JPH0995386A - Glass base board transferring cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To take in and out easily glass base boards by a method wherein base board holding bodies having flange-like protrusions are stacked on one another with the aid of shafts penetrating therethrough and mounted to the shafts in a vertically movable manner in a case-like glass base board transferring cassette wherein a plurality of glass base boards are superposed on one another in a horizontal state at predetermined intervals therebetween and contained. SOLUTION: In the case where a glass base board 8a is mounted on base board holding bodies 4 in, for example, the fourth step of a glass base board transferring cassette, two arms 7 are set under both flange-like protrusions of the base board holding bodies 4 in the fourth step, and are moved up simultaneously to raise the base board holding bodies 4 together with other base board holding bodies 4 located on the upside of the base board holding bodies 4 in the fourth step, thereby expanding a space on the upside of a glass base board 8b. Then, the glass base board 8a is held by a hand loader 20 to be advanced, and the hand loader 20 is so lowered as to place both edges of the glass base board 8a on the protrusions of the base board holding bodies 4 in the fourth step. After the hand loader 20 is retreated, the two arms 7 are simultaneously moved down to return the base board holding bodies 4 together with other base board holding bodies 4 above the fourth step to their original positions, whereby one glass base board 8a is completely contained.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a glass substrate transport cassette, and more particularly to a glass substrate transport cassette suitable for accommodating and transporting large and thin glass substrates so as not to contact each other.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in the production process of liquid crystal panels,
The glass substrate, which is one of the members constituting the liquid crystal panel, is becoming larger and thinner, and the mainstream is shifting from the size of 300 mm × 400 mm to the size of 500 mm × 600 mm or more. As such glass substrates have become larger and thinner, glass substrate transport cassettes that house and transport glass substrates have become compatible with this.

FIG. 6 is a front view of a conventional glass substrate carrying cassette. This glass-transporting cassette has a box-like shape and has a holding unit 1 for holding a glass substrate.
The end portions of 0 are fixed to the upper frame that forms the upper surface and the lower frame that forms the bottom surface, and a plurality of both side surfaces are arranged in the crocodile. The holding portion 10 is formed by forming a plurality of brim-shaped shelf portions on a support column at equal intervals. In addition, a stopper 5 is provided on the back side to prevent the glass substrate from slipping off.

When storing a glass substrate in a cassette, a hand loader for a peripheral device (not shown) connected to the cassette holds the glass substrate horizontally from the lower surface side,
The glass substrate is advanced from the front side toward the inside of the cassette to a predetermined position and stopped so that the edges on both sides of the glass substrate are located on the shelf of the holding unit 10. When the hand loader reaches the predetermined position and stops, the hand loader descends so as not to come into contact with the glass substrate stored in the lower side, puts the edge of the glass substrate on the shelf of the holding unit 10, and releases the glass substrate.
Then, the hand loader retracts horizontally, and the work of storing one glass substrate is completed. Similarly, the glass substrates are placed on the other shelves and stored. When taking out the stored glass substrate, the operation opposite to the storing operation is performed.

[0005]

By the way, when a large and thin glass substrate is accommodated horizontally in the above-mentioned conventional glass substrate transport cassette, the glass substrate itself is bent to cause bending. For this reason, when the glass substrate is taken in and out with the hand loader, it is necessary to secure a space between the glass substrates so that the hand loader does not come into contact with the glass substrate stored in the lower side, and the shelf of the holding unit 10 is kept. It is necessary to widen the space between parts.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a state in which the hand loader 20 is positioned between the glass substrates 8a and 8b housed in the conventional glass substrate carrying cassette. In the figure, for example, when the deflection amount of the glass substrate is 10 mm, the thickness of the hand loader is 8 mm, and the margin between the hand loader 20 and the glass substrates 8a and 8b is 4 mm, the width of the hand loader 20 and the glass substrate are Considering the shape of the flexure, the space between the shelves formed in the holding unit 10 (that is, the space between the glass substrates) needs to be 25 mm. Therefore, if the number of stored one cassette is 20, the height of the glass substrate transport cassette including the upper and lower frames and other structures is 500 mm or more, and the glass substrate transport cassette becomes large.

As described above, when the glass substrate carrying cassette becomes large, the assembly accuracy of the cassette itself deteriorates, and in the worst case, the contained glass substrate falls off. Further, with the increase in size of the glass substrate transport cassette, there has been a problem in that the peripheral devices that are connected to the cassette and that are operated in an interlocking manner must be increased in size.
These problems are caused by the trend toward larger and thinner glass substrates,
Increasing the amount of deflection during storage becomes even more serious.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is possible to realize a small glass substrate transport cassette for accommodating a large and thin glass substrate, resulting in a decrease in cassette assembly accuracy. It is an object of the present invention to provide a glass substrate transport cassette that does not cause the size of a peripheral device connecting the cassette to increase.

[0009]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention has the following constitution. The glass substrate transport cassette according to the first aspect of the present invention is a box-shaped glass substrate transport cassette that accommodates a plurality of glass substrates in a horizontally stacked state at predetermined intervals and has an upper surface. An upper frame, a lower frame forming a lower surface, a plurality of shafts having end portions fixed to the upper frame and the lower frame, and a pair of side surfaces facing each other fixed in parallel to each other. And a substrate holder comprising a brim-shaped convex portion formed along the outer circumference of the tubular ring, and the shaft includes a plurality of the substrate holders. The shafts are mounted so as to be stacked in the inner diameter hole of the ring, and each of the plurality of substrate holders mounted on the shaft is configured to be vertically movable with the shaft as a guide.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a glass substrate carrying cassette, wherein the flange of the glass substrate carrying cassette according to the first aspect of the present invention is formed along the outer circumference circle on the lower end side of the tubular ring. Is formed and configured.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a glass substrate transporting cassette, wherein the flange of the glass substrate transporting cassette according to the first aspect of the invention is formed on the upper end side and the lower end side of the tubular ring. It is formed along the outer circumferential circle between them.

According to the glass substrate carrying cassette of the present invention, the edges of the glass substrates are placed on the flanges of the plurality of substrate holders mounted on the shaft so as to be stacked. Hold. When the glass substrate is taken in and out, the holder on the upper stage side, including the substrate holder for holding the glass substrate, is lifted up by using the shaft as a guide to widen the gap with the lower stage side.

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of a glass substrate carrying cassette according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1A is a front view of a glass substrate carrying cassette according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
Is a side view thereof. The same components as those of the conventional glass substrate transport cassette shown in FIG. 6 are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted. The difference from the conventional glass substrate transport cassette is that, instead of the holding unit 10, substrate holders 4 that can move up and down with the shaft 3 as a guide are stacked and provided. The shafts 3 are fixed at their ends to the upper frame 1 and the lower frame 2, and three shafts are provided on each side of the glass substrate transport cassette, six shafts in total. 1 shows the shaft 3 and the substrate holder 4.
The description of some of the holders is omitted so that it is easy to understand the bonding relationship of.

As described above, each of the six shafts 3 fixed to the upper frame 1 and the lower frame 2 has:
A plurality of holding bodies 4 are stacked and mounted. FIG.
FIG. 3A is a perspective view of the substrate holder 4. Substrate holder 4
Is composed of a cylindrical ring portion 4a having an inner diameter hole 40 having a diameter through which the shaft 3 can pass, and a convex portion 4b formed in a brim shape on the outer peripheral surface of the upper end side of the cylindrical ring portion 4a. There is. The substrate holder 4 is mounted through the inner diameter hole 40 of the shaft 3 so that the substrate holder 4 can move up and down with the shaft 3 as a guide, and can rotate with the shaft 3 as an axis. Further, in order to allow the stacked substrate holders 4 to move up and down, a certain allowance is provided between the uppermost substrate holder and the upper frame. A spring 6 is attached to the margin portion, and the spring 6 is
The substrate holder 4 is fixed so as not to move up and down in the normal state.

The shape of the substrate holder 4 may be one shown in FIGS. 2 (b) and 2 (c) other than the one shown in FIG. 2 (a). That is, the substrate holder shown in FIG. 2B is one in which a convex portion 4c is formed in a brim shape on the outer peripheral surface on the lower end side of the tubular ring portion 4a, and the substrate holder shown in FIG. The convex portion 4d is formed in a brim shape on the outer peripheral surface between the upper end side and the lower end side of the tubular ring portion 4a. Also,
The height of the cylindrical ring portion 4a, that is, the height of the substrate holder 4 determines the storage interval of the glass substrates to be stored, and the minimum storage space is provided so that the glass substrates do not contact each other. It is specified appropriately. Therefore, when the storage interval is determined in this way, there is no space between the stored glass substrates for inserting the hand loader, but the height of the cassette can be reduced to make the cassette compact.

The operation of mounting and storing the glass substrate in the fourth-stage substrate holder 4 of the glass substrate transport cassette having such a structure will be described below with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5. . FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an operation of loading / unloading a glass substrate into / from the glass substrate transport cassette according to the present invention. Further, FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a peripheral device for handling a glass substrate by connecting a glass substrate transport cassette, and FIG. 5 is an operation flow diagram for explaining the operation of the peripheral device. . FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, the peripheral device for handling the glass substrate is a control device 100 that controls the entire operation, and an external device 101 that is controlled by the control device 100 and drives the arm 7.
And a robot controller 102 that drives the hand loader 20 under the control of the control device 100.

First, the glass substrate carrying cassette is
Positioning is performed on the above-mentioned peripheral device that handles the glass substrate, and the glass substrate is connected and fixed to this peripheral device (step S01). The two arms 7 of this peripheral device are driven by the external device 101 to move horizontally from the side surface of the cassette so as to sandwich the cassette, and to move under the brim-shaped convex portion of the fourth-stage substrate holder 4. Set to the side. Then, the two arms 7 simultaneously rise to lift the upper substrate holder from the fourth-stage substrate holder 4 (step S02). As a result, the space above the glass substrate held and accommodated in the third stage substrate holder is expanded.

Next, the hand loader 2 provided in the peripheral device
0 is driven by the robot controller 102 to horizontally hold the glass substrate from the lower surface side, and the edges on both sides of the glass substrate are formed by the brim-shaped convex portions of the fourth and fifth step substrate holders 4, respectively. It moves horizontally toward a predetermined position inside the cassette so as to be located in between (step S03,
Previous movement). When it reaches a certain position, the hand loader 2
0 descends and puts the edge of the glass substrate on the convex portion of the fourth stage substrate holder 4 (step S03, middle operation), and when the glass substrate separates from the hand loader, it retracts horizontally and moves out of the cassette. (Step S03, post-operation). Further, the two arms 7 simultaneously descend and retreat (step S04), the substrate holders above the fourth stage are returned to their original positions, and the storage of one glass substrate is completed. The above series of operations is repeated according to the number of glass substrates to be stored.

In the operation of taking out the glass substrate mounted and stored in the substrate holder 4 in the fourth stage of the cassette, first, the cassette is positioned (step S11), and the arm 7 is moved.
Is set on the fourth-stage substrate holder 4 and the substrate holders above the fourth stage are lifted to widen the gap between the glass substrates housed in the third and fourth stages (steps S11 to S12). Next, advance the hand loader 20 to the widened gap,
Place the glass substrate on the hand loader and separate it from the fourth-stage substrate holder. Then, the hand loader 20 on which the glass substrate is placed is retracted to take out the glass substrate from the cassette (step S13). Then, the arm 7 descends and retracts (step S14), the substrate holders above the fourth stage are returned to their original positions, and the operation of taking out one glass substrate is completed. The above series of operations is repeated according to the number of glass substrates to be taken out.

In this series of operations, the substrate holders above the fourth stage are lifted by the arm 7 and the distance between the substrate holders at the third stage and the substrate holders at the fourth stage is widened. The loader 20 does not come into contact with the glass substrate 8b held by the third stage substrate holder. That is, by lifting the upper substrate holder from the substrate holder of interest to mount or remove the glass substrate, it is possible to widen the distance between the substrate holder of interest and the lower substrate holder. Even if a glass substrate is attached to the lower substrate holder, the glass substrate can be taken in and out without the arm 7 coming into contact with the lower glass substrate.

As shown in FIGS. 2 (b) and 2 (c), if the brim-shaped convex portion of the substrate holder is formed near the lower end side or the central portion of the cylindrical ring 4a, the arm 7 will cause the upper step. Even if the substrate holder on one side is lifted, both ends of the glass substrate mounted on the holder on the uppermost stage on the lower stage side are connected to the cylindrical ring 4
Since it is held by the outer peripheral surface of a, the glass substrate housed in the lower and uppermost stages does not fall off when the glass substrate is taken in and out.

[0022]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the glass substrate carrying cassette of the present invention, it is possible to hold a substrate at a stage where the glass substrate is to be stored or taken out. By lifting the upper substrate holder including the body, even if large and thin glass substrates with large deflection are stored at narrow intervals, the hand loader does not contact the lower glass substrate and the glass substrate Since the loading / unloading can be performed, the storage interval of the glass substrates can be optimally determined without being restricted by the workability of loading / unloading the glass substrates by the hand loader.

Therefore, since the glass substrate carrying cassette can be constructed in a small size, it is possible to prevent the glass substrate from falling off without lowering the assembly accuracy of the cassette. In addition, the peripheral device that is connected to the cassette and operates in conjunction does not increase in size.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1A is a front view of a glass substrate transport cassette according to the present invention. (B) is a side view of the cassette for glass substrate conveyance concerning this invention.

2A to 2C are perspective views of a substrate holder.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an operation of taking a glass substrate in and out of a glass substrate carrying cassette according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a peripheral device for handling a glass substrate by connecting a glass substrate transport cassette.

FIG. 5 is an operation flow diagram for explaining an operation of a peripheral device for handling a glass substrate by connecting a glass substrate transport cassette.

FIG. 6 is a front view of a conventional glass substrate transport cassette.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a state in which a hand loader is positioned between glass substrates housed in a conventional glass substrate transport cassette.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Upper frame 2 Lower frame 3 Shaft 4 Substrate holder 4a Cylindrical ring part 4b-4d Collar-shaped convex part 5 Stopper 6 Spring 7 Arms 8a, 8b Glass substrate 10 Holding part 20 Hand loader 40 Inner hole 100 Control device 101 External Device 102 Robot controller

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A box-shaped glass substrate carrying cassette for accommodating a plurality of glass substrates which are horizontally stacked at predetermined intervals, the upper frame constituting an upper surface and the lower frame constituting a lower surface. A plurality of shafts whose end portions are fixed to the upper frame and the lower frame, and a pair of side surfaces facing each other are fixed in parallel to each other, a cylindrical ring having a predetermined height, and the cylinder. A substrate holder formed of a brim-shaped convex portion formed along the outer circumferential circle of the ring-shaped ring, wherein the shaft stacks the plurality of substrate holders through the shaft in the inner diameter hole of the tubular ring. Attached to
The glass substrate transport cassette, wherein each of the plurality of substrate holders mounted on the shaft can move up and down with the shaft as a guide. 2. The cassette for transporting a glass substrate according to claim 1, wherein the brim-shaped convex portion is formed along an outer peripheral circle on the lower end side of the tubular ring. 3. The glass substrate transport cassette according to claim 1, wherein the brim-shaped convex portion is formed along an outer peripheral circle between the upper end side and the lower end side of the tubular ring.