JP2945837B2 - Transport mechanism and transport method for plate-like body - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a transport mechanism and a transport method for a plate-like body such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) substrate.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a process of manufacturing an LCD substrate, various processes such as film formation, etching, and electrical inspection are performed, and various processing apparatuses are used for that purpose. In such an apparatus, for example, a cassette accommodating a plurality of LCD substrates is placed on a cassette mounting table of a loader unit, mapping and alignment of the substrates in the cassette are performed, and then a transfer arm provided in a loading unit is provided. , LCD substrates are taken out of the cassette one by one and are sequentially transported to the processing device.

In an apparatus having such a transport mechanism, as shown in FIG. 5, a cassette 1 is provided by using a light emitting element 44a and a light receiving element 44b provided in a loading section.
The mapping of the substrate S in 0 is performed, and the alignment of the substrate S is performed by sandwiching a plurality of substrates in the cassette by the pair of alignment bars 43a and 43c by the cylinder mechanism 45.

[0004]

However, in such a transport mechanism, since the mapping and alignment of the substrate are performed using separate members, the mapping and alignment of the substrate must be performed separately. This causes a decrease in throughput and complicates the device configuration. Further, since the alignment bar is provided to protrude above the cassette mounting table, it hinders the transfer of the substrate.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and a plate-like body transfer mechanism that can perform substrate mapping and alignment with the same member at a high throughput and does not hinder the transfer operation. And a conveying method.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention firstly provides a mounting table for mounting a storage container accommodating a large number of plate-like bodies, and a projecting and retracting position with respect to the mounting table. A pair of alignment members provided so as to be able to sandwich and align the plate-like body in the storage container in a protruding state, and a plate provided on the alignment member for detecting the plate-like body in the storage container It is an object of the present invention to provide a plate-like body transport mechanism, comprising: a body detector; and a transport member that transports the plate-like body from the storage container to another position.

Second, a pair of alignment members are provided so as to be able to protrude and retreat from the mounting table, and a storage container containing a large number of plate-like bodies is mounted on the mounting table in a state where the alignment members are retracted. And a detector provided on the alignment member for projecting or retreating the alignment member so as to pinch the plate-like body in the storage container to thereby align the plate-like body and to project or retract the alignment member. To detect a plate-like body in a storage container, and then transfer the plate-like body from the storage container to another position.

[0008]

In the present invention, since the pair of alignment members are provided so as to be able to protrude and retract from the mounting table, alignment of the plate can be performed in the protruding state, and the alignment member is retracted when the plate is transported. By doing so, it is possible to prevent the alignment member from hindering the transport operation of the plate-like body. Further, since the alignment member is provided with a detector for detecting the plate-shaped body and integrated, and the mapping and alignment of the plate-shaped body are performed by an integrated member, the plate is required when the alignment member is projected or retracted. By completing the mapping of the shape, the plate shape can be transferred at a high throughput. In addition, the number of components of the transport mechanism can be reduced with this. In addition, the alignment member can be retracted when transporting the plate-like body. Therefore, the plate-like body can be transferred at a high throughput, and the alignment member does not hinder the transfer operation of the plate-like body.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Here, this invention is applied to LCD
An example in which the present invention is applied to a substrate transfer mechanism will be described. FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an LCD substrate transport mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a side view thereof. The transport mechanism includes a cassette mounting portion 1 on which a cassette 10 on which a large number of LCD substrates S are mounted (or is empty), and a substrate S in the cassette 10.
To a stage 3 of a processing apparatus (for example, an LCD substrate inspection apparatus), or a transport unit 2 for transporting the substrate of the stage 3 into a cassette 10.

The cassette mounting section 1 includes a cassette mounting table 11.
The mounting table 11 is provided with a plurality of (three in the figure) cassette mounting positions 12. A pair of alignment bars 1 each having a U-shaped cross section is provided at each cassette mounting position 12.
3a and 13b are provided so as to protrude and retract from the mounting table 11 as described later. A light emitting element 14a is mounted on the upper end of one alignment bar 13a, and a light receiving element 14a is mounted on the other alignment bar 13b.
b is attached. These light emitting element 14a and light receiving element 14b constitute an optical substrate detector,
Thereby, mapping of the substrate S in the cassette 10 can be performed. Reference numeral 15 denotes an air cylinder, 1
Reference numeral 6 denotes a guide, which can move the alignment bars 13a and 13b along an arrow A in FIG. 1 as described later.

The transport unit 2 includes a base member 20 and a transport unit 2 movable on the base member 20 along a rail 22 in an arrow X direction.
1 and a bolt screw mechanism 23 for realizing the movement of the transport unit 21 in the X direction. Ball screw mechanism 2
Reference numeral 3 has a ball screw 23a and a motor 23b for rotating the ball screw.

The transfer unit 21 has transfer arms 25a and 25b arranged in two stages, upper and lower. The transfer arms 25a and 25b are respectively provided along guide rails 24a and 24b provided on a support member 24. Are independently moved in the direction of arrow Y by a ball screw mechanism (not shown). Further, the transfer arms 25a and 25b are
It can be moved up and down together with. Support member 24
, A ball screw 27 extends vertically downward, and a timing pulley 27a is attached to a lower end thereof.
A support plate 30 is provided above the timing pulley 27a. A motor 28 is attached to the lower side of the support plate 30, and a timing pulley 28
a is provided. Timing pulleys 27a and 28
The timing belt 27b is wound around the ball screw 27a, and the vertical movement is achieved by transmitting the rotation of the motor 28 to the ball screw 27. Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the transfer arms 25a and 25b
6 allows a rotational movement indicated by an arrow θ. Reference numeral 29 denotes a rotation stopper for the support member 24.

Next, the cassette mounting section 1 will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. The cassette mounting position 12 is provided with positioning mechanisms 17a and 17b, by which the cassette 10 is positioned.

The alignment bars 13a and 13b are supported by a support member 18 via the guide member 16 described above. The support member 18 is screwed to a ball screw 31 provided along the vertical direction.
When the ball screw 31 is rotated by this, the support member 18 is guided by the guide member 32 and is moved in the vertical direction. Then, along with this vertical movement, the alignment bars 13a and 13b move between a protruding position (the position shown in FIG. 3) where the mounting bar 11 protrudes from the mounting table 11 and a retracted position in the mounting table 11 (the position shown in FIG. 4). I do. Note that reference numeral 3
Reference numerals 4 and 35 are pulleys, and 36 is a belt wound around these.

The aforementioned cylinder 15 and guide 16
Are provided on the support member 18 corresponding to the alignment bars 13a and 13b one by one. And cylinder 1
When the fifth piston 15a advances and retreats, the alignment bars 13a and 13b move in the arrow A direction.

Next, the operation of the transport mechanism configured as described above will be described. First, the cassette 10 on which the LCD substrate is mounted and the empty cassette 10 are mounted on the mounting position 12 of the mounting table 11 by a robot (not shown), and are positioned by the positioning mechanisms 17a and 17b. At this time, the alignment bars 13a and 13b are retracted into the mounting table 11 as shown in FIG.

Next, the cassette 1 on which the LCD substrate is mounted
The alignment bars 13a and 13b corresponding to 0 are moved to the protruding positions shown in FIG. During this movement (or when moving from the projecting position to the retracted position), the mapping of the LCD substrate S in the cassette 10 is performed by the light emitting elements 14a and the light receiving elements 14b provided on the alignment bars 13a and 13b, respectively. In this case, the cylinder 15
Is in the advanced state, and the alignment bars 13a and 13b are in the open state.

Thereafter, the piston 15a of the cylinder 15 is retracted, and the alignment bars 13a and 13b are moved inward, thereby holding the LCD substrate S in the cassette 10 and aligning the substrate S.

After the alignment is completed, the alignment bars 13a and 13b are opened and further lowered to the retracted position. Then, the LCD substrate S is transported one by one to the stage 3 from the cassette 10 by the transport unit 21 of the transport unit 2. In this transfer, first, the transfer arm 25
a, 25b are inserted into the cassette 10, and the LCD substrate S is placed thereon. Next, the transfer arms 25a and 25b
The substrate is rotated by 80 degrees and moved to a predetermined position on the stage 3, and the substrate is lowered to that position.

The substrate dropped on the stage 3 is transported to a position where a process such as inspection is performed by a transport device (not shown) in the processing device, subjected to a predetermined process, and then transported to the stage 3 again. Is done.

The processed substrate is transferred from the stage 3 into the empty cassette 10 by the arms 25a and 25b.
At this time, the alignment bars 13a and 13b are retracted while being opened.

As described above, the alignment bars 13a, 1
3b is provided so as to protrude and retract with respect to the mounting table 11, so that the alignment bar 1
3a and 13b can be retracted, and it can be avoided that they hinder the substrate transport operation. Further, since the light emitting element 14a and the light receiving element 14b constituting the optical substrate detector are provided integrally with the alignment bars 13a and 13b, the mapping and alignment of the substrate can be performed by an integral member. Therefore, the number of components can be reduced, and the substrate can be transferred at a high throughput. Further, the alignment bars 13a, 1
When projecting 3b, mapping is performed, so that the efficiency is extremely high.

In the above embodiment, the present invention is applied to an LCD.
However, the present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to other plate-like bodies such as semiconductor wafers. Further, the light emitting element and the light receiving element are used as the detector for detecting the plate-like body, but the present invention is not limited to this. In addition, various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[0024]

According to the present invention, since a pair of alignment members are provided so as to be able to protrude and retreat from the mounting table, the alignment members can be retracted when the plate-like body is conveyed, and these can be replaced by the plate-like members. This prevents the body transport operation from being hindered. In addition, since the alignment member is provided with a detector for detecting the plate-like body and the mapping and alignment of the plate-like body are performed by an integral member, the plate-like body is used when projecting or retracting the alignment member. Can be completed, and the plate-like body can be transported at a high throughput. Accordingly, the number of components of the transport mechanism can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an LCD substrate transport mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing an LCD substrate transport mechanism according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a front view showing a cassette mounting portion in the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, showing a state where an alignment bar is projected.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing a cassette mounting portion in the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, showing a state in which an alignment bar is retracted.

FIG. 5 is a front view showing a conventional transport mechanism.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Cassette mounting part 2 ... Conveying part 3 ... Stage 10 ... Cassette 11 ... Mounting table 13a, 13b ... Alignment bar 14a ... Light emitting element 14b ... Light receiving element 21 ... Conveying unit 31 ... Ball screw 33 Motor

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A mounting table on which a storage container accommodating a large number of plate-like objects is stored, and a mounting table provided so as to be able to protrude and retreat with respect to the mounting table. A pair of alignment members for aligning the plate member, a plate member detector provided on the alignment member, for detecting a plate member in the storage container, and the plate member from the storage container to another position. And a conveying member for conveying the sheet. 2. A pair of alignment members are provided so as to be able to protrude and retreat with respect to a mounting table, and a storage container containing a large number of plate-like bodies is mounted on the mounting table in a state where the alignment members are retracted. The alignment member is made to protrude, thereby holding the plate-shaped body in the storage container to perform alignment of the plate-shaped body. When the alignment member is protruded or retracted, the alignment member is stored by a detector provided on the alignment member. A method of transporting a plate-like body, comprising detecting a plate-like body in a container, and then transporting the plate-like body from the storage container to another position.