JPH03258653A - Processed material carrying device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To shorten transfer time by placing a carrying truck running on a carrying track body together with a processed material on a lifting track body, lowering the lifting track body to a position opposite to a processed material carrying device, and carrying the truck to a processing device by the processed material transfer device. CONSTITUTION:When a carrying truck 2 runs up on a carrying track body 1, the carying truck 2 is transferred together with a wafer cassette 5 placed thereon onto a lifting track body 8 fitted to the separating part 7 of the carrying track body 1. Then, the lifting track body 8 is lowered, to a position where the carrying truck 2 is placed thereon and opposite to a carrying robot 3 by driving a chain 9 driven by a lifting operating mechanism 13. The lowered lifting track body 8 is positioned and fixed to the position opposite to the carry ing robot 3, and the wafer cassette 5 placed on the carrying truck 2 is received by the carrying robot 3 running on a floor surface, which transfers the wafer cassette 5 to a semiconductor manufacturing device 6.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a wafer cassette that is used, for example, to transport wafer cassettes containing semiconductor wafers to semiconductor manufacturing equipment arranged at predetermined positions in a factory building. The present invention relates to a processing material transport device such as a cassette transport device.

[Conventional technology]

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a wafer cassette transport device as an example of a conventional processing object transport device. The reference numeral 3o in this figure is a transport track body disposed near the ceiling in a factory building (not shown), and 31 is a plurality of transport vehicles that run on the transport track body 3o.
A plurality of (four in the figure) wafer cassettes 32 containing semiconductor wafers (not shown) as processing objects are mounted on each of the transport vehicles 31.

Further, the reference numeral 33 in the figure is a delivery station for the wafer cassette 32, 34 is a wafer cassette lifting device disposed between the delivery station 33 and the transport track 30, and 35 is a wafer cassette lifting device disposed on the floor of the factory building. This is a semiconductor manufacturing device as a processing device installed therein. The wafer cassette lifting device 34 is provided with a grip hand 36 for gripping the wafer cassette 32, and a transfer lifter 37 that is lifted and lowered while holding the grip hand 36.

Therefore, the wafer cassette 32 that has been loaded on the carrier 31 and transported from the previous process is transferred onto the delivery station 33 by the grip hand 36 and the transfer lifter 37 while leaving the carrier 31, and then moved on the floor. The semiconductor manufacturing equipment 35 is transported and supplied by a transport robot 38.

Further, the wafer cassette 32 containing the semiconductor wafers processed by this semiconductor manufacturing equipment 35 is returned to the delivery station 33 by the transfer robot 38, as described above, and then the grip hand 36 of the wafer cassette lifting device 34 and the transfer rick By 37, the conveying track body 30
It is then mounted again on the upper carriage 31 and transported to the next process.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

By the way, in the conventional wafer cassette transfer device, the transfer of the wafer cassette 32 between the transfer cart 31 and the semiconductor manufacturing equipment 1f35 involves a delivery station 33, a wafer cassette lifting device 34, and a transfer robot, which constitute a series of processing material transfer devices. 38, etc., which is disadvantageous in that it takes a lot of time. In addition, when transferring the wafer cassette 32 from the transport vehicle 31 that has traveled on the transport track body 30 to the Univaccent lifting device 34, the transport vehicle 31 is stopped and positioned, and the grip hand 36 moves the wafer cassette 32. After confirming that it is gripped, move the transfer lifter 3.
The lowering operation of step 7 must be started, but since the transport cart 31 which is currently being checked, that is, the wafer cassette 32 is being transferred, remains placed on the transport track body 30, this transport It is not possible to overtake the trolley 31 and let other transport vehicles 31 precede, and the other transport vehicles 31 have to stop running, resulting in a decrease in transport efficiency.

This invention was devised in view of these inconveniences, and aims to shorten the time required for transporting the processed material between the transport vehicle and the processing device, and to reduce the time required for the transport vehicle to transport the processed material. It is an object of the present invention to provide a processing material conveyance device having a structure that allows other conveyance vehicles to overtake even if there is one, and to greatly improve conveyance efficiency.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve such an objective, the processing material conveyance device according to the present invention includes a transportation track body disposed near the ceiling in a factory building, and a transportation track body on which the processing material is loaded and runs on the transportation track body. It includes a plurality of transport vehicles, a processing material transfer device disposed on the floor surface in a factory building, and a cart lifting device disposed between the processing material transfer device and a transport track body, The transport track body has a separation part in which a lift track body having a length on which one of the transport vehicles can be placed is fitted along the vertical direction perpendicular to the extending direction of the transport track body. , the trolley lifting device has
A plurality of elevating track bodies are connected in parallel at predetermined intervals or apart from each other, and one of them is positioned and fixed at a position corresponding to the processed material transfer device, and at the same time, the other one is attached to the separation section. The device is characterized in that it is provided with an elevating and lowering operation mechanism that is fitted into the conveyor to form a continuous conveyance path of the conveyance vehicle.

[Effect]

According to the above configuration, the transport vehicle that has traveled on the transport track body is placed on the lifting track body that is fitted into the cut-off part of the transport track body together with the processed material, and this lifting track body is used for transporting With the trolley placed thereon, it is lowered to a position corresponding to the processing material transfer device by the lifting/lowering operation mechanism. Then, when the lowered elevating track body is positioned and fixed at a position corresponding to the processing material transfer device, the processing material mounted on this transport vehicle is transported to the processing device by the processing material transfer device.

In addition, when the lowered lifting track body is positioned and fixed at the position corresponding to the processing material transfer device, another lifting track body is newly fitted into the cut-off part of the transport track body, and the transport carriage is continuously transported. configuring the route. Therefore, regardless of whether there is a transport vehicle in the process of transferring the processed material, the other conveyance vehicles will move in advance through the conveyance track body and the lifting track body fitted into the cut-off portion thereof.

〔Example〕

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the processing object conveying apparatus according to the present invention will be applied to a wafer cassette conveying apparatus and will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a wafer cassette/throat transport device as a processing material transport device. The transport track body 1 and the transport track body 1
A plurality of transport vehicles 2 run above and a transport robot 3 as a processing material transport device installed on the floor of the factory building.
and a cart lifting device 4 disposed between the transfer robot 3 and the transfer track body 1. Each of the transport vehicles 2 is loaded with a single or multiple (four in the figure) wafer cassettes 5 that house semiconductor wafers (not shown) as objects to be processed. The cassettes 5 are supplied to semiconductor manufacturing equipment 6 as processing equipment arranged at predetermined positions on the floor of the factory building.

In addition, a cut-off portion 7 of a predetermined length along the direction of extension is formed in the middle of the conveyance track body 1, and one of the lifting track bodies 8, which will be described later, is formed in this cut-off portion 7. Only the book is inserted along the vertical direction, that is, the vertical direction perpendicular to the extension direction.

On the other hand, each trolley lifting device 4 has a
A plurality of elevating track bodies 8 whose length is sufficient to place only the platform, and a pair of chains 9 that connect the elevating track bodies 8 in a spaced apart parallel manner with the frame extending in an annular manner along the lifting direction.
and is provided.

Then, when one of the lifting track bodies 8 is positioned at a position corresponding to the transfer robot 3, the other one is separated by a predetermined interval such that it is inserted into the separation part 7 of the transfer track body 1. I'm forced to.

Further, a support frame 10 formed in a substantially rLJ shape is attached from the back side to the bottom side of each of the portions near both ends of each lifting track body 8, and the upper end of each support frame 10 is attached via a rotatable bottle. It is connected to chain 9. Furthermore, a connecting rod 11 for positioning and restraining the support frames 10 is attached to the back side of each elevator track body 8.

Sprockets 12 are disposed at predetermined positions at the upper and lower ends of the chain 9, which is passed along the lifting direction, and one of the sprockets 12 is provided with a sprocket 12 for lifting and lowering the lifting track body 8. A lifting/lowering operation mechanism 13 such as a drive motor is connected. The elevating operation mechanism 13 is controlled so that one of the elevating track bodies 8 is positioned and fixed at a position corresponding to the transfer robot 3, and at the same time, the other one is inserted into the cutting section 7. Further, near the upper and lower ends between these chains 9, recesses 14 into which the connecting rods 11 of each elevating track body 8 can fit are formed, and a disc cam 15 is provided which is driven in synchronization with the chains 9. A well-known attitude control mechanism is provided to prevent each lifting track body 8 from being reversed as the chain 9 runs. In addition, the code|symbol 16 in a figure is a guide plate (guide) for preventing the shaking of the elevating track body 8 when the chain 9 runs in a straight line.

Incidentally, in the above description, it is assumed that the lifting track body 8 is lifted and lowered via a ring-shaped chain 9, but the invention is not limited to this. If there is sufficient space up to the ceiling, it is also possible to lift and lower a plurality of elevator track bodies 8 arranged in parallel to each other in a straight line along the lifting direction.

Next, the operation of the wafer cassette transfer device according to this embodiment will be explained.

First, the carrier 2 that has traveled on the carrier track 1 is placed on the lifting track 8 fitted into the separation part 7 of the carrier track 1 together with the wafer cassette 5 mounted thereon. The lifting track body 8 is lowered to a position corresponding to the transport robot 3 by driving the chain 9 by the lifting operation mechanism 13 with the transport carriage 2 placed thereon. Then, when the lowered lifting track 8 is positioned and fixed at a position corresponding to the transfer robot 3, the wafer cassette 5 mounted on the transfer carriage 2 is moved to the transfer robot 7 which runs on the floor.
It is transferred to the semiconductor manufacturing equipment 6 by.

Furthermore, when the lowered lifting track 8 is positioned and fixed at the position corresponding to the transfer robot 3, the empty lifting track 8 is newly fitted into the separation part 7 of the transfer track 1. This constitutes a continuous transport route for the transport vehicle 2. Therefore, regardless of whether there is a general transport vehicle 2 that is transferring the wafer cassette 5, the other transport vehicles 2
It then moves forward through a continuous conveyance path formed by the elevator track body 8. Note that the transport vehicle 2 placed on the lifting track 8 that is lowered in this manner does not necessarily have to be transferred by the transport robot 3; It is also possible to temporarily evacuate and stock the transport vehicle 2 and allow the transport vehicle 2 that has traveled later to take the lead.

Further, the wafer cassette 5 containing the semiconductor wafers processed in the semiconductor manufacturing equipment 6 is returned via the transport robot 3 to the transport vehicle 2 on the elevating track body 8 in the lowered position, and is then mounted on the elevating track body 8. The track body 8 is lifted again and fitted into the separation part 7 of the transport track body 1 (2), thereby being transported to the next process.

Incidentally, in the embodiments described above, it is assumed that the processing object transport device according to the present invention is a wafer cassette transport device, but the present invention can be applied to a processing object transport device used when transporting other processing objects. Needless to say, it can be applied.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the processing material conveyance device according to the present invention, the transport vehicle that has traveled on the transportation track body is moved along the lifting track body that is fitted into the cut-off portion of the transportation track body together with the processing material. The lifting track body is lowered by the lifting operation mechanism 1 2 to a position corresponding to the processing material transfer device while the conveyance carriage is placed thereon. Then, the workpieces that have been lowered and placed on the conveyor carriage on the elevating track body that has been positioned and fixed are transferred to the processing apparatus by the workpiece transfer device. That is, in the configuration of the present invention, the transfer of the processed material between the transport vehicle and the processing device is performed only by a single processed material transfer device, without going through many intermediate devices as in the conventional example. As a result, an excellent effect can be obtained in that the time required for transferring the processed material is significantly shortened.

In addition, when the lowered lifting track body is positioned and fixed at the position corresponding to the processing material transfer device, another lifting track body is newly fitted into the cut-off part of the transport track body, and the transport carriage is continuously transported. configuring the route. Therefore, regardless of the presence or absence of the transport vehicle during the transfer of the processed material, it is possible for other conveyance vehicles to advance through the conveyance track body and the lifting track body fitted into its separation part, and as a result, the conveyance Another effect is that efficiency can be significantly improved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a wafer cassette transfer device as a processing object transfer device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a schematic structure of a wafer cassette transfer device according to a conventional example. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a transport track body, 2 a transport truck, 3 a transport robot (processed material transfer device), 4 a cart lifting device,
5 is a wafer cassette (processed object), 7 is a cutting section, 8 is a lifting cutting section, and 13 is a lifting operation mechanism.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A transport track body installed near the ceiling inside the factory building, multiple transport vehicles loaded with processed materials and running on the transport track body, and a transport track body installed on the floor surface of the factory building. A processing material transfer device is provided, and a cart lifting device is provided between the processing material transfer device and a transport track body, and one of the transport carts is mounted on the transfer track body. The long-length lifting track forms a cut-off part that is fitted along the lifting direction perpendicular to the extending direction of the transport track, while the bogie lifting device has separate parts that are arranged in parallel at a predetermined distance from each other. A plurality of elevating track bodies are connected to each other, and one of them is positioned and fixed at a position corresponding to the processed material transfer device, and at the same time, the other one is inserted into the separation part to create a continuous conveyance path of the conveyance cart. What is claimed is: 1. A processing material conveying device, comprising: a lifting and lowering operation mechanism.