JPH0450248Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] Industrial application field The present invention relates to an opening/closing mechanism for a transport unit when transporting a workpiece such as a wafer from one station to another in a semiconductor manufacturing process, etc., and is particularly suitable for easy assembly and adjustment. The present invention relates to a work transfer unit opening/closing mechanism that can improve maintainability and save space.

BACKGROUND TECHNOLOGY As shown in FIG. 4, a conventional work transfer unit opening/closing mechanism has guide shafts 2a and 2b stretched horizontally between guide shaft stands 1a and 1b.
A pair of sliders 3a and 3b that open and close by moving symmetrically to both sides of the central axis 9 under the guidance of these guide shafts 2a and 2b are combined, and these sliders 3
A pair of transport units 4a and 4b, for example, transport belts, are provided on the upper surfaces of the workpieces 4a and 3b. Then, these transport units 4a, 4
To open and close b like arrows A, B; C, D,
A protruding shaft 5 is provided on the side surface of each slider 3a, 3b.
a, 5b are provided, and driving wires 6a, 6b are extended in opposite directions from these protruding shafts 5a, 5b and are stretched along a predetermined route to pulleys 7, 7... attached to the guide shaft stands 1a, 1b, For example, a motor 8 is connected to the main drive pulley 7m,
By rotating the motor 8 in forward and reverse directions, the driving wires 6a and 6b were pulled in the direction of the arrows, and the respective sliders 3a and 3b were opened and closed on both sides of the central axis 9.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, in such a work transfer unit opening/closing mechanism, since the drive wires 6a, 6b are used to open and close the sliders 3a, 3b, these wires 6a, 6b are A large number of pulleys 7, 7, . Moreover, the wires 6a, 6 are connected to the many pulleys 7, 7...
The work of assembling the wires by stretching them along a predetermined route is complicated, and it is also difficult to adjust the tension to a predetermined tension, resulting in poor workability. moreover,
The tension of the one wheels 6a, 6b may loosen due to changes over time, and the tension must be readjusted as appropriate. Furthermore, when the one wires 6a, 6b are broken, the task of replacing the wires 6a, 6b is very complicated. For these reasons, the maintainability of the conventional opening/closing mechanism has been poor. Furthermore, as described above, a large amount of maintenance space is required to readjust the tension of the wires 6a and 6b and to replace them when the wires are broken. Therefore, the present invention aims to solve such problems.

Means for Solving the Problems The means of the present invention for solving the above problems consists of a horizontally stretched guide shaft and a system that opens and closes by moving symmetrically to both sides under the guidance of this guide shaft. A workpiece transport system that has a pair of sliders and a pair of transport units that are provided on the upper surfaces of these sliders and transports a workpiece, and opens and closes the transport unit by opening and closing the pair of sliders using a drive section. In the unit opening/closing mechanism, an operating shaft protrudes from the outer surface of each of the sliders, and a gear provided at the lower end of each of the operating shafts is positioned at a point on the base on the central axis between the two sliders. A pair of levers are provided which engage and rotate symmetrically to both sides, and the upper ends of these levers are slidably engaged with the operating shafts of the respective sliders, and the middle part of one lever and A driving part for rotating the pair of levers is connected to another point on the base, and a driving part for rotating the pair of levers is connected between the middle part of the other lever and the connecting point of the driving part on the base. This is accomplished by a workpiece transfer unit opening/closing mechanism characterized by a tension spring that biases the workpieces away from each other.

Embodiments Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an embodiment of the work transfer unit opening/closing mechanism according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view thereof. This workpiece transfer unit opening/closing mechanism is provided at a location where a workpiece is transferred from one station to another, and is located above a location where a workpiece such as a wafer is held onto a suction head in a processing cup in a semiconductor manufacturing process. The transport unit can be opened and closed.

In FIG. 1, guide shaft stands 11a, 1
1b are erected on the base 10 at predetermined intervals. And this guide shaft stand 11
Guide shafts 12a and 12b are stretched between a and 11b. These guide shafts 12a, 12b
are for guiding the opening and closing movements of sliders 13a and 13b, which will be described later, and both guide shaft stands 11a and 1
1b are stretched in parallel in the horizontal direction. A pair of sliders 13a, 13b are slidably provided on the guide shafts 12a, 12b. These sliders 13a and 13b are connected to the guide shaft 12.
It opens and closes by moving symmetrically to both sides of the central axis 14 under the guidance of a and 12b, and is formed into a rectangular parallelepiped block, with through holes drilled horizontally at the top and bottom of this block. The guide shaft 12
a, 12b so as to be slidable. A pair of transport units 15a, 15b are provided on the upper surfaces of the sliders 13a, 13b. These conveyance units 15a and 15b carry a workpiece from one station to another, and as shown in FIG. is installed in a cantilevered manner,
Belts 18a and 18b are wound around a plurality of pulleys 17a and 17b provided on the inner surfaces of the belt holders 16a and 16b, respectively.
8a and 18b are rotated by motors 19a and 19b.

As shown in FIG. 1, actuating shafts 20a, 20b are projected from the outer surfaces of each of the sliders 13a, 13b at symmetrical positions with respect to the central axis 14, and these actuating shafts 20a, 20b A pair of levers 21a and 21b are provided along the protruding sides so as to be able to rotate symmetrically to both sides. These levers 21a, 21b are connected to the operating shaft 2.
0a and 20b, respectively, and the slider 13
Gears 22a and 22b having the same number of teeth are fixed to the lower end of each gear, and the fulcrum shafts 23a and 23b are inserted into shaft holes on the side of a bearing 24 fixed to the base 10. By fitting, both gears 22a and 22b are positioned on the base 10 on the central axis 14 between the sliders 13a and 13b.
They interlock with each other at one point on the top, allowing them to rotate symmetrically. And each lever 21 mentioned above
A, 21b have U-shaped grooves 25a, 25 at their upper ends.
b is formed, and these U-shaped grooves 25a, 25
b are slidably engaged with the operating shafts 20a, 20b of the sliders 13a, 13b, respectively.

A drive unit 26 is connected between the intermediate portion of one of the pair of levers 21a and 21b, for example 21b, and the other end on the base 10. This drive section 26 is connected to the pair of levers 21
a, 21b in a symmetrical motion to both sides with respect to the central axis 14, for example, a hydraulic cylinder,
It consists of an air cylinder, a motor, etc., and its base end is rotatably pivoted 28 to a drive unit stand 27 erected on the base 10, and the tip of a rod 29 that moves telescopically is connected to one lever 21b. A shaft 30 is rotatably attached to the intermediate portion. Further, a tension spring 34 is tensioned between the intermediate portion of the other lever 21a and the connection point of the drive unit on the base 10. This tension spring 34 urges the pair of levers 21a and 21b away from each other, and has one end fixed to the drive unit stand 27 erected on the base 10 and the other end to the other lever 21a. is fixed in the middle of the Due to the action of this tension spring 34, each lever 21a,
It is possible to prevent malfunctions due to meshing failure of the gears 22a and 22b at the lower end of the gear 21b.

Therefore, when the rod 29 expands and contracts as shown by the arrows E and F by driving the drive section 26, one lever 21b rotates as shown by the arrows G and H. At this time, the gear 22b provided at the lower end also rotates in the direction of the arrow along with the rotation. Then, the rotation of the gear 22b is transmitted to the gear 22a meshing with it, and the gear 22a is rotated by the same amount in the opposite direction to the gear 22b. As a result, the other lever 21a to which this gear 22a is fixed,
It moves symmetrically with the one lever 21b and rotates by the same amount in the directions of arrows I and J. Such lateral rotation of the pair of levers 21a, 21b is transmitted to the pair of sliders 13a, 13b via the operating shafts 20a, 20b, and the sliders 13
a, 13b are opened and closed with symmetrical movements to both sides, and as a result, a pair of transport units 15a, 15b provided on the upper surface thereof are opened and closed as shown by arrows A, B; C, D. In this way, the transport unit 1
5a and 15b, as shown in FIG. 2, open and close symmetrically with respect to the workpiece transport path 32 above the processing cup 31. transport,
This work is processed by the suction head 33 inside the processing cup 31.
When it is absorbed, it opens to both sides, and the above-mentioned processing cup 31
Once the processing inside is finished, the transport unit 15a, 1
5b is closed and the processed workpiece is transported to an unloader section (not shown). In the above case, the open and closed positions of the transport units 15a and 15b can be determined by, for example, detecting the amount of movement of the rod 29 of the drive unit 26 with a sensor and stopping it at a predetermined amount, or by using the other method. A limit switch in the closed position is provided on the inward side of the lever 21a, and a limit switch in the open position is provided on the outward side of the lever 21a.
Either the lever 21a may be stopped when it hits the lever 21a, or a rotating cam may be provided at the gear 22a of the other lever 21a, and the rotation of this rotating cam may be detected by a sensor and the rotating cam may be stopped at a predetermined rotation angle.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing another embodiment. In this embodiment, the other ends of the belt holders 16a, 16b of the conveyance units 15a, 15b are extended, and the guide shaft stands 11a', 11b', the guide shafts 12a', 12b', and the slider 13a' are also attached to the extended ends. ，
13b' is provided, and the belt holders 16a, 16b are
It is supported on both sides. In this case, a plurality of processing cups 31 are lined up and the transport unit 1
It is possible to prevent the belt holders 16a, 16b from bending when the belts 5a, 15b become long.

In addition, in FIGS. 1 and 2, belts 18a,
18b is shown as having motors 19a and 19b, respectively, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a ball spline shaft or the like is bridged between both belts 18a and 18b, and this ball spline shaft is rotated by one motor. You can do it like this. Further, the conveyance units 15a and 15b are not limited to those using belts 18a and 18b, but may be other units as long as they can convey the workpiece in the same way as belts.

Effects of the Invention As explained above, the present invention allows the pair of sliders 13a and 13b to move symmetrically to both sides with respect to the central axis 14 to open and close, but the gears 22a and 22b provided at the lower end mesh with each other. The upper ends of the pair of levers 21a, 21b, which rotate in a symmetrical movement to both sides, are slidably engaged with the operating shafts 20a, 20b on the outer surfaces of the sliders 13a, 13b. There is no need for many pulleys around which drive wires are stretched, and the number of parts can be reduced and the structure can be simplified. Further, the assembly can be performed simply by engaging the upper ends of the pair of levers 21a, 21b with the operating shafts 20a, 20b of the respective sliders 13a, 13b, which simplifies the assembly work and eliminates the need for complicated tension adjustments. There is no work required and adjustment is easy. Further, the pair of levers 21a, 21b are connected to the sliders 13a, 13 by gears 22a, 22b provided at their lower ends.
The pair of levers 21a, 21b are engaged with each other at one point on the base 10 on the central axis 14 between the two levers 21a and 21b so as to rotate symmetrically to both sides.
is arranged in close proximity to the base 10, and the two members are not spaced apart from each other in the left and right directions, making it possible to compactly accommodate both the height and the width of the left and right sides, thereby reducing the occupied space. In addition, since the drive unit 26 is connected between another point on the base 10 and the middle part of one lever 21b, it fits within the height range of the lever 21b, reducing the space occupied by the entire mechanism. be able to. Further, since a tension spring 34 is tensioned between the connection point of the drive unit 26 on the base 10 and the intermediate portion of the other lever 21a, the pair of levers 21a and 21b are always moved in the direction away from each other. The levers 21a, 21b can be biased to prevent malfunctions caused by the meshing of the gears 22a, 22b at the lower ends of the levers 21a, 21b.
The symmetrical movements of a and 21b to both sides can be made smooth. Therefore, the pair of sliders 13
a, 13b and the transport units 15a, 15b can be opened and closed smoothly.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an embodiment of the work transfer unit opening/closing mechanism according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view with the lever and drive section omitted, and FIG. 3 is a plan view showing another embodiment. FIG. 4 is a side view showing a conventional example. 10... Base, 11a, 11b... Guide shaft stand, 12a, 12b... Guide shaft, 13
a, 13b...slider, 15a, 15b...transport unit, 20a, 20b...operating shaft, 21
a, 21b... Lever, 22a, 22b... Gear, 23a, 23b... Fulcrum shaft, 25a, 25b
... U-shaped groove at the upper end of the lever, 26 ... Drive section,
29...rod, 34...tension spring.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A guide shaft stretched in the horizontal direction, a pair of sliders that move symmetrically to both sides to open and close under the guidance of this guide shaft, and a pair of sliders that are installed on the top surface of these sliders to carry a workpiece. and a workpiece transport unit opening/closing mechanism that opens and closes the transport unit by opening and closing the pair of sliders by a drive section, an operating shaft protruding from an outer surface of each of the sliders,
A pair of levers are provided on the protruding side of the operating shaft, each of which has a gear provided at its lower end that engages at one point on the base on the central axis between the two sliders and rotates in a symmetrical motion to both sides. , the upper ends of these levers are slidably engaged with the operating shafts of the respective sliders, and the pair of levers are rotated between the middle part of one lever and another point on the base. A tension spring is provided between the middle part of the other lever and the connection point of the drive part on the base for urging the pair of levers away from each other. Workpiece transport unit opening/closing mechanism.