JP2017030944A - Conveyance system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a conveyance system in which two types of trucks can deliver articles with a simple configuration.CONSTITUTION: A conveyance system includes a first truck capable of freely transferring an article to a side position of a plurality of heights, and a second truck capable of freely transferring the article to a side position of a plurality of heights, and freely transferring the article downward. The conveyance system further includes a shelf installed between a track for the first truck and a track for the second truck, to which both the first truck and the second truck can freely transfer the article.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a conveyance system having two types of carts and a shelf.

  Patent Document 1 (JP4296601B) provides a buffer directly below a traveling rail of an overhead traveling vehicle for transportation between bays, and provides a traveling rail of an overhead traveling vehicle for transportation within a bay in parallel with the traveling rail for transportation between bays. It is disclosed that it is provided. The overhead traveling vehicle for transporting between bays can transfer articles between the lower side, and the overhead traveling vehicle for transporting within bays can transfer articles between the lower side and the side.

JP4296601B

  An object of the present invention is to provide a transport system that allows two types of carts to deliver articles with a simple configuration.

The transport system of this invention is
A first carriage capable of transferring articles to a plurality of height side positions;
A second carriage capable of transferring an article to a plurality of lateral positions and capable of transferring an article downward;
There is a shelf disposed between the travel path of the first carriage and the travel path of the second carriage, and the first carriage and the second carriage can both transfer articles.

  If it does in this way, the 1st cart and the 2nd cart can deliver goods by simple composition.

Preferably, the first carriage is configured to convey articles between a cell corresponding to the load port and another shelf or stocker,
The second carriage is configured to convey an article between a load port and a cell corresponding to the load port.

  Since the 1st cart performs conveyance between a shelf and a shelf or between a shelf and a stocker, it can convey articles at high speed. In addition, it is not necessary to stop while raising and lowering the lifting platform for transfer to and from the load port. Since the second carriage conveys the article between the shelf and the load port, the traveling distance is short, and the article can be quickly carried in and out of the load port.

Particularly preferably, the shelf is an upper and lower shelf, and the placing surface of the article on the shelf is lower by a predetermined length than the bottom surface of the article being transported by the carriage,
The first carriage and the second carriage are arranged so as to run while holding an article at a common height.

  If it does in this way, the 1st trolley | bogie and the 2nd trolley | bogie can carry in / out goods to a shelf by the raising / lowering and lateral movement of a short distance. Moreover, even if one of the first carriage and the second carriage delivers the article between the shelves, the traveling of the other carriage is not affected.

The principal part enlarged plan view of the conveyance system of an Example Enlarged front view of the main part of the transport system of the embodiment An enlarged front view of the main part of the modified transport system The principal part top view of the conveyance system of an Example Side view of the first carriage and its running rail Front view of the first carriage and its running rail Side view of the second carriage and its running rail

  In the following, an optimum embodiment for carrying out the present invention will be shown. The scope of the present invention should be determined according to the understanding of those skilled in the art based on the description of the scope of the claims, taking into account the description of the specification and well-known techniques in this field.

  The conveyance system 2 of an Example is shown in FIGS. The first carriage 4 for long distance conveyance travels along the traveling rail 10 for long distance conveyance, and the second carriage 6 for short distance conveyance travels along the traveling rail 12 for short distance conveyance. Both the traveling rails 10 and 12 are supported by the column 14 from the ceiling 9 side of the building. The carriages 4 and 6 are both overhead traveling vehicles, and include a lateral transfer device and a lifting device, and convey and transfer articles such as the carrier 8. The first carriage 4 transfers the carrier (article) 8 to the side, and the second carriage 6 transfers the carrier (article) 8 to the side and downward. For this reason, the second cart 6 further includes a hoist. The carrier 8 is a carrier such as a semiconductor wafer or a reticle, and the type of article to be conveyed is arbitrary.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the carriages 4 and 6 convey the carrier 8 while holding it at a common height. Further, between the traveling rails 10 and 12, the upper and lower shelves 20 are provided so that the carrier 8 can be transferred from both of the carts 4 and 6 by combining horizontal movement and elevation. 21 is a cell of the shelf 20, and 22 is a support. The cell 21 has a mounting surface that is lower than the bottom surface of the carrier 8 being transported by the carriages 4 and 6 by a predetermined length. The carriages 4 and 6 move the lateral transfer device such as a slide fork laterally and only by a short height distance. The carrier 8 can be moved up and down.

  The traveling rail 12 passes directly above the load port 32 of the processing device 30, and the shelf 20 is disposed between the traveling rails 10 and 12 so that the cell 21 facing the load port 32 exists. The first carriage 4 for long-distance conveyance conveys the carrier 8 between the shelf 20 and another shelf 20 or a stocker (not shown), and delivers the carrier to the cell 21 and the like. The second carriage 6 for short-distance conveyance conveys the carrier 8 between the shelf 20 and the load port 32, and transfers the carrier 8 between the cell 21 and the load port 32. As shown in FIG. 1, an additional shelf 34 may be provided on the other side of the shelf 20 when viewed from the traveling rail 10.

  As shown in FIG. 3, an upper and lower multi-stage shelf 24 may be used instead of the one-stage shelf 20. 25 to 27 are, for example, upper and lower three-stage cells, and the number of stored carriers increases.

  The travel rail 10 for long-distance conveyance is an interbay route, and a large number of first carts 4 travel and are arranged in a U-shape in the bay as shown in FIG. The first carriage 4 does not raise or lower the carrier by the hoist, and the stop time at the position facing the shelf 20 is short. For this reason, the first cart 4 is unlikely to cause a traffic jam.

  The short-distance conveyance traveling rails 12 are arranged outside the long-distance conveyance traveling rails 10 in the bay, and a small number of second carts 6 of about one to several units travel. The first carriage 4 for short-distance transport is congested, and arrival at the load port 32 is hardly delayed. Since the travel distance is short, the carrier can be carried in and out quickly by arriving at the required load port 32. The traveling rails 12 for short distance conveyance may be arranged only in one bay, or may be arranged to extend to other bays as shown in FIG.

  5 and 6 show the structure of the first carriage 4 for long-distance conveyance. The traveling carriage 15 and the power receiving carriage 16 travel in the traveling rail 10, and the upper frame 40 is supported on the traveling carriage 15 by a shaft. A pair of front and rear first side plates 50, 50 are supported by the upper frame 40 along the traveling direction, and the second side plate 55 is moved up and down together with the linear guide 52 along the guide rail 51 provided on the side plate 50. To do. In order to raise and lower the slide fork 42 of the lateral transfer device with a large stroke, a guide rail 56 is further provided on the second side plate 55 to raise and lower the linear guide 57.

  The rotation mechanism 60 is fixed to a pair of linear guides 57, 57 and moves up and down, and a slide fork 42 is attached to the lower part of the rotation mechanism 60. The slide fork 42 is rotated by the rotation mechanism 60 so as to match the load port. The rotation mechanism 60 may not be provided. In the slide fork 42, the base plate 43 is fixed to the rotating mechanism 60, the top plate 45 can be moved back and forth in a direction perpendicular to the traveling direction of the first carriage 4 in the horizontal plane, and the middle plate 44 is a top plate. Similarly, the plate 45 advances and retreats on both sides with a half stroke. A chuck 46 is provided at the bottom of the top plate 45 to hold the flange 48 of the carrier 8. A scalar arm or the like may be used instead of the slide fork 42. In the shelf 20 of FIGS. 1 and 2, since the lift stroke of the slide fork 42 may be small, the second side plate 55 to the linear guide 57 may not be provided. Further, the lateral movement and elevation of the carrier 8 may be performed in parallel. 5 and 6 show a state in which the carrier 8 is lowered and advanced laterally by a chain line.

  FIG. 7 shows the structure of the second carriage 6. A traveling carriage and a power receiving carriage (not shown) are provided in the traveling rail 12, and the rotating mechanism 60 and the slide fork 42 are moved up and down by the double side plates 50 and 55, the guide rails 51 and 56, and the linear guides 52 and 57. Further, the slide fork 42 is rotated by the rotation mechanism 60. In order to deliver the carrier 8 to and from the load port 32, a hoist 62 is provided at the bottom of the top plate 45, and the lifting platform 64 including the chuck 46 is moved up and down by a suspension material such as a belt 63. The rotation mechanism 60 may not be provided. The shelf 20 in FIGS. 1 and 2 may have a small lift stroke, so the second side plate 55 to the linear guide 57 may not be provided. The slide fork 42 may be another horizontal transfer device such as a SCARA arm, and the horizontal movement and elevation of the carrier 8 may be performed in parallel.

The embodiment has the following characteristics.
1) By arranging the shelf 20 between the traveling rails 10 and 12, the first cart 4 can be dedicated to long-distance conveyance, and the second cart 6 can be dedicated to short-distance conveyance between the shelf 20 and the load port 32. .
2) With a simple structure using the shelves 20 and 24, the first cart 4 and the second cart 6 can deliver the carrier.
3) Since the traveling rail 12 for short-distance conveyance requires only a small number of second carts 6, there is little traffic jam in the second carts 6.
4) The first carriage 4 for long-distance conveyance does not require a hoist, so it can convey the carrier at high speed.
5) Since the carriages 4 and 6 convey the carrier at the same height level, the carrier can be transferred to the shelf 20 by lateral movement to the shelf 20 and raising and lowering for a short distance. Moreover, even if one of the carts 4 and 6 delivers the article to or from the shelf 20, it does not affect the traveling of the other cart.

2 Transport system 4 First cart 6 Second cart 8 Carrier 9 Ceiling 10, 12 Traveling rail 14 Strut 15 Traveling cart 16 Power receiving cart 20 Shelf 21 Cell 22 Strut 24 Multistage shelves 25-27 Cell 30 Processing device 32 Load port 34 Shelf 40 Upper frame 42 Slide fork 43 Base plate 44 Middle plate 45 Top plate 46 Chuck 48 Flange 50, 55 Side plate 51, 56 Guide rail 52, 57 Linear guide 60 Turning mechanism 62 Hoist 63 Belt 64 Lifting platform

Claims (3)

A transport system comprising a plurality of carriages and shelves,
A first carriage capable of transferring articles to a plurality of height side positions;
A second carriage capable of transferring an article to a plurality of lateral positions and capable of transferring an article downward;
A transport system including a shelf that is disposed between a travel path of the first carriage and a travel path of the second carriage, and in which the first carriage and the second carriage can transfer articles together. The first carriage is configured to convey articles between a cell corresponding to a load port and another shelf or stocker,
The transport system according to claim 1, wherein the second carriage is configured to transport an article between a load port and a cell corresponding to the load port. The shelf is one shelf up and down, the mounting surface of the article on the shelf is lower by a predetermined length than the bottom of the article being transported by the carriage,
3. The transport system according to claim 2, wherein the first carriage and the second carriage are arranged so as to run while holding an article at a common height.

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