JPH058849A - Article conveying device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To cause the direction of an article at a rear end to vary at a front end simultaneously with conveyance of the article from the rear end to the front end by providing the given number of wheels around which an endless belt having a rack to the end of which is pivotally mounted thereon through a vertical pin is run. CONSTITUTION:When a horizontal rotary table 8 is moved to a rear end, an article is transferred to the horizontal rotary table 8 by means of a robot. In a state that the horizontal rotary table 8 is moved to a rear end, an endless belt 12 part to which a vertical pin 11 is located is located on the right side. When an article is placed on the horizontal rotary table 8 and an endless belt 12 is driven in the direction of an arrow mark A, a rack 10 and in turn the horizontal rotary table 8 having no play in a longitudinal direction is slid forward. An endless belt 12 part to which the vertical pin 11 is located is separated away from a right wheel 13 at the front end. When the endless belt is brought into a state to move completely in a lateral direction, the forward movement of the horizontal rotary table 8 is stopped. After the article on the horizontal rotary table 8 is carried out, the endless belt 12 is reversed and the horizontal rotary table 8 is returned to a rear end.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an article carrying apparatus which is preferably used when carrying a carrier containing a large number of semiconductor wafers in a clean warehouse.

[0002]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an article conveying apparatus capable of conveying an article from a rear end to a front end and at the same time changing the orientation of the article at the rear end at the front end.

[0003]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below based on the embodiments shown in the drawings. In this specification, the front means the right side of FIG. 1, the rear means the left side of FIG. 1, the left means the upper side of FIG. 1, and the right means the lower side of FIG. A base frame 2 having a planar rectangular shape that is long in the front-rear direction is hollow, and is positioned in the base frame 2 so that a guide rail 3 whose longitudinal direction is in the front-rear direction is provided on the bottom wall of the base frame 2. A slider 4 having a hollow portion is provided on the guide rail 3 so as to be slidable forward and backward, and a vertical rotation shaft 6 is rotatably provided on the slider 4, and the upper end of the vertical rotation shaft 6 has a slider 4 It is exposed to the upper part of the base frame 2 through a slit 7 formed in the top wall of the base frame 2 and extending in the front-rear direction. A horizontal rotary table 8 is fixed to the upper end of the vertical rotary shaft 6.
Further, a pinion 9 is fixed to the vertical rotation shaft 6, and a rack 10 meshing with the pinion 9 is provided on the slider 4 so as to be horizontally slidable with its longitudinal direction oriented in the left-right direction. The rack 10 penetrates the slider 4 in the left-right direction.

The right end of the rack 10 is pivotally attached to an endless belt 12 made of a chain or the like via a vertical pin 11.
Four wheels 13 are rotatably provided on the base frame 2 such that the endless belt 12 has its axis oriented vertically.
Have been hung over. It should be noted that one of the wheels 13 is rotated by a motor (not shown) that is rotatable in forward and reverse directions. The rack 10, the endless belt 12, and the wheel 13 are vertically displaced so as not to collide and buffer, and the slider 4 is shaped so as not to collide and buffer with the endless belt 12 at the front and rear ends.

[0005]

Next, the operation of the apparatus of the embodiment will be described. When the horizontal rotary table 8 reaches the rear end, an article (for example, a carrier containing a large number of semiconductor wafers) is transferred to the horizontal rotary table 8 by a robot or the like. When the horizontal turntable 8 reaches the rear end, the endless band 12 provided with the vertical pin 11 is on the right side. When an article is placed on the horizontal rotary table 8, the endless belt 12 is driven in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 1, and as a result, the rack 10 and thus the slider 4 (horizontal rotary table 8) having no play in the front-rear direction are moved forward. It can be slid.

Then, as shown in FIG. 4, the vertical pin 11
When the portion of the endless belt 12 provided with is separated from the wheel 13 on the right side of the front end and completely moved in the left-right direction, the forward movement of the horizontal rotary table 8 is stopped. On the other hand, when the portion of the endless belt 12 provided with the vertical pin 11 moves to a position where it is hooked on the wheel 13 on the front right side, thereafter, the vertical pin 11 gradually moves to the left as the endless belt 12 is driven. Therefore, the rack 10 moves to the left with respect to the slider 4, and as a result, the pinion 9
The (horizontal turntable 8) is horizontally turned. Then, when the horizontal rotary table 8 reaches a position where it is horizontally rotated by 90 degrees, for example, the driving of the endless belt 12 is stopped. The stop timing of driving the endless belt 12 is determined in consideration of the size of the wheel 13 and the size of the pinion 9 with reference to the rotation angle of the horizontal turntable 8.

After the articles on the horizontal rotary table 8 are unloaded, the endless belt 12 is driven in reverse, and the horizontal rotary table 8 returns to the rear end.

[0008]

The present invention has the following effects due to the above-mentioned configuration. A base frame, a slider that slides along a guide rail provided on the base frame, a horizontal rotary base that is rotatably provided on the slider and that is fixed to a vertical rotary shaft, and is not fitted to the vertical rotary shaft. Pinion, a rack that engages with the pinion and is horizontally slidably mounted on the slider so that the longitudinal direction is orthogonal to the guide rail, and an endless band in which the end of the rack is pivotally mounted via a vertical pin. And, since it has a required number of wheels rotatably provided on a base frame around which this endless belt is laid, the article is conveyed from the rear end to the front end, and at the same time, the orientation of the article at the rear end is set at the front end. Can be changed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially crushed plan view of an embodiment of the present invention with intermediate omission.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a horizontal cross-sectional view of essential parts showing a state when the slider reaches the front end.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Base frame 3 Guide rail 4 Slider 6 Vertical rotating shaft 8 Horizontal rotating table 9 Pinion 10 Rack 11 Vertical pin 12 Endless band 13 Wheel

[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] June 23, 1992

[Procedure Amendment 1]

[Document name to be corrected] Drawing

[Correction target item name] All drawings

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[Figure 1]

[Fig. 2]

[Figure 3]

[Figure 4]

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification code Office reference number FI technical display location // B65G 47/52 101 B 8010-3F

Claims (1)

Claim: What is claimed is: 1. A base frame, a slider that slides along a guide rail provided on the base frame, and a horizontal fixed to a vertical rotation shaft that is rotatably provided on the slider. A rotary base, a pinion fixed to the vertical rotation shaft, a rack meshed with the pinion, which is slidably mounted on a slider so that the longitudinal direction thereof is orthogonal to the guide rail, and the end of the rack is An article conveying apparatus having an endless belt pivotally attached via a vertical pin and a required number of wheels rotatably provided on a base frame around which the endless belt is stretched.