JP4181799B2 - Sphere support unit - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a sphere support unit for movably supporting an object or the like by a sphere that is rotatably provided, and more particularly to a configuration that can be used in a clean room or the like.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, a sphere support unit for supporting an object by a sphere and moving it with a small force is often used. However, the conventional sphere support unit does not have a function capable of positively discharging dust generated inside to the outside. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-140873 discloses a countermeasure against dust. This is shown as a transfer ball unit that can be easily discharged even if dust or the like enters the case. The general configuration is that a case is formed by a bottom member that forms a substantially spherical recess, a side member, and an upper lid member, and a receiving ball is spread on the bottom of the case, and a main ball is arranged on the receiving ball. In addition to supporting and transporting objects with the main ball, grooves and through holes are provided in the bottom member, and dust collected on the bottom is discharged using gravity falling naturally. It is.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
There are some conventional spherical support units that take measures against dust entering from the outside, but the discharge of the entering dust depends on the natural fall due to its own weight and does not have a function of positively discharging Is. For this reason, it hardly functions against fine dust that floats, such as dust generated by friction between spheres. Moreover, the dust adhering to the main ball adheres to the transferred object by rotating as it is. Such a sphere support unit cannot be used in clean rooms such as semiconductor factories, bio-related facilities, food-related facilities and the like that are strictly required to be in a clean environment.
An object of the present invention is to provide a sphere support unit that can be used in a clean room or the like.
[0004]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The means of the present invention includes a main sphere rotatably supported by a concave spherical surface through a number of small subspheres, a main sphere having a projecting hole through which a portion of the main sphere opposite to the concave spherical surface projects. And a lid-like portion that covers the open side of the sub-sphere housing gap between the concave spherical surfaces, and is provided with a suction port that sucks and removes dust in the inner space of the lid-like portion . Further, a flange portion is provided on the outer side at the same height as the lid portion, and a male screw portion is provided on the lower side of the flange portion on a member integrated with or integrated with the concave spherical surface forming member. The lower surface of the flange portion is pressed and fixed to the base surface by a mating female screw.
[0005]
In this means, by connecting the exhaust means to the suction port and appropriately exhausting, the internal air in the subsphere housing gap is exhausted, and dust, gas, etc. generated inside with the exhaust air are exhausted to a proper place. . In addition, since the inside becomes negative pressure due to the exhaust, the outside air exposed to the main sphere may be exhausted through the inside, but the inside air containing dust etc. will not leak outside. . This makes it possible to use the sphere support unit in a clean room or the like where generation of foreign matter such as dust is not allowed. Furthermore, a screw hole into which the male screw part is inserted is provided on the base surface on which the spherical body support unit is provided, or a circular hole penetrating the base surface is formed and the male screw part is inserted to engage the female screw member. By doing so, an attachment-like body of the spherical support unit in which the flange portion is fixed to the pressing surface on the base surface is obtained.
[0006]
It is preferable that the suction port is open in the vicinity of the lower surface of the lid-like portion that is out of the concave spherical surface. In this configuration, since the suction port is open near the lower surface of the lid-like portion, there is no need to provide an opening on the concave spherical surface that comes into contact with the secondary sphere. Therefore, the exhaust port is formed on the concave spherical surface that supports the secondary sphere. Because there is no step due to, the secondary sphere always rolls smoothly and hardly generates fine vibrations.
[0007]
It is preferable that a suction passage from the suction port toward the exhaust means is provided in the concave spherical member forming the concave spherical surface, and an outlet thereof is opened at the lower part. In this configuration, when some of the multiple sphere support units are used in the form of a block, a cavity communicating with the opening at the bottom of the sphere support unit is provided inside the block, and the cavity is connected to the exhaust means. Therefore, the suction passage from the block to the exhaust means can be performed by a single pipe.
[0009]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment, and this sphere support unit 1 is composed of a concave spherical component 2, a main sphere 3, a sub sphere 4, a lid member 5, and the like. The concave spherical component 2 is provided with a flange portion 6 on the outer periphery of the upper end of a substantially short cylindrical shape, and a hemispherical concave spherical surface 10 is provided at the inner central portion thereof. On the outer edge portion of the concave spherical surface 10, there is provided a stepped portion 11 that is recessed in a circular shape for installing the lid member 5 with its upper surface aligned with the upper surface of the flange portion 6. A caulking portion 12 for fixing the lid member 5 by caulking is formed on the upper surface on the outer side of the step portion 11 by providing a circular groove 28 concentric with the step portion 11 at an appropriate depth. On the upper surface of the stepped portion 11, as shown in FIG. 1 (b), several, for example, six circular holes are drilled in the lower position as suction passages 13 at positions outside the concave spherical surface 10. It is set up. A male screw 14 is formed on the lower outer peripheral surface of the concave spherical component 2.
[0010]
The main sphere 3 is supported by the concave spherical surface 10 via a large number of subspheres 4, and the opposite side of the concave spherical surface 10 protrudes from the upper surface of the flange portion 6 and can support an object to be transferred. The lid member 5 has an outer diameter that fits within the step portion 11 of the concave spherical component 2 and is formed in a donut-shaped disk shape having a spherical hole 15 for protruding a sphere at the center, as shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, an annular convex portion 16 is provided on the lower surface, and a radial groove 17 is provided at a position corresponding to the passage 13 of the convex portion 16 and is fitted into the stepped portion 11 so that the caulked portion 12 is It is fixed by tightening. As shown in FIG. 1A, the open side, that is, the upper side of the secondary sphere 4 accommodation gap 18 formed by the main sphere 3 and the concave spherical surface 10 is closed with the lid member 5 attached. The inner end of the groove 17 opens as a suction port 19 above the accommodation gap 18 of the subsphere 4, and the upper end of the passage 13 communicates with the groove 17. The main sphere 3 protrudes upward from the circular hole 15 of the lid member 5, and the drawing is exaggerated, but a minute gap 20 exists between the main sphere 3 and the inner edge of the circular hole 15.
[0011]
The sphere support unit 1 is usually used by providing some movably supported objects. One of the sphere support units 1 is shown in FIG. The spherical body support unit 1 has a circular hole 22 into which a male screw part 14 can be inserted in a base 21 and is inserted from above, and a hollow container-like block 24 having a female screw part 23 screwed into the male screw part 14 is screwed. By combining, the base 21 is clamped and fixed between the flange portion 6 and the female screw portion 23. A pipe 25 connected to the exhaust means is coupled to the block 24 and communicated with the internal cavity 26. In the figure, reference numeral 27 denotes the lower surface of the object to be transferred.
[0012]
By exhausting through the conduit 25, the gas inside the subsphere housing gap 18 is sucked from the suction port 19, and dust such as dust is discharged together with the gas. Since the inside has a negative pressure, gas such as outside air is sucked from the minute gap 20, so there is no possibility that the inside gas or dust will come out. Also, the dust generated by the contact friction of the sphere inside is attached to the surface of the main sphere 3 and is surely sucked into the suction port 19 at the peripheral portion of the suction port 19, so that it does not go out to the outside. Since the sub sphere 4 is circulated by the rotation of the main sphere 3 even if it adheres to the sphere, the sub sphere 4 reaching the upper part is reliably sucked into the suction port 19, so that dust hardly accumulates inside. Therefore, this spherical body support device 1 does not allow internal dust or the like to go outside, and the dust and the like generated inside are forcedly discharged from the suction port 19 in sequence, so that the clean environment is contaminated in a clean room or the like. It can be used without any problems.
[0013]
Further, as a usage form of the sphere support unit 1, as shown in FIG. 4, an equivalent of the mounting base 21 in FIG. 3 is formed by the upper surface portion 31 of the hollow container-like block 30, and a mounting circular hole 32. May be inserted and the male screw portion 14 may be inserted, and the female screw member 33 may be screwed into the male screw portion 14 and fixed thereto. Then, one exhaust pipe 25 is connected to the internal cavity 34 and connected to the exhaust means. In this case, similar to the above, it can be used in a clean room, and since the common internal cavity 34 can be used as a part of the suction passage for the plurality of sphere support units 1, there is an advantage that piping is simplified.
[0014]
In addition to the configuration of the first embodiment, the sphere support unit may have a configuration 1a as shown in FIG. The spherical body support unit 1a of the second embodiment includes other parts including the main sphere 3 and the sub sphere 4, the member 35 having the concave spherical surface 10, the lid portion 36, the flange portion 6, and the male screw portion 14. And the member 37. The other member 37 is formed with a circular hole 38 extending from the lower end to the lower surface of the lid portion 36 on the inner side. The member 35 has an outer peripheral short cylindrical shape that fits into the circular hole 38 having the concave spherical surface 10 on the upper surface, and is provided with, for example, six longitudinal grooves 39 along the axial direction on the outer peripheral surface. The portion is formed to extend slightly upward in a cylindrical shape, and a radial lateral groove 41 connected to the upper end of the longitudinal groove 39 is provided in the extended portion 40. This member 35 is fitted into a circular hole 38 of another member 37 from below. The member 35 and the other member 37 may be provided with a male screw portion on the outer periphery of the member 35 and provided with a female screw portion on the inner peripheral surface of the other member 37, or may be simply firmly fitted. Alternatively, by providing a receiving portion that comes into contact with the lower surface of the member 35 when assembling to a substrate such as a block, the illustrated positional relationship can be maintained and functions similar to those of the above-described embodiment can be exhibited.
[0015]
【The invention's effect】
The invention according to claim 1 has an effect of providing a spherical body support unit that can be used in an environment such as a clean room where entry of foreign matter is not allowed because foreign matter such as dust and gas does not leak out. Furthermore, there is an effect that the sphere support unit can be easily attached to the base surface.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the secondary sphere always rolls smoothly, there is an effect that fine vibrations are not generated and that it is possible to cope with precise minute movement of the object.
The invention according to claim 3 has an effect of facilitating piping of the suction passage .
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the present invention, where (a) is a longitudinal front view, (b) is a bottom view of a lid member, and (c) is a plan view of a concave spherical surface forming member.
2A and 2B show a second embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 2A is a longitudinal front view, and FIG. 2B is a plan view of a concave spherical surface forming member.
FIG. 3 is a longitudinal front view showing an example of use of the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a longitudinal front view showing another example of use of the embodiment of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Sphere support unit 2 Concave spherical surface component 3 Main sphere 4 Secondary sphere 5 Cover member 6 Flange part 10 Concave spherical surface 11 Step part 12 Caulking part 13 Passage 14 Male screw 15 Circular hole 16 Convex part 17 Groove 18 Subsphere accommodation gap 19 Suction port 20 Gap 21 Base 22 Circular hole 23 Female thread portion 24 Block 25 Pipe 27 Lower surface 30 of object Block 31 Upper surface portion 32 Circular hole 33 Female screw member 34 Internal cavity 35 Member having concave spherical surface 36 Lid portion 37 Other member 38 Circular hole 39 Vertical groove 40 Extension part 41 Horizontal groove

Claims (3)

A main sphere rotatably supported by a concave spherical surface through a number of small secondary spheres, and a secondary sphere between the primary sphere and the concave sphere having a protruding hole in which a portion of the main sphere opposite to the concave spherical surface protrudes. A cover-like part that covers the open side of the accommodation gap, provided with a suction port for sucking and removing dust in the inner space of the cover-like part , and a member integrated or integrated with the concave spherical surface forming member, A spherical body support unit in which a flange portion is provided outside at substantially the same height as the lid portion, a male screw portion is provided below the flange portion, and a lower surface of the flange portion is pressed and fixed to the base surface by a female screw that is screwed into the male screw . 2. The sphere support unit according to claim 1, wherein the suction port is opened near a lower surface of the lid-like portion that is out of the concave spherical surface. 3. The sphere support unit according to claim 2, wherein a suction passage from the suction port toward the exhaust means is provided in a concave spherical member forming the concave spherical surface, and an outlet thereof is opened at a lower portion.

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