JPH0746818A - X-y stage - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To achieve the light weight and the high-speed of an X-Y stage by a method wherein a moving table supported on a base so as to be capable of taking an arbitrary position and an arbitrary attitude inside a plane parallel to the face of the base is driven by three or more actuators on the basis of information from a two-dimensional position and attitude sensor. CONSTITUTION:A moving table 3 is supported on a base 1 by a two-dimensional air bearing 73 in such 3 way that it can take an arbitrary position and an arbitrary attitude inside a plane parallel to the face of the base 1, and three voice-coil motors 4, 5, 6 are arranged in such a way that their resultant force acts in the orthogonal direction and the angle of rotation inside the plane parallel to the face of the base 1. Then, the position and the attitude of the moving table 3 are computed and compared by a control part on the basis of information from individual linear scales 7, 8, 9 with reference to the two-dimensional movement target coordinates of a stage, and the voice-coil motors 4, 5, 6 are feedback-controlled and operated simultaneously.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an XY stage, and more particularly to an XY stage for high speed positioning.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional XY stage drives a base 1, a lower shaft table 11 supported on the base 1 through a one-dimensional bearing 10, and the lower shaft table 11 as shown in FIG. A voice coil motor 12, a linear encoder 13 for measuring the position of the lower shaft table 11,
An upper shaft table 15 supported on the lower shaft table 11 via a one-dimensional bearing 14, and the upper shaft table 1
5, a voice coil motor 16 for driving the voice coil motor 5, a linear encoder 17 for measuring the position of the upper shaft table 15, and a controller 9 for driving the voice coil motors 12, 16 based on information from the linear encoders 13, 17. It is configured to include.

The conventional two-dimensional positioning table has a lower axis voice coil motor 12 in the lower axis direction with respect to a given two-dimensional movement target coordinate of the stage (lower axis direction, upper axis direction).
In the upper axis direction, the upper axis voice coil motor 16 is independently feedback-controlled by the control unit 9 (details omitted) based on the information of the linear encoders 13 and 17 to perform the operation.

[0004]

The conventional XY stage has a problem that it is difficult to reduce the weight and there is a limit to the increase in speed because it has a structure in which the uniaxial stage is stacked in two stages.

[0005]

An XY stage according to the present invention includes a base, a movable table supported on the base so that an arbitrary position and posture can be taken in a plane parallel to the base surface, and the movable table. N actuators (N ≧ 3) arranged so that the resultant force acts in the orthogonal direction and the rotational direction in a plane parallel to the base surface, and a measuring means for measuring the position and orientation of the moving table. , And a control unit that drives N actuators based on information from the measuring means.

[0006]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention. The XY stage shown in FIG. 1 includes a base 1 and a base 1.
Above the movable table 3 supported by the two-dimensional air bearing 2 so that an arbitrary position and posture can be taken in a plane parallel to the base 1 surface, and the resultant force of the movable table 3 in a plane parallel to the base surface. A main scale having three voice coil motors 4, 5, 6 arranged so as to act in the orthogonal direction and the rotation direction, and a scale having a length extending over the Y-direction movement range of the moving table 3 over the X-direction movement range. And linear scales 8 and 9 each composed of a main scale having a scale having a length extending in the X-direction moving range and having a scale extending in the X-direction moving range.
Based on the information from 8 and 9, three voice coil motors 4,
It is configured to include a control unit (not shown) that drives 5 and 6. The XY stage of the present invention is the same as the given stage 2
The controller calculates the position and orientation of the moving table 3 based on the information of the linear scales 7, 8, and 9 with respect to the three-dimensional moving target coordinates and compares them, and feedback-controls the voice coil motors 4, 5, and 6 simultaneously. To operate.

[0008]

As described above, the XY stage of the present invention adopts a two-dimensional bearing and a two-dimensional position / orientation sensor in a plane configuration instead of stacking the uniaxial stage, and is driven by three actuators. This has the effect of facilitating speeding up due to weight reduction and high rigidity.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 base 2 two-dimensional bearing 3 table 4-6 voice coil motor 7-9 linear scale 10 controller

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A base, a moving table supported on the base so that an arbitrary position and posture can be taken in a plane parallel to the base surface, and a resultant force acting on the moving table is parallel to the base surface. N (N ≧ 3) actuators arranged so as to be generated in the orthogonal direction and the rotation direction in a plane, measuring means for measuring the position and orientation of the moving table, and N based on information from the measuring means. XY including a control unit for driving a plurality of actuators
stage. 2. The XY stage according to claim 1, wherein the plane guide is a plane hydrostatic bearing. 3. The coil, wherein the actuator is fixed to the moving table and wound in a plane parallel to the base surface, and has a magnetic field in a direction perpendicular to the base surface, and moves along with the table movement of the coil and the coil. The XY stage according to claim 1, wherein the XY stage is a voice coil motor including a magnetic circuit that covers a range. 4. An optical linear scale in which the position / orientation measuring means includes a main scale having a graduation orthogonal to the measuring direction, and a reading head having a light emitting portion and a light receiving portion facing the main scale. The XY stage according to claim 1, wherein the read head is movable in a direction orthogonal to the measurement direction, and the main scale has a scale having a length extending in the movement range in a direction orthogonal to the measurement direction. .