JPH05100199A - Transporting arm - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To allow transportation at a high speed by increasing the holding force at the time of holding a glass substrate for an LCD with the transporting arm. CONSTITUTION:A cam 17 and a pressing means 20 are so provided on an imposing plate 13 that the centers of rotation align to each other. The glass substrate 60 for the LCD is held by this pressing means 20 and a stopper 22 when the cam 17 disengages from the pressing means 20. The glass substrate 60 for the LCD is then held by the spring force of a spring 21. On the other hand, the holding is released when the cam 17 presses the pressing means 20. The cam 17 rotates cooperatively with a 1st arm 11, a 2nd arm 12 and the imposing plate 13. The constitution to press the surface of the glass substrate 60 for the LCD to the imposing plate 13 side is equally well.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a transfer arm for transferring a plate-shaped body having a rectangular main surface.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a transfer arm for transferring a plate-like body having a rectangular main surface, for example, an LCD (liquid crystal) is used.
Those used in the manufacturing process of display (liquid crystal display) are known. This transfer arm is used for LC transfer between various processing devices such as an etching device and an ashing device.
It is used as a means for transporting a D glass substrate.

FIG. 7 shows an example of the structure of such a transfer arm.

As shown, such a transfer arm 50
Is a first arm 51, a second arm 52, and a mounting table 53.
Each of these parts 51, 52, 53 is configured to be rotationally driven in conjunction with each other about a rotation shaft (not shown). The first arm 51 is installed on a base (not shown), and this base is also configured to be rotationally driven.

Further, a plurality of rubber protrusions 57 (four in FIG. 7) are provided on the upper surface 53a of the mounting table 53, and the LCD glass substrate 60 has the protrusions 57.
Placed on top. Thus, the glass substrate 60 for LCD
Is to be mounted on the rubber protrusion 57 by increasing the sliding friction coefficient of the contact surface between the mounting table 53 and the LCD glass substrate 60 as much as possible so that L
This is to prevent the CD glass substrate 60 from falling off the mounting table 53.

That is, in the conventional transfer arm,
The mounting surface of the carrier table 53 (contact surface with the LCD glass substrate 60) is formed by a rubber protrusion 57 having a high friction coefficient, and L
The glass substrate 60 for LCD is held by the frictional force caused by the weight of the glass substrate 60 for CD.

[0007]

In recent years, as the demand for LCDs has increased, it has been desired to develop an LCD manufacturing apparatus capable of manufacturing a large number of LCDs in a short time (that is, to improve the throughput of the LCD manufacturing apparatus). ing.

In order to improve the throughput of the LCD manufacturing apparatus, not only is the processing time of the treatment apparatus used in each processing step shortened, but the L
It is also necessary to shorten the time required to convey the CD glass substrate 60.

However, the conventional transfer system has a problem that the transfer time cannot be shortened sufficiently for the following reasons.

In such a transfer system, in order to reduce the time required for transfer, the mounting table 53 at the start of transfer is set.
And the deceleration (that is, negative acceleration) at the end of conveyance need to be increased.

As described above, in the conventional transfer arm 50, the LCD glass substrate 60 is held by the L
Since the sliding frictional force generated on the contact surface between the CD glass substrate 60 and the rubber protrusion 57 is used, the LCD glass substrate 60 is prevented from slipping off the mounting table 53 during transportation. LC at the beginning and end of transport
The inertial force applied to the D glass substrate 60 is the LCD.
It must be smaller than the sliding frictional force generated on the contact surface between the glass substrate 60 for application and the protrusion 57 made of rubber.

However, as the acceleration or deceleration of the mounting table 53 is increased, the LC mounted on the mounting table 53 is increased.
Since the inertial force applied to the D glass substrate 60 becomes large, the acceleration and deceleration of the mounting table 53 cannot be increased so much in the conventional transfer arm 50.
The transport time could not be shortened sufficiently.

Such a problem is not limited to the transfer arm used in the manufacturing process of the LCD, but is common to the transfer arm which transfers a plate-shaped body having a rectangular main surface.

The present invention has been tried in view of the problems of the prior art as described above, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a transfer arm capable of realizing a sufficient reduction of the transfer time.

[0015]

The transfer arm of the first invention is a transfer arm for transferring a plate-shaped body having a rectangular main surface, and a mounting means for mounting the plate-shaped body and the mounting means. Holding means for holding the plate-like body on the placing means by pressing two opposing side surfaces of the plate-like body placed on the placing means.

The transfer arm of the second invention is a transfer arm for transferring a plate-shaped body having a rectangular main surface, and a mounting means for mounting the plate-shaped body and a mounting means for mounting the plate-shaped body. Holding means for holding the plate-shaped body on the mounting means by pressing the upper surface of the mounted plate-shaped body in the direction of the mounting means.

[0017]

According to the first aspect of the invention, the holding means presses the two opposite side surfaces of the plate-like body placed on the placing means, thereby holding the plate-like body on the placing means. Therefore, the frictional force generated on the contact surface between the holding means and the plate-shaped body can be significantly increased. Therefore, since the acceleration and deceleration of the mounting table during transportation can be increased, the transportation time can be shortened.

According to the second invention, by the holding means,
Since the upper surface of the plate-shaped body mounted on the mounting means is pressed in the direction of the mounting means to hold the plate-shaped body on the mounting means, the holding means and the plate-shaped body It is possible to remarkably increase the frictional force generated on the contact surface. Therefore, since the acceleration and deceleration of the mounting table during transportation can be increased, the transportation time can be shortened.

[0019]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below by taking a transfer arm used in an LCD manufacturing process as an example.

(Embodiment 1) An embodiment of the first invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing the structure of such a plasma etching apparatus.

In the figure, the cassette 6 containing a plurality of LCD glass substrates 60 is carried into the cassette housing chamber 1 through the gate valve 8a. The transfer arm 9 provided in the carry-in side L / L chamber 2 takes out one LCD glass substrate 60 stored in the cassette 6 through the gate valve 8d, and the process chamber 3 through the gate valve 8c. Set inside. After the LCD glass substrate 60 is etched in the process chamber 3, the LCD glass substrate 60 is unloaded through the gate valve 8d by the transfer arm 10 provided in the unloading side L / L chamber 4. Then, it is stored in the cassette 7 in the cassette storage chamber 5 through the gate valve 8e.

The transfer arms 9 and 10 used in such a plasma etching apparatus have the same structure.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing the structure of the transfer arm 10.

As shown in the figure, such a transfer arm 10
Is the first arm 11, the second arm 12, and the mounting table 13.
It is equipped with. Also, these parts 11, 12, 13
Are connected by rotary shafts (not shown), and are configured to rotate about these rotary shafts. Further, these rotating shafts are configured to interlock with each other by belts (not shown) provided in the first arm 11 and the second arm 12, respectively.

The first arm 11 is connected to a driving means (not shown), and is configured to rotate with the rotational driving of the driving means.

The first arm 11 and the second arm 12 are constructed so as to rotate in opposite directions at all times, and the second arm 12 and the mounting table 13 are arranged to rotate in opposite directions at all times. It is configured. For example, in FIG.
When the first arm 11 is rotated in the A direction (counterclockwise direction) by driving the above-mentioned driving means,
The arm is in the B direction (clockwise), and the mounting table 13 is in the C direction.
Rotate in the direction (counterclockwise). As a result, the transfer arm 10 can be expanded and contracted.

The first arm 11 is installed on the base 24, and this base is also configured to be rotationally driven.

A cam 17 is provided on the upper surface of the mounting table 13. The cam 17 includes a rotary plate 17a and a pin 17b.
And have. The cam 17 is a belt (preferably a timing belt is used) 18
Thus, the grooved pulley rotates in conjunction with the fixed rotating shaft 19. The rotary shaft 19 is configured to rotate in the opposite direction to the mounting table 13.

The pressing tool 20 is rotatably provided so that the center of rotation of the pressing tool 20 coincides with that of the cam 17. Further, the pressing tool 20 has a contact surface 20 a for contacting the side surface of the LCD glass substrate 60 mounted on the mounting table 13. The contact surface 20a is pressed toward the LCD glass substrate 60 side by a spring 21 provided in contact with the pressing tool 20. That is, the pressing of the LCD glass substrate 60 by the pressing tool 20 is performed by the spring force of the spring 21.

Further, the mounting table 13 has one or a plurality of stoppers 22 (in this embodiment, 2) formed of a soft member or an elastic member (for example, silicon rubber) at the tip of the upper surface.
Individual). When the LCD glass substrate 60 is placed on the mounting table 13, when the pressing tool 20 presses the LCD glass substrate 60 with the spring force of the spring 21, this force is transmitted to the stopper 22 as it is, and by the reaction at this time. The LCD glass substrate 60 is pressed by the stopper 22.

In this way, the glass substrate 60 for LCD
Is pressed from both sides by a pressing tool 20 and a stopper 22 that are in contact with two opposing side surfaces, respectively. That is, in the transfer arm 10 of this embodiment, the pressing tool 20 is used.
By the stopper 22 and the stopper 22, the glass substrate 6 for LCD
Holds 0.

On the other hand, when the above-mentioned cam 17 rotates counterclockwise and the pin 17b comes into contact with the pressing tool 20, this pin 1
The force of 7b pressing the pressing tool 20 overcomes the spring force of the spring 21, and the pressing tool 20 also rotates counterclockwise. As a result, the holding of the LCD glass substrate 60 is released.

Next, LC is carried out by the transfer arm 10 shown in FIG.
A procedure for conveying the D glass substrate 60 will be described.

FIG. 2 shows a state in which the transfer arm 10 is extended. At this time, since the pressing tool 20 is applied with a counterclockwise force by the pin 17b of the cam 17,
It is pushed out to the spring 21 side.

In this state, the glass substrate 60 for LCD is
It is placed on the placing table 13. At this time, as described above, since the pressing tool 20 is pushed out toward the spring 21 by the pin 17b of the cam 17, the LCD glass substrate 60 is not held by the pressing tool 20 and the stopper 22, but simply on the mounting table 13. It is only placed on.

Here, the above-mentioned driving means (not shown) is driven to rotate the first arm 11 in the direction indicated by A in the figure. At this time, as described above, the second arm 12 rotates in the direction indicated by B in the drawing, and the mounting table 13 rotates in the direction indicated by C in the drawing. As a result, the mounting table 13 moves in the direction indicated by D in the figure. Further, at the same time, the rotary shaft 19 rotates in the direction indicated by E in the figure, so that the cam 17
Rotates in the direction indicated by F in the figure, and the pin 17b and the pressing tool 2
0 separates. As a result, the pressing tool 20 is
The LCD glass substrate 60 is pressed by the spring force of 1, and the LCD glass substrate 60 is held.

Since the glass substrate 60 for CD is not held from the start of driving the driving means until the pin 17b and the pressing tool 20 are separated from each other, the glass substrate 60 for LCD is conveyed by the inertial force. Although it tries to shift in the opposite direction to (D in the drawing), the stopper 22 can prevent the shift, so that it does not fall from the mounting table 13.

As described above, the mounting table 13 is placed at D in FIG.
When moved in the direction indicated by, the state becomes as shown in FIG.

Next, the above-described base 24 is rotated to a direction facing the destination of the LCD glass substrate 60 (G in the figure).

At the start of this rotation, the glass substrate 60 for LCD tends to shift in the direction opposite to the conveying direction (G in the figure) due to the inertial force, but is firmly held by the pressing tool 20 and the stopper 22. Therefore, it does not fall off the mounting table 13. Further, when the rotation of the base 24 is stopped, the LCD glass substrate 60 receives an inertial force in the carrying direction, and at this time also, the LCD glass substrate 60 is firmly held by the pressing tool 20 and the stopper 22. Therefore, it does not fall off the mounting table 13.

When the rotation of the base 24 is stopped, the driving means (not shown) rotates the first arm 11 in the direction indicated by A'in the figure. As a result, the mounting table 13 is moved to D ′
Move in the direction indicated by. Further, at the same time, the rotary shaft 18 rotates in the direction indicated by E'in the figure, so that the cam 17 rotates in the direction indicated by F'in the figure, and the pin 17b presses the pressing tool 20. Therefore, this pressing tool 20
LCD glass substrate 6 by overcoming the spring force of the spring 21.
After being released from 0, the holding of the LCD glass substrate 60 is released.

After the holding of the LCD glass substrate 60 is released, the LCD glass substrate 60 tries to shift in the direction opposite to the conveying direction (D 'in the figure) due to the inertial force, but the pressing tool 20 is used. Since it is possible to prevent the shift, the shift does not fall from the mounting table 13.

As described above, according to the carrying arm of the present embodiment, the LCD glass substrate 60 being carried does not fall off the carrying table 13, so that the acceleration during carrying can be increased. Therefore, as compared with the conventional transfer arm, the time required for the transfer can be significantly reduced.

In the case where the present inventor takes 3 seconds to expand and contract the arm (movement in the directions indicated by D and D'in FIGS. 2 and 3) in the conventional transfer arm, the present embodiment When the transfer arm is applied, the time taken is 1.5
I was able to reduce it to seconds. Further, in such a case, the time required for the rotation of the conventional transfer arm (rotation in the direction indicated by G in FIG. 3) was 2 seconds, whereas it was 1 second for the transfer arm of the present embodiment. As a result, in the conventional transfer arm, the time from when the LCD glass substrate 60 is mounted on the mounting table 13 to when it is delivered to the next processing apparatus is 105.
By applying the transfer arm of the present embodiment to the transfer path which was seconds, the time required could be shortened to 90 seconds.

(Embodiment 2) Next, an embodiment of the second invention will be described with reference to FIG.

The transfer arm 40 of this embodiment is also used in the plasma etching apparatus as shown in FIG. 6 as in the first embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 4, the transfer arm of this embodiment is composed of an LCD glass substrate 60 mounted on a mounting table 13.
The glass substrate 60 for LCD is held on the mounting table 13 by pressing the upper surface of the LCD substrate 60 toward the mounting table 13 using the pressing tool 40.

The first arm 11, the second arm 12, and the mounting table 13 are connected by a rotary shaft (not shown), as in the first embodiment, and these rotary shafts are respectively connected to the first arm 11 and the first arm 11. Belts (not shown) provided in the two arms 12 are configured to interlock with each other. In addition, the first arm 11 and the second arm 1
2 is configured to always rotate in the opposite direction,
Further, both the second arm 12 and the mounting table 13 are configured to always rotate in opposite directions.

Further, the first arm 11 is connected to a driving means (not shown), is constructed so as to rotate in accordance with the rotational driving of this driving means, and the base on which the first arm 11 is installed. 24 can also be rotationally driven.

A plurality of pressing tools 4 are provided on the upper surface of the mounting table 13.
0 is provided. The pressing tool 40 has a silicone rubber 4 on the contact surface for contacting the LCD glass substrate 60.
0a (may be another elastic member or a soft member) and is rotatably supported by the hinge 41.
A stay 42 is fixed to the pressing tool 40, and the stay 42 is supported by clevis 43. Using this pressing tool 40, a glass substrate 60 for LCD
FIG. 5A shows a cross-sectional view when holding the.

Further, by pulling the rod 45 in the direction indicated by H in FIG. 4 using the air cylinder 44, as shown in FIG. 5B, the silicon rubber 40a of each pressing tool 40 is attached to the glass for LCD. It can be separated from the substrate 60. As a result, the holding of the LCD glass substrate 60 is released.

In this way, the glass substrate 60 for LCD
The glass substrate 60 for LCD is held by pressing the surface of the LCD substrate side by the pressing tool 40.

To release the holding, the air pressure of the air provided from the air cylinder 44 to the rod 45 may be lowered.

According to such a transfer arm, the pressing tool 4
After holding the LCD glass substrate 60 by 0, the LCD glass substrate 60 is moved to the transport destination in the same manner as in Example 1, and then the holding by the pressing tool 40 is released, whereby the LCD glass substrate is released. 60 can be conveyed.

As described above, also by the transfer arm of this embodiment, the LCD glass substrate 60 being transferred can be prevented from slipping off the transfer table 13, so that the acceleration at the time of transfer can be increased. Therefore, as compared with the conventional transfer arm, the time required for the transfer can be significantly reduced.

When the inventor of the present invention applied the transfer arm of the present embodiment to the case where the time required for the extension and contraction of the arm in the conventional transfer arm was 3 seconds, the time required was the same as in the first embodiment. I was able to reduce it to 1.5 seconds.
Further, the time required for the rotation of the transfer arm was 2 seconds in the conventional transfer arm, whereas it was 1 second in the transfer arm of the present embodiment. Therefore, in the conventional transfer arm, L
By applying the transfer arm of the present embodiment to the transfer path, which takes 105 seconds from the time when the glass substrate 60 for CD is placed on the mounting table 13 to the time when it is transferred to the next processing apparatus, the time required is reduced. I was able to reduce it to 90 seconds.

[0058]

As described above in detail, according to the transfer arm of the present invention, the plate-shaped member does not fall off the mounting means even if the acceleration during the transfer is increased. It is possible to shorten the time required for the transportation.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing a configuration of a transfer arm according to an embodiment of the first invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state in which the transfer arm shown in FIG. 1 is extended.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state in which the transfer arm shown in FIG. 1 is contracted.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view schematically showing a configuration of a transfer arm according to an embodiment of the second invention.

5A and 5B are cross-sectional views schematically showing the transfer arm shown in FIG. 4, in which FIG. 5A shows a state in which an LCD glass substrate is held, and FIG. 5B shows a state in which the holding is released.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a plasma etching apparatus using a transfer arm according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view schematically showing a configuration of a conventional transfer arm.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Transfer Arm 11 First Arm 12 Second Arm 13 Mounting Table 17 Cam 20 Pressing Tool 21 Spring 22 Stopper 60 LCD Glass Substrate
TE038610

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A transfer arm for transferring a plate-shaped body having a rectangular main surface, the mounting means mounting the plate-shaped body, and the plate-shaped body mounted on the mounting means facing each other. Holding means for holding the plate-shaped body on the placing means by pressing the two side surfaces of the transfer arm. 2. A transport arm for transporting a plate-shaped body having a rectangular main surface, and mounting means for mounting the plate-shaped body, and an upper surface of the plate-shaped body mounted on the mounting means. Holding means for holding the plate-shaped body on the placing means by pressing in the direction of the placing means.