JPH04254351A - Handling robot - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce the installation space of a handling robot by causing an arm revolve passing over the center line thereof through interlocking or synchronization with rotation of a rotatable external body and always maintaining an item holder in the constant direction to move forward and backward in the outward radial direction of the rotatable external body. CONSTITUTION:When a second driver 21 stops and a first driver 18 operates, an rotatable external body 15 is integarated with a supporting axis 14 via the second driver 21, a toothed belt 23 and a sun wheel 12 at the conter. Accordingly, the direction of an item can be changed by rotating the rotatable external body 15 with the first driver 18. Next, when the first driver 18 stops and the second driver 21 operates, an arm 24 revolves interlocking or in synchronization with rotation of the rotatable external body 15 and the item can be presented in the outward radial direction from the rotatable external body 15. Under this condition, the item can be sent to the transfer position by vertically operating the rotatable exteranal body 15. Thereby, the installation space can be reduced.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a handling robot for handling articles such as wafers and masks in a narrow clean room.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Various types of handling robots have been proposed for use in moving articles from one place to another, such as a rotating arm type and a rotating disk type.

By the way, handling robots used in narrow clean rooms and the like are required to be compact.

0004

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in conventional handling robots, it is necessary to ensure a large turning radius to move objects, so the problem is that they are large and require a large installation space. was there.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems and provide a compact handling robot that does not take up much installation space.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a support plate that is provided on a base and is moved up and down, and a support shaft that integrally has three sun wheels on the support plate. A rotary outer shell that is rotatably supported and covers the base and the support plate, a first drive section that is provided on the support plate and drives one sun wheel, and a first drive section that is provided on the rotary outer shell and drives another sun wheel. a second drive unit, an arm that is provided at an eccentric position on the top of the rotating outer body, has a length that is approximately equal to the eccentric distance of the arm, and is rotated horizontally at a rotation ratio of 1:2 by the remaining sun wheel; It is characterized by comprising an article holding section provided at the tip of the rotary outer barrel via a parallel movement mechanism.

[0007]

[Operation] As the support plate moves up and down, the rotary outer shell, arm, and article holding section move up and down integrally via the support shaft. This allows the article holding section to move up and down for receiving and delivering articles.

[0008] When the second driving section is brought to a stopped and fixed state, the sun wheel and the support shaft are integrated with the rotating outer shell, and the rotating outer shell, the arm, and the article holding section are integrated. In this state, the entire direction can be changed by operating the first drive section.

[0009] When the first drive section is brought to a stopped and fixed state, the sun wheel and the support shaft become integrated with the support plate. When the second drive section is operated in this state, the rotating outer shell rotates relative to the fixed sun wheel and support shaft, and the arm pivots in conjunction with the relative rotation of the rotating outer shell. Ru.

In this case, the length of the arm is approximately equal to the eccentric distance from the center of rotation of the rotating outer shell to the center of rotation of the arm, and the rotation ratio with respect to the sun wheel is 1:2, so the arm is not rotated. The rotation angle is twice that of the body, and the tip of the arm moves in a straight line along the center line connecting this tip and the center of rotation, thereby extending or retracting the article holder radially outward from the rotating outer body. be able to. Also,
Since the article holding section at the tip of the arm is provided from the rotating outer barrel side via a parallel movement mechanism, the article holding section can always maintain a constant direction even when the arm turns.

[0011] In this way, the arm is rotated in conjunction with or synchronized with the rotation of the rotary outer shell so that its tip passes on the center line, and the article holding section is always maintained in a constant direction, so that the arm is rotated in a radial direction outside the rotary outer shell. Since the device is made to protrude and retract toward the side, position control can be performed easily and accurately, and the direction can be changed while the arm and article holding portion are kept within the range of the rotary outer shell, making it compact and requiring no installation space.

0012

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a base installed on the floor in a clean room, and a support plate 2 that can be moved up and down is provided on this base 1. The base 1 is formed into a circular raised-bottom shape, and a screw shaft 3 constituting a feed screw mechanism for moving the support plate 2 up and down is vertically rotatably attached to the center, and a support plate is located at an eccentric position. A guide rod 4 is vertically attached to guide the plate 2 so that it can move up and down without rotating it.

The support plate 2 has a boss portion 5 into which the screw shaft 3 is screwed.
A guide hole 6 into which the guide rod 4 is slidably fitted is also formed. A lifting motor 7 is attached to the base 1 to rotate the screw shaft 3.
The rotating shaft and the lower end of the screw shaft 3 are connected via a toothed belt 8 and toothed wheels 9 and 10.

[0015] As the feed screw mechanism, a ball screw with low friction is preferable.

On the support plate 2 are three sun wheels 11, 12,
The support plate 2 is connected via a vertical support shaft 14 integrally having a
A rotary outer shell 15 covering the base 1 is rotatably attached. The rotating outer shell 15 is made of a cylindrical body having a top portion (upper surface portion) 16, the upper end portion of the support shaft 14 is rotatably supported by a boss portion 17 formed at the center of the top portion 16, and the lower end portion of the support shaft 14 is It is rotatably supported by the boss portion 5 of the support plate 2. Although these sun wheels 11, 12, and 13 are toothed wheels having the same number of teeth in the embodiment, they may not have the same number of teeth.

A first drive unit (motor) 18 for driving the lower sun wheel 13 is attached to the support plate 2, and a toothed belt 19 is attached to the toothed wheel 19 attached to the rotating shaft of the first drive unit (motor) 18 for driving the lower sun wheel 13. 20 is wrapped around it.

A central sun wheel 12 is mounted on the inner wall of the rotating outer shell 15.
A second drive unit (motor) 21 is attached to drive the
A toothed belt 23 is wound around the toothed wheel 22 attached to the rotating shaft and the central sun wheel 12. In addition, the above-mentioned lifting motor 7, first and second drive parts (motors) 18,
Reference numeral 21 is a servo motor, which is in a locked state when stopped.

A hollow arm 24 is attached to the top 16 of the rotary outer shell 15 at a position eccentric from the center of rotation so as to be able to rotate horizontally, and an article holder for holding articles such as masks and wafers is attached to the tip of the arm 24. A section 25 is provided from the rotary outer shell 15 side via a parallel motion mechanism 26.

A hollow pivot shaft 27 is provided at the base end of the arm 24.
are integrally formed at right angles, and this pivot shaft 27 is connected to the rotary outer shell 15.
It is rotatably supported on the top part 16 of the housing via a bearing 28. A toothed wheel 29 is attached to the lower end of the pivot shaft 27,
A toothed belt 30 is attached to this toothed wheel 29 and the upper sun wheel 11.
is wrapped around it.

In particular, the length g of the arm 24 (specifically, the distance between the center of the pivot axis of the arm 24 and the center of the rotation axis 31 of the article holding section 25) is determined by the eccentricity of the arm 24 at the top 16 of the rotary outer shell 15. Distance (center of rotation of rotating outer body 15 and arm 2
The distance between the centers of the rotation axes 27 of No. 4) is set equal to h. In addition, the arm 24 is 1:2 by the sun wheel 11 on the upper part.
The gear ratio between the upper sun wheel 11 and the toothed wheel 29 on the rotating shaft 27 is set to 2:1 so that the rotating shaft 27 is driven at a rotation ratio of .

A rotating shaft 31 is integrally formed at a right angle to the base end of the article holding section 25, and this rotating shaft 31 is rotatably supported by the distal end of the arm 24 so as to pass through the arm 24 at right angles. . As the parallel motion mechanism 26, the rotary outer shell 1
A neutral shaft 33 is erected and fixed to a fixed part 32 fixed to the inner wall of the article holding part 5 so as to freely pass through the pivot shaft 27. They are connected via several toothed wheels 34, 35 and a toothed belt 36.

A vacuum suction hole 37 for suctioning and holding an article is formed in the top surface of the tip of the article holding section 25, and this vacuum suction hole 37 is connected to the arm 24, the rotating shaft 31, and the neutral shaft 33.
passages 38, 39 formed in the shafts, rotary joints 40, 41 fitted to these shafts 31, 33, and tubes 42, 4;
3 to a vacuum source.

Next, the operation of the embodiment will be described.

First, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3(a), with the article holder 25 extending radially outward from the rotary outer shell 15, the article holder 25 is moved by the operation of the lifting motor 7. 2
5 is moved up and down together with the support plate 2, the support shaft 14, the rotary outer shell 15, and the arm 24, and together with the vacuum suction from the vacuum suction hole 37, the article 44 is received from the article receiving position A.

Next, when the first drive section 18 is stopped and the second drive section 21 is activated, the rotary outer shell 15 rotates as the second drive section 21 revolves around the fixed central sun wheel 12. As the rotating outer shell 15 rotates, the pivot shaft 27 of the arm 24 is connected to the fixed upper sun wheel 11 via the toothed belt 30, so the arm 24 also rotates around the pivot shaft 27. Turn around.

In this case, the eccentric distance h of the arm 24 on the rotating outer shell 15 and the length g of the arm 24 are set to be approximately equal, and the arm 24 is rotated out of rotation due to the ratio of the number of teeth between the sun wheel 11 and the toothed wheel 29. Since the arm 24 rotates at a rotation ratio of 1:2 relative to the body, the tip of the arm 24 moves linearly on the center line connecting this tip and the center of rotation of the rotary outer body 15. Further, the article holding section 25 maintains a constant direction by a parallel movement mechanism 26. Accordingly, article 44 is shown in FIG.
As shown in a) to (c), the article is drawn onto the rotary outer shell 15 from the article receiving position A by parallel movement.

Next, the second drive section 21 is stopped and the first drive section 18 is activated to change the direction of the article 44. When the second drive unit 21 is stopped, the rotating outer shell 15
is integrated with the support shaft 14 via the second drive unit 21, the toothed belt 23, and the central sun wheel 12, so the operation of the first drive unit 18 causes the rotation as shown in FIG. 3(d). The rotating outer shell 15 can be rotated to change the direction of the article 44.

Next, when the first drive section 18 is stopped and the second drive section 21 is operated in the opposite direction to that described above,
The arm 24 rotates in conjunction with or in synchronization with the rotation of the rotary outer shell 15, and the article 44 is held out from above the rotary outer shell 15 radially outward. Then, by moving the rotary outer shell 15 up and down in this state, the article 44 can be delivered to the delivery position B.

[0030] In the embodiment, the sun wheels 11, 12, 13
Although a toothed belt is used as a means for transmitting rotation, a chain, a belt, etc. may be used instead, or gears may be directly meshed with each other.

[0031]

[Effects of the Invention] In summary, according to the present invention, the arm is rotated in conjunction with or synchronized with the rotation of the rotary outer shell so that its tip passes on the center line, and the article holding section is always maintained in a constant direction. Since it is made to protrude and retract outward in the radial direction of the rotary outer shell, position control can be performed easily and accurately, and the direction can be changed while the arm and article holding part are within the range of the rotary outer shell, making it compact. Does not take up installation space.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of a handling robot according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the handling robot.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the handling robot.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Base 2 Support plate 11, 12, 13 Sun wheel 14 Support shaft 15 Rotating outer shell 18 First drive section 21 Second drive part 24 Arm 25 Article holding section 26 Parallel motion mechanism

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A support plate provided on a base and moved up and down, and a rotary outer shell rotatably supported via a support shaft integrally having three sun wheels on the support plate and covering the base and the support plate. , a first one provided on the support plate and driving one sun wheel.
a second drive section provided on the rotary outer shell and driving the other sun wheel; and a second drive section provided at an eccentric position on the top of the rotating outer shell and having a length approximately equal to the eccentric distance of the second drive section. A handling device characterized by comprising an arm that is horizontally rotated by a sun wheel at a rotation ratio of 1:2, and an article holding section provided at the tip of the arm from the rotating outer body side via a parallel movement mechanism. robot.