JPH0569377A - Work dislocation preventive mechanism in noncontact holding mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent dislocation of a work held contactlessly by retreating the work relative to a cassette when access is to be made, pressing a plurality of symmetrical points on the side face of the work held by a holding part, and furnishing a pressing mechanism having pawls for pressing. CONSTITUTION:A pressing mechanism 7 is moved by a robot hand 8, and a holding part 4 is placed on an MCC 1 accommodated in a cassette 2. When a center shaft 73 is sunk, a roller 77a moves outward along the tapered surface on a taper ring 74, and pressing pawls 78 at the tip of an actuator rod 77 retreat outward, and at the same time, the holding part 4 approaches the MCC 1. When the holding part sucks, the MCC is raised and held contactlessly. The center shaft rises with energization of a spring 75, and the holding part and MCC held thereby are turned in a condition as showed by the solid lines, and at the same time, the roller moves inward along the tapered surface, which causes the pressing pawls to press the side face of the MCC 4 to prevent generation of dislocation.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mechanism for preventing displacement of a work held by a non-contact holding mechanism.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The quality inspection of semiconductor parts and the like is carried out by a flow work, and the work of the parts is loaded / inspected on an inspection device.
Unloaded. For this purpose, it is necessary to chuck and convey the work. Generally, as a method of chucking a work, a mechanical mechanism or air suction is performed.

An example of a semiconductor component and its chucking / conveying method will be described with reference to FIG. (a) shows a recently developed semiconductor component 1 called a micro carrier chip (MCC), which has a square shape with a side length w of 10 mm and a thickness d of about 1 mm. (b) is MCC1
2 shows a cassette 2 for accommodating therein, and several dozen or several hundred dozen MCCs are arranged therein. The cassette has a height approximately equal to the thickness d of the MCC in order to separate each MCC,
A grid-like step 21 into which the MCC is fitted tightly is provided. In the inspection, MCCs are sequentially chucked one by one from a cassette, conveyed to an inspection device and loaded, and when the inspection is completed, they are unloaded and stored in another cassette. In this case, when removing or storing the MCC from the cassette (hereinafter referred to as access),
There is no problem in chucking the side surface by a mechanical mechanism, but this method is difficult because the step interferes. Therefore, a method in which air is adsorbed by the adsorber 3 as in (c) is general. However, since the MCC has a fine surface and is precisely processed, contamination and adsorption marks are strictly prohibited, and therefore the air adsorption method is not permitted. On the other hand, a non-contact type chucking method which is effective for this is, for example, Japanese Patent Publication
Published by No. -40343.

FIG. 4 shows the basic construction of the non-contact type work holding mechanism. In (a), the work holding portion (hereinafter simply referred to as the holding portion) 4 has a center hole 41 at its center.
And an annular suction groove 42 is provided in the bottom portion thereof, and a suction hole 43 is connected to this. Air A ₀ is supplied from the air supply unit 5 to the center hole and is jetted from the bottom surface 44, and the jetted air is sucked into the suction groove and is sucked from the suction hole to the air suction unit 6.
Return to. Now, if there is a flat work 1 close to the bottom surface 44, a negative pressure according to Bernoulli's principle is generated in the laminar flow of air flowing through the gap between the bottom surface and the work 1. On the other hand, since the work is heavy, the work is held in a non-contact position at a position where this and the suction force due to the negative pressure are balanced. If the workpieces are too far apart, the suction force will increase, and if they are too close together, the suction force will decrease, and as shown in Figure (b), the gap G is always constant with respect to the bottom surface.
Held in. If the supply of the air A _{0 to} the central hole is stopped, the suction force becomes 0 and the work is released. If the above MCC is chucked by such a non-contact work holding mechanism, the problems of contamination and contact marks on the surface are solved.

[0005]

In the non-contact holding method described above, a suction force in the direction perpendicular to the work surface is generated, but a deterrent force in the horizontal direction does not occur at all in principle. The work is unstable with respect to the horizontal direction and is likely to be displaced, so that stable conveyance cannot be performed. FIG. 5 shows a case where the non-contact work holding mechanism is applied to the MCC described above. The MCC 1 held by the holding unit 4 in the state of FIG. When the inspection is completed and the cassette 2 is stored in the cassette 2 due to the positional deviation δ, the MCC comes into contact with one of the steps 21 and is inclined, so that the storage is not stable. Therefore,
There is a demand for a mechanism that prevents such misalignment. However, when the MCC accesses the cassette, a mechanism having a structure that does not touch the step of the cassette is required. The present invention has been made in view of the above, and is provided with a mechanism for adding a non-contact holding mechanism, retracting when a work is accessed to the cassette, and preventing the occurrence of positional deviation in the non-contact held work. The purpose is to provide.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a work position deviation prevention mechanism in a non-contact holding mechanism having a holding portion for holding a work in a non-contact manner by accessing the work to a cassette. A pressing mechanism is provided which has a plurality of pressing claws for retracting at the time of access and pressing a plurality of symmetrical points on the side surface of the work held by the holding portion to prevent positional deviation of the work. .. The above-mentioned pressing mechanism penetrates two upper and lower fixtures fixed to the frame, is urged upward by a spring, has a holding part attached to the lower end, and has a taper ring having a tapered surface fixed to the central part. A central axis and an air cylinder fixed to the frame for lowering the central axis. On the other hand, the upper end is pivotally supported by the upper fixture, the center has a roller that comes into contact with the tapered surface of the taper ring, and the lower end has the above-mentioned pressing claw, and is biased inward by a spring. A plurality of actuating rods are provided.

[0007]

In the above-mentioned position deviation preventing mechanism, when the work is accessed to the cassette, the pressing claw of the pressing mechanism retracts and does not touch the step of the cassette, so that the work is stably accessed. Since the pressing claw presses a plurality of symmetrical points on the side surface of the work held by the holding portion, the work can be stably transported without being displaced, and can be stably stored in the cassette. The operation of each part of the pressing mechanism is that when the work of the cassette is taken out, the air cylinder is driven to move down the central axis, and the operation of the roller in contact with the tapered surface of the taper ring causes the plurality of actuating rods to move outward. When the opening is opened and the pressing claw is retracted, and air is supplied to the holding portion in this state, the work is sucked and held without contact. Here, when the driving of the air cylinder is stopped, the central axis is raised by the urging force of the spring and the work is raised together with the holding portion. At the same time, the operating rods are closed inward, and the pressing claws press the side surfaces of the workpiece. Further, when the work is stored in the cassette, the operation is reverse to the above.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is an overall vertical sectional view showing an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an MCC. 2 (a) is a detailed explanatory view of the structure of the pressing claw, and (b) and (c) are A- of FIG. 1, respectively.
It is A, BB sectional drawing. 1, 2 (b) and 2 (c), the pressing mechanism 7 includes a frame 71 and two upper and lower fixtures 72a,
72b is fixed, and the central shaft 73 is penetrated and 72b is supported so as to be vertically movable. The holding portion 4 of the non-contact holding mechanism is attached to the lower end of the central shaft, a taper ring 74 having a tapered surface is fixed to the central portion thereof, and the central shaft is biased upward by a spring 75. Further, an air cylinder 76 is provided at the upper end of the frame to lower the central axis. Upper fixture
Four actuating rods 77 are axially supported by 72a, a roller 77a corresponding to the taper surface of the taper ring 74 is provided at the center of each actuating rod, and a pressing claw corresponding to the four sides of the MCC1 is provided at the lower end.
78 are attached, and springs 79 are provided to urge each operating rod inward to bring each roller into contact with the tapered surface. The frame 71 of the pressing mechanism 7 is connected to the robot hand 8 of the transport mechanism, and the holding unit 4 moves between predetermined positions.

The operation of the pressing mechanism 7 will be described below. In FIG. 1, the pressing mechanism 7 is operated by the robot hand 8.
Is moved, and the holding unit 4 is placed on the upper part of one of the MCCs 1 housed in the cassette 2. When air is supplied to the air cylinder 76 and the central shaft 73 is lowered, the roller 77a moves outward along the taper surface of the taper ring 74 and the operating rod 77a.
The pressing claw 78 at the tip of the holder retracts outward, and the bottom surface 44 of the holding portion approaches the MCC to a predetermined position indicated by a dotted line. Here, when the holding part performs the suction operation, the MCC slightly rises and is held in a non-contact manner. Then, when the air supply to the air cylinder is stopped, the central axis rises due to the urging force of the spring 75, and the holding portion and the MCC held by this both become the state shown by the solid line, and at the same time, the roller moves inward along the tapered surface. By moving to the
The four side faces of the CC are pressed to prevent the occurrence of positional deviation.
The MCC is transported to a predetermined position by the robot hand 8 in a pressed state, and when the inspection is completed, it is transported to a position of another cassette and stored in the reverse operation. Since the MCC is not displaced during storage, it can be stored stably. In addition, in addition, in the above description, since the MCC whose four side surfaces are pressed by the pressing claw is stably held, the suction operation of the holding portion may be stopped in this state. That is, the non-contact holding may be operated only when the MCC accesses the cassette. Figure 2
(a) shows a state where the pressing claw 78 presses the side surface of the MCC 1, and in this case, the pressing claw 78 is attached to the edge 1 a of each side surface of the MCC.
Since there is a risk that the contacted part will be damaged if is touched, the pressing claw may be provided with a tip portion 78a having a width narrower than the side surface of the MCC, and the position thereof may be set so as to avoid the edge and press the central portion. is necessary. It should be noted that although a rectangular MCC is used as the work in the above embodiment,
It is obvious that the present invention can be applied not only to C but also to various works having the same shape or other shapes such as a circle.

[0010]

As described above, in the work lateral displacement prevention mechanism according to the present invention, the pressing mechanism added to the non-contact holding mechanism causes the pressing claw to retract when accessing the work to the cassette. Since it does not interfere with the step of the cassette and does not hinder access, the pressing claw presses the side surface of the work held by the holding part to prevent misalignment, so that the work is stably transported. Therefore, there is a great effect in that the cassette can be stably stored.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall vertical sectional view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 (a) is a detailed explanatory view of the structure of the pressing claw,
1B and 1C are cross-sectional views taken along lines AA and BB of FIG. 1, respectively.

FIG. 3 (a) is a micro carrier chip (MC
3C is an external view and a dimensional drawing, FIG. 3B is a view showing a cassette and an MCC housed in the cassette, and FIG.

FIG. 4 shows a non-contact type work holding mechanism (non-contact holding mechanism), (a) shows a basic configuration diagram, and (b) shows a work holding unit that holds a work in a non-contact manner.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a work position shift in the non-contact holding mechanism.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Work or MCC, 1a ... Side edge of MCC, 2 ... Cassette, 21 ... Step, 3 ... Adsorber, 4 ... Holding part, 41 ... Center hole, 42 ... Suction groove, 43 ... Suction hole, 44
... Bottom surface, 5 ... Air supply section, 6 ... Air suction section, 7 ... Pressing mechanism, 71 ... Frame, 72a, 72b ... Fixing tool, 73 ...
Central axis, 74 ... taper ring, 75 ... spring, 76 ... air cylinder, 77 ... actuating rod, 77a ... roller, 78 ... pressing claw, 79 ... spring, 8 ... robot hand.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A work is accessed to a cassette,
In a non-contact holding mechanism having a holding portion for holding the work in a non-contact manner by air, the work is retracted at the time of access, and a plurality of symmetrical points on its side surface are pressed against the work held by the holding portion, A pressing mechanism having a plurality of pressing claws for preventing the position shift of the work is provided.
Work position deviation prevention mechanism of non-contact holding mechanism. 2. The upper and lower fixtures fixed to the frame are pierced and are urged upward by a spring, the holding portion is attached to the lower end, and a taper ring having a tapered surface is fixed to the central portion. A central axis and an air cylinder fixed to the frame to lower the central axis, the upper end of which is axially supported by the upper fixture, and the center of which is in contact with the tapered surface of the taper ring. ,
2. The work position deviation prevention mechanism for a non-contact holding mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the work position deviation prevention mechanism is configured by providing a plurality of actuating rods each having the pressing claw at a lower end and being biased inward by a spring.