JP4702693B2 - Transport cart and transport device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a transport carriage and a transport apparatus, and more particularly to a technique that is installed in a semiconductor manufacturing factory and receives, transports, and delivers a semiconductor wafer as a workpiece.

In a semiconductor manufacturing factory, a plurality of processing apparatuses each for processing a semiconductor wafer are provided, and the semiconductor wafers are transferred between the processing apparatuses.
At this time, a wafer carrier called a FOUP for storing a wafer is used for transporting the semiconductor wafer, and the wafer carrier is moved between the processing apparatuses by an unmanned transport cart and the wafer is mounted by a robot mounted on the transport cart. The wafer processing production process is advanced by loading or unloading. Since the wafer processing time in the normal processing apparatus differs among the processing apparatuses, the wafer is temporarily stored in the stocker while being accommodated in the wafer carrier for adjusting the process waiting time. The unmanned transfer cart also carries the wafer carrier into and out of the stocker.

In a certain processing apparatus, when the wafer processing is completed and the wafer is stored in the wafer carrier and transported to the next processing apparatus which is the next process, the wafer carrier is first collected and transported by the in-process robot carriage. , Stocked in the stocker installed in the process.
The wafer carrier that has been stored in the stocker is unloaded by the unmanned transfer carriage, is transported to the stocker installed in the next process area, and is loaded into this. In the next process, when the wafer carrier is loaded into the stocker as described above, a predetermined process is performed on the wafer by unloading by a robot cart prepared in the process. When the processing is completed, the robot cart is loaded into the stocker, and the wafer carrier in the stocker is loaded into the next processing apparatus by the unmanned transfer cart.
However, when the wafer carrier is transported across the processing devices in each process as described above, the wafer carrier passes through the stocker of one process and the stocker of the other process, which takes time and is more efficient. There has been a demand for a transfer device that performs a correct transfer.

Therefore, in recent years, there is a transfer device called an OHT (Overhead Hoist Transfer) configured to transfer a wafer carrier without distinguishing between transfer between processes and transfer within a process. It has been proposed to greatly simplify the conveyance (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).
For example, as shown in FIG. 6, this type of transport device is configured such that a rail 2 as a track is laid on a ceiling 1, and a transport cart 10 travels along the rail 2. The transport carriage 10 includes a carriage main body 10a and a traveling mechanism 50 that causes the carriage main body 10a to travel along the rail 2. The carriage main body 10a is positioned by rotating the direction of the carriage main body 10a in the horizontal direction. Positioning mechanism 11 to be aligned, elevating body 30 suspended by carriage main body 10a, elevating mechanism 31 for elevating elevating body 30, elevating belt 35, and elevating body 30 are provided on wafer carrier 3 by being closed. And a load gripping portion 36 for gripping the bag. Although not shown in detail, the wafer carrier 3 stores a plurality of wafers. Reference numeral 4 is a processing device, and 5 is a load receiving table.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the alignment mechanism 11 includes a circular rack 21, pinions 22 and 23 that face each other with the circular rack 21 interposed therebetween, and linear sliders 24 and 25 that slidably support the pinions 22 and 23. And the motor 26. When the motor 26 is driven, the pinions 22 and 23 move on the linear sliders 24 and 25, and the circular rack 21 is rotated in the direction of arrow D. The direction of the cart body 11 is adjusted by turning around the axis.

Such a transport carriage 10 is transported as shown in FIG.
In FIG. 3, the transport device 100 includes a plurality of transport carts 10, a track 2A on which the transport cart 10 travels, and a track 2B, and the track 2A is a rail laid in the area A. 2B is a rail laid in the area B.
The track 2A and the track 2B branch and intersect at the branch intersection 2C. In FIG. 3, for convenience, the transport carriage moving on the track 2 </ b> A is referred to as “transport cart 10 </ b> A”, and the transport cart moving on the track 2 </ b> B is referred to as “transport cart 10 </ b> B”. The transport cart 10A on the track 2A travels clockwise, and the transport cart 10B on the track 2B travels counterclockwise. When viewed from above, the wafer carrier 3 held by the transfer carriages 10A and 10B has an arcuate portion (not shown) having an arc shape and straight portions (not shown) connected to both ends of the arc portion. And has a shape having A plurality of processing devices 4A and 4B and a stocker 6 are provided at positions facing these tracks 2A and 2B.
In this transfer apparatus 100, when the wafer carrier 3 to be transferred is placed on the outport 8 of the processing apparatus 4B, the transfer carriage 10B is positioned there, and the lifting body 30 shown in FIG. After the load gripping part 36 grips the wafer carrier 3, the elevating body 30 moves up to a predetermined position, travels on the track 2B in that state, reaches the track 2A via the branch crossing part 2C, and the desired processing apparatus 4A. The wafer carrier 3 is delivered after being positioned by the import 7.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-349280 (page 1-2, FIGS. 5 to 6) Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-139863 (page 2-5, FIGS. 1 to 4)

By the way, when the wafer carrier 3 is delivered to the processing apparatuses 4A, 4B and the stocker 6 in the transfer carriage 10 described above, it is necessary to deliver the wafer carrier 3 in consideration of the orientation of the wafer carrier 3.
For example, in FIG. 3, in the case of the transport carriage 10B traveling on the track 2B, the arc portion of the wafer carrier 3 becomes a non-opposing surface with respect to the processing apparatus 4B and the linear portion thereof faces the processing apparatus 4B. In this state, the wafer carrier 3 is delivered to the processing apparatus 4B and the stocker 6.
However, when the transport cart 10B moves from the track 2B through the branch intersection 2C to the track 2A and travels as it is to become the transport cart 10B, the wafer carrier is transferred to the stocker 6 and the processing apparatus 4A. 3 changes, the arc portion becomes the facing surface and the straight portion becomes the non-facing surface. In this state, the wafer carrier 3 can be delivered to the processing apparatus 4A and the stocker 6 in the correct orientation. There was a problem of disappearing.

In order to solve the above problem, it is easy to use one of the following three solutions.
As shown in FIG. 8A, the first solution is that when the transport carriage 10A travels on the track 2A, the transport cart 10A travels counterclockwise, while the transport cart 10A on the track 2A A branch track 2D for entering 2B is provided, and a merging track 2E is provided for the transfer carriage 10B on the track 2B to join the track 2A. The wafer carriers 3 on the transfer carriages 10A, 10B are connected to the tracks 2A, 2B. In any of the above, the arc portion is made to be a non-opposing surface with respect to each of the processing devices 4A, 4B and the stocker 6.

  The second solution is to move the pinions 22 and 23 of the alignment mechanism 11 relative to each other and rotate the circular rack 21 at an angle of 180 degrees, thereby horizontally aligning the wafer carrier 3 on the transfer carriage. It is to change 180 degrees in the direction.

The third solution is to use the import 7 and the outport 8 provided in the processing device 4A, 4B or the stocker 5 of the stocker 6.
As shown in FIG. 9, the import 7 and the outport 8 are composed of a table 71 having a triangular shape, a plurality of kinematic pins 72 projecting from the upper surface thereof, and a motor 73 with a speed reducer that drives the table 71. When the wafer carrier 3 is carried in, the wafer carrier 3 is placed at a predetermined position of the table 71 by fitting with the kinematic pins 72. Therefore, when the wafer carrier 3 is placed in the opposite direction, the table 71 is reversed by driving the motor 73 with a speed reducer so as to match the direction of the wafer carrier 3. Such a table reversal system is employed in a conventional transport apparatus.

However, in the first solution, a problem as shown in FIG. 8B, which is an enlarged view of C shown in FIG. 8, occurs. That is, since the transport carriage 10A on the track 2A moves to the track 2B, the wafer carrier 3 also changes following the direction of the transport carriage 10A when passing through the branch track 2D. There is a problem that the corner portion in between collides with the corner portion of the stocker 6 (the portion indicated by reference sign D). Therefore, although the collision can be avoided by increasing the distance between the branch track 2D and the stocker 6, in that case, it is not only necessary to add the branch track 2D and the junction track 2E, but also the useless space increases. As a result, there are also problems such as an increase in equipment costs and an increase in equipment space.
In the second solution, although the position of the wafer carrier 3 can be changed in the horizontal direction by using the mechanism 11 for alignment, when the circular rack 21 is rotated by the mechanism 11 for alignment, Along with this, the belt of the elevating mechanism 31 is swayed, and it takes time until the swaying stops, so that there is a problem that the conveyance efficiency is remarkably lowered.
In the third solution, when the method of reversing the import and outport table 71 is adopted, since each of these ports is equipped in a plurality of locations, the device is enlarged accordingly, There was a defect that caused a considerable cost increase.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of such circumstances, and it is possible to prevent an increase in equipment space, to prevent a decrease in conveyance efficiency, and to further increase the size and cost of the apparatus. It is another object of the present invention to provide a transport carriage and a transport apparatus that can easily and reliably change the orientation of a workpiece.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention proposes the following means.
The invention according to claim 1 is a transport carriage that travels on a track laid on the ceiling and transports it to a storage, and between the processes and to each processing device in the process, the carriage body, the carriage body, and the track A traveling mechanism provided in between, a positioning mechanism for moving and rotating the carriage main body in a horizontal direction, a lifting body suspended by the carriage main body, and lifting and lowering the lifting body with respect to the carriage main body can be to a lifting mechanism, the lifting body is provided with a luggage gripper for gripping a workpiece and a rotating mechanism for gripping unit for rotating the該荷product gripper about a vertical axis, the transport carriage, the work The image reading means further includes an image reading means for taking an image of a port on which the image forming apparatus is to be placed and adjusting a rotation angle of the gripping part rotation mechanism according to the orientation of the port, Take a kinematic pin While, on the basis of the captured data, said by reading against kinematic pin position of the workpiece coordinate axes, determines the angle to be rotated in the gripper rotating mechanism, the rotating mechanism for the gripper, The luggage gripping portion can be rotated at least 180 degrees around a vertical axis.
Thereby, since the direction of the workpiece | work hold | gripped by the load holding part can be reversed by rotating a load holding part by the rotation mechanism for holding parts, the direction of a work can be changed reliably. In addition, when the image reading unit images the port on which the work is to be placed, the rotation angle of the gripping part rotation mechanism is determined based on the imaging data, so the rotation angle of the gripping part rotation mechanism is accurately determined. The orientation of the work can be accurately adjusted with respect to the port.
The invention according to claim 2 is the conveying cart according to claim 1, wherein the gripping portion rotating mechanism is in a state in which the load gripping portion grips a workpiece, and the cart body travels on a track. The baggage gripping portion is inverted when the lifter is moving, when the lifter is rising, or when the lifter is descending. As a result, when the load gripping part is gripping the workpiece and the cart body is running on the track, when the lifting body is rising, and when the lifting body is falling The baggage gripping portion can be reversed at any time.
According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided the transport cart according to the second aspect, wherein the gripping portion rotating mechanism moves on the track while the load gripping portion is lifted and travels on the track while gripping the workpiece. The baggage gripping portion is rotated until it travels and descends, or it travels up and travels on a track and descends.
Thus, by rotating the luggage over a long time, it is difficult for the luggage to sway, and the delivery of the luggage can be performed well.
According to claim 4 invention is the transport vehicle according to claims 1 to 3, characterized in that it comprises an angle detecting means for detecting the rotation angle of said package gripper. As a result, when the load gripping portion is rotated about the vertical axis, the angle detection means detects the rotation angle, so that the load gripping portion can be rotated to an accurate position.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the transport carriage according to any one of the first to fourth aspects of the present invention, the transport cart includes a shake detection sensor that detects a shake of the lift body, and the swing of the lift body is detected based on the detection of the shake detection sensor. The positioning mechanism is driven in a direction to absorb light.
As a result, when the lifting body rotates, shaking occurs, but the shaking is detected by the shaking detection, and the alignment mechanism is driven in a direction to absorb the shaking of the lifting body based on the detection of the shaking detection sensor. The shaking of the lifting body can be quickly suppressed.
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the conveyance carriage according to the fifth aspect, the gripping portion rotating mechanism is attached to the elevating body so as to be rotatable about a vertical axis and provided with the luggage gripping portion. And a drive source for driving the swivel table.
Thus, Ru can change the turntable by rotating the orientation of the package gripper easily.
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the conveyance carriage according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, the gripping part rotation mechanism includes a storage unit in which a rotation angle for rotating the workpiece is stored in advance, and the storage unit characterized in that on the basis of said stored rotational angle and a control unit for rotating the load gripping portion.
As a result, after gripping the load at one port, the control means can rotate the gripping portion rotation mechanism based on the rotation angle stored in the storage means, and pass the load to another port satisfactorily.
The invention according to claim 8, laid on the roof, and a plurality of track branching intersect each other, characterized by comprising a conveyance carriage according to any one of claims 1 to 7.
The invention according to claim 9 is the transfer device according to claim 8 , further comprising a plurality of ports on which the work to be transported by the transport carriage is placed, and is placed on any of the plurality of ports. After causing the load gripping portion to grip the workpiece and rotating the load gripping portion gripping the workpiece by the gripping portion rotating mechanism 180 degrees around a vertical axis, It is characterized by placing a workpiece.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, even if the workpiece is gripped in the opposite direction with respect to the position to which the workpiece is to be delivered, the workpiece can be delivered in an accurate orientation regardless of this, resulting in an increase in equipment space. it not only no, can prevent the transport efficiency is reduced and, moreover, without the device or cost or size, it is possible to change the orientation of the work easily and reliably, the image reading unit Thus, since the rotation angle of the gripper rotation mechanism can be accurately determined, an effect that the direction of the workpiece can be accurately adjusted with respect to the port is obtained.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the luggage gripping part is gripping the workpiece and the cart body is traveling on the track, when the lifting body is rising, Since the load gripping part is rotated when the body is descending, even if the work is gripped in the opposite direction with respect to the position where the work should be delivered, the effect that the work can be delivered well is obtained. It is done.

  According to the invention of claim 3, the gripping portion rotating mechanism rises while traveling on the track while the load gripping portion grips the workpiece, and travels on the track until it descends. Alternatively, since the load is rotated during the period from rising to running on the track and descending, it is difficult for the load to rotate, and an effect that the load can be satisfactorily transferred can be obtained.

  According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the angle detecting means detects the rotation angle of the load gripping portion, the load gripping portion can be rotated to an accurate position, so that the direction of the load gripping portion is ensured. An effect that can be changed accurately and accurately is obtained.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, even if the lifting body swings due to the rotation, the positioning mechanism is driven in a direction in which the swing detection sensor detects the swing and absorbs the swinging of the lifting body. The effect of being able to quickly suppress the shaking and reliably prevent the conveyance efficiency from being significantly lowered is obtained.

  According to the invention described in claim 6, since the direction of the load gripping portion can be easily changed by rotating the turntable, the effect that the work gripped by the load gripping portion can be corrected in the correct direction is achieved. can get.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, in consideration of the conveyance distance, the conveyance time, and the rotation angle of the workpiece, by inputting a rotation speed that does not cause the workpiece to sway, shaking or the like occurs when the workpiece rotates. The effect which can prevent this reliably is acquired .

According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to appropriately receive and transfer the workpiece and transfer the workpiece, and to obtain an effect that it is possible to realize good conveyance.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2 are views showing a transport carriage according to a first embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1 is a sectional view for explanation showing the transport carriage, and FIG. 2 is a partially broken view showing a main part of the transport carriage. FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, a transport cart 10 of this embodiment is used in a semiconductor manufacturing factory such as a semiconductor wafer, and travels along a rail 2 as a track laid on a ceiling 1. The wafer carrier 3 is transferred between the processing apparatuses and between the processing apparatus and the stocker. A plurality of semiconductor wafers such as silicon wafers are accommodated in the wafer carrier 3.

The carriage 10 that travels along the rail 2 is provided with a carriage body 10a and a traveling mechanism 50 that causes the carriage body 10a to travel.
As shown in FIG. 2, the cart body 10 a includes an alignment mechanism 11, an elevating belt 35, a suspension shaft 51, a fixing member 13, an elevating body 30, an elevating mechanism 31, a luggage gripping portion 36, It is comprised from the rotation mechanism 40 for gripping parts.
The alignment mechanism 11 rotates the bogie main body 10a around the vertical axis, that is, rotates in the horizontal direction or slides in the horizontal direction. As shown in FIG. 2, the suspension shaft 12 that passes through the bogie main body 10a. A circular rack 21 mounted on the disk, pinions 22 and 23 facing each other across the circular rack 21, linear sliders 24 and 25 for slidably supporting the pinions 22 and 23, and the pinions 22 and 23, respectively. And a toothed portion (not shown) provided on the outer periphery of the circular rack 21 is a toothed portion (not shown) provided on each of the pinions 22 and 23. Is engaged.

  Then, by driving the motor 26, one pinion 22 slides in the arrow direction Da shown in FIG. 2 and the other pinion 23 slides in the opposite arrow direction Db, so that the circular rack 21 looks like the arrow direction D. On the other hand, when the pinions 22 and 23 slide in the opposite direction to the arrow directions Da and Db, the circular rack 21 is rotated in the opposite direction to the arrow direction D, and both the pinions 22 and 23 are also arrowed. When slid in the direction Da or the arrow direction Db, the circular rack 21 also moves in the same direction. As a result, the carriage main body 10a and the suspension shaft 12 are fixed together, so that the carriage main body 10a moves in the horizontal direction. Or rotate in a horizontal state.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, an elevating body 30 is suspended from the cart body 10 a, and the elevating body 30 can be raised and lowered by an elevating mechanism 31. As shown in FIG. 2, the elevating mechanism 31 includes a cover 32 attached via a fixing member 13 to the lower end of the suspension shaft 12 inserted through the lower portion of the cart body 10a, and an inside of the cover 32 as shown in FIG. A winding motor 33 installed on the motor 33, and a belt 35 having one end hooked on a winding shaft (output shaft) 34 of the motor 33 and the other end hooked on the elevating body 30. The elevating body 30 moves up and down by the belt 35 being wound up or lowered by driving the motor 33.
In this case, the belt 35 is hooked on a plurality of places such as four places as shown in FIG. 2 with respect to the elevating body 30, and each belt 35 is wound up or down independently. Yes. Therefore, the winding motor 33 is also installed corresponding to the number of belts 35.
However, a plurality of winding shafts can be driven by a single winding motor by connecting the winding shafts with a gear or the like.

  The lifting body 30 is provided with a luggage gripping portion 36. The luggage gripping portion 36 has a pair of opposing fingers 36a, 36a and driving means (not shown) that opens and closes the pair of fingers 36a, 36a close to or away from each other. As shown in FIG. 1, the heads 3a provided on the wafer carrier 3 are gripped by the closing movements 36a and 36a, and the fingers 36a and 36a are opened to release the gripping on the head 3a. It is supposed to be.

  The luggage gripping portion 36 is rotated about a vertical axis by a gripping portion rotating mechanism 40 described later. That is, the gripping part rotating mechanism 40 is interposed between the bottom of the lifting body 30 and the load gripping part 36, and rotates around the vertical axis at the bottom of the lifting body 30 as shown in FIGS. The turning table 41 includes a turning table 41 and a turning motor 42 as a driving source of the turning table 41. The turning table 41 is rotated by driving the turning motor 42, so that the pair of fingers 36a and 36a are horizontally disposed. It is designed to rotate in the direction. Therefore, a pair of fingers 36a and 36a are attached to the bottom of the turntable 41 so as to be opened and closed. The turning angle of the turning motor 42 may be, for example, in the range of −180 to +180 degrees, but may be configured to be able to turn to an angle larger than that. Reference numeral 43 in FIG. 2 is a fixing member of the turning motor 42.

  On the other hand, angle detection means for detecting the rotation angle of the load gripping part 36 is provided. As the angle detection means, as shown in FIG. 2, reflection type marks 46 provided on both side surfaces of the turntable 41, and a photosensor provided at a position facing the turntable 41 inside the lifting body 30. 45, the irradiation light from the photosensor 45 is reflected by the mark 46, and the photosensor 45 receives the reflected light, so that the position of the rotation table 41, that is, the rotation of the rotation table 41 is rotated. The moving angle can be detected.

The elevating body 30 is provided with image reading means. As the image reading means, for example, a CCD 47 as a solid-state imager that is installed inside the elevating body 30 and images the import 7 or the outport 8 on which the wafer carrier 3 is placed, and the imaging data of the CCD 47 is used. The image processing unit includes a control unit (not shown) that determines the rotation angle of the gripping part rotation mechanism 40, thereby determining the direction of the turntable 41.
Further, the lifting body 30 is provided with a swing detection sensor 48 constituted by an acceleration sensor so that the swing of the lifting body 30 can be detected.
The CCD 47 of the image reading means, the photo sensor 45 of the angle detecting means, the turning motor 42 of the gripping portion rotating mechanism 40, etc. are provided integrally with the power supply line and the signal line on the belt 35 of the lifting mechanism 31. It is driven and signals at that time are input and output.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the transport cart 10 is provided with a travel mechanism 50 between the cart body 10a and the rail.
Before describing the travel mechanism 50, the rail 2 will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the rail 2 is attached to the ceiling 1 via a suspension member 2e and is formed in a C channel shape having an opening at the bottom. Yes. A linear motor secondary side 2b made of a permanent magnet is fixed to the inner side of the top plate portion of the rail 2 via a back plate 2a, and conductors and insulation provided at the front ends thereof are provided on both side walls of the rail 2. A feeder line 2c made of a material is provided along the longitudinal direction.

  On the other hand, the suspension shaft 51 extends upward from the upper end of the suspension shaft 51 erected on the cart body 10a, and a linear motor primary side 52 made of an iron core coil is provided at the tip of the suspension shaft 51. The support 53 is horizontally provided below the primary side 52, and a power receiving unit 54 is provided at the tip of the support 53, which is configured by an iron core coil and is fed in a non-contact manner from the power supply line 2c. The linear motor primary side 52 receives the supply of electric power from the power receiving unit 54, thereby generating a driving force in cooperation with the linear motor secondary side 2b.

  A roller support 55 disposed below the support 53 is slidably attached to the suspension shaft 51 in the horizontal direction, and rollers 56 are rotatably supported on both sides of the roller support 55. One of the rollers 56 is guided by one of the branch guide rails 2d provided on both side walls of the rail 2.

Further, in the suspension shaft 51, a roller support shaft 57 provided in the horizontal direction is provided at a position below the roller support portion 55, and a traveling roller 58 is rotatably provided at both ends of the roller support shaft 57. The running roller 58 rolls on the bottom wall of the rail 2. That is, the cart body 10a travels when the linear motor primary side 52 cooperates with the linear motor secondary side 2b to generate travel driving force. At this time, the travel roller 58 rolls on the bottom wall of the rail 2. By moving, it has a linear motor structure that travels on the rail 2 in a stable state.
A transport apparatus 100 as shown in FIG. 3 is configured by such a transport carriage 10 and the rail 2 on which the transport carriage 10 travels.

Next, the operation of the transport carriage 10 in the transport apparatus 100 will be described with reference to FIG.
3 has a track 2A in area A and a track 2B provided in a different area B, and a portion of track 2A and a portion of track 2B branch from each other. By branching and intersecting at 2C, the transport carriage 10 travels between the track 2A and the track 2B in the direction of the arrow, and travels between the processing devices on the track 2A and the track 2B, or travels to the stocker 6.

In this case, for example, a case where the transport carriage 10 receives the wafer carrier 3 placed on the port 8 of the processing apparatus 4B in the area B and transfers it to the processing apparatus 4A provided in the area A will be described. First, when the transport carriage 10 reaches the position of the outport 8 of one processing apparatus 4B and stops, the elevating body 30 is lowered by the lifting mechanism 31 of the transport carriage 10 to be positioned with respect to the wafer carrier 3, and the package When the fingers 36a, 36a of the gripping part 36 are closed, the wafer carrier 3 is gripped, and the lifting mechanism 30 is raised to a predetermined position by the lifting mechanism 31, and then travels along the track 2B and passes through the branching intersection 2C. This leads to the track 2A in the area A and travels along the track 2A to stop when it reaches the stop position of the import 7 of one processing device 4A. .
At this time, the positioning of the transport carriage 10 is performed by the traveling mechanism 50 in the laying direction of the track 2A, and the position having the circular rack 21 and the pinions 22 and 23 in the direction perpendicular to the rail laying direction. This is done by adjusting the alignment mechanism 11.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 2, the elevating body 30 is lowered by the elevating mechanism 31, and the elevating body 30 is stopped when the wafer carrier 3 gripped by the luggage gripping portion 36 comes close to the top of the import 7. At this time, the CCD sensor 47 of the image reading means images the kinematic pins (see FIG. 9) provided on the import 7, and based on the imaged data, the image reading means applies the wafer to the kinematic pins. When it is determined that the position of the carrier 3 is the reverse position by reading the position of the carrier 3 on the coordinate axis, the angle at which the gripping portion rotation mechanism 40 should be rotated is determined. Thereby, the turning motor 42 rotates the turning table 41 at an angle of 180 degrees, so that the orientation of the wafer carrier 3 is adjusted to the position of the kinematic pins.

At this time, the swinging body 41 swings due to the rotation of the turning table 41. When the swing is detected by the swing detection sensor 48, the alignment mechanism 11 is driven in a direction to absorb the swing, that is, The circular rack 21 is rotated by the slides of the pinions 22 and 23, and by the rotation, the elevating body 30 operates in a direction to absorb the shaking via the belt 35 of the elevating mechanism 31. Thereby, even if a shake arises, the shake of the raising / lowering body 30 can be suppressed rapidly.
When the shaking is stopped, the elevating mechanism 31 is driven again, the elevating body 30 is further lowered, and the wafer carrier 3 is placed on the kinematic pins on the import 7 to import the wafer carrier 3. Can be delivered in the correct orientation.

According to this embodiment, when the transport carriage 10 delivers the wafer carrier 3 to the import 7 of the processing apparatus 4A, the orientation of the wafer carrier 3 is turned by turning the load gripping portion 36 in the horizontal direction by the gripping portion rotating mechanism 40. Can be reliably matched.
In addition, even if the lifting / lowering body 30 swings at that time, the swing detection sensor 48 detects the swing and suppresses the swinging of the lifting / lowering body 30 by driving the alignment mechanism 11. It is possible to prevent a significant decrease, and good conveyance can be performed.
Therefore, it is not necessary to use the table 7 on the import 7 and the outport 8 on which the wafer carrier 3 is placed as in the conventional technique (see FIG. 9), so that the size of the apparatus can be prevented from being increased. In addition, it is not necessary to provide a branch track 2D or a merge track 2E between both tracks 2A, 2B, and therefore it is not necessary to add tracks or increase equipment space, thus simplifying the orientation of the wafer carrier. And it can be changed reliably.

In addition, since the gripping part rotation mechanism 40 includes the turning table 41 and the turning motor 42 that drives the turning table 41, the direction of the load gripping part 36 can be easily changed by turning the turning table 41. it can.
And since it has the angle detection means which consists of the photosensor 45 and the mark 46 in order to detect the rotation angle of the turning table 41, the load holding part 36 can be rotated to an exact position. Thereby, the orientation of the wafer carrier 3 being gripped can be accurately grasped.
Although not shown, an encoder can be attached to the turning motor 42 and the rotation angle of the turning table 41 can be detected from the encoder.
If the orientation of the wafer carrier 3 can be changed by rotating the load gripping portion 36 as described above, the installation direction to the load port including the import 7 and the outport 8 can be freely set. , The degree of freedom of load port installation increases. In addition, the degree of freedom in designing the track layout in the transfer device 100 is increased, and the track setting with higher transfer efficiency is possible.

  In the illustrated embodiment, when the transport carriage 10 delivers the wafer carrier 3 to the import 7 of the track 2A, an example is shown in which the orientation of the wafer carrier 3 is reversed and changed by driving the gripping portion rotation mechanism. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a second delivery example and a third delivery example shown below may be used.

First, the second delivery example will be described. The carriage 10 receives the wafer carrier 3 as described above, reaches the track 2A from the track 2B, reaches the import 7 of the processing apparatus 4A, stops positioning, and then moves up and down. The elevating body 30 is lowered by the mechanism 31.
At that time, since it is given to the control unit (not shown) of the transport carriage 10 as information that it can only be placed on the import 7 after changing the direction in advance, the lifting body 30 is lowered. When the turntable 41 is rotated by the holding portion rotating mechanism 40 at an angle of 180 degrees, the orientation of the wafer carrier 3 held by the load holding portion 36 is reversed. That is, the wafer carrier 3 is inverted while being lowered to the import 7.

In that case, the lift 30 is shaken by the rotation of the turning table 41, and the shake is detected by the shake detection sensor 48 as described above, and the pinion 22, 23 of the alignment mechanism 11 is driven to drive the circular rack 21. Is rotated in a direction to absorb the above-mentioned shaking, so that the shaking can be quickly suppressed.
Then, when the wafer carrier 3 is reversed and reaches the proximity point just above the import 7, the elevating body 30 is stopped. After that, when the load gripping part 36 releases the grip on the wafer carrier 3, the wafer carrier Since 3 is placed in the correct orientation with respect to the import 7, delivery can be performed.

The third delivery example will be described. After the transport carriage 10 receives the wafer carrier 3 as described above, the elevating body 30 is raised to a predetermined position, and in this state, the transport carriage 10 reaches the track 2A from the track 2B. Then, after reaching the import 7 of the processing apparatus 4 </ b> A and positioning is stopped, the elevating body 30 is lowered by the elevating mechanism 31. At that time, when the baggage gripping part 36 is holding the wafer carrier 3 and the lifting body 30 is lifted, when the transporting carriage 10 is transported, the lifting body 30 is lowered. At any time, the rotation mechanism 40 for the gripper rotates the turning table 41 at an angle of 180 degrees to reverse the direction of the wafer carrier 3.
Therefore, during the period from when the transfer carriage 10 receives the wafer carrier 3 to when it is transferred, it is reversed at an arbitrary time so that the orientation of the wafer carrier 3 is corrected. And when the raising / lowering body 30 shakes by this reversal, the shake detection sensor 48 detects and the positioning mechanism 11 is driven, so that the shake can be quickly suppressed.
Further, from the time when the carriage 10 receives the wafer carrier 3 and starts to rise, it travels on the tracks 2A and 2B, reaches the import 7 for handing over the wafer carrier 3 and descends the lifting body 30 over the entire section. By rotating slowly over time, shaking can be reliably suppressed.

  Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 4, when import or import is set at a place where the tracks 2 </ b> A and 2 </ b> B are curved, the elevating body 30 can be placed in any direction, which is favorable. The wafer carrier 3 can be gripped or transferred to the outport.

The second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 5, the same components as those described in FIGS. 1 to 4 are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.
In the present embodiment, the lifting body 30 is provided with a rotation angle processing means 45 a that adjusts the rotation angle of the gripper rotation mechanism 40.
This rotation angle processing means 45a is comprised from the memory | storage part 45b, the control part 45c, and the calculating part 45d.
In the storage unit 45b, the arrangement of the tracks 2A and 2B, the position of the outport 8 on which the wafer carrier 3 to be held is placed, the position of the import 7 to be transferred, the transfer path that the transfer cart 10 follows, Data such as an angle, a rotation speed, a rotation start position, a rotation end position, and the like for rotating the wafer carrier 3 from when the load gripping part 36 grips the wafer carrier 3 to when it is conveyed to the import 7 is stored.
The calculation unit 45c has a function of comparing the rotation angle for rotating the wafer carrier 3 stored in the storage unit 45b with the rotation angle of the turning table 41 sent from the angle detection means via the storage unit 45b. ing.
The control unit 45d has a function of rotating the turning table 41 and rotating the wafer carrier 3 by rotating the turning motor 42 provided in the gripper rotating mechanism 40 according to the rotation speed stored in the storage unit 45b. is doing.

The transport carriage 10 configured in this manner moves on the tracks 2A and 2B based on the data stored in the storage unit 45b, and moves to the outport 8 on which the predetermined wafer carrier 3 is placed. .
When the transport carriage 10 moves to the predetermined outport 8 in the storage unit 45b, the elevating mechanism 31 lowers the elevating body 30, and the load gripping unit 36 grips the wafer carrier 3.
When the load gripping part 36 grips the wafer carrier 3, the transport carriage 10 starts to move along the transport path stored in the storage part 45b, and the lifting mechanism 31 raises the lifting body 30.

In addition, the control unit 45c starts driving the turning motor 42 at the rotation start position stored in the storage unit 45b according to the rotation speed stored in the storage unit 45b.
And if the conveyance trolley | bogie 10 is located in the rotation completion position memorize | stored in the memory | storage part 45b, the control part 45c will stop the drive of the turning motor 42. FIG.
When the transport carriage 10 is positioned at the rotation stop position, the angle detection means provided in the gripping part rotation mechanism 40 detects the rotation angle of the turning table 41 and stores the rotation angle in the storage unit 45b of the rotation angle processing means 45a. The data is sent, and the storage unit 45b sends the rotation angle data of the turning table 41 to the calculation unit 45b.
The calculation unit 45d compares the current rotation angle of the turning table 41 with the rotation angle stored in the storage unit 45b, and calculates an angle at which the current turning table 41 should be corrected.
The control unit 45c receives an angle for correcting the turning table 41 from the calculation unit 45d, drives the turning motor 42 based on the angle to be corrected, and is stored in advance in the rotation angle of the turning table 41 and the storage unit 45b. Match the rotation angle.

  The transport carriage 10 adjusts the rotation angle of the turning table 41 as described above, and also transports the wafer carrier 3 to the import 7 to be transferred. Wafer carrier 3 is handed over.

In such a transfer carriage 10, the transfer path, transfer speed, and the like that the transfer carriage 10 transfers the wafer carrier 3 are stored in the storage unit 45 b, and the swing table 41 is shaken based on the transfer path and transfer speed. Since the rotation angle of the wafer carrier 3 can be set within a range in which the wafer carrier 3 does not occur, the wafer carrier 3 can be transported without causing shaking in the transport process.
That is, when the transfer time that the transfer carriage 10 transfers is short, the wafer carrier 3 can be moved without causing the wafer carrier 3 to shake by rotating the turning table 41 over most of the transfer section. Can be transported.
In addition, in this embodiment, since it has the structure similar to the said 1st Embodiment, the same effect | action and effect can be acquired.

In the present embodiment, the rotation angle processing means 45a is provided in each conveyance carriage 10, but the rotation angle processing means for adjusting the rotation angle of the turning table 41 of all the conveyance carriages 10 is provided in the conveyance apparatus 10a. You may provide in any part.
Further, in the above embodiment, an example has been shown in which the transport carriage grips and transports a wafer carrier containing a semiconductor wafer as a workpiece. However, the same effect can be obtained even when applied to other workpieces. Of course. Moreover, the specific structural example of a conveyance trolley is not limited to the said embodiment, In short, what is necessary is just to obtain the expected function.

  According to the transport carriage and the transport apparatus according to the present invention, the equipment space is not increased, the transport efficiency can be prevented from being lowered, and further, the size of the apparatus is not increased and the cost is increased. Industrial applicability is recognized because the orientation can be easily and reliably changed.

It is sectional drawing for description which shows the conveying cart which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is an expansion perspective view of a part fracture showing the important section of a conveyance cart. It is an explanatory top view which shows the conveying apparatus using a conveyance trolley. It is a partial enlarged view of a conveyance path. It is sectional drawing for description which shows the conveyance trolley | bogie which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the conventional conveying apparatus. It is explanatory drawing which shows the principal part of the conventional conveyance trolley | bogie. It is explanatory drawing at the time of providing a branch track and a merge track in the travel track of a conveying apparatus. It is explanatory drawing which comprised the table of the port of the processing apparatus in the inversion type.

Explanation of symbols

2, 2A, 2B rail (track)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10, 10A, 10B Carriage cart 11 Positioning mechanism 30 Lifting body 31 Lifting mechanism 36 Luggage gripping part 40 Rotating mechanism for gripping part 41 Turning table 42 Turning motor (drive source)
45, 46 Angle detection means 47 Image reading means 48 Shake detection sensor 100 Conveying device

Claims (9)

A carriage that travels on a track laid on the ceiling and conveys it to a storage and between each process and to each processing device in the process,
A carriage main body, a traveling mechanism provided between the carriage main body and the track, an alignment mechanism for moving and rotating the carriage main body in a horizontal direction, a lifting body suspended by the carriage main body, An elevating mechanism for elevating the elevating body with respect to the cart body,
The lifting body includes a load gripping portion that grips a workpiece, and a gripping portion rotation mechanism that rotates the load gripping portion around a vertical axis,
The transport carriage further includes an image reading unit that captures an image of a port on which a work is to be placed, and adjusts a rotation angle of the gripping part rotation mechanism according to the orientation of the port.
The image reading means images the kinematic pin provided on the port, and reads the position of the workpiece with respect to the kinematic pin on the coordinate axis based on the imaging data, thereby rotating the gripping part rotation mechanism. Determine the angle of rotation,
The transporting carriage characterized in that the gripping part rotating mechanism is capable of rotating the load gripping part at least 180 degrees around a vertical axis. In the transport carriage according to claim 1,
The gripping part rotation mechanism includes a state in which the load gripping part is gripping a workpiece and the carriage main body is traveling on a track, the lifting body is rising, and the lifting body. A transport cart characterized by rotating the load gripping part at any time when the bag is descending. In the conveyance trolley | bogie of Claim 2,
The gripping portion rotating mechanism is lifted while traveling on the track while traveling with the load gripping portion gripping a workpiece, while traveling on the track and descending, or ascending and traveling on the track. The transporting carriage is characterized in that the load gripping portion is rotated during the period until it descends. In the conveyance trolley | bogie in any one of Claim 1 to 3,
Transport vehicle, characterized in that it comprises an angle detecting means for detecting the rotation angle of said package gripper. In the transport carriage according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
A transporting carriage comprising a shaking detection sensor for detecting shaking of the lifting body, and driving the alignment mechanism in a direction to absorb shaking of the lifting body based on detection of the shaking detection sensor. In the transport carriage according to claim 5,
The rotation mechanism for the gripping part is attached to the lifting body so as to be rotatable about a vertical axis, and has a turning table provided with the luggage holding part, and a drive source for driving the turning table. Carrying cart. In the conveyance trolley | bogie in any one of Claim 1 to 6,
The gripper rotation mechanism includes a storage unit that stores in advance a rotation angle for rotating the workpiece, and a control unit that rotates the load gripping unit based on the rotation angle stored in the storage unit. A transport cart characterized by that. It laid on the ceiling, and a plurality of track branching intersect one another, transfer apparatus, characterized by comprising a conveyance carriage according to any one of claims 1 to 7. In the conveyance apparatus of Claim 8 ,
It is provided with a plurality of ports on which the work to be transported by the transport carriage is placed,
After causing the load gripping portion to grip the workpiece placed on any of the plurality of ports, and after rotating the load gripping portion gripping the workpiece by the gripping portion rotating mechanism 180 degrees around a vertical axis The transfer apparatus, wherein the work is placed on any one of the plurality of ports.

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