyance rail and the conveyance path, the workpiece can be conveyed without disturbing the direction of the workpiece.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The direction changing apparatus according to the present embodiment is suitably applied to a transport system or the like that is used as a final product while transporting an object to be processed by a transport rail between processes or between processes, as in a semiconductor product manufacturing facility. The In the following description, a processing system is described in which a processing target is a semiconductor, and a processing target such as a semiconductor substrate, a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display device, a glass substrate for a photomask, and a substrate for an optical disk is transported. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to transport systems for all industries that transport electronic parts, machine parts, chemicals, foods, documents, and the like.

  The semiconductor is, for example, a semiconductor wafer (not shown) housed in a cassette called FOUP (Front Opening Unified Pod) shown in FIG. The FOUP has two rounded shapes that are approximately cubic. The semiconductor is transported in units of cassettes, and is subjected to predetermined processing in each processing apparatus 15 described later. In the following description, a conveyed product conveyed on the conveyance rail 10 is referred to as FOUP 5 (work).

  As shown in FIG. 4, the transport system according to the present embodiment controls a plurality of processing devices 15, a transport rail 10 that transports the FOUP 5 to each processing device 15, the direction changing device 1, and the entire transport system. Control device. The transport system includes a plurality of bays including a plurality of processing devices 15, and the FOUP 5 is transported to the next bay when processing is completed in one bay.

  The processing apparatus 15 includes, for example, an apparatus for forming a thin film on the wafer, an apparatus for cleaning, adjusting, and measuring the wafer as various stages, an apparatus for storing the wafer (so-called “stocker”), and the like. . Each processing device 15 has a load port 15a at the entrance / exit, and takes in the FOUP 5 transported on the transport rail 10 by the load port 15a, takes in the stored semiconductor into the processing device, and puts the processed semiconductor into the FOUP 5 It can be stored and discharged onto the transport rail 10.

  The transport rail 10 is a rail that transports the FOUP 5 from the processing device 15 to another processing device 15 or to the next bay. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the transport rail 10 includes a pair of rails 11 and 12 separated by a width capable of supporting the bottom surface of the FOUP 5 and a plurality of rollers 13 protruding from the top surfaces of the rails 11 and 12. Have. The rollers 13 are arranged at substantially equal intervals along the longitudinal direction of the rails 11 and 12, and are rotated in a certain direction. The FOUP 5 placed on the roller 13 moves in the rotation direction of the roller 13 as the roller 13 rotates.

  The drive motor that drives the roller 13 operates independently for each bay. Thereby, since the rotational speed of the roller 13 can be changed for every bay, the conveyance speed of the FOUP 5 to be conveyed can be changed. That is, the transport speed of the FOUP 5 can be changed according to each bay having a different processing time. If the number of FOUPs 5 in the next bay is large, the rotational speed of the roller 13 can be reduced to reduce the transport speed of the FOUP 5 so that the number of FOUPs 5 transported to the next bay can be reduced. Thus, it is possible to prevent the number of FOUPs 5 exceeding the processing capacity from existing in the bay.

  Further, although not shown, the rails 11 and 12 of the transport rail 10 preferably have a shape protruding upward along the outer edge. By using this protruding portion as a conveyance guide, it is possible to prevent the FOUP 5 being conveyed from being laterally displaced in the horizontal direction.

  The direction changing device 1 is a device that changes the conveying direction of the FOUP 5. As shown in FIG. 4, the direction changing device 1 is provided at an intersection where two or more conveying rails 10 intersect to change the conveying direction of the FOUP 5. The intersection may be a four-way cross, a three-way “T-shaped” intersection, a vertical intersection, or an intersection where the conveyance direction of two or more conveyance rails is vertical. If it is. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the direction changing device 1 is arranged at a three-way “T-shaped” intersection composed of the first transport rail 16, the second transport rail 17 and the third transport rail 18. explain. Specifically, the first conveyance rail 16 and the second conveyance rail 17 that form a three-way “T-shaped” intersection are arranged in a straight line, and the third conveyance rail 18 is arranged perpendicular to the conveyance rails, The direction changing device 1 is arranged at the intersection of these three transport rails 16, 17, 18. The transport rails 16 and 17 transport the FOUP 5 in the upward direction in the figure, and the transport rail 18 transports the FOUP 5 in the left direction in the figure.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the direction changing device 1 includes a turntable 2 (rotating unit) that rotates in a horizontal direction, a first transport path 3 that is provided on the turntable 2 and intersects each other in a cross shape when viewed from above. A second transport path 4 is provided. The turntable 2 has a substantially cylindrical shape, and its central axis serves as a rotation axis, and rotates at a 90-degree interval in a fixed direction (arrow direction in the figure). The first conveyance path 3 has a plurality of linearly spaced pairs of rollers 3a separated by the same width as the rollers 13 provided on the rails 11 and 12 of the conveyance rail 10, and is placed on the rollers 3a. The FOUP 5 is conveyed by the rotation of the roller 3a. Further, the second transport path 4 also has a plurality of pairs of rollers 4 a on a straight line, like the first transport path 3. In addition, the 1st conveyance path 3 and the 2nd conveyance path 4 can be raised / lowered in the vertical direction, and the rollers 3a and 4a are provided so as not to contact each other during the elevation.

  The first conveyance path 3 and the second conveyance path 4 that intersect with the cross shape are arranged so that the intersections thereof coincide with the central axis of the turntable 2. More specifically, the first transport path 3 and the second transport path 4 have the same length, and are arranged so that their midpoints coincide with the central axis of the turntable 2. In other words, the first transport path 3 and the second transport path 4 rotate around their midpoints. Further, the first transport path 3 provided in the turntable 2 is arranged so as to be in a straight line with the first transport rail 16 and the second transport rail 17, and the second transport path 4 is in a straight line with the third transport rail 18. It is arranged to become. Therefore, when the turntable 2 is rotated approximately 90 degrees, the first transport path 3 is in line with the third transport rail 18, and the second transport path 4 is in line with the first and second transport rails 16 and 17. When further rotated by 90 degrees, the first transport path 3 is again in a straight line with the first transport rail 16 and the second transport rail 17, and the second transport path 4 is in a straight line with the third transport rail 18.

  The rollers 3a and 4a can be rotated in the forward and reverse directions, and the rollers 3a and 4a are rotated in the reverse direction even when the first and second transport paths 3 and 4 are rotated in the opposite directions. As a result, the FOUP 5 can always be transported in a certain direction.

  Although not shown, the rollers 3a and 4a are composed of a cylindrical mounting portion on which the FOUP 5 is mounted and a cylindrical edge having a diameter that is slightly larger than the mounting portion. When the FOUP 5 is placed and transported on the moving part, the edge part having a diameter larger than that of the placing part serves as a guide so that the lateral displacement of the FOUP 5 can be prevented.

  In addition, it is a drive motor installed in the direction changing device that is rotationally driven, and a non-contact power feeding method is used for the power supply means from the outside to the power motor that controls the roller driving and lifting operation of the first and second transport paths, A conventional technique such as a slip ring method is used, and in some cases, a battery mounting method is adopted.

  Here, the positional relationship between the first transport path 3 and the second transport path 4 of the direction changing device 1 that rotates and moves up and down will be described.

  At the start of the transport system, etc., as shown in FIG. 1A, the first transport path 3 is positioned in a straight line with the first transport rail 16 and the second transport rail 17, and FIG. As shown in FIG. 3B, the roller 3a is substantially at the same height as the roller 13 of the transport rails 16 and 17, and the second transport path 4 is configured so that the roller 4a does not protrude from the first transport path 3. It is arranged at a position below the first transport path 3. As a result, the FOUP 5 transported on the first transport rail 16 can be transported to the second transport rail 17 via the first transport path 3 without being obstructed by the second transport path 4.

  Next, when the FOUP 5 on the first transport rail 16 enters the third transport rail 18 whose transport direction is perpendicular to the first transport rail 16, the FOUP 5 enters the first transport path 3 from the first transport rail 16. Then, the turntable 2 is rotated as shown in FIG. When the turntable 2 is rotated approximately 90 degrees, the first transport path 3 on which the FOUP 5 is placed is aligned with the third transport rail 18 as shown in FIG. 2A and FIG. 3C. . As a result, the FOUP 5 on the first transport path 3 can enter the third transport rail 18.

  When the first transport path 3 is aligned with the third transport rail 18, the second transport path 4 arranged perpendicular to the first transport path 3 is aligned with the first transport rail 16 and the second transport rail 17. Therefore, after the FOUP 5 on the first transport path 3 enters the third transport rail 18, as shown in FIG. 2B and FIG. 3D, the first transport path 3 is lowered and the second transport is performed. By raising the path 4 until the roller 4 a coincides with the height of the roller 13, the FOUP 5 transported on the first transport rail 16 can enter the second transport path 4. That is, the state is the same as described with reference to FIG.

  Next, the control device 20 that controls the direction changing device 1 will be described. FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a control device that controls the direction changing device 1.

  The control device 20 includes a control unit 21 having a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), and a RAM (Random Access Memory), a rotating unit 22 that rotates the turntable 2, and first and second transport paths. Lifting part 23 for raising and lowering 3 and 4; roller driving part 24 for rotating rollers 3a and 4a of first and second transport paths 3 and 4; and sensor for detecting that FOUP 5 is placed on turntable 2 25.

  The CPU of the control unit 21 executes the processing routine shown in FIG. 8 by executing the data table and program shown in FIG. 7 stored in the ROM or the like, and the rotation unit 22, the lifting unit 23, and the roller driving unit 24. It comes to control.

  The data table shown in FIG. 7 is a table used when transporting the FOUP 5 from the first transport rail 16 to the third transport rail 18, and includes a rotation angle field, a mode field, a FOUP field, and a roller rotation direction. And a vertical position column. The rotation angle column stores the rotation angle of the turntable 2, 0 degrees, 90 degrees, 180 degrees, and 270 degrees. In the present embodiment, the rotation angle is based on the rotation of the first conveyance path 3, and the first conveyance path 3 described with reference to FIG. 1A is aligned with the first conveyance rail 16 and the second conveyance rail 17. This state is “0 degree”.

  In the mode column, a carry-out mode and a carry-in mode are stored. The carry-out mode is a mode when carrying out the FOUP 5 from the turntable 2 to the third transport rail 18, and the carry-in mode is a mode when carrying the FOUP 5 from the first transport rail 16 into the turntable 2.

  In the FOUP column, “none” and “present” are stored. “None” means that the FOUP 5 is not placed on the turntable 2, and “Yes” means that the FOUP 5 is placed. More specifically, in the present embodiment, when the FOUP 5 moves from the first transport rail 16 to the approximate center of the turntable 2, the sensor 25 detects this, and the FOUP 5 is changed from “None” to “Yes”. It becomes a state. Further, when the FOUP 5 is unloaded from the turntable 2 to the third transport rail 18, the FOUP 5 changes from the “present” state to the “none” state.

  The roller rotation direction column is divided into a first conveyance path column and a second conveyance path column, and stores the rotation direction of the roller 3 a or the roller 4 a corresponding to the rotation angle of the turntable 2. When the rotation angle is “0 degree”, the direction in which the FOUP 5 is rotated so as to be conveyed from the first conveyance rail 16 toward the second conveyance rail 17 is defined as the “positive” direction of the roller 3a. That is, when the rotation angle is “180 degrees”, the rotation direction of the roller 3a is set to “reverse”, so that when the rotation angle is “0 degrees”, the rotation direction of the roller is the same as that of “normal”. The FOUP 5 can be transported to the front. Further, when the rotation angle is “90 degrees”, the direction in which the FOUP 5 is rotated so as to be conveyed from the first conveyance rail 16 toward the second conveyance rail 17 is defined as the “positive” direction of the roller 4a. Further, “−” in the table means that the roller is not rotated. Further, as will be described later, while the turntable 2 is rotating, the rollers 3a and 4a are not rotated.

  The vertical position field is divided into a first transport path field and a second transport path field, and the positions of the first transport path 3 and the second transport path 4 at the rotation angle of the turntable 2 are stored. Here, the position “upper” means that the roller 3a or the roller 4a is at the same position as the height of the roller 13 of the transport rails 16, 17 and 18, and “lower” means that the roller 3a or the roller 4a is It means a state where the roller 3a or the roller 4a at the “upper” position does not protrude. For example, when the rotation angle is “0 degree” and the FOUP is “none”, the positional relationship between the first conveyance path 3 and the second conveyance path 4 is the position where the first conveyance path 3 is “up”, the first 2 The transport path 4 is in the “down” position.

(Operation of control device)
Next, operation | movement of the control apparatus of the direction change apparatus 1 when making the FOUP5 of the 1st conveyance rail 16 approach into the 3rd conveyance rail 18 is demonstrated.

  In the direction changing process routine shown in FIG. 8, first, the rotation angle of the turntable 2 is acquired with reference to the first transport path 3 (S1). Then, based on the acquired rotation angle and the data table of FIG. 7, the roller of the conveyance path is driven (S2). Specifically, when the rotation angle is “0 degree” and the mode is “carry-in mode”, the roller 3a of the first conveyance path 3 is rotated in the forward direction. At this time, the roller 4a of the second transport path 4 does not rotate.

  Next, it is determined whether or not the FOUP 5 is placed on the turntable 2 (S3). Specifically, it is determined whether or not the FOUP 5 has entered from the first transport rail 16 to the center of the first transport path 3. If the FOUP 5 is not placed (S3: NO), S3 is repeated. When the FOUP 5 is placed (S3: YES), the rotation of the roller 3a is stopped (S4), and the turntable 2 is rotated approximately 90 degrees (5). At this time, the turntable may be rotated while the FOUP 5 moves along the first conveyance path 3.

  Then, after the turntable 2 is rotated 90 degrees and the first transport path 3 is aligned with the third transport rail 18, the roller 3a is rotated again (S6). Subsequently, it is determined whether or not the FOUP 5 is placed on the turntable 2 (S7). That is, it is determined whether or not the FOUP 5 on the first transport path 3 has been discharged to the third transport rail 18. If the FOUP 5 is placed (S7: NO), S7 is repeated. When the FOUP 5 is not placed (S7: YES), the rotation of the roller 3a is stopped (S8), the first conveyance path 3 is lowered, the second conveyance path 4 is raised, the first conveyance path 3 and The height position of the second transport path 4 is changed (S9). Then, it returns to S1 and repeats the said operation | movement.

(Outline of this embodiment)
As described above, in the present embodiment, the direction changing device for changing the direction of the FOUP 5 discharged from the first transfer rail 16 that transfers the FOUP 5 has the same length, one of which is the first transfer rail. The first and second linear shapes carrying the FOUP 5 with the same height as 16 and the other arranged below the other and perpendicular to each other and with the two midpoints located on the same vertical line. 2 turntable 2 and rotating section 22 for simultaneously rotating the first and second transfer paths 3 and 4 around the middle point, and the first and second transfer paths 3 and 4 in the vertical direction. When the FOUP 5 is discharged from the elevating unit 23 and the first transport rail 16 to the transport path having the same height as the first transport rail 16, the first and second transport paths 3 and 4 are rotated by approximately 90 degrees, FOUP5 was taken out of the transport path Has a configuration in which a control unit 21 for controlling so as to switch the vertical position of the first and second conveying path 3.4.

  According to this configuration, after changing the direction of the FOUP 5 and carrying it out, preparation for changing the direction of the next FOUP 5 can be made in a short time. Specifically, the first transport path 3 is made to coincide with the height of the first transport rail 16, and the second transport path 4 is arranged perpendicular to the first transport path and below the first transport path 3. The FOUP 5 of the first transport rail 16 can be discharged to the first transport path 3 without the second transport path 4 getting in the way. When the FOUP 5 is discharged from the first transport rail 16 to the first transport path 3, the FOUP 5 can be turned 90 degrees by rotating the first and second transport paths 3 and 4 approximately 90 degrees. And after carrying out FOUP5 from the 1st conveyance path 3, the FOUP5 of the 1st conveyance rail 16 can be discharged to the 2nd conveyance path 4 by changing the position of the perpendicular direction of the 1st and 2nd conveyance paths 3 * 4. It becomes like this.

  That is, when only one transport path is provided in the rotating unit, it is necessary to rotate the transport path and carry out the FOUP 5 and then rotate the transport path to a position where the FOUP 5 can be received from the first transport rail 16 again. However, as described above, by switching the positions of the two conveyance paths in the vertical direction, it is possible to reduce wasted time.

  In addition, the first transport rail 16, the first and second transport paths 3 and 4 of the present invention have a plurality of rollers 3a and 4a that can rotate along both sides, and the FOUP 5 placed on the rollers. It is the structure which conveys by rotation of a roller.

  According to this configuration, since the FOUP 5 is transported by the rotation of the first transport rail 16 and the rollers provided along both sides of the transport path, the FOUP 5 can be transported without disturbing the direction of the FOUP 5. Can do.

(Modification)
Although the present invention has been described in the preferred embodiments above, the present invention is not so limited. It will be understood that various other embodiments may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Furthermore, in this embodiment, although the effect | action and effect by the structure of this invention are described, these effect | actions and effects are examples and do not limit this invention.

  For example, in the present embodiment, when the FOUP 5 is placed on the first transport path 3, the rotation of the roller 3a of the first transport path 3 is stopped and the turntable 2 is rotated, but the FOUP 5 is transported. However, the turntable 2 may be rotated. In this case, since the FOUP 5 on the first transport path 3 can be transported from the first transport rail 16 to the third transport rail 18 without stopping, the time required for the direction change may be further shortened. is there. Furthermore, in this Embodiment, although the case where the direction change apparatus 1 was arrange | positioned at the three-way "T-shaped" intersection part was demonstrated, as above-mentioned, it is not limited to this, Two or more conveyance rails are It can be provided at an intersecting position.

  Further, the FOUP 5 is transported by the rotation of the rollers 3a and 4a on the direction changing device 1, but may be transported by a belt conveyor, for example, and the transport method is limited to the above-described embodiment. It will never be done.

Schematic which looked at the direction change apparatus of this Embodiment from the upper surface. Schematic which looked at the direction change apparatus of this Embodiment from the upper surface. Schematic which looked at the direction change apparatus of this Embodiment from the side. Schematic of a part of the conveyance system of the present embodiment. The schematic of the conveyance rail used for the conveyance system of FIG. The block diagram of a direction change apparatus. The figure which shows a data table. The figure which shows the flowchart of a direction change process routine.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Direction change device 2 Turntable 3 1st conveyance path 4 2nd conveyance path 5 FOUP
16 1st conveyance rail 17 2nd conveyance rail 18 3rd conveyance rail

Claims (2)

In the direction changing device that changes the direction of the work discharged from the transport rail that transports the work,
Have the same length, either one is the same height as the transport rail, the other is placed below the one, and perpendicular to each other, so that the two midpoints are on the same vertical line Linear first and second conveying paths that are arranged and convey workpieces;
A rotating unit that simultaneously rotates the first and second transport paths around the midpoint;
An elevating part that moves the first and second transport paths in the vertical direction; and when the workpiece is discharged from the transport rail to the transport path having the same height as the transport rail, the first and second transport paths are substantially omitted. A direction change device comprising: a control unit that rotates 90 degrees and controls the first and second transport paths so that the vertical positions of the first and second transport paths are changed after the work is carried out of the transport path. apparatus.   The conveyance rail, the first and second conveyance paths have a plurality of rollers that can rotate along both sides, and convey the work placed on the rollers by the rotation of the rollers. The direction changing apparatus according to claim 1.

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