JPH0527215A - Substrate carrier - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To efficiently carry a substrate regardless of the utilization state of the substrate carrier by optionally altering the settings of the discharge side and storage side of each substrate carrier. CONSTITUTION:The substrate carrier is equipped with plural magazines 2-5 which house glass substrates 8 and discharges the substrate from the magazines and houses the substrate 8 in the magazines by freely displaceable arms 14 and 15, and the settings of the magazines 2-5 on the discharge and storage sides are optionally altered. Namely, an efficient carrying procedure and a carrying path are considered according to the time required for various operations performed for the substrate 8a on a surface plate 10, the installation environment of the conveyance device 1, etc. The ideal arrangement of the discharge-side magazines and storage-side magazines is determined and an instruction is inputted to a console panel according to the determination. The carrying arms 14 and 15 take the substrates before processing out of the discharge-side magazines 2 and 3 according to the settings of the magazines 2-5 and house the substrates after the processing in the storage-side magazines 4 and 5.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a substrate transfer device for transferring a glass substrate or the like for a liquid crystal display device, for example.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, there is a substrate transfer device (hereinafter referred to as a transfer device) 1 as shown in FIG. 1 (a).
This transfer device 1 includes a magazine 2 as a substrate storage device.
5 and a substrate placing device (hereinafter, referred to as a placing device) 6 are provided, and a transfer robot 7 is arranged between the magazines 2 to 5 and the placing device 6.

The magazines 2 to 5 accommodate, for example, glass substrates (hereinafter referred to as substrates) 8 as substrates, and magazines 2 and 3 on the ejection side which stand by for ejection of the substrates 8 ... There are storage-side magazines 4 and 5 that are on standby for storing substrates 8 ...

In the magazines 2 and 3 on the discharge side, a plurality of substrates 8 are arranged vertically at substantially equal intervals. Then, the transfer robot 7 is driven and the transfer arms 14 and 15 are driven.
And the transfer arms 14 and 15 are moved to the front end portions 16 and 17
Are inserted into the magazines 2 and 3 on the discharge side to take out the substrates 8. Then, the taken-out substrates 8 are conveyed to the placing device 6 and placed on the surface plate 10, and various operations are performed on the substrate 8a. The substrate 8a for which the work on the placing device 6 has been completed is again held and transported by the transport arms 14 and 15 and stored in the magazines 4 and 5 on the storage side.

Each time the work on the mounting device 6 is completed, the substrate 8 is repeatedly stored and discharged, and the substrates 8 stored in the magazines 2 and 3 on the discharge side are subjected to various works. After that, they are sequentially moved to the magazines 4 and 5 on the storage side.

The magazines 2 to 5 have substantially the same shape. Then, in FIG.
Only one magazine 2 is shown specifically, the other three magazines 3-5 are shown schematically.

[0007]

By the way, in the conventional conveying apparatus, there is no freedom in setting the ejection side magazines 2 and 3 and the storage side magazines 4 and 5, and the positions of both magazines are always constant. That is, the moving directions of the transport arms 14 and 15 are determined with reference to the directions and positions where both magazines are installed, and the substrates 8 are discharged and stored.
The positions of both magazines are determined regardless of the contents of work performed on the substrate 8a on the surface plate 10 and the environment around the transport device. Therefore, depending on the installation condition of the transfer device, the drive of the transfer robot 7 may be restricted or the transfer path of the substrates 8 may be wasted. It is an object of the present invention to provide a substrate transfer device capable of efficiently transferring a substrate regardless of the usage status.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention comprises a plurality of substrate housing devices for housing substrates, and the substrates are ejected from the substrate housing device by a displaceable substrate holding arm. , And in a substrate transfer device that stores substrates in the substrate storage device, the settings of the discharge side and the storage side of each substrate storage device can be arbitrarily changed. By doing so, the present invention is to enable the substrate to be efficiently transported regardless of the usage status of the substrate transport apparatus.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.

1 (a) and 1 (b) show an essential part of an embodiment of the present invention. Further, reference numeral 1 in both figures denotes a substrate transfer device (hereinafter referred to as a transfer device), and this transfer device 1 is incorporated in a printing machine used for manufacturing a color filter for a liquid crystal display device, for example.

As shown in FIG. 1A, the transfer device 1 is equipped with magazines 2 to 5 as a substrate storage unit, a substrate mounting device (hereinafter, referred to as a mounting device) 6, and a transfer robot 7. There is.

Each of the magazines 2 to 5 has a box frame shape,
They have substantially the same structure. Furthermore, each magazine 2-5 has a rectangular glass substrate (hereinafter referred to as a substrate).
A plurality of grooves that are substantially parallel to each other are formed on the inner surface so that 8 ... Can be held horizontally inside. In each of the magazines 2 to 5, the substrates 8 ... Are arranged side by side at substantially equal intervals in the vertical direction.

The magazines 2 to 5 are mounted on a fan-shaped magazine mounting portion 9, and the entrance and exit are mounted on the magazine mounting portion 9
Are arranged radially and at substantially equal intervals while facing the center. Then, the magazines 2 to 5 include those in which the unprocessed substrates 8 are stored and those in which they are not stored. here,
In FIG. 1A, only one magazine 2 is specifically shown, and the other three magazines 3 to 5 are schematically shown by a chain line.

The placing device 6 includes a surface plate 10 and the surface plate 1.
It has a carriage 11 for supporting 0, and is located near the center of the magazine placing section 9. Further, the mounting device 6
Is provided with an XY.THETA. Drive mechanism section (not shown) between the surface plate 10 and the carriage 11. The surface plate 10 constitutes an XY.THETA. Table together with the XY.THETA. Drive mechanism section.

The mounting device 6 is mounted on the surface plate 10 such that the substrates 8 ...
Are placed one by one, and the placed substrates 8a are aligned in the three directions of XYΘ. In addition, the base 8 placed on the surface plate 10
It is possible to hold a by a positioning mechanism having a positioning claw or the like.

Further, the mounting device 6 has a plurality of push-up pins 12 ...
The substrate 8a supplied to the substrate is temporarily supported by the push-up pins 12 in a horizontal state, and then the push-up pins 12 are lowered to bring the substrate 8a into contact with the mounting surface 13 of the surface plate 10. Then, the mounting device 6 vacuum-sucks the substrate 8 a mounted on the surface plate 10 and fixes it to the mounting surface 13.

Further, after the substrate 8a is processed, the mounting device 6 raises the push-up pins 12 to push up the substrate 8a while keeping it horizontal to form a gap between the substrate 8a and the mounting surface 13. To do.

The transfer robot 7 is arranged between the magazines 2 to 5 and the placing device 6, and the magazine placing section 9 is provided.
It is located approximately in the center. Furthermore, the transfer robot 7
Is equipped with two transfer arms 14 and 15 as substrate holding arms, both of which are plates.
The tip portions 16 and 17 (only one of which is shown) are expanded in a rectangular shape, for example.

Further, the transfer robot 7 has an up-and-down mechanism section 18, and the up-and-down mechanism 18 has transfer arms 14 and 15.
Are connected. Then, the transfer robot 7 vertically moves or rotates the movable body 18a of the up-and-down mechanism unit 18, and moves the transfer arms 14 and 15 in the Z direction and Θ as indicated by arrows in the figure.
Displace in the direction.

The transfer arms 14 and 15 are, for example, vertically arranged side by side and separately connected to the pneumatic actuators 19 and 20, respectively. The air actuators 19 and 20 are of a rodless type in which the magnet is linearly displaced by using air pressure, and the transfer arms 14 and 15 are linearly displaced as the air actuators 19 and 20 are driven. .. Further, the transport arms 14 and 15 are independently displaced without interfering with each other and reciprocate between the magazines 2 to 5 and the mounting device 6.

Further, the transfer arms 14 and 15 have air passages formed therein, and the tip ends 16 and 17 have suction holes communicating with the air passages. Further, an air hose is connected to the transfer arm on the base end side, for example.
Then, vacuum suction is performed through the air passages in the transfer arms 14 and 15.

The transfer arms 14 and 15 are taken out from the magazine on the discharge side of the substrates 8 ... In relation to the alignment of the substrate 8a placed on the surface plate 10 and various operations on the substrate 8a. , Storage in magazine on storage side, and substrate 8
Transport between the magazines 2 to 5 and the surface plate 10 is performed.

That is, for example, the transport arm 14 approaches the magazine 2 (or 3) on the discharge side, and the transport arm 14 inserts the plate-shaped tip portion 16 into the magazine 2. Then, the front end portion 16 enters the gap between the substrates 8 arranged in the magazine 2 and then rises, so that one substrate 8 is placed on the front end portion 16. At this time, the transfer arm 14 closes the suction holes with the substrate 8, and the substrate 8 is attached to the front end portion 16.
Is adsorbed on.

Further, the carrying arm 14 is pulled out to the outside of the magazine 2 while holding the substrate 8, and the carrying arm 14 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, the distal end portion 16 is moved while being directed toward the placement device 6. Then, the transfer arm 14 transfers the substrate 8 onto the surface plate 10 and lowers it so that the substrate 8 is placed on the push-up pins 12 that protrude from the mounting surface 13 of the surface plate 10.

After that, the transport arm 14 releases the substrate 8a on the mounting surface 13, and the tip portion 16 releases the substrate 8a and the mounting surface 1.
It is pulled out from the gap between 3 and. And push-up pin 1
2 ... descends, and the back surface of the substrate 8a is placed on the mounting surface 13 of the surface plate 10.
Touch. The substrate 8a placed on the surface plate 10 is shown in FIG.
The position is recognized by a board position recognition device (hereinafter referred to as a recognition device) 21 as shown in FIG.

That is, the recognition device 21 is arranged on the mounting device 6 and is provided with, for example, two CCD cameras 22 and 23. The recognizing device 21 has two XY tables 25 and 26 mounted on a support base 24 mounted on the mounting device 6, and a camera support arm connected to the XY tables 25 and 26. The CCD cameras 22 and 23 are attached to the tips of the frames 27 and 28. Furthermore, CCD camera 2
The directions of 2 and 23 are set downward.

The positions of the CCD cameras 22 and 23 are adjusted by the XY tables 24 and 25. And C
The CD cameras 22 and 23 are located above the substrate 8a, and the whole or a predetermined position of the substrate 8a is within its visual field. Further, the positions of the CCD cameras 22 and 23 are determined according to the type of the substrate 8a, for example.

Image processing is performed on the basis of the images captured by the CCD cameras 22 and 23 to find the displacement of the substrate.
Then, a command is output to the XYΘ table of the mounting device 6, and the substrate 8a is aligned.

The aligned substrate 8a is sent to the next work position as the carriage 11 is driven. And the substrate 8a
Reaches the offset printing machine body (not shown), and the substrate 8
A printing operation for forming a color filter is performed on a.

After various operations on the board 8a are completed, the carriage 11 is returned and the board 8a is lifted by the push-up pins 12 ..., and the transfer arm 14 (or 15) is transferred to the board 8a and the surface plate 10. The tip portion 16 (or 17) is inserted into the gap formed between and. Then, the transport arm 14 places the substrate 8a on the tip portion 16 and sucks it.
The back side of the substrate 8a is held by the transport arm 14.

Then, the transfer arm 14 moves toward the magazine 4 (or 5) on the storage side to insert the leading end 16 into the magazine 4 and insert the substrate 8a into the magazine 4. Then, the transport arm 14 slides the substrate 8a inward while engaging the side edge portion of the substrate 8a with the groove formed on the inner surface of the magazine 4, and the substrate 8a is stored in the magazine 4. .. After that, the transport arm 14 releases the substrate 8a and is ejected from the magazine 4 to the outside. Further, the movement control of the transport arm 14 (or 15) is performed by, for example, an operation panel (not shown) installed near the transport device 1.
Done through.

That is, an efficient transfer procedure and transfer route are considered based on the time required for various operations performed on the substrate 8a on the surface plate 10, the installation environment of the transfer device 1, and the like. Then, the ideal arrangement of the ejection-side magazine and the storage-side magazine is determined, and in accordance with this determination, an instruction is input to the operation panel.

Each of the magazines 2 to 5 is set to the discharge side or the storage side, and the transport arms 14 and 15 set the unprocessed substrates from the discharge side magazines 2 and 3 according to the settings of the magazines 2 to 5. The processed substrates are stored in the magazines 4 and 5 on the take-out and storage side.

When producing a color filter, three printing machine main bodies are arranged so as to correspond to RGB. Then, it is possible to set the magazines 2 to 5 according to the arrangement of the printer main body.

In the above description, the magazines 2 and 3 are set to the ejection side, and the remaining magazines 4 and 5 are set to the storage side. 4, 5 are set on the discharge side, and magazines 2, 3
May be set on the storage side.

Further, it is also possible to alternately arrange the ejecting side magazines and the accommodating side magazines, and set the ejecting side or the accommodating side by combining the magazines 2 and 4 and the magazines 3 and 5, for example. In addition, once the settings for magazines 2 to 5 have been completed, the magazine 2 should be adjusted according to changes in the installation environment.
It is also possible to reset ~ 5. When the number of magazines is 3 or less, or 5 or more, similarly, it is possible to arbitrarily set each magazine. Also,
After the substrates 8 ... Are ejected from the ejection side magazine, this magazine can be used as the accommodation side.

That is, in the transport device 1 as described above, the magazines 2 to 5 are provided on the discharge side and the storage side depending on the time required for various operations on the substrate 8a and the installation environment of the transport device 1. Is set. Therefore, the transport arm 1 is actually
It is possible to set magazines 2 to 5 after operating 4 and 15 and checking the efficient operation of the transport arms 14 and 15 in advance.

Further, when the environment around the carrier device 1 changes, the discharge side and the storage side can be easily changed, and the optimal arrangement of the magazines 2 to 5 according to the change of the installation environment. Can be selected. Therefore, the substrates 8 can be efficiently transported regardless of the usage status of the transport device 1.
The present invention can be variously modified without departing from the scope of the invention.

[0039]

As described above, according to the present invention, a plurality of substrate housing devices for housing substrates are provided, and a substrate holding arm that is displaceable discharges the substrate from the substrate housing device and to the substrate housing device. In a substrate transfer device that stores substrates, the settings of the discharge side and the storage side of each substrate storage device are arbitrarily changed. Therefore, the present invention has an effect that the substrate can be efficiently transported regardless of the usage status of the substrate transport apparatus.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an essential part of an embodiment of the present invention, in which (a)
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the transfer robot and its peripheral portion, and FIG. 7B is a perspective view of the substrate position recognition device and its peripheral portion.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Substrate transport device, 2-5 ... Magazine (substrate storage device), 8 ... Glass substrate (substrate), 14, 15 ... Transporter
Board (board holding arm).

Claims (1)

Claim: What is claimed is: 1. A plurality of substrate accommodating devices for accommodating a substrate are provided, wherein the substrate accommodating device discharges the substrate from the substrate accommodating device by a displaceable substrate holding arm, A substrate transfer device for storing the above-mentioned substrate, wherein the setting of the discharge side and the storage side of each substrate storage device is arbitrarily changed.