JP2020072105A - Transport device, deposition apparatus, manufacturing system of organic el element, and manufacturing method of organic el element - Google Patents

Abstract

To transport a tabular object, such as a glass substrate, without causing positional deviation, and without causing breakdown or deformation, in a transport device for use in a deposition system, or the like.SOLUTION: A substrate 31 is held by using a substrate receiver 3 on the top face of a hand, and a substrate gripping claw 15 movable therefor. A first drive mechanism 351 moves the substrate gripping claw 15 between an upper position of the substrate receiver 3, and a saving position on the farther outside of the hand. A second drive mechanism drives the substrate gripping claw 15 to descend toward the substrate receiver 3 from above, or to ascend reversely. In the holding operation, the substrate gripping claw 15 is moved from the saving position to an upper position of the substrate 31 placed on the substrate receiver 3, and then lowered thus holding the substrate 31 by means of the substrate gripping claw 15 and the substrate receiver 3. In the disengagement operation, the substrate gripping claw 15 is raised to the upper position of the substrate 31, and then moved from the upper position of the object to the saving position.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7

Description

  The present invention relates to a transport device, a film forming device, an organic EL element manufacturing system, and an organic EL element manufacturing method.

  Conventionally, in a vapor deposition apparatus, for example, an organic EL element manufacturing system for manufacturing an organic EL element by sequentially stacking a lower metal electrode, an organic thin film, an upper transparent electrode, etc. on a glass substrate, the glass substrate is transferred. The device is being used. This type of transfer device is configured by, for example, a horizontal articulated robot equipped with a hand for holding the substrate, and transfers the substrate, for example, between a plurality of film forming chambers each having a different process.

  This type of substrate is, for example, a glass substrate having an extremely thin thickness, and cannot be held and transported by applying a large gripping force with a hand or a gripper. Therefore, the transport device transports the substrate without damage or deformation, and thus operates the hand to scoop up the substrate and transports the substrate placed on the hand. Due to this type of scooping and holding, the hand of the carrier may be called, for example, a fork.

  In the carrying mode by the scooping and holding, the position of the substrate may be displaced during the carrying, and the substrate may be dropped or may be damaged such as the substrate is broken. In addition, when a large displacement of the substrate is detected on the holding unit via a camera or the like, it may be necessary to perform a re-holding operation of the substrate.

  Therefore, in the holding portion that performs scooping and holding, the tip end of each fork is configured as an inclined portion, and a non-slip pad is arranged on the inclined portion of the fork tip, or a deformable protruding piece is further provided at the tip of the fork. A configuration to be provided is proposed (Patent Document 1 below).

JP, 2017-208451, A

  The configuration of Patent Document 1 utilizes the deformation stress and the frictional force generated when the pad or the protruding piece comes into contact with the edge portion of the substrate, and does not actively apply the gripping force to regulate the position of the substrate. .. Such a configuration may work well if the substrate size and weight are not too large. However, in an environment in which a substrate is large-sized and high-speed transportation is required as in recent years, the inertial force and the centrifugal force accompanying the substrate transportation tend to be large, and the substrate may be displaced on the order of several microns. is there.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to make it possible to transfer a plate-shaped object such as a glass substrate in a transfer device used in a film forming system or the like without causing positional displacement and without causing damage or deformation. To do.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in the present invention, in a transfer device for mounting and transferring a plate-shaped object on a hand, a holding part fixedly mounted on an upper surface of a constituent member of the hand, and the holding part. And a movable holding portion that is movably arranged with respect to the holding portion, and the movable holding portion that moves between the upper position of the holding portion and the retracted position of the hand outside the holding portion. The first drive mechanism and the movable holding unit are lowered in a direction from the upper position of the holding unit toward the holding unit, or are raised in a direction away from the holding unit and toward the upper position of the holding unit. A second drive mechanism for driving, and after moving the movable holding part from the retracted position to the upper position of the object placed on the holding part by the first drive mechanism, By the second drive mechanism, A holding operation of lowering the moving holding part from the upper position of the object toward the object, and holding the object by the movable holding part and the holding part, and by the second drive mechanism, After the movable holding part is raised to the upper position of the object, a releasing operation of moving the movable holding part from the upper position of the object to the retracted position by the first drive mechanism is adopted. did.

  According to the above configuration, a transporting device used in a film forming system or the like can transport a plate-shaped object such as a glass substrate without causing positional displacement and without causing damage or deformation.

It is a top view of the hand of the conveyance apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is the front view which showed the main part of the main shaft and sub-shaft of the conveying apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is the front view which showed the drive mechanism which raises / lowers the movable holding part of the conveyance apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is the front view which showed the drive mechanism which moves the movable holding part of the conveying apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention horizontally. FIG. 5 is a plan view of the drive mechanism shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an operation of horizontally moving the movable holding unit by using a mode in which the state of the drive mechanism shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 viewed from the side is arranged side by side at different heights on the paper surface. is there. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an operation of raising and lowering the movable holding unit by using a mode in which the states of the drive mechanism shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 as viewed from the side are arranged side by side at different heights on the paper surface. It is the perspective view shown from the upper part of the hand of the conveyance machine concerning the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an essential part of the drive mechanism shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 from above. It is explanatory drawing which showed the dynamic action in the hand of the conveying apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. FIG. 2 is a top view of a transfer device according to the embodiment of the present invention and a film forming system using the transfer device. FIG. 1 is a top view showing an example of the overall configuration of a transfer device according to an embodiment of the present invention and a film forming system using this transfer device.

  Embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the configuration shown below is merely an example, and for example, a detailed configuration can be appropriately changed by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the present invention. The numerical values taken in this embodiment are reference numerical values and do not limit the present invention.

  Below, the structure of the robot arm and its hand used as a conveyance apparatus in the film-forming system which forms an organic thin film is illustrated. Here, first, FIG. 11 shows an example of the configuration of a film forming system including the transfer device of the present embodiment. This film forming system is, for example, a film forming system for forming an organic thin film on a glass substrate, and constitutes a part of an organic EL element manufacturing system for manufacturing an organic EL element using the same substrate. In the film forming system of FIG. 11, the film forming chamber 100, the film forming chamber 101, the film forming chamber 102, the transfer chamber 235, and the transfer path 103 are connected to each other via a gate valve 234.

  In the film forming system (film forming apparatus) of FIG. 11, the film forming chamber 100, the film forming chamber 101, and the film forming chamber 102 deposit an organic material on the substrate 31 while keeping the inside of the film forming chamber at a predetermined vacuum degree. It is a film forming means for forming an organic thin film by means of the above, and the basic configuration of each chamber is the same. Note that the film formation system may be configured such that each film formation chamber deposits the same type of organic material, or the film formation chambers may be configured to deposit different kinds of organic materials.

  The transfer chamber 235 includes a robot arm 104, and the robot arm 104 can carry the substrate 31 into and from each film forming chamber from the transfer path 103 and can carry out the substrate 31 from each film forming chamber to the transfer path 103. .. The robot arm 104 includes a hand 233 for holding the substrate 31, and carries out an operation of loading or unloading the substrate 31 into or from the vapor deposition area 232 in which film deposition is performed in each film deposition chamber. Therefore, the robot arm 104 is configured to control the relative position and / or posture of the hand 233 with respect to the substrate. The structure of the links and joints of the robot arm 104 may be any type of mechanism as long as it can stably handle the substrate 31 in the vacuum device. A configuration example of the hand 233 will be described in detail below.

  Note that in FIG. 11, the gate valve 234 connecting the vapor deposition area 232 of the film forming chamber 100 and the transfer chamber 235 is opened, and the robot arm transfers the substrate 31 whose outline is indicated by a broken line to the hand 233. The state of being carried in or carried out is schematically shown. In addition, X, Y, and Z in the drawings indicate the directions of the three-dimensional coordinate axes (the same applies to the drawings described below).

  The transport path 103 is a load-lock chamber in which the substrate 31 can be taken in and out of the atmosphere, or a transport path for transporting the substrate 31 to another film forming system. Note that in FIG. 11, the film forming chambers and the transfer paths are arranged on the four surfaces around the transfer chamber 235, but the form of the film forming system is not limited to this configuration. The film forming chamber or the transfer path may be arranged on the 6th or 8th surface. Further, the robot arm as the transfer device for the substrate 31 is not limited to the single arm, but may be arranged in a multi-arm configuration.

  1 and 8 show a configuration example of the hand 233 of the robot arm 104 shown in FIG. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 8, the hand 233 includes two main frames 37 extending from the wrist side to the hand side of the hand 233. The main frame 37 is provided with seven sub-frames 1 on the left and right in a direction intersecting with the main frame 37.

  A substrate receiver 3 is arranged at the tip of each sub-frame 1. Further, substrate holding units 35 (35A, 35B, 35C, 35D) as a holding mechanism are arranged at the tips of the sub-frames 1 corresponding to the four corners of the substrate mounting area of the hand 233. The board holding unit 35 (35A, 35B, 35C, 35D) includes a board holding claw 15 (FIG. 3) as a movable holding portion that is movably arranged with respect to the board receiver 3. The substrate receiver 3 is a holding unit fixedly mounted on the upper surface of a component member of the hand, and the substrate holding unit 35 (35A, 35B, 35C, 35D) is a substrate as a movable holding unit, as described later. The grip claw 15 can be moved toward and away from the board receiver 3. The substrate gripping unit 35 (35A, 35B, 35C, 35D) grips the vicinity of the four corners of the substrate 31 placed on the hand 233 from above and below by the substrate receiver 3 and the substrate grip claw 15.

  Further, sub-frames 311, 311 ... Which extend in parallel with the main frame 37 are mounted on the wrist side and the hand side sub-frames 1, respectively, and the board receiver 3 is arranged at the tip thereof. The rear edge and the front edge of the substrate 31 are supported by 3.

  The substrate gripping unit 35 (35A, 35B, 35C, 35D) includes a first drive mechanism that horizontally moves the substrate grip claw 15 and a second drive mechanism that moves the substrate grip claw 15 up and down (up and down drive). .. These drive mechanisms are provided on the main frame 37, two main shafts 33, 33 (FIGS. 1, 2, and 4) respectively arranged on the main frame 37, 37, and the sub-frame 1 provided with the substrate gripping unit 35. It is driven by the four sub-shafts 17 arranged.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the main shafts 33, 33 are rotatably supported on the main frames 37, 37 via bearings 32, 32 (...). The main shafts 33, 33 are rotationally driven by a drive source (not shown) such as a stepping motor or a servomotor arranged on the wrist side of the hand 233, for example. As a result, the turning position of the eccentric cam 34 having the elliptical cam surface as shown in the drawing can be selected.

  The rear end of the sub-shaft 17, which is rotatably supported by the bearings 36, 36 (...), contacts the eccentric cam 34 and reciprocates on the sub-frame 1, whereby the tip of the sub-shaft 17 operates a mechanism described later. Thus, the board gripping claws 15 are moved horizontally and vertically. The substrate gripping unit 35 (35A, 35B, 35C, 35D) of the present embodiment moves the substrate gripping claw 15 in two directions, a horizontal direction and a vertical direction, by the horizontal linear motion of the sub shaft 17. The board holding unit 35 (35A, 35B, 35C, 35D) can be configured by a linear guide, a plate cam, a spring, an engaging claw, etc. as described below.

  In the board holding operation, the board holding unit 35 first intrudes the board holding claw 15 horizontally from a position above the board 31 placed on the board receiver 3 and outside the board 31. Move horizontally. Subsequently, at the set stroke position, the substrate gripping claw 15 is lowered substantially perpendicularly to the substrate surface, the substrate gripping claw 15 contacts the substrate 31, and the substrate 31 is gripped by the substrate gripping claw 15 and the substrate receiver 3. .. In the substrate opening operation, the substrate gripping unit 35 first raises and separates the substrate gripping claw 15 from the substrate surface, and then horizontally moves the sky above the substrate 31 to the retracted position outside the substrate contour.

  Hereinafter, the configuration and operation of the substrate gripping unit 35 (35A, 35B, 35C, 35D) will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. Of these drawings, FIG. 4, which has not been referred to yet, shows the first drive mechanism 351 for horizontally moving the substrate gripping claw 15 as the above-mentioned movable holding portion, and FIG. 3 shows as the movable holding portion. A second drive mechanism 352 for raising and lowering the board gripping claw 15 is shown. Further, FIG. 5 shows, from the top surface, first and second drive mechanisms for horizontally moving or raising and lowering the board gripping claw 15. In addition, in order to facilitate understanding of the operation of the mechanism, FIGS. 6 and 7 show the first and second drive mechanisms of FIGS. 6A and 6B correspond to different positions of the substrate 31 when viewed from the side by using the illustrated manner, and FIG. 6 corresponds to the released state of the substrate 31, and FIG. 7 corresponds to the grasped state of the substrate 31. Further, FIG. 9 shows the first and second drive mechanisms for driving the board gripping claw 15 in a perspective state. Further, FIG. 10 relates to the action and arrangement requirements of the substrate gripping unit 35, and shows the interaction between the substrate receiver 3 and the substrate from the side surface direction of the substrate.

  As described above, a plurality of subframes 1 (in this example, seven left and right) are arranged on each of the two main frames 37. At least the substrate receiver 3 is arranged at the tip of each sub-frame 1. The substrate receiver 3 is made of a material such as fluororubber and has an upper surface formed in a shape such that the tip side of the sub-frame 311 is higher (see substrate receiver 310 in FIG. 10). In the subframe 1 in which the substrate gripping unit 35 is not arranged, the substrate 31 is simply placed on the substrate receiver 3 and is supported from below. Substrate holders 3 supported by the base 2 are provided at the ends of the sub-frame 1 corresponding to the four corners of the hand 233 (FIG. 3). Further, the substrate holding unit 35 (35A, 35B, 35C, 35D) for moving the substrate holding claw 15 as the movable holding portion vertically and horizontally as described above is arranged.

  In the present embodiment, the substrate gripping units 35 (35A, 35B, 35C, 35D) are arranged at the tips of the subframes 1 corresponding to the four corners of the hand 233, but a larger number of substrate gripping units 35 are used in any subframe. 1 may be arranged. The board gripping units 35 (35A, 35B, 35C, 35D) are operated by the rotational driving force of the common main shafts 33, 33 as described later, and the board gripping units 35 are additionally installed in addition to the four corners of the hand 233. It's easy to do.

  Hereinafter, a configuration example of the first and second drive mechanisms 351 and 352 of the substrate gripping unit 35 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5 and 9. As shown in FIG. 4, the first drive mechanism 351 includes an L-shaped base 20 supported by a first linear guide 21 so as to be linearly movable in a direction parallel to the sub shaft 17. That is, the L-shaped base 20 is supported by the first linear guide 21 at a position where it can contact the tip of the reciprocating sub-shaft 17.

  4, 5, and 9, the bracket 22 at the rear end of the L-shaped base 20 is compressed by the compression spring guide 25 between the bracket 26 and the compression spring 24 (first urging means). Thus, the front end of the base 20 is urged to come into contact with the tip of the sub-shaft 17.

  In the state of FIG. 4, the highest cam surface of the eccentric cam 34 is in contact with the rear end of the sub shaft 17. In this state, the board gripping claw 15 is horizontally moved to a retracted position outside the board 31. When the eccentric cam 34 is rotated from the solid line state in FIG. 4 to the chain line state, the sub-shaft 17 retracts with respect to the L-shaped base 20 or the plate cam 18 as indicated by the arrow. As a result, the board gripping claw 15 horizontally moves so as to enter the space above the board 31.

  That is, the main shaft 33 is rotationally driven, and the driving force transmitted to the sub-shaft 17 through the eccentric cam 34 causes the sub-shaft 17 to reciprocate along the sub-frame 1 and through the front end portion of the sub-shaft 17. The first drive mechanism 351 or the second drive mechanism 352 is driven.

  When the sub-shaft 17 retracts, the L-shaped base 20 or the plate cam 18 is urged by the compression spring 24 and horizontally moves in the same arrow direction while being in contact with the eccentric cam 34. At the limit position of the horizontal movement of the base 20 or the plate cam 18 in the direction of entering the space above the substrate 31, the stopper adjusting screw 29 and the stopper 19 provided on the L-shaped base 20 contact each other. Regulated by. The locking position of the stopper adjusting screw 29 can be adjusted by the screwing amount with respect to the bracket 30 arranged on the sub-frame 1. The position where the base 20 is locked by the stopper adjusting screw 29 is adjusted to a predetermined position inside the edge portion of the substrate 31 which raises and lowers the substrate holding claw 15.

  As shown in FIGS. 5 and 9, a plate cam 18 is fixed to the side surface of the L-shaped base 20. The plate cam 18 cooperates with the cam follower 7 of the second drive mechanism 352 to control the lifting and lowering of the board gripping claw 15. The cam surface of the plate cam 18 is high on the side of the sub-shaft 17, and the rising height (retraction height) of the substrate gripping claw 15 is determined by this portion of the cam surface. A portion of the cam surface of the plate cam 18 corresponding to the rear of the L-shaped base 20 is an inclined surface for lowering the substrate gripping claw 15. In this embodiment, the shape of the cam surface of the plate cam 18 is linear, and the plate cam 18 has a trapezoidal shape as a whole. Can be any shape that is considered to obtain the trajectory of

  On the other hand, the second drive mechanism 352 includes the bracket 9 supported by the base 10 so as to be linearly movable in the direction parallel to the sub shaft 17 by the second linear guide 11. The board gripping claw 15 is fixed to the tip of the bracket 6 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 9. 3 and 9, the shape of the bracket 6 and the shape around the cam follower 7 are partially different, but the mechanical functions of these structures are the same. In particular, as shown in these drawings, the cam follower 7 is, for example, a roller type cam follower, and is designed so that it can be driven by the cam surface of the plate cam 18 with a small frictional resistance.

  The bracket 6 is attached to the bracket 9 via a linear guide 8 so as to be vertically movable. The bracket 6 is biased downward by a tension spring 16 elastically mounted between the bracket 6 and the bracket 9. The vertical heights of the bracket 6 and the board gripping claw 15 are determined by the height of the cam surface of the plate cam 18 that comes into contact with the cam follower 7 mounted on the bracket 6.

  The horizontal interlocking movement of the first and second drive mechanisms 351 and 352 parallel to the sub-shaft 17 is performed by the tension spring 13 and the stoppers 27 and 28 (FIG. 5) configured as engaging claws that can engage with each other. Controlled. The tension spring 13 (second urging means) is elastically mounted between the arm 14 projecting from the rear end of the bracket 9 and the bracket 23 of the L-shaped base 20, and is attached in a direction to bring them close to each other. Energize. The force relationship between the tension spring 13 and the compression spring 24 is set as, for example, (restoring force of the compression spring 24)> (tensile spring 13).

  As shown in FIG. 5, a stopper 27 is provided on the brackets 9 to 6 of the second drive mechanism 352, and a stopper 28 is provided on the L-shaped base 20 of the first drive mechanism 352. In the state shown in FIG. 5, the stoppers 27 and 28 are locked, and in the horizontal direction, the L-shaped base 20 of the first drive mechanism 352 and the second drive mechanism 352 are urged by the urging force of the tension spring 13. The brackets 9 to 6 can be moved together.

  However, the horizontal movement position of the bracket 9 of the second drive mechanism 352 in the direction toward the sub-shaft 17 is the same as that of the stopper adjusting screw 4 and the stopper 12 (FIG. 3) supported by the bracket 5 arranged on the sub-frame 1. Are regulated by abutting against each other. The regulating position of the bracket 9 can be adjusted by the stopper adjusting screw 4. Then, as shown in FIGS. 5 to 7, with the tip of the sub-shaft 17 as a reference, the position of the stopper adjusting screw 4 on the sub-frame 1 is farther than the position of the stopper adjusting screw 29 described above.

  In the above structure, after the bracket 9 comes into contact with the stopper adjustment screw 4 as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the brackets 9 and 6 of the second drive mechanism 352 and the board gripping claw 15 are located inside the outer edge of the board 31. It cannot move horizontally to the right of the predetermined lifting position. When the sub-shaft 17 is further retracted from this state, only the L-shaped base 20 of the first drive mechanism 351 moves to the right by the biasing force of the compression spring 24. At this time, the stoppers 27 and 28 are separated from each other, and the horizontal position of the bracket 9 (the vertical position of the substrate gripping claw 15) is maintained by being urged by the tension spring 13 to come into contact with the stopper adjusting screw 4. In the state of FIGS. 5 and 6, the cam follower 7 is in contact with the position of the horizontal high cam surface of the plate cam 18, and the substrate gripping claw 15 has the edge portion of the substrate 31 still mounted on the substrate receiver 3. Has not fallen to.

  When the sub-shaft 17 is further retracted from the state of FIGS. 5 and 6, only the L-shaped base 20 of the first drive mechanism 351 is moved to the right of the bracket 9 stopped by the urging force of the compression spring 24. Moving. As a result, as shown in FIG. 7, the cam follower 7 urged by the tension spring 16 descends along the inclined surface of the cam surface of the plate cam 18, whereby the substrate gripping claw 15 descends, and the substrate receiver 3 moves upward. It contacts the upper surface of the edge portion of the substrate 31 placed on.

  As described above, in the board holding units 35 (35A, 35B, 35C, 35D) at the four corners, the holding operation is performed in which the board holding claws 15 and the board receiver 3 hold the edge of the board 31 in the vertical direction. .. In this holding state, by selecting the dimensions of the substrate gripping claw 15 and the substrate receiver 3 (for example, both are made of fluororubber), the thickness of the substrate 31, and the like, an appropriate distance between the cam follower 7 and the plate cam 18 can be obtained. Set so that there is a gap. As a result, the biasing force of the appropriately selected tension spring 16 applied to the substrate gripping claw 15 and the light holding force resulting from the repulsive force of the elastic member such as the fluororubber forming the substrate gripping claw 15 and the substrate receiver 3 are set. The substrate 31 can be held. As a result, the substrate 31 can be reliably held without damaging or deforming the substrate 31 and without causing displacement of the placement position on the hand 233.

  On the other hand, the releasing operation of raising the substrate gripping claw 15 from the gripped state of the substrate 31 and further moving it to the retracted position outside the edge of the substrate 31 is performed as follows. This releasing operation is an operation in the opposite direction and order from the state of FIG. 7 to the state of FIG. From the state of FIG. 7, when the front end of the sub-shaft 17 is advanced to the left in the figure and the L-shaped base 20 is pressed through the front edge of the plate cam 18, the cam follower 7 causes the cam surface of the plate cam 18 to move. Rise along the slopes of. As a result, the substrate gripping claw 15 is separated from the upper surface of the edge portion of the substrate 31 placed on the substrate receiver 3. As shown in FIG. 5, the stoppers 27 and 28 have such a positional relationship that they finally come into contact with each other when the cam follower 7 rises up the slope of the cam surface of the plate cam 18. Therefore, until the stoppers 27 and 28 come into contact with each other, the brackets 9 to 6 of the second drive mechanism 352 are kept in contact with the stopper adjusting screw 4 via the biasing force of the tension spring 13. Then, during that time, the cam follower 7 ascends the slope of the cam surface of the plate cam 18, and the substrate gripping claw 15 is separated from the upper surface of the edge portion of the substrate 31 as shown in FIG.

  Further, when the front end of the sub-shaft 17 is moved to the left in the figure, the stoppers 27 and 28 come into contact with each other, and the L-shaped base 20 of the first drive mechanism 351 is moved to the second position via the engagement of these stoppers. The brackets 9 to 6 of the drive mechanism 352 are moved to the left. As a result, the substrate gripping claws 15 are moved to a retracted position outside the upper surface of the edge portion of the substrate 31 placed on the substrate receiver 3.

  As described above, in the board holding unit 35 (35A, 35B, 35C, 35D) at the four corners of the L-shaped hand, the board holding claw 15 is raised from the holding state of the board 31 described above, and A releasing operation is performed to move it to a retracted position outside the edge. The holding operation and the releasing operation of the substrate gripping unit 35 (35A, 35B, 35C, 35D) described above can be synchronously and interlocked by driving the main shafts 33, 33.

  In the above description, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 8, the configuration is such that the substrate gripping unit 35 (35A, 35B, 35C, 35D) is arranged at the wrist and the four corners of the hand side of the hand 233. As described above, the number of the board gripping units 35 to be arranged may be larger than this, but conversely, a structure in which the board gripping units 35 are arranged at a place where the number of hands is smaller can be considered.

  In that case, in a hand having this type of basic configuration, it is preferable that only two positions on the wrist side of the hand, for example, only the substrate gripping units 35A and 35B are provided. This configuration is more advantageous than the configuration in which the substrate holding units 35A and 35B are omitted and only the hand-side substrate holding units 35C and 35D are provided for the following reasons (FIG. 10).

  10 shows a cross section taken along the line A-A 'in FIG. 1. In FIG. 10, the upper side corresponds to the upper hand side of FIG. 1, and the lower side corresponds to the lower wrist side of FIG. Further, in the figure, reference numeral 311 denotes a subframe 311 arranged at right angles to the subframe 1, and 310 denotes a substrate receiver made of an elastic member such as fluororubber arranged at the tip of the subframe 311. Shows. The substrate receiver 310 has the same configuration as the substrate receiver 3 described above, and the upper surface thereof is formed, for example, in a shape such that the front end side of the sub-frame 311 is higher.

  Further, in FIG. 10, CF indicates the direction of the centrifugal force applied to the hand 233 and the substrate 31 which is placed and held when the hand of FIG. 1 is operated by the robot arm 104. In the configuration of the robot arm 104 including a plurality of links and joints, in many cases, when a hand portion is turned, a centrifugal force acts in a direction like CF. In many cases, the magnitude of the centrifugal force CF is larger on the hand side on the upper side of the drawing than on the wrist side.

  Then, when the link of the robot arm 104 is swung and the centrifugal force CF acts, the substrate 31 is deformed, for example, as shown by a chain line to a solid line in the figure, and its front end edge is at the upper side (hand side) of the substrate receiver 310 in the figure. Works to bite into the slopes of. On the other hand, the rear edge of the substrate 31 works so as to slide off the slope of the substrate receiver 310 on the lower side (wrist side) of the drawing. When the link of the robot arm 104 is swung under the above circumstances, the holding force of the substrate 31 is relatively high in the substrate receiver 310 on the upper side (hand side) of the drawing, and the substrate receiving on the lower side (wrist side) in the drawing. At 310, it tends to be lower.

  For the reasons described above, if the arrangement of the board gripping unit 35 is limited to two, the two parts on the wrist side of the hand 233, for example, the board gripping units 35C and 35D in FIG. 1 are omitted, and the board gripping unit 35A is omitted. , 35B is preferable. This makes it possible to compensate for the weak holding force of the substrate receiver 310 on the lower side (wrist side) of the figure, and to efficiently hold the substrate on the small centrifugal force CF side even with a small holding force. As described above, according to the configuration in which only the substrate holding units 35A and 35B on the wrist side are provided, it is possible to effectively prevent the positional displacement of the substrate 31 and securely hold the substrate.

  According to the above-described embodiments, in a transfer device used in a film forming system or the like, it is possible to transfer a plate-shaped object such as a glass substrate without causing positional displacement and without causing damage or deformation. it can. In the above, as the plate-shaped object, an object such as a thin glass substrate handled in a film forming system or the like has been illustrated, but the basic configuration described above is used in a transfer device that transfers another plate-shaped object. Needless to say, is also useful as described above.

  The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and many modifications can be made within the technical idea of the present invention.

  For example, FIG. 12 shows an example of the overall configuration of a manufacturing system 300 for manufacturing an organic EL panel, in which the present invention is carried out. The manufacturing system 300 includes a plurality of film forming chambers 100, a transfer chamber 1101, a transfer chamber 1102, a transfer chamber 1103, a substrate supply chamber 1105, a mask stock chamber 1106, a delivery chamber 1107, a glass supply chamber 1108, a bonding chamber 1109, and an ejection chamber. 1110 etc. are provided. Although the film forming chambers 100 are different from each other in details such as differences in film forming materials and masks, the basic configurations (especially configurations related to substrate transfer and alignment) are almost the same. Note that one film formation chamber may include a plurality of vapor deposition areas. In such a configuration, in parallel with the completion of vapor deposition in one vapor deposition area, in the other vapor deposition area, the mask support section carries out the vapor-deposited substrate and the non-vapor-deposited substrate in parallel. Membrane treatment is possible.

  A robot arm 1120 as a transfer mechanism is arranged in each of the transfer chamber 1101, the transfer chamber 1102, and the transfer chamber 1103. The robot arm 1120 can be provided with the above-mentioned hand 233, and with the above-mentioned configuration, for example, the film can be accurately and reliably transferred between the film forming chambers 100.

  The plurality of film forming chambers 100 included in the manufacturing system 300 may be devices that deposit the same material or devices that deposit different materials. For example, the film forming chamber may be a manufacturing system in which organic materials having different emission colors are deposited. In the manufacturing system 300, an organic material is vapor-deposited on a substrate transported by the robot arm 1120, or a thin film of an inorganic material such as a metal material is formed by vapor deposition, for example.

  A substrate is supplied to the substrate supply chamber 1105 from the outside. The mask stock chamber 1106 is used in each film forming chamber 100, and the mask on which the film is deposited is transported by the robot arm 1120. The mask can be washed by collecting the mask transported to the mask stock chamber 1106. It is also possible to store a cleaned mask in the mask stock chamber 1106 and set it in the film forming chamber 100 by the robot arm 1120.

  A glass material for sealing is supplied to the glass supply chamber 1108 from the outside. In the bonding chamber 1109, an organic EL panel is manufactured by bonding a glass material for sealing to the film-formed substrate. The manufactured organic EL panel is taken out from the take-out chamber 1110.

  As described above, the robot arm 1120 provided with the hand 233 as the transfer device adopting the present invention can be preferably implemented in a manufacturing system or a manufacturing method for manufacturing an organic EL element. However, the transporting device adopting the present invention can be suitably used for transporting an object such as a substrate in a film forming system for performing various film formations not limited to an organic film.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Sub-frame, 2 ... Base, 5, 6, 9, 22, 23, 30 ... Bracket, 3,310 ... Substrate support, 4 ... Stopper adjusting screw, 7 ... Cam follower, 8, 11, 21 ... Linear guide, 13 , 16 ... tension spring, 15 ... substrate gripping claw, 17, 18 ... plate cam, 20 ... L-shaped base, 24 ... compression spring, 25 ... compression spring guide, 27, 28 ... stopper, 29 ... stopper adjusting screw, 31 ... Substrate, 33 ... Main shaft, 34 ... Eccentric cam, 35 ... Substrate gripping unit, 37 ... Main frame, 100, 101, 102 ... Film forming chamber, 103 ... Transport path, 104 ... Robot arm, 233 ... Hand, 300 ... Manufacturing system, 351 ... First drive mechanism, 352 ... Second drive mechanism, 1101, 1102, 1103 ... Transfer chamber, 1105 ... Substrate supply chamber, 1106 ... Mass Stock chamber, 1107 ... delivery chamber, 1108 ... glass supply chamber, 1109 ... Hagoshitsu, 1110 ... ejecting chamber, 1120 ... robot arm.

Claims (15)

In a transfer device that transfers a plate-shaped object placed on a hand,
A holding portion fixedly attached to the upper surface of the constituent member of the hand,
A movable holding portion movably arranged with respect to the holding portion,
A first drive mechanism that drives the movable holding unit to move between a position above the holding unit and a retracted position outside the hand with respect to the holding unit;
A second drive mechanism for driving the movable holding unit so as to lower the movable holding unit in a direction from the upper position to the holding unit or raise the movable holding unit in a direction to move away from the holding unit and move to the upper position of the holding unit. ,,
After moving the movable holding unit from the retracted position to the upper position of the object placed on the holding unit by the first driving mechanism, the movable holding unit is moved by the second driving mechanism. A holding operation of lowering the object from a position above the object toward the object, and holding the object by the movable holding unit and the holding unit,
Release of moving the movable holding unit from the upper position of the object to the retracted position by the first driving mechanism after raising the movable holding unit to the upper position of the object by the second drive mechanism. A transport device that performs operations.   The transport apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the hand includes a main frame extending from a wrist side to a hand side, and a subframe attached to the main frame and extending in a direction intersecting the main frame. A conveyance device provided as a member, wherein the holding unit and the first driving mechanism and the second driving mechanism that drive the movable holding unit are mounted on the sub-frame.   The transport device according to claim 2, wherein a plurality of the sub-frames are mounted on the main frame, the holding portions are fixedly mounted on upper surfaces of the plurality of sub-frames, and the holding parts are mounted on a wrist side of the hand. In addition to the holding unit, the movable holding unit is arranged for the stored sub-frame.   The transport device according to claim 3, wherein the movable holding unit is arranged in addition to the holding unit with respect to the sub-frame on the hand side of the hand.   The transport apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the main shaft is rotatably supported by the main frame and is driven to rotate, and the main shaft is reciprocated along the subframe by a rotational driving force of the main shaft. A sub-shaft that moves and drives the first drive mechanism or the second drive mechanism.   The transport apparatus according to claim 5, wherein a cam attached to the main shaft and a rear end portion of the sub shaft contact each other, the main shaft is rotationally driven, and the sub shaft is connected to the sub shaft via the cam. A conveyance device in which the sub-shaft reciprocates along the sub-frame by the transmitted driving force, and the first drive mechanism or the second drive mechanism is driven via the front end of the sub-shaft. The transport device according to claim 6,
The first drive mechanism includes a base supported by the first linear guide at a position where the first drive mechanism can contact the tip of the reciprocating sub-shaft, and a plate cam mounted on the base and having an inclined surface. A first urging means for urging the first linear guide in a direction in which the first linear guide is brought into contact with the tip of the sub-shaft; and a lock for stopping the base when the movable holding portion is located above the holding portion. And means,
The second drive mechanism is engageable with the base, a bracket that supports the movable holding portion, a second linear guide that supports the bracket and that is arranged in parallel with the first linear guide. An engaging claw, a second urging means for urging the second linear guide in a direction in which the engaging claw and the base are locked, and an elevating and lowering of the movable holding portion by abutting the plate cam. Has a cam follower that determines the position,
In the holding operation, the sub-shaft retracts, the base moves, and the bracket is moved via the engagement claw until the movable holding portion reaches a position above the holding portion, and then, A cam follower descends along the inclined surface of the plate cam to bring the movable holding portion into contact with the object,
In the releasing operation, after the sub-shaft moves forward, the base moves, the cam follower rises along the inclined surface of the plate cam to separate the movable holding portion from the object, Further, the carrying device that moves the bracket via the engaging claw until the movable holding unit moves from a position above the holding unit to the retracted position.   The transport device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the holding portion is made of an elastic member.   The transport device according to claim 1, wherein the movable holding portion is made of an elastic member.   The transport apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a robot arm that controls a relative position and / or posture of the hand with respect to the target object.   A film forming apparatus comprising: the transfer device according to any one of claims 1 to 10; and a film forming chamber for forming a film on the glass substrate as the object. The transport device according to any one of claims 1 to 10,
A film forming chamber for forming an organic thin film on a glass substrate conveyed as the object by the conveying device,
An organic EL element manufacturing system for manufacturing an organic EL element using the glass substrate on which an organic thin film is formed by the film forming chamber. A transporting step of loading or unloading the glass substrate as the object into or from a deposition chamber for depositing an organic thin film by the transport device according to claim 1.
A film forming step of forming an organic thin film on the glass substrate by the film forming chamber,
And a method for manufacturing an organic EL element, which comprises manufacturing the organic EL element using the glass substrate.   A manufacturing system comprising a plurality of the film forming apparatuses according to claim 11.   A plurality of film forming apparatuses according to claim 11, wherein at least one of the film forming apparatuses forms an organic thin film on a glass substrate conveyed as the target object. system.

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