JPH11216689A - Conveying carriage - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent dust in a car body from leaking to the outside and to cool a control panel in a conveying carriage body provided with a manipulator. SOLUTION: Chambers R1, R2 arranged in a car body 1a of a conveying vehicle 1 are provided with fan filter units 29, 30 integrally provided with fans 29a, 30a and filters 29b, 30b. Each of chambers R1, R2 is communicated with the inside of a manipulator 24 through the inside of a base unit 18 and a rotary shaft 19. In the manipulator 24, air suction port is formed in each part, and when the fan filter units 29, 30 are driven, air is sucked to the inside of the manipulator 24 from the air suction port to generate air flow leading to the chambers R1, R2 from the manipulator 24 through the inside of the rotary shaft 19 and the base unit 18. A control panel is arranged in a position where it receives the air flow.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a transport carriage provided with a manipulator for transferring a load.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known a transport vehicle (transport operation robot) provided with a manipulator for performing a load transfer operation.
For example, a transport vehicle patrols each facility in the factory, uses a manipulator to transfer the load (work) that has completed the process at the facility from the facility to the transport vehicle, and transports the load (work) to be sent to the facility process. Perform work to supply equipment from the car.

[0003]

In recent years, in semiconductor manufacturing plants, the weight of cassettes (loads) accommodating a large number of semiconductor wafers has been increasing year by year due to the increase in the size (larger diameter) of semiconductor wafers handled. Transportation work is becoming a heavy labor for humans. For this reason, a transport vehicle (transport work robot) may be used to transport loads such as cassettes for the purpose of reducing human labor and improving transport efficiency.

[0004] In order to keep the air in a clean room clean, a transportation vehicle used in a semiconductor manufacturing plant leaks dust from sliding parts of a vehicle body and mechanical devices provided inside a manipulator to the outside of the vehicle body. Need not be.
For this reason, for example, various electric devices and an electric control panel (controller) disposed inside the vehicle body are also disposed in a closed room that is isolated from the outside.

[0005] However, it is necessary to prevent the electric control panel from becoming hot due to heat generation. In particular, when the electric control panel is placed in a closed room, heat is trapped in the room, the indoor temperature increases, and an environment in which the temperature of the electric control panel is more likely to increase. For example, a method of providing a cooling fan to cool the electric control panel can be adopted, but also in this case, there is no escape area for the heat and the room is filled with heat, so that there is a problem that the cooling effect of the fan cannot be expected. .

[0006] Various mechanical devices for driving the manipulator are housed inside the manipulator. For this reason,
A seal is interposed in a sliding portion for driving the manipulator so that dust generated in the sliding portion is not leaked to the outside. However, it was unavoidable to disperse dust generated by abrasion of the seal.

[0007] Further, if dust from various mechanical devices in the manipulator is left in the manipulator, dust may be scattered from inside the manipulator during maintenance and repair of the manipulator. For this reason, it is desirable that dust generated inside the manipulator or the vehicle body be promptly collected without being left as it is.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and a first object of the present invention is to provide a transportation vehicle provided with a manipulator, which does not leak dust generated in a vehicle body to the outside, thereby preventing the generation of dust in the vehicle body. It is an object of the present invention to provide a transport vehicle capable of cooling a control panel. A second object is to collect dust generated in a sliding portion of a lifting shaft of a manipulator in a vehicle body.
A third object is to minimize design changes necessary to achieve the first object. A fourth object is to collect dust generated in a vehicle body including a manipulator over a wide area as much as possible.

[0009]

In order to achieve the first object, according to the present invention, in a transport vehicle provided with a manipulator, through a communication passage with a drive chamber in which a drive portion of the manipulator is accommodated. A control panel disposed in the room to be communicated with, an exhaust unit that exhausts air in the room and has a filter at an exhaust port, and an airflow that flows into the chamber via the driving chamber when the exhaust unit is driven. An air suction port for generating air, and the control panel is positioned so that the airflow is applied in the room.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve a second object, in the first aspect of the present invention, a lift shaft for raising and lowering the manipulator with respect to the vehicle body is provided, and At least one is formed directly on the elevating shaft, or is formed by a gap for sliding between the elevating shaft and a support portion that supports the elevating shaft so that the elevating shaft can be raised and lowered. A skirt portion for guiding the flow of the inflowing air is provided so as to cover a sliding portion of the elevating shaft with respect to the support portion.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve a third object, in the first or the second aspect of the present invention, the communication path is provided between the electric device disposed in the manipulator and the electric device. This is a wiring path through which electric wires connecting to the control panel are wired.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, at least one of the air suction ports forms at least a part of the driving chamber. The airflow is provided so as to face a seal member interposed between the housing and the driving portion of the manipulator.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve a fourth object, in the first aspect of the present invention, the lift for raising and lowering the manipulator with respect to the vehicle body is provided. A shaft, and a lower portion of the elevating shaft is housed in a housing chamber having a diameter slightly larger than the shaft diameter, and a pump mechanism that uses the elevating movement of the elevating shaft is configured. A second airflow is generated.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the manipulator has a multi-joint structure having a plurality of arms, and each of the arms has a plurality of arms. Is formed in a cylindrical shape, and the inside of the shaft of the shaft is a part of a passage for air sucked from an air suction port on the upstream side of the shaft to reach the communication passage. ing.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the exhaust means is driven, the air suction port serves as an air intake port and the filter constituting the exhaust means serves as an air exhaust port. Then, an airflow which reaches the chamber through the driving portion of the manipulator through the communication passage is generated. Since the airflow reaching the chamber is blown to the control panel, the control panel is cooled by the airflow. Therefore, heat generation of the control panel can be reduced. Further, dust generated in the driving portion is carried by the airflow and collected by the filter.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the exhaust means is driven, it is formed directly on the elevating shaft, or to the air inlet formed by a gap for sliding between the elevating shaft and the support portion. Air is sucked. Due to the presence of the skirt covering the sliding portion of the elevating shaft, a negative pressure space surrounded by the skirt is formed around the sliding portion of the elevating shaft. For this reason, dust generated by sliding friction in which the elevating shaft slides on the support portion is collected inside the vehicle body without escaping to the outside.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the wiring passage for the electric wire connecting the electric device in the manipulator and the control panel is used as a communication passage for flowing an air flow from the manipulator to the room. .

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the airflow generated by the air sucked from at least one of the air suction ports formed in the manipulator is interposed between the housing and the driving portion of the manipulator. Flows toward the sealed member. Therefore, dust generated by sliding friction of the seal member is collected by the airflow.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the lower portion of the elevating shaft is housed in the accommodating chamber having a diameter slightly larger than the shaft diameter. Therefore, a second airflow from the high pressure side to the low pressure side chamber is generated. The second airflow reaches the chamber via the driving part. For this reason, the number of airflows that reach the chamber via the driving part increases, so that dust generated in the driving part is collected over a wider area.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the air sucked from the air suction port provided on the upstream side of the shaft passes through the inside of the shaft of the shaft connecting the arms as a part of the passage. Leads to the communication passage. Since the inside of the cylinder of the shaft connecting the arms is used as the air flow path, it is not necessary to separately provide a pipe or the like for securing the air flow path.

[0021]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. The carrier in this embodiment is used in a clean room. FIG. 9 is a plan view of the transfer system provided in the clean room. The transport vehicle 1 as a transport vehicle is a tracked vehicle that travels along a track 2 formed on the floor surface. A variety of facilities 3 used for semiconductor manufacturing are installed in the clean room, and the transport vehicle 1 patrols each facility 3 along the track 2, and a cassette in which a predetermined number of semiconductor wafers have been processed in the facility 3. 4 (shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 5, and FIG. 8) is transported from the facility 3 to the facility 3 or the like in the next process.

In this embodiment, the transport vehicle 1 has a battery 5
(Shown in FIG. 1). As shown in FIG. 9, a charging device 6 is provided at a stop position of the carrier 1. The transport vehicle 1 is provided with a charger 7 (shown in FIGS. 1 and 8) which is arranged immediately above the charging device 6 when stopped at the stop position, at the bottom of the vehicle body 1 a, and works with the equipment 3. The battery 5 is charged in a non-contact manner in which the charger 7 and the charging device 6 are brought close to each other by using the stop time at that time. Note that the charging device 6 does not necessarily need to be provided for each stop position, and one or a plurality of charging devices can be thinned in consideration of charging time, cost, and the like.

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway side view of the carrier 1, and FIG. 8 is a front view of the carrier 1. As shown in FIG. 1, the carrier 1 has a pair of front and rear frames 8 and 9 extending below the body 1 a, and a pair of front and rear traveling units 10 supported at the lower end of the ends of the frames 8 and 9. . The traveling unit 10 is a unit in which a pair of left and right traveling wheels 11 and 12 and a steering mechanism 14 having three guide rollers 13 arranged in a row in the traveling direction (the left and right direction in FIG. 1). is there. The track 2 has a floor surface 1 as shown in FIG.
5, a guide groove (guide rail) 16 formed in
Each guide roller 13 is in contact with the inner wall surface of the guide groove 16. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 8, the transport vehicle 1 is steered along the track 2 (guide groove 16) by two sets of front and rear steering mechanisms 14, and the four running wheels 11 and 12 roll on the floor 15. It is a four-wheeled vehicle that runs. Two traveling rails 17 (shown in FIG. 8) are laid on the floor surface 15 to secure a smooth surface on which the traveling wheels 11 and 12 roll.

A bottomed cylindrical body (cylinder) 18 as a support portion extends vertically in the vehicle body 1a. A rotating shaft 19 as an elevating shaft is inserted into the base 18.
The rotating shaft 19 can be raised and lowered and rotated by driving a lifting motor 20 and a rotation motor 21 attached to a lower side surface of the base body 18, and a bent portion bent in a substantially L-shape on the upper portion thereof. It has a portion 19a. The elevating motor 20 and the rotating motor 21 are disposed on the base 18 via speed reducers 22 and 23, respectively.

The manipulator 24 is provided at the upper end of the bent portion 19a. The manipulator 24 is an articulated structure having two arms 25 and 26 as arm portions, and expands and contracts in a horizontal direction by changing a bending angle of each arm 25 and 26. A chuck portion 27 for gripping the cassette 4 is provided at the lower end of the arm 26.
In addition, two mounting tables 28 are disposed obliquely above and in front of the base 18 in a state supported by a pair of support arms 18 a extending from the base 18. Each mounting table 28 is located at an equal distance from the axis of the rotating shaft 19 (base 18).

The manipulator 24 can move up and down by rotating the rotating shaft 19 with respect to the base 18, and can rotate the rotating shaft 19 with respect to the base 18 to move the base 18.
Can be rotated around the center of the axis. The manipulator 24 performs the transfer operation of the cassette 4 between the mounting table 28 and the equipment 3 by a combination of the lifting, lowering, rotating and expanding / contracting operations.

As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle body 1a contains a battery 5, a control panel (controller) C, and fan filter units 29 and 30 as exhaust means. The fan filter units 29 and 30 include exhaust fans 29a and 30a, and filters 29b and 30b for filtering fine dust in the air when exhausting the air. Room R1, in which battery 5 and control panel C are housed
R <b> 2 communicates with the inside of the manipulator 24 via the internal passages of the base 18 and the rotating shaft 19. When the fan filter units 29 and 30 are driven, an air flow having an air intake port, which will be described later, provided at various places such as the manipulator 24 as an intake port and an exhaust port of each of the filters 29b and 30b is transmitted from the manipulator 24 to the rotating shaft 19 And substrate 18
Are generated on the path leading to the chambers R1 and R2 through the inside of the chamber.

The control panel C is arranged at a position which becomes a flow path of the air flow. In the present embodiment, the airflow is always exhausted through the control panel C by directly connecting the control panel C and the fan filter unit 30. In addition, the control panel C and the fan filter unit 30 can be connected through, for example, a pipe.

Next, a driving device for driving the manipulator 24 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 2, a ball screw device 31 is attached to a lower portion of the base 18. The housing 31a
A rotatable cylindrical rotating body 33 having a worm wheel 32 at an upper portion is provided therein. A shaft 34 is inserted in the rotating body 33 so as to be movable in the axial direction via a ball screw mechanism. A worm 36 is fitted on a shaft 35 to which the drive shaft of the elevating motor 20 is operatively connected via the speed reducer 22, and the worm 36 meshes with the worm wheel 32. Therefore, the shaft 34 is moved up and down by driving the elevating motor 20 to rotate the rotating body 33 forward and backward.

As shown in FIG. 2, in the substrate 18,
Above the ball screw device 31, a cylindrical body 37 is rotatably supported via a pair of bearings 38,38. A ball spline device 39 is provided in the cylindrical body 37 so as to fix the housing 39 a to the inner wall surface of the cylindrical body 37. Shaft 40 inserted into housing 39a
Is connected to the inner wall surface of the housing 39a via a ball spline structure (not shown).
a (that is, the cylindrical body 37) can rotate relative to the housing 39a in a state where relative displacement in the axial direction is possible.

A worm wheel 41 is provided on the outer periphery of the cylindrical body 37.
Is fitted. A worm 43 is fitted on a shaft 42 to which a drive shaft of the rotation motor 21 is operatively connected via a speed reducer 23, and the worm 43 is a worm wheel 41.
Is engaged. Therefore, when the rotation motor 21 is driven and the cylindrical body 37 rotates forward and backward, the shaft 40 rotates integrally. The shafts 35 and 42 are supported by the base 18 via bearings 44 and 45, respectively.

A shaft 34 constituting the ball screw device 31;
The shaft 40 constituting the ball spline device 39 is connected (fixed) via a coupling 46 with the axes thereof aligned. The upper end portion 40a of the shaft 40 is connected (fixed) with the lower end portion 47a of the pipe-shaped support shaft 47 being aligned with the axis. These three shafts 34, 4
The rotating shaft 19 is formed by integrally connecting 0, 47.

The internal passage 47b of the support shaft 47 is
7c and the communication hole 47d. A communication hole 18a (however, only the chamber R1 side is shown in FIG. 2) for communicating the chambers R1, R2 with the inside of the base 18 is formed in the base 18 at a height substantially equal to the communication hole 47d. In addition, communication passage 4
7c communicates with a communication passage 40b formed in the shaft 40, and the communication passage 40b communicates with the outside of the shaft 40 via a hole 40c formed in a lower portion of the shaft 40. Therefore, the fan 29
Due to the action of a and 30a, the space flows from the space (gap) formed on the outer peripheral surface side of the shaft 40 below the inside of the cylindrical body 37 through the holes 40c, the communication passages 40b and 47c, and the communication hole 47d, and then communicates. An airflow reaching the hole 18a is generated.

A recess 18b is formed at the bottom of the base 18 as a housing chamber having a diameter slightly larger than the shaft diameter of the shaft 34, and the shaft 34 is disposed with its lower part being housed in the recess 18b. I have. With the shaft 34 and the recess 18b,
When the rotating shaft 19 is lowered, the pump 34 is configured to generate a high air pressure on the bottom side of the base 18 by reducing the volume of the shaft 34 by moving the shaft 34 down the recess 18b. Therefore, when a high air pressure is generated on the bottom side of the base body 18 by the pump mechanism P, the air flows through the hole 18c, the communication hole 32a of the worm wheel 32, and the two bearings 38 from the periphery of the concave portion 18b by the action of the fans 29a and 30a. And flows upward along the inner peripheral surface of the base 18 to form the communication hole 18.
A second airflow leading to a is generated. As described above, below the communication hole 18a of the base 18, two types of airflows are generated: a path that passes through the inside of the shaft 40 upward and a path that passes upward along the inner peripheral surface of the base 18. ing. The communication hole 32a is formed so as to penetrate the worm wheel 32 in the thickness direction near the inner periphery of the worm wheel 32 where the thickness is reduced.

As shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of holes 47e as air suction ports are formed along the outer periphery of the upper portion of the support shaft 47 at a portion protruding from the base 18 when the rotating shaft 19 is at the lowest position. Is formed. The support shaft 47 has a substantially cylindrical skirt 4 at a position above each hole 47e.
8 is supported in a state of extending downward. The skirt portion 48 has an inner diameter slightly larger than the outer diameter of the base 18,
When the rotating shaft 19 is in the highest position, it has an extended length that slightly covers the upper part of the base 18. When the fan filter units 29 and 30 are driven, air is sucked from the holes 47e, so that a negative pressure space is created around a sliding portion of the rotating shaft 19 surrounded by the skirt portion 48 with the base member 18, and the skirt portion is formed. Air always flows in from a slight gap between the base 48 and the base 48.

When raising and lowering the rotating shaft 19, the motor 20 for raising and lowering is driven to rotate the worm wheel 32,
The ball nut (rotating body) 33 fixed to the worm wheel 32 rotates so that only the vertical movement of the rotating shaft 19 is obtained. When rotating the rotating shaft 19,
In this case, the rotation motor 21 is driven. At this time, since the rotation shaft 19 also moves in the axial direction at the same time, the elevation motor 20 is driven in a direction that can offset the movement of the shaft movement.
Only the rotational movement of the rotating shaft 19 is obtained. These motor controls are performed by a control panel (controller) C.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, a housing 24a constituting the manipulator 24 is fixed to the upper end surface of the bent portion 19a of the rotating shaft 19 in a state of extending horizontally. An arm 25 is rotatably connected to a lower end of the housing 24a.
Are rotatably connected. Hereinafter, the arm 25
Are referred to as a first arm, and the arm 26 is referred to as a second arm.

As shown in FIG. 6 and FIG.
A telescopic motor 49 that constitutes an electric device is disposed in a, and the driving force of the telescopic motor 49 is a gear train 5 composed of a plurality of (for example, four in this example) gears 50, 51, 52, and 53.
A rotational force is applied to the shaft 55 via the shaft 4. The shaft 55 is rotatably supported via three bearings 56 while being held parallel to the axial direction of the telescopic motor 49. Axis 5
A worm 57 is externally fitted to 5, and the worm 57 meshes with a worm wheel 58.

In the housing 24a, there is formed a gear housing 59 as a housing for accommodating the gear train 54, the worm 57 and the worm wheel 58. A cylindrical support shaft 60 as a shaft is fixed to the upper surface of the inner wall of the gear housing 59 so as to extend vertically downward, and the worm wheel 58 is rotatably provided on the outer periphery of the support shaft 60 via a bearing 61. Is fixed to the ring member 62. The ring member 62 is fixed to the upper surface of the base end of the first arm 25. Accordingly, when the telescopic motor 49 is driven and the worm wheel 58 rotates, the first arm 25 rotates in a horizontal plane about the base end of the housing 24a.

An oil seal 63 as a seal member is interposed between an outer peripheral surface of a ring member 62 constituting a driving portion described later and an inner wall surface of the gear housing 59 (housing 24a). Gear housing 59 and oil seal 63
Grease is injected into the room which is closed with. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, the ring member 62 has an oil seal 63.
At a lower position, a plurality of communication holes 62a are formed as air suction ports for communicating the outside and the inside of the housing 24a. Due to the negative pressure generated in the housing 24a when the fan filter units 29 and 30 are driven, the air flows through the flow path facing the lower surface of the oil seal 63 when sucked into each communication hole 62a.

A hole 59a is formed in the gear housing 59 at a position facing the internal passage 60a of the support shaft 60.
The air sucked into the manipulator 24 from each communication hole 62a flows in from below the support shaft 60, and flows into the internal passage 60a.
Then, it passes through the hole 59a to escape above the support shaft 60, and flows to the communication passage 19b of the rotary shaft 19 via a gap between the upper surface of the gear housing 59 and the inner wall surface of the housing 24a.

As shown in FIG. 6, a pulley 64 is disposed on the inner base end side of the first arm 25 so as to be fitted to the lower part of the support shaft 60. A support shaft 65 as a shaft is fixed to the inner front end side of the first arm 25 on the upper surface of the inner wall in a state of extending vertically downward. The bearing 6 is provided on the support shaft 65.
A ring member 67 is rotatably provided via the ring member 6.
A pulley 68 is externally fitted on the pulley 7. Two pulleys 64,
A belt 69 is hung between 68. In addition, the ring material 6
7 is fixed to the upper surface of the base end of the second arm 26.

Therefore, when the first arm 25 rotates with respect to the housing 24a, the pulley 64 in the first arm 25 rotates.
Is relatively rotated with respect to the first arm 25, and the pulley 68 a is moved together with the ring 67 via the belt 69 through the support shaft 6.
Rotate with respect to 5. Therefore, the second arm 26 fixed to the lower end of the ring member 67 rotates in a horizontal plane with respect to the first arm 25.

The support shaft 6 is provided on the inner base end side of the second arm 26.
The pulley 68b is arranged so as to be fitted to the lower portion of the pulley 5. A shaft 69 is fixed to the upper surface of the inner wall of the second arm 26 so as to project vertically downward, and a pulley 71 is rotatably provided on the shaft 69 via a bearing 70. I have. Two pulleys 68b, 71
A belt 72 is hung between them. A ring member 73 is fixed to a lower surface of the pulley 71, and the chuck portion 27 is fixed to a lower surface of the ring member 73.

Therefore, when the second arm 26 rotates with respect to the first arm 25, the pulley 68b
Is relatively rotated with respect to the second arm 26, and the pulley 71 and the ring member 73 are supported by the shaft 69 via the belt 72.
Rotate against. Therefore, the chuck portion 27 fixed to the lower surface of the ring member 73 rotates about the second arm 26 in a horizontal plane. Therefore, regardless of the bending angles of the two arms 25 and 26, the cassette 4 held by the chuck portion 27 is transferred while being held in a fixed direction.

[0047] Gaps G1 and G2 as air suction ports are formed at the distal ends of the first arm 25 and the second arm 26, respectively. Also, the inside of the second arm 26 and the first arm 25
Of the support shaft 65 and the holes 65
The air is sucked from the gap G2 and can flow from the inside of the second arm 26 to the inside of the first arm 25. The communication hole 6
The gap 2a and the gaps G1 and G2 serve as an air intake port on the upstream side of the support shaft 60 as a shaft, and the gap G2 serves as an air intake port on the upstream side of the support shaft 65 as a shaft.

Communication passage 19b, internal passage 47b, communication hole 4
A communication path is constituted by 7d and the communication hole 18a. The communication passages 18a, 19b, 47b and 47d are provided with expansion / contraction motors 49 provided in the manifold 24 and actuators (not shown) for driving the chuck 27.
It is a wiring passage for the electric wire EL that connects the control panel C with various electric devices such as the above. It should be noted that a driving mechanism provided inside the manipulator 24 for expanding and contracting operation and a base 1
The manipulator 2 is driven by a drive mechanism for raising and lowering operation and rotating operation, which is provided inside the motor 8, and a rotating shaft 19.
4 drive parts are configured. Further, a drive chamber is formed by the inside of the manipulator 24 in which each drive mechanism is accommodated and the inside of the base 18.

As shown in FIG. 5, in the present embodiment, the first
The center of rotation (the axis of the support shaft 60) on the base end side of the arm 25 coincides with the axis (the center of rotation) O of the rotating shaft 19, and the respective turning radii of the first arm 25 and the second arm 26. Are set equal to each other. Therefore, the first arm 25 and the second arm 26
In the state of 180 ° shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 (completely folded in two), the axis of the chuck 27 coincides with the axis O of the rotary shaft 19, and The gripped cassette 4 is arranged at the rotation center O.

The control panel C has a memory provided therein.
The program data for driving and controlling the manipulator 24 is stored. The program data is set so as to always rotate the manipulator 24 in a state where the manipulator 24 is contracted to a state where the bending angle is 180 ° shown in FIG. The vehicle body 1a and the manipulator 24 are provided with position detection sensors for detecting the traveling position of the carrier 1 and various sensors for detecting various position states of the manipulator 24, such as vertical movement, rotation, and expansion and contraction. The control panel C drives and controls each of the motors 20, 21, 49 based on input signals from these sensors.

Next, the operation of the transport vehicle 1 will be described. The transport vehicle 1 travels on a track 2 and patrols each facility 3. For example, the carrier 1 travels toward the target facility 3 with the cassette 4 to be supplied placed on one of the two mounting tables 28 (in this example, the front side), and stops in front of the facility 3. After stopping,
The manipulator 24 is driven to carry out the cassette 4 containing the semiconductor wafers having undergone the process in the facility 3 from the facility 3 and to supply the cassette 4 containing the semiconductor wafers to be sent to the process in the facility 3 to the facility 3. . When the transfer operation by the manipulator 24 is completed, the vehicle starts traveling toward the facility 3 in the next step.

During operation of the carrier 1, the fan filter units 29 and 30 are driven. Therefore, the fans 29a, 3
The inside of the manipulator 24 and the interior of the vehicle body 1a communicating with the chambers R1 and R2 are negative pressure by the exhaust air generated by the rotation of 0a. As a result, air is sucked into the manipulator 24 through the gaps G1, G2 and the communication hole 62a, and the communication passage 19b, the internal passage 47b, the communication hole 47d, and the communication hole 1
An airflow that reaches the chambers R1 and R2 through 8a is generated. At this time, each hole 4 passes through a gap between the skirt portion 48 and the base 18.
The air sucked into the rotation shaft 19 from 7e also joins the air from the manipulator 24 to form an airflow reaching the chambers R1 and R2.

The airflow flowing into the chamber R1 passes through the control panel C and is exhausted through the filter 30b of the fan filter unit 30. For this reason, since the control panel C is cooled by this airflow, it is avoided that the control panel C becomes hot due to heat generation. Further, the airflow flowing into the chamber R2 cools the battery 5 while being exhausted from the filter 29b of the fan filter unit 29.

Further, since the inside of each of the manipulator 24 and the base 18 has a negative pressure, the fine dust generated by the sliding of the driving portion in each of the insides is prevented from scattering to the outside. At this time, since the air sucked into the communication hole 62a flows through the flow path facing the lower surface of the oil seal 63, dust generated by wear of the oil seal 63 is also sucked together with the air and does not leak to the outside.

Further, the suction force of the air into the hole 47e formed in the rotating shaft 19 forms a negative pressure space around the sliding portion of the rotating shaft 19, which is surrounded by the skirt portion 48 and is almost closed. Dust generated at a sliding portion between the rotating shaft 19 and the base 18 is also reliably sucked together with air from the hole 47e without leaking to the outside from the skirt portion 48.

Further, in a portion below the communication hole 18 a inside the base 18, two types of airflow flowing upward from the bottom side of the base 18 are generated. That is, the fan 29
By the actions of a and 30a, an airflow is generated from a space formed on the outer peripheral side of the shaft 40 below the inside of the cylindrical body 37 to the communication hole 18a via the hole 40c, the communication passages 40b and 47c, and the communication hole 47d. In addition, the pump mechanism P causes the shaft 34 to move down in the concave portion 18b when the rotating shaft 19 moves down, so that the air pressure on the bottom side of the base 18 increases, and the action of the fans 29a, 30a causes the bottom of the base 18 to move. (Recess 18b) From the periphery, the hole 18c, the communication hole 32a of the worm wheel 32, and the two bearings 38 flow upward along the inner peripheral surface of the base 18 to communicate with the communication hole 18a.
A second airflow is generated that leads to Various devices 31 disposed on the bottom side of the base 18 by the two systems of airflow,
Dust generated at 39 or the like is reliably transported to the chambers R1 and R2.

Thus, the manipulator 24 and the base 18
The fine dust generated in the driving part disposed inside the filter is transported to the chambers R1 and R2 by the airflow or the second airflow that passes through the driving part over a wide area and is filtered.
b. The clean air after the fine dust is filtered by the filters 29b and 30b is exhausted downward from the bottom of the vehicle body 1a. The exhaust air flows below the floor surface through the grating (floor material) constituting the floor surface 15. In addition,
The gas (for example, hydrogen gas, etc.) generated from the battery 5 also
The air is exhausted outside through the filter 29b.

When the manipulator 24 rotates during the transfer operation, the manipulator 24 is contracted to the original position (bending angle = 180 °), and the cassette 4 is arranged at the rotation center O of the manipulator 24. It is performed in the state where it was done. For this reason, the centrifugal force acting on the cassette 4 is kept small, and the load on the housed semiconductor wafer is kept small.

As described above, since the centrifugal force at the time of the rotation operation of the manipulator 24 is small and the force applied to the vehicle body 1a in the lateral direction is also small, the vehicle body shape which is narrow and long in the front and rear direction so that the transport vehicle 1 can travel in a narrow passage. Even if it does, the left and right stability of the vehicle body 1a is not easily impaired. For this reason, it is possible to further increase the rotation speed of the manipulator 24 and increase the work efficiency. Further, since the cassette 4 gripped by the chuck portion 27 is always kept in a fixed direction when the manipulator 24 expands and contracts, even if the distance between the carrier 1 and the equipment 3 is slightly different for each equipment 3, the manipulator 24 The supplied cassette 4 is placed on any equipment 3 in a correct direction with high accuracy.

As described in detail above, according to the present embodiment,
The following effects can be obtained. (1) By driving the fan filter units 29 and 30, an airflow is generated from the manipulator 24 through the rotation shaft 19 and the inside of the base 18 toward the control panel C and the chamber in which the battery 5 is accommodated. Since the air is exhausted after being filtered by the filter, the fine dust generated in the sliding portion of the driving portion inside the transport vehicle 1 is not released to the outside. That is, since the inside of the manipulator 24 and the inside of the vehicle body 1a are in a negative pressure state, dust generated inside the manipulator and the inside of the vehicle body 1a does not leak to the outside. Further, since the control panel C is arranged at a position where the airflow flowing into the chamber R1 passes, the cooling effect of the control panel C by the airflow can be obtained. In addition, the cooling effect of the battery 5 can be obtained by the airflow flowing into the chamber R2.

(2) A hole 47 e is formed in the sliding portion of the rotating shaft 19 with respect to the base 18, and the hole 4 e is formed by the skirt portion 48.
7e is guided to flow in a flow path along the sliding portion of the rotating shaft 19, so that the rotating shaft 19 and the base 18 are guided.
The dust generated due to the sliding friction with the filter 29b can be reliably captured by the filters 29b and 30b without escaping to the outside.

(3) Since the communication hole 62a is formed so that air flows through the lower surface of the oil seal 63, the oil seal 6
The dust generated by the wear of No. 3 can also be reliably prevented from leaking to the outside.

(4) The pump mechanism P is constructed by utilizing the vertical movement of the rotating shaft 19, and the pump mechanism P and the fans 29a, 3
Since the second airflow that reaches the chambers R1 and R2 via the drive mechanisms 31 and 39 disposed on the bottom side in the base body 18 is generated by the action of Oa, the airflow deviates from the airflow channel. Dust generated in the driving portion can also be collected, and dust generated in the vehicle body 1a can be collected over a wide area.

(5) The air flow reaching the chambers R1 and R2 via the inside of the manipulator 24 and the chamber R from the bottom of the base 18
1 and the second airflow reaching R2, the manipulator 2
Dust generated inside each of the base 4 and the base 18 can be quickly captured by the filters 29b and 30b.

(6) The wiring path of the electric wire EL connecting the various electric devices disposed inside the manipulator 24 and the control panel C is used as a communication path as an air flow path. There is no need to separately provide piping or the like for securing.

(7) Since the inside of the cylinder of the support shafts 60, 65 connecting the arms 25, 26 and the housing 24a is used as a part of the air passage, piping for securing the air flow path is separately provided. There is no need to provide the manipulator 24, and the structure and size of the manipulator 24 can be prevented from becoming complicated and large.

(8) Each fan filter unit 29, 3
0 is provided at the bottom of each of the chambers R1, R2, and the filters 29b, 3
Since the exhaust air from 0b is blown downward from the bottom of the vehicle body 1a, it is possible to prevent the exhaust air from being blown to a person or a product.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but can be implemented in the following manner, for example. The air inlet may not be formed in the manipulator 24, and the hole 47e of the rotating shaft 19 may be configured as the air inlet on the most upstream side. Even with this configuration, dust generated due to sliding friction between the rotating shaft 19 and the base 18 can be collected, and the control panel C can be cooled by airflow. In addition, hole 4
Instead of 7e, a gap in which the rotating shaft 19 and the base 18 slide may be used as an air suction port.

Although the fan filter unit 29, 30 is used in which the fan and the filter are integrated, the fan and the filter may be provided separately. In this case, the installation location of the fan can be separated from the filter (exhaust port), and the installation location may be anywhere between the air intake port and the exhaust port. For example, a fan may be arranged in the communication hole 18a.

The filters 29b and 30b are not indispensable, and are sucked only by the fan or the pump mechanism P.
The exhaust gas may be directly discharged to the floor without passing through a filter. In this case, if it is a grating floor, it is processed by suction of the clean room itself from there.

In the above embodiment, the second airflow is generated by the action of the pump mechanism P and the fans 29a, 30a, but may be generated by the action of the pump mechanism P alone. Also, regardless of the pump mechanism, a hole as an air suction port may be provided on the bottom side of the
The airflow may be generated only by the action of 9a and 30a.

The communication hole 47d of the support shaft 47 is eliminated,
The inside of the rotating shaft 19 is used as an air flow passage, and each device 39, 31
It can also be configured such that the airflow passes through it. For example, one passage connecting the shafts 47, 40, and 34 is provided so as to penetrate the lower end surface of the shaft 34 so as to form an outlet, and each device 39, 31, etc. is provided by an air flow from the outlet to the chambers R1, R2. It may be possible to collect dust generated in the apparatus.

The skirt 48 may be fixed to the base 18 side. In short, it is only necessary that the sliding portion of the rotating shaft 19 can be covered so that a negative pressure space can be created around the sliding portion of the rotating shaft 19. Further, the shape of the skirt is not limited to the cylindrical shape, but can be changed to an appropriate shape.

The pump mechanism is configured so that a high pressure is generated at the bottom side of the base 18 when the rotating shaft 19 is lowered. When the rotating shaft 19 is raised, for example, a piston is provided at the lower end of the rotating shaft 19 and The storage chamber (recess 18b) may be formed so that a high pressure is generated at the time of ascent.

The position of the filter (exhaust port) can be changed as appropriate. For example, it may be provided on the front and rear surfaces or side surfaces of the vehicle body. In this case, if it is desired to prevent the exhaust air from blowing in the front-rear direction or the lateral direction of the vehicle body, the exhaust air may be blown downward by providing a cover for guiding the exhaust air and adjusting the blowing direction.

The carrier is not limited to those used in a clean room. Further, the present invention is not limited to the tracked carrier, and may be a trackless carrier that travels on a free route. Further, the load is not limited to a cassette containing semiconductor wafers.

The number of arms constituting the manipulator is not limited to two, but may be three or more. Further, the manipulator is not limited to the articulated type. It may be a flexible manipulator that moves flexibly and expands and contracts, or may be one that slides and expands and contracts an arm.

The gripping part is not limited to the chuck part for gripping the load, and any mechanism (principle) having a mechanism capable of holding and releasing the load, such as vacuum suction or magnetic attachment using an electromagnet, is used. ).

The terms used in the present specification are defined as follows. "Manipulators: bending and stretching to transport objects in perspective,
A work arm with a telescopic function that can perform movements such as sliding and flexible, and a rotary function that can perform a rotational movement to change the direction so that the target object can be moved within the range of the telescopic function when it is moved to a target position. An apparatus having A technical idea (invention) grasped from the embodiment and not described in the claims will be described below together with its effects.

(A) In any one of claims 1 to 6, at least one of the air suction ports is provided around a grip portion provided at a distal end portion of the manipulator. Here, the grip portion is defined as one that enables a target (load) to be held and released by a mechanism such as gripping, suction, or magnetic attachment. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to the chuck portion 27 in the above embodiment. According to this configuration,
Since airflow from the tip of the manipulator to the chamber is generated, dust generated in the manipulator can be efficiently collected by the filter of the exhaust unit.

(B) In the second aspect, the extension length of the skirt portion is such a length that the sliding portion with the support portion can be completely covered when the elevating shaft is most elevated with respect to the vehicle body. That's it. According to this configuration, dust can be collected in the vehicle body over the entire vertical stroke of the vertical shaft without missing the dust at the sliding portion.

(C) In claim 2, the air suction port is a hole formed in the elevating shaft so as to communicate with a communication passage therein. (D) In (c), the hole is formed at a position above a sliding portion of the elevating shaft with respect to the support portion. According to this configuration, the air suction port is always kept open without being blocked over the entire vertical stroke of the vertical shaft, and a negative pressure space is always formed around the sliding portion of the vertical shaft. The dust generated in the moving part can be reliably taken into the vehicle body without escaping to the outside.

(E) In any one of claims 1 to 6, an oil chamber for containing lubricating oil is provided in the manipulator, and the oil chamber is formed by a cylindrical shaft passing through the oil chamber. A part of a passage through which the air sucked from the air suction port on the upstream side of the oil chamber reaches the communication passage is formed. According to this configuration, even if the oil chamber is provided in the manipulator, a passage that bypasses the oil chamber to avoid the oil chamber in order to secure a flow path of the air from the air suction port upstream of the oil chamber is not formed. I can do it.

(F) Claims 1 to 6 and (a)
In any one of (e) to (e), a filter constituting the exhaust means is provided at a bottom portion of the vehicle body so as to exhaust air in the room below the vehicle body. According to this configuration, since the air is exhausted below the vehicle body (cart), it is possible to prevent the exhaust air from being blown to a person or a product.

[0084]

As described above in detail, according to the first aspect of the present invention, when the exhaust means is driven, the airflow flowing into the chamber via the driving portion of the manipulator is blown to the control panel. In addition, the dust generated in the vehicle body can be collected without escaping to the outside, and the control panel can be cooled by airflow.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the sliding portion of the elevating shaft is covered by the skirt portion, and air is sucked from the air suction port located at the position covered by the skirt portion, whereby the sliding of the elevating shaft is performed. Since a negative pressure space is formed around the moving part, dust generated by sliding friction of the elevating shaft can be reliably collected in the vehicle body without escaping to the outside.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the wiring passage for the electric wire connecting the electric device in the manipulator and the control panel is used as a communication passage through which the air flow from the manipulator to the room flows. There is no need to separately provide a communication path such as a pipe for securing an air flow path.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, an airflow is generated that flows through the flow path facing the seal member interposed between the housing forming at least a part of the drive chamber and the drive part of the manipulator. Is provided, the dust generated by the sliding friction of the seal member can be collected in the vehicle body without escaping to the outside.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the lower portion of the elevating shaft is housed in the housing chamber having a diameter slightly larger than the shaft diameter to constitute a pump mechanism, and the driving portion is driven by the pressure difference created by the pump mechanism. Since the second airflow reaching the chamber via the chamber is generated, the dust generated in the driving portion can be collected over a wider area.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, since the inside of the cylinder of the shaft connecting the arms is used as a part of the air passage, it is necessary to separately provide a pipe for securing the air flow path. Therefore, the structure and size of the manipulator can be avoided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway side view of a carrier according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of a base.

FIG. 3 is a sectional side view of a main part of a rotating shaft.

FIG. 4 is a sectional side view of a main part of the manipulator.

FIG. 5 is a partially cutaway side view showing a manipulator and a rotating shaft.

FIG. 6 is a side sectional view of the manipulator.

FIG. 7 is a plan sectional view of a main part of the manipulator.

FIG. 8 is a front view of the carrier.

FIG. 9 is a plan view showing a transfer system in a clean room.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Conveyance vehicle as a conveyance vehicle, 1a ... Body, 4 ... Cassette, 18 ... Base which constitutes a drive room and a support part, 18a ... Communication hole which constitutes a communication path, 18b ... Concave part as a storage chamber, 19 ... Rotary shaft as lifting shaft, 19b ...
A communication path constituting a communication path, 23 a rotating motor as a rotary driving means, 24 a manipulator, 24a a housing constituting a driving chamber, 25 a first arm constituting a driving chamber and an arm, 26 ... A second arm as an arm portion, which constitutes a drive chamber, 29, 30... A fan filter unit constituting exhaust means, 29a, 30a... A fan, 29b, 30b... A filter, 47d. ... holes as air inlets, 48 ...
Skirt part, 49 ... a telescopic motor that constitutes an electric device,
59 ... gear housing as a housing, 60, 65
... a support shaft as a shaft, 62a ... a communication hole as an air suction port, 63 ... an oil seal as a seal member, C ... a control panel, R1 ... chamber, G1, G2 ... a gap as an air suction port,
EL: electric wire, P: pump mechanism.

Claims (6)

[Claims] A control panel disposed in a room communicated through a communication passage with a driving room accommodating a driving portion of the manipulator; and a discharge port for exhausting air in the room. Exhaust means having a filter, and an air inlet for generating an airflow flowing into the chamber via the drive chamber when the exhaust means is driven, wherein the control panel is configured to allow the airflow to hit the interior of the chamber. The transport trolley whose position is set. 2. A lift shaft for raising and lowering the manipulator with respect to a vehicle body, wherein at least one of the air suction ports is formed directly on the lift shaft or supports the lift shaft so as to be able to move up and down. A skirt portion for guiding the flow of air flowing into the air suction port is formed by a gap for sliding between the supporting portion and the elevating shaft. Claim 1 provided so as to cover.
The transport trolley described in the above. 3. The transport trolley according to claim 1, wherein the communication path is a wiring path through which an electric wire connecting an electric device disposed in the manipulator and the control panel is wired. 4. An airflow flows through at least one of the air suction ports facing a seal member interposed between a housing forming at least a part of the driving chamber and a driving portion of the manipulator. The carrier according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the carrier is provided as described above. 5. A lift shaft for raising and lowering the manipulator with respect to a vehicle body, a lower portion of the lift shaft is housed in a storage chamber having a diameter slightly larger than the shaft diameter, and a lifting movement of the lift shaft is used. The transporting vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a pump mechanism is configured to generate a second airflow that reaches the chamber via the driving portion. 6. The manipulator has a multi-joint structure having a plurality of arms, and a shaft for connecting the respective arms so as to be rotatable relative to each other is formed in a cylindrical shape. The transporting vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein air sucked from an upstream air suction port is part of a passage for reaching the communication passage.