JPS62180855A - Plate-like workpiece transposing mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To locate properly a plate-like workpiece relative to a fork for transposition by providing a locating section for locating the outer peripheral edge of the plate-like workpiece transposed by pivoting a transposing belt. CONSTITUTION:A plate-like workpiece 3 is transferred on a transposing belt 10 by the rotation of pulleys 12, 13 and stopped when an end of the workpiece abuts against a workpiece stopping member 17. Next, the belt 10 is pivoted about the pulley 12 to pivot the pulley 13 side downward. Then, the workpiece 3 located and stopped on the belt 10 by the stopping member 17 maintains its position while being inclined together with the belt 10 so that the end edge coincides with a locating section 18b at the pulley 13 side. Then, the belt 10 is further pivoted downward, the end edge of the workpiece 3 fits into the inside of projecting stage of the locating section 18b and finally the rear end edge fits into the inside of projecting stage of the locating section 18a at the pulley 12 side.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a mechanism for transferring a plate-shaped workpiece, such as a sea urchin A, onto a fork when the workpiece is transferred from one process to the next in a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus or the like. In particular, the present invention relates to a plate-shaped work transfer mechanism that can correctly position and transfer the plate-shaped work onto a fork.

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional mechanism for transferring plate-shaped workpieces of this type is shown in FIGS. It has a transfer belt 4 for receiving the workpiece 3, and a fork 5 provided below the side of the transfer belt 4 to transfer the plate-shaped workpiece 3 onto its upper surface and send it to the next process. A positioning member 6 is provided at the end on the next process side.

Then, in order to transfer the plate-like workpiece 3, which has been conveyed in the direction of the arrow by the conveyance belt 7 on the previous process side and is positioned and stopped at a predetermined position on the transfer belt 4, onto the fork 5, as shown in FIG. Banko to show.

The entire fork 5 can be raised in the direction of the arrow [3] and a receiver can be placed on the upper surface of the fork 5, or as shown in FIG.

The entire transfer bells 1 to 4 were lowered together with the two pulleys 1 and 2 in the direction of arrow C, and the receiver was passed over the upper surface of the fork 5.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, in such a plate-shaped work transfer mechanism, there is no means for maintaining the position of the plate-shaped work 3 that has been positioned and stopped on the transfer bell 1-4. The position of the plate-like workpiece 3 may shift during the operation of transferring it to the upper surface of the fork 5.

Therefore, it may not be possible to correctly position and replace the fork 5. In addition, since the positioning member 6 provided on the upper surface of the fork 5 is provided only at the end on the next process side and not on the end on the previous process side, the plate-shaped workpiece that is replaced on the upper surface of the fork 5 is 3 is positioned at one side edge, but the other side edge is free, and the position of the plate-shaped work 3 may shift when being sent to the next process by the fork 5. Therefore, in the primary process, the position where the plate-like workpiece 3 is set at a predetermined work site may not match. Due to these, the reliability of reloading the plate-like workpiece 3 and the reliability of transporting it to the next process are reduced. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve such problems.

Means for Solving the Problems The means of the present invention for solving the above-mentioned problems consists of a transfer belt that is passed between two booths to receive the plate-like workpiece conveyed from the previous process, and In a plate-shaped work transfer mechanism having a fork provided below the side of the transfer belt to transfer the plate-shaped work onto the upper surface and send it to the next process, the transfer belt is connected to a fork provided at the front side of the conveyance process. A second pulley provided on the next process side is configured to be able to rotate downward around the first pulley, and a work stop member is provided at a position where the work is stopped on the second pulley side, and This is achieved by providing positioning portions at the front and rear ends of the upper surface of the fork for positioning the outer peripheral edge of the plate-like workpiece to be transferred by rotation of the transfer belt.

Embodiments Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

- Fig. 1 is a front view showing an embodiment of the plate-like workpiece transfer mechanism according to the present invention, and Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof. This plate-like workpiece reloading mechanism is for transferring a plate-like workpiece 3 such as a wafer onto a fork when transporting the workpiece 3 such as a wafer from one process to the next in a semiconductor manufacturing device, etc.
It has a transfer belt 1σ and a fork 11.

The transfer belt 10 receives the plate-like workpiece 3 conveyed in the direction of arrow A by the conveyor belt 7 on the front process side, and is connected to the first transfer belt 10 provided on the front process side.
12 and a second pulley 13 provided on the next process side. As shown in FIG. 2, the first pulley 12 and the second pulley 13 are mounted in a rectangular shape, for example, on rotating shafts 15 and 16 provided at the front and rear ends of the base 14, respectively. attached to both ends.

That is, the transfer bells 1 to 10 are mounted in two parallel manners on both sides of the base 14.

In the above-mentioned installation, the base 14 is rotatable downward as shown by the arrow in FIG. 1 about the rotating shaft 15 of the first pulley 12. Therefore, the transfer belt 1
0.10 can also be rotated downwardly as shown by the arrow around the first pulley 12.

In the above installation, the work stop member 17 is mounted on the upper surface of the base 14.
is provided. This work stop member 17 is for stopping the plate-shaped work 3 conveyed in the direction of arrow A by the conveyance belt 7 on the previous process side at a conveyance stop position on the transfer belt 10. For example, three pin-shaped members are implanted at predetermined positions on the side along the circular outer periphery of the plate-shaped workpiece 3.

This work stop member 17 is not limited to a pin-shaped member,
It may be a plate-shaped member.

A fork 11 is provided below the transfer belt 10. This fork 11 is used to transfer the plate-shaped work 3 on the top surface of the transfer belt 10 and send it to the next process.As shown in FIG.
．． Two positioning portions 18a and 18b are provided in parallel on the outer lower side of the 10, and positioning portions 18a and 18b are provided at the front and rear ends of the upper surface, respectively.
is formed. These positioning parts 18a and 18b are.

This is to position the outer peripheral edge of the plate-like workpiece 3 to be transferred by rotation of the transfer belt 10 in the direction of the arrow. ing. And this positioning part 18a
, 18b are formed at positions that match the transport stop position by the work stop member 17. Note that the positioning portions 18a and 18b are not limited to the stepped portions, and pin-shaped members may be implanted at the positions. In addition, the fork 11
', 11 are omitted from illustration, but the two on the left and right are connected and integrated at appropriate locations.

Next, the operation of the plate-shaped workpiece transfer mechanism configured as described above will be explained with reference to FIG. 3.

First, the plate-shaped workpiece 3, which has been conveyed in the direction of arrow A by the conveyor belt 7 on the previous process side (see Fig. 1), is placed on the transfer belt 10, as shown in Fig. 3(a). . Then, by the rotation of the first and second pulleys 12 and 13 in the direction of the arrow, the plate-shaped work 3 is transferred to the transfer belt 1.
The workpiece is further conveyed in the six directions of arrows on the top of the workpiece o, and the tip thereof hits a workpiece stopping member 17 provided on the second pulley 13 side and stops. As a result, the plate-like workpiece 3 is positioned at a predetermined conveyance stop position on the transfer belt 10 and stopped. In this state, the rotation of the pulleys 12 and 13 is stopped, and the driving of the transfer bell I-10 is stopped. next,
This transfer belt 10 is rotated downward on the second pulley 13 side as shown by the arrow around the first pulley 12. Then, as shown in FIG. 3(b), the plate-like workpiece 3, which has been positioned and stopped on the transfer belt 10 by the work stopper member 17, tilts together with the transfer belt 10 while maintaining its position. The tip edge of the fork 11 matches the positioning portion 18b of the fork 11 on the second pulley 13 side. Thereafter, the transfer belt 10 is further rotated downward in the direction of the arrow. Then, Figure 3 (c
), the leading edge of the plate-shaped work 3 first fits inside the protruding step of the positioning part 18b of the fork 11 on the second pulley 13 side, and finally the rear edge of the plate-shaped work 3 Positioning portion 18a of the fork 11 on the first pulley 12 side
It fits inside the protruding part. As a result, the entire plate-like workpiece 3 that has been positioned and stopped on the transfer belt 10 is
It is positioned on the upper surface of the fork 11 by its positioning parts 18a and 18b, and is correctly replaced. Thereafter, the fork 11 is moved, for example, in the direction of arrow E, and the plate-like workpiece 3 placed on its upper surface is sent to the next process. Then, the transfer belt 10 rotated downward is shown in FIG. 3(c).
By rotating upward as shown by the broken line arrow F,
Return to initial state.

Note that the present invention is not limited to a wafer transport system in a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, but is similarly applicable to various plate-like workpiece transport systems in other product manufacturing apparatuses.

Effects of the Invention As explained above, the present invention includes the transfer belt 10,
The second pulley 13 provided on the next process side can rotate downward around the first pulley 12 provided on the previous process side of conveyance, and the second pulley 13 side rotates the workpiece. A work stop member 17 is provided at the transport stop position, and a positioning portion 18a is provided at the front and rear ends of the upper surface of the fork 11.
, 18b are provided, the fork 11 is held while holding the position of the plate-like workpiece 3 that has been positioned and stopped on the transfer bell 1-10 by the work stopper member 17 by rotating the transfer belt 10 downward. In addition, the fork 11 allows the outer peripheral edge of the transferred plate-like work 3 to be correctly positioned by the positioning portions 18a and 18b at the front and rear ends. Therefore, the plate-like workpiece 3 can be correctly positioned and replaced with respect to the fork 11. Further, when the plate-shaped work 3 placed on the upper surface of the fork 11 is sent to the next process, it is possible to prevent the plate-shaped work 3 from shifting. Therefore, in the next step, the plate-like workpiece 3 can be set in a correct position at a predetermined work site. For these reasons, according to the present invention, the plate-shaped work 3
The reliability of reloading and the reliability of transport to the next process can be improved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a front view showing an embodiment of the plate-shaped work transfer mechanism according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof, Fig. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the operation, and Figs. 4 and 5 are a conventional example. FIG. 6 is a front view showing another operation in the conventional example. 3... Plate-shaped work 10... Transfer belt 11... Fork 12... First pulley 13... Second pulley 14... Mounted on base 17... Work stopping member 18a , 18b...Positioning section Fig. 11 Fig. 5 Fig. 6

Claims (1)

[Claims] A transfer belt is placed between two pulleys to receive the plate-shaped workpiece conveyed from the previous process, and a transfer belt is provided below the transfer belt to transfer the plate-shaped workpiece onto the upper surface and send it to the next process. In a plate-shaped workpiece transfer mechanism having a fork, the transfer belt is rotated downward around a first pulley provided on a previous process side of conveyance, and a second pulley provided on a next process side. A workpiece stop member is provided at the workpiece conveyance stop position on the second pulley side, and a plate is provided at the front and rear ends of the upper surface of the fork to be replaced by rotation of the transfer belt. A plate-shaped workpiece reloading mechanism characterized by having a positioning part for positioning the outer peripheral edge of the plate-shaped workpiece.