JPH08316288A - Automatic conveyor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To curtail the number of parts and to reduce the cost, and to shorten the processing time. CONSTITUTION: The title automatic conveyor is provided with a conveying robot 10 which has a case for putting a plurality of glass boards in, a processing division having a substance putting table, and a fork 11 for holding a board, carries a board taken out by the fork from the case to the processing division, receives the board having been processed by the fork and conveys it up to the case, and puts it in the case, a controller 20 which gives a move command to the robot 10, and a sensor 30 which detects the quality of positional shift and the angle of inclination of a board put on the substance putting table. When a board is received from the substance putting table, the controller 20 gives the robot 10 a move command for correcting the position and the inclination of the fork 11 on the basis of the detected values of the sensor 30, so that the board may be put back on the same position of the case and in the same posture as those when the board is taken out from the case.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic transfer of a substrate between a case for accommodating a flat object such as a semiconductor wafer, a rectangular glass substrate, a printed circuit board and each original plate and a processing section for processing the flat object. Concerning a carrier device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As an automatic carrier of this type, for example, one shown in FIG. 5 is considered. This automatic carrying device has a cassette 51 for housing a plurality of flat objects (for example, a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display device) 50, and first mounts 52a, 53a on which the substrates 50 are mounted.
The second processing units 52 and 53 and a transfer robot (hereinafter, simply referred to as a robot) 54 that transfers the substrate 50 are provided. The first processing unit 52 holds the substrate 50 processed by the processing unit 52 for delivery to the robot 54.
A transfer unit 55 is provided. The substrate 50 processed by the processing unit 53 is transferred to the robot 5 in the second processing unit 53.
A second transfer unit 56 is provided for holding the transfer unit 4. The cassette 51 is provided with a plurality of storage portions for storing the substrates 50 one by one in the vertical direction. Each of the storage portions is provided with a projecting portion 51a that supports the lower surface of both sides of the substrate 50. In addition, in the automatic transfer device, when the processed substrate 50 is stored in the storage portion of the cassette 51, the storage portion pre-alignment for positioning the substrate 50 in the same position and posture as when the substrate 50 is taken out from the storage portion. A mechanism 57 is provided.

In this automatic transfer apparatus, the substrate 50 is taken out from the storage portion of the cassette 51 by the fork 54a of the robot 54, and the robot 54 sequentially transfers the substrate 50 to the processing portions 52 and 53 for performing a series of processing such as processing and inspection. The processed substrate 50 that has been transported and has been subjected to a series of processes is shown in FIG.
The robot 54 transports the substrate 50 to the original position shown in (1), and the substrate 50 is inserted into the storage portion of the cassette 51 by the fork 54 a and stored.

By the way, a rectangular substrate 50 such as a glass substrate used in a liquid crystal display device is processed over the entire surface for the purpose of improving the production efficiency. Therefore, the overhanging portion 51a of each storage portion of the cassette 51 has only a minimum amount of overhanging in order to support the substrate 50 so as not to damage it. Therefore, the substrate 50 is placed in the cassette 51.
In order to surely store the substrate 50 in the storage portion, it is necessary to insert the substrate 50 so that the posture of the substrate 50 is accurately aligned with the posture of the storage portion.

Further, the robot 54 conveys the substrate 50 in a state in which it is vacuum-sucked and held by the plurality of vacuum suction pads 54b on the upper surface of the fork 54a.
Of the fork 5 due to a reduction in the vacuum suction pad holding force of the substrate 50 due to sudden acceleration / deceleration of the substrate or deformation of the substrate 50.
It moves on the upper surface of 4a. As a result, the position (position in the X-axis direction and Y-axis direction) and orientation (angular position in the XY plane) of the substrate 50 on the upper surface of the fork 54a.
However, it will deviate from the reference position (the position indicated by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. 5) when it is taken out from the housing of the case 51. Further, when the Z-axis guide rail of the Z-axis drive mechanism of the robot 54 is tilted to move the fork 54a up and down, when the fork 54a receives the substrate 50 on the transfer parts 55 and 56, the substrate 50 with respect to the fork 54a is moved. The position is such that the fork 54a mounts the substrate 50 on the stage 52a, 5
It will be different from when handing over to 3a. This also causes the position of the substrate 50 on the fork 54a to deviate from the reference position. In addition, the substrate 50 is attached to the fork 5
When vacuum suction is performed by the vacuum suction pads of the 4a and the mounting tables 52a, 53a, if all the vacuum suction pads do not hit the surface of the substrate 50 vertically, the substrate 50 will rotate. This also causes the position and orientation of the substrate 50 on the fork 54a to deviate from the reference position.

Therefore, when the robot 54 returns to the original position shown in FIG.
The processed substrate 50 on 4a is displaced from the reference position. If the substrate 50 is to be stored in the storage portion in this state, the substrate 50 may collide with the cassette 51 and be damaged, or the substrate 50 may fall off the protruding portion 51a. Therefore, in order to safely insert and securely store the substrate 50 in the storage portion of the cassette 51, the posture of the substrate 50 needs to be accurately adjusted to the posture of the storage portion before the storage.

Therefore, the pre-alignment mechanism 5 is used.
7 are provided. This pre-alignment mechanism 57
Is a fixing member 58 having three reference pins 58a and 2
And a pressing member 59 having a pressing pin 59a of a book. By pressing the two end faces of the substrate 50 on the fork 54a which are not vacuum-sucked by the two pressing pins 59a, the substrate 5 on the opposite side to the end face is pressed.
The two end faces of 0 are pressed against the three reference pins 58a to position the substrate 50.

[0008]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional technique, in addition to the reference pin 58a and the pressing pin 59a, it is necessary to provide the pre-alignment mechanism 57 that requires an air cylinder or the like for pressing the pin 59. The number of parts increases, the manufacturing cost increases, and it takes time to perform the mechanical positioning work by the pre-alignment mechanism 57, and the device task (after the Nth substrate 50 is taken out from the cassette 51, (Time until N + 1th substrate 50 is taken out from the cassette)
However, there is a problem in that the processing time becomes long and the entire processing time becomes long.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide an automatic transfer apparatus which reduces the number of parts to reduce the cost and the processing time. .

[0010]

In order to solve the above problems, an automatic carrier device according to the invention of claim 1 is a case for accommodating a plurality of flat objects, and a mount on which the flat objects are placed. The flat object which has a processing unit having a table and a holding member for holding the flat object, conveys the flat object taken out from the case by the holding means to the processing unit, and has completed the processing by the processing unit. Is provided in the processing unit or in the vicinity thereof, and a transfer robot that receives and transports to the case by the holding member and stores in the case, a robot control unit that gives a movement command to the transfer robot, The robot controller includes a position detecting unit that detects a displacement amount and a tilt angle of a substrate placed on a table with respect to a reference position, and the robot control unit removes the flat object from the case. The movement command for correcting the position and inclination of the holding member of the transfer robot based on the detection value of the detection means is stored in the case in the same position and posture as when the flattening is performed. The object is given to the transfer robot when the object is received from the above-described object platform of the processing unit or immediately before being stored in the case.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an automatic carrier device having a plurality of the processing units, each of the plurality of processing units receiving the processed flat object from the processing unit and carrying the carrier. A transfer unit for holding the transfer unit to the robot is provided, and the position detecting means is provided at the transfer unit in the final processing unit of the plurality of processing units or in the vicinity thereof.

[0012]

In the automatic carrier device according to the first aspect of the present invention, the position detecting means detects the amount of displacement and the tilt angle of the flat object placed on the stage of the processing section with respect to the reference position. The robot control unit corrects the position and inclination of the holding member of the transfer robot based on the detection value of the detection means so that the flat object is stored in the case at the same position and orientation as when the flat object is taken out. The movement command is given to the transfer robot when the flat object is received from the stage or immediately before being stored in the case. As a result, the position and the tilt of the holding member of the transfer robot are changed by the amount of the positional deviation and the tilt angle, and when the flat object is stored in the case, the flat object has the same position and posture as when the flat object is taken out of the case, and the flat object Objects can be safely and reliably stored in the case. Therefore, it is not necessary to provide a pre-alignment mechanism as in the above-mentioned conventional technique, and it is not necessary to perform a time-consuming mechanical positioning operation of the flat object before housing the flat object in the case.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an automatic carrying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the automatic carrying apparatus.

In this automatic transfer device, a flat object, for example, a rectangular glass substrate 1 for a liquid crystal display device is taken out from a cassette, and the glass substrate 1 is transferred to a processing section for performing a series of processing such as processing and inspection. In addition, a series of transfer operations of accommodating the substrate 1 in which a series of processing has been completed in the cassette 2 are automatically performed.

As shown in FIG. 2, the automatic carrying apparatus according to the embodiment has a plurality of glass substrates (hereinafter, simply referred to as substrates).
A first cassette 2 and a second cassette 3 for storing the substrate 1, first and second processing units 4 and 5 having mounts 4a and 5a on which the substrate 1 is mounted, and a transport for transporting the substrate 1. A robot (hereinafter, simply referred to as a robot) 10 is provided. The first processing unit 4 is provided with a first transfer unit 7 that holds the substrate 1 processed by the processing unit 4 in order to transfer it to the robot 10. The second processing unit 5 is provided with a second transfer unit 8 that holds the substrate 1 processed by the processing unit 5 in order to transfer it to the robot 10.

The first cassette 2 and the second cassette 3 are fixed on a cassette table 6. In this cassette stand 6,
A positioning mechanism is provided for positioning one of the cassettes 2 and 3 at the cassette position (the position where the substrate 1 stored therein can be taken out by the fork 11 of the robot 10). In FIG. 2, the first cassette 2 is set at the cassette position. 1 substrate 1 in cassettes 2 and 3
A plurality of storage units for storing the sheets one by one are provided in the vertical direction. Overhangs 2 a and 3 a that support the lower surfaces of both sides of the substrate 1 are provided in the respective storage portions of the cassettes 2 and 3.

The stage 4a of the first processing unit 4 is provided with a recess 4b into which the fork 11 of the robot 10 can enter and a recess 4c into which the arm 7a of the first transfer unit 7 can enter. Four vacuum suction pads 4d for holding the substrate 1 are provided on the upper surface of the stage 4a. One sensor 4e for detecting the presence or absence of the substrate 1 is provided at the center of the upper surface of the stage 4a.

The stage 5a of the second processing section 5 is provided with a recess 5b into which the fork 11 can enter and a recess 5c into which the arm 8a of the second transfer section 8 can enter. Four vacuum suction pads 5d for holding the substrate 1 are provided on the upper surface of the stage 5a.

The robot 10 moves the fork 11 holding the substrate 1 on its upper surface forward and backward with respect to the cassette 2 and the processing units 4 and 5 (moves in the X-axis direction), and moves the fork 11 up and down. A Z-axis rectilinear mechanism for moving (moving in the Z-axis direction), a rotating mechanism for rotating the fork 11, and a robot main body 10a (see FIG. 1) equipped with the three mechanical parts and the like are arranged in the processing units 4 and 5. It is a 4-axis robot having a Y-axis rectilinear mechanism that moves in the direction (Y-axis direction). The Y-axis rectilinear mechanism has a guide rail 12. X
The shaft linearly moving mechanism has a guide rail 15 (see FIG. 4).
The fork 11 is a plate-shaped member. A vacuum suction pad 13 for holding the substrate 1 is provided on the upper surface of the fork 11.
It is provided in the place. At the center of the upper surface of the fork 11, one sensor 14 for detecting the presence or absence of the substrate 1 is provided.

The first transfer unit 7 has a Y-axis rectilinear mechanism for advancing and retracting the arm 7a for holding the substrate 1 on the upper surface with respect to the first processing unit 4, and a Z-axis rectilinear mechanism for moving the arm 7a up and down. It is a two-axis robot. The arm 7a is provided with a recess 7b into which the fork 11 of the robot 10 can enter. Vacuum suction pads 7c for holding the substrate 1 are provided at four positions on the upper surface of the arm 7a.

The second transfer section 8 has a Y-axis rectilinear mechanism for advancing and retracting the arm 8a for holding the substrate 1 on the upper surface with respect to the second processing section 5, and a Z-axis rectilinear mechanism for vertically moving the arm 8a. It is a two-axis robot. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the arm 8a is provided with a recess 8b into which the fork 11 can enter. The substrate 1 is provided on the upper surface of the arm 8a.
Vacuum suction pads 8c are provided at four locations for holding the.

As shown in FIG. 1, the automatic transfer apparatus according to the embodiment has a transfer robot controller (hereinafter, simply referred to as a controller) 20 for giving a movement command to the robot 10, and an arm 8a of the second transfer section 8. Substrate position for detecting positional deviation amount (deviation amount in X-axis direction and Y-axis direction) and inclination angle (rotation angle in the XY plane) with respect to the reference position 34 (see FIG. 4) of the substrate 1 held above. A detection sensor (hereinafter, simply referred to as a detection sensor) 30 is provided.

The controller 20 includes a memory unit 21 for storing teaching data input in advance, and the robot 10 based on the teaching data from the memory unit 21.
Of the movement command and outputs a signal representing the movement command.

As shown in FIG. 4, the detection sensor 30 is composed of three CCD line sensors 31 to 33 arranged on the upper surface of the arm 8a of the second transfer section 8. C
The CD line sensors 31 and 32 are arranged along one side of an imaginary rectangle indicating the reference position 34, detect one end faces of the substrate 1 from below, and output a position signal representing the detected position to the arithmetic unit. 22 is output. The CCD line sensor 33 is arranged on the other side of the virtual rectangle which is orthogonal to the one side, and the substrate 1 which is orthogonal to the one end face.
The other end face of is detected from below, and a position signal indicating the detected position is output to the arithmetic unit 22. That is, the detection sensor 30 detects the amount of displacement of the substrate 1 with respect to the reference position 34 (the amount of displacement in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction) by the two CCD line sensors 31 and 33 or 32 and 33, and at the same time, The CCD line sensors 31 and 32 detect the tilt angle (rotation angle in the XY plane) of the substrate 1 with respect to the reference position 34.

The reference position 34 shown in FIG. 4 is a position that serves as a positioning reference for the substrate 1, and corresponds to the reference position 35 shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. That is, if the fork 11 receives the substrate 1 from the arm 8a while the substrate 1 on the upper surface of the arm 8a is accurately positioned at the reference position 34 and the fork 11 is perpendicular to the guide rail 12, the robot 10 is When the substrate 1 is returned to the original position shown in FIG. 2, the substrate 1 is accurately positioned at the reference position 35 shown in FIG.

The computing unit 22 computes the positional deviation amount based on the position signals from the two CCD line sensors 31 and 33 or 32 and 33, and at the same time, based on the position signals from the two CCD line sensors 31 and 32. The tilt angle is calculated, and a movement command having the calculated value as a correction value is output to the robot 10.

That is, the arithmetic unit 22 positions and tilts the fork 11 so that the substrate 1 is stored in the cassette 2 at the same position and attitude as when the substrate 1 is taken out from the cassette 2 (at the reference position 35 in FIG. 2). A movement command for correcting (position and orientation direction in the XY plane) based on the detection value of the detection sensor 30 (position signals from the three CCD line sensors 31 to 33) is provided to the robot 10. ing. The movement command is given to the robot 10 when the fork 11 receives the substrate 1 from the arm 8a (for example, immediately before the fork 11 is extended toward the arm 8a).

In the above automatic carrier, when the substrate 1 is processed by the two processing units 4 and 5, the substrate 1 is automatically carried by the following procedure (see FIG. 3). In FIG. 3, solid arrows indicate the transport path of the substrate 1. (1) The fork 11 of the robot 10 receives one substrate 1 from the storage section in the cassette 2 (path 61 in FIG. 3). (2) The fork 11 places the substrate 1 on the stage 4a of the first processing unit 4 (path 62 in FIG. 3). (3) The arm 7a of the first transfer unit 7 mounts the substrate 1 on which the processing by the first processing unit 4 is completed on the stage 4a of the first processing unit 4.
It is received from (path 63 in FIG. 3) and held for delivery to the fork 11. (4) The robot 10 moves from the position of the first processing unit 4 to the position of the first transfer unit 7 along the guide rail 12 (in the Y-axis direction), and the substrate 1 on the arm 7 a of the first transfer unit 7 Is received by the fork 11 (route 6 in FIG. 3).
4). (5) The robot 10 moves from the position of the first transfer unit 7 to the second position.
It moves in the Y-axis direction to the position of the stage 5a of the processing unit 5 (path 65 in FIG. 3). (6) The fork 11 transfers the substrate 1 to the stage 5 of the second processing section 5.
Place it on a (path 66 in FIG. 3). (7) The arm 8a of the second transfer unit 8 receives the substrate (processed substrate) 1 that has been processed by the second processing unit 5 from the stage 5a of the second processing unit 5 (path 67 in FIG. 3). ,
Hold for delivery to fork 11.

At this time, the CCD line sensors 31 to 33 of the detection sensor 30 detect the displacement amount and the tilt angle of the substrate 1 with respect to the reference position 34 of FIG. That is, C
The CD line sensors 31 and 32 detect the one end surface of the substrate 1 and output a position signal indicating the detected position to the arithmetic unit 22. The CCD line sensor 33 detects the other end surface of the substrate 1 and outputs a position signal representing the detected position to the arithmetic unit 22. The calculation unit 22 calculates the amount of positional deviation and the tilt angle based on the position signals from the CCD line sensors 31 to 33, and the calculated values are stored in the memory 21.
Remembers. (8) The robot 10 moves in the Y-axis direction from the position of the stage 5a of the second processing unit 5 to the position of the second transfer unit 8. After this movement, the fork 11 of the computing unit 22 is moved to the substrate 1
Is received from the arm 8a of the second transfer unit 8, the calculated values of the positional deviation amount and the tilt angle are read from the memory 21, and a movement command having the calculated values as correction values is given to the robot 10. As a result, the position and inclination of the fork 11 (position and orientation in the XY plane) are changed according to the position and inclination of the substrate 1, that is, by the amount of displacement and the inclination angle. After this change, the fork 11 is extended to receive the processed substrate 1 on the arm 8a of the second transfer section 8 (path 68 in FIG. 3). As a result, the substrate 1 is held on the upper surface of the fork 11 at the correct position in which the amount of displacement and the tilt angle are corrected. (9) The robot 10 moves from the position of the second transfer unit 8 to the position shown in FIG.
Move in the Y-axis direction to the original position shown in (see path 6 in FIG. 3).
9). (10) After this movement, the calculation unit 22 reads the calculated values of the positional displacement amount and the tilt angle from the memory 21 again,
A movement command having the calculated value as a correction value is given to the robot 10. As a result, the position and the inclination of the fork 11 are returned to the original positions by the displacement amount and the inclination angle, and the substrate 1 is positioned at the reference position 35 in FIG. Fork 11 in this state
The substrate 1 is housed in the housing portion of the cassette 2 by feeding (step 70 in FIG. 3).

As described above, according to the above-described embodiment, when the fork 11 receives the processed substrate 1 from the arm 8a of the second transfer section 8, the position and inclination of the fork 11 are the reference position of the substrate 1 (see FIG. 2 is changed by the amount of displacement and the tilt angle with respect to the reference position 34), and the robot 10
After holding the processed substrate 1 and returning to the original position shown in FIG. 2, the position and the inclination of the fork 11 are returned to the original positions by the amount of displacement and the inclination angle. The substrate 1 is located at the reference position 35 in FIG. 2 when it is stored (it has the same position and posture as when it is taken out from the cassette 2). As a result, the substrate 1 can be safely inserted into the cassette 2 and reliably stored. Therefore, it is not necessary to provide a pre-alignment mechanism as in the above-mentioned conventional technique, and it is not necessary to perform time-consuming mechanical positioning work of the board before housing the board in the case. Therefore, the number of parts is reduced to reduce the cost,
Moreover, the processing time can be shortened.

According to the above embodiment, the processing unit 4,
5, since the transfer units 7 and 8 are provided respectively, the device tact (time from the removal of the Nth substrate 1 from the cassette 2 to the removal of the N + 1th substrate 1 from the cassette 2) is shortened. can do. That is, if the first transfer unit 7 is not provided, the robot 10 operates in the cassette 2
After the substrate 1 taken out from the substrate is placed on the stage 4a of the first processing unit 4 until the processing by the first processing unit 4 is completed,
It is necessary to wait on the spot to receive the substrate 1, resulting in wasted time. Similarly, without the second transfer unit 8, the robot 10 holds the substrate 1 from the time when the substrate 1 is placed on the stage 5a of the second processing unit 5 until the processing in the second processing unit 5 ends. You have to wait on-the-fly to receive it, which wastes time.
On the other hand, according to the above-described embodiment, since there is no wasted time, the device tact can be shortened and the overall processing time can be shortened.

In the above embodiment, the operation of returning the position and the inclination of the fork 11 to the original position by the amount of displacement and the inclination angle is performed after the robot 10 returns to the original position shown in FIG. Alternatively, the operation may be performed immediately after the fork 11 receives the processed substrate 1 from the second transfer unit 8.

Further, in the above embodiment, as the detection sensor 30, two two-dimensional CCD cameras may be used instead of the CCD line sensors 31 to 33. In this case, on the other hand, the one end surface of the substrate 1 is detected, and the other end surface of the substrate 1 is detected by the other.

Further, in the above embodiment, PSD may be used instead of the CCD line sensors 31 to 33.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, photodiodes may be used instead of the CCD line sensors 31 to 33. In this case, the position shift amount is obtained from the absolute light receiving amount of the photodiodes, and the tilt angle is obtained from the relative light receiving amount between the photodiodes. However, when the photodiode is used, it is necessary to constantly monitor the ambient illuminance of the substrate so as not to erroneously detect a change in the ambient illuminance of the substrate as a change in the position and inclination of the substrate.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, a camera is arranged above the arm 8a of the second transfer section 8 instead of the CCD line sensors 31 to 33, and the reference position of the substrate 1 on the arm 8a is provided by this camera. It is also possible to detect the positional deviation amount and the inclination angle with respect to.

Further, in the above embodiment, contact type sensors may be used instead of the CCD line sensors 31 to 33. In this case, two pins that are pressed against the one end surface of the substrate 1 on the arm 8a and one pin that is pressed against the other end surface of the substrate 1 are used, and the position of each pin is changed to a digital scale, a differential transformer, or the like. Configure to read with. The force pressing each pin is smaller than the holding force of the substrate 1 by vacuum suction.

Further, in the above embodiment, the fork 1
The substrate 1 on which 1 has been processed is the arm 8a of the second transfer unit 8.
When the robot 10 holds the processed substrate 1 and returns to the original position shown in FIG. 2 without changing the position and the inclination of the fork 11, the position and the inclination of the fork 11 are shifted. It may be configured to change only the amount and the tilt angle. In this case, since the position and inclination of the fork 11 need only be changed once, the processing time can be shortened accordingly.

Further, in the above-mentioned one embodiment, two processing units 4 and 5 are provided, but the present invention is not limited to this, and one processing unit or three processing units is provided.
It also applies to those with more than one. When three or more processing units are provided, the detection sensor 30 is provided in the final processing unit. If the final processing section has a delivery section,
The delivery sensor is provided with the detection sensor 30.

As the detection sensor 30, a television camera is arranged above the robot 10 at the position shown in FIG. 2 and the substrate 1 is held in the state where the robot 10 holds the substrate 1 at the position shown in FIG. The position and orientation may be detected by a TV camera.

[0042]

As described above, according to the automatic carrier device of the first aspect of the invention, the position detecting means displaces the flat object placed on the stage of the processing section from the reference position. The amount and tilt angle are detected. The robot control unit corrects the position and inclination of the holding member of the transfer robot based on the detection value of the detection means so that the flat object is stored in the case at the same position and orientation as when the flat object is taken out. The movement command is given to the transfer robot when the flat object is received from the stage or immediately before being stored in the case. As a result, the position and the tilt of the holding member of the transfer robot are changed by the amount of the positional deviation and the tilt angle, and when the flat object is stored in the case, the flat object has the same position and posture as when the flat object is taken out of the case, and the flat object Objects can be safely and reliably stored in the case. Therefore, it is not necessary to provide a pre-alignment mechanism as in the above-mentioned conventional technique, and it is not necessary to perform a time-consuming mechanical positioning operation of the flat object before housing the flat object in the case.

Therefore, the number of parts can be reduced to reduce the cost, and the processing time can be shortened.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an automatic transport device according to an embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a procedure of carrying a substrate by the automatic carrying apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an operation explanatory diagram of the automatic transport device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a conventional automatic transport device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 glass substrate (flat object) 2, 3 cassette (case) 4 first processing unit (processing unit) 5 second processing unit (processing unit) 4a, 5a stage 10 transfer robot 11 fork (holding member) 20 transfer robot Controller (robot control section) 30 Substrate position detection sensor (position detection means)

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Internal reference number FI Technical display location G02F 1/13 101 G02F 1/13 101 H05K 13/02 H05K 13/02 T // G01N 35/04 G01N 35/04 E

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A case that accommodates a plurality of flat objects, a processing unit having a stage on which the flat objects are placed, and a holding member that holds the flat objects, the holding means being provided from the case. A transport robot that transports the flat object taken out by the above to the processing unit, transports the flat object that has been processed by the processing unit by the holding member and transports it to the case, and stores it in the case, A robot control unit that gives a movement command to the transfer robot, and a position detection unit that is provided in the processing unit or in the vicinity thereof and that detects a positional deviation amount and a tilt angle with respect to a reference position of a substrate placed on the object table. The robot controller may be configured to store the flat object in the case in the same position and posture as when the flat object is taken out from the case. The movement command for correcting the position and the inclination of the holding member on the basis of the detection value of the detection means is received when the flat object is received from the object platform of the processing unit or immediately before being stored in the case. An automatic transfer device, characterized in that it is configured to be applied to a transfer robot. 2. A plurality of processing units are provided, and each of the plurality of processing units is provided with a transfer unit that receives the processed flat object from the processing unit and holds it for transfer to the transfer robot. 2. The automatic carrier device according to claim 1, wherein the position detecting means is provided in the transfer unit in the final processing unit of the plurality of processing units or in the vicinity thereof.