JP4922766B2 - Conveying device for plate-like heat-treated material in continuous heat treatment furnace - Google Patents

Description

【Technical field】
[0001]
The present invention relates to a transport apparatus for transporting a plate-shaped heat-treated object such as a lightweight, thin substrate such as a solar cell wafer in a continuous heat treatment furnace.
[Background]
[0002]
Conventionally, as this type of transfer device, as disclosed in Patent Document 1 or Patent Document 2, a pair of pipes that extend in parallel in the front-rear direction through the furnace so that the object to be heat-treated can be placed over the pair. A fixed wire, a pair of movable wires extending parallel to the outside or inside of both fixed wires so that the workpieces can be placed across the workpieces, and both of the workpieces placed on the movable wires are advanced. 2. Description of the Related Art A walking mechanism that performs a walking operation of a movable wire and a coil spring that applies tension to both fixed and movable wires are known.
[0003]
In the conventional apparatus, the movable wire swings with the walking motion. Wire swinging is likely to occur when moving up and down even during walking. When moving up and down and back and forth with a pair of movable wires, the vibration generated by the up and down movement remains as it is in the subsequent back and forth movement and stops the object to be heat-treated at an accurate position in the front and back direction. It cannot be made, and the stop position will shift.
[0004]
Further, since tension is applied to the wire by the spring, when the wire is stretched, the tension of the wire changes.
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-148473 [Patent Document 2]
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 4-67994 [Disclosure of the Invention]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
[0005]
The object of the present invention is to reduce the deviation of the stop position of the object to be heat treated, to enable stable transportation, and to convey the plate-like material to be heat treated in a continuous heat treatment furnace without causing a change in wire tension. To provide an apparatus.
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In the continuous heat treatment furnace according to the present invention, the plate-like heat-treated article conveying device includes a pair of longitudinally moving wires extending in parallel in the longitudinal direction through the furnace so as to be placed across the heat-treated article, and the heat-treated article. A pair of vertical movement wires extending parallel to the outside or the inside of both longitudinal movement wires so that they can be placed across the object, a longitudinal movement mechanism for moving the both longitudinal movement wires back and forth at a certain level, and It has a vertical movement mechanism that moves both vertical movement wires up and down to intersect the level,
The back-and-forth movement mechanism has two or one fluid pressure cylinder for adjusting the back-and-forth movement wire tension that individually or collectively applies tension to both the back-and-forth movement wires. It has two or one hydraulic cylinder for adjusting the tension of the vertical movement wire individually or collectively to apply tension.
In the apparatus for conveying a plate-like object to be heat-treated in the continuous heat treatment furnace according to the present invention, separate wires are used to move back and forth and up and down. For this reason, the sway of the vertical movement wire is not transmitted to the longitudinal movement wire, and the swaying of the wire during the longitudinal movement hardly occurs. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a shift in the stop position of the object to be heat treated.
Further, the back-and-forth movement mechanism has two or one back-and-forth movement wire tension adjusting fluid pressure cylinders that individually or collectively apply tensions to both the back-and-forth movement wires. Since there are two or one vertical movement wire tension adjusting fluid pressure cylinders that individually or collectively apply tension to the wire, even if the longitudinal movement wire and the vertical movement wire are stretched, the elongation Is absorbed by the fluid pressure cylinder. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the wire tension from changing.
When there is no difference in elongation between the two longitudinal movement wires, the number of the longitudinal pressure wire tension adjusting fluid pressure cylinders may be one. When the difference is found, the number of the longitudinal motion wire tension adjusting fluid pressure cylinders is two. I will. Similarly, the number of hydraulic cylinders for adjusting the front vertical wire tension is selected depending on whether there is a difference in elongation between the two vertical movement wires.
In another continuous heat treatment furnace according to the present invention, a plate-like heat-treated article conveying device includes a pair of longitudinally moving wires that extend through the furnace in the front-rear direction and extend parallel to each other so that the object to be heat-treated can be placed across the furnace. A pair of vertical movement wires that extend parallel to the outside or the inside of both longitudinal movement wires so that the workpiece can be placed across the workpiece, a longitudinal movement mechanism that causes the longitudinal movement wires to move back and forth at a certain level, and longitudinal movement It has a vertical movement mechanism that moves both vertical movement wires up and down so as to intersect the level of the wire,
Two or one longitudinal pressure wire tension adjusting fluid pressure cylinders, each of which has a piston rod connected to one end of each longitudinal motion wire, and which individually or collectively applies tension to both longitudinal motion wires; A longitudinally moving body in which the other ends of the longitudinally moving wires are connected and equipped with a fluid pressure cylinder for adjusting the longitudinally moving wire tension, and each longitudinally moving wire in the longitudinal direction with tension applied to each longitudinally moving wire. A plurality of pulleys around which the longitudinal movement wires are wound so as to be movable and a single-axis robot that drives the longitudinal movement body are provided.
In the apparatus for transferring a plate-like object to be heat-treated in another continuous heat treatment furnace according to the present invention, the forward / backward movement stroke of the wire can be easily changed by changing the slider operation stroke of the front / rear drive single-axis robot. Thereby, it is possible to cope with tact feed of a long stroke.
In another still further continuous heat treatment furnace according to the present invention, a plate-like heat-treated article conveying device includes a pair of longitudinally moving wires that extend in parallel in the front-rear direction through the furnace so that the object to be heat-treated can be placed. A pair of vertical movement wires extending parallel to the outside or the inside of both longitudinal movement wires so that the object to be heat-treated can be placed, a longitudinal movement mechanism for moving the longitudinal movement wires back and forth at a certain level, A vertical movement mechanism that moves both vertical movement wires up and down to intersect the level of the movement wire,
The vertical movement mechanism has a piston rod that connects one end of each vertical movement wire, and two or one vertical pressure wire tension adjusting fluid pressure cylinders that individually or collectively apply tension to both vertical movement wires; , And two vertical moving bodies arranged on both front and rear sides of the furnace, the other vertical movement body is connected to one vertical movement body of the two vertical movement bodies, the other vertical movement body, A plurality of pulleys around which each vertical movement wire is wound so as to apply tension to each vertical movement wire are attached, and two vertical movement bodies are driven synchronously by an electric cylinder. is there.
In still another continuous heat treatment furnace conveying apparatus according to the present invention, two vertically moving bodies arranged on both sides of the furnace are moved up and down synchronously by an electric cylinder. Thereby, it is difficult to cause the wire to sway, and the vertical movement can be performed in a stable posture.
【Effect of the invention】
According to this invention, the shift of the stop position of the object to be heat-treated is reduced, stable conveyance is possible, and there is no change in the tension of the wire.
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
In the following description, front and rear refer to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 as a reference, the right side of FIG. 1 refers to the front, the opposite side refers to the rear, and the left and right refers to the left and right sides as viewed from the rear. Shall.
The continuous heat treatment furnace includes a tunnel-like furnace body 11 extending in the front-rear direction for heating and cooling the plate-like heat-treated object W, a gantry 12 that supports the furnace body 11 by means not shown, and the interior of the furnace body 11. And a transfer device 13 having a transfer path for passing the heat-treated object W forward with a constant stroke.
The furnace body 11 has a heating chamber 23 having an inlet 21 at the rear end, and a cooling chamber 24 communicated with the heating chamber 23 and having an outlet 22 at the front end. Heating lamps 25 are respectively provided on the ceiling and floor of the heating chamber 23. Here, although the heating chamber 23 is shown in a form in which the central portion of the length is omitted, the heating chamber 23 has such a length that the workpiece W can be conveyed at a plurality of pitches. However, the lengths of the heating chamber 23 and the cooling chamber 24 are not limited to those shown in the figure, and may be any combination.
The gantry 12 includes a square pipe base frame 31 in the front-rear direction, a pair of left and right rear posts 32 standing at the rear end of the base frame 31, and a pair of left and right fronts standing at the front end of the base frame 31. And a post 33.
The transfer device 43 can be placed across the pair of left and right motion wires 41 extending through the furnace body 11 in the front-rear direction and extending parallel to each other and the workpiece W so that the workpiece W can be placed across the workpiece. Thus, a pair of left and right vertical movement wires 42 extending outside in parallel with both the longitudinal movement wires 41, a longitudinal movement mechanism 43 for moving the both longitudinal movement wires 41 back and forth at a constant level, and a longitudinal movement wire 41 And a vertical movement mechanism 44 that moves both the vertical movement wires 42 up and down so as to cross the level of the vertical movement.
The front-rear moving mechanism 43 includes a front-rear driving single-axis robot 51 that is mounted on the upper surface of the base frame 31 so as to be positioned below the front part of the transport path. A single-axis robot 51 for longitudinal driving is a servomotor-driven positioning device, and includes a linear guide 52 extending in the front-rear direction, and a slider 53 that covers the linear guide 52 and constitutes a longitudinally moving body via a ball screw. I have. A pair of longitudinally moving wire tension adjusting fluid pressure cylinders 54 are mounted on the slider 53 horizontally and rearwardly via brackets at intervals in the vertical and horizontal directions. Although the distance in the left-right direction of both the longitudinal movement wire tension adjusting fluid pressure cylinders 54 is illustrated as being equal to that of the both longitudinal movement wires 41, it is not limited thereto.
The vertical movement mechanism 44 is provided between the rear vertical drive electric cylinder 61 mounted vertically upward so as to be positioned behind the rear post 32 on the upper surface of the base frame 31 and the front post 33 on the upper surface of the base frame 31. And a front vertical drive electric cylinder 62 that is vertically oriented so as to be positioned in front of the vehicle.
A pair of vertically moving wire tension adjusting fluid pressure cylinders 63 are positioned horizontally above the both front and rear moving wire tension adjusting fluid pressure cylinders 54 so as to be horizontally forwardly spaced from each other through brackets. It is equipped on the upper surface of the base frame 31.
A first support shaft 71 for longitudinal movement is provided at the upper end of both rear posts 32, a second support shaft 72 for longitudinal movement is provided at the middle of the height, and a third support shaft 73 for forward and backward movement is provided near the lower end thereof. It is blocked through. A fourth support shaft 74 for forward and backward movement is secured to the upper ends of the front posts 33, and a fifth support shaft 75 for forward and backward motion is secured to the lower ends thereof via brackets. These first to fifth support shafts 71 to 75 all extend horizontally in the left-right direction. A pair of left and right first pulleys for longitudinal movement 81 are attached to the first longitudinal support shaft 71. A second pulley 82 for longitudinal movement is attached to the second support shaft 72 for longitudinal movement, and a third pulley 83 for longitudinal movement is attached to the third support shaft 73 for longitudinal movement, respectively. The attachment position of the second longitudinal movement pulley 82 corresponds to the position of the right longitudinal movement wire 41. The attachment position of the third longitudinal pulley 83 is corresponding to the position of the left longitudinal movement wire 41. A pair of left and right fourth pulleys 84 and fifth pulleys 85 are attached to the fourth support shaft 74 and the fifth support shaft 75, respectively.
[0023]
Vertical rear guide rails 91 are provided on the rear side surfaces of the rear posts 32, respectively. A rear vertical moving body 93 is passed to both rear guide rails 91 via a sliding guide member 92. The rear vertical moving body 93 is substantially U-shaped when viewed from the rear, and a piston rod of the rear vertical driving electric cylinder 61 is connected to the lower end thereof.
[0024]
Vertical front guide rails 94 are provided on the front side surfaces of the front posts 33, respectively. Front vertical moving bodies 96 are passed to both front guide rails 94 via sliding guide members 95. The front vertical moving body 96 is substantially U-shaped when viewed from the front, and a piston rod of the front vertical driving fluid pressure cylinder 62 is connected to the lower end thereof.
[0025]
Vertically moving first to third support shafts 101 to 103 are stopped in order from the top to the opposing vertical part of the U-shaped part formed by the front vertical moving body 96. These first to third support shafts 101 to 103 for vertical movement all extend horizontally in the left-right direction. A pair of left and right vertical pulleys 111 are attached to the vertical vertical first support shaft 101. A second pulley 112 for vertical movement is attached to the second support shaft 102 for vertical movement, and a third pulley 113 for vertical movement is attached to the third support shaft 103 for vertical movement, respectively. The attachment position of the second pulley 112 for vertical movement corresponds to the position of the vertical movement wire 42 on the right side. The mounting position of the third pulley 113 for vertical movement corresponds to the position of the left-right longitudinal movement wire 41.
[0026]
Both the longitudinal motion wire 41 and the vertical motion wire 42 are each made by twisting a plurality of nichrome wires having an outer diameter of about 0.33 mm to an outer diameter of about 3 mm, but other materials and configurations Etc.
[0027]
One end of the left and right movement wire 41 is connected to the piston rod of the left and right movement wire tension adjusting fluid pressure cylinder 54, and one end of the right and left movement wire 41 is connected to the right and left movement wire 41. It is connected to the piston rod of the fluid pressure cylinder 54 for adjusting the moving wire tension. The other ends of both the longitudinal motion wires 41 are respectively connected to a slider 53, which is a longitudinal motion body, via a bracket. The left front / rear movement wire 41 is wound around the third pulley 83, the first pulley 81, the fourth pulley 84, and the fifth pulley 85 in order from one end to the other end. The front-rear movement wire 41 on the right side is wound around the second pulley 82, the first pulley 81, the fourth pulley 84, and the fifth pulley 85 in order from one end to the other end.
[0028]
One end of each of the vertical movement wires 42 is connected to the rear vertical movement body 93. Of the two vertical motion wires 42, one end of the left vertical motion wire 42 is connected to the piston rod of the left vertical motion wire tension adjusting fluid pressure cylinder 63, and one end of the right vertical motion wire 42 is connected to the right vertical motion wire 42. It is connected to the piston rod of the fluid pressure cylinder 63 for adjusting the moving wire tension. The left vertical movement wire 42 is wound around the first pulley 111 and the third pulley 113 in order from one end to the other end. The right vertical motion wire 42 is wound around the first pulley 111 and the second pulley 112 in order from one end to the other end.
[0029]
Both longitudinal movement wires 41 are individually tensioned by both longitudinal movement wire tension adjusting fluid pressure cylinders 54, and both vertical movement wires 42 are individually separated by both vertical movement wire tension adjusting fluid pressure cylinders 63. Tension can be applied. The tension is adjusted by numerically managing the cylinder pressure with a precision digital regulator.
[0030]
Both the longitudinal motion wires 41 are moved in the length direction by a single stroke robot 51 for a longitudinal drive between the backward limit and the forward limit with a constant stroke. The stroke can be easily changed by numerical value input, and can cope with changes in the work size, the required temperature profile, and the like. Both the vertical movement wires 42 are moved up and down at a constant stroke between the upper and lower limits by the electric cylinders 61 and 62 for vertical driving. The upper limit of the vertical movement stroke is an upper level than the longitudinal movement wire 41, and the lower limit thereof is a lower level than the longitudinal movement wire 41. The vertical movement stroke of the longitudinal movement wire 41 can be changed by numerical input or the like, and can respond to the degree of sagging of the wire 41.
[0031]
Both the longitudinal motion wires 41 and the vertical motion wires 42 are driven synchronously so as to perform the following walking operation.
[0032]
Now, it is assumed that the longitudinal movement wire 41 is positioned at the retreat limit, and the vertical movement wire 42 is positioned at the lower limit. An object to be heat-treated W is placed on the longitudinal movement wire 41. From this state, when the forward / backward moving wire 41 is advanced with the workpiece W placed thereon, and the forward / backward moving wire 41 reaches the forward limit, the up / down moving wire 42 is raised. When the up-and-down motion wire 42 that moves up the side of the back-and-forth motion wire 41 is passed, the workpiece W is transferred from the back-and-forth motion wire 41 to the up-and-down motion wire 42. When the vertical movement wire 42 reaches the upper limit, the longitudinal movement wire 41 is retracted. When the longitudinal movement wire 41 reaches the retreat limit, the vertical movement wire 42 is lowered. The heat-treated object W placed on the vertical movement wire 42 is transferred from the vertical movement wire 42 to the front / rear movement wire 41 when the vertical movement wire 42 descending to the side of the vertical movement wire 41 is passed. Thereby, the walking operation of one cycle is completed.
[0033]
Furthermore, as the wires 41 and 42, stranded wires are used over the entire length thereof, but in the total length of the wires, the horizontal portion uses a round bar, and the stranded wire is used only for the portion wound around the pulley. It may be. Further, in order to protect the object to be heat-treated W, a wire may be coated or a tube may be covered. In particular, when the vertical movement wire 42 is formed of quartz or the like, it is possible to expect the effect of preventing the unevenness of the object to be heat-treated W from burning due to lamp light transmission.
[Industrial applicability]
[0034]
The conveying apparatus according to the present invention is suitable for achieving conveyance of a plate-like heat-treated object such as a lightweight, thin substrate such as a solar cell wafer in a continuous heat treatment furnace.
[Brief description of the drawings]
[0035]
FIG. 1 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of a conveying apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a plan view of the transfer device.

Claims (4)

A pair of longitudinally moving wires that pass through the furnace in the longitudinal direction so as to be placed across the object to be heat-treated and extend parallel to each other, and the outside or inside of both the longitudinally-moving wires so as to be able to be placed across the object to be heat-treated A pair of vertically moving wires extending in parallel with this, a longitudinally moving mechanism for moving the longitudinally moving wires back and forth at a certain level, and a vertically moving mechanism for vertically moving the vertically moving wires so as to intersect the level of the longitudinally moving wire And
Two or one longitudinal pressure wire tension adjusting fluid pressure cylinders, each of which has a piston rod connected to one end of each longitudinal motion wire, and which individually or collectively applies tension to both longitudinal motion wires; A longitudinally moving body in which the other ends of the longitudinally moving wires are connected and equipped with a fluid pressure cylinder for adjusting the longitudinally moving wire tension, and each longitudinally moving wire in the longitudinal direction with tension applied to each longitudinally moving wire. An apparatus for conveying a plate-shaped heat-treated object in a continuous heat treatment furnace, comprising a plurality of pulleys around which a longitudinally moving wire is wound so as to be movable, and a single-axis robot that drives a longitudinally moving body. A pair of longitudinally moving wires that pass through the furnace in the longitudinal direction so as to be placed across the object to be heat-treated and extend parallel to each other, and the outside or inside of both the longitudinally-moving wires so as to be able to be placed across the object to be heat-treated A pair of vertically moving wires extending in parallel with this, a longitudinally moving mechanism for moving the longitudinally moving wires back and forth at a certain level, and a vertically moving mechanism for vertically moving the vertically moving wires so as to intersect the level of the longitudinally moving wire And
The vertical movement mechanism has a piston rod that connects one end of each vertical movement wire, and two or one vertical pressure wire tension adjusting fluid pressure cylinders that individually or collectively apply tension to both vertical movement wires; , And two vertical moving bodies arranged on both front and rear sides of the furnace, the other vertical movement body is connected to one vertical movement body of the two vertical movement bodies, the other vertical movement body, A plurality of pulleys around which each vertical motion wire is wound so as to apply tension to each vertical motion wire are attached, and the two vertical motion bodies are driven synchronously by an electric cylinder, and are continuously heat-treated A device for conveying a plate-shaped heat-treated material in a furnace. A pair of longitudinally moving wires that pass through the furnace in the longitudinal direction so as to be placed across the object to be heat-treated and extend parallel to each other, and the outside or inside of both the longitudinally-moving wires so as to be able to be placed across the object to be heat-treated A pair of vertically moving wires extending in parallel with this, a longitudinally moving mechanism for moving the longitudinally moving wires back and forth at a certain level, and a vertically moving mechanism for vertically moving the vertically moving wires so as to intersect the level of the longitudinally moving wire And
Two or one longitudinal pressure wire tension adjusting fluid pressure cylinders, each of which has a piston rod connected to one end of each longitudinal motion wire, and which individually or collectively applies tension to both longitudinal motion wires; A longitudinally moving body in which the other ends of the longitudinally moving wires are connected and equipped with a fluid pressure cylinder for adjusting the longitudinally moving wire tension, and each longitudinally moving wire in the longitudinal direction with tension applied to each longitudinally moving wire. It has a plurality of pulleys around which each of the longitudinal movement wires is wound so that it can be moved, and a single-axis robot that drives the longitudinal movement body,
The vertical movement mechanism has a piston rod that connects one end of each vertical movement wire, and two or one vertical pressure wire tension adjusting fluid pressure cylinders that individually or collectively apply tension to both vertical movement wires; , And two vertical moving bodies arranged on both front and rear sides of the furnace, the other vertical movement body is connected to one vertical movement body of the two vertical movement bodies, the other vertical movement body, A plurality of pulleys around which each vertical motion wire is wound so as to apply tension to each vertical motion wire are attached, and the two vertical motion bodies are driven synchronously by an electric cylinder, and are continuously heat-treated A device for conveying a plate-shaped heat-treated material in a furnace.   4. The continuous heat treatment furnace according to claim 1, wherein the cylinder pressure of the fluid pressure cylinder for adjusting the longitudinal wire tension or the cylinder pressure of the fluid pressure cylinder for adjusting the vertical wire tension is automatically adjusted by a regulator. A device for transporting plate-shaped workpieces.

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