JPH0622411A - Method and system for magnetic levitation transfer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To realize a magnetic levitation transfer system and battery charging method therefor in which battery charge for carriage is performed while levitating the carriage thereby production of dust is suppressed at the time of charging operation. CONSTITUTION:The magnetic levitation transfer system comprising a carriage 11 having a levitation electromagnet 12 and a magnetic rail 10 for guiding the carriage 11 is further provided with a battery 13 for exciting the levitation electromagnet, an external terminal 15 for battery charge, and a magnetic member 14 for levitation charging on the carriage 11 side. A coil section 18 for attracting the magnetic member 14 mounted on the carriage 11 to levitate the carriage 11, a gap sensor 17 for detecting levitation amount of the carriage 11, a section for controlling the levitation amount of the carriage 11, and a battery charging terminal 19 are disposed at a carriage stop position on the ground side.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a magnetic levitation transfer apparatus and method.

In the current semiconductor industry, as the design of semiconductor devices is becoming more and more miniaturized with the increase in scale and capacity of semiconductor devices, dust generation in the device manufacturing process hinders wiring and the like. , Has become a big problem. For this reason, factory automation (FA conversion) and dust countermeasures for each device are taken to address these problems. In particular, in high-frequency equipment transportation for transporting wafers, masks and the like between device manufacturing apparatuses, high-speed, highly reliable and clean transportation is required.

Therefore, at present, there are provided a linear motor capable of non-contact power transmission to a drive unit, and a magnetic levitation transfer device suitable for most semiconductors having no rail surface and sliding portion. In order to perform flexible transportation in recent years, this magnetic levitation transportation device is equipped with a battery on a transportation trolley itself, and performs internal control and excitation of a levitation electromagnet by its power source.

Naturally, the battery consumes electric power for levitation control and the like, and when the capacity becomes less than a certain value, the exciting current of the levitation electromagnet cannot be supplied and the levitation control becomes impossible. Therefore, it is necessary to charge the battery to supplement the battery capacity. Generally, a battery is charged to the carrier truck at a stop point called a station.

[0005]

2. Description of the Related Art As shown in FIG. 6 (a), a conventional magnetic levitation transportation apparatus comprises a magnetic rail 1 and a transportation carriage 2 which floats on the rail. It has an electromagnet for use and a battery for exciting the electromagnet. The electromagnet levitates above the rail 1 and is propelled by a linear motor (not shown) provided on the rail 1 side. Further, an external terminal 3 for battery charging, a restraining yoke 4, and a protection bearing 5 are provided on the lower surface of the carrier vehicle 2, and a charging power source 6, a charging terminal 7, and a rail side are provided.
A restraining electromagnet 8 is provided.

Then, as shown in FIG. 6 (b), the battery is charged by contacting the charging terminal 7 on the station with the charging external terminal 3 on the carrier when the carrier 2 is at the stop point of the station. I am charging. When the battery is charged, it is necessary to eliminate the battery consumption so that the amount of charge of the battery can be accurately grasped. For that reason,
The levitation of the carrier vehicle is cut off and landed on the rail surface, so that the exciting current of the levitation electromagnet is reduced to zero and the battery is consumed and charging is performed.

[0007]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional method, since a position shift occurs when the carrier truck lands, the position shift electromagnet 8 must be used to correct the position shift. As a result, the carrier 2 slides on the rail surface to generate dust 9. In the conventional technology, the carrier truck 2 is slowly landed in order to suppress dust generation at the time of landing,
Although a protective bearing 5 was provided in the above, it was not possible to completely suppress dust generation from the sliding portion. For this reason, there is a problem in that product defects occur due to dust generation.

The present invention intends to realize a magnetic levitation transfer apparatus and a transfer method thereof, in which battery charging of a transfer vehicle is performed in a state where the transfer vehicle is levitated and dust generation during charging can be suppressed.

[0009]

In a magnetic levitation transfer apparatus of the present invention, a magnetic levitation transfer apparatus comprising a transfer carriage having a levitation electromagnet and a magnetic rail for guiding the transfer carriage, A battery 13 for exciting an electromagnet for levitation, an external terminal 15 for charging the battery, and a magnetic member 14 for levitation during charging are provided on the side of the carrier vehicle 11, and on the ground side, at a position where the carrier vehicle is stopped. A coil unit 18 for attracting the magnetic member 14 provided on the transport carriage 11 to levitate the transport carriage 11, a gap sensor 17 for detecting the flying height of the transport carriage 11, and a flying height of the transport carriage 11. A control unit 21 and a battery charging terminal 19 are provided.

In addition to the above, a permanent magnet 22 is used for the magnetic member 14 provided on the transport carriage 11, and an air core coil 23 is used for the coil portion 18 on the ground side.

Further, in the carrying method of the magnetic levitation carrying apparatus of the present invention, in the above magnetic levitation carrying apparatus, the carrying carriage 11 is levitated by the magnetic rail and the levitation electromagnet provided on the carrying carriage, and the state is maintained. And a magnetic member 1 provided on the carrier 11.
4 and the coil portion provided on the ground side, the carriage 1
1 is levitated, and the state is maintained, and the ground-side battery charging terminal 19 is brought into contact with the external terminal 15 on the transport vehicle side to charge the battery 13 of the transport vehicle 11. By adopting this configuration, it is possible to obtain the magnetic levitation transfer device and the transfer method thereof, in which the battery of the transfer vehicle is charged while the transfer vehicle is levitated and the dust generation during charging can be suppressed.

[0012]

In the present invention, as shown in FIG.
When the vehicle comes to the stop point, the gap sensor 17 installed on the rail surface 10a causes the carriage 11 and the rail surface 10 to move.
Detect the gap between a. The control unit 21 receives the signal.
Then, the levitation control is started, the exciting current of the levitation electromagnet of the carrier truck 11 is set to zero, and the levitation electromagnet 18 on the ground side is excited to levitate the carrier truck 11 so that the battery can be charged.

Therefore, it is not necessary to excite the levitation electromagnet on the carrier side when the battery is charged, and the battery can be charged while the carrier dolly 11 is levitated by the levitation electromagnet 18 on the ground side. As a result, there is no sliding between the rail surface and the carrier truck, and it is possible to suppress dust generation.

[0014]

2 and 3 are views showing a first embodiment of the magnetic levitation transport apparatus of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an overall perspective view, and FIG.
Is a sectional view. In both figures, 10 is a magnetic rail, 11
Is a carriage, and the levitation electromagnet 1 is attached to the carriage 11.
2 and a battery 13 that supplies an exciting current to the levitation electromagnet 12, a magnetic member 14 is provided on the upper surface of the carrier, and an external terminal 15 for battery charging and a plate 16 for origin detection are provided on the lower surface. Has been.

Further, in the station section on the ground side, a gap sensor 17 for detecting a gap between the rail 10 and the carriage 11 and a magnetic member 14 provided on the carriage 11 are arranged so as to face each other. A levitating electromagnet 18 for charging, a charging terminal 19 arranged at a position facing the external terminal 15 provided on the carrier 11, a origin sensor 20 for detecting the origin detection plate 16, and a levitation of the carrier. A levitation control unit 21 for controlling is provided.

A battery charging method using the magnetic levitation transporting apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention thus constructed will be described with reference to FIGS. 2, 3 and 4. First, the carriage 11 is the rail 10
When it comes to the stop point (charging position) of the origin sensor 20
Detects the origin detection plate 16 of the carriage 11 and sends its signal to the levitation controller 21. Further, the gap sensor 17 reads the gap between the carriage 11 and the rail surface 10a and sends it to the levitation controller 21 as well. With these two signals, the levitation controller 21 gradually supplies an exciting current to the levitation electromagnet 18 on the station side, as shown in FIG.
The magnetic member 14 installed on the side of the carriage is attracted to control the carriage 11 to float.

As a result, the levitation electromagnet 12 on the carrier side.
4 (b), the exciting current becomes zero and the battery is consumed. Therefore, the battery can be charged while the carrier 11 is continuously levitated as shown in FIG. 4 (c). The battery 13 can be charged by driving the charging terminal 19 installed on the station side with a cylinder, a motor or the like to bring it into contact with the external terminal 15 on the carrier side.

As described above, according to the battery charging method of this embodiment, since the battery can be charged while the carrier is levitated, there is no sliding with the rail, and therefore dust is generated by the sliding. Can be suppressed.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a second embodiment of the magnetic levitation transport device of the present invention. In the figure, the same parts as those in FIG. 2 are designated by the same reference numerals. This embodiment is basically the first
The first embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that the lifting electromagnet 18 provided on the station side and the magnetic member 14 provided on the transportation vehicle side are attracted to the levitation of the carriage 11 at the station. While the force was used, in the present embodiment, the permanent magnet 22 is used in place of the magnetic member 14, and the air-core coil 23 is used in place of the electromagnet so that the repulsive forces of each other are used to make the surface levitate. It is a thing. The charging method according to this embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment,
The effect is similar.

[0020]

According to the present invention, the carrier truck is levitated on the station side when the battery is charged, so that the battery can be charged while the carrier truck is in a floating state, and the sliding portion as in the conventional case can be used. Since it is possible to suppress the dust generation, and as a result, the landing operation of the transport carriage can be omitted, the time can be shortened, which largely contributes to the improvement of the reliability and the transport efficiency of the transport device.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the principle of a magnetic levitation transport device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an overall perspective view showing a first embodiment of the magnetic levitation transport device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a first embodiment of the magnetic levitation transport device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a battery charging method of the magnetic levitation transport device of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a second embodiment of the magnetic levitation transport device of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a battery charging method for a conventional magnetic levitation transport device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Rail 11 ... Conveying carriage 12 ... Levitation electromagnet (for levitation during traveling) 13 ... Battery 14 ... Magnetic member 15 ... External terminal 16 ... Origin detection plate 17 ... Gap sensor 18 ... Levitation electromagnet (for levitation during charging) 19 ... Charging terminal 20 ... Origin sensor 21 ... Floating control unit 22 ... Permanent magnet 23 ... Air core coil

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A magnetic levitation transfer apparatus comprising a transfer carriage having a levitation electromagnet and a magnetic rail for guiding the transfer trolley, wherein the transfer trolley (11) side is used for exciting the levitation electromagnet. A battery (13) and an external terminal (1 for charging the battery)
5) and a magnetic member (14) for levitation during charging are provided, and the magnetic member (14) provided on the transport carriage (11) is attracted to the ground side at the transport carriage stop position on the ground side. (1
1) a coil portion (18) for levitating, and a carriage (1
A gap sensor (17) for detecting the flying height of 1), a control unit (21) for controlling the flying height of the carriage (11),
A magnetic levitation transport device, comprising: a battery charging terminal (19). 2. A permanent magnet (22) is used for a magnetic member (14) provided on the carrier vehicle (11), and an air-core coil (23) is used for a coil portion (18) on the ground side. The magnetic levitation transport device according to claim 1. 3. The magnetic levitation transport apparatus according to claim 1,
A step of levitating the carrier truck (11) by a magnetic rail and a levitation electromagnet provided on the carrier truck, and transporting the carrier truck while maintaining the state, and a magnetic member (14) provided on the carrier truck (11). ) And the coil portion provided on the ground side to levitate the carrier vehicle (11) and maintain the state thereof to bring the battery terminal (19) on the ground side into contact with the external terminal (15) on the carrier vehicle side. Charging the battery (13) of the carrier vehicle (11) with a magnetic levitation transfer method.