JP2009170567A - Conveying device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To save space in a planar interference area when housing an arm in a conveying device and a conveying robot. <P>SOLUTION: The arm 2 comprises an arm cover 6 extending in the vertical direction, an arm body 31 which can move in and out from an opening 33 at the lower part of the arm cover 6 and can bend only upward in the vertical direction, guides 13-15 provided inside the arm cover 6 for guiding the arm body 31 to horizontal and vertical attitudes between the opening 33 and the upper part inside the arm cover 6, and a drive mechanism 7 for supporting one end of the arm body 31 and operating the arm body 31 in the vertical direction. When the arm body 31 is pulled up inside the arm cover 6 by the drive mechanism, it is turned to the vertical attitude within the arm cover 6. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a mechanism of a transfer device that is used in a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus or the like and transfers a workpiece such as a silicon wafer.

In the semiconductor manufacturing process, processes such as etching, CVD, ashing, and RTP are performed on a workpiece such as a silicon wafer. In carrying out these processes, a workpiece transfer device is indispensable. A conventional articulated apparatus generally uses a horizontal articulated link type robot. FIG. 5 shows a horizontal articulated robot. In the case of a horizontal articulated robot, a plurality of horizontal articulated arms 25 having a length corresponding to the conveyance distance of the workpiece are connected to each other so as to be rotatable. However, when the horizontal articulated arm 25 is bent, it protrudes in the left-right direction, and an interference area 26 during turning occurs. For this reason, the interference area 26 is required at the minimum in the installation area of the transfer device.
A slide arm type robot has also been developed as a conventional transfer device other than the horizontal articulated robot. FIG. 6 shows a slide arm type robot. (A) is a top view, (b) is a side view. A plurality of multi-stage slide arms 28 stacked in multi-stage slide linearly to expand and contract in the horizontal direction and convey the workpiece. In the case of this mechanism, the interference area can be made smaller than that of the horizontal articulated robot. However, like the horizontal articulated arm 25, the length of the multistage slide arm 28 is required according to the conveyance distance of the workpiece, Even if the slide arm 28 is reduced in multiple stages, the interference region 26 due to the length of the arm is at least required.

On the other hand, as a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, it is required to install the apparatus in a space-saving manner. That is, it is desired to reduce the running cost by reducing the volume of the clean room in the semiconductor manufacturing factory by enabling the entire apparatus to be installed in a space-saving manner using a space-saving transfer device. On the other hand, the conventional transfer apparatus has a problem that the interference area is not reduced.
The present invention has been made to solve such problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a robot transfer apparatus having a space-saving interference area.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is configured as follows.
The invention according to claim 1 is a transfer device comprising a hand for mounting a workpiece, an arm for supporting the hand, and a body for supporting the arm, wherein the arm is mounted on the body. An arm cover that extends in the vertical direction; an arm body that can enter and exit from an opening portion below the arm cover; and that can be bent only upward in the vertical direction; and is provided in the arm cover, and the arm cover extends from the opening portion. A guide that guides the arm body in a horizontal and vertical posture between the inner and upper sides, and a drive mechanism that supports one end of the arm body and moves the arm body in a vertical direction. However, when the driving mechanism is pulled up in the arm cover, the conveying apparatus is characterized in that the posture is in the vertical direction in the arm cover.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the transfer device according to the first aspect, wherein the arm body is configured by connecting a plurality of arm pieces that are rotatable to each other.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, each of the arm pieces is formed with a concave shape at one end and a convex shape at the other end, and the concave shape and the convex shape of the adjacent arm pieces are combined. Are connected to each other by a hinge shaft so as to be rotatable.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the guide is a rotary rubber roller with a built-in bearing, and rotates while abutting on the arm body to guide the arm body. It is a device.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the drive mechanism includes a rotary servo motor provided in the body, a first pulley that is rotated by the rotation of the servo motor, and a second pulley that is installed at an upper portion in the arm cover. A pulley, and a first timing belt wound around the first and second pulleys, wherein the first timing belt and one end of the arm body are connected to each other. 1.
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the drive mechanism includes a rotary servo motor provided in the body, and a ball screw that rotates by the rotation of the servo motor, and the moving nut of the ball screw and the arm body The conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein one end of the conveying apparatus is connected.
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, the drive mechanism includes a secondary shaft that rotates in conjunction with an output shaft of the servo motor, a third pulley provided on the secondary shaft, and the arm body that is connected to the horizontal shaft. 6. The apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising: a roller that abuts the lower surface of the arm body at a guide portion that guides the posture; and a second timing belt wound around the third pulley and the roller. Or it is set as the conveying apparatus of 6.
The invention according to claim 8 is the transfer apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the body is provided with a turning mechanism for turning the arm.
A ninth aspect of the present invention is the conveying apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein a traveling mechanism for traveling the body is provided on a side surface or a lower surface of the body.
According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus in which the workpiece is conveyed by the conveying device according to the first aspect.

The transfer device according to the present invention reduces the interference area of the arm in plan view by moving the arm from the plane direction (horizontal direction) to the vertical direction (vertical direction) when the arm is housed. A conveyance device can be provided.
That is, in the transfer device of the present invention, in a plan view, the area occupied by only the portion for guiding the arm body in the vertical direction and the hand when the arm is housed is reduced, so that the interference area can be reduced as compared with the conventional type.

  In the following, specific examples of the method of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 1 shows a top view of the conveying apparatus of the present invention. (A) is a figure when the arm mentioned later is extended, (b) is a figure when the arm is contracted. The transfer device 1 is generally composed of a cylindrical or box-shaped body 4, an arm 2 mounted on the top of the body 4, and a hand 5 provided at the tip of the arm 2. A travel mechanism (not shown) may be provided on the lower part or the side surface of the body 4 and the entire transport apparatus 1 may travel. A workpiece 5 such as a silicon wafer, a mask, and a liquid crystal substrate can be placed on the hand 5, and the workpiece 3 mounted on the hand 5 is transported to a desired position by the transport device 1.

The arm 2 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of the arm 2. FIG. 3 is a front view of the arm 2, that is, a view of the arm 2 seen from the hand 5 side, and a part thereof is seen through.
A driving source of the arm 2 is a rotary servo motor 7 housed in the body 4. A coupling 8 is fixed to the output shaft of the servo motor 7, and the rotation of the motor is transmitted to a shaft-like drive shaft 9. A pulley 10 is attached near the tip of the drive shaft 9, and a timing belt 11 is wound around the pulley 10.
On the other hand, a box-shaped arm cover 6 is mounted on the upper portion of the body 4 and extends in the vertical direction. A pulley 10 is also rotatably fixed in the vicinity of the upper end inside the arm cover 6. The timing belt 11 is wound around these two pulleys 10 and is tensioned with a predetermined tension. A belt fixing portion 12 is fixed to the timing belt 11.
Inside the arm cover 6, a vertical guide 13 is disposed along the timing belt 11. The vertical guide 13 has a large number of rubber rollers with built-in bearings arranged vertically, and guides an arm body 31 (described later) substantially vertically. A curved guide 14 is installed below the vertical guide 13 of the arm cover 6. The curved guide 14 is continuously arranged from the vertical guide 13. The curved guide 14 is a rubber roller with a built-in bearing similar to the vertical guide 13, and guides an arm body 31 described later gradually in the horizontal direction from the vertical direction. Further, a horizontal guide 15 is continuously arranged from the curved guide 14 below the arm cover 6 and beside the curved guide 14. The horizontal guide 15 is a rubber roller with a built-in bearing similar to the vertical guide 13 and the like, and guides an arm body 31 described later in the horizontal direction. An opening 33 is formed on the lower side surface of the arm cover 6, and the horizontal guide 15 is disposed up to the vicinity of the opening 33.

The arm body 31 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 4A is a top view of a part of the arm body 31 and a part of the arm body 31 is sectioned. FIG. 2B is a side view of a part of the arm body 31. As shown in the figure, the arm body 31 has a structure in which a large number of arm pieces 20 are connected. Each arm piece 20 is connected to each other by a hinge shaft 22 so as to be rotatable. Each arm piece 20 has a recess at one end and a protrusion at the other end. Since the concave portions and the convex portions of the adjacent arm pieces 20 are combined so as to coincide with each other and are connected by the hinge shaft 22, the adjacent arm pieces 20 are rotatable with respect to each other. On the other hand, a stopper 24 is formed on the lower surface of the arm piece 20 as shown in FIG. The stopper 24 is a projection that enters a part of the lower surface of the adjacent arm piece 20 connected to the convex side. Therefore, if the two arm pieces 20 in FIG. 2B are the arm piece 20a and the arm piece 20b from the left, the arm piece 20b can be rotated counterclockwise in the drawing, but the stopper 24 of the arm piece 20a. Can not rotate clockwise. Further, when the arm piece 20b is stopped by the stopper 24 of the arm piece 20a, the arm pieces 20a and 20b are arranged in the same direction.
As shown in FIG. 1, an arm body 31 in which a large number of the arm pieces 20 are connected is accommodated so as to be guided by the vertical guide 13, the curved guide 14, and the horizontal guide 15. One end of the arm body 31 is fixed to the belt fixing portion 12. Therefore, when the servo motor 7 rotates and the timing belt 11 rotates and the belt fixing portion 12 descends accordingly, the arm body 31 descends while being guided by the vertical guides 13 and the like. At this time, the other end of the arm body 31 protrudes from the opening 33 in the horizontal direction while being guided by the horizontal guide 15. When the servo motor 7 is reversed, the arm body 31 is accommodated in the opening 33. Here, since the stoppers 24 of the arm pieces 20 are positioned on the lower surfaces of the arm pieces 20 when the arm bodies 31 protrude from the openings 33, the portions of the arm bodies 31 protruding from the openings 33 are horizontal. Maintain state. The hand 5 is mounted on the other end of the arm body 31, and the workpiece 3 mounted on the hand 5 is maintained in a horizontal state.

In the curved guide portion 14, the curved curve formed by the arm piece 20 of the arm body 31 and the curved curve formed by the rubber roller of the curved guide 14 are different, so that there is a difference between the arm body 31 and the curved guide 14. It is necessary to provide some clearance on the screen. That is, play occurs in the gap between the arm body 31 and the curved guide 14 at the curved guide 14. As a countermeasure against this, a mechanism for pulling out the arm body 31 is provided as follows.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the rotational force of the drive shaft 9 is branched by a bevel gear 16 provided in the middle of the drive shaft 9. The secondary shaft 21 rotated by the bevel gear 16 is provided perpendicular to the extending direction of the arm body 31 in the horizontal direction. The secondary shaft 21 is provided with a pulley 17 around which a timing belt 18 is wound. On the other hand, a rubber roller 19 is rotatably provided at the lower portion of the horizontal guide 15, and this is in contact with the lower surface of the arm body 31. The timing belt 18 is also wound around a rubber roller 19. With the above configuration, the arm body 31 is urged also at the other end of the arm body 31, so that the arm body 31 can stably operate.

In addition, the lower part of the body 4 of the conveying apparatus 1 is provided with a turning mechanism (not shown) that turns the arm 2 in a horizontal plane so that the entire arm 2 can be turned.
Further, the vertical mechanism of the arm body 31 by the timing belt 11 and the like described above is not limited to the embodiment, and may be configured by a ball screw, for example.

  As described above, the transfer device 1 according to the present invention can store the arm body 31 from the plane direction (horizontal direction) to the vertical direction when the arm body 31 of the arm 2 is stored in the arm cover 6. It is possible to save space.

  Since the mechanism of the present invention can be installed in a space-saving manner, it can be applied not only to a conveyance device that conveys a workpiece such as a semiconductor, but also to various article conveyance devices for the purpose of space-saving conveyance. .

The figure which shows the conveying apparatus of this invention. The figure which shows the side cross section of the arm part of the conveying apparatus of this invention The figure which shows the front of the arm part of the conveying apparatus of this invention The figure which shows the arm piece of the arm body of the conveying apparatus of this invention Diagram of a conventional transport device with a horizontal articulated arm Diagram of a transport device with a conventional slide arm

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Transfer device 2 Arm 3 Work piece 4 Body 5 Hand 6 Arm cover 7 Servo motor 8 Coupling 9 Drive shaft 10 Pulley 11 Timing belt 12 Belt fixing part 13 Vertical guide 14 Curved guide 15 Horizontal guide 16 Bevel gear 17 Pull Re 18 Timing belt 19 Rubber roller 20 Arm piece 21 Secondary shaft 22 Hinge shaft

24 Stopper

31 Arm body

33 opening

25 Horizontal articulated arm 26 Interference area

28 Multistage slide arm

Claims (10)

In a transport device comprising a hand for mounting a workpiece, an arm for supporting the hand, and a body for supporting the arm,
The arm is
An arm cover mounted on the body and extending in a vertical direction;
An arm body that can be entered and exited from an opening below the arm cover and can be bent only upward in the vertical direction;
A guide provided in the arm cover, for guiding the arm body in a horizontal and vertical posture between the opening and the upper part in the arm cover;
A drive mechanism that supports one end of the arm body and moves the arm body in a vertical direction;
The conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the arm body is pulled up in the arm cover by the drive mechanism, the arm body assumes a posture in a vertical direction in the arm cover.   The transport device according to claim 1, wherein the arm body is configured by connecting a plurality of arm pieces that are rotatable relative to each other.   Each of the arm pieces is formed with a concave shape at one end and a convex shape at the other end, and the concave shape and the convex shape of the adjacent arm pieces are combined so that they can be rotated by a hinge shaft. The conveying device according to claim 2, wherein the conveying device is connected.   2. The conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the guide is a rotating rubber roller with a built-in bearing, and rotates while abutting on the arm body to guide the arm body.   The drive mechanism includes: a rotary servo motor provided in the body; a first pulley that is rotated by rotation of the servo motor; a second pulley that is installed in an upper portion of the arm cover; and the first and first pulleys. The conveying apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a first timing belt wound around two pulleys, wherein the first timing belt and one end of the arm body are connected to each other.   The drive mechanism includes a rotary servo motor provided in the body, and a ball screw that rotates by the rotation of the servo motor, and is configured by connecting a moving nut of the ball screw and one end of the arm body. The transport apparatus according to claim 1, wherein   The drive mechanism includes a secondary shaft that rotates in conjunction with the output shaft of the servo motor, a third pulley provided on the secondary shaft, and a guide portion that guides the arm body to the horizontal posture. The transport apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising: a roller that contacts the lower surface of the arm body; and a second timing belt wound around the third pulley and the roller.   The transport apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the body is provided with a turning mechanism for turning the arm.   The transport apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a traveling mechanism for traveling the body is provided on a side surface or a lower surface of the body.   A semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, wherein the workpiece is transported by the transport apparatus according to claim 1.

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