JPH0755533Y2 - Distortion correction device for substrate storage cassette - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a distortion correcting device for a cassette for storing a substrate for correcting the distortion of the cassette when the substrate is taken in and out.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, a liquid crystal substrate used for a display device such as a personal computer or a word processor is subjected to various processes (cleaning, resist coating, exposure, development, etching, etc.) in a clean environment from a square glass substrate. After that, it is manufactured. In each step, usually about 20 liquid crystal substrates 2 are housed in a cassette 1 as shown in FIGS. The cassette 1 includes a top plate 11, a bottom plate 12, and a pair of side plates 13A and 13B.
And a plurality of grooves (slots) 14A, 14B extending in the horizontal direction are formed in the inner surface of each side plate 13A, 13B in the vertical direction (about 20), and a pair of side plates 13A, 13B is formed.
Each of the liquid crystal substrates 2 is formed by a pair of left and right grooves 14A and 14B between B.
A plurality of liquid crystal substrates 2 (about 20) are accommodated by supporting both ends of the liquid crystal substrate 2. The top plate 11, the bottom plate 12, and the side plates
Notches and the like are formed in 13A and 13B as required in each step, but not shown.

Between the steps, since a dedicated cassette is used in each step, it is necessary to transfer the liquid crystal substrate from one cassette to another cassette.

[0004]

However, when the cassette has a distortion λ as shown in FIG. 12, when the liquid crystal substrate is taken out from this cassette or when the liquid crystal substrate is inserted into this cassette, the liquid crystal substrate There is a problem in that not only dust is generated due to contact between the cassette and the cassette, but also the liquid crystal substrate is damaged.

Not only the cassette for storing the liquid crystal substrate,
Similar problems have been encountered in general substrate storage cassettes. In view of the above situation, the present invention aims to forcibly correct the distortion of the substrate storing cassette and eliminate the contact between the substrate and the cassette when the substrate is taken in and out.

[0006]

For this reason, the present invention comprises a top plate, a bottom plate and a pair of side plates, and a plurality of vertically extending grooves are formed on the inner surface of each side plate. It is a device that supports both ends of each board by a pair of left and right grooves between the side plates of the board and corrects the distortion of the cassette when the boards are put in and taken out from the cassette storing a plurality of boards. While providing a lower positioning device for positioning, each of the four corners (corners) of the upper portion of the cassette has a recess that can be fitted into the corner, and a taper that spreads downward on the side surface of the inner surface of the recess. (EN) Provided is a distortion correcting device for a cassette for storing a substrate, which is provided with a pressing member having an arrow and an actuator for moving the pressing member up and down between a corner upper position and a fitting position.

[0007]

In the above structure, first, the lower positioning device is used to move the substrate in and out of the cassette.
Position and secure the bottom of the cassette. Next, at each of the four corners on the top of the cassette,
By the actuator, the pressing member is lowered to fit the concave portion into the corner portion. At this time, the distortion of the cassette is forcibly corrected while being guided by the downwardly expanding taper provided on the inner side surface of the concave portion. By allowing the substrate to be loaded and unloaded in this state, contact between the substrate and the cassette can be prevented when the substrate is taken out of the cassette and inserted into the cassette.

[0008]

EXAMPLE An example of the present invention will be described below. The present embodiment is applied to a liquid crystal substrate transfer device that transfers a liquid crystal substrate from one cassette to another cassette. First, the liquid crystal substrate transfer device will be described. Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, a cassette stage 21 is provided on a part of the apparatus main body 20 in different steps.
On the stage 21, a cassette (supply side cassette) 1 in which a plurality of liquid crystal substrates 2 are stored and an empty cassette (storage side cassette) 1 ′ are set.

Further, two loader front-rear traveling guide rails 22 are provided on the apparatus body 20, and a front-rear traveling carrier 23 travels on these guide rails 22. Further, two loader lateral traveling guide rails 24 are provided on the front-rear traveling carrier 23, and the lateral traveling carrier 25 travels on these guide rails 24.

An air cylinder 26 for raising and lowering a loader is provided at the center of the carrier 25 for lateral travel with its output rod 27 facing upward, and guide rails 28 for raising and lowering the loader are provided at both ends. The loader 30 includes a support plate 31, a plurality of spacers 32, and a plurality of plates 33. On the support plate 31, a plurality of elongated plates 33 are provided at their base ends with the spacers 32 interposed therebetween. , Cassette 1,1 '
The grooves 14A and 14B are laminated at the same interval as the vertical forming interval (groove pitch). Specifically, the base end portion of the plate 33 is fitted into the groove 34 on the upper surface of the spacer 32 that is fixed to the upper surface of the support plate 31 with a screw and fixed with a screw, and the next spacer 32 is placed on the spacer 32. They are fixed by screws, and the base end of the plate 33 is fitted into the groove 34 on the upper surface of the spacer 32 and fixed by screws, so that the layers are laminated.

The tip of the output rod 27 of the lifting air cylinder 26 is fixed to the center of the bottom surface of the support plate 31, and
Guides 38 are fixed to the left and right ends of the support plate 31, and these guides 38 are guided by the lifting guide rails 28. Further, on the upper surface of the plate 33, a plurality of air suction ports of an air passage which is connected to a negative pressure source via an electromagnetic opening / closing valve are opened,
Although the liquid crystal substrate 2 can be vacuum-sucked, it is not shown.

A transfer operation by the liquid crystal substrate transfer device will be described. The horizontal carrier 25 is moved laterally to position the loader 30 in front of the cassette 1, and then the front-rear carrier 23 is moved forward and backward to move the loader 30.
To the cassette 1. As a result, each plate 33 of the loader 30 is connected to each liquid crystal substrate 2 in the cassette 1.
The lower space (between the liquid crystal substrate and the liquid crystal substrate below it).

After the insertion, the air cylinder 26 for raising and lowering the loader is operated to project by a predetermined minute amount (1/2 of the groove pitch, about 5 mm) to move the loader 30 upward, and each plate 33 causes each liquid crystal substrate 2 to move. Float in the grooves 14A and 14B and lift. At this time, vacuum adsorption is performed. From this state, the front-rear traveling carrier 23 is caused to travel in the front-rear direction, and the loader 30 is retracted from the cassette 1. As a result, all the liquid crystal substrates 2 are taken out from the cassette 1 while being placed on the plate 33.

Then, the lateral traveling carrier 25 is laterally traveled to position the loader 30 in front of the cassette 1 ', and then the front-rear traveling carrier 23 is traveled in the front-rear direction to move the loader 30 into the cassette 1'. To move forward. Thereby, the liquid crystal substrate 2 on each plate 33 of the loader 30 is floated and inserted into each groove 14A, 14B in the cassette 1.

After insertion, the loader lifting air cylinder 26 is retracted to move the loader 30 downward so that both ends of each liquid crystal substrate 2 are supported in the grooves 14A and 14B, and each plate 33 is set in a free state. . At this time, vacuum suction is stopped. From this state, the front-rear traveling carrier 23 is caused to travel in the front-rear direction, and the loader 30 is retracted from the cassette 1 '. This completes the transfer operation.

In this embodiment, by collectively transferring the plurality of liquid crystal substrates 2 housed in the cassette 1 to the cassette 1 ', the operation can be completed by one transfer operation, and the transfer time can be reduced. Can be significantly shortened. Next, a cassette distortion correcting device according to the present invention will be described. Since the one for the cassette 1 and the one for the cassette 1 ′ are the same, only the one for the cassette 1 will be described below.

As shown in FIG. 1, on the cassette stage 21, in order to position two adjacent lower sides of the cassette 1,
Four (two on each side) fixed stoppers 41 are provided. In order to position the remaining two lower sides of the cassette 1, three (two on the long side and one on the short side) lower clamp devices 42 are projected and retracted from the cassette stage 21.
Is provided. Here, the fixed stopper 41 and the lower clamp device 42 constitute a lower positioning device.

Further, four upper clamp devices 43 are provided on the cassette stage 21 in order to position the four corners (corners) of the upper portion of the cassette 1. The lower clamp device 42 will be described with reference to FIG. 4 (detailed plan view of C1 portion of FIG. 1) and FIG. 5 (front sectional view thereof). An air cylinder 51 is provided below the hole 50 provided on the cassette stage 21 with the output rod 52 thereof facing upward.

A U-shaped bracket 53 is attached to the tip of the output rod 52 of the air cylinder 51. A shaft 54 is rotatably supported by a bracket 53 via a bearing (not shown), and a lower part of a clamper 55 is attached to the shaft 54. The clamper 55 has a pressing portion 56 on its tip side.
And a cam portion 57 from the intermediate portion to the base end portion side. Then, the clamper 55 is attached to the shaft 54 due to its own weight.
5, the cam portion 57 contacts the roller 59 rotatably supported by the fixing member 58 via a bearing (not shown).

Therefore, when the output rod 52 of the air cylinder 51 is projected, the clamper 55 is moved upward from the retracted position shown by the solid line in the figure, projected from the hole 50 of the cassette stage 21, and the cam portion of the clamper 55. The contact position of 57 with respect to the roller 59 changes, and the clamper 55 rotates around the shaft 54 in the clockwise direction in FIG.
The pressing portion 56 of the cassette pushes the lower portion of the cassette 1 in the lateral direction as shown by the chain line in the figure.

The upper clamp device 43 is shown in FIG.
(Detailed plan view of C2 part), FIG. 7 (its front view) and FIG.
A description will be given with reference to (a perspective view of a main part). Cassette stage
A support base 60 is erected on the base 21, and an air cylinder 61 as an actuator is attached to the support base 60 with its output rod 62 facing upward. This air cylinder 61 can project and retract the output rod 62, and
The 62 can be rotated within a range of about 90 degrees.

At the tip of the output rod 62 of the air cylinder 61,
Clamp arm arranged horizontally as a holding member
63 base ends are attached. This clamp arm 63
As shown in FIG. 8, a concave portion 64 that fits into the upper corner portion (corner portion) of the cassette 1 is formed at the tip of the cassette 1. The inner surface of the recess 64 has an upper surface 64a and two side surfaces 64b,
The side surfaces 64b and 64c are each provided with a taper θ that expands downward.

Here, the clamp arm 63 is moved by the air cylinder 61 to a retracted position (position moved up and rotated) shown by a chain line R in FIGS. 6 and 7, and an upper moving position shown by a chain line S in FIG. , The lower moving position (correction position) shown by the solid line is taken. Further, when the clamp arm 63 is moved downward toward the corner of the cassette 1, the clamp arm 63 is guided on the support base 60 to guide the clamp arm 63.
A pair of guide rollers 66 rotatably supported by the bracket 65 is provided, and the clamp arm 63 is provided between the guide rollers 66, 66.
It is designed to guide the middle part of the.

A method of setting the cassette on the liquid crystal substrate transfer device including the operation of the cassette distortion correction device will be described.
Here again, the method of setting the cassette 1 and the method of setting the cassette 1 ′ are the same, so the method of setting the cassette 1 will be described below. The three lower clamp devices 42 and the four upper clamp devices 43 are moved to the retracted position in advance, and the cassette stage is moved by an unmanned vehicle or the like.
Bring the cassette 1 onto the 21 and abut against the four fixed stoppers 41 or at least place them in the vicinity thereof.

From this state, first, the lower clamp device 42
Activate 3 simultaneously. That is, the output rod 52 of the air cylinder 51 is actuated to project, and the clamper 55 is moved upward from the retracted position to project from the hole 50 of the cassette stage 21. At this time, the contact position of the cam portion 57 of the clamper 55 with respect to the roller 59 changes, and the clamper 55 rotates around the shaft 54, whereby the pressing portion 56 of the clamper 55 pushes the lower portion of the cassette 1 laterally. , Fixed stopper on opposite side 41
Press on.

As a result, the lower portion of the cassette 1 is positioned and fixed by the fixed stopper 41 and the clamper 55 of the lower clamp device 42. Next, the upper clamp device 43
Operate simultaneously. That is, the output rod 62 of the air cylinder 61 is rotated to rotate the clamp arm 63 from the retracted position, and the recess 64 at the tip of the clamp arm 63 is positioned above the upper corner of the cassette 1.

Next, the output rod 62 of the air cylinder 61 is retracted to move the clamp arm 63 downward. At this time, the clamp arm 63 is guided by its middle portion between the guide rollers 66, 66 and positioned. Then, the concave portion 64 at the tip of the clamp arm 63 covers the upper corner of the cassette 1, and the distortion λ of the cassette 1 is corrected by the taper θ of the side surfaces 64b and 64c of the concave portion 64, and the upper surface 64a of the concave portion 64 has the upper surface 64a.
The correction and setting are completed when the sheet comes into contact with the upper surface of.
FIG. 9 shows how the cassette distortion is corrected here.

By thus setting the cassettes 1 and 1'with the distortion corrected, the liquid crystal substrate 2 is taken out from the cassette 1 during the subsequent transfer operation and the liquid crystal to the cassette 1'is set. When the substrate 2 is inserted, it is possible to avoid contact between the liquid crystal substrate 2 and the cassettes 1 and 1'and prevent dust generation and damage. In this embodiment, the cassette distortion correction device is provided for both the supply side cassette and the storage side cassette in the liquid crystal substrate transfer device, but only for the storage side cassette where the influence of the cassette distortion is particularly remarkable. It may be provided.

Further, not only when the liquid crystal substrate is transferred from one cassette to another cassette between the steps, but also when the liquid crystal substrate is taken out from the cassette for processing in each step and is inserted into the original cassette, The cassette distortion correction device according to the present invention may be provided for the cassette. Particularly in the washing process, the cassette is distorted because it is immersed in the liquid, so that the effect is great.

Further, it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied not only to the liquid crystal substrate storage cassette but also to a substrate storage cassette in general.

[0031]

As described above, according to the present invention, the distortion of the cassette is corrected prior to the loading / unloading of the substrate into / from the cassette, and thus the substrate is removed from the cassette and inserted into the cassette. The effect of preventing dust generation and damage due to contact with the cassette is obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

[Figure 2] Overall front view

FIG. 3 is a side view of the whole (a view in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 2).

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a lower clamp device.

FIG. 5 is a front sectional view of a lower clamp device.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the upper clamp device.

FIG. 7 is a front view of the upper clamp device.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a main part of the upper clamp device.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a situation where the upper clamp device corrects the cassette distortion.

FIG. 10: Perspective view of cassette

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a substrate storage state of the cassette.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing cassette distortion.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 1'Cassette 2 Liquid crystal substrate 11 Top plate 12 Bottom plate 13A, 13B Side plate 14A, 14B Groove 20 Machine body 21 Cassette stage 23 Forward / backward carrier 25 Horizontal carrier 26 Loader lifting air cylinder 30 Loader 33 Plate 41 Fixed stopper 42 Lower clamp device 43 Upper clamp device 51 Air cylinder 55 Clamper 56 Presser 57 Cam 58 Roller 61 Air cylinder 63 Clamp arm 64 Recess 66 Guide roller

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A top plate, a bottom plate, and a pair of side plates, and a plurality of vertically extending grooves are formed on the inner surface of each side plate in a vertical direction. A device that corrects distortion of the cassette when loading and unloading substrates from a cassette that stores a plurality of substrates by supporting both ends of each liquid crystal substrate, and a lower positioning device that positions the lower portion of the cassette is provided, while the cassette Each of the upper four corners has a recessed portion that can be fitted into the corner, and a tapered pressing member that expands downward on a side surface of the inner surface of the recessed portion, and the pressing member of the corner portion. A distortion correction device for a cassette for storing a substrate, which is provided with an actuator that moves up and down between an upper position and a fitting position.