JP2008056432A - Air floatation device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent balance of air pressure supporting a substrate from easily being lost even when the trouble occurs in any of air systems in an air floatation device. <P>SOLUTION: The air floatation device 21 is provided with a body part 211 having a flat upper surface 211a for holding or conveying a target having a flat lower surface in a state of being floated up by the air injected from a lower part, and a plurality of the air systems S1-S5 for individually introducing the air. Each of a plurality of air injection holes is connected to only one of the air systems S1-S5, and the respective air systems S1-S5 are connected to the plurality of air injection holes. When a group of air injection holes is sorted to a plurality of small groups of air injection holes for each of the connected air systems, a figure formed by connecting the air injection holes on the outermost side of the two-dimensional arrangement of the small groups of the air injection holes includes a center of balance of a region facing the lower surface of the target of the upper surface of the body part in the inside thereof. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an air levitation device that can hold or convey a plate-like object or the like in a state of being levitated with air.

  In manufacturing sites such as liquid crystal display panels and plasma display panels, substrates may be handled with air levitated. Alternatively, not only the substrate of the display panel but also a plate-like object in general, when it is desired to handle it in a non-contact manner, it may be handled in a state of being levitated with air. An air levitation device is used for levitation by air. An example of a conventionally known air levitation device is described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-352375 (Patent Document 1).

  One use example of the air levitation device at the manufacturing site of the liquid crystal display panel will be described with reference to FIGS. In this example, as shown in FIG. 16, the first air levitation device 11 and the second air levitation device 12 are used in combination. The first air levitation device 11 levitates and holds the lowest substrate from the lower side in a substrate cassette (not shown) that holds a plurality of substrates stacked in the vertical direction through gaps so as not to contact each other. Is to do. The second air levitation device 12 is for floating and holding the substrate outside the substrate cassette, and has a configuration in which a plurality of rod-shaped members are arranged in parallel at a predetermined interval. In FIG. 16, the substrate 1 is levitated and held by the first air levitating device 11. FIG. 17 shows a part of the first air levitation device 11 enlarged. FIG. 18 shows a part of the second air levitation device 12 enlarged. As shown in FIGS. 17 and 18, a plurality of air ejection holes are provided on the upper surfaces of the first air levitation device 11 and the second air levitation device 12. In FIG. 16, the air ejection holes are not shown.

  FIG. 19 shows the first air levitation device 11 and the second air levitation device 12 shown in FIG. 16 as viewed from above. Also in FIGS. 19 to 23, the air ejection holes are not shown. The upper surface of the first air levitation device 11 and the upper surface of the second air levitation device 12 have the same height, and air continues to be ejected from the air ejection holes on both upper surfaces. In this state, a vacuum adsorber (not shown) is adsorbed on the upper surface of the end of the substrate 1 and pulled in the direction of the arrow 91 to move the substrate 1 while floating, and as shown in FIG. It will be in the state of being levitated and held by the 2-air levitating device 12. In this state, as shown in FIG. 21, the robot hand 13 newly enters the direction of the arrow 92 from the right side of the second air levitation device 12 in the drawing. The robot hand 13 has a comb shape including a plurality of branch portions 13a. A plurality of air levitation holes (not shown) are provided on the upper surface of each branch portion 13a of the robot hand 13, and air continues to be ejected from the air ejection holes.

Each branch portion 13a of the robot hand 13 enters the gap between the plurality of rod-shaped members of the second air levitation device 12. At this time, the upper surface of each branch part 13a is the same height as the upper surface of the second air levitation device 12, or is lower than the upper surface of the second air levitation device 12. Thus, the second air levitation device 12 and the robot hand 13 are engaged with each other as shown in FIG. Next, when the robot hand 13 moves to the upper side, that is, the front side of the paper surface in FIG. 22, the substrate 1 is lifted by the robot hand 13 with the air floating, as shown in FIG. That is, the substrate 1 is separated from the second air levitation device 12.
JP 2004-352375 A

  A state in which the substrate 1 is levitated by the second air levitation device 12 is shown in FIG. The substrate 1 is levitated by the air being simultaneously ejected from the plurality of air ejection holes on the upper surfaces of the plurality of rod-shaped members included in the second air levitation device 12. An air pipe is connected to each of the plurality of rod-shaped members, and air is supplied by these air pipes. An independent air supply source is connected to each air pipe.

  A single air pipe and an air supply source connected to the air pipe are collectively referred to as an “air system” hereinafter. It can be said that the second air levitation device 12 is supplied with air from a plurality of air systems S1, S2, S3, and S4.

  However, trouble may occur in any of the air systems, and air supply may be interrupted. In that case, the balance of the air pressure that supports the substrate 1 from below is broken. For example, as shown in FIG. 25, when the air supply from the air system S4 is interrupted, the balance of the air pressure supporting the substrate 1 from the bottom is lost, and as a result, the substrate 1 moves in the direction of the arrow 93 or tilts. End up. As a result, the substrate 1 falls or the substrate 1 collides with the second air levitation device 12.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an air levitation device in which the balance of the air pressure supporting the substrate is not easily lost even if any of the air systems has a problem.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the first aspect of the air levitation apparatus according to the present invention, a flat upper surface for holding or transporting an object having a flat lower surface in a state of being levitated by air blown from below is provided. A main body, and a plurality of air systems for individually introducing air from a plurality of external air supply sources into the main body, and the upper surface includes a plurality of two-dimensionally distributed arrangements. An air ejection hole group comprising air ejection holes, and each of the plurality of air ejection holes included in the air ejection hole group is connected to only one of the plurality of air systems to thereby generate air. Each of the plurality of air systems is connected to a plurality of air ejection holes, and a plurality of air systems are connected to each of the air systems connected to the air ejection hole group. Small ejection hole When the classification is made, the figure that can connect the air ejection holes located on the outermost sides of the two-dimensional arrangement of each of the air ejection hole subgroups faces the lower surface of the object among the upper surfaces of the main body. The center of gravity of the region is included inside.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the second aspect of the air levitation device according to the present invention, a flat upper surface for holding or transporting an object having a flat lower surface in a state of being levitated by air blown from below is provided. A main body, and a plurality of air systems for individually introducing air from a plurality of external air supply sources into the main body, and the upper surface includes a plurality of two-dimensionally distributed arrangements. An air ejection hole group including air ejection holes, and the main body portion includes one or more air merging chambers for merging air introduced into the main body portion from the plurality of air systems, Each of the air ejection holes can be supplied with air by being connected to one of the air merging chambers.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the third aspect of the air levitation apparatus according to the present invention, the air levitation device has a flat upper surface for holding or transporting an object having a flat lower surface in a state of being levitated by air blown from below. A main body, and a plurality of air systems for individually introducing air from a plurality of external air supply sources into the main body, and the upper surface includes a plurality of two-dimensionally distributed arrangements. An air ejection hole group comprising air ejection holes, and each of the plurality of air ejection holes included in the air ejection hole group is connected to only one of the plurality of air systems to thereby generate air. Each of the plurality of air systems is connected to a plurality of air ejection holes, and each of the plurality of air ejection holes is connected to the plurality of air systems. Is the group Has a repeating pattern, within the basic pattern, the sequence of the air ejection holes that connect to each air line has a respective point symmetry.

  According to the present invention, even if a trouble occurs in any one of the air systems and the air supply is interrupted, the balance of the air pressure is not easily lost. Therefore, in this air levitation device, it is possible to prevent the object from undesirably moving or tilting as much as possible.

(Embodiment 1)
(Constitution)
With reference to FIGS. 1-3, the air levitation apparatus in Embodiment 1 based on this invention is demonstrated. As shown in FIG. 1, the air levitation device 21 in the present embodiment includes a plurality of main body portions 211, 212, and 213. These main body portions have a flat upper surface for holding or transporting an object having a flat lower surface in a state of being levitated by air blown from below. For example, the main body 211 has an upper surface 211a. The air levitation device 21 includes a plurality of air systems S1, S2, S3, S4, and S5 for individually introducing air from a plurality of external air supply sources (not shown) into the main body. . The upper surface 211a has an air ejection hole group composed of a plurality of air ejection holes 211b that are two-dimensionally distributed.

  In order to show the connection relationship between the air ejection holes and the air system, the connection relationship inside the main body 211 is shown in FIG. 2 as an example. In FIG. 2, the connection of the air piping is schematically shown by a line. Each of the plurality of air ejection holes 211b included in the air ejection hole group can be supplied with air by being connected to only one of the plurality of air systems S1, S2, S3, S4, S5. It can be done. Each of the plurality of air systems S1, S2, S3, S4, and S5 is connected to the plurality of air ejection holes 211b.

  In FIG. 1, the air levitation device 21 is depicted as having three main body portions, but the number of main body portions included may be other than three. 1 and 2, the number of air systems connected to each main body is five, but the number of connected air systems may be other than five.

  Since the air ejection holes belonging to the air ejection hole group are always connected to one of the air systems, the air ejection holes belonging to the air ejection hole group are classified into a plurality of small air ejection hole groups for each connected air system. be able to. When the air ejection hole group is classified into a plurality of air ejection hole subgroups for each connected air system, the figure that can connect the air ejection holes on the outermost side of the two-dimensional arrangement of each air ejection hole subgroup is The center of gravity of the region facing the lower surface of the object among the upper surface of the part is included inside. As an example, FIG. 3 shows a figure that can be formed by connecting the air ejection holes on the outermost side of the two-dimensional arrangement of a certain small group of air ejection holes. The figure 22 includes the center of gravity 23 of the area facing the lower surface of the object on the upper surface 211a of the main body 211 inside.

(Action / Effect)
In the present embodiment, as described above, each of the small groups of air ejection holes is arranged so as to include the center of gravity on the inner side. Therefore, a trouble occurs in any one of the air systems, the air supply is interrupted, and the other remaining air ejections. Even if it is supported only by the small holes, the object can be stably supported so as to include the center of gravity inside, and the balance of air pressure is not easily lost. Therefore, in this air levitation device, it is possible to prevent the object from undesirably moving or tilting as much as possible.

  Note that the two-dimensional arrangement of the small groups of air ejection holes is preferably point-symmetric with respect to the center of gravity of the region of the upper surface of the main body that faces the lower surface of the object. This is because, if it is point-symmetric in this way, the air pressure is not biased and is easily balanced. The example shown in FIG. 3 is thus point-symmetric.

(Embodiment 2)
(Constitution)
With reference to FIGS. 4-6, the air levitation apparatus in Embodiment 2 based on this invention is demonstrated. As shown in FIG. 4, the air levitation device 31 in the present embodiment includes a plurality of main body portions 311, 312, and 313. These main body portions have a flat upper surface for holding or transporting an object having a flat lower surface in a state of being levitated by air blown from below. The air levitation device 31 includes a plurality of air systems S1, S2, S3, S4, and S5 for individually introducing air from a plurality of external air supply sources into the main body. The upper surface 311a has an air ejection hole group composed of a plurality of air ejection holes 311b that are two-dimensionally distributed.

  The main body has one or more air merging chambers for merging air introduced into the main body from a plurality of air systems. Each of the plurality of air ejection holes can be supplied with air by being connected to one of the air merging chambers.

  In order to show the connection relationship between the air ejection holes and the air system, the connection relationship inside the main body 311 is shown in FIG. 5 as an example. The plurality of air systems connected to one main body portion 311 merge once, and then branch over all the air ejection holes 311b provided in the main body portion 311 to supply air. A cross section of the main body 311 is shown in FIG. An air merging chamber 311 c is provided inside the main body 311. The air supplied into the main body 311 from the left side in FIG. 6 through the plurality of air systems once merges in the air merge chamber 311c and then ejects from the plurality of air ejection holes 311b. In FIG. 6, only one air merging chamber is illustrated, but a plurality of air merging chambers may be provided inside one main body.

(Action / Effect)
In the present embodiment, air introduced into the main body from a plurality of air systems once merges in one or more air merge chambers, and then is supplied to the plurality of air ejection holes. Even if trouble occurs in one air system and the air supply is interrupted and only the remaining small groups of air ejection holes are supported, only the total amount of air supplied to the air merging chamber is reduced. Since air can be evenly distributed and supplied from the chamber to the plurality of air ejection holes, the object can be stably supported, and the balance of air pressure is not easily lost. Therefore, in this air levitation device, it is possible to prevent the object from undesirably moving or tilting as much as possible.

(Embodiment 3)
(Constitution)
With reference to FIGS. 7-15, the air levitation apparatus in Embodiment 3 based on this invention is demonstrated. The air levitation apparatus includes a main body portion having a flat upper surface for holding or transporting an object having a flat lower surface in a state of being levitated by air blown from below, and a plurality of external air inside the main body portion. And a plurality of air systems for individually introducing air from the supply source. The upper surface of the main body has an air ejection hole group composed of a plurality of air ejection holes that are two-dimensionally distributed. Each of the plurality of air ejection holes included in the air ejection hole group can be supplied with air by being connected to only one of the plurality of air systems. Each of the plurality of air systems is connected to a plurality of air ejection holes. The combination of the connection of each of the plurality of air ejection holes to the plurality of air systems is a repetition of a basic pattern. In one basic pattern, the arrangement of the air ejection holes connected to each air system is point-symmetric.

  One or a plurality of main body portions provided in the air levitation device may be provided. An example of the main body portion provided in the air levitation device is illustrated in FIG. The upper surface 411a of the main body 411 is provided with a plurality of air ejection holes 411b that are two-dimensionally distributed. The combination of connection of the plurality of air ejection holes 411b to the plurality of air systems is a repetition of the basic pattern 15. The basic pattern 15 is not necessarily recognized only by the appearance of the upper surface 411a, but is conceptually determined as one unit with respect to a combination of air system connections inside the main body 411. In FIG. 7, the basic pattern 15 is a 5 × 5 square array pattern, and the air ejection hole group of the main body has a configuration in which the basic patterns 15 are arranged in a line, but the main pattern 511 shown in FIG. In this way, the basic pattern 15 may be arranged in a plurality of rows. The contents of the basic pattern 15 shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 9 shows the contents of the basic pattern 15. FIG. 9 schematically shows the number of the air system to which each air ejection hole is connected. One air ejection hole 411b in FIGS. 7 and 8 corresponds to one mass in FIG. The number written in each square means the number of the air system to which the one air ejection hole 411b is connected. For example, the air ejection hole 411b corresponding to the mass marked “1” is connected to the air system S1. The air ejection hole 411b corresponding to the mass marked “2” is connected to the air system S2. As shown in FIG. 9, in one basic pattern 15, the arrangement of the air ejection holes connected to each air system is point-symmetric. For example, when attention is paid only to the arrangement of the air ejection holes connected to the air system S1 in FIG. Even if only the air ejection holes connected to the air system S2 are extracted and attention is paid to the arrangement, the points are symmetrical. The same applies to each of the air systems S3, S4, and S5.

  FIGS. 7 to 9 show examples in which there are five air systems from S1 to S5. However, the number of air systems is not limited to 5, and may be other numbers. FIG. 10 shows an example of the contents of the basic pattern when the number of air systems is four. FIG. 11 shows an example of the contents of the basic pattern when the number of air systems is three.

  In all the examples shown in FIGS. 7 to 11, the basic pattern is a square array, but the basic pattern may be an array other than a square. For example, the basic pattern may be a rectangle. Alternatively, as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, a substantially rhombus arrangement may be used. 14 and 15 show examples of the contents of the basic pattern when the basic pattern has a substantially rhombus arrangement. 14 and 15 also have point symmetry when attention is paid only to the arrangement of the air ejection holes connected to the air system having a specific number in one basic pattern.

(Action / Effect)
In the present embodiment, the combination of connection of each of the plurality of air ejection holes included in the air ejection hole group to the plurality of air systems is a repetition of the basic pattern, and each basic pattern includes each Since the arrangement of the air ejection holes connected to the air system is symmetric with respect to each other, a trouble occurs in any one of the air systems, and the air supply is interrupted so that only the remaining air system is supported. However, since each air system is always supported point-symmetrically in the basic pattern, the balance of air pressure is not easily lost. Therefore, in this air levitation device, it is possible to prevent the object from undesirably moving or tilting as much as possible.

  In addition, the said embodiment disclosed this time is an illustration in all the points, Comprising: It is not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is defined by the terms of the claims, rather than the description above, and includes all modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the terms of the claims.

It is a conceptual diagram of the air levitation apparatus in Embodiment 1 based on this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the connection relation inside the main-body part of the air levitation apparatus in Embodiment 1 based on this invention. It is a top view of an example of the figure which can connect the air ejection hole which belongs to the air levitation apparatus in Embodiment 1 based on this invention, and the outermost air ejection hole of the two-dimensional arrangement | positioning of one certain air ejection hole small group. It is a conceptual diagram of the air levitation apparatus in Embodiment 2 based on this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the connection relation inside the main-body part of the air levitation apparatus in Embodiment 2 based on this invention. It is a fragmentary sectional view of the main-body part of the air levitation apparatus in Embodiment 2 based on this invention. It is a conceptual diagram of the air levitation apparatus in Embodiment 3 based on this invention. It is a conceptual diagram of the 1st modification of the air levitation apparatus in Embodiment 3 based on this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the 1st example of the basic pattern which the air levitation apparatus in Embodiment 3 based on this invention has. It is explanatory drawing of the 2nd example of the basic pattern which the air levitation apparatus in Embodiment 3 based on this invention has. It is explanatory drawing of the 3rd example of the basic pattern which the air levitation apparatus in Embodiment 3 based on this invention has. It is a conceptual diagram of the 2nd modification of the air levitation apparatus in Embodiment 3 based on this invention. It is a conceptual diagram of the 3rd modification of the air levitation apparatus in Embodiment 3 based on this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the 1st example of the basic pattern which the 2nd, 3rd modification of the air levitation apparatus in Embodiment 3 based on this invention has. It is explanatory drawing of the 2nd example of the basic pattern which the 2nd, 3rd modification of the air levitation apparatus in Embodiment 3 based on this invention has. It is explanatory drawing of the usage example of the air levitation apparatus in the manufacturing site of the conventional liquid crystal display panel. It is the elements on larger scale of the 1st air levitation apparatus contained in the air levitation apparatus in the manufacturing field of the conventional liquid crystal display panel. It is the elements on larger scale of the 2nd air levitation apparatus contained in the air levitation apparatus in the manufacturing field of the conventional liquid crystal display panel. It is a top view of the 1st state of the usage example of the air levitation apparatus in the manufacturing field of the conventional liquid crystal display panel. It is a top view of the 2nd state of the usage example of the air levitation apparatus in the manufacturing site of the conventional liquid crystal display panel. It is a top view of the 3rd state of the usage example of the air levitation apparatus in the manufacturing field of the conventional liquid crystal display panel. It is a top view of the 4th state of the usage example of the air levitation apparatus in the manufacturing field of the conventional liquid crystal display panel. It is a perspective view of the 5th state of the usage example of the air levitation apparatus in the manufacturing site of the conventional liquid crystal display panel. It is a perspective view of a mode that the board | substrate is levitated by the 2nd air levitating apparatus contained in the air levitating apparatus in the manufacturing site of the conventional liquid crystal display panel. It is a perspective view of a mode that the balance of the air pressure of the 2nd air levitation device contained in the air levitation device in the manufacture field of the conventional liquid crystal display panel collapsed.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Board | substrate, 11 1st air levitation device, 12 2nd air levitation device, 13 Robot hand, 13a Branch, 15, 16 Basic pattern, 21 Air levitation device, 22 Graphic, 23 Center of gravity, 91, 92, 93 Arrow, 211 , 212, 213 Main body part, 211a upper surface, 211b air ejection hole, S1, S2, S3, S4, S5 air system.

Claims (6)

A main body having a flat upper surface for holding or transporting an object having a flat lower surface in a state of being levitated by air blown from below;
A plurality of air systems for individually introducing air from a plurality of external air supply sources inside the main body,
The upper surface has an air ejection hole group composed of a plurality of air ejection holes that are two-dimensionally distributed and arranged,
Each of the plurality of air ejection holes included in the air ejection hole group can be supplied with air by being connected to only one of the plurality of air systems,
Each of the plurality of air systems is connected to a plurality of air ejection holes,
When the air ejection hole group is classified into a plurality of air ejection hole small groups for each connected air system, the air ejection holes at the outermost positions of the two-dimensional arrangement of the air ejection hole small groups are connected to each other. The figure which can be formed is the air levitation apparatus which contains the gravity center of the area | region which opposes the said lower surface of the said object among the said upper surfaces of the said main-body part inside.   2. The air levitation device according to claim 1, wherein the two-dimensional arrangement of the small groups of air ejection holes is point-symmetric about the center of gravity of a region of the upper surface of the main body that faces the lower surface of the object. . A main body having a flat upper surface for holding or transporting an object having a flat lower surface in a state of being levitated by air blown from below;
A plurality of air systems for individually introducing air from a plurality of external air supply sources inside the main body,
The upper surface has an air ejection hole group composed of a plurality of air ejection holes that are two-dimensionally distributed and arranged,
The main body has one or more air merging chambers for merging air introduced into the main body from the plurality of air systems,
Each of the plurality of air ejection holes is connected to any one of the air merging chambers so as to be able to receive supply of air. A main body having a flat upper surface for holding or transporting an object having a flat lower surface in a state of being levitated by air blown from below;
A plurality of air systems for individually introducing air from a plurality of external air supply sources inside the main body,
The upper surface has an air ejection hole group composed of a plurality of air ejection holes that are two-dimensionally distributed and arranged,
Each of the plurality of air ejection holes included in the air ejection hole group can be supplied with air by being connected to only one of the plurality of air systems,
Each of the plurality of air systems is connected to a plurality of air ejection holes,
The combination of connection to each of the plurality of air systems of each of the plurality of air ejection holes is a repetition of a basic pattern,
In the basic pattern, an air levitation apparatus in which the array of the air ejection holes connected to each air system is point-symmetric.   The air levitation apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the basic pattern is a square array.   The air levitation apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the basic pattern has a substantially rhombus arrangement.

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