JPH0566592U - Coarse / fine movement device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] A single guide member can perform coarse and fine movements and has a compact structure. [Structure] A pair of linear guides 1 provided on a base 10.
A first stage 18 and a second stage 17 are slidably attached to the second stage 2. The first stage 18 and the second stage 17 are linearly guided by the rotation of the ball screw 24 attached to the rotary shaft of the drive motor 26.
It is possible to move above 2. In addition, the piezoelectric element 20 that is expandable and contractable by applying a voltage is disposed between the first stage 18 and the second stage 17. further,
A pair of coil springs 28 for stabilizing the position of the piezoelectric element 20 is connected between the first stage 18 and the second stage 17. Then, the moving object 9 placed on the second stage 17 can be moved by two methods, that is, the movement accompanied by the rotation of the ball screw 24 and the movement accompanied by the expansion and contraction of the piezoelectric element 20.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to a moving device which is used in a tunnel microscope, an atomic force microscope, etc. and is generally called an XY stage. In particular, the present invention relates to a coarse / fine movement device in which the stage feed can be adjusted by coarse and fine movement.

[0002]

[Prior Art]

 In recent years, devices such as tunnel microscopes and atomic force microscopes for measuring minute surfaces have been developed. These devices scan the surface of the object to be measured in a minute range of several tens of μm square to several nm square and measure the surface shape with extremely high accuracy. In these devices, a moving device that can move the object to be measured two-dimensionally in a plane including the surface is required. The moving device is equipped with a coarse feed mechanism for moving the object to be measured to a desired position quickly and a fine feed mechanism for scanning the object in a minute range during measurement. is necessary.

A mobile device that has been conventionally used in this type of device is shown in FIGS. 2, 3, and 4. Fig. 2 shows a conventional coarse and fine movement device. FIG. 3 shows the coarse-movement device portion of the coarse-fine movement device shown in FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 shows the fine-movement device portion of the coarse-fine movement device shown in FIG.

The operating principle of the coarse movement device will be described with reference to FIG. On the coarse movement base 21, a pair of linear guides 12 arranged in parallel to each other are fixed. On the linear guide 12, a linear moving element 14 which is slidable on the linear guide 12 in the direction of the arrow X in the drawing is arranged. As such a linear guide mechanism, for example, a dovetail groove, a V groove, a linear ball bearing, a linear cross roller guide, or the like is adopted. A coarse movement stage 16 is fixed on the linear moving element 14. That is, the coarse movement stage 16 can move on the linear guide 12 in the arrow X direction or the counter arrow X direction via the linear moving element 14.

A ball screw 24 is rotatably mounted on the coarse movement base 21 by inserting a flange 25 and a coarse movement stage 16 which are provided upright at both ends of the coarse movement base 21. A drive motor 26 is connected to the outside of the flange 25 at one end of the ball screw 24 so that the ball screw 24 is rotatable, and the ball screw 24 is rotatably attached to the flange 25 at the other end. There is. A ball screw nut 22 fixed to the coarse movement stage 16 is attached to the ball screw 24.

The coarse movement stage 16 drives the drive motor 26 to rotate the ball screw 24, so that the ball screw nut 22 attached to the coarse movement stage 16 causes the arrow X on the linear guide 12. Can be moved in the direction. Instead of driving the drive motor 26, an operator may directly rotate the ball screw 24 by hand. Further, by reversing the rotation direction of the ball screw 24, the movement direction of the coarse movement stage 16 can be set to the opposite arrow X direction.

Next, the operating principle of the fine movement device will be described with reference to FIG.

As shown in FIG. 4A, the fine movement base 30 is joined to the fine movement stage 32 by links 36 and 38. The fine movement base 30 and the fine movement stage 32 are connected to the links 36 and 38 by a notch 31 having a width of several hundreds of μm. A piezoelectric element 34, which is expandable and contractible in the direction of the arrow when a voltage is applied, is connected between the arm portion which is vertically provided with the fine movement base 30 and the link 36 by the notch portion 31 as described above. Has been done. Each notch 31 is a fulcrum of rotation, and each constituent element of this fine movement device rotates about the notch 31 as the piezoelectric element 34 expands and contracts, thus forming a parallelogram shape as a whole. Deform while keeping. For example, when a voltage is applied to the piezoelectric element 34, its entire length is extended, and the fine movement stage 32 moves leftward with respect to the fine movement base 30 as shown in FIG.

Then, as shown in FIG. 2, when the fine movement base 30 of the fine movement device is fixed on the coarse movement stage 16 of the coarse movement device, the fine movement stage 31 is driven by driving the coarse movement device or the fine movement device. It becomes possible to roughly or finely move the moved object 9 placed on it in the arrow X direction or the anti-arrow X direction.

[0010]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 However, in the conventional coarse / fine movement apparatus as described above, the coarse movement stage and the fine movement stage are independent, and since they are used in combination vertically, the height of the entire apparatus becomes high, and as a result, the apparatus The center of gravity was high. Therefore, when used for ultra-precision measurement, it has the drawback of being easily affected by external vibration.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and provides a coarse / fine adjustment device that can perform coarse and fine movements with a single guide member and has a compact structure. The purpose is to provide.

[0012]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 In order to achieve this object, the coarse and fine movement device of the present invention comprises a base having a guide member, a first stage and a second stage arranged to be movable on the guide member, and the first and second stages. Coarse movement means for moving the stage according to the guide member, and fine movement means connected to the first stage for moving the second stage according to the guide member.

[0013]

[Action]

 In the coarse / fine movement device of the present invention having the above-described structure, the first stage is moved by the coarse movement means according to the guide member. The second stage is moved by the guide member as the first stage is moved by the coarse movement means, and is also moved by the fine movement means by the guide member.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment embodying the coarse and fine movement device of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, the same members as those of the conventional device shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 are designated by the same reference numerals.

As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, a pair of linear guides 12 provided in parallel with each other are fixed on the base 10. The linear guide 12 is provided with a plurality of linear moving elements 14 which can slide on the linear guide 12 in the direction of arrow X in the figure. A first stage 18 and a second stage 17 are fixed on the linear moving element 14. That is, the first stage 18 and the second stage 17 can move on the linear guide 12 in the arrow X direction via the linear moving element 14.

On the base 10, ball screws 24 are rotatably attached to flanges 25 provided upright at both ends of the base 10. A drive motor 26 is attached to the outer surface of one of the flanges 25, and the rotary shaft of the drive motor 26 is inserted through the flange 25 and connected to the end of the ball screw 24. .. A ball screw nut 22 fixed to the first stage 18 is attached to the ball screw 24. Further, between the first stage 18 and the second stage 17, a piezoelectric element 20 capable of expanding and contracting in the arrow direction by applying a voltage is sandwiched between the first stage 18 and the second stage 17. Are arranged. Further, a pair of coil springs 28 for stabilizing the position of the piezoelectric element 20 is connected between the first stage 18 and the second stage 17. The spring force of the coil spring 28 is set to be smaller than the driving force of the piezoelectric element 20.

Next, the operation of the coarse and fine movement device configured as described above will be described.

The moving object 9 is placed on the second stage 17, and the drive motor 26 is rotationally driven. Then, the ball screw 24 rotates, and along with the rotation, the first stage 18 moves on the linear guide 12 in the arrow X direction via the linear moving element 14. At this time, since the second stage 17 is connected to the first stage 18 by the coil spring 28, the second stage 17 follows the movement of the first stage 18 and moves on the linear guide 12. When the drive motor 26 is rotationally driven in the opposite direction, the first stage 18 moves on the linear guide 12 in the direction opposite to the arrow X. When the drive motor 26 is driven, the first stage 18 and the second stage 17 can be moved on the linear guide 12 with a relatively long stroke and at a high moving speed.

When the position of the moved object 9 placed on the second stage 17 moved by the drive of the drive motor 26 is adjusted accurately, the drive motor 26 is stopped and the first The stage 18 is stopped and a voltage is applied to the piezoelectric element 20 by a voltage applying means (not shown). Generally, the piezoelectric element 20 can adjust the expansion / contraction amount every several nm to several tens of μm according to the applied voltage, and therefore the second stage 17 can be moved with high accuracy in accordance with the expansion / contraction amount. In this embodiment, when the voltage applied to the piezoelectric element 20 is increased, the second stage 17 moves in the direction of the arrow X on the linear guide 12 via the linear moving element 14, and when the voltage is decreased, the second stage 17 is moved on the linear guide 12. Move in the X direction.

As described above, according to the coarse / fine movement device of the present invention, the same linear guide 12 is used for the moving object 9 on the second moving stage 17 by two methods of coarse movement and fine movement. It is possible to move the upper part with high accuracy.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the drawings, the present invention can be implemented in other modes.

For example, although the linear guide 12 is used as the guide member in the above embodiment, the proposed member does not have to be a straight line, and a three-dimensional guide member surface including a curved line may be used.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the method of rotating the ball screw 24 by the drive motor 26 is used as the coarse movement means, but it may be driven by another feed screw including a trapezoidal screw, a rack pinion or a linear. A driving method of a motor or the like may be used.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the coil spring 28 generates a tensile force between the second stage 17 and the first stage 18, but the second stage 17 and the base 10 are connected to each other and pulled. You may generate force. If the piezoelectric element 20 has sufficient resistance to a tensile load, the coil spring 28 can be omitted by fixing both ends of the piezoelectric element 20 to the second stage 17 and the first stage 18. ..

Further, the above-described embodiments may be combined in the vertical direction to be used as a so-called XY stage, or may be used in a combination of three or more XYZ axes or multiple axes.

[0026]

[Effect of the device]

 As is clear from the above description, according to the coarse / fine movement device of the present invention, it is possible to perform the coarse movement and the fine movement by using the same internal member, and it is possible to downsize the entire device. It also has the effect of preventing the center of gravity of the device from becoming high, and being less susceptible to external vibrations.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 (a) is a top view schematically showing an embodiment of a coarse / fine movement device embodying the present invention. FIG. 1 (b) is a front view showing the outline of an embodiment of a coarse / fine movement device embodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 (a) is a top view showing the outline of a conventional coarse / fine adjustment device. FIG. 2B is a front view showing the outline of a conventional coarse and fine movement device.

3 (a) is a top view showing an outline of a coarse movement device portion of the coarse / fine movement device shown in FIG. 2. FIG. FIG. 3B is a front view showing the outline of the coarse movement device portion of the coarse and fine movement device shown in FIG. 2.

4 (a) is a top view showing the outline of a fine movement device portion of the coarse / fine movement device shown in FIG. 2. FIG. FIG. 4B is a front view showing the outline of the fine movement device portion of the coarse and fine movement device shown in FIG. 2.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 base 12 linear guide 14 linear mover 17 second stage 18 first stage 20 piezoelectric element 21 coarse movement base 24 ball screw 26 drive motor 28 coil spring

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A base having a guide member, a first stage and a second stage arranged so as to be movable on the guide member, and a coarse member for moving the first stage according to the guide member. A coarse / fine movement device comprising: a moving unit; and a fine moving unit that is connected to the first stage and moves the second stage according to the guide member.