JP2534842B2 - Substrate separation apparatus and substrate separation method - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a substrate separating apparatus and a substrate separating method, and more particularly, to an apparatus and a method for separating stacked substrates one by one and transporting them to another substrate processing apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in this type of substrate separating apparatus, a part of the adsorption pad is moved up and down by a corrugating driving device to corrugate the substrate to ensure the separation.

For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-351237 discloses a retry control for repeatedly performing the descending, waving, and two-sheet detecting operations of a loader in response to a two-sheet overlapping state detection signal. In the substrate separating apparatus provided with the means, by providing the corrugation number increasing means for increasing the number of corrugation operations in accordance with the increase in the number of repetitions of two-plate detection, it is shown in FIG. Such a technique is disclosed.

That is, in FIG. 4 of the prior art, a loader 21 mounted on a pandagraph type lifting mechanism 22 has a large number of suction pads 4 connected to a wave driving device 23, and a large number of layers stacked on a material carriage 19. The substrate W is picked up one by one from the top by a large number of suction pads 4, and is lifted and moved along the rail 8 onto the substrate processing machine 20 to move the substrate processing machine 20.
To be attached to. If the next substrate sticks undesirably to the top substrate and two substrates are lifted at the same time,
It is detected by the sheet detection device 6. In the transfer control device 24,
The single-sheet separation control means 10 is a part of the sequence control program, and the waving control means 12 that drives the waving drive device 23, the retry control means 13 that causes the waving predetermined repeating operation, and the predetermined repeating operation are performed. There is provided a two-sheet suction error detecting means 15 for generating an alarm by the notifying means 14 and stopping the entire machine when the separation is impossible. Further, the waving control means 12 has waving number increasing means 25 for increasing the number of waving operations for each try step to a predetermined number of operations, and the retry control means 13 has a number of retries for counting the number of retries (the number of repetitions). A counter 26 having a two-sheet suction error detecting means 1
A retry count setting unit 16 that sets the retry count in 5
have.

[0005]

In this conventional substrate separating apparatus, since the number of repetitions (the number of retries) and the number of corrugation operations in each corrugation try increase, the corrugation operation pattern in each repeating process is the same. There is a problem in that the overlapping state of two sheets, which cannot be separated by the first wave operation, cannot be separated even if the wave operation is repeated several times. That is, when the number of repetitions of the two-sheet detection is large, the adhesion of the substrates in the overlapping state is strong, but even in that case, only the same waving operation is performed, so that the success rate of separation at the time of repetition is low. .

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a substrate separating apparatus and a separating method thereof which can solve such a problem and improve the efficiency of separation when two sheets are adsorbed.

[0007]

A feature of the present invention is that a plurality of cylinders that can be independently raised, lowered, and intermediately stopped are two-dimensionally arranged, and a suction pad is attached to the tip of the cylinder. A suction head having a mechanism for waving the suctioned substrates by raising and lowering the cylinder, and a two-sheet detection device for detecting that the above-mentioned suctioned substrates are overlapped at each suction pad rising position. Then, in response to the detection signal of the two-sheet detecting device, the retry control means for self-determining the overlapping state of the two-board overlapping substrates and the two-board overlapping state judged by the retry control means are separated. For this reason, the substrate separating apparatus is provided with a corrugation control means for selecting an optimum operation pattern according to the overlapping mode and outputting it to each cylinder.

Another feature of the present invention is a substrate separating method using the substrate device, wherein each cylinder is operated according to the operation pattern selected by the judgment of the retry control means to separate the overlapping substrates. It is in.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings by taking separation of a printed circuit board as an example.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, an elevating table 2 having an elevator 1 capable of highly accurate pitch feeding by a servomotor and the like, and substrates W stacked in a stacked state on the elevating table 2 are attracted independently. A suction head 5 having suction pads 4 at the tips of a plurality of cylinders that can be raised, lowered, and intermediately stopped, and the thickness of the substrate W sucked by the suction pads 4 is measured to determine whether or not they have been reliably separated. And a device 6. In order to recognize the overlapping mode in which the two substrates are in close contact with each other by measuring the thickness of each of the two sides of the substrate W, the two-sheet detecting device 6 is provided in a plurality facing each other. There is.

Further, the two-sheet detecting device 6 itself detects the sandwiching thickness by using an eddy current displacement sensor or the like, and since it has been conventionally used, the explanation with reference to the drawings will be omitted.

The suction head 5 travels along a rail 8 for reciprocating above and below the lifting table 2 and a carry-out conveyor 7 for carrying the sucked substrate W to the next step.

Next, the control system will be described.

The transfer / elevation controller 9 is a means for automatically operating the entire apparatus including the lifting table 2 and the carry-out conveyor 7 in addition to the suction head 5, and a substrate supply device (not shown) for the lifting table 2. And a substrate processing device (not shown) after the carry-out conveyor 7 send and receive timing signals to and from each other.

The 1-sheet separation control means 10 is a part of a sequence control program provided in the transfer / elevation control device 9, and receives board information 11 such as the size, thickness and number of the boards W from a personal computer, It is a program for raising and lowering the cylinders 3 arranged on the suction head 5 to suck one substrate W on the lifting table 2.

The single-sheet separation control means 10 includes a suction head 5
Corrugation control means 12 for corrugating the adsorbed substrate W by raising and lowering each of the cylinders 3 arranged in the above, and the two-sheet detection device 6
In response to the detection signal of the two-sheet overlapping state, the retry control means 13 for self-determining the suction state of the substrates W and the alarm means 14 for generating an alarm when the separation is not possible even after performing a predetermined repeated operation. A two-sheet suction error detection means 15 for stopping the entire apparatus is provided.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 2 shows an outline of the entire operation of the single sheet separation control means 10 of FIG. First, the elevating table 2 is raised so that the uppermost stage of the stacked substrates W is the adsorption position of the adsorption pad 4 (S1), and the adsorption pad 4 is lowered to adsorb the uppermost substrate W (S2). After the suction, the cylinders 3 are repeatedly lifted and stopped in accordance with the waving operation program to lift the substrate W while waving (S3). This corrugation operation improves the separability of the overlapping state of the substrates W. After the corrugation, the thickness of the substrate W adsorbed by the adsorption pad 4 is detected by each of the two-sided detection devices 6 at a plurality of side surface portions (S4). When the two-sheet detecting device 6 determines that the proper state, that is, the suction state of only one sheet (S
5) The process proceeds to the next step after the waving operation pattern clear (S6) described later (S7), the suction head 5 is moved onto the unloading conveyor 7, and the substrate W is unloaded to the next step.

In the determination process for detecting the two substrates in step S5, it is determined that the number of the attracted substrates is not appropriate because the substrates attracted by the suction pad and the subsequent substrate are adhered (adhered) to be simultaneously launched. If so, the process proceeds to a retry count determination step (S10), and it is determined whether the retry count set by the retry count setting unit 16 has been reached.

At the first time, the process proceeds to the next judgment step S12, and it is judged whether the detection result of the two-sheet detecting device 6 is a two-sheet overlapping state or a suction failure state without a substrate.

Retry control means 1 when two sheets are in an overlapping state
3. Advancing to the adsorption state self-determination unit 17 in 3
The overlapping mode of the substrates is self-determined from the detection result of the sheet detection device 6 (S8), and the corrugation pattern selection unit 18 in the corrugation control means 12 selects the corrugation operation pattern of the cylinder 3 at the next retry (S9). .

After that, the suction pad 4 is lowered, and the separating operation and the detection by the two-sheet detecting device 6 are repeated with the newly selected wavy pattern. When it is determined that the two-sheet detection is appropriate due to the change of the wavy motion pattern (S5), the motion pattern selected by the wavy pattern selection unit 18 is cleared (S6), and then the process proceeds to the next step.

Since the substrate separating apparatus selects the optimum pattern for separating the substrates by the corrugation operation according to the state of overlapping the two substrates, the reliability of the substrate separation when the two substrates overlap is increased.

FIG. 3 exemplifies a separating operation pattern when two sheets are overlapped and detected.

In FIG. 3 (A), the uppermost substrate W is adsorbed by the adsorption pads 4 (a to i) arranged in 3 rows and 3 columns in a planar shape.

Here, the overlap of the two substrates is detected on the left side of the drawing of FIG. 3 (A), and the two substrates are in contact and overlap under the line of pads a-d-g, while on the right side of the drawing. Board 2
Regarding the separation of the two substrates W in the overlapping mode in which the two substrates W are not overlapped under the line of the pad c-fi without detecting the overlap of the two sheets, the vertical movement pattern of the suction pad by each cylinder is described. To do.

1-2-3 of "from the Y direction" in FIG.
As shown in step -4, a, b, and c move vertically while maintaining the same height, and d, e, and f move vertically while maintaining the same height. , G,
The h and i maintain the same height and move up and down, whereby the substrate W viewed from the Y direction moves up and down without bending motion.

On the other hand, 1-of "from the X direction" in FIG.
As illustrated in step 2-3 of steps 2-3-4, a, d, g are a, g on both sides of the center d.
Moves vertically with different vertical positions, and b, e, h also move vertically with different vertical positions for b and h on both sides with respect to central e, and c, f, i also have central f. On the other hand, c and i on both sides move up and down with different up and down positions, whereby the substrate W viewed from the Y direction moves up and down while making a wavy bending motion.

With such an operation pattern, the success rate of separation can be increased.

[0031]

As described above, according to the present invention,
When it is determined by the two-sheet detection device that the substrates adsorbed by the adsorption pad are in the overlapping state, the self-determination of the overlapping state is performed, and the cylinder operation pattern optimal for the separation is selected each time to perform the separating operation. Therefore, there is an effect that the success rate of separating two sheets in the repeating process is improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a substrate separating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the substrate separating apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a pattern of a separating operation at the time of detecting an overlap of two sheets.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram showing a conventional substrate separating apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Elevator 2 Lifting table 3 Cylinder 4 Suction pad 5 Suction head 6 Two-sheet detection device 7 Carry-out conveyor 8 Rail 9 Transfer / elevation control device 10 One-sheet separation control means 11 Board information 12 Retry control means 13 Retry control means 14 Notification means 15 Two-sheet suction error detection means 16 Retry number setting section 17 Overlap mode self-determination section 18 Rippling pattern selection section W substrate 19 Material trolley machine 20 Substrate processing machine 21 Loader 22 Elevating mechanism device 23 Rippling drive device 24 Transfer control device 25 Rippling Number increase means 26 Retry number counter

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A plurality of cylinders that can be independently raised, lowered, and intermediately stopped are arranged in a plane, a suction pad is attached to the tip of the cylinder, and a substrate suctioned by the suction pad is moved up and down in the cylinder. A suction head having a mechanism for waving, a two-sheet detection device that detects that the above-mentioned suctioned substrates are in a two-sheet overlapping state at each suction pad rising position, and a detection signal of the two-sheet detection device In response to the above, the retry control means for self-determining the overlapping manner of the two substrates in the overlapping state, and the optimum for the overlapping manner for separating the two overlapping states judged by the retry controlling means. A substrate separating apparatus comprising: a waving control unit that selects an operation pattern and outputs the selected operation pattern to each cylinder. 2. The substrate separating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the cylinders is operated according to the operation pattern selected by the judgment of the retry control means to separate the overlapping substrates. Substrate separation method used.