JP4778408B2 - Disc chuck mechanism and disc carrier - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a disk chuck mechanism and a disk carrier, and more particularly, when a plurality of magnetic disks or their substrates are erected and conveyed simultaneously in a horizontal row, the disk can be easily transferred to and from a disk handling robot. The present invention relates to a disk chuck mechanism that can securely hold a disk being conveyed.

Magnetic disks used as information recording media such as computers have recently been required to have higher storage density and have been miniaturized as glass disk substrates.
As an example of the magnetic disk manufacturing process using a glass disk substrate etc., first, the glass disk is polished with a lapping machine (lapping process), then both sides of the glass substrate are polished, and the average surface roughness is 1 nm. Mirror finish to the extent (polishing process). Thereafter, the glass substrate is cleaned (first cleaning step), and surface defect inspection and peripheral surface defect inspection are performed (first surface inspection step). Then, the passed glass substrate is cleaned (second cleaning process), and a metal underlayer having a thickness of about 50 to 2000 mm made of chromium, copper, NiAl or the like is formed by sputtering or the like (metal underlayer forming process). A magnetic layer having a thickness of about 100 to 1000 mm made of a cobalt-based ferromagnetic alloy thin film or the like is formed by sputtering or the like (magnetic layer forming step), and further, for example, a thickness made of a carbon film, a hydrogenated carbon film, a nitrogenated carbon film, or the like. A protective film of about 10 to 150 mm is formed (protective film forming step). After the protective film is formed in such a manufacturing process, the surface of the magnetic disk is cleaned with a polishing apparatus in order to remove small protrusions generated in the film forming process and clean the surface (burnish and wiping). Step), and finally the surface inspection is performed again (second surface inspection step).

The magnetic disk manufacturing apparatus provided with such processes uses an inline manufacturing apparatus in which a plurality of processes are arranged on a line, and a substrate transfer apparatus (disk) is used as a disk transfer between each process and between processes. The magnetic disk and its substrate (hereinafter referred to as disks) are erected by a carrier, and a plurality of disks are held horizontally in a row, and the disk carrier is conveyed by a conveyor conveyance or linear conveyance mechanism (patent) Reference 1).
JP 2002-288888 A

By the way, hard disks now penetrate into the fields of automobile products, home appliances, and acoustic products, and drive from 2.5 inches to 1.8 inches, and further to 1.05 inches or less, such as 0.85 inches. Devices (HDDs) have been used, and HDDs have become smaller.
As the mounting of HDDs on home appliances and in automobiles has rapidly progressed, the production of HDDs has increased rapidly. For that reason, disk inspection has become unable to keep up with the surge. In addition, due to the demand for high recording density, detection of increasingly lower protrusions and recess defects is required in the protrusion inspection or uneven defect inspection on the surface of a magnetic disk and its substrate (hereinafter referred to as disk). As a result, inspection time has been increasing.

In order to increase the inspection efficiency, it is conceivable to inspect a disk by raising a plurality of disks at the same time in a horizontal row and inspecting the disk as in Patent Document 1, but the one in Patent Document 1 is provided with a substrate holder. Is formed, and a spring member is provided in which the disc is accommodated and the disc is uniformly held at three points on the outer periphery. Therefore, the handling process of chucking and unchucking the disk with the substrate holder is difficult, and there is a problem that the throughput is lowered.
On the other hand, if an open upper chuck mechanism that chucks the disk from both sides is provided, the disk can be chucked separately in the vertical and horizontal relations, so the disk is transferred to and from the handling robot that lifts and lowers the disk. Thus, the throughput of the disk handling process at the time of inspection can be improved. However, there is a problem that the disk falls from the disk chuck due to vibration or impact during conveyance because the disk is not held at three uniform outer peripheral points.
In particular, as the outer diameter of the disk becomes as large as about 1.8 inches to 2.5 inches, the disk is easily detached from the chuck, and the manufacturing yield of the disk decreases.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve such a problem of the prior art, and it is easy to deliver a disk to and from a disk handling robot and can securely hold a disk being transported. It is to provide a chuck mechanism and a disk carrier.

In order to achieve this object, the disc chuck mechanism and disc carrier of the first invention are characterized in that in the disc chuck mechanism having a chuck arm for chucking the disc from the side,
A chuck arm having a pair of L-shaped arms bent at the elbow portion, and a lock mechanism for locking the chuck arm from opening;
The L-shaped body portion of the arm is longer than the foot portion, and the first roller or the first cylindrical rod is provided on the foot portion so that the first rollers or the first cylindrical rod overlap each other vertically. Each arm is arranged with its L-shape facing each other and pivotally supported so that each arm rotates to open and close the chuck arm,
The lock mechanism engages one of the first roller or the first cylindrical rod that overlaps with each other at the outer periphery to suppress the movement of the first roller or the first cylindrical rod in the opening / closing direction. And the position of the contact point between the outer circumference of the second roller or the second cylindrical bar and the outer circumference of the first roller is the rotation of the center of the first roller. The chuck arm is opened by removing the second roller from the rotational direction.
Further, in the second invention, the second roller or the second cylindrical rod is attached to a link having a rotation center, and the contact point is on a straight line connecting the rotation center of the link and the first roller. It is located at the dead center at or inside the position beyond it.

In this invention, a chuck arm is constituted by a pair of L-shaped arms bent at the elbow portion, and the L-shaped body portion of this arm is longer than the foot portion, and the first roller or Since the first cylindrical rod (hereinafter represented by a roller) is provided and the arms are arranged with the L-shape facing each other so that the first rollers overlap vertically, the chuck arm has an open space above it. In addition, the opening and closing of the chuck arm can be facilitated by stopping the first roller and lowering the first roller.
Further, the lock mechanism is provided with a second roller or a second cylindrical rod (hereinafter represented by a roller), and a contact point between the outer circumference of the second roller or the second cylindrical rod and the outer circumference of the first roller. Is arranged at an inner position that coincides with or exceeds the locus of the center of the first roller in the rotation direction of the center of the first roller, so that the first roller and the second roller Are engaged at the contact point, and the rotation of the first roller can be easily locked during conveyance.
Therefore, the disk can be easily transferred to and from the disk handling robot, and even if the outer diameter of the disk becomes as large as about 1.8 inches to 2.5 inches, the chucked disk is difficult to fall off. If the first roller is removed from the rotating direction, the first roller can be pushed up to easily open the chuck arm.
As a result, a disk chuck mechanism and a disk carrier that can reliably hold the disk being transported can be easily realized.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view of an embodiment to which a disc chuck mechanism of the present invention is applied, and FIG. 2 is an explanation of a five-platen (disc carrier) in a disc inspection apparatus in a prior application before applying the present invention. FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of the relationship between the disk cassette and the handling robot, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory view for explaining the meshing between the first roller and the second roller. In addition, in each figure, the equivalent component is shown with the same code | symbol and the description is omitted.
2A is a front view of a five-platen (disk carrier) 3 using a chuck arm with the support plate in front of the base frame 38 removed, FIG. 2B is a side view thereof, and FIG. FIG. 2C is a partially cutaway view of the bottom surface.
2A, reference numeral 1 denotes a disk to be inspected (magnetic disk or substrate thereof, hereinafter referred to as a disk), 2 denotes a defect detection optical system of the defect inspection apparatus, and 3 denotes a disk 1. A five-platen (disc carrier) that stands up, holds, and conveys the platen.

As shown in FIG. 3, the disc 1 is picked up from the disc cassette 8 by the handling robot 9 of the inner periphery chuck or inner periphery outer periphery chuck and mounted on the linear movement base 4 as shown in FIG. (Disk carrier) Set in a row in the X-axis direction in a state of being sequentially set on 3 and standing up. The five-platen 3 is placed on the linear movement base 4 and moves at a predetermined speed along the X axis.
Therefore, the disk 1 is moved on the X axis and sequentially positioned at the inspection position 7 (see FIG. 2A), where Z scanning is performed by the laser beam.
The linear moving base 4 is a moving mechanism similar to a linear motor that moves in the horizontal direction, and serrations are formed on the surface that receives the five-platen 3 for preventing slippage. A configuration in which the five-platen 3 is sucked and fixed on the linear movement base 4 instead of the serration may be used.

The defect detection optical system 2 shown in FIG. 2A includes a light projecting system having a laser light source that irradiates a laser beam onto the inspection area of the disk 1 and a polygon mirror for Z scanning, and reflected light from the inspection area. Built-in light receiving system for receiving light.
The leading disk 1 entering the inspection position 7 is scanned in the Z-axis direction by the laser beam by the rotation of the polygon mirror, and the linear movement base 4 is moved onto the five-platen 3 in accordance with one scanning from the top to the bottom of the laser beam. The disc 1 is moved at a predetermined pitch in the X direction. As a result, the entire surface of the disk 1 is scanned in the XZ plane.
Reflected light from the surface of the disk 1 at the time of laser beam irradiation of each Z scan obtained by this XZ scanning is received by a light receiving system having a light receiving angle (elevation angle) of about 60 ° to 70 ° with respect to the surface of the disk 1. Then, the received light is collected by a light receiving system lens, given to a light receiver, and converted into an electrical signal.
As a result, a detection signal corresponding to the amount of light received from the light receiver is output according to the XZ scan.

As shown in FIG. 2 (a), five disks 1 are set in a state where they are erected on an empty five-fold platen 3.
The five-fold platen 3 includes an elongated base frame 38 and a pair of chuck arms 31a and 31b provided in an array of five pairs. The base frame 38 is a channel member having chuck arm support portions 38a and 38b extending upright in the front-rear direction (see FIG. 2B).
A pair of left and right chuck arms 31a and 31b are the length of an arm portion 32a (33a) serving as an L-shaped body portion and an arm portion 32b (33b) serving as an L-shaped foot portion. Except for this point, it has the same L shape. That is, as shown in the figure, the arm portion 32a (33a) of the L-shaped body portion is longer than the arm portion 32b (33b) of the L-shaped foot portion.
As shown in FIG. 2 (a), the chuck arm 31b is attached to the base frame 38 by the shaft 34 so as to be reversed with respect to the chuck arm 31a and turned upside down so that the L-shapes face each other.

The chuck arm 31a is formed as an L-shaped lever bent at a right angle at the elbow portion, and the base of the vertically standing arm portion 32a and the horizontal arm portion 33a is formed as an elbow and coupled to the L-shape. The elbow portion of the coupling portion is supported by a shaft 34. The shaft 34 passes through the chuck arm support portions 38a and 38b, and is rotatably supported between the chuck arm support portions 38a and 38b (see FIG. 2 (b), see FIG. 2 (c)).
The chuck arm 31b is also formed as an L-shaped lever bent at the elbow portion, and the base of the vertically standing arm portion 32b and the horizontal arm portion 33b is coupled to the L shape as an elbow. The elbow portion of the coupling portion is pivotally supported by the shaft 34, and the shaft 34 passes through the chuck arm support portions 38a and 38b and can be rotated together with the chuck arm 31a between the chuck arm support portions 38a and 38b. (Refer to FIG. 2B and FIG. 2C).
The arm portion 32b of the right chuck arm 31b is a little longer than the arm portion 32a of the left chuck arm 31a, and the horizontal arm portions 33a and 33b extend so as to face each other inward and overlap each other. Yes. The arm portion 33a is positioned on the arm portion 33b, and the chuck arm 31a is disposed on the front side of the chuck arm 31b (see FIG. 2C). Further, the right chuck arm 31b is attached to the shaft 34 of the next left chuck arm 31a in common at the front and rear (see FIG. 2C).

Therefore, the roller 37b of the chuck arm 31b is reversed with respect to the roller 37a protruding to the back side of the arm portion 33a of the chuck arm 31a, and protrudes to the front side of the arm portion 33b, so that these rollers 37a and 37b overlap vertically. It has become.
The rollers 37a (37b) are rotatably attached to the arm portions 33a (33b) so that their center positions are located on a line passing through the center of the disk 1 to be chucked (FIGS. 2B and 2B). c)).
Fingers 35a (35b) are respectively extended at the distal ends of the arm portions 32a (32b) of the chuck arm 31a (31b).
The finger 35a (35b) has a hollow curved inward along the outer shape of the disk 1, and further, a relief notch 36a (36b) is provided in the inner central portion.
The coil spring 39 is inserted in an extended state between the arm portion 33a and the base frame 38 at a position before the roller 37a of the chuck arm 31a.

As a result, the chuck arms 31a and 31b can be opened against the urging force of the coil spring 39 by pushing up the roller 37b of the lower chuck arm 31b with a push-up pin from below. In this open state, the fingers 35a and 35b of the pair of chuck arms 31a and 31b receive the disc 1, and stop pushing up the lower roller 37b and lower the roller 37b. Side chucking is performed by the arms 31a and 31b, and is held by the biasing force of the coil spring 39.
The push-up pin is inserted from the hole 38c shown in the partially cutaway bottom view of FIG.

However, if a disk of about 1.8 inches to 2.5 inches is chucked by the coil spring 39 in FIG. 2A, there is a problem that the disk 1 is detached from the chuck during conveyance. The reason is that the arm portions 32a and 33a are longer than the arm portions 32b and 33b, respectively. Therefore, even if the arm portions 32b and 33b are spring-biased, the shaft 34 is used as a fulcrum and rotates. This is because the arm portions 32a and 33a are easy to open.
Therefore, the urging force of the coil spring 39 is increased. Then, when the chuck is closed, it strongly hits the chamfer portion of the disk 1 and the chamfer portion is likely to have a chuck mark or chipping. The yield is reduced.
Therefore, as shown in FIG. 1, in the present invention, the mechanism that can lock and easily open and close the chuck arm is improved.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of an embodiment to which a disk chuck mechanism of the present invention is applied. Reference numeral 5 denotes a lock mechanism that can lock the chuck arm simultaneously with opening and closing of the chuck arm 31a and the chuck arm 31b. .
The lock mechanism 5 includes a rectangular frame (frame-shaped link) 51 having a U-shape that is open so as to surround the rollers 37 a and 37 b, a pressing roller 53, and a coil spring 39.
The rectangular frame 51 is composed of an upper side 51a in the horizontal direction, a side 51b in the vertical direction, and a base 51c. The rectangular frame 51 is pivotally supported by a shaft 52 provided at the corner of the side 51b and the base 51c. It is supported by.
A pressing roller 53 is rotatably attached to the upper side 51a in the horizontal direction while the circumferential surface is in contact with the circumferential surface of the roller 37a. A coil spring 39 is inserted in an extended state between the tip side of the upper side 51a and the chuck arm support portion 38b.
Here, the position of the center of the pressing roller 53 is shifted by δ to the left in the drawing beyond the center of the roller 37a. As a result, the center of the pressing roller 53 is disposed at a position beyond the center of the roller 37a in the rotation direction of the roller 37a.

As a result, there is a difference between the force that the roller 37a pushes up and the force that the restraining roller 53 restrains. When the roller 37a rotates and tries to rise upward, the restraining roller 53 functions to block it.
That is, in order for the roller 37a to rotate, a force sufficient to overcome the lowest point of the restraining roller 53 at a shifted position must be generated, but there is a difference between the rotating force and the blocking force. Therefore, in a normal state, the rollers 37a are in contact with each other on the circumferential surface, so that the rollers rotate and mesh with each other, and the rotation of the roller 37a is substantially locked without generating a force to get over.
FIG. 4 shows the conditions.
In FIG. 4, when the rectangular frame 51 is considered as one link L (refer to a line L connecting the shaft 52 and the pressing roller 53) that rotates the shaft 52 and the pressing roller 53 around the shaft 52, A contact point S between the pressing roller 53 and the roller 37a is on an arc C which is a locus in the rotation direction of the roller 37a. When the contact point S is at this position or beyond the arc C and enters the inside of the arc C, the roller 37a is substantially resistant to normal vibration and impact during conveyance even if the biasing force of the coil spring 39 is somewhat small. Can be locked. The reason is that the outer periphery of the holding roller 53 and the roller 37a meshes at the position of the contact point S.
When the contact point S is located at the dead point D on the line L connecting the shaft 52 and the suppression roller 53 or beyond the dead point D, the suppression roller 53 brings the roller 37a into a completely locked state. Can do.
In this case, the chuck arm 31 a and the chuck arm 31 b are opened and closed via the bottom 51 c of the rectangular frame 51.
That is, similarly to the above, the bottom 51c is pushed up by the push-up pin through the hole 38c to release the lock, and the rectangular frame 51 rotates clockwise against the biasing force of the coil spring 39 to suppress the roller 53. Rises and escapes from the rotating direction of the roller 37a, the roller 37a (37b) rotates counterclockwise, the chuck arm 31a and the chuck arm 31b are opened, and the push-up pin is lowered to lower the coil spring 39. The chuck arm 31a and the chuck arm 31b are closed by the urging force, and the chuck arm 31a and the chuck arm 31b return to the locked state.
When the lock is released, the outer periphery of the restraining roller 53 is retracted to the outside not in contact with the outer periphery of the roller 37a. The coil spring 39 in the drawing is disposed at a position that does not interfere with the rotation of the roller 37a and the arm portion 33a.

As described above, in the embodiment, an example of a five-platen (disc carrier) is given, but if the number of discs held is plural, the number of discs in the disc carrier is limited to five. Is not to be done.
Further, in the embodiment, the arms 33a and 33b corresponding to the L-shaped leg portions are provided with rollers 37a and 37b, respectively. These rollers and the pressing roller 53 are in contact with each other on the circumferential surface. In other words, a cylindrical rod may be used instead of a roller.
Further, in the embodiment, the arm is an L-shaped arm bent at a right angle at the elbow portion, but the angle of bending need not be a right angle.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view of an embodiment to which the disk chuck mechanism of the present invention is applied. 2A is a front view of a five-platen (disk carrier) using a chuck arm with the support plate in front of the base frame removed, FIG. 2B is a side view thereof, and FIG. (C) is a partially cutaway view of the bottom surface. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the relationship between the disk cassette and the handling robot. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the meshing between the first roller and the second roller.

Explanation of symbols

1 ... disk, 2 ... defect detection optical system,
3 ... 5 platen (disc carrier),
31a, 31b ... chuck arms,
32a, 32b, 33a, 33b ... arm part,
34 ... shaft, 35a, 35b ... finger,
36a, 36b ... notches, 37a, 37b ... rollers,
38 ... Base frame,
38a, 38b ... chuck arm support part,
5 ... Lock mechanism, 51 ... Rectangular frame,
52 ... Shaft, 53 ... Pressing roller, 7 ... Inspection position,
8 ... Disc cassette, 9 ... Handling robot.

Claims (5)

In the disc chuck mechanism having a chuck arm for chucking the disc from the side,
The chuck arm having a pair of L-shaped arms bent at the elbow portion, and a lock mechanism for locking the chuck arm from opening;
The L-shaped body portion of the arm is longer than the foot portion, and the foot portion is provided with a first roller or a first cylindrical rod, and each of the first roller or the first cylindrical rod is provided. Each of the arms is arranged and pivotally supported with the L-shape facing each other so as to overlap vertically, and each of the arms rotates to open and close the chuck arm,
The lock mechanism engages one of the first roller or the first cylindrical rod that overlaps with each other at the outer periphery to suppress the movement of the first roller or the first cylindrical rod in the opening and closing direction. A second roller or a second cylindrical rod, and the position of the contact point between the outer circumference of the second roller or the second cylindrical rod and the outer circumference of the first roller is the center of the first roller; A chucking mechanism for a disk, which is disposed on or inside a trajectory in a rotational direction, and the chuck arm is opened by removing the second roller from the rotational direction.   The second roller or the second cylindrical rod is attached to a link having a rotation center, and the contact point is a dead point on a straight line connecting the rotation center of the link and the first roller, or The disk chuck mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the disk chuck mechanism is disposed at an inner position beyond the upper limit.   The locking mechanism includes a rectangular frame that is disposed so as to surround the first roller that overlaps the upper and lower sides, an axis that supports the rectangular frame so as to be swingable, and the second roller that is disposed on the upper side. The second roller or the second cylindrical rod is provided on the upper side of the rectangular frame, and the bottom side of the rectangular frame is placed on the bottom side of the rectangular frame. The disk chuck mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the chuck arm is opened by pushing up and the chuck arm is closed by stopping the push-up and lowering the bottom side.   4. A disk carrier comprising a plurality of disk chuck mechanisms according to claim 1 in parallel.   The disk carrier according to claim 4, wherein the chuck mechanism of the plurality of disks has the chuck arms arranged in a single axis direction in a row at predetermined intervals.

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