JP4966385B2 - Optical data transmission equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an optical data transmission apparatus that is installed in a fixed facility and transmits / receives an optical signal to / from a mobile facility.

In facilities such as factories in recent years, it is often performed to automatically convey articles by an automatic conveyance carriage.
For example, in a semiconductor device manufacturing facility, a transport carriage for transporting a wafer carrier device is used to automatically transport a semiconductor wafer between various processing apparatuses.
In such a transport system, communication of information necessary for control is performed between the transport cart side and the fixed equipment side in order to avoid a collision between a plurality of transport carts moving on a predetermined transport path. Is going.
As a communication method, communication using radio waves is possible, but optical communication is often used to avoid communication failure due to noise.
When communication is performed between the transport cart side and the fixed equipment side by optical communication, in order to ensure reliable communication with the transport cart that is traveling, for example, as described in Patent Document 1 below, the travel of the transport cart is performed. A configuration has been considered in which transmission and reception can be performed continuously over a certain distance along a route.

This communication mode will be further described. As schematically shown in FIG. 14, a plate-shaped light guide 100 in which V-shaped grooves 100a are arranged on the bottom surface along the movement path of the transport carriage, A light projecting head 101 disposed on one end side of the guide 100 and a light receiving head 102 disposed on the other end side are provided so as to perform communication between the transport carriage side and the fixed equipment side.
The light projected from the light projecting head 101 hits the V-shaped groove 100a of the light guide, and a part of the light changes its traveling direction upward. This light is received by the optical communication unit 103 of the transport carriage.
On the other hand, the light emitted from the optical communication unit 103 of the transport carriage hits the V-shaped groove 100a of the light guide, and a part of the light changes its traveling direction toward the light receiving head 102 and is received by the light receiving head 102. .
Thereby, it is possible to continuously communicate between the transport carriage and the fixed equipment at a distance over the entire formation range of the V-shaped groove 100a on the bottom surface of the light guide 100.

Japanese Patent No. 3648629

However, in the above-described conventional configuration, there is no problem when the light guide is installed on the straight part of the travel route of the transport carriage. However, when the light guide is installed on the curved part of the travel route, there is no difference between the transport cart side and the fixed equipment side. It becomes impossible to communicate efficiently.
That is, in a light guide that is curved along the travel route, light emitted from the light projecting head is transmitted through the light guide if the curvature radius is a sufficiently large curvature, but if the curvature radius is small, the projection is performed. The light from the optical head is emitted outside the light guide, and the amount of light that can contribute to communication is reduced.
Furthermore, since the attenuation when the light for communication travels in the light guide is not small, the length of the light guide in the light propagation direction, that is, the distance of the section that can communicate with the transport carriage (along the travel route) There is also the inconvenience that the distance is not so long.

  In view of the above-described conventional problems, the object of the present invention is to enable accurate optical communication between the moving equipment side and the fixed equipment side even when the traveling route of the moving equipment such as a carriage is curved. It is in the point to make.

In order to achieve this object, the first characteristic configuration of the optical data transmission device according to the present invention is installed in a fixed facility along the movement path of the moving facility as described in claim 1 of the claims. , an optical data transmission apparatus for transmitting and receiving an optical signal via the space between said moving equipment, and a light receiving portion for receiving light and emitting unit said wavelength region that emits light in the predetermined wavelength region A plurality of first optical communication units, a long flexible support member in which each first optical communication unit is arranged at a predetermined posture and interval, and a covering member that covers at least the first optical communication unit. It is in the point to have .

According to the above-described configuration, the plurality of first optical communication units are arranged at predetermined intervals on the long flexible support member, so that the optical data transmission device can be handled as an integral unit. The flexible support member can be installed while being curved along the movement path of the moving equipment.
Even if it is installed in this way, the first optical communication units are arranged at predetermined intervals along the movement path of the mobile equipment, so that any one of the first optical communication units and the mobile equipment can communicate accurately. It can be carried out.
Also, depending on the number of installed first optical communication units, it is possible to increase the distance of the section in which communication with the mobile equipment can be performed.
Furthermore, since at least the first optical communication unit is covered with the covering member, the apparatus can be protected from the surrounding environment, and conversely, the surrounding environment can be prevented from being contaminated by dust adhering to the apparatus.

In the second characteristic configuration, as described in claim 2, in addition to the first characteristic configuration described above, the covering member is configured by a flexible tube including a portion that transmits light in the wavelength region. is, the flexible support member is that contained in the inner flexible tube in a predetermined state in which the posture held by the holding portion formed in the flexible tube.
That is, as the covering member for covering the first optical communication unit and the like, various materials and shapes are conceivable. However, as a whole, the flexible supporting member is accommodated in the flexible tube. The first optical communication unit or the like can be easily covered while ensuring the flexibility.
Further, the flexible support member accommodated in the flexible tube is held in a predetermined posture by the holding portion, and since the posture is stable, handling is easy.

In the third feature configuration, in addition to the first or second feature configuration described above, the light emitting unit of each first optical communication unit is connected to a common transmission signal line. The light receiving unit of each first optical communication unit is connected to a common reception signal line, and the transmission signal line and the reception signal line are connected to a concentrator disposed on one end side of the flexible support member. There is in point .
That is, when a plurality of first optical communication units are installed on the flexible support member, if an independent wiring is provided for each first optical communication unit, the wiring for communication becomes excessively complicated. .
Therefore, by adopting a communication mode in which the reception signal line and the transmission signal line are commonly used in each first optical communication unit, it is possible to simplify the wiring for communication.

In the fourth feature configuration, as described in claim 4, in addition to the third feature configuration described above, the one end side of the flexible support member is provided with the transmission signal line and the reception signal line. It lies in another optical data transmission device having the above third feature structure is configured to be connectable.
That is, by adopting a communication mode in which the reception signal line and the transmission signal line are commonly used in each first optical communication unit, the reception signal lines can be compared with each other with respect to other optical data transmission apparatuses having the same configuration, Wiring connection is possible by simply connecting the transmission signal lines, and a plurality of optical data transmission devices connected in series can be handled as one optical data transmission device.
As a result, a plurality of optical data communication devices are appropriately connected according to the shape of the movement path of the mobile equipment, etc., and the communication range (installation length along the movement path of the mobile equipment) can be arbitrarily set. Can be set to be more versatile.

In the fifth feature configuration, as described in claim 5, in addition to the fourth feature configuration described above, the power supply voltage to the first optical communication unit is applied to the connection portion with the other optical data transmission device. It lies in that the power supply unit supplies are provided.
As described above, when a plurality of optical data transmission devices are connected to increase the distance of a section where communication with mobile equipment can be performed, wiring for supplying a power supply voltage to the first optical communication unit in the optical data transmission device The length also becomes longer. In this case, the voltage drop in the wiring for supplying the power supply voltage also becomes large, which may hinder the stable operation of the apparatus.
Therefore, a power supply unit that supplies a power supply voltage to the first optical communication unit is provided at a connection location between the optical data transmission devices, and the power supply voltage is accurately supplied to the first optical communication unit. Stable operation can be secured.

In addition to any of the first to fifth feature configurations described above, the sixth feature configuration is a track having a curved portion in which the moving equipment is installed with an arbitrary curvature. It is comprised so that it may drive | work along, and the said flexible support member exists in the point arrange | positioned along the said curved part.
That is, the optical data transmission apparatus in which the first optical communication unit is arranged on the flexible support member can of course be installed and used at a location where the movement path of the moving equipment is a straight line. This function is particularly effective at a location where the movement path of the curve is a curve.
Even when the curvature of the movement path of the moving equipment is variously different, the flexible support member can be bent to be adapted to the curvature of the movement path, and can be flexibly dealt with according to the situation of the movement path.

In the seventh feature configuration, as described in claim 7, in addition to any of the first to sixth feature configurations described above, one of the optical characteristics of transmission and reception is the alignment direction of the first optical communication units. It is arranged in an inclined posture inclined from the direction orthogonal to the traveling front side, and the other is arranged in an inclined posture inclined the transmission / reception optical axis from the direction orthogonal to the arrangement direction of the first optical communication units to the traveling rear side. , With respect to the mobile equipment equipped with a pair of second optical communication units each having a light emitting unit and a light receiving unit corresponding to the wavelength region, any one of the first optical communication units is at least one It exists in the point arrange | positioned at the said flexible support member by the space | interval which becomes a state which can communicate with a 2nd optical communication unit.

That is, in order for the mobile equipment to ensure communication with the optical data transmission device over the entire length of the installation section of the optical data transmission device on the fixed equipment side, the flexible support member is arranged with a predetermined interval. It is necessary that communication with at least one of the plurality of first optical communication units being made can always be established.
For this purpose, the installation interval of the first optical communication units may be sufficiently narrowed, but in that case, the required number of the first optical communication units increases excessively, resulting in an increase in cost.

Therefore, as the installation posture of the second optical communication unit on the mobile equipment side, the combination of the light receiving part and the light emitting part is mainly responsible for the traveling front side of the mobile equipment, and mainly responsible for the traveling rear side of the mobile equipment. It has two sets of things to do. Those in charge of one traveling front side as a pair of these two sets are arranged in an inclined posture in which the optical axis of transmission / reception is inclined from the direction orthogonal to the arrangement direction of the first optical communication units to the traveling front side, The one in charge of the other traveling rear side is arranged in an inclined posture in which the optical axis of transmission and reception is inclined from the direction orthogonal to the arrangement direction of the first optical communication units to the traveling rear side.
By setting it as such an arrangement | positioning attitude | position, even if the transmission / reception possible range (transmission / reception possible angle) in the mobile equipment side expands and the installation space | interval of a 1st optical communication unit is expanded, at least of several 1st optical communication units A state in which communication with one can always be established can be ensured.
Thereby, it is possible to reduce the apparatus cost while ensuring reliable communication between the mobile equipment side and the fixed equipment side.

  As described above, according to the present invention, communication can be accurately performed by optical communication between the moving equipment side and the fixed equipment side even when the traveling route of the moving equipment such as the carriage is curved. .

Diagram showing schematic arrangement on the fixed equipment side The perspective view which shows the principal part of an optical data transmission apparatus Sectional drawing which shows the principal part of an optical data transmission apparatus A perspective view showing the vicinity of an end of a flexible tube or the like The figure which shows the positional relationship of a 1st optical communication unit and a 2nd optical communication unit. The figure which shows the circuit structure of a 1st optical communication unit. The figure which shows the connection form of an optical data transmission apparatus Schematic configuration diagram of a communication system using an optical data transmission apparatus (A) is sectional drawing of the side view of the conveyance equipment which uses an optical data transmission apparatus, (b) is a partial sectional view of the front view of the conveyance equipment Sectional drawing of the conveyance equipment which shows another embodiment and uses an optical data transmission apparatus Schematic perspective view of transfer equipment Diagram showing the movement route of moving equipment Diagram showing the positional relationship between moving equipment and fixed equipment A diagram for explaining a conventional communication configuration

An embodiment when the optical data transmission apparatus of the present invention is applied to a semiconductor device manufacturing facility will be described.
As shown in FIG. 13, in the semiconductor device manufacturing facility 1, various manufacturing apparatuses 2 as fixing facilities for sequentially performing predetermined processing on the semiconductor wafer are arranged along the passage 8. In order to automatically transfer a semiconductor wafer, a transfer carriage 20 as a moving facility for transferring and transferring the wafer carrier device 4 to and from a load port 3 provided in the manufacturing apparatus 2 is along a traveling rail 10 suspended from the ceiling. It is provided so that it can run. The shape of the wafer carrier device 4 can appropriately correspond to a rectangular parallelepiped shape shown in FIG. 11 and the like in addition to the cylindrical shape shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 12, which shows a schematic arrangement of various devices in a semiconductor device manufacturing facility in plan view, the manufacturing apparatus 2 is divided into bays 6 and 7 for each manufacturing process.
The traveling rail 10 has a complicated shape including not only a simple straight portion but also a curve, a branching portion, a merging portion, and the like. For example, an inter-process rail 10a that connects the bays 6 and 7, an in-process rail 10b that connects the manufacturing apparatuses 2 installed in the bays 6 and 7, a branch rail 10c that connects the inter-process rail 10a and the in-process rail 10b, A retraction rail 10d for temporarily retreating the transport carriage 20 traveling in the in-process rail 10b, a bypass rail 10e for loading and unloading the wafer carrier device 4 to and from the stocker 5, and the like.

  The branch rail 10c is a rail that connects the inter-process rail 10a and the in-process rail 10b, and the traveling carriage 20 that travels travels along the branch rail 10c, so that the inter-process rail 10a and the in-process rail 10b are connected. Come and go with each other.

  The retreat rail 10d is provided to be branched from the in-process rail 10b, and is used, for example, when the transport carriage 20 is temporarily retracted from the in-process rail 10b for maintenance of the transport carriage 20 or the like.

  The bypass rail 10e is used when the wafer carrier device 4 branched from the inter-process rail 10a and temporarily held in the stocker 5 by the transport carriage 20 traveling on the inter-process rail 10a is used.

As shown in FIGS. 9A, 9B, and 11, the traveling rail 10 is formed in a concave shape whose cross section opens downward. Specifically, the support unit 11 is configured to support a travel wheel 27 provided in the travel unit 21 described later, and the cover member 12 is connected to the support unit 11 and surrounds the travel unit 21. The traveling rail 10 is formed of a light, strong, and aluminum drawn material, and is suspended from the ceiling by a support member 13 at an appropriate interval. However, the material and the installation direction on the ceiling are not limited thereto.
In the traveling rail arranged in a straight line, the side wall portion of the cover member 12 is partially opened to reduce the weight.

The transport carriage 20 includes a traveling unit 21 that travels along the support unit 11 of the traveling rail 10 and an article storage unit 22 that is supported by the traveling unit 21.
The traveling unit 21 includes a main frame 26 that serves as a base, a pair of left and right traveling wheels 27 that are pivotally supported on axles provided at the front and rear of the main frame 26, and a traveling motor (not shown) that drives the traveling wheels 27. ).
Further, the main frame 26 is provided with a pair of left and right guide wheels (not shown) at positions where the main frame 26 is substantially in contact with the inner surface of the cover member 12 of the traveling rail 10, and the traveling portion 21 is moved to the left and right in the traveling direction by the guide wheels. It is configured to be able to travel without slipping.

Although not shown, the main frame 26 is provided with a branching roller for selecting a branching guide (not shown) provided in the cover member 12 of the traveling rail 10, for example, from the inter-process rail 10a to the branching rail. When the travel route is switched to 10c, the travel route is switched by selecting one of the branch guides by the branch roller of the transport carriage 20.
The traveling unit 21 is not limited to a configuration in which the traveling wheel 27 is driven by a traveling motor, and a linear motor is provided by a permanent magnet laid in the traveling rail 10 and a core provided on the traveling unit 21 side. It may be configured to travel.

  On the upper part of the main frame 26, power supply units 30 are provided on the left and right, and a cart side transmission / reception unit 25 for communicating with the fixed equipment side is attached to the center. The power supply unit 30 includes an E-shaped core 31 and a coil 32 wound around a part of the core 31.

High frequency power is applied to the power supply line 15 supported by the power supply line holder 14 on the inner wall side surface of the cover member 12, and the high frequency power is induced in the coil 32 to transmit power without contact. In addition, all the electric power required for the conveyance carriage 20 is supplied by this non-contact power feeding method.
Note that the power supply means to the transport carriage 20 is not limited to the non-contact power supply method using the power supply unit 30 and the power supply line 15 described above.

A fixed facility side communication unit 40 which is a communication partner of the cart side transmission / reception unit 25 is installed on the ceiling surface of the inner wall of the cover member 12. The carriage side transmission / reception unit 25 and the fixed equipment side communication unit 40 transmit and receive optical signals as will be described later. In FIGS. 9A and 9B, the dimensions of the fixed equipment side communication unit 40 are enlarged for easy understanding of the drawings.
As shown schematically in FIG. 12, the fixed equipment side communication unit 40 includes a part of the in-process rail 10b, the branch rail 10c, and the bypass rail 10e in which the travel route of the transport carriage 20 is curved. Is installed.

The article storage unit 22 incorporates an elevating motor (not shown) as an elevating mechanism that elevates and lowers an elevating body 24 having a chuck mechanism 23 that holds the wafer carrier device 4 along a predetermined elevating path.
The lifting body 24 is connected to the lifting mechanism by a plurality of belts 29. The elevating motor is configured to raise and lower the elevating body 24 by winding the belt 29 and feeding it out. The belt 29 incorporates a power supply line and a signal line for supplying power from the traveling unit 21 to the chuck mechanism 23.

  The chuck mechanism 23 includes a pair of claw portions for gripping the gripped portion 4a on the upper surface of the wafer carrier device 4 and a gripping motor (not shown), and by driving the gripping motor. The gripper 4a of the wafer carrier device 4 is configured to be gripped or released when the claw portion is in a gripping posture or an opening posture.

  9 (a) and 9 (b), an example has been described in which the cart-side transmission / reception unit 25 is disposed above the main frame 26, and the fixed equipment-side communication unit 40 is installed on the inner wall ceiling surface of the cover member 12. The attachment position of the cart side transmission / reception unit 25 and the fixed equipment side communication unit 40 is not particularly limited, and can be attached to a position where communication is possible. For example, as shown in FIGS. 10 (a) and 10 (b), a cart-side transmission / reception unit 25 is disposed on the front side in the traveling direction of the article accommodating portion 22 constituting the transport cart 20, and is disposed on the lower surface of the support portion 11 of the traveling rail 10. Fixed equipment side communication unit 40 may be arranged.

In the following, communication between the mobile equipment side transmission / reception unit 25 and the fixed equipment side communication unit 40 described with reference to FIGS. 9A and 9B will be described. FIG. 10A and FIG. This is basically the same even in the attachment positions of both described in (1).
The fixed equipment side communication unit 40, which is the main part of the optical data transmission apparatus of the present invention, is a bottom view in a state of being attached to the cover member 12, that is, a schematic shape seen from the cart side transmission / reception unit 25 side. As shown in FIG. 2 in which the portion is illustrated in a perspective view and in FIG. 3 in which a cross section in the longitudinal direction is illustrated, the first light is applied to the flexible support member 41 having a long thin strip shape with a predetermined posture and interval. A communication unit 42 is arranged, and the flexible support member 41 including the first optical communication unit 42 is covered with a transparent flexible tube 43 that is a covering member.

A pair of upper and lower concave grooves 43a extending in the longitudinal direction are formed on the inner wall of the flexible tube 43, and the upper and lower ends of the flexible support member 41 are engaged with the pair of concave grooves 43a to be flexible. The flexible support member 41 accommodated in the flexible tube 43 is held in a predetermined posture.
Since the flexible support member 41 is configured to be covered with the flexible tube 43 and the outer diameter of the flexible tube 43 is as small as about 10 mm, the fixed equipment side communication unit 40 can be easily used. It can be curved and can be easily installed at a location where the traveling route of the transport carriage 20 is curved.
For example, even if the travel route of the transport carriage 20 is different, such as the branch rail 10c and the bypass rail 10e, it can be easily adapted to the curved shape, and the mobile equipment can have any curvature. Even when the vehicle travels along a track having a curved portion set in (1), it can be adapted to the arbitrary curvature.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the first optical communication unit 42 includes a light emitting unit having an infrared light emitting LED and a light receiving unit having a photodiode on a substrate 42 a attached on a flexible support member 41. An integrated infrared communication module 42b and a peripheral circuit component 42c (not shown in FIG. 2) are mounted.
In FIG. 1, only two first optical communication units 42 are extracted and illustrated, but more first optical communication units 42 are arranged at a pitch of about several tens of centimeters.

Although not shown in FIG. 2 and the like, the plurality of first optical communication units 42 are connected by signal wiring, and the connection state is shown in the circuit diagram of FIG.
Each infrared communication module 42 b illustrated in FIG. 6 is provided in each first optical communication unit 42.
The infrared communication module 42b includes an infrared light emitting diode 51 that is a main part of the light emitting part, a photodiode 52 that is a main part of the light receiving part, a transistor 53, and the like, and the light emitting part of each infrared communication module 42b. Is connected to a common transmission signal line 54 indicated by “Tx” in FIG. 6, and the light receiving portion of each infrared communication module 42 b is connected to a common reception signal line 55 indicated by “Rx” in FIG. 6.
Furthermore, each infrared communication module 42b is connected to a power supply line indicated as “+ 5V” and a GND line indicated as “0V”. Including these, each first optical communication unit 42 is connected with four wires. Are connected to each other.

A connector portion 44 shown in the perspective view of FIG. 4 is attached to the longitudinal end portion of the fixed equipment side communication unit 40. The connector portion 44 has four electrodes corresponding to the above four wires. 44a is provided.
As schematically shown in FIG. 7, the connector portion 44 includes a concentrator 45 disposed on one end side of the fixed equipment side communication unit 40 (in other words, one end portion side of the flexible support member 41). The transmission signal line 54 and the reception signal line 55 are connected to the concentrator 45 and connected to the connector 45a.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 7, the fixed equipment side communication unit 40 can be connected to another fixed equipment side communication unit 40 having the same configuration by using a connector unit 46 for connection. As shown in FIG. 7, in a state where the fixed equipment side communication units 40 are connected to each other by the connecting connector unit 46, the transmission signal lines 54 and the reception signal lines 55 of the fixed equipment side communication units 40 are connected in series. Even if the fixed equipment side communication units 40 are connected to each other, the fixed equipment side communication units 40 are simply connected to each other so that the length of the fixed equipment side communication units 40 is increased.
However, in order to cope with a voltage drop in the power supply line due to an increase in the wiring length, a power supply unit 47 that is a power supply unit is connected to the connector unit for connection 46, and the connection unit between the fixed equipment side communication units 40 is connected. A power supply voltage of 5 V is supplied between the power supply line indicated as “+5 V” and the GND line indicated as “0 V” (see FIG. 6).

  The cart-side transmission / reception unit 25 serving as a communication partner of the fixed facility-side communication unit 40 having the above configuration is shown in FIG. As shown, two second optical communication units 28 are provided in a transparent window 25b provided at the upper end of the main body 25a. In FIG. 5, only the infrared communication module 28 a which is a main part constituting each second optical communication unit 28 is illustrated. The infrared communication module 28 a has the same configuration as the infrared communication module 42 b of the fixed equipment side communication unit 40.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the transmission / reception optical axes of the infrared communication modules 28 a and 42 b are indicated by a broken line C, and the traveling direction of the transport carriage 20 is the direction indicated by the arrow A in FIG. In the infrared communication module 28a located on the front side in one of the traveling directions, the optical axis C of the infrared communication module 28a is perpendicular to the direction in which the first optical communication units 42 are arranged (the direction indicated by the arrow B in FIG. 5). It is arranged in an inclined posture inclined toward the traveling front side. Further, the infrared communication module 28a located on the rear side in the other traveling direction travels its optical axis C from a direction orthogonal to the arrangement direction of the first optical communication units 42 (direction indicated by arrow B in FIG. 5). It is arranged in a tilted posture tilted to the rear side.

  The inclination angle of the optical axis C of the infrared communication module 28a is set to about 45 degrees, and the first optical communication unit 42 on the fixed equipment side communication unit 40 side is set by such an arrangement posture. Can be expanded to a few tens of centimeters, and even if it is expanded in such a manner, any one of the first optical communication units 42 is at least one infrared communication module 28a in a state where the transport carriage 20 is traveling. The communication state can be maintained in the range of 15 mm to 200 mm between the carriage side transmission / reception unit 25 and the fixed equipment side communication unit 40.

The communication between the cart side transmission / reception unit 25 and the fixed equipment side communication unit 40 is configured to perform communication according to the so-called IrDA standard, and the light emitting portions of the infrared communication module 25c and the peripheral circuit component 42c are in the 870 nm band. Corresponding to this, the flexible tube 43 and the transparent window 25b are also made of a material that is transparent at least in the wavelength region. Of course, the infrared communication module 25c and the light receiving portions of the peripheral circuit component 42c have sufficient sensitivity in the wavelength region, and accurately receive the infrared light emitted from the light emitting portion.
The flexible tube 43 as a whole is transparent in the above-mentioned wavelength region, but only a portion through which infrared light for communication passes is sufficient.

As shown in FIG. 12, the fixed equipment side communication units 40 installed at a plurality of locations on the traveling rail 10 are connected to the ground side controller 16 via respective concentrators 45 as shown in FIG. 8.
The concentrator 45 converts the IrDA standard signal into a so-called CAN standard signal, and relays communication between the ground-side controller 16 and the cart-side transmitting / receiving unit 25 via the fixed facility-side communication unit 40.
The ground-side controller 16 is further connected to a host controller that manages the entire manufacturing facility 1.

  With the communication system shown in FIG. 8, a signal for identifying the fixed equipment side communication unit 40 from the ground side (the fixed equipment side communication unit 40 side), that is, the fixed equipment side communication unit 40 installed in a plurality of places. A signal indicating which of the fixed equipment side communication units 40 has entered the communication area is transmitted, and an identification signal of the conveyance carriage 20 is returned from the conveyance carriage 20 side.

By such communication, for example, when the transport carriage 20 enters the communication area of any one of the fixed equipment side communication units 40, there seems to be another transport carriage 20 that approaches the junction or the like ahead. In such a case, it is possible to perform control so as to avoid a collision by transmitting a stop signal to the transport carriage 20.
In addition, although detailed description is omitted, as described above, a plurality of units are provided in the area of one fixed equipment side communication unit 40 in relation to the setting of a unique identification signal for each transport carriage 20. Even when the transport cart 20 enters, it is possible to communicate with each transport cart 20 individually using the identification signal.

[Another embodiment]
Hereinafter, other embodiments of the present invention will be listed.
(1) In the above embodiment, the case where the communication between the first optical communication unit 42 on the fixed equipment side and the second optical communication unit 28 on the mobile equipment side is performed with IrDA is exemplified. The wavelength range used for communication, such as using the wavelength in the optical range, can be changed as appropriate.
(2) In the above embodiment, the case where the flexible tube 43 is used as the covering member that covers the first optical communication unit 42 and the flexible support member 41 is exemplified. It is good also as a structure which covers the 1st optical communication unit 42 at least.
(3) In the above embodiment, the case where the optical data transmission apparatus of the present invention is applied to the semiconductor device manufacturing facility 1 is exemplified, but the facility in which the mobile body automatically travels in various factories, warehouse facilities, etc. The present invention can be applied to.
(4) In the above embodiment, the concave groove 43 a is formed on the inner surface of the flexible tube 43 as the holding portion for holding the flexible support member 41. The specific configuration of the holding portion can be appropriately changed, such as forming a convex portion that sandwiches the flexible support member 41 from both sides.

  The present invention is widely applied to an optical data transmission apparatus that is used in a manufacturing facility or the like and performs communication between a fixed facility and a mobile facility that propagates in space.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 20 Mobile equipment 28 2nd optical communication unit 41 Flexible support member 42 1st optical communication unit 43 Flexible tube 45 Concentrator 47 Power supply part 54 Transmission signal line 55 Reception signal line

Claims (7)

Is installed in the fixed installation along a moving path of the moving equipment, an optical data transmission apparatus for transmitting and receiving an optical signal via the space between said mobile equipment,
A plurality of first optical communication units each having a light emitting unit that emits light in a predetermined wavelength region and a light receiving unit that receives light in the wavelength region, and the first optical communication units are arranged at predetermined postures and intervals. An optical data transmission device comprising a long and flexible support member and a covering member that covers at least the first optical communication unit. The covering member is composed of a flexible tube including a portion that transmits light in the wavelength region,
The optical data transmission apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the flexible support member is accommodated in the flexible tube in a state of being held in a predetermined posture by a holding portion formed on the flexible tube.   The light emitting unit of each first optical communication unit is connected to a common transmission signal line, the light receiving unit of each first optical communication unit is connected to a common reception signal line, and the transmission signal line and the reception signal line are The optical data transmission apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the optical data transmission apparatus is connected to a concentrator disposed on one end side of the flexible support member.   The optical data transmission according to claim 3, wherein another optical data transmission device according to claim 3 is connectable to one end of the flexible support member via the transmission signal line and the reception signal line. apparatus.   The optical data transmission apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising a power supply unit that supplies a power supply voltage to the first optical communication unit at a connection location with the other optical data transmission apparatus.   6. The device according to claim 1, wherein the moving equipment is configured to travel along a track having a curved portion installed with an arbitrary curvature, and the flexible support member is disposed along the curved portion. An optical data transmission apparatus according to claim 1.   One is arranged in an inclined posture in which the optical axis for transmission / reception is tilted forward from the direction orthogonal to the direction in which the first optical communication units are arranged, and the other is arranged for the optical axis for transmission / reception in the arrangement of the first optical communication units. With respect to the mobile equipment equipped with a pair of second optical communication units that are arranged in an inclined posture inclined from the direction orthogonal to the direction to the traveling rear side, each having a light emitting unit and a light receiving unit corresponding to the wavelength region Any one of the first optical communication units is disposed on the flexible support member at an interval at which any one of the first optical communication units can communicate with at least one second optical communication unit. 2. An optical data transmission apparatus according to 1.

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