JPH09131632A - Working machine having xy table - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent occurrence of damages such as cracks in tables and rails even in a long time service by forming a stone material of a base board whose coefficient of thermal expansion is smaller than that of the stone forming an upper table, a lower table, upper rail groups and lower rail groups. SOLUTION: Stone material especially excellent in the mechanical strength is selected for the material of a suction table 9, an X-table 10, a supporting table 11, a Y-table 14, and Y-axis rail groups 15, 16 which are components of an XY-table 2. The table 10, 14 the supporting table 11, and the rail groups 15, 16 are difficult to occure damages such as cracks even for a long time service. Because the stone material whose coefficient of thermal expansion is especially small is selected for a block 3 which is a foundation of the device and whose area is large, the expansion and the shrinkage associated with the temperature change are extremely small even for the block 3 of large area.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention According to the present invention, an XY table capable of transferring mounted workpieces in two directions orthogonal to each other is placed on a base board, and the workpieces are exposed to laser light or the like. The present invention relates to a processing machine with an XY table that can perform precision processing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An XY table mounted on a laser beam machine or the like usually slidably supports the X table (upper table) on which a workpiece is mounted via a suction table or the like. A pair of X-axis rails (upper rails), a first drive unit such as a linear motor that linearly moves the X-table linearly along these X-axis rails, and a Y-table on which these X-axis rails are mounted (lower Table), a pair of Y-axis rails (lower rails) that extend in the direction orthogonal to the X-axis rails and slidably support the Y-table, and linear linear movements of the Y-table along these Y-axis rails. It is roughly configured with a second drive means such as a motor, and is mounted on a base plate which is also called a surface plate.
Then, on this base board, the first and second
By driving the X table and the Y table linearly in two directions orthogonal to each other by the driving means, it is possible to set the machining shape for the workpiece. Further, in order to perform precision processing in a micron unit on a workpiece, it is necessary to eliminate the influence of expansion and contraction due to temperature change as much as possible, so X table, Y table, X axis rail, Y axis rail and As the material of the base board, the same type of stone material having excellent mechanical strength and a small thermal expansion coefficient is used.

In this type of XY table, normally X
Air gaps are formed by sending compressed air from the air nozzles provided on the table side between the table and each X-axis rail, and between the Y table and each Y-axis rail. Since the frictional force when moving each table along the rail is greatly reduced, the workpiece can be smoothly transferred in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction.

[0004]

By the way, the conventional XY table-equipped processing machine which employs a stone material to reduce the effect of temperature change as described above is driven by a linear motor or the like to move up and down linearly. The table and the upper and lower rails that slidably support these tables are subject to a large tensile force, compressive force, bending stress, etc. during use, and therefore, if they are used for a long period of time, There was a risk of damage such as cracks on the table and each rail.
Moreover, the stone material used in such a conventional processing machine has a small coefficient of thermal expansion, but in the case of a member having a particularly large area such as a base plate (surface plate) which is the base of the device, its high temperature The amount of expansion at time and the amount of contraction at low temperature were not so small that they could be ignored.

The present invention has been made in view of such inadequacies of the prior art, and an object thereof is to prevent a member such as a stone from being easily damaged by cracks or the like even if it is used for a long period of time, and to expand with a temperature change. An object of the present invention is to provide a processing machine with an XY table that has extremely small amount and shrinkage amount and that has good durability and reliability.

[0006]

The above-mentioned object of the present invention is to mount an upper table on which a workpiece is mounted, an upper rail group for movably supporting the upper table, and the upper rail group. An XY table including a lower table and a lower rail group extending in a direction orthogonal to the upper rail group and movably supporting the lower table is provided on a base board, and the upper table, the lower table, and the upper rail group are provided. And a stone material forming the lower rail group is formed of a stone material having a mechanical strength higher than that of the stone material forming the base board, and the stone material of the base board is formed by the upper table, the lower table, the upper rail group and the lower rail. This is achieved by using a stone material having a coefficient of thermal expansion smaller than that of the stone material forming the group.

[0007]

[Function] When a material having a particularly high mechanical strength is selected as the stone material for the upper table, the lower table, the upper rail group and the lower rail group, the upper and lower tables and the upper and lower tables to which a large tensile force, compressive force, bending stress, etc. are applied during use. Since the durability of the rail group is improved, damage such as cracks is less likely to occur on each table and each rail even after long-term use. Further, when a material having a particularly small coefficient of thermal expansion is selected as the stone material of the base board, the expansion amount and the contraction amount due to the temperature change become extremely small even for a member having a large area such as the base board.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. Here, FIG. 1 is a front view of an XY table according to the present embodiment, FIG. 2 is a side view of the XY table with a part omitted, and FIG. 3 is an overall side view of a laser processing machine including the XY table. 4 is a side view of a portion corresponding to FIG. 3 of the safety cover that covers the laser processing machine, FIG. 5 is a side view of the Y-axis linear motor incorporated in the XY table shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and FIG. 6 is the XY. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing the legs of the X table of the table, FIG. 7 is a plan view showing the air blowing surface of the legs of the X table shown in FIG. 6, and FIG. 8 is a plan view showing the suction table of the XY table. 9A and 9B are explanatory views showing the support structure of the suction table shown in FIG.

The XY table according to this embodiment is adopted in the laser processing machine shown in FIG. That is, this laser processing machine includes a processing machine main body 1 for guiding a laser beam (YAG laser) supplied from a laser oscillator 5 by an optical system including a lens group, a beam splitter, and the like, and irradiating the workpiece, and a mounted object. An XY table 2 that can transfer a workpiece (glass substrate) in two directions orthogonal to each other by a linear motor, a surface plate (base plate) 3 on which the processing machine body 1 and the XY table 2 are mounted, and the surface plate 3 And a vibration isolation table 4 on which a laser beam is mounted. A safety cover 7 (see FIG. 4) having a cover frame 6 shown by a chain line in FIG. Covering. In addition, reference numeral 21 in FIG. 1 denotes an optical surface plate on which the processing machine body 1 is mounted.
It is supported by the surface plate 3 via 2.

The XY table 2 has a shaft hole 9a provided at the center of the bottom surface and a large number of suction holes 9b communicating with the vacuum pump 8. The mounted work piece can be mounted through the suction hole 9b group. A suction table 9 that can be sucked and fixed by sucking air, and an X table 10 that rotatably supports the suction table 9 by inserting a columnar support shaft 10a into the shaft hole 9a of the suction table 9. , A pair of parallel X-axis rail portions 11a slidably supporting the X-table 10 on both side edges and having a concave sectional shape, and the X-axis installed inside the support table 11. An X-axis linear motor 12 that linearly reciprocates the X table 10 along the rail portion 11a, an X-axis linear encoder 13 that detects position data of the X table 10, and a Y on which the support base 11 is mounted.
The table 14, three Y-axis rails 15 and 16 extending in a direction orthogonal to the X-axis rail portion 11a and slidably supporting the Y-table 14, and these Y-axis rail groups 15 and 1
A Y-axis linear motor 17 that linearly moves the Y table 14 back and forth along a line 6, and a Y-axis linear encoder 18 that detects position data of the Y table 14 are mainly configured. However, the X table 10 and each X-axis rail portion 11
Between a, and the Y table 14 and the Y-axis rails 15 and 16
An air gap is formed by blowing compressed air from an air nozzle provided on the table side between them respectively, and by reducing the frictional force by these air gaps, the workpiece is moved in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction. It can be transferred smoothly.

In order to eliminate the influence of expansion and contraction due to temperature change as much as possible, in the present embodiment, the suction table 9, X is used.
Table 10, support 11, Y table 14, and Y
Granite called Indian Black is used as the stone material for the shaft rail groups 15 and 16, and Granite called Rustenburg is used as the stone material for the surface plate 3.

The laser beam machine equipped with such an XY table 2 drives and controls the XY table 2 to move the workpiece mounted on the suction table 9 in a horizontal plane with high positional accuracy. Therefore, by moving the workpiece along a predetermined locus with respect to the spot-shaped laser beam (beam spot) emitted from the tip (objective lens) of the optical system of the processing machine body 1, A desired processing pattern by beam irradiation can be drawn on the workpiece. Specifically, in a manufacturing process of a liquid crystal display element for full-color display, a product in which a stripe-shaped transparent electrode extending in one direction and a color filter laminated on the electrode are formed on a glass substrate is processed. The color filter is mounted on the suction table 9 and the beam spot is emitted from the processing machine main body 1 while the workpiece is appropriately transferred by the XY table 2, whereby the color filters are arranged at a constant pitch interval in the direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction thereof. Can be removed with.

Since the linear motors 12 and 17 incorporated in the XY table 2 generate a strong magnetic force for driving a heavy object, in this embodiment, a CRT for a monitor or a monitor arranged in the periphery is measured. In order to prevent the magnetic forces of the linear motors 12 and 17 from adversely affecting the machine, the safety machine 7 mainly made of a ferromagnetic material covers the laser machine. That is, the safety cover 7 is, as shown in FIGS.
4 is an iron plate, a degaussing plate, and the like. Specifically, the part A in FIG. 4 is the place where the stainless steel plate of SUS304 is attached, and the parts a and c are the inside of the stainless steel plate of SUS304 and the stainless steel plate of SUS430. It is a two-layer structure where a degaussing plate is attached to enhance the degaussing effect. Among these, the claw part is a double-opening cover that can be opened and closed. In addition, the d part has the same configuration as the claw part on the outside of the colored acrylic plate. It is a part of the three-layer structure. Thus, if the laser processing machine is covered with the safety cover 7 having a degaussing effect, and a strong magnetic force is expected in the vicinity of the linear motors 12 and 17, the degaussing effect is enhanced by forming a two-layer structure. There is no fear that the magnetic forces of 12 and 17 will adversely affect the peripheral equipment, and the optical system of the processing machine main body 1 can be easily adjusted by opening the double-opening cover of the c. Further, when directly confirming whether or not the laser beam is properly applied to the workpiece, if the both-sided covers of the section D are opened, it is possible to perform visual confirmation safely through the colored acrylic plate.

Next, the detailed structure of the XY table according to this embodiment will be described.

As shown in FIG. 8, a large number of suction holes 9b communicating with the vacuum pump 8 are provided on the upper surface of the suction table 9, and the vacuum pump 8 is provided through the suction hole 9b group.
By sucking air with, the suction table 9 can suck and fix the mounted workpiece.

Further, as shown in FIG. 9, a shaft hole 9a for inserting the support shaft 10a of the X table 10 is provided in the central portion of the bottom surface of the suction table 9, and the shaft around the support shaft 10a is provided. Between the outer gap, that is, between the outer wall surface of the support shaft 10a and the inner wall surface of the shaft hole 9a, a gap is maintained by mixing a large number of resin balls (resin spacers) 19a with grease slightly larger than the gap of the shaft gap. Agent 19 is filled. However, the support shaft 10a is a convex body made of stainless steel, and the inner wall portion of the shaft hole 9a is also formed in a bearing structure made of stainless steel. The support shaft 10a rotatably supports the suction table 9 through the gap maintaining agent 17, and when positioning the workpiece suction-fixed on the suction table 9 with respect to the X table 10 with high accuracy. The motor 20 shown in FIG.
The suction table 9 is driven by the support shaft 10a
Can be appropriately rotated about the rotation center. Further, while the gap of the axial gap is 15 to 16 μm, the gap maintaining agent 19 disperses the resin balls 19 a having a diameter of 20 μm before the filling, so that the resin balls 19 a are crushed after the filling. In this state, they are dispersed in the axial gap, so that even if strict size control is not performed, the axial gap is always kept uniform, and there is no play in the vicinity of the rotation center of the suction table 9. It is like this. When the positioning for rotating the suction table 9 is completed, the X table 10 can suck and fix the suction table 9 by sucking air from the air nozzle on the upper surface side.

As shown in FIG. 2, the X-table 10 has a support base 1 having a pair of parallel X-axis rail portions 11a.
An X-axis linear motor 12 for reciprocally moving the X-table 10 along the X-axis rail portion 11a is installed inside the support base 11 slidably. The linear motor 12 is composed of a coil 12a integrated with the X table 10, a magnet 12b and a yoke 12c extending in parallel with the X-axis rail portion 11a, and the X output from the X-axis linear encoder 13. Based on the position data of the table 10, the position of the X table 10 is controlled via the coil 12a which is a movable part. Further, in this X-axis linear encoder 13, a light-emitting element and a light-receiving element are integrated with the X-table 10 to form a detection section 13a, and a scale section (linear scale) 13b fixed to one X-axis rail 11a has a light-emitting element. The light is emitted and the reflected light is captured by the light receiving element, and the position of the moving X table 10 can be detected in real time.

In this embodiment, the X table 10 is slidably supported by the pair of parallel X-axis rail portions 11a provided on both side edges of the support base 11.
It is easy to give a high degree of parallelism to the pair of X-axis rail portions 11a, and when the support base 11 is installed on the Y table 14, the positional accuracy of the rail portion 11a group is easily increased. be able to. Moreover, in this embodiment, the point of action P of the magnetic driving force generated by the X-axis linear motor 12 is made to substantially coincide with the center of gravity of the X table 10 driven by the linear motor 12, so that the X table 10 is started. There is no risk of rattling at the time of stopping, and it is possible to improve the processing accuracy.

Next, the support structure and driving method of the Y table 14 on which the support base 11 is mounted will be described. The Y table 14 has its both side edges slidable by a pair of Y axis main rails 15. The center rail (Y-axis auxiliary rail) 16 is slidably supported by the center rail (Y-axis auxiliary rail) 16.
The Y table 14 is reciprocated along the shaft rail groups 15 and 16. As shown in FIG. 5, each of the pair of linear motors 17 has a coil 17 a integrated with the Y table 14 and Y-axis rail groups 15 and 16.
The pair of linear motors 17 are constituted by a magnet 17b and a yoke 17c extending in parallel with the coil 1 which is a movable part based on the position data of the Y table 14 output from the Y-axis linear encoder 18.
The position of the Y table 14 is controlled via 7a. Further, in the Y-axis linear encoder 18, a light emitting element and a light receiving element are integrally formed in a substantially central portion of the Y table 14 to form a detecting portion 18a, and a scale portion (linear scale) 18b fixed to the center rail 16 emits light. The light of the element is irradiated and the reflected light is captured by the light receiving element, and the position of the moving Y table 14 can be detected in real time.

That is, in this embodiment, the Y table 14
In addition to the pair of Y-axis main rails 15 supporting both side edge portions of the Y-table 14, the center portion of the Y-table 14 is supported by the center rail 16 located between the both main rails 15. Even if the center rail 16 is located near the central portion of the Y table 14,
Since the Y table 14 receives the load of 0, there is no fear that the Y table 14 is bent, and even when the X table 10 is located on the side edge portion of the Y table 14, the load of the X table 10 is applied to one Y axis main rail 15 Since the center rail 16 and the center rail 16 are dispersed and received, the air gap between the upper surface of the remaining Y-axis main rail 15 and the Y table 14 does not undesirably widen. It should be noted that the arrow in FIG. 1 indicates the compressed air blown out by the Y table 14, and as can be seen from this arrow, there is an air gap between the upper surface and both side surfaces of each Y-axis main rail 15 and the Y table 10. And an air gap is formed between the upper surface of the center rail 16 and the Y table 10.

Further, in the present embodiment, the detecting portion 18a of the Y-axis linear encoder 18 for detecting the position data of the Y table 14 is installed at a location integrally reciprocating in the vicinity of the center rail 16 and reciprocating linearly with the Y table 14. Therefore, the position data of the Y table 14 detected by the detector 18a is obtained by averaging the relative positions of the pair of Y-axis main rails 15 supporting both side edges of the Y table 14. Therefore, it is possible to accurately grasp the actual position change of the mounted workpiece. When the position control based on the detection result of the one Y-axis linear encoder 18 is performed in synchronization with the two Y-axis linear motors 17 as described above, the position control is performed on one of the linear motors 17. Since the phenomenon in which the position of the moved Y table 14 is changed by the position control of the other linear motor 17 does not occur, the positional deviation of the transferred workpiece can be avoided and the processing accuracy is improved.

Here, the X table 10 and the Y table 14
The shape of the air blowing surface that blows the compressed air toward the X-axis rail portion 11a group and the Y-axis rail group 15 and 16 will be described with reference to FIGS. Although these drawings show the air blowing surface (rail facing surface) 10b of the leg portion of the X table 10, the surface facing the upper surface of the X-axis rail portion 11a group of the X table 10 and the Y table 14 are shown. Among them, the surface facing the upper surface and both side surfaces of the Y-axis main rail group 15 or the surface facing the upper surface of the center rail 16 is also an air blowing surface having substantially the same shape. Now, the air blowing surface 10b of the illustrated X table 10
In addition to exposing a large number of air nozzles 10c, an exhaust groove 10d extending across adjacent air nozzles 10c is provided, so that the air is supplied to the air gap through the air nozzles 10c. The compressed air has a relatively wide gap, and these exhaust grooves 10
Attempts to flow through d, resulting in a stable compressed air discharge flow path. In particular, since a similar exhaust groove is provided on the air blowing surface of the Y table 14 to stabilize the discharge passage of the compressed air, by moving the X table 10 on the Y table 14, either one of the Y tables is moved. Even when the air gap on the upper surface side of the shaft main rail 15 becomes slightly wide, there is no possibility that a large amount of compressed air will flow into it from another place and an irregular air flow will be generated. It is possible to avoid the occurrence of vibration due to the irregular air flow in the.

In this embodiment, the air blowing surface is
An example is shown in which an exhaust groove extending across adjacent air nozzles is provided. However, the plane shape of the exhaust groove provided around each air nozzle is a square shape with the air nozzle as the center or a square shape. By setting it in a V shape, it is possible to further stabilize the discharge passage of the compressed air.

Next, the Y-axis rail group 1 in this embodiment
The mounting structure of 5, 16 will be described. Y table 1
The pair of Y-axis main rails 15 and the center rail 16 that slidably support 4 are mounted on the upper surface of the surface plate 3 by inserting the rail bottom into the mounting grooves 3a. Since it is designed to be positioned in the width direction on the inner wall surface, even if an external force is applied to the rails 15 and 16 in the width direction as the X table 10 supported on the Y table 14 moves. Since the position of the rails 15 and 16 is regulated by the surface plate 3, there is no fear that the rails 15 and 16 will be displaced.

Further, in this embodiment, as described above, XY
The suction table 9, the X table 10, the support table 11, the Y table 14, and the Y-axis rail group 1 which are the components of the table 2.
As Indian Black (a type of granite), which is known as a stone material with a particularly high mechanical strength, is selected for materials such as 5, 16 and so, a large tensile force, compressive force, bending stress, etc. are applied during use of the XY table 2. The durability of each component is improved, and each table 10, even after long-term use,
It is difficult for damage such as cracks to occur in the base 14, the support base 11, and the rail groups 15 and 16. Moreover, the material of the surface plate 3 having a large area as the base of the apparatus is Rustenburg (a type of granite) known as a stone material having a particularly small thermal expansion coefficient.
Therefore, even if the surface plate 3 has a large area, the expansion amount and the contraction amount due to the temperature change are extremely small. In addition, comparing two types of stone materials, Indian Black and Rustenburg, the former has higher mechanical strength than the latter, and the latter has a smaller coefficient of thermal expansion than the former, but since both are types of granite, they are different from other stone materials. In comparison, Indian Black has a sufficiently small coefficient of thermal expansion, and Rustenburg also has a sufficiently high mechanical strength.

[0026]

As described above, the XY according to the present invention
The processing machine with a table is the second stone which is the material of the base plate (surface plate) as the first stone material which is the material of each table and each rail of the XY table to which tensile force and bending stress are applied.
Since a material with higher mechanical strength than that of the stone material is selected, damage such as cracks does not easily occur on each table or each rail even after long-term use, and the coefficient of thermal expansion of the second stone material is particularly high. Since a small material is selected, the amount of expansion and contraction due to temperature changes is extremely small even for members with a large area such as the base board, and therefore the excellent effect of improving durability and reliability is achieved. Is obtained. Further, by using the same stone material for each table and each rail, thermal expansion and the like become the same, and the processing accuracy can be further improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of an XY table according to this embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the XY table with a part thereof omitted.

FIG. 3 is an overall side view of a laser processing machine including the XY table.

FIG. 4 is a side view of a portion corresponding to FIG. 3 of a safety cover that covers the laser beam machine.

5 is a side view of a Y-axis linear motor incorporated in the XY table shown in FIGS.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a leg portion of an X table of the XY table.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing an air blowing surface of a leg portion of the X table shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a plan view showing a suction table of the XY table.

9 is an explanatory view showing a support structure of the suction table shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Processing Machine Main Body 2 XY Table 3 Surface Plate (Base Plate) 9 Adsorption Table 10 X Table (Upper Table) 11 Support Base 11a X Axis Rail Part 12 X Axis Linear Motor (First Driving Means) 13 X Axis Linear Encoder 14 Y table (lower table) 15 Y-axis main rail 16 Center rail (Y-axis auxiliary rail) 17 Y-axis linear motor 18 Y-axis linear encoder

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Internal reference number FI technical display location B23Q 1/26 A

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An upper table on which a workpiece is mounted, an upper rail group for movably supporting the upper table, a lower table on which the upper rail group is mounted, and a direction orthogonal to the upper rail group. An XY table having a lower rail group that extends to the base and movably supports the lower table is provided on the base board, and the stone materials forming the upper table, the lower table, the upper rail group, and the lower rail group are provided on the base board. Formed by a stone material having higher mechanical strength than that of the stone material, and the stone material of the base board has a smaller thermal expansion coefficient than the stone material forming the upper table, the lower table, the upper rail group and the lower rail group. X characterized by being formed from stone
Processing machine with Y table. 2. The processing machine with an XY table according to claim 1, wherein the stone materials forming the upper table, the lower table, the upper rail group and the lower rail group are the same material. 3. A first driving means for linearly reciprocating the upper table along the upper rail group, and a second driving means for linearly reciprocating the lower table along the lower rail group. X according to claim 1, characterized in that
Processing machine with Y table. 4. The processing machine with an XY table according to claim 1, wherein the processing machine with an XY table is a laser processing machine.