JPH03200628A - Floating conveyor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To perform conveyance without dusting and to reduce incurring of an energy loss by disposing a plurality of aspirators, sucking a work through discharge of air, in a conveying direction togetherwith a guide and providing a thrust providing means moved to the rearward side in a conveying direction and a work detecting means. CONSTITUTION:When an elevating body 16 is lowered by means of a front cylinder 15, air is discharged through an air discharge port 18 of an aspirator 17, and a work W is lifted up in a non-contact state. When the work W is raised to the same level as that of a conveyance passage 9 through contraction of the cylinder 15, air is discharged from an aspirator 4 and an aspirator 30 of a rear cylinder 28 and air is discharged in the work conveyance passage 9 through an air blow passage 10. Air is then discharged through an air blow nozzle 24, and when a cylinder 21 is contracted, the work W enters the conveyance passage 9. Guides 23, 8, and 8 are disposed to the cylinder 21 and on both sides of the conveyance passage 9. When it is detected by sensors S1-Se that suction of the work W and conveying movement are completed, discharge of air is stopped.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a floating conveyance device that conveys a workpiece in a floating state.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, when manufacturing ICs, disks, etc. in a clean room, wafers and disk materials that serve as IC substrates are sometimes transported between processes, and transport devices used for such transport include: Conventionally, belt-type conveyor devices are known. This belt-type conveyor device has a well-known structure in which a plurality of parallel belts are passed between processes, and a wafer or the like as a workpiece is placed on the belts and conveyed.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, since this belt-type conveyor device has a structure in which wafers, etc. are placed on the belt, it is unavoidable that dust on the belt adheres to the bottom surface of the wafers, etc. . Therefore, there is a problem in that the quality of ICs, disks, etc. is adversely affected by the adhesion of this dust.

The present invention has been made in view of these points, and its purpose is to enable workpieces such as wafers and disks where dust adhesion is a problem to be transported without generating dust.

(Means for Solving the Problem) In order to achieve the above object, in the invention according to claim (1), a workpiece such as a wafer or a disk is transported in a non-contact state by air blowing. Dust adhesion was avoided.

That is, in this invention, a plurality of suction devices each sucking a workpiece in a non-contact state by blowing air are arranged in parallel in the workpiece conveyance direction, and a plurality of suction devices are installed in parallel in the conveyance direction of the workpiece on both sides of the conveyance direction. A workpiece conveyance path is provided by arranging guides to restrict movement. Further, a thrust applying means is provided on the conveyance path to apply a thrust toward the rear side in the conveyance direction to the workpiece.

Further, in the invention according to claim (2), the thrust applying means is specifically a plurality of air blowing devices provided corresponding to the suction device, and the workpiece is transported by blowing air from the air blowing device. It is configured to move in the rear direction.

Furthermore, in the invention according to claim (3), a workpiece detection means for detecting the passage of the workpiece conveyed along the workpiece conveyance path is provided, and when the passage of the workpiece is detected by the workpiece detection means. Further, a control means is provided for controlling the blowing of air from the suction device and the air blowing device on the front side of the work detecting means to be stopped.

(Function) With the above configuration, in the invention according to claim (1), the workpiece is suctioned by air blowing from each of the suction devices and is held in a non-contact state (floating state) within the workpiece conveyance path. Since the workpiece conveyance path is provided with a guide that restricts the movement of the workpiece in the left and right direction, the workpiece moves backward without jumping out from the workpiece conveyance path to the left and right as the thrust applying means operates. The workpiece is transported in a non-contact manner. Therefore, the problem of dust adhering to the workpiece is solved, and the workpiece can be transported in a dust-free state.

Further, in the invention according to claim (2), the thrust applying means is
Since the workpiece is moved by blowing air from the air blowing device, the workpiece can be moved rearward in a non-contact state, which is more advantageous in reducing dust generation.

Furthermore, in the invention according to claim (3), when the workpiece is conveyed along the workpiece conveyance path, the passage of the workpiece is detected by the workpiece detection means, and the control means receiving the output from the detection means detects the passage of the workpiece. The blowing of air from the suction device and air blow device located in front of the detection means is stopped. In other words, each of these suction devices or air blowers
The device is located in the workpiece conveyance path after the workpiece has passed, and does not contribute to suction or thrust to the workpiece. Energy consumption is reduced by stopping air blowing from this suction device and air blowing device. can do.

(Example) Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

1 and 2 show the overall configuration of a floating conveyance device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and this conveyance device carries a workpiece W such as a disk from the front side (left side in the figure) to the rear side (right side in the figure). It is transported in a floating state. In the figure, 1 is a work supply side table that supplies a work W, and 2 is a work receiving side table that receives and takes the work W.

A conveyance path forming member 3 extending horizontally in the workpiece conveyance direction (left and right direction in the figure) is disposed above between both tables 1.2, and the conveyance path forming member 3 is divided into a plurality of divided units in the longitudinal direction. The width of the lower surface in the left-right direction (direction perpendicular to the paper plane in the figure) is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the workpiece W. Further, the conveyance path forming member 3 includes a plurality of bow suckers 4, 4. ... are arranged in a line at equal intervals in the front-back direction. Each of the suction devices 4 has an air outlet 5 that opens on the lower surface of the conveyance path forming member 3 and blows air downward. By blowing out air from the air outlet 5, the workpiece W is exposed to air. It uses the Bernoulli effect to suction in a non-contact manner. And these suction devices 4.4. ... are grouped into a predetermined number (five in the figure) for each divided unit of the conveyance path forming member 3, and the air outlets 5, 5, . ... are collectively connected to one air blowing pipe 6, and this air blowing pipe 6 is connected to an air supply source (not shown). Also,
Each of the air blowing pipes 6 is provided with an on-off valve 7, and by opening and closing the on-off valve 7, the group of suction devices 4, 4,
... are activated or deactivated at the same time.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, plate-shaped guides 8, 8 are attached to the left and right side surfaces of the conveyance path forming member 3, and each plate-shaped guide 8 has a lower portion extending downward from the lower surface of the conveyance path forming member 3. Both guides 88 restrict movement of the workpiece W sucked by the suction device 4 in the left-right direction. The suction device 4.4 of this conveyance path forming member 3. ... and the guide 8.8 constitute a workpiece conveyance path 9 for conveying the workpiece W rearward.

Air blow passages 10, 10, . . . are provided in the conveyance path forming member 3.
・is formed. The downstream portion of each air blow passage 10 diagonally passes through both left and right sides of the corresponding suction device 4 downward and rearward (to the right in the figure), and the downstream end of each air blow passage 10 is connected to the conveyance path forming member 3. Openings are provided on the lower surface on both the left and right sides of the air outlet 5 of the suction device 4, and air is blown out obliquely downward toward the rear side from the downstream end opening into the conveyance path 9. These air blow passages 10, 10°... are connected to suction devices 4.4. The air blow passages 10, 10 . . . ... are collectively connected to one air blowing pipe 11, and this air blowing pipe 11 is connected to the air supply source. Further, an on-off valve 12 is disposed in the air blowing pipe 11, and by opening and closing the on-off valve 12, the air blow passages 10 of the group. 10.・・・
・Blowing out or stopping air from the air can be switched at the same time.

Furthermore, a front suction device lifting cylinder 15 made of an air cylinder is attached to the front end of the conveyance path forming member 3 via a bracket 14 . This elevating cylinder 15 has a piston rod 15a extending downward, and an elevating body 16 is fixed to the lower end (tip) of the piston rod 15a. At the rear end of this elevating body 16, a suction device 17 having an air outlet 18 similar to each suction device 4 of the conveyance path 9 is installed at a position corresponding to directly above the work supply side table 1. This suction device 17 is arranged to stop at the same height position as each suction device 4 on the conveyance path 9 when the elevating body 16 is at the ascending end position due to contraction of the cylinder 15. There is.

Further, the air blowing pipe 19 is connected to an air supply source, and an on-off valve 20 is disposed in the middle thereof, and a cylinder 15 is connected to the air blowing pipe 19.
When the elevating body 16 is positioned at the lower end position due to the extension of the
By blowing out air from 8, the work W on the work supply side table 1 is sucked in a non-contact state.

A guide elevating cylinder 21 having a cylinder axis in the vertical direction is attached to the front and rear intermediate portions of the elevating body 16, and a piston rod 21a of this cylinder 21 has a piston rod 21a at the lower end arranged concentrically around the air blowing pipe 19 below the elevating body 16. A ring 22 disposed at is fixed, and a cylindrical mesh guide 23 is attached to this ring 22, so that when the cylinder 21 is in an extended state, the workpiece W sucked by the suction device 17 is moved to the side. The movement of the guide 23 is restricted by the guide 23.

Further, an air blow nozzle 24 is attached to the front end of the elevating body 16, and the upstream end of this air blow nozzle 24 is connected to an air supply source via an on-off valve 25. The air blow nozzle 24 is suspended downward from the elevating body 16, the lower part thereof is curved backward and extends horizontally, and the above-mentioned suction device 1 is attached to the rear end.
An air outlet 24a is formed to blow air toward the front edge of the outer periphery of the workpiece W sucked into the workpiece W.

In this example, air blow passages 10, 10 . . . . and a thrust applying device 13 configured to apply a rearward thrust to the workpiece W using the air flow blown out by the air blow nozzle 24.

A rear suction device elevating cylinder 28 having the same structure as the front suction device elevating cylinder 15 is attached to the rear end of the conveyance path forming member 3 via a bracket 27 . This elevating cylinder 28 has a piston rod 28a extending downward, and two elevating bodies are fixed to the lower end of this piston rod 28a. A suction device 30 similar to the above is vertically installed on the elevating body 29 at a front end position corresponding to directly above the work receiving side table 2 via an air blowing pipe 32. Due to contraction, when the two elevating bodies are at the ascending end position, they stop at the same height position as each suction device 4 on the conveyance path 9. Further, the air blowing pipe 32 is connected to an air supply source via an on-off valve 33, and when the two elevating bodies are positioned at the ascending end position by contraction of the cylinder 28, the aspirator 3
By blowing out air from the air outlet 31 of the cylinder 2, the receiver picks up the workpiece W carried out from the rear end of the workpiece conveyance path 9 and suction-holds it in a non-contact state.
8 is extended to lower the elevating body 29, and at the lowering end position, the on-off valve 33 is closed to stop air blowing from the suction device 30, thereby placing the work W on the work receiving side table 2. That's what I do.

A guide elevating cylinder 34 having a vertical cylinder axis is attached to the front and rear intermediate portions of the two elevating bodies.
A ring 35 is fixed to the lower end of the piston rod 34a of the cylinder 34 and is arranged concentrically around the air blowing pipe 32 below the elevating body 29, and a cylindrical mesh guide 36 is attached to the ring 35. When the cylinder 34 is in the extended state, the guide 36 restricts the work W sucked by the suction device 30 from moving laterally.

As shown in Fig. 4, each on-off valve 7, 12°20.2
5.33 is configured to be opened and closed by a control device 37. This control device 37 includes a workpiece conveyance path 9
In order to detect whether the workpiece W being conveyed along the line has passed, output signals from a plurality of workpiece passage confirmation sensors S1 to S# (0 pieces: e is an integer) are manually generated. That is, in the conveyance path forming member 3, the suction devices 4.4. . . on the front side of each group are sensor mounting holes 38, 38, . ... is formed,
Each mounting hole 38 is equipped with a sensor S1 for confirming the passage of a workpiece whose output signal changes depending on the proximity of the workpiece W at a predetermined height position.
~S, -1 is fitted. Further, a sensor S for confirming the passage of a workpiece, similar to the one described above, is vertically installed on the bracket 27 that supports the rear lifting cylinder 28. These sensors S1 to S are activated when the workpiece W is conveyed through the conveyance path 9 or taken out from the conveyance path 9.
When the workpiece W passes through the position , the change in the output signal causes the workpiece W to
I am trying to detect the passage of.

Then, the control device 37 receives the output signals (air blowing stop signals) from the sensors S1 to S, and selects the predetermined on-off valves 7,
12, 20, 33 are closed, and the suction device 17 or group of suction devices 4, 4. ...and the on-off valves 20, 25, 7.12 communicating with the air blow nozzle 24 or the air blow passage 10, respectively, are closed, and the suction device 1 is closed.
7゜4 and air blow nozzle 24 or air blow passage 1
Air blowing from 0 is stopped.

In FIG. 1, the air blow blown out from the suction device 17.4 is indicated by A. , A1. ..., and the air blow blown out from the air blow nozzle 24 and the air blow passage 10 is B. , B1. The air blows stopped by the output signals of the sensors S1 to S are shown in the table below.

Next, the workpiece transfer operation of the floating transfer device will be explained.

In the starting state, both the front and rear aspirator lifting cylinders 15.28 are contracted, and the lifting body 16.29
is at the rising end position. Further, the guide elevating cylinder 21 of the front elevating body 16 is extended and the guide 23 is at the lower end position, while the same cylinder 34 of the rear elevating member 29 is contracted and the guide 36 is at the ascending end position. be. From this state, first, as shown in FIG. Stops close to the top position. Next, the on-off valve 20 opens, and the air supplied from the air supply source is blown out from the air outlet 18 of the suction device 17, and the workpiece W is blown into the suction device 17 due to the Bernoulli effect of the air blown out from the suction device 17. Lifted without contact at regular intervals.

Thereafter, the cylinder 15 contracts and the elevating body 16 rises, and in conjunction with this, the suction device 17 rises while sucking the workpiece W. At this time, since the workpiece W is suctioned by the suction device 17 in a non-contact state, there is a risk that the workpiece W will jump out to the side in a normal structure, but in this embodiment, the guide 23 is moved by the expansion of the cylinder 21. Since the guide 23 is arranged around the workpiece W, the lateral movement of the workpiece W is regulated by the guide 23, so that the workpiece W does not jump out to the side.

Then, when the elevating body 16 reaches the ascending end position, the workpiece W
stops at the same height as the workpiece conveyance path 9, and then the on-off valve 7.33 opens and the air supplied from the air supply source moves up and down each suction device 4 in the workpiece conveyance path 9 and the rear suction device. The air is blown out from the air outlets 5 and 31 of the suction device 30 of the cylinder 28, and the on-off valve 12 is opened to blow air from the downstream end opening of each air blow passage 10 to the workpiece conveyance path 9.
It is blown out inward and diagonally downward. Thereafter, as shown by the solid line in FIG. 2, the on-off valve 25 opens and air is blown out from the air outlet 24a of the air blow nozzle 24, and at the same time, the guide lifting cylinder 21 contracts. Therefore, the rear side of the workpiece W is no longer restricted by the guide 23, and the workpiece W is pushed backward by the air from the air blow nozzle 24 to reach the front end (starting end) of the conveyance path 9.
enter. In this conveyance path 9, the suction device 4, 4°
Since air is blown out from each of the air blow passages 10, 10, . The workpiece W is pushed backward by the air blown from the downstream end opening of the... As a result, the workpiece W is transported within the workpiece transport path 9 in a floating state.

At this time, since guides 8°8 are arranged on the left and right sides of the conveyance path 9, even if the floating workpiece W tries to jump out to the left and right sides, it will be restrained by the guides 8, 8. , the workpiece W can be transported reliably.

The workpiece W that has reached the rear end (terminus) of the workpiece conveyance path 9 continues from the workpiece conveyance path 9 and moves below the suction device 30 of the rear lifting cylinder 28, and the side and rear of the workpiece W are regulated by the guide 36. , is suctioned in a non-contact manner by the suction action of the air blown from the suction device 30. After this suction, the guide lifting cylinder 34 extends and the guide 36
surrounds the workpiece W, and in this state, the suction device elevating cylinder 28 extends and the two elevating bodies descend. At this time, the horizontal movement of the workpiece W is regulated by the guide 36, so that the workpiece W is prevented from flying out.

When the elevating body 29 stops at the lower end position, the on-off valve 33 closes and the air blowing from the suction device 30 stops, and the workpiece W is removed from the workpiece receiving table 2 due to the suction effect.
Translated above. With this, the transport operation for one workpiece W is completed, and the same operation is repeated for each workpiece W thereafter.

During such a transport operation, when the workpiece W passes the positions of the sensors S1 to S, the sensors S1 to S.

A signal serving as an air blowing stop signal is output from the controller 37, and upon receiving this signal, the controller 37 controls the air blow nozzle 24 or the air blower of the suction device 17.4 and the thrust applying device 13 located in front of the sensors S1 to S. The on-off valves 20, 7, 25° 12 communicating with the passage 10 are closed, and the suction device 1 is closed.
7, 4 and air blow nozzle 24 or air blow passage 1
Air blowing from 0 stops. Specifically, when the sensor S1 located at the front end position of the workpiece conveyance path 9 detects passage of the workpiece W, the on-off valve 20.25 closes and the air from the suction device 17 and air blow nozzle 24 of the front lifting cylinder 15 is closed. The speech bubble stops. Also, from the front end of the conveyance path 9,
When the sensors S2 to S, -1 located after the sensor detect the passage of the workpiece W, the on-off valve 7.12 closes in the same way, and the group located immediately before the sensor S2 to Ss-+ is sucked. Vessel 4.4. ... and the air blow passages 10, 10 . . . corresponding to the group. Air blowing from ... stops.

Furthermore, when the sensor S on the rear bracket 27 detects the passage of the workpiece W, the on-off valve 7.12 closes, and the suction devices 4.4. of the group located at the rear end of the conveyance path 9. ...and air blow passage 10. 10. Air blowing from ... stops. In this way, in front of the sensor position, in other words, the unnecessary suction device 17.4 and air blower nozzle 2 that are no longer used for suctioning the workpiece W and transporting it.
4 or the air blowing passage 10 is stopped, so that energy loss associated with air blowing can be reduced.

Further, in this embodiment, since the workpiece W is transported and moved by air blowing, there is no contact between the workpiece W and other members unlike when the workpiece W is pushed mechanically, and dust generation can be reduced.

(Effect of the invention) As explained above, according to the invention according to claim (1), a plurality of suction devices that suction a workpiece in a non-contact state by blowing air are arranged in parallel in the front and rear direction, and each suction device A workpiece conveyance path is provided by placing guides on the left and right sides of the vessel to restrict the movement of the workpiece in the left-right direction, and a thrust applying means for applying a backward thrust to the workpiece is provided in this conveyance path. Due to the non-contact state, it is possible to continuously convey the workpiece in a dust-free state without adhesion of dust, which in turn can contribute to improving the quality of the workpiece.

Further, according to the invention according to claim (2), the thrust applying means is configured to move the workpiece rearward in the conveying direction by blowing air from an air blowing device, so that the workpiece can be moved rearward in a non-contact state. This is more advantageous in reducing dust generation.

Furthermore, according to the invention according to claim (3), a workpiece detection means for detecting passage of the workpiece conveyed along the workpiece conveyance path is provided, and the passage of the workpiece is detected by the workpiece detection means. By stopping the blowing of air from the suction device and air blow device located in front of the workpiece detection means when the work is detected, the suction device and air blow device that are unnecessary for suctioning or moving the workpiece backward can be avoided. It can be stopped and energy consumption can be reduced.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the main part of the floating conveyance device showing a state in which a workpiece on a supply side table is sucked and held, and FIG. FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line ■--■ in FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the control system. 4.17.30...Suction device 8.23.36...Guide 9...Workpiece conveyance path 10...Air blow passage 13...Thrust applying device 24...Air blow nozzle 37...・Control device S1 to S, ... Workpiece passage confirmation sensor (workpiece detection means)

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) A conveyance device that conveys a workpiece in a floating state, which includes a plurality of suction devices that are arranged in parallel in the workpiece conveyance direction and each suctions the workpiece in a non-contact state by blowing air, and each suction device conveys the workpiece. A workpiece conveyance path is provided, which includes guides disposed on both the left and right sides of the workpiece to restrict movement of the workpiece in the left and right directions, and thrust applying means is provided in the conveyance path and applies a thrust toward the rear side of the workpiece in the conveyance direction. A floating conveyance device comprising: (2) A claim characterized in that the thrust applying means consists of a plurality of air blowing devices provided corresponding to the suction devices, and is configured to move the workpiece backward by blowing air from the air blowing devices. Floating conveyance device according to item (1). (3) A workpiece detection means for detecting the passage of a workpiece conveyed along the workpiece conveyance path, and a suction device located in front of the workpiece detection means when the passage of the workpiece is detected by the workpiece detection means. 3. The floating conveyance device according to claim 2, further comprising a control means for controlling the blowing of air from the air blowing device to be stopped.