JP4053275B2 - Automated guided vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem that it is difficult to engage an engaging member to a member to be engaged for preventing an article placement stand from being supported easily since the article placement stand that is supported by an antivibration means is rocked and vibrated not only in a vertical direction but also in a horizontal direction immediately after an unmanned vehicle stops, in the unmanned vehicle comprising the antivibration means that is included between a vehicle body and the article placement stand, a plurality of engaging members that are provided at either the vehicle body or the article placement stand, a member to be engaged that opposes the member to be engaged that is provided at the other, an elevation means for elevating either the engaging member or the member to be engaged, and a transfer apparatus for transferring an article that is placed on the article placement stand. SOLUTION: A V groove for guiding the engaging member (pin) 62 to a prescribed position is provided in the member (block piece) 61 to be engaged, and at the same time the direction of the V groove of at least one member 61 to be engaged is directed toward a different direction relative to the V groove of the other members to be engaged.

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an automatic guided vehicle including an article mounting table, and more particularly, to a structure that supports the article mounting table.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, in semiconductor manufacturing factories where dust generation is a problem, unattended transfer equipped with a scalar arm type transfer device and an article placement table for temporarily placing articles in order to transfer and convey articles A technique for automatically driving a car is known.
In order to prevent vibrations from being transmitted to the article placed on the article placement table during traveling, vibration isolating means such as a spring is interposed between the vehicle body and the article placement table. It is configured.
[0003]
As shown in FIG. 6, air dampers 71, 71... That are vibration isolation means are interposed between the vehicle body 2 and the article mounting table 7. The air dampers 71, 71,... Are arranged at the four corners of the article mounting table 7, and support the article mounting table 7 and absorb vibrations thereof. Further, pin holes 7b, 7b,... Are provided at the four corners of the lower surface of the article mounting table 7, and pins 72, 72,. Is protruding. The pins 72, 72... Can be moved up and down by extending and retracting the cylinder. When the automatic guided vehicle is stopped and the wafers 10, 10. ), The pins 72, 72... Are raised, the tips thereof are inserted into the pin holes 7b, 7b, and the article mounting table 7 is lifted and supported. The support of the article mounting table 7 by the air dampers 71, 71... Does not act, and the position of the article mounting table 7 is fixed by the pins 72, 72.
On the other hand, at the time of running, as shown in FIG. 5B, the pins 72, 72,... Are lowered, the pointed ends thereof are removed from the pin holes 7b, 7b, and the pins 72, 72,. The support of the article mounting table 7 is released. In this state, the article mounting table 7 is supported by the air dampers 71, 71... And absorbs vibration during traveling.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, during travel, the article mounting table 7 supported by the air dampers 71, 71... Swings not only in the vertical direction but also in the horizontal direction. It vibrates horizontally rather than vertically.
In the state where this horizontal vibration is generated, even if the pins 72, 72,... Are raised, they may not fit well in the pin holes 7b, 7b,. Therefore, it is desirable to wait until the vibration is attenuated.
From the viewpoint of pursuing work efficiency, this waiting time is desired to be eliminated as much as possible. Therefore, in the present invention, the unmanned person can reliably support the article mounting table 7 even if it vibrates somewhat in the horizontal direction. It is an object to provide a transport vehicle.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The problems to be solved by the present invention are as described above. Next, means for solving the problems will be described.
First, as described in claim 1, vibration isolating means interposed between the vehicle body and the article mounting table, and a plurality of engagement members provided on either the vehicle body or the article mounting table. A V-groove is provided on either the body body or the article mounting table and guides the engaging member to a predetermined position, and the direction of at least one V-groove is different from the direction of the other V-grooves. comprising a plurality of the engaging members provided toward, and lifting means for lifting one of said engaging member and the engaged member, and a transfer device for transferring the article to article rack In the automatic guided vehicle, either one of the engaging member or the engaged member is disposed at an equal interval from each other, and a lifting plate that moves up and down while maintaining a horizontal posture without tilting by the lifting means is provided. The anti-vibration unit is provided in the vehicle body and is used when the automatic guided vehicle is running. A stage uniformly supports the article mounting table, and when the automatic guided vehicle is stopped, the elevating means raises the elevating plate and engages the engaging member and the engaged member. The article mounting table is supported .
[0006]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, the elevating plate is guided by a linear bush erected vertically to the vehicle body.
[0007]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, at least one of the engaging member and the engaged member is configured to be exchangeable.
[0008]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
An embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings.
1 is a perspective view showing the state of the automatic guided vehicle 1 in the clean room, FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of the automatic guided vehicle 1, and FIG. 3 is an article mounting table 5 when it is supported by air dampers 55, 55. 4 is a side view of the article mounting table 5 when it is supported and fixed by the block pieces 61, 61... And the pins 62, 62. FIG.
[0009]
First, the overall configuration of the automatic guided vehicle 1 will be described.
In the following description, the front-rear and left-right positions of each structure will be described with the arrow F direction in FIG. 1 as the front. In addition, the front / rear / left / right positions of the structures in the other drawings are the same as those in FIG.
[0010]
As shown in FIG. 1, the automatic guided vehicle 1 is a tracked carriage that automatically travels on traveling rails 20, 20, and a vehicle body 2 is supported by traveling wheels 9, 9, 9, 9. The nine, nine and nine are driven by the four-wheel drive on the traveling rails 20 and 20 by being driven by drive motors 8, 8, 8, and 8 (FIG. 2) corresponding to the respective motors.
In this embodiment, in order to reduce the slip, the drive is transmitted to all the traveling wheels 9, 9, 9, 9. Each traveling wheel 9, 9, 9, 9 has a drive motor 8, Although 8, 8, 8 are attached, the mechanism for transmitting the drive to all the traveling wheels 9, 9, 9, 9 is not limited to this, and other mechanisms may be used. Further, the drive wheels are not limited to four wheels and the number thereof is not limited as long as the drive wheels are respectively provided on the front and rear of the vehicle body.
[0011]
.. And a stocker 22 are arranged side by side along the traveling rails 20 and 20, and a plurality of cassettes 23, 23... Are arranged side by side at predetermined intervals on the stocker 22. ing. The cassettes 23, 23,... Are arranged with the openings directed toward the traveling rails 20, 20, and a plurality of shelves are provided in the upper and lower sides of the cassette 23, and wafers 10, 10,. -Is stored horizontally.
In the present embodiment, the stocker 22 is a flat-type stocker. However, the stocker 22 is automatically equipped with a loading / unloading port for the cassette 23, a number of shelves, and a stacker crane for transferring the cassette 23 between the shelves and the loading / unloading port. It may be a warehouse.
[0012]
As shown in FIG. 2, the body 2 of the automatic guided vehicle 1 is provided with a transfer device 3 for transferring wafers 10... At the center thereof, and before and after the wafers 10. ... And an article placement table 5 on which a buffer cassette 50 in which the wafers 10, 10... Are placed is placed.
[0013]
Next, the transfer device 3 will be described.
The transfer device 3 includes transfer arms 30M and 30S, a base 38, a turntable 39, and the like. The base 38 is embedded in the center of the vehicle body 2, and the turntable 39 is pivotally mounted on the base 38. A pair of transfer arms 30M and 30S are mounted on the turntable 39.
[0014]
The base 38 is configured to be movable up and down, and the turntable 39 is configured to be rotatable relative to the base 38.
The transfer arm 30M (30S) is a scalar arm type robot hand in which a link mechanism is assembled with a transfer hand 31, a first arm 32, and a second arm 33. It is configured to be flexible.
[0015]
Next, the posture alignment device 4 will be described.
The posture alignment device 4 includes a casing 40, a mounting table 41, orientation flat sensors 42 and 42, an optical character reader (hereinafter referred to as “OCR”) 43, and the like. The casing 40 is open near the entrance of the transfer device 3 side. Two orientation flat sensors 42 and 42 are disposed, and a projector 42a is embedded on the ceiling surface and a light receiver 42b is embedded on the floor surface. These two orientation flat sensors 42 and 42 detect the orientation flat position (or notch position) of the 12-inch wafer 10 with the orientation flat sensor 42 on the outer side (opening entrance side of the casing 40), and the inner side (back side of the opening of the casing 40). The orientation flat sensor 42) detects the orientation flat position (or notch position) of the 8-inch wafer 10S.
[0016]
Further, an OCR 43 is embedded in the floor surface and the back side of the opening of the casing 40. The wafer 10 is set in the casing 40 with the surface with the ID mark on the lower side, and the ID mark 11 is placed on the OCR 43. It is configured to read with. Note that the wafer 10 may be set with the ID mark face up. In this case, the OCR 43 is arranged on the ceiling surface and the back side of the opening of the casing 40, or the board surface of the wafer 10 is changed up and down in the course of work. In consideration of this, as shown in FIG. 2, it is preferable that a pair of upper and lower OCRs 43 and 43 be arranged on the ceiling surface of the opening of the casing 40 and the back side of the floor surface.
[0017]
A mounting table 41 for mounting the wafer 10 is provided on the floor surface of the opening of the casing 40. The mounting table 41 has a disk shape, and a suction hole is provided at the center of rotation, and a plurality of suction grooves are provided concentrically and radially from the suction hole. With this configuration, when the wafer 10 is mounted on the mounting table 41, the wafer 10 is sucked and held by the air pump through the suction hole, and when the mounting table 41 is rotated, the wafer 10 is subjected to centrifugal force. The position is not misaligned.
[0018]
Next, the article mounting table 5 will be described.
As shown in FIG. 3 to FIG. 5, a plurality of air dampers 55, 55... As vibration isolating means are interposed between the article mounting table 5 and the vehicle body 2, and a buffer cassette is provided on the article mounting table 5. 50 is mounted and fixed. The buffer cassette 50 is arranged with its opening facing forward (on the transfer device 3 side), and a plurality of shelves are provided in the upper and lower sides in the buffer cassette 50, and wafers 10, 10,... Is stored horizontally.
[0019]
Specifically, a mounting plate 51 is provided on the lower surface of the article mounting table 5, and support bodies 52 and 52 having a shape like a chaise longue are suspended from the front and rear portions of the mounting plate 51. . On the other hand, a cylinder plate 53 is provided on the upper surface of the vehicle body 2 below the mounting plate 51, and a support plate 54 is mounted thereon. Each of the cylinder plate 53 and the support plate 54 has an opening 53a / 54a formed at the center thereof (FIG. 5), and the inside of the opening 53a / 54a is inserted into a cylinder rod 57a of an air cylinder 57 described later. . Further, the air dampers 55, 55... Are erected on the front and rear portions of the support plate 54, and the support bodies 52, 52 are placed on the air dampers 55, 55. Evenly supported and its vibration is buffered.
[0020]
Further, an air cylinder 57 as an elevating means is embedded in the vehicle body 2, and the cylinder rod 57 a protrudes upward from the cylinder plate 53 and the opening (53 a, 54 a) at the center of the support plate 54, and the cylinder rod 57 a A floating joint 58 is attached to the upper end. The floating joint 58 is configured to be rotatable in the vertical direction and is fixed to the lower surface of the elevating plate 59.
Alternatively, the floating joint 58 may be configured not to rotate, and the air cylinder 57 embedded in the vehicle body 2 may be attached so as to be vertically rotatable. Alternatively, both the floating joint 58 and the air cylinder 57 may be configured to be rotatable up and down, and the configuration is not particularly limited.
[0021]
The elevating plate 59 and the support plate 54 have holes 59b and 59b, 54b and 54b on the left and right sides, respectively. The holes 59b and 59b of the elevating plate 59 are shafts 56a of the linear bushes 56 and 56, respectively. The upper end of 56a is fitted, and the outer cylinders 56b and 56b that are externally mounted on the shafts 56a and 56a are fitted into the holes 54b and 54b of the support plate 54. The pair of left and right linear bushes 56 and 56 are erected so as to be perpendicular to the upper surface of the vehicle body 2 with high accuracy. Even if the cylinder rod 57a of the air cylinder 57 advances and retracts diagonally, the lifting plate 59 does not move. By being guided by the linear bushes 56, 56, it is moved up and down while maintaining its horizontal posture without tilting.
[0022]
Further, on the upper surface of the lifting plate 59, three block pieces 61, 61, 61 which are engaged members are arranged at equal intervals from each other (specifically, centering on the center of the lifting plate 59). When viewed from the center of the lifting plate 59, they are arranged at intervals of 120 ° and are detachably attached. The upper portions of these block pieces 61, 61, 61 are cut out in a “V” shape, and the valley portions (the contour lines of the deepest portion) of the V grooves 61 a, 61 a, 61 a are the center of the lifting plate 59. It is directed in the direction of gathering. That is, the direction of the V groove 61a of each block piece 61 is arranged in a direction different from the direction in which the V grooves 61a and 61a of the other block pieces 61 and 61 face (directions not parallel to each other).
[0023]
Then, screw holes 51b, 51b, 51b are provided on the lower surface of the mounting plate 51 above the block pieces 61, 61, 61, and pins 62, 62, which are engaging members in the screw holes 51b, 51b, 51b. 62 is screwed and detachably suspended, and when the elevating plate 59 is raised, the tapered lower ends of the pins 62, 62, 62 and the V-grooves of the block pieces 61, 61, 61 are engaged. Configured to match.
Here, the engaging side pins 62, 62, 62 are made of metal, and one of the engaged side block pieces 61, 61, 61 is made of resin such as MC nylon.
As a result, the block pieces 61, 61, 61 are worn while the block pieces 61, 61, 61 and the pins 62, 62, 62 are repeatedly engaged / disengaged due to long-term use. However, even in such a case, the article mounting table is simply maintained by removing the worn block pieces 61, 61,... And replacing them with new ones. Thus, the positioning of 5 can be performed again accurately.
[0024]
In the above configuration, the block pieces 61, 61, 61 are projected on the upper surface of the elevating plate 59 and the pins 62, 62, 62 are suspended from the mounting plate 51. The pins 62, 62, 62 may be provided so as to protrude from the elevating plate 59 (with the tapering side facing upward), while the block pieces 61, 61, 61 may be suspended from the mounting plate 51.
[0025]
With this configuration, when the buffer cassette 50 is placed on the article placement table 5 and the automatic guided vehicle 1 is driven, the air cylinder 57 is operated to lower the lifting plate 59 as shown in FIG. Then, the block pieces 61, 61, 61 on the upper surface thereof and the pins 62, 62, 62 on the lower surface of the mounting plate 51 are separated from each other, and the support bodies 52, 52 are supported by the air dampers 55, 55,. In this way, the air dampers 55, 55,... Support the article mounting table 5 evenly, buffer the vibrations that occur during vehicle travel, and prevent the wafers 10, 10,. is doing.
[0026]
Then, when the automatic guided vehicle 1 is stopped and the load is transferred, as shown in FIG. 4, the air cylinder 57 is operated to raise the elevating plate 59, and the V V of the block pieces 61, 61, 61 is increased. The grooves 61a, 61a, 61a are engaged with the pins 62, 62, 62. Thereby, the mounting plate 51 is fixed in a position supported by the elevating plate 59, and the air dampers 55, 55.
[0027]
In particular, immediately after the automatic guided vehicle 1 is stopped, the article mounting table 5 on which the inertia acts is vibrating in the horizontal direction rather than the vertical direction. However, in the present invention, the V grooves 61a, 61a, 61a of the block pieces 61, 61, 61 are securely engaged with the pins 62, 62, 62 even in a state where the horizontal vibration is generated. To do.
[0028]
That is, since the V-groove 61a of the block piece 61 is expanded in a relatively wide range upward, even if the position of the pin 62 above is slightly deviated from the position of the groove due to the vibration in the horizontal direction, Guided by the V-groove 61a, the tip of the pin 62 fits in the deepest part. In this way, the three pins 62, 62, 62 are guided by the three block pieces 61, 61, 61 arranged at the apexes of the equilateral triangle, so that the article mounting table 5 is in a centered position (predetermined position). In addition, the linear bushing 56 is supported at three points at the most stable position while the horizontal posture is accurately maintained.
[0029]
Further, by controlling the rising amount of the air cylinder 57, the buffer cassette 50 can be brought to a predetermined height position. For example, the position of a stopper (not shown) provided on the cylinder rod 57a of the air cylinder 57 is adjusted so that the desired height position of the buffer cassette 50 becomes the maximum stroke of the cylinder rod 57a. By setting in this way, the buffer cassette 50 can be brought to a desired height position without finely controlling the stroke amount of the cylinder rod 57a. Further, even if air is sent too much to the air cylinder 57, the height position does not change.
[0030]
In this manner, the article mounting table 5 is accurately positioned, and the buffer cassette 50 placed thereon is accurately and horizontally maintained. Accordingly, the transfer hand 31 can be horizontally extended and inserted into the buffer cassette 50 without fail, and when the transfer hand 31 is inserted, the target shelf and the shelf above it interfere with each other. It does not induce trouble.
The automatic guided vehicle 1 of the present invention is not limited to a non-contact tracked carriage, and may be other automatic guided vehicles such as a laser equipped with a battery or a magnetic induction type automatic guided vehicle.
[0031]
【The invention's effect】
Since the present invention is configured as described above, the following effects can be obtained.
First, in the first aspect of the invention, vibration isolating means interposed between the vehicle body and the article mounting table, and a plurality of engagement members provided on either the vehicle body or the article mounting table. A V-groove is provided on either the body body or the article mounting table and guides the engaging member to a predetermined position, and the direction of at least one V-groove is different from the direction of the other V-grooves. comprising a plurality of the engaging members provided toward, and lifting means for lifting one of said engaging member and the engaged member, and a transfer device for transferring the article to article rack In the automatic guided vehicle, either one of the engaging member or the engaged member is disposed at an equal interval from each other, and a lifting plate that moves up and down while maintaining a horizontal posture without tilting by the lifting means is provided. It is provided on the body of the vehicle, and when the automatic guided vehicle is running, Means equally supports the article mounting table, and when the automatic guided vehicle is stopped, the elevating means raises the elevating plate and engages the engaging member and the engaged member. Since the article placing table is supported , when the article is placed on the article placing table and the automatic guided vehicle is driven, the lifting / lowering means is operated to lower the engaged member (or the engaging member). By separating from the combined member (or engaged member), the article mounting table is supported by the vibration isolating means, and the vibration generated during traveling is absorbed.
On the other hand, when the automatic guided vehicle is stopped and the load is transferred, the elevating means is operated to raise the engaged member (or engaging member) and engage the engaging member (or engaged member). In combination, the article mounting table can be supported.
And even if the article mounting table vibrates in the horizontal direction due to the inertia acting immediately after the automatic guided vehicle stops, the V groove of the engaged member is expanded toward the engaging member side, so that Even if the engaging member is slightly deviated, it is guided by the slope of the V groove and fits in the deepest part of the V groove.
Further, since the V groove of at least one engaged member is arranged in a different direction with respect to the V groove of other engaged members, the engaging member engaged with the engaged member is The article mounting table is fixed at a proper position and is reliably supported without causing a positional shift.
Eventually, even if the engaging member is somewhat deviated with respect to the engaged member in the process of supporting the article support base, the V groove of the engaged member can catch the engaging member in a relatively wide range. Therefore, both can be engaged even in this blurred state, and the certainty and reliability are improved.
[0032]
Next, as described in claim 2, since the lifting plate is guided by a linear bush vertically installed on the vehicle body, the article mounting table is most stable while maintaining a horizontal posture. Supported at three points in position. At the same time, the buffer cassette placed on the article placement table is accurately and horizontally maintained.
[0033]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, at least one of the engaging member and the engaged member is configured to be exchangeable, so that the article mounting table is positioned by wear and the engaged member. Even if this is not accurately performed, at least one of the engaging member and the engaged member may be replaced with a new one. By such a simple maintenance operation, accurate positioning can be performed again.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a state of an automatic guided vehicle 1 in a clean room.
2 is a side sectional view of the automatic guided vehicle 1. FIG.
FIG. 3 is a side view of an article mounting table 5 according to the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a side view of an article mounting table 5 according to the present invention.
FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of an article mounting table 5 according to the present invention.
6 is a side view of a conventional article mounting table 5. FIG.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Automatic guided vehicle 2 Car body 3 Transfer equipment 5 Article mounting base 10 Wafer 50 Buffer cassette 51 Mounting plate 52 Support body 54 Support plate 55 Air damper 56 Linear bushing 57 Air cylinder 59 Lifting plate 61 Block piece 61a V groove 62 Pin

Claims (3)

Anti-vibration means interposed between the vehicle body and the article mounting table, a plurality of engagement members provided on either the vehicle body or the article mounting table, and any of the vehicle body or the article mounting table A plurality of engaged portions provided on the other side, provided with a V-groove for guiding the engaging member to a predetermined position, and having the direction of at least one V-groove oriented differently from the direction of the other V-grooves a member, a lifting means for lifting one of said engaging member and the engaged member, the automatic guided vehicle and a transfer device for transferring an article to the article placing table,
Either one of the engaging member or the engaged member is disposed at an equal interval from each other, and includes a lifting plate that moves up and down while maintaining a horizontal posture without being tilted by the lifting means,
The anti-vibration means uniformly supports the article mounting table when the automatic guided vehicle travels,
When the automatic guided vehicle is stopped, the elevating means raises the elevating plate to engage the engaging member and the engaged member, and the article mounting table is supported by the engagement. Automated guided vehicle. 2. The automatic guided vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the elevating plate is guided by a linear bush vertically provided on the vehicle body .   The automatic guided vehicle according to claim 1 or 2, wherein at least one of the engaging member and the engaged member is configured to be exchangeable.

Images