JP2010030744A - Plate-like work transfer installation and method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the time and space required for transferring a plate-like work. <P>SOLUTION: A plate-like work transfer installation 10 comprises an articulated robot 11 having a series of articulated movable arm 13 and a holding part 23 at the front end of the series of movable arm 13 for holding and acquiring one face of the plate-like work 3. The articulated robot 11 holds a supply-side lower face 3a of the plate-like work 3 supplied to an acquisition position 4 and places an upper face 3b at the opposite side to the lower face 3a on a placement face 26 at a placement position. The acquisition position 4 and the placement position are arranged opposing each other, and the articulated robot 11 is arranged on the side of an opposition space 9. The articulated robot 11 acts with turning-bending/stretching motion of the series of movable arm 13 to transfer the plate-like work 3 from the acquisition position 4 through the opposition space 9 to the placement position. Part of the transferring action serves as reversing action to place the upper face 3b of the plate-like work 3 on the placement face 26. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a plate-like workpiece transfer facility and transfer method, for example, a facility and a transfer for transferring a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display, a plasma display, or a flat panel display (FPD) such as an organic EL, FED, and SED. Regarding the method.

  Conventionally, general-purpose multi-degree-of-freedom robot arms such as multi-axis vertical multi-joint robots and multi-axis horizontal multi-joint robots have been applied to this type of transfer equipment. Since the glass plate is easily broken, it is difficult to handle it manually, and it is extremely difficult for the operator to carry a large glass plate of 1000 mm × 1000 mm or more. Furthermore, since the glass plate which concerns on the said use requires high cleanliness (cleanliness), it exists in the tendency to avoid the handling of the operator who dusts organic substance etc. In this regard, the multi-degree-of-freedom robot arm has a high degree of freedom with respect to the workpiece transfer posture, and the user (operator) can set a desired motion locus. In addition, since the possibility of dust generation of organic matter or the like is lower than that of the worker, the multi-degree-of-freedom robot arm is preferably used for transferring the glass plate.

  In particular, the glass plate (glass substrate) according to the above application has a surface on which various display elements can be attached. Therefore, one surface of the glass substrate that is the attachment surface needs to be handled more carefully than the other surfaces. Become. That is, regarding the transfer of the glass substrate, it is preferable to perform the transfer without touching the mounting surface as much as possible.

  Here, for example, in Patent Document 1 below, as a transfer machine constituting a substrate transfer device in which a thin film is formed on one surface, a receiving recess opened to at least one of a transfer terminal or a side surface of a substrate transfer means; and A swivel base that can be rotated about a vertical axis is mounted on a fixed base, and an arm base is mounted on the swivel base so that the arm base can be raised and lowered. An articulated robot having a suction head for sucking (lower surface) is disclosed. And the board | substrate adsorbed | sucked by the receiving recessed part is transferred to a delivery position by turning the turning stand of a delivery machine 90 degree | times around a vertical axis, for example. In addition, the head base of the suction head is connected to the tip of the articulated arm so as to be rotatable about a horizontal axis, and the suction head in the horizontal posture is reversed and held by 180 ° so that it is sucked and held by the suction head. The substrate is turned upside down.

In Patent Document 2 below, as an inter-press transfer robot for loading and unloading a workpiece into and from a press machine, a linear motion base arranged in parallel to the workpiece conveyance direction, and a swing base linearly moving on the linear motion base, A first arm which is attached to a swing base and swings around a swing axis perpendicular to the conveying direction in a vertical plane, and is attached to the tip of the first arm so as to be movable forward and backward with respect to the first arm; An inter-press transfer robot configured by a second arm and a wrist attached to the tip of the second arm is disclosed. In addition, two inter-press transfer robots are placed facing each other across the workpiece transfer path, and the workpiece gripping hands that hold the workpiece by suction are supported by the two inter-press transfer robots. It is disclosed that workpieces are conveyed between presses by cooperatively operating a press conveying robot.
JP 2001-180822 A JP 2004-337918 A

  Recently, there has been a strong demand for further cost reduction by mass production in order to further popularize FPD products typified by liquid crystal displays. For this reason, even in this field, the transfer time of the glass substrate is further shortened. Is required.

  Further, when the operation area of the robot arm becomes large, the installation area of a safety fence or the like must be increased, and an increase in footprint (device occupation area) is inevitable. In this case, improvement in work efficiency cannot be expected, and on the contrary, work efficiency and productivity may be reduced. In addition, since the equipment is often installed in a clean environment, it also hinders reduction in management costs necessary for maintaining the clean environment. Therefore, the footprint of the transfer facility is also required to save more space than ever.

  In this respect, in the delivery device according to Patent Document 1, the articulated arm holding the substrate is swung around the vertical axis to move the substrate from the receiving position to the delivery position. Becomes longer. Also, considering the stopping operation at the delivery position, it is difficult to move the robot arm at high speed. Therefore, as long as such a transfer route is taken, it must be said that shortening the transfer time is difficult. Moreover, since it is necessary to take a large operation space for the transfer machine (robot arm), it is disadvantageous in terms of footprint. Furthermore, since the substrate reversing operation is performed around an axis different from the above-described swivel transfer, a dedicated drive mechanism is required for each. Therefore, it is difficult to reduce the weight of the entire arm.

  Further, in the transfer device according to Patent Document 2, two arms are arranged on the left and right sides of the workpiece, and the workpiece is conveyed by supporting both the workpiece gripping hands that hold and hold the workpiece with the two arms. Is configured to do. Therefore, it is necessary to move both arms synchronously, which may hinder the speeding up of the transport operation. Moreover, since the mechanism for performing the reversing operation in consideration of the front and back surfaces of the workpiece is not incorporated in the transport device, it is difficult to apply it to the glass plate transfer equipment as it is.

  Of course, the above-described problems are not limited to glass plates, but also apply to other plate-shaped workpieces, particularly plate-shaped workpieces having a large plane.

  In view of the above circumstances, in the present specification, it is a technical problem to be solved by the present invention to reduce the transfer time of a plate-like workpiece and the space required for the transfer.

  The solution to the above problem is achieved by the glass plate transfer facility according to the present invention. That is, this transfer equipment is a facility for acquiring a plate-like workpiece at the acquisition position of the plate-like workpiece, and transferring the acquired plate-like workpiece to its placement position, and a series of movable arms having multiple joints. And a multi-joint robot provided with a holding unit for holding and acquiring one surface of the plate-like workpiece at the tip of a series of movable arms, on the supply side of the plate-like workpiece supplied to the acquisition position by the multi-joint robot. In a plate-shaped workpiece transfer facility that holds the lower surface and places the upper surface opposite to the lower surface on the mounting surface of the mounting position, the acquisition position and the mounting position are opposed to each other, and the opposite space side An articulated robot is arranged on the side, and the articulated robot moves the plate-shaped workpiece from the acquisition position to the placement position through the opposing space by turning and bending movement of a series of movable arms. A plate-like word It characterized with that it is configured to serve as the inversion operation for placing the top surface on the mounting surface.

  As described above, the articulated robot is disposed at a position that is laterally distant from the facing space between the plate-like workpiece acquisition position and the mounting position, and the plate-like workpiece is transferred through the facing space. It is not necessary to turn the work around the robot body or to shift the position of the robot body when the work is transferred. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the transfer time and to reduce the area of the peripheral region to be secured when transferring the plate-like workpiece as compared with the conventional case. As a result, the occupation area (footprint) of the transfer facility can be reduced to improve the work efficiency, and also contribute to the reduction of the management cost necessary for maintaining a clean environment. In addition, since a part of the transfer operation also serves as a reversal operation for placing the plate-like workpiece, a mechanism for performing only the reversal operation independently of the transfer operation is not required. Further, a driving source (such as a motor) used only for the reversing operation is not necessary, and only a driving motor for the transfer operation is sufficient. As described above, the series of movable arms can be reduced in weight and the arm rigidity can be increased to improve the moving speed of the arms.

  Here, you may comprise so that the transfer operation | movement of a plate-shaped workpiece | work may be performed by the turning / bending-extending movement around the horizontal axis of a series of movable arms. This is because, from the point that the acquisition position and the mounting position are arranged to face each other and the above transfer form, the plate-like workpiece is transferred and the posture is changed (reversed) only by the rotational movement around the horizontal axis. By comprising in this way, working efficiency can be improved further, minimizing the substantial equipment occupation area (footprint) required for a transfer equipment.

  If the above configuration is adopted, it is not necessary to use a general-purpose 6-axis type multi-degree-of-freedom robot arm. For example, an articulated robot having joints of 5 axes or less which are horizontal and parallel to each other is used. It may be provided. Preferably, all of them may include a multi-joint robot having three axes that are horizontal and parallel to each other. Further, if the number of links and joints (axes) can be reduced, the operation speed of the entire series of movable arms is not limited by the restriction of one joint having a low operation speed. Further, since the arm rigidity is improved as compared with the conventional art by reducing the number of joints, the plate-like workpiece can be transferred at a high speed while ensuring high positional accuracy.

  On the other hand, the transfer operation includes, for example, an operation of holding the lower surface of the plate-shaped workpiece by inserting the holding portion below the plate-shaped workpiece supplied to the acquisition position, and then pushing the plate-shaped workpiece upward. It may be a thing. By moving the series of movable arms in this way, it is possible to start the transfer of the plate-like workpiece by pushing the plate-like workpiece from the lower surface side on the transport side. Therefore, even if the transfer speed is increased immediately after the start of transfer, there is no possibility that the plate-like workpiece is detached (detached) from the holding portion.

  The transfer operation includes, for example, an operation of moving the plate-like work to a position facing the placement surface, and then moving the plate-like work toward the placement surface while maintaining the facing posture. There may be. This is a placement operation effective when a plate-shaped workpiece is loaded. According to this operation, even when the plate-shaped workpiece is loaded on the mounting surface and the actual position of the mounting surface is slightly shifted in the stacking thickness direction, the plate-shaped workpiece is already loaded. Can be placed with high accuracy. Both the placement operation and the acquisition operation described above can be performed with a series of movable arms (articulated robots) having at least three axes.

  Further, regarding the workpiece transfer path, the plate-like workpiece transfer operation by the articulated robot may be set so that the sum of the outputs of the drive motors provided at the joints of the articulated robot is minimized. This is because the plate-like workpiece cannot simply be linearly transferred from the acquisition position to the mounting position because of the form of transferring with reversal. In addition, the trajectory that minimizes the transfer path depends on what is taken as the reference. Even if the trajectory that minimizes the path length is found, the path setting that takes into account the air resistance that actually acts on the plate workpiece This is because it may be considered that the transfer speed as set can not be obtained in consideration of the load capacity of the motor. For the above reasons, in the present invention, attention is paid to the output of the drive motor of each joint, and a movement that minimizes the sum of the outputs is realized. As a result, the plate-like workpiece can be transferred efficiently and in a short time. Further, if the transfer operation (path) is set based on the motor output, it is not necessary to use a motor with a large output. Therefore, a motor with a relatively small capacity can be used, and the high-speed transfer operation as set can be realized by reducing the weight of the entire arm.

  Specific examples of the transfer operation include, for example, an operation of turning a series of movable arms in a direction to push up the lower surface of the plate-like workpiece to reversely move the plate-like workpiece to a position where the upper surface faces the placement surface, The transfer operation | movement which has the operation | movement which linearly moves a plate-shaped workpiece | work toward a mounting surface, maintaining the facing attitude | position with a mounting surface can be mentioned.

  Alternatively, as another transfer path, the plate-like workpiece transfer operation by the articulated robot may be set so that the total kinetic energy lost by the plate-like workpiece receiving air resistance during the transfer operation is minimized. . This is especially true from the viewpoint that minimizing the air resistance received by the plate-like workpiece contributes most to the improvement of the transfer speed, taking into account the relationship between the air resistance received by the plate-like workpiece during transfer and the path length. A transfer route is set. Therefore, by setting the transfer operation (transfer path) as described above, it is possible to maximize the transfer speed of the plate workpiece and shorten the transfer time.

  As specific examples of the transfer operation, for example, the plate-shaped workpiece is lifted from the base end side, and the tip of the plate-shaped workpiece is erected downward, and a series of movable arms are bent from the upright state. Thus, the plate-like workpiece is lowered and rotated around its base end side, whereby a transfer operation including an operation of inverting and sliding the plate-like workpiece toward the placement surface can be exemplified. Here, the “base end” means the end of the plate-like workpiece that is closer to the main body of the series of movable arms, and the “tip” means the side of the plate-like workpiece that is far from the series of movable arm main bodies. Means the end of

  The articulated robot having the above-described configuration may be arranged on a base and configured to be able to horizontally move the articulated robot with respect to the base in a direction orthogonal to the transfer direction of the plate-like workpiece. . The plate-shaped workpiece transferred to the mounting position is configured to be mounted in a state where it is accurately positioned with respect to the loading surface. The above configuration is preferable. Even if there is a slight variation in the stop position of the plate-like workpiece, the articulated robot body can be moved in the horizontal direction to correct the variation and place it at an accurate position.

  The plate-shaped workpiece transfer equipment according to the above description can be provided in the form shown below, for example. That is, the transfer equipment, a transport means for transporting the plate-like work to the acquisition position, and a mounting position, and one or a plurality of packing pallets for packing the plate-like work in a stacked state, The transport means is provided with the same number of acquisition positions as the packing pallet, and an articulated robot is arranged on the side of the facing space between each acquisition position and the packing pallet and is transported to the acquisition position by the transport means. The plate-like workpiece can be provided as a plate-like workpiece packing facility that is configured to selectively load the plate-like workpiece on each packing pallet by the transfer operation of the articulated robot. Thus, the use of a plurality of transfer facilities can improve the transfer efficiency (packing efficiency). Further, when different types of plate-like workpieces are conveyed by the same conveying means, it is possible to load each workpiece accurately and efficiently.

  On the other hand, the solution to the above problem is a method of acquiring a plate-like workpiece at the plate-like workpiece acquisition position and transferring the acquired plate-like workpiece to its placement position, which has a series of movable arms having multiple joints. Using a multi-joint robot provided with a holding unit for holding and acquiring one surface of the plate-like workpiece at the tip of a series of movable arms, the lower surface on the supply side of the plate-like workpiece supplied to the acquisition position is held. In the method of transferring a plate-like workpiece in which the upper surface opposite to the lower surface is placed on the placement surface of the placement position, the acquisition position and the placement position are arranged to face each other, and the articulated robot is placed laterally in the facing space. And a plate-like workpiece is transferred from the acquisition position to the mounting position through the opposing space by turning and bending / extending movement of a series of movable arms of the multi-joint robot, and the plate-like work is part of the transfer operation. Inversion to place the upper surface of the workpiece on the mounting surface That double as work can also be achieved by transferring method of the plate-shaped workpiece, characterized in.

  As described above, according to the plate workpiece transfer equipment and method according to the present invention, the plate workpiece transfer time and the space required for transfer can be reduced.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows a plan view of a glass substrate packaging facility 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The packaging facility 1 according to this figure acquires the glass substrate 3 for liquid crystal display, which is transported to the acquisition position 4 by the transport means 2, using the transfer facility 10, and acquires the acquired glass substrate 3 on the transport means 2 side. One or a plurality of packing facilities for stacking a plurality of transfer facilities 10, a conveying means 2, and a glass substrate 3 in a stacked manner. And a pallet 5.

  Specifically, the transport unit 2 includes a transport path 6 that can transport the glass substrate 3 in a horizontal posture. This conveyance path 6 is comprised by suitable drive means, such as a roller conveyor, for example. One or a plurality of acquisition positions 4 of the glass substrate 3 by the transfer facility 10 exist on the transport path 6. In the acquisition position 4, a concave portion 7 having a shape that allows a work holding portion 23 of the multi-joint robot 11 to be described later to pass in the vertical direction is formed open to the side of the conveying means 2. The glass substrate 3 stopped in the state can be held and acquired by the work holding unit 23 from below. An alignment unit 8 is disposed on the transport path 6 at the acquisition position 4 so that the glass substrate 3 stopped at the acquisition position 4 is aligned in the transport orthogonal direction.

  The pallet 5 for packing the glass substrate 3 is disposed at a position facing the acquisition position 4 in the transport means 2. Precisely, the left and right end surfaces of the glass substrate 3 at the acquisition position 4 and the left and right end surfaces of the glass substrate 3 placed on the placement surface 26 of the packing pallet 5 (at the placement position) are parallel to each other. An arrangement position (opposite interval and direction) of the packing pallet 5 with respect to the conveying means 2 (acquisition position 4) is determined. An articulated robot 11 of the transfer equipment 10 is disposed on the side of the facing space 9 formed between the acquisition position 4 and the placement position (packing pallet 5). In this embodiment, the recessed part 7 (acquisition position 4) is provided for every predetermined interval of the conveyance path 6, and the packing pallet 5 and the articulated robot 11 of the same number as this recessed part 7 are each arrange | positioned.

  FIG. 2 shows a side view of the transfer facility 10. As shown in this figure, the transfer facility 10 includes an articulated robot 11 and is disposed on a grounded base 12. Here, the articulated robot 11 includes a series of movable arms 13 and a control panel 14 (see FIG. 1) that controls the operations of the series of movable arms 13. The series of movable arms 13 has a so-called articulated robot arm structure, and each joint axis is arranged in parallel with each other and in the direction along the transport direction of the glass substrate 3 by the transport means 2. In other words, the structure of the series of movable arms 13 and the acquisition positions so that the normal line of the glass substrate 3 held by the work holding unit 23 is always kept orthogonal to any joint axis (joint axis). 4 and the installation posture of the articulated robot 11 with respect to the mounting position (packing pallet 5) are set.

  Here, the series of movable arms 13 will be described in detail. The series of movable arms 13 has a three-axis joint structure, and the first link 15 located closest to the base 12 is erected with respect to the base 12. At the same time, one end of the second link 17 is connected to the other end of the first link 15 via the first joint 16. One end of the third link 19 is connected to the other end of the second link 17 via the second joint 18, and the other end of the third link 19 is connected to the work holding portion 23 via the third joint 20. The wrist 21 is connected. Corresponding drive motors (only the drive motor 22 for the first joint 16 is shown) are integrally disposed in the vicinity of the joints 16, 18, and 20. A series of movable arms 13 are configured together with 17 and 19. A reduction gear may be incorporated in each joint 16, 18, 20 or a motor with a reduction gear may be used as the drive motor. The reduction gear used at this time is a reduction gear that suppresses the occurrence of backlash in order to further improve the rigidity of the arm (for example, a roller drive that is a zero backlash precision reduction gear manufactured by Sankyo Corporation) Trademark)). Also, each link 15, 17, 19 can be rotated forward and backward independently around each joint 16, 18, 20 so that there is no interference between the links or surrounding objects depending on the rotation angle. Has been.

  The work holding part 23 has a shape capable of passing through the concave part 7 provided on the conveying path 6 in the vertical direction. In this illustrated example, a plurality of protrusions are arranged in parallel like a so-called fork. Have A plurality of suction pads 24 are arranged on one surface side of the work holding portion 23, and an object attached to the suction pads 24 can be sucked and held by a decompression means 25 such as a vacuum pump connected to a series of movable arms 13. It is like that.

  In the illustrated example, the packing pallet 5 has a mounting surface 26 inclined at a predetermined angle (for example, 72 °), and is configured so that a plurality of glass substrates 3 can be stacked on the mounting surface 26. Here, although not shown in the drawing, an interleaf supply means for supplying the interleaf 27 to the placement surface 26 is disposed above the packing pallet 5. Each time the glass substrate 3 is placed on the placement surface 26 of the packing pallet 5 by the articulated robot 11, the slip sheet 27 is placed on the placement surface 26 (one or more glass substrates 3 are already placed). If it is, the plurality of glass substrates 3 can be stacked on the mounting surface 26 via the interleaving paper 27 by being supplied onto the lower surface 3 a of the uppermost glass substrate 3. In addition, in order to ensure the mounting position accuracy of the glass substrate 3, as shown in FIG. 2, for example, between the base 12 and a series of movable arm 13 main bodies, it follows along the axial direction of each joint 16,18,20. It is also possible to provide a slide mechanism 28 that can slide.

  Hereinafter, an example of the transfer operation | work of the glass substrate 3 using the transfer equipment 10 which concerns on the said structure is mainly demonstrated based on FIGS. The following transfer operation is performed so that the sum of the outputs of the drive motors provided at the joints 16, 18, and 20 of the series of movable arms 13 is minimized, in other words, the sum of the time products of the loads on the motors. An example of the operation when the transfer operation of the glass substrate 3 by the series of movable arms 13 is set so that is minimized.

  First, a suitable position sensor (not shown) detects that the glass substrate 3 transported on the transport path 6 by the transport means 2 has arrived at the acquisition position 4 shown in FIG. To stop. Thereby, the glass substrate 3 stops and is set on the acquisition position 4. At this time, for example, the position of the glass substrate 3 in the left-right direction (the position on the virtual axis orthogonal to the transport direction) is adjusted by an appropriate alignment unit 8 installed on the acquisition position 4. At this stage, the work holding portions 23 of the series of movable arms 13 are arranged directly below the glass substrate 3 set on the acquisition position 4 as shown in FIG. The second joint 18 is located below the first joint 16 and the third joint 20.

  Then, the lower surface 3a of the glass substrate 3 is sucked and held by a plurality of suction pads 24 provided on the work holding portion 23 at the position shown in FIG. 3, and the third link 19 is centered on the second joint 18 from this state in FIG. By turning counterclockwise, as shown in FIG. 4, the glass substrate 3 is pushed up from the conveyance path 6 and the transfer of the glass substrate 3 is started. At this time, the wrist 21 remains fixed to the third link 19, and the second link 17 gradually rotates clockwise with respect to the first link 15 in accordance with the turning operation of the third link 19. Do. In the illustrated example, the glass substrate 3 is sucked and held and lifted slightly upward, and the above-mentioned swiveling operation is performed from a state in which a series of movable arms 13 are bent and translated in front (close to the packing pallet 5). Like to start. This is to avoid interference with other objects on the acquisition position 4. Further, as described above, by rotating the third link 19 around the second joint 18 positioned below the articulated robot 11, the rotational movement distance of the glass substrate 3 can be reduced, and the loading described later. It is made possible to reach a position suitable for (a position facing the placement surface 26).

  By rotating the series of movable arms 13 as described above, the glass substrate 3 held at the tip (work holding portion 23) is rotated and transferred around the horizontal axis, and the position shown in FIG. When the placement-side upper surface 3b and the placement surface 26 of the packing pallet 5 face each other, the transfer operation of the glass substrate 3 is changed as follows. That is, a series of movable arms 13 are extended while maintaining the facing posture between the upper surface 3b of the glass substrate 3 and the mounting surface 26, and the glass substrate 3 is slid toward the mounting surface 26 (moves linearly). Let Thereby, the glass substrate 3 is mounted on the mounting surface 26 of the packing pallet 5 in a state where the glass substrate 3 is accurately positioned. At this time, the position of the glass substrate 3 may be finely adjusted by slightly moving the series of movable arms 13 in the direction perpendicular to the transfer direction by the slide mechanism 28 shown in FIG. In the state shown in FIG. 5, the slip sheet 27 is supplied on the lower surface 3 a of the glass substrate 3 loaded first. However, as long as the slip sheet 27 can be supplied between the stacked glass substrates 3 and 3. The supply timing is arbitrary.

  When the transfer operation and the stacking operation of the glass substrate 3 are completed in this way, the work holding unit 23 is moved below the acquisition position 4 to perform the transfer and stacking operation of the glass substrate 3 again. Here, as shown in FIG. 6, the wrist 21 is first rotated clockwise around the third joint 20 to bring the work holding portion 23 closer to the horizontal, and the third link 19 is centered on the second joint 18. The workpiece holder 23 is moved closer to the acquisition position 4 by rotating clockwise. Then, when the vicinity of the acquisition position 4 is reached, as shown in FIG. 7, the work holding unit 23 is inserted below the glass substrate 3 set at the acquisition position 4, and directly below the glass substrate 3, that is, FIG. 3. Place it at the position shown in. Specifically, with the series of movable arms 13 bent, the third link 19 is rotated clockwise around the second joint 18, and the wrist 21 is rotated counterclockwise around the third joint 20, From the state where the tip of the work holding part 23 is lowered and tilted, the above-described rolling operation is performed by extending the series of movable arms 13. In this way, by repeating a series of operations according to FIGS. 3 to 7, a plurality of glass substrates 3 are stacked on the mounting surface 26 of the packing pallet 5.

  In this embodiment, a plurality of acquisition positions 4 are provided on the conveyance path 6, and the same number of packing pallets 5 and articulated robots 11 as the acquisition positions 4 are arranged in the same positional relationship. Therefore, while the glass substrate 3 set at one acquisition position 4 is transferred and loaded by one articulated robot 11, the other articulated robot 11 is transported and set to the corresponding other acquisition position 4. The glass substrate 3 can be transferred and loaded, and the transfer and loading efficiency of the glass substrate 3 can be greatly increased. Of course, with this type of packaging equipment 1, even if different types of glass substrates 3 are transported on the same transport path 6, the transport equipment 10 corresponding to each of the various glass substrates 3 is configured. Thus, transfer and loading operations for each glass substrate 3 are possible.

  As mentioned above, although the example (1st operation example) of the transfer operation | movement of the glass substrate 3 using the transfer equipment 10 which concerns on this invention was demonstrated, of course, it is also possible to employ | adopt transfer operations other than this. Hereinafter, another example (second operation example) of the transfer operation using the transfer facility 10 will be described. In the following operation example, a case where the glass substrate 3 conveyed in a horizontal state on the acquisition position 4 is transferred toward a mounting table 29 having the same mounting surface 26 in the horizontal state is taken as an example. I will explain to you. The transfer equipment 10 to be used is the same as that in the first operation example.

  The transfer operation here is an operation when the transfer operation of the glass substrate 3 by a series of movable arms 13 is set so that the sum of the kinetic energy lost by the glass substrate 3 receiving air resistance during the transfer operation is minimized. An example is shown. From the viewpoint that minimizing the air resistance received by the glass substrate 3 is most effective for improving the transfer speed, based on the relationship between the air resistance received by the glass substrate 3 during transfer and the path length, An optimal transfer route is set.

  First, as in the first operation example, as illustrated in FIG. 8, the work holding unit 23 is disposed directly below the glass substrate 3 set on the acquisition position 4. At this time, the second joint 18 is located above the first joint 16 and the third joint 20. At this position, the lower surface 3a of the glass substrate 3 is sucked and held by a plurality of suction pads 24 provided on the work holding portion 23, and the glass substrate 3 is lifted slightly upward as shown in FIG. Substantially transfer operation is started from the state of being translated. That is, as shown in FIG. 10, the second link 17 is turned counterclockwise around the first joint 16 (and in this illustrated example, the third link 19 is also moved in response to the turning operation of the second link 17. Further, as shown in FIG. 11, the wrist 21 is rotated around the third joint 20 in the clockwise direction, and the glass substrate 3 is lifted while being tilted with its mounting position side facing up. To go.

  As described above, the glass substrate 3 is moved toward the mounting table 29 while being tilted. As shown in FIG. 12, the second link 17 and the third link 19 are arranged in a straight line and are moved in series. The glass substrate 3 is moved to a position where the arm 13 extends vertically upward. At the same time, when the glass substrate 3 is erected and the series of movable arms 13 are extended vertically upward, the wrist 21 is rotated so that the tip side end portion of the glass substrate 3 is erected downward. .

  From this state, the wrist 21 is continuously rotated in the clockwise direction, the second link 17 is rotated in the clockwise direction, and the third link 19 is rotated in the counterclockwise direction (see FIG. 12 respectively). By moving the series of movable arms 13 in such a manner as to bend, the glass substrate 3 is moved down and the glass substrate 3 is lowered while the glass substrate 3 is gradually laid down.

  Further, in this embodiment, during the lowering operation of the glass substrate 3, as shown in FIG. 13, the glass substrate 3 is rotated by rotating the second link 17 that has been swiveled in the clockwise direction and swiveling in the counterclockwise direction. It moves so that it may slide on the mounting surface 26. FIG. That is, the glass substrate 3 is moved from the acquisition position 4 to the mounting position through the opposing space 9 with the operation of lowering the wrist 21 side end portion while bringing the glass substrate 3 close to the horizontal posture. And transport. Thereby, as shown in FIG. 14, the glass substrate 3 is transferred to a position facing the mounting surface 26 in a reversed state.

  Then, from the position shown in FIG. 14, that is, the position where the glass substrate 3 is in a substantially horizontal posture and directly faces the mounting surface 26, the upper surface 3 b (downward in FIG. 14) and the mounting surface of the glass substrate 3. The glass substrate 3 is slid (moved linearly) toward the placement surface 26 while maintaining the directly-facing posture with respect to 26. Thereby, the glass substrate 3 is mounted on the mounting surface 26 of the mounting table 29 in a state where the glass substrate 3 is accurately positioned. In the state shown in FIG. 14, the slip sheet 27 has already been supplied onto the placement surface 26 by a suitable slip sheet supply means (both are not shown here).

  When the transfer operation and the placement operation of the glass substrate 3 are completed in this way, the work holding unit 23 is moved below the acquisition position 4 to perform the transfer / placement operation of the glass substrate 3 again. Here, as shown in FIG. 15, first, the second link 17 and the third link 19 are both rotated clockwise to stand substantially vertically upward, and the wrist 21 is rotated counterclockwise so that the work holding portion 23 is rotated. Move from a horizontal position to an upright position. Then, the third link 19 is further rotated clockwise while maintaining the upright posture of the work holding portion 23, and the wrist 21 is centered on the third joint 20 from the time when the third joint 20 is positioned below the second joint 18. Rotate counterclockwise as Thereby, similarly to the first operation example, the work holding unit 23 is inserted under the glass substrate 3 set at the acquisition position 4 from the position shown in FIG. In this way, by repeating the series of operations according to FIGS. 8 to 16, the glass substrate 3 is transferred and placed from the acquisition position 4 to the placement table 29 (mounting surface 26) repeatedly. The glass substrate 3 is not necessarily stacked on the mounting surface 26. For example, when the mounting table 29 constitutes a part of appropriate transport means, the glass substrate 3 is transported one by one toward the next work process. It may be.

  As mentioned above, although the transfer operation example of the glass substrate 3 by the transfer equipment 10 was demonstrated, of course, this invention is not limited to the said operation example. The acquisition position 4 and the placement position are arranged opposite to each other, and a transfer articulated robot 11 is arranged on the side of the facing space 9 between the acquisition position 4 and the articulated robot 11. The glass substrate 3 is transferred from the acquisition position 4 to the mounting position through the opposing space 9 by the swiveling / bending / extending movement of the glass substrate 3, and the upper surface 3b of the glass substrate 3 is mounted on the mounting surface 26 as part of this transfer operation. As long as it is configured so as to also serve as a reversing operation for placing, the configuration that the transfer facility 10 can take is arbitrary.

  In the above description, the process of mainly loading the glass substrate 3 on the packing pallet 5 has been described as an example. However, the transfer process between work processes and the glass substrate as a work from one transport process to another transport process. The present invention can be applied to an arbitrary process from the production of the glass substrate 3 to the shipment or the unloading process after the shipment, for example, when transferring 3.

  In the above description, the glass substrate 3 for a liquid crystal display is exemplified as a work to be transferred. However, the present invention is not limited to the liquid crystal display, but various flats such as a plasma display, an organic EL display, an FED, and an SED. Transferable glass plates for panel displays (for example, those having a thickness of 0.4 mm or more and 1.2 mm or less) and glass plates generally used as substrates for forming various electronic display functional elements and thin films Can do. In addition, as long as it is a workpiece | work which comprises plate shape, it cannot be overemphasized that this invention can also make transfer object other than what uses glass as a raw material.

It is a top view of the packaging equipment of the glass substrate which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a side view of the transfer equipment concerning the present invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the transfer operation | movement which concerns on the 1st operation example of a glass substrate, Comprising: It is a side view of the transfer installation just before a transfer start. It is a figure for demonstrating the transfer operation | movement which concerns on the 1st operation example of a glass substrate, Comprising: It is a side view of the transfer equipment in transfer operation | movement. It is a figure for demonstrating the transfer operation | movement which concerns on the 1st operation example of a glass substrate, Comprising: It is a side view of the transfer equipment in transfer operation | movement. It is a figure for demonstrating the transfer operation which concerns on the 1st operation example of a glass substrate, Comprising: It is a side view of the transfer equipment before moving to the next transfer operation. It is a figure for demonstrating the transfer operation which concerns on the 1st operation example of a glass substrate, Comprising: It is a side view of the transfer equipment before moving to the next transfer operation. It is a figure for demonstrating the transfer operation | movement which concerns on the 2nd operation example of a glass substrate, Comprising: It is a side view of the transfer installation just before a transfer start. It is a figure for demonstrating the transfer operation | movement which concerns on the 2nd operation example of a glass substrate, Comprising: It is a side view of the transfer installation immediately after a transfer start. It is a figure for demonstrating the transfer operation which concerns on the 2nd operation example of a glass substrate, Comprising: It is a side view of the transfer equipment in transfer operation. It is a figure for demonstrating the transfer operation which concerns on the 2nd operation example of a glass substrate, Comprising: It is a side view of the transfer equipment in transfer operation. It is a figure for demonstrating the transfer operation which concerns on the 2nd operation example of a glass substrate, Comprising: It is a side view of the transfer equipment in transfer operation. It is a figure for demonstrating the transfer operation which concerns on the 2nd operation example of a glass substrate, Comprising: It is a side view of the transfer equipment in transfer operation. It is a figure for demonstrating the transfer operation which concerns on the 2nd operation example of a glass substrate, Comprising: It is a side view of the transfer equipment in transfer operation. It is a figure for demonstrating the transfer operation which concerns on the 2nd operation example of a glass substrate, Comprising: It is a side view of the transfer equipment before moving to the next transfer operation. It is a figure for demonstrating the transfer operation which concerns on the 2nd operation example of a glass substrate, Comprising: It is a side view of the transfer equipment before moving to the next transfer operation.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Glass substrate packaging equipment 2 Conveying means 3 Glass substrate 3a (Conveying side) Lower surface 3b (Placing side) Upper surface 4 Acquisition position 5 Packing pallet 6 Conveying path 7 Recess 8 Alignment means 9 Opposite space 10 Transfer of glass substrate Equipment 11 Articulated robot 12 Base 13 A series of movable arms 14 Control panel 15 1st link 16 1st joint 17 2nd link 18 2nd joint 19 3rd link 20 3rd joint 21 Wrist 22 Drive motor 23 Work holding part 24 Suction pad 25 Pressure reducing means 26 Placement surface 27 Interleaf 28 Slide mechanism 29 Placement table

Claims (12)

A facility for acquiring a plate-like workpiece at the acquisition position of the plate-like workpiece and transferring the acquired plate-like workpiece to its placement position, comprising a series of movable arms having multiple joints, A multi-joint robot provided with a holding unit for holding and acquiring one surface of the plate-like workpiece at the tip of a movable arm, and the lower surface on the supply side of the plate-like workpiece supplied to the acquisition position by the multi-joint robot In the plate-shaped workpiece transfer equipment for holding the upper surface opposite to the lower surface and placing the upper surface on the placement surface of the above-described placement position,
The acquisition position and the placement position are arranged to face each other, and the articulated robot is arranged to the side of the facing space,
The articulated robot performs an operation of transferring the plate-like workpiece from the acquisition position to the placement position through the opposing space by a turning and bending movement of the series of movable arms, and the transfer operation. The plate-shaped workpiece transfer equipment, wherein a part of the plate-shaped workpiece is configured to also perform a reversing operation for placing the upper surface of the plate-shaped workpiece on the mounting surface.   The plate-like workpiece transfer equipment according to claim 1, wherein the transfer operation is performed by a turning / bending / extending motion around a horizontal axis of the series of movable arms.   The plate-shaped workpiece transfer equipment according to claim 1, wherein each of the articulated robots has three axes that are horizontal and parallel to each other.   In the transfer operation, the holding part is inserted below the plate-shaped workpiece supplied to the acquisition position to hold the lower surface of the plate-shaped workpiece, and then the plate-shaped workpiece is pushed upward. The plate-like workpiece transfer facility according to claim 1, comprising a lifting operation.   In the transfer operation, the plate-like workpiece is moved to a position facing the placement surface, and then the plate-like workpiece is moved toward the placement surface while maintaining the facing posture. The plate-shaped workpiece transfer equipment according to claim 1, comprising:   2. The plate-like shape according to claim 1, wherein the transfer operation of the plate-like workpiece by the articulated robot is set so that a total sum of outputs of drive motors provided at each joint of the articulated robot is minimized. Work transfer equipment.   The transfer operation includes an operation of rotating the series of movable arms in a direction to push up the lower surface of the plate-like workpiece and moving the plate-like workpiece in a reverse direction to a position where the upper surface faces the mounting surface. The plate-shaped workpiece transfer equipment according to claim 6, further comprising an operation of linearly moving the plate-shaped workpiece toward the mounting surface while maintaining a directly-facing posture with the mounting surface.   The transfer operation of the plate-like workpiece by the articulated robot is set such that the total kinetic energy lost by the plate-like workpiece receiving air resistance during the transfer operation is minimized. Plate-shaped workpiece transfer equipment.   The transfer operation is performed by lifting the plate-shaped workpiece from its proximal end side and erecting the front end of the plate-shaped workpiece downward, and bending the series of movable arms from the upright state. The plate-like workpiece is transferred according to claim 8, wherein the plate-like workpiece is moved downward and rotated about its base end side so that the plate-like workpiece is reversed and slid toward the placement surface. Facility.   The articulated robot is arranged on a base and configured to be able to move the articulated robot horizontally with respect to the base in a direction orthogonal to a transfer direction of the plate-like workpiece. Plate-shaped workpiece transfer equipment. The packing equipment according to any one of claims 1 to 10, transport means for transporting the plate-like workpiece to the acquisition position, and the above-described placement position, for packing the plate-like workpiece in a stacked state. One or a plurality of packing pallets,
The transport means is provided with the same number of the acquisition positions as the packing pallet, and the articulated robot is disposed in a side of an opposing space between each of the acquisition positions and the packing pallet, and the transfer The plate-shaped workpiece packing equipment configured to selectively load the plate-shaped workpiece conveyed to the acquisition position by means on each packing pallet by the transfer operation of the articulated robot. A method of acquiring a plate-like workpiece at a plate-like workpiece acquisition position and transferring the acquired plate-like workpiece to its placement position, comprising a series of movable arms having multiple joints, and the series of movable arms Using a multi-joint robot provided with a holding unit for holding and acquiring one surface of the plate-like workpiece at the tip of the plate, holding the lower surface on the supply side of the plate-like workpiece supplied to the acquisition position, In the method for transferring a plate-like workpiece in which the upper surface on the opposite side is placed on the placement surface at the placement position,
The acquisition position and the placement position are arranged to face each other, the articulated robot is arranged to the side of the facing space, and
The plate-like workpiece is transferred from the acquisition position to the placement position through the facing space by the turning / bending / extending movement of the series of movable arms of the articulated robot, and the transfer work is performed as part of the transfer operation. A plate-like workpiece transfer method characterized in that it also serves as a reversing operation for placing the upper surface of the plate-like workpiece on the placement surface.

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