JP5927791B2 - Transport vehicle - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a transport vehicle for transporting an object to be transported such as a cassette containing a plurality of glass substrates in a clean room, for example.

  As a conventional transport vehicle, for example, one described in Patent Document 1 is known. The transport vehicle described in Patent Document 1 includes a buffer cassette including a plurality of shelves for storing wafers, a transfer device that transfers wafers, and a sensor that detects the presence or absence of wafers in the buffer cassette. .

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-237941

  For example, in a semiconductor or liquid crystal panel production line, when a cassette is transported from a previous process to a subsequent process, the presence or absence of a flat member stored in the cassette as described above is used to grasp the number of flat members in the cassette. Need to be detected. As described above, in this field, it is required to accurately detect the storage state of the flat plate member stored in the cassette.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a transport vehicle that can accurately detect the storage state of a flat plate member stored in a transported object.

  A transport vehicle according to the present invention is a transport vehicle that transports an object to be transported in which a flat plate member is housed, and a main body that is provided so as to be able to travel along a predetermined direction, and an axis that is vertically oriented with respect to the main body A rotating part provided rotatably at the center, a transfer device installed on the rotating part for placing the object to be transported and for taking in and out the object to be transported, and for storing the flat member in the object to be transported The optical axis direction along the traveling direction of the main body and the rotation detection unit, the optical detection means installed at a position where the optical axis direction does not rotate with the rotation unit, and the transfer device. And a control unit that controls the optical detection means to detect the storage state of the flat member in the transported object after rotating the transported object.

  In this transport vehicle, when the flat plate member stored in the transported object is detected by the optical detection means, the transported object is rotated by rotating the rotating unit. A transported object that houses the flat plate member may be provided with a support member that supports the flat plate member. This support member extends in a direction perpendicular to the detection light of the optical detection means when the conveyed object is taken in by the transfer device, and may interfere with the detection light. Therefore, it is possible to avoid the support member from interfering with the detection light by detecting the object after rotating the conveyed object. Therefore, it is possible to accurately detect the storage state of the flat plate member stored in the conveyed object.

  The optical detection means can be fixedly installed at a position where it does not contact the object to be conveyed when the object to be conveyed rotates. According to this configuration, since it is not necessary to move the optical detection means when rotating the object to be conveyed, a mechanism for the movement is not necessary and the movement time can be reduced. Therefore, it can be set as a simple structure, and can detect a flat member rapidly.

  The flat members are accommodated in the object to be conveyed so as to face each other in the vertical direction, and a plurality of optical detection means can be installed at locations corresponding to the storage positions of the respective flat members. According to this configuration, a plurality of flat members can be detected simultaneously. Further, since it is not necessary to move the optical detection means in the vertical direction when detecting each flat plate member, a mechanism for the movement is unnecessary and the movement time can be reduced. Therefore, it can be set as a simple structure, and can detect a flat member rapidly.

  The conveyed object has an opening for taking in and out the flat plate member and a support member for supporting the flat plate member, and the opening is a direction orthogonal to the optical axis direction in the horizontal plane when taken in by the transfer device. The support member is a rod-like member that extends along the direction in which the flat plate-like member is taken in and out through the opening. In the object to be transported having such a configuration, the extension direction of the support member and the optical axis direction of the optical detection unit are orthogonal to each other when placed on the transfer device. Therefore, the detection light may interfere with the support member and the detection of the flat plate member may become unstable. Therefore, it is possible to avoid the detection light from interfering with the support member by rotating the rotating unit to rotate the conveyed object. Therefore, it is possible to accurately detect the storage state of the flat plate member stored in the conveyed object.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the accommodation state of the flat member accommodated in the to-be-conveyed object can be detected with a sufficient precision.

It is a perspective view which shows the conveyance vehicle which concerns on one Embodiment. It is the figure which looked at the conveyance vehicle shown in FIG. 1 from the front. It is a figure which shows a mapping sensor. It is a block diagram which shows a controller. It is a figure which shows the positional relationship of a cassette and a mapping sensor when a cassette is taken in. It is a figure which shows the positional relationship of a cassette and a mapping sensor after a cassette rotates.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the description of the drawings, the same or equivalent elements will be denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description will be omitted.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a transport vehicle according to an embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a view of the transport vehicle shown in FIG. 1 as viewed from the front.

  A transport vehicle 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is a device that moves in a clean room in which a large number of shelves (not shown) are arranged and puts cassettes (conveyed objects) W in and out of each shelf. In the cassette W, for example, a plurality of glass substrates (flat members) G (see FIG. 5) used for liquid crystal panels and solar battery panels are stored.

  The transport vehicle 1 moves in a vertical direction with respect to a traveling carriage (main body part) 3 that moves in the clean room, two prop devices 5a and 5b that are erected on the traveling cart 3, and the prop devices 5a and 5b. Elevated platform 7 provided, turntable (rotating unit) 9 installed on the platform 7, transfer device 11 installed on the turntable 9, presence or absence of glass substrate G in the cassette W And a mapping sensor (optical detection means) 13 for detecting. Moreover, the conveyance vehicle 1 is provided with the controller (control part) 15 (refer FIG. 4) which controls operation | movement of this conveyance vehicle 1. FIG.

  The traveling carriage 3 is provided so as to be able to travel along a predetermined direction. The traveling carriage 3 has wheels 3a and moves linearly along the rail R laid in the clean room. The wheel 3a is rotationally driven by a motor (not shown). By this traveling carriage 3, the transport vehicle 1 is provided so as to be movable in the clean room.

  A pair of strut devices 5 a and 5 b are provided facing each other in the traveling direction of the traveling carriage 3. Guide rails 17 are provided along the vertical direction in the column devices 5a and 5b. On the guide rail 17, guides (not shown) of support frames 19 provided on both sides of the lifting platform 7 are slidably provided. The lifting platform 7 is moved up and down in the vertical direction of the column devices 5a and 5b along the guide rail 17 by a lifting drive means (not shown).

  The turntable 9 is provided so as to be rotatable about a vertical axis with respect to the traveling carriage 3. The turntable 9 is installed on the lifting platform 7 and is rotationally driven by a motor (not shown).

  The transfer device 11 includes a scalar arm 20 and a slide portion 21 on which the scalar arm 20 is installed. The scalar arm 20 is composed of a proximal arm 20a, a distal arm 20b, and a transfer arm 20c. The base end side of the base end side arm 20 a is rotatably provided on the base 22. The proximal end arm 20 a and the distal end arm 20 b are provided so as to be rotatable with respect to each other, and constitute a free arm 23. Moreover, the front end side arm 20b and the transfer arm 20c are provided so as to be rotatable with respect to each other. The upper surface of the transfer arm 20c constitutes a placement surface on which the cassette W is placed. The scalar arm 20 is configured such that the transfer arm 20c is orthogonal to the traveling direction of the traveling carriage 3 (the direction in which the cassette W is taken in and out) by driving the proximal end side arm 20a to rotate synchronously with the center line of the base 22 symmetrically. Move straight to.

  The slide unit 21 moves straight in a direction orthogonal to the traveling direction of the traveling carriage 3 and slides the scalar arm 20. The slide part 21 is installed on the turntable 9. Thereby, the transfer device 11 is rotatably provided from the direction of the tip of the transfer arm 20c shown in FIG. 1 to the direction opposite to 180 °.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the mapping sensor. As shown in FIG. 3, the mapping sensor 13 is installed in the column devices 5a and 5b. The mapping sensor 13 is an optical sensor using, for example, infrared rays, and includes a light projecting unit 13a and a light receiving unit 13b. The mapping sensor 13 detects the glass substrate G by receiving the light L projected from the light projecting unit 13a by the light receiving unit 13b.

  The mapping sensor 13 is installed below the column devices 5a and 5b so that the light projecting unit 13a and the light receiving unit 13b face each other so that the light receiving unit 13b receives the light projected from the light projecting unit 13a. ing. That is, the optical axis direction of the mapping sensor 13 is along the traveling direction of the traveling carriage 3. The mapping sensor 13 is located at a position where the cassette W does not come into contact with the cassette W when the cassette W rotates while being placed on the transfer device 11, that is, the rotation center of the cassette W placed on the transfer device 11 (the turntable 9. The center of rotation of the cassette W is set at a position more than the distance between the rotation center and the corner of the cassette W.

  The light projecting unit 13a and the light receiving unit 13b of the mapping sensor 13 are arranged at predetermined intervals along the vertical direction, and the number according to the number of glass substrates G stored in the cassette W (in this embodiment, 13) are provided. The height position of the light projecting unit 13a and the height position of the light receiving unit 13b are shifted by a predetermined height in the vertical direction. Specifically, the light projecting unit 13a is disposed below (or above) the light receiving unit 13b by the storage pitch of the glass substrate G. That is, the light L projected from the light projecting unit 13a is inclined with respect to the horizontal direction (the surface direction of the glass substrate G).

  With such a configuration, the light projected from the light projecting unit 13a is obliquely incident on the glass substrate G, passes through the glass substrate G, and is received by the light receiving unit 13b. The mapping sensor 13 detects the presence or absence of the glass substrate G based on a change in intensity between the light intensity when projected from the light projecting unit 13a and the light intensity when received by the light receiving unit 13b.

  The mapping sensor 13 detects the glass substrate G in accordance with the instruction signal output from the controller 15. The mapping sensor 13 detects the presence or absence of the glass substrate G stored in the cassette W when the cassette W is taken into the transport vehicle 1 or when the cassette W is moved from the transport vehicle 1 to the destination shelf. The mapping sensor 13 outputs a detection signal (mapping data) indicating the detection result to the controller 15.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the controller. As shown in FIG. 3, the mapping sensor 13 (light projecting unit 13 a and light receiving unit 13 b) is connected to the controller 15. The controller 15 includes a CPU [Central Processing Unit], a ROM [Read Only Memory], a RAM [Random Access Memory], and the like, and various controls are executed by programs.

  The controller 15 is a device that performs control related to the operation of the transport vehicle 1, and controls the operations of the traveling cart 3, the column devices 5 a and 5 b, the lifting platform 7, the turntable 9, and the transfer device 11. Further, the controller 15 controls the detection timing of the glass substrate G in the mapping sensor 13. Specifically, the controller 15 takes in the cassette W by the transfer device 11, rotates the turntable 9, that is, after rotating the cassette W, the mapping sensor 13 detects the glass substrate G stored in the cassette W. To control. The controller 15 outputs an instruction signal instructing detection of the glass substrate G to the mapping sensor 13.

  When the controller 15 receives the detection signal output from the mapping sensor 13, the controller 15 stores the number of glass substrates G in the cassette W based on the detection signal. Then, the controller 15 determines whether or not the number and arrangement of the glass substrates G in the cassette W at the time of entry into the automatic warehouse match the number and arrangement of the glass substrates G in the cassette W at the time of delivery. To do. If the number of glass substrates G differs between the time of entering and the time of leaving as a result of determination, the controller 15 outputs an error signal indicating that fact to, for example, notification means. Then, the controller 15 controls the traveling carriage 3 and the transfer device 11 so that the cassette W in which the error is detected is transferred to a shelf (for example, a maintenance station or an original shelf) that is not a predetermined transfer destination shelf. To do.

  Next, the operation of the transport vehicle 1 will be described. In the transport vehicle 1, the controller 15 controls each device based on the program, and transfers and transports the cassette W in the clean room. When the transfer vehicle 11 takes out the cassette W from the shelf and takes it in, the transport vehicle 1 rotates the turntable 9 by approximately 90 °. At this time, when the lifting platform 7 is positioned above, the lifting platform 7 is lowered to the lower part of the column devices 5a and 5b where the mapping sensor 13 is installed. Then, the glass substrate G stored in the cassette W is detected by the mapping sensor 13. After the detection of the glass substrate G, the transport vehicle 1 rotates the turntable 9 by approximately 90 ° so that the opening K of the cassette W faces the shelf side. And the conveyance vehicle 1 moves to the predetermined | prescribed shelf of a transfer destination, and moves the cassette W to a shelf by the transfer apparatus 11. FIG.

  Then, the detection method of the glass substrate G by the mapping sensor 13 is demonstrated in detail. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a positional relationship between the cassette and the mapping sensor when the cassette is taken in. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a positional relationship between the cassette and the mapping sensor after the cassette has been rotated. In each figure, (a) is a view of the cassette W viewed from the front, (b) is a view of the cassette W shown in (a) from the bottom, and (c) is a view of the cassette W shown in (a) from the side. It is a figure.

  First, the cassette W will be described. The cassette W has a rectangular parallelepiped shape and is constituted by a frame F. The cassette W has an opening K through which the glass substrate G is taken in and out (upper side in FIG. 5B). Two column members C1 and C2 are provided behind the cassette W (lower side in FIG. 5B) along the vertical direction (height direction) at a predetermined interval in the width direction. The column members C1 and C2 function as a stopper for the glass substrate G inserted from the opening K side.

  Further, rod-like back supports (support members) B1 and B2 are attached to the column members C1 and C2. The back supports B1 and B2 extend from the rear to the front of the cassette W. The base ends are fixed to the column members C1 and C2, and the distal ends extend to the opening K side. A plurality (four in this case) of side supports S are provided on both sides of the cassette W in the width direction with a predetermined interval in the front-rear direction. The lower portion of the glass substrate G is supported by the back supports B1 and B2 and the side support S, and is stored in the cassette W so as to face each other in the vertical direction.

  As shown in FIG. 5, in the cassette W taken into the transport vehicle 1 by the transfer device 11, the opening K faces the shelf side. That is, in the cassette W, the opening K faces the direction orthogonal to the traveling direction of the traveling carriage 3, and the back supports B1 and B2 also extend in the direction orthogonal to the traveling direction. At this time, the optical axis direction of the mapping sensor 13 and the back supports B1 and B2 are orthogonal to each other. Therefore, the light L projected from the light projecting unit 13a of the mapping sensor 13 may interfere with the back supports B1 and B2.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, after the cassette W is taken in by the transfer device 11, the turntable 9 is rotated to rotate the cassette W by approximately 90 °. Thereby, as shown in FIG. 6, the optical axis direction of the mapping sensor 13 and the extending directions of the back supports B1 and B2 are substantially parallel. Therefore, it is avoided that the light L projected from the light projecting unit 13a of the mapping sensor 13 interferes with the back supports B1 and B2. The mapping sensor 13 detects the presence or absence of the glass substrate G after rotating the cassette W by approximately 90 ° from the initial state (the state taken into the transport vehicle 1).

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the mapping sensor 13 is installed in the column devices 5 a and 5 b, and the presence or absence of the glass substrate G is detected by the mapping sensor 13. The glass substrate G is detected by the mapping sensor 13 after the transfer device 11 takes the cassette W into the transport vehicle 1 and rotates the turntable 9 by approximately 90 °. As a result, the back supports B1 and B2 of the cassette W that have been extended in the direction orthogonal to the optical axis direction of the mapping sensor 13 when taken in are substantially parallel to the optical axis direction. Therefore, the light L of the mapping sensor 13 is prevented from interfering with the back supports B1 and B2 of the cassette W. As a result, the glass substrate G can be stably detected by the mapping sensor 13, and the storage state of the glass substrate G stored in the cassette W can be detected with high accuracy.

  Moreover, in this embodiment, the mapping sensor 13 is attached to the support | pillar apparatus 5a, 5b. The column devices 5a and 5b are provided with the transfer device 11 therebetween, and are disposed at positions where the cassette W mounted on the transfer device 11 does not come into contact with the cassette W when the cassette W rotates. That is, the mapping sensor 13 is installed at a position where it does not contact the cassette W when the cassette W rotates. Therefore, since it is not necessary to move the mapping sensor 13 when rotating the cassette W, a mechanism for the movement is unnecessary and the movement time can be reduced. Therefore, it can be set as a simple structure, and can detect the glass substrate G rapidly.

  Further, the mapping sensor 13 is provided with a plurality of light projecting units 13 a and light receiving units 13 b in the vertical direction of the cassette W according to the number of glass substrates G stored in the cassette W. Therefore, a plurality of glass substrates G stored in the cassette W can be detected simultaneously. Further, as compared with the case where only one light projecting unit 13a and one light receiving unit 13b are provided, it is not necessary to move the mapping sensor 13 in the vertical direction in order to detect the glass substrate G. Is unnecessary and the travel time can be reduced. Therefore, it can be set as a simple structure, and can detect the glass substrate G rapidly.

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, in the above embodiment, the mapping sensor 13 is installed on the support devices 5 a and 5 b of the transport vehicle 1, but the mapping sensor 13 may be installed on the lifting platform 7.

  In the above embodiment, the mapping sensor 13 that projects and receives infrared rays is exemplified. However, the mapping sensor 13 may be an optical sensor using a laser.

  In the above embodiment, when the glass substrate G is detected by the mapping sensor 13, the cassette W is rotated by approximately 90 °. However, the rotation angle of the cassette W may not be 90 °. In short, the cassette W may be rotated to an angle at which the back supports B1 and B2 of the cassette W do not interfere with the light L projected from the light projecting portion 13a of the mapping sensor 13.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the cassette W which has back support B1, B2 was illustrated as a to-be-conveyed object, what is called a wire cassette which supports the glass substrate G with a wire may be used.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Conveyance vehicle, 3 ... Traveling trolley (main body part), Turntable (rotating part), 11 ... Transfer equipment, 13 ... Mapping sensor (optical detection means), 15 ... Controller (control part), B1, B2 ... Back support (support member), G ... glass substrate (flat plate member), L ... light, W ... cassette (conveyed object).

Claims (4)

A transport vehicle that transports a transported object containing a flat plate member supported by a rod-shaped support member ,
A main body provided to be able to travel along a predetermined direction;
A rotating part provided to be rotatable about a vertical axis with respect to the main body part;
A transfer device that is installed in the rotating unit and places the object to be conveyed;
An optical system that detects the stored state of the flat plate member in the transported object using light, and is installed at a position where the optical axis direction is along the traveling direction of the main body portion and does not rotate with the rotating portion. Detection means;
After the transferred object is taken in by the transfer device and the rotating part is rotated to rotate the transferred object, the optical detection unit detects the storage state of the flat plate member in the transferred object. and a control unit, the controlling as,
Wherein the control unit, the transporting vehicle, characterized in Rukoto rotates the rotating portion such that the stretching direction and the direction of the optical axis of the optical detecting means is substantially parallel to the support member in the object to be conveyed.   2. The transport vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the optical detection means is fixedly installed at a position that does not contact the transported object when the transported object rotates. The flat plate members are accommodated in the transported object so as to face each other in the vertical direction,
The transport vehicle according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a plurality of the optical detection means are installed at locations corresponding to the storage positions of the respective flat members. The transported object has an open port for loading and unloading the prior SL plate member,
The opening, when taken in by the transfer device, faces a direction orthogonal to the optical axis direction in a horizontal plane,
The support member is guided vehicle of any of claims 1-3 wherein the plate member through said opening, wherein the benzalkonium be stretched along the direction in which it is out.

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