JPH08290382A - Sucking device and carrying device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To easily suck and hold a work to be transferred and to surely carry the work without damaging e.g. an LCD panel in a simple constitution by providing a flexible elastic member which is deformed so that the sucking surface is parallel to the surface of the work when a sucking means is pressed against the work. CONSTITUTION: When an LCD panel 12 on a tray 11 reaches the prescribed position, a transferring device 1 sets a sucking nozzle 2 to the prescribed position, and turns an arm 8 around a fulcrum 7. When the sucking nozzle 2 is set to the prescribed position, a guide 10 is moved downward, and the sucking nozzle 2 is pressed against the LCD panel 12 until close attachment is obtained. When the sucking nozzle 2 sucks and holds the LCD panel 12 on the tray 11, the LCD panel 12 can be closely attached, and sucked and held by deflecting a cushion member 15 according to the condition of the LCD panel 12 because the cushion part 15 is formed of a flexible material even if the sucking surface of a sucking chuck 14 of the sucking nozzle 2 is not parallel to the LCD panel 12.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

[Table of Contents] The present invention will be described in the following order. Field of Industrial Application Conventional Technology Problems to be Solved by the Invention Means for Solving the Problems Actions Embodiments (FIGS. 1 to 6) Effects of the Invention

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a suction device and a transport device, and is suitable for application to, for example, a suction device and a transport device that suction-holds and transports an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) panel.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as this type of adsorption device, LC
There is used a D panel that sucks and holds the D panel by using a suction force generated by negative pressure air.

[0004]

By the way, in the suction device having such a structure, a rigid chuck portion having a suction surface for sucking and holding the LCD panel is provided at the tip,
In many cases, the movement of the adsorption device was limited to vertical movement. In such a case, when the LCD panel is tilted due to the deformation of the tray on which the LCD panel is placed and the parallelism with the suction surface is not obtained, the suction surface does not adhere to the LCD panel and the suction surface and the LCD panel Negative pressure air was leaking through the gap. As a result, the suction force is weakened and the LCD panel cannot be sucked and held.

If the suction surface is not parallel to the LCD panel, the suction device is made of metal,
There is a problem in that the LCD panel and the suction device are point-contacted with each other and scratch the LCD panel.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above points, and proposes a suction device and a transfer device which have a simple structure and can be easily suction-held and reliably transported without damaging the LCD panel. It is what

[0007]

In order to solve such a problem, in the present invention, an adsorption means having an adsorption surface for adsorbing and holding an object to be conveyed, and an adsorption means when the adsorption means is pressed against the object to be conveyed. And a flexible elastic member that deforms so that its suction surface becomes parallel to the surface of the transported object.

[0008]

There is provided a suction means having a suction surface for sucking and holding the transported object, and a flexible elastic member which deforms so that the suction surface of the suction means becomes parallel to the surface of the transported object. By using the above-mentioned one, even if the suction surface of the suction means and the transported object are not parallel, the suction means is pressed against the transported object so that the elastic member bends and the suction surface of the suction means and the transported object. And become parallel, and the transported object can be adsorbed and held.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 illustrates, for example, an LC according to an embodiment of the present invention.
The whole structure of the conveyance apparatus 1 used for conveyance of D panel is shown.
The carrier device 1 includes a suction nozzle 2 as a suction device for sucking and holding an LCD panel, and a linear motion guide device (hereinafter, referred to as an LM guide) 3 as a movement control unit that controls the movement of the suction nozzle 2 in a predetermined direction. And a negative pressure source 4 for generating negative pressure air for adsorbing and holding the LCD panel.

The carrier device 1 has an arm 6 extending horizontally from a predetermined position of a column 5 arranged vertically, and a drive motor (not shown) centering on a fulcrum 7 provided at the end of the arm 6. ), An arm 8 is provided which moves in a left-right arc shape. Further, the arm 8 is provided with an LM guide 3 constituted by a track rail 9 and a guide 10 which moves up and down on the track rail 9 in a downward direction from the tip end thereof. The suction nozzle 2 is fixed. This suction nozzle 2 is a drive motor (not shown)
The vertical movement is controlled together with the LM guide 3, and the LCD panel 12 on the resin tray 11 is sucked by the suction nozzle 2
In order to adsorb and hold the negative pressure, the negative pressure source 4 is connected through a freely bendable pipe 13 for introducing negative pressure air.

In the suction nozzle 2, a cushion portion 15 as an elastic member is mounted and fixed on the upper surface of a suction chuck 14 as a suction means, and further, the cushion portion 1 is provided.
The main body 16 is mounted on the upper surface of the No. 5 and is fixed and integrated.

The shape of the cushion portion 15 is shown in FIG. The cushion portion 15 is made of sponge-like silicone rubber that does not easily generate dust and dust and is formed into a prismatic shape. A negative pressure air introduction hole 17 for inserting the pipe 13 is formed in the center position of the upper surface of the cushion portion 15. It is provided so as to penetrate to the lower surface. Further, the cushion portion 15 is provided with through holes 18 to 21 for pins for fixing the main body 16 and the suction chuck 14 penetrating to the lower surface thereof at predetermined positions at four corners diagonally on the upper surface of the cushion portion 15. There is.

Further, as shown in FIG.
Of the suction chuck 14 is shown in FIG. 3 (B).
The state which looked at from the lower surface direction is shown. Here, the suction chuck 14 is provided with a negative pressure air introduction hole 24 for inserting the pipe 13 at a position facing the negative pressure air introduction hole 17 of the cushion portion 15, and the through holes 20, 21 of the cushion portion 15 are provided.
Pin fixing holes 22 and 23 are provided at positions facing each other.

The suction chuck 14 has a cushion portion 15
In order to make the edge portion of the peripheral end surface of the lower surface facing the upper surface to be joined with the suction surface 14A, a quadrangular recess having a size smaller than the outer shape of the lower surface by one circumference is formed around the negative pressure air introduction hole 24. . As a result, the central negative pressure air introduction hole 24 is provided on the recessed surface 14B that is one step deeper than the lower surface. As a result, the suction chuck 14 does not use the concave surface 14B provided with the negative pressure air introduction hole 24 as the suction surface, but can use the edge portion of the lower end peripheral surface as the suction surface 14A. Therefore, since the contact area between the suction surface 14A and the LCD panel 12 is reduced, the carrier device 1 can suck and hold the LCD panel 12 surface without scratching the suction chuck 14 or the like.

Similarly, the main body 16 has a cushion portion 15
A negative pressure air introduction hole (not shown) for inserting the pipe 13 is provided at a position facing the negative pressure air introduction hole 17 of
The pipe 13 is inserted through the negative pressure air introduction holes 17 and 24 and the negative pressure air introduction hole of the main body 16. Further, pin fixing holes (not shown) are provided at positions facing the through holes 18 and 19 of the cushion portion 15, respectively.

The cushion portion 15 and the suction chuck 1
Reference numeral 4 denotes a pin having a length capable of fixing a pair of through holes 20 and 21 provided on the diagonal line of the cushion portion 15 and pin fixing holes 22 and 23 provided on the diagonal line of the suction chuck 14 to each other. It is fixed and formed with (not shown). Similarly, the cushion portion 15 and the main body 16 are
A pair of through holes 18 and 19 provided on the diagonal of the main body 16 and a pin fixing hole (not shown) provided on the diagonal of the main body 16.
And are fixed to each other by a pin (not shown) having a length capable of fixing each other.

In the above structure, when the LCD panel 12 on the tray 11 reaches a predetermined position, the carrier device 1 rotates the arm 8 about the fulcrum 7 to set the suction nozzle 2 at the predetermined position. When the suction nozzle 2 is set to a predetermined position, the carrier device 1 moves the guide 10 on the track rail 9 downward to press the LCD panel 12 and the suction nozzle 2 until they are in close contact with each other. In this state, the carrier device 1 uses the negative pressure air supplied from the negative pressure source 4 to drive the LCD.
The panel 12 is suction-held by the suction nozzle 2, and the guide 10 is moved upward in this state, and then the arm 8 is rotated to a predetermined position and conveyed.

Here, when the suction nozzle 2 sucks and holds the LCD panel 12 on the resin tray 11, the carrier device 1 does not require the suction surface 14A of the suction nozzle 2 and the LCD panel 12 to be parallel to each other. Since the part 15 is formed of a flexible member, the cushion part 15 itself is shrunk according to the state of the LCD panel 12, and the suction surfaces 14A and L
The CD panel 12 can be adhered and held by suction. For example, as shown in FIGS.
Is set to L regardless of whether the LCD panel 12 is tilted left or right.
According to the inclination of the CD panel 12, the cushion portion 15 of the suction nozzle 2 can be contracted to bring the suction chuck 14 and the LCD panel 12 into close contact with each other for suction holding.

According to the above construction, the suction nozzle 2 is provided with the cushion portion 15 between the main body 16 and the suction chuck 14, so that the cushion portion 15 can be formed in accordance with the tilted state of the LCD panel 12. LC by contracting the suction surface 14A
It can be closely attached to the D panel 12. As a result, the transport device 1 can reliably hold the product by suction and reduce transport defects.

Further, in the suction chuck 14, the concave surface 14B provided with the negative pressure air introduction hole 24 is not used as the suction surface, and the peripheral edge of the lower surface is used as the suction surface 14A, so that the suction surface 14A and the LCD. The contact area of the panel 12 can be reduced. As a result, the carrier device 1 can securely hold the product by suction without scratching the surface of the LCD panel 12 by the suction chuck 14.

In the above embodiment, the suction nozzle 2 has a prismatic shape. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and suction nozzles having various shapes such as a cylindrical shape are used. You may do it.

In the above embodiment, the suction nozzle 2 is fixed to the LM guide 3 so that the suction nozzle 2 can move vertically smoothly, but the present invention is not limited to this. The invention is not limited to this, and various linear motion guide devices such as a ball bush for smoothing the vertical movement may be used.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the suction nozzle 2 has the main body 16, the cushion portion 15 and the suction chuck 1.
Although the case where the pipe 13 is inserted through the inside of the suction pipe 4 has been described, the present invention is not limited to this, and the pipe 13 may be directly connected to the negative power source 4 from the suction chuck 14. As a result, the cushion portion 15 can have a simple structure.

In the above embodiment, the case where the suction nozzle 14 is used for the portion for holding the LCD panel 12 by suction has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the cushion portion 15 is used. The suction nozzle 2 itself may be formed by the cushion portion 15 so that the end face of the suction nozzle is used as it is as the suction surface.

In the above embodiment, the suction nozzle 2 is made of silicone rubber as the cushion portion 15, but the present invention is not limited to this.
If the suction surface 14A can be brought into close contact with the LCD panel 12, the suction nozzle 2 is a sponge (not shown).
Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 6A, the bellows 26 may be used in place of the cushion portion 15, and the spring 27 may be used in place of the cushion portion 15 as shown in FIG. 5B.

In the above embodiment, the case where the suction nozzle 2 uses silicon rubber as the cushion portion 15 has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this.
Pipe 1 that can be bent in place of cushion 15
You may make it use only with 3.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the suction nozzle 2 has the main body 16, the cushion portion 15 and the cushion portion 15.
The case where the suction chuck 14 is fixed using a pin has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the main body 16, the cushion portion 15, the cushion portion 15, and the suction chuck 14 are made of an adhesive or the like. It may be fixed directly.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the transport device 1 uses the LCD panel 12 as the transported object has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the negative pressure supplied from the negative pressure source 4 is used. As long as it can be adsorbed and held by air and conveyed, it may be used for various kinds of semiconductor wafers and the like.

[0030]

As described above, according to the present invention, the adsorbing means for adsorbing and holding the object to be conveyed and the adsorption means are held so that the adsorption surface of the adsorbing means is parallel to the surface of the object to be conveyed. By using a flexible elastic member, the elastic member can be pressed against the transported object even if the suction surface of the suction means is not parallel to the transported object. It is possible to realize a transporting device in which the suction surface of the bending suction means and the transported object are parallel to each other and the transported object can be suction-held and reliably transported.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a carrying device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a shape of a cushion portion.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the shape of a suction chuck.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the shape of a suction chuck.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a suction state of a suction nozzle.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing the structure of a suction nozzle according to another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Transport device, 2 ... Suction nozzle, 3 ... LM guide, 4 ... Negative pressure source, 5 ... Strut, 6 ... Arm, 7 ... Support point, 8 ... Arm, 9 ... Track rail 10 ... Guide, 11 ... Tray, 12 ... LCD panel, 13 ...
... pipe, 14 ... suction chuck, 14A ... suction surface, 14B ... concave surface, 15 ... cushion part, 16 ...
... Main body, 17, 24 ... Negative pressure air introduction hole, 18, 19,
20, 21 ... Through hole, 22, 23 ... Pin fixing hole,
25: Flexible pipe, 26: Bellows, 27
……Spring.

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. Adsorption means having an adsorption surface for adsorbing and holding an object to be conveyed; and when the adsorption means is pressed against the object to be conveyed, the adsorption surface of the means for adsorbing with respect to the surface of the object to be conveyed. An adsorbing device, comprising: a flexible elastic member that deforms in parallel. 2. The suction means is configured to suck the object to be conveyed by a suction force generated by negative pressure air, and the suction surface has an opening of a negative pressure air introduction hole. The adsorption device according to claim 1, wherein the adsorption device is formed on a surface of a convex portion that is formed to be higher than the surface on which the adsorption portion is formed. 3. The adsorption device according to claim 1, wherein the elastic member has a negative pressure air introduction hole for adsorbing and holding an object to be conveyed. 4. The suction device according to claim 1, wherein the elastic member is made of silicone rubber. 5. The suction device according to claim 1, wherein the elastic member is a free tube that bends freely. 6. A suction means which is made of a flexible elastic member and which sucks and holds an object to be transported by suction force generated by negative pressure air introduced through a negative pressure air introduction hole. An adsorption device characterized by the above. 7. An adsorbing means having an adsorbing surface for adsorbing and holding an object to be conveyed, and an adsorbing surface of the adsorbing means being parallel to the surface of the object to be conveyed when the adsorbing means is pressed against the object to be conveyed. A suction device having a flexible elastic member that deforms so as to become, a movement control means for controlling the movement of the suction device in a predetermined direction, and a suction holding device for holding the transported object through the suction device. And a negative pressure source for generating negative pressure air.