JPH05326676A - Clamping mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a clamping mechanism which can always clamp by the same force even if the size of a wafer is larger or smaller in an improvement of the mechanism to be used to clamp a wafer of various sizes. CONSTITUTION:The clamping mechanism comprises a guide rod 3 provided between blocks provided on a board 1, a slide block 5 engaged with the rod 3 and slidable along the rod 3 by a compression spring 4, and an air cylinder 6 provided on the board 1 to slide the block 5 along the rod 3 against the spring 4. Further, the mechanism comprises a rotary block 8 coupled to the block 5 via a pin 7, a clamper 9 provided at one end of the block 8 to clamp a wafer 12, and a stop rail 11 having a connection part 11a to be connected with a connection part 8a of the block 8.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to improvements in a clamping mechanism used for clamping wafers of various sizes.

When a wafer of various sizes is clamped by a conventional single clamping mechanism, a large size wafer has a large clamping force and an excessive force is applied to the wafer, and a small size wafer. Has a problem that the clamping force becomes small and the clamp becomes unstable.

Under the circumstances as described above, there is a demand for a clamp mechanism that can always clamp with a constant force regardless of the size of the wafer.

[0004]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional clamp mechanism will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a conventional clamp mechanism.

As shown in FIG.
Blocks 22 that support the guide rods 23 and air cylinders 26 are provided in three directions at intervals of °, and a block 27 that similarly supports the guide rods 28 on the upper surface of the substrate 21 and the wafer 12 are also provided.
Is provided with a support portion 21a.

The slide block 25 fitted to the guide rod 23 and the guide rod 28 can be moved along the guide rod 23 and the guide rod 28 by the compression spring 24 mounted on the guide rod 23. The rod 26a of the air cylinder 26, which is provided on the lower surface of the substrate 21 at 120 ° intervals, is the compression spring.
It is possible to move the slide block 25 against 24.

In order to clamp the wafer 12 with such a clamping mechanism, first the wafer 12 is placed on the surface of the support portion 21a, and the rod 26a of the air cylinder 26 is retracted into the air cylinder 26 as shown in the figure. Then, the slide block 25 can be moved in the central direction along the guide rod 23 and the guide rod 28 by the compression spring 24, and the wafer 12 can be clamped at the tip portion 25a.

[0008]

In the conventional clamping mechanism described above, the wafer is clamped at the tip of the slide block only by the compressive force of the compression spring. Since the compressive force of the wafer becomes large, the clamping force becomes large and an excessive force is applied to the wafer, and when the wafer is small, the compressing force of the compression spring becomes small, so the clamping force becomes small and the clamping becomes unstable. There was a problem that became.

In view of the above situation, the present invention has an object to provide a clamp mechanism capable of always clamping with the same force regardless of whether the wafer is large or small.

[0010]

The clamp mechanism of the present invention is fitted with a guide rod provided between blocks provided on a substrate and is slidable along the guide rod by a compression spring. A slide block, an air cylinder provided on the base plate for sliding the slide block along the guide rod against the compression spring, a rotary block connected to the slide block by a pin, and a rotary block of the rotary block. A clamper for clamping a wafer, which is provided at one end, and a stop rail having a locking portion that engages with the locking portion of the rotating block are provided.

[0011]

That is, in the present invention, as shown in FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b), the block 2 supporting both ends of the two guide rods 3 is provided.
Is provided on the substrate 1, a slide block 5 slidable along the guide rod 3 by a compression spring 4 is fitted to the two guide rods 3, and the slide block 5 is moved by an air cylinder 6 provided on the substrate 1. The rotary block 8 is slid outwardly along the guide rod 3 against the compression spring 4, the rotary block 8 is connected to the slide block 5 by the pin 7, and the clamper 9 for clamping the wafer 12 is attached to one end of the rotary block 8. V-shaped locking part 11a
Since the stop rail 11 provided with is provided in parallel with the substrate 1, as shown in FIG.
When 6a is retracted into the air cylinder 6, the slide block 5 moves toward the center along the guide rod 3 by the compression spring 4 and the clamper 9 comes into contact with the periphery of the wafer 12.

When the rod 6a of the air cylinder 6 is further retracted into the air cylinder 6, the compression spring 4 causes the slide block 5 to move further toward the center.
Is hitting the periphery of the wafer 12, the rotating block 8 rotates about the pin 7 as shown in FIG. 2 (b),
The locking portion 8a of the rotating block 8 moves upward and engages with the locking portion 11a of the stop rail 11.

From the time when the clamper 9 comes into contact with the periphery of the wafer 12 to the time when the locking portion 8a and the locking portion 11a are locked, the clamper 9 flexes to clamp the wafer 12. The clamping force of the clamper 9 has a constant value generated by the bending of the clamper 9 regardless of the size of the diameter of the wafer 12, so that the wafer 12 can always be clamped with a constant clamping force.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A clamp mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 is a diagram (1) showing the operation of the clamp mechanism according to one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram (2) showing the operation of the clamp mechanism according to one embodiment of the present invention. Figure 1 (a) and
As shown in (b), a block 2 supporting both ends of two guide rods 3 and an air cylinder 6 are provided in three directions at 120 ° intervals on the lower surface of the substrate 1, and a V-shaped upper surface is provided on the upper surface. A stop rail 11 having a locking portion 11a is provided in parallel with the substrate 1, and a support portion 1a for mounting a wafer 12 is provided on the top surface of the stop rail 11.

The slide block 5 is fitted to the two guide rods 3 and can be slid along the guide rods 3 by the compression spring 4. The slide block 5 is slid outward along the guide rod 3 against the compression spring 4 by the rod 6a of the air cylinder 6.

The rotary block 8 is connected to the slide block 5 via a pin 7, and a clamper 9 for clamping a wafer 12 is provided at one end of the rotary block 8. The rotary block 8 has a compression spring 10. Therefore, it is always held as shown in Fig. 1 (a).

As shown in FIG. 1 (a), the wafer 12 is supported by a supporting portion.
Place it on top of 1a, and as shown in Fig. 2 (a), air cylinder 6
When the rod 6a is retracted into the air cylinder 6, the compression spring 4 moves the slide block 5 along the guide rod 3 toward the center, and the clamper 9 comes into contact with the periphery of the wafer 12.

When the rod 6a of the air cylinder 6 is further retracted into the air cylinder 6, the compression spring 4 causes the slide block 5 to move further toward the center.
Is hitting the periphery of the wafer 12, the rotating block 8 rotates about the pin 7 as shown in FIG. 2 (b),
The locking portion 8a of the rotating block 8 moves upward and engages with the locking portion 11a of the stop rail 11.

From the time when the clamper 9 comes into contact with the periphery of the wafer 12 to the time when the locking portion 8a and the locking portion 11a are locked, the clamper 9 flexes to clamp the wafer 12. The clamping force of the clamper 9 has a constant value generated by the bending of the clamper 9 regardless of the size of the diameter of the wafer 12, so that the wafer 12 can always be clamped with a constant clamping force.

Since the wafer 12 is clamped by the clamping force generated by the bending of the clamper 9 as described above, the wafer 12 is not contaminated as a material for the clamper 9, and the clamping force does not apply an excessive force to the wafer 12, so that the spring 12 It is possible to use stainless steel or plastic having properties.

[0022]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, there is an advantage that the clamping force can be always clamped with the same force regardless of the size of the wafer by changing the structure of the clamping mechanism. It is possible to provide a clamp mechanism that can be expected to be economical and to improve reliability.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram (1) for explaining the operation of a clamp mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a diagram (2) for explaining the operation of the clamp mechanism of the embodiment according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a conventional clamp mechanism,

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 is a substrate, 1a is a support portion, 2 is a block, 3 is a guide rod, 4 is a compression spring, 5 is a slide block, 6 is an air cylinder, 6a is a rod, 7 is a pin, 8 is a rotation block, and 8a is a lock. Part, 9 is a clamper, 10 is a compression spring, 11 is a stop rail, 11a is a locking part, 12 is a wafer,

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A slide means (6) for sliding a slide block (5), the slide block (5), a rotary block (8) rotatably coupled by a pin (7), and the rotary block. A clamper (9) provided at one end of the (8) for clamping the wafer (12) and a locking portion (8a) provided at the other end of the rotation block (8).
And a locking portion (11) that engages with the locking portion (8a) during the clamping.
A clamp mechanism comprising: a stop rail (11) provided with a);