JP4799264B2 - Positioning device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a positioning device that performs positioning by rotating and straightly moving an object to be operated in an airtight container from outside the container via an operation rod.

  As described in Patent Document 1, in a positioning device that rotates and linearly moves an object to be operated in a sealed container from the outside of the container, a pair of one end that is connected to the object to be operated through the sealed container An operating rod, a swing arm that supports the other end of the operating rod and is disposed outside the sealed container, and a rotation mechanism for each axis that rotates the object to be operated about each of predetermined orthogonal axes Rotating operation means formed by laminating and linear movement operation means formed by laminating linear movement mechanisms for each axis that are caused to move straight by the orthogonal axes, and the swinging arm is supported by the turning operation means, Further, there is known an apparatus in which the rotation operating means is supported by a linear movement operating means, and the operating rod and the object to be operated, and the operating rod and the swinging arm are connected via rotation support means for rotating in the torsion direction of the operating rod. ing.

Further, in the positioning device described in Patent Document 1, the periphery of the operation rod inserted into the sealed container is covered with a bellows to achieve airtightness with respect to the inside of the sealed container, and the operation rod and the operated object are connected. The use of a rotating leaf spring as the rotation support means is disclosed.
Japanese Patent No. 2638946

  In the positioning device described in Patent Document 1, a rotating leaf spring is used as the rotation support means as described above in order to suppress dust generation in the sealed container and prevent a torsional force from being applied to the bellows. . For this reason, the problem is that the structure is complicated.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and allows a torsional force to be applied to the bellows with a simple structure, and allows an object to be operated in a sealed container to be rotated and moved straight from the outside of the container. An object is to provide a positioning device.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is a positioning device for rotating and linearly moving an object to be operated in a sealed container from the outside of the sealed container. the object but via a plurality of operation rods which are connected the operated element, a plate and the other end of said plurality of operating rod disposed outside the sealed container and respectively support a plurality of operating rods said plate connected to the operating body, said a rotation mechanism for rotating the operating rod and flat line around an axis, said plate coupled with the operated member via the plurality of operating rod, said operating rod and flat ascending such a shaft and the shaft straight interlinked and bellows is communicated transmural 3 and the rectilinear mechanism allowed to go straight direction, the operating rod therein to connect the ends to the plate and the closed container with straight interlinking two axes to each other If, by configured, the linear and the rotary mechanism Within the movable range of the plate according to configuration, the center of the end surface to be connected to the sealed container of the bellows, so that the center of the end face to be connected to the plate is always eccentric, characterized in that installed the bellows .

According to the present invention, in order to maintain the airtightness of the operation rod inserted into the sealed container, in the bellows provided on the operation rod, the center of the end surface connected to the sealed container and the end surface connected to the fixed plate are provided. by always eccentric with the center, torsional forces can be prevented from acting, compared to the conventional, with a simple structure, good rotate the operated element in the closed container from the outside of the container, straight Can exercise.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a front sectional view showing a configuration of a positioning device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, 1 is a base plate, 2 is an XYθ-axis stage, 3 is a tilt adjustment mechanism, 4 is a Z-axis stage, 5 is a top plate, 6 is an operating rod, 7 is a sealed container, 8 is an object to be operated, and 9 is a bellows. Indicates.

  As shown in FIG. 1, an XYθ axis stage 2 for horizontal movement is mounted on a base plate 1 via an adjustment mechanism 3. Here, XY represents a two-direction axis in the drawing, a horizontal direction and a direction perpendicular to the paper surface, and θ represents a rotation axis about the Z-axis (vertical axis). Although not shown, the XYθ-axis stage 2 uses a motor as a drive source and is provided with a known rotation mechanism and a straight-ahead mechanism including a driving force transmission system such as a gear. In the present embodiment, the simplest structure employs a push bolt and a pull bolt. Further, the Z-axis stage 4 is arranged on the XYθ-axis stage 2 so as to be stacked.

  In the present embodiment, a stage using wedges is employed as the Z-axis stage 4. A plurality of operation rods 6 are vertically arranged on the upper surface plate 5 of the Z-axis stage 4, and a part of the operation rods 6 are inserted into the sealed container 7. It is fixed to.

  The plurality of operation rods 6 are penetrated into the bellows 9 between the hermetic container 7 and the upper surface plate 5 of the Z-axis stage 4 in order to seal the hermetic container 7, and the periphery is covered and airtightness is achieved. Yes. With such a structure, even if the stage moves in each of the X-axis, Y-axis, Z-axis, and θ-axis directions, the object 8 and the workpiece placed on the object 8 (not shown) Can be moved in a sealed state.

  FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 1 and shows a case where three operation rods 6 are connected to the upper surface plate 5 of the Z-axis stage 4. As shown in the figure, bellows 9 are attached so as to cover the periphery of each operation rod 6, the connection surface (shown by a solid line in the drawing) of the bellows 9 and the upper surface plate 5 of the Z-axis stage 4, and the bellows 9 are sealed. The connecting surface with the container 7 (indicated by a two-dot chain line in the figure) is attached with the center position being eccentric, and as shown in FIG. The

  The torsional force acting on the bellows will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing one bellows 9 in FIG. 2 in an enlarged manner, and a square area A shown in gray indicates a movable range of the XYθ axis stage 2. When the XYθ axis stage 2 rotates around the θ axis by the maximum movable amount, the center O of the top surface of the bellows moves to O ′, and the XY axis further moves, as in this embodiment, If the center of the lower surface is eccentric, no matter how the XYθ axis moves, the center of the upper surface and the lower surface of the bellows 9 is shifted.

  On the other hand, FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing the bellows and the operating rod in the conventional positioning device, and the square area A shown in gray shows the movable range of the XYθ-axis stage as described above. As shown in FIG. 4, the center of the upper and lower surfaces of the bellows coincides with the center of the bellows, and therefore the center of the upper and lower surfaces of the bellows 6 may coincide when rotating around the θ axis and moving in the XY axis direction. is there.

  5 (a) and 5 (b) are explanatory views showing a deformed state of the central axis of the bellows 9. When the centers of the upper and lower surfaces of the bellows 9 are shifted, as shown in FIG. 5 (a), the bellows Since the center axis C of 9 is deformed spirally, no torsional force acts on the bellows 9. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5B, when the centers of the upper and lower surfaces of the bellows 9 coincide with each other, the central axis C cannot be helically deformed and a torsional force acts. Therefore, the bellows 9 is damaged by the twisting force.

  As described above, according to the configuration of the present embodiment, the center of the upper and lower surfaces of the bellows 9 is always decentered no matter how the operated body 8 and the positioning stages 2 and 4 move within the movable range. By doing so, a structure that does not generate a torsional force that causes damage to the bellows 9 can be obtained.

  The larger the amount of eccentricity of the upper and lower surfaces of the bellows 9, the better. However, if the amount of eccentricity is increased, the overall length of the bellows 9 becomes longer. For this reason, it is desirable to take an eccentric amount of at least 1.5 mm. Further, in this embodiment, the smaller the movable range around the θ axis and the greater the distance between the rotation axis of the operated body 8 and the central axis of the bellows 9, the more effective.

  The present embodiment is not limited to the configuration described above, and various modifications can be made.

  For example, the tilt adjusting mechanism 3 may use a stage having a spherical structure, and the XYθ-axis stage 2 has a structure in which an X-axis stage, a Y-axis stage, and a θ-axis stage are stacked if there is no space limitation. But you can. Further, the order of stacking the XYZθ axes may be any order.

  Also, the Z-axis stage 4 has a structure using wedges in the configuration example shown in FIG. 1, but other methods such as a structure in which a ball screw and an LM (linear motor) guide are arranged in the vertical direction are used. Also good.

  Further, the eccentric direction of the upper and lower surfaces of the bellows 9 may be any direction as long as it is disposed outside the movable range of the XYθ axes.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the four-axis displacement of XYZθ is shown, but this embodiment can be used when moving at least two axes including the θ axis. Further, in the present embodiment, the case where the operated body 8 rotates around the vertical axis is shown, but the same configuration as described above can be adopted for rotation around the horizontal axis.

  The present invention is effective for use in an apparatus for performing processing by positioning a wafer in a vacuum vessel such as a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, and various technical fields such as when it is necessary to position a workpiece in a sealed vessel. Is available.

Front sectional drawing which shows the structure of the positioning device which is one Embodiment of this invention. AA sectional view in FIG. Explanatory drawing which expands and shows the bellows part for demonstrating the twisting force which acts on the bellows of this embodiment Explanatory drawing which expands and shows the bellows part for demonstrating the torsional force which acts on the bellows of the conventional positioning device (A), (b) is explanatory drawing which shows the deformation | transformation state of the central axis of a bellows.

Explanation of symbols

1 Base plate 2 XYθ axis stage 3 tilt adjustment mechanism 4 Z axis stage 5 upper surface plate 6 operation rod 7 sealed container 8 object to be operated 9 bellows

Claims (1)

A positioning device for rotating and linearly moving an object to be operated in a sealed container from the outside of the sealed container,
A plurality of operating rods penetrating the sealed container and having one end connected to the object to be operated;
A plate disposed outside the hermetic container, each supporting the other end of the plurality of operating rods;
The plates coupled with the operated member via the plurality of operating rod, and a rotation mechanism for rotating the operating rod and the flat line around an axis,
Straight to allowed to straight the plates connected with the operated member via the plurality of operating rod, in the three directions of said operating rod and flat row axis and shaft immediately interlinked and each other straight interlinking two axes Mechanism ,
A bellows is communicated transmural said control rod therein to connect the ends to the plate and the closed container,
In the movable range of the plate by the rotation mechanism and the rectilinear mechanism , the center of the end surface connected to the sealed container of the bellows and the center of the end surface connected to the plate are always eccentric . A positioning apparatus comprising the bellows .

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