JPWO2012108164A1 - Laminating apparatus and laminating system using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a laminating apparatus and a laminating system using the laminating apparatus that are more compact and inexpensive in that the laminating process and loading / unloading of a work are efficient in a short time. The laminating apparatus of the present invention includes an upper chamber member 40 and a hot plate 20 installed below the upper chamber member 40, and the hot plate 20 includes a thin plate-like workpiece W carried on the hot plate 20. The upper chamber member 40 is heated, and can move close to and away from an ascending position separated from the hot plate 20 and a lowered position where the upper chamber member 40 contacts the hot plate 20 to form the chamber space S. On the lower surface side of the member 40, a plurality of arms 44 for holding the workpiece W carried in and out of the hot plate 20 are installed, and a recess for storing the arm 44 is formed on the upper surface of the hot plate 20.

Description

  The present invention relates to a laminating apparatus for laminating laminated thin plate materials and a laminating system using the laminating apparatus.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a solar cell laminating apparatus, there is a solar cell laminating apparatus in which a conveyor is provided before and after the processing apparatus, and workpieces are carried into and out of the apparatus by this conveyor. In general, since the processing time of the laminate takes about ten and several minutes at a time, there are some that simultaneously process three sheets in order to increase productivity (see Patent Document 1).
Further, as a single-wafer type laminating apparatus, there is an apparatus in which a heating plate is accommodated in a lower chamber, a diaphragm is attached to the upper chamber, and a substrate placed on the heating plate is sealed in an upper and lower chamber for processing. (See Patent Document 2)
Many conventional apparatuses that perform vacuum heat treatment including a single-wafer laminator are provided with upper and lower chambers, and the substrate is taken in and out by lift pins that are raised and lowered from the heating plate. (See Patent Document 3)
Conveyor-conveying devices require a large space on the plane, while single-wafer devices consisting of upper and lower chambers require a large occupied space in the vertical direction, so conventional laminator devices are large. there were.
As a single-wafer type laminator having a compact structure, for example, a first unit including a heater and a second including a diaphragm for applying pressure from above to the stacked object placed on the first unit There is a laminating apparatus equipped with a unit. This apparatus has a compact structure including a heater and an upper chamber without the lower chamber (see Patent Document 4).

JP 2008-126407 A Japanese Patent No. 3890206 JP 2009-68037 A JP 2007-112031 A

However, in the apparatus of Patent Document 1, when a substrate is carried in and out, it is necessary to once remove the jig from the heater and place or remove the substrate on the removed jig. Although the apparatus itself has become compact, it is very troublesome to put in and out the substrate, and is not suitable for mass production.
In the apparatus of Patent Document 2, a plurality of processes can be performed at one time, but the first loaded substrate must be kept waiting until the loading of the last loaded substrate is completed. Therefore, it cannot be carried in and out efficiently.
In addition, in an apparatus that performs vacuum processing in a chamber space constituted by upper and lower chambers and the like, as in the apparatuses of Patent Documents 3 and 4, the processing time becomes long because the space for vacuuming is wide.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and performs a laminating process and a loading / unloading of a substrate efficiently in a short time, and a laminating apparatus having a more compact and inexpensive structure and a laminating system using the laminating apparatus. The purpose is to provide.

The invention according to the present application is a laminating apparatus that performs laminating processing on a thin plate-like workpiece, wherein a diaphragm is installed on the lower surface side of the laminating device, and is installed below the upper chamber member, A workpiece placement member on which a workpiece is placed, and at least one of the upper chamber member and the workpiece placement member is a separated position where the upper chamber member and the workpiece placement member are separated from each other, and The workpiece placement member and the upper chamber member are brought into contact with each other, and can be moved relatively close to and away from the contact position that forms a chamber space therein. The laminating apparatus is provided with an arm for holding the work carried in and out on a work placing member.
As described above, since the plurality of arms for holding the work are installed on the lower surface side of the upper chamber member, when the upper chamber member is separated from the work placing member, the work held by the arm is also moved to the work placing member. It will be in the state separated from. That is, it is possible to move the work held by the arm close to and away from the hot plate while maintaining a compact and simple configuration without separately providing a driving means for the work holding arm.

The workpiece mounting member has a recess for storing the plurality of arms on the upper surface thereof.
If such a concave portion is formed, when the chamber space is formed by the upper chamber member and the workpiece mounting member, the arm is smoothly stored in the concave portion to form a chamber space excellent in airtightness quickly and reliably. be able to. The structure for storing the arm may be, for example, a structure in which a retracting portion is formed in the upper chamber member in addition to the structure in which the concave portion of the workpiece placement member is formed. When the upper chamber member is brought into contact with the workpiece mounting member, if the arm is retracted to the upper chamber member side and stored in the retracting portion, a chamber space having excellent airtightness can be formed quickly and reliably. Can do.

Moreover, the said workpiece | work mounting member has a heater for heating the said workpiece | work mounted in the upper surface.
As described above, in the conventional apparatus, since the heater is installed in the heating means installed in the chamber space, the workability at the time of heater installation and maintenance is not always good. In this respect, if the structure is such that the heater is directly installed on the workpiece mounting member, the heater can be easily installed, such as easy wiring, and excellent maintainability.

The diaphragm includes an upper chamber member mounted on the lower surface side of the diaphragm, and a hot plate installed below the upper chamber member, and the hot plate is a thin plate-like work carried on the hot plate. At least one of the upper chamber member and the hot plate is a spaced position where the upper chamber member and the hot plate are separated from each other, and the upper chamber member abuts on the hot plate and The heat plate and the upper chamber member are relatively close to and away from a contact position that forms a chamber space, and are carried into and out of the heat plate on the lower surface side of the upper chamber member. A laminating apparatus characterized in that a plurality of arms for holding a work are installed, and a concave portion for storing the arms of the upper chamber member in contact with the hot plate is formed on the upper surface of the hot plate. It is.
Thus, in the laminating apparatus according to the present invention, since the chamber space is formed by the hot plate and the upper chamber member, the chamber space can be made very narrow and the time for evacuation is shortened. Thereby, the processing time of a board | substrate is shortened.
In addition, since a plurality of arms for holding the work are installed on the lower surface side of the upper chamber member, when the upper chamber member is separated from the hot plate, the work held by the arm is also separated from the hot plate. become. That is, it is possible to move the work held by the arm close to and away from the hot plate while maintaining a compact and simple configuration without separately providing a driving means for the work holding arm.

You may further provide several plunger pins which hold | maintain the said workpiece | work in the position spaced apart from the said hot platen. In this case, each plunger pin is installed in a plurality of holes formed on the upper surface of the hot plate so as to protrude upward and retractably, and is urged upward by an elastic member.
With such a plunger pin, the workpiece can be heated (preheated) in a state separated from the hot plate, compared with the case where the workpiece is heated (preheated and main heated) in contact with the hot plate, The temperature rise gradient of the workpiece can be made gentle, and the occurrence of workpiece warpage is suppressed. If the warpage of the workpiece can be suppressed, the occurrence of uneven heating during subsequent heating can be more easily prevented, and the workpiece can be efficiently heated. In addition, when the temperature rise of the workpiece is rapid, the workpiece is cracked by the pressurization during the subsequent laminating process, but the workpiece can be prevented from cracking by the moderate temperature rise. Since the plunger pin having such an effect is simply and compactly configured by an elastic member such as a pin and a spring, it is difficult to break down and is excellent in maintainability.

The said hot plate is provided with the workpiece | work heating part arrange | positioned in the upper surface center part, and the heater for a heating installed in the lower surface. In this case, a groove may be formed on the upper surface of the hot plate and on the outer periphery of the work heating unit so as to follow the outer peripheral edge of the work placed on the work heating unit.
As a workpiece to be laminated by the laminating apparatus according to the present invention, for example, a glass substrate laminated with an adhesive interposed therebetween can be exemplified. In such a workpiece laminating process, the adhesive may flow out from the outer peripheral edge of the glass substrate. In this regard, if there is a groove as described above, the adhesive is prevented from adhering to the glass substrate because the adhesive remains in the groove even if the adhesive flows out. If contamination of the surface of the workpiece heating unit is prevented, the time required for cleaning and maintenance of the workpiece heating unit can be shortened, and the processing time of the workpiece can be shortened. Further, the groove structure is a simple structure and excellent in maintainability.

The diaphragm includes a film body for pressing a workpiece having a size covering the entire surface of the workpiece heating unit and the entire groove. In this case, a spacer against which the outer peripheral portion of the film body presses may be installed on the hot plate outside the groove.
If such a spacer is installed, the occurrence of pressure unevenness can be more reliably prevented when a workpiece is pressed with a diaphragm. This prevents the occurrence of uneven spreading of the adhesive.

The upper chamber member has a lid box shape having a wall portion and a lid portion, and an airtight seal member is disposed at a contact portion of the wall portion with the hot plate, and the hot plate has the upper portion. An exhaust hole for exhausting the gas in the chamber space may be provided below the wall portion of the chamber member, and a recess facing the chamber space may be provided in a portion of the wall portion facing the exhaust hole. .
With such a structure, when exhausting from the chamber space, the gas in the chamber space can be quickly exhausted without being blocked by the diaphragm, and the work processing time can be shortened.

The diaphragm is disposed on the lower surface side of the main body of the upper chamber member, and the main body of the upper chamber member includes an outside air supply / exhaust port for applying a pressing force to the diaphragm. In this case, it is preferable to arrange a mesh body between the main body of the upper chamber member and the diaphragm.
Thus, if the mesh body is disposed between the main body of the upper chamber member and the diaphragm, the intake and exhaust ports are prevented from being blocked by the diaphragm film body. Thereby, the intake / exhaust between the space between the main body of the upper chamber member and the diaphragm and the outside can always be performed quickly, and the processing time of the workpiece can be shortened.

Another invention according to the present application includes a laminating unit configured by the laminating apparatus according to the above-described invention, and a work loading / unloading unit for loading and unloading the work into and from the laminating unit. And a robot arm capable of transferring the workpiece onto the arm when the upper chamber member is separated from the hot plate, and capable of taking out the workpiece on the arm. The laminating system is characterized in that the workpiece is conveyed sheet by piece between a unit and the laminating unit.
In this laminating system, when the upper chamber member is separated from the hot plate, the position of the arm of the upper chamber member is also separated from the hot plate (non-contact state). In this state, the workpiece is transferred onto the arm separated from the hot plate and the workpiece on the arm is taken out using the workpiece loading / unloading unit.
Here, for example, if the work carried into the laminating unit comes into contact with a member on the hot plate side even at the same time as the carry-in, there is a possibility that heating unevenness occurs in the work. In this regard, in the laminating system according to the present invention, the work carried into the laminating unit is held by the arm and is in a state separated from the hot plate (non-contact state), and the occurrence of heat unevenness is prevented. .
In addition, since the separating operation between the upper chamber member and the hot plate is completed, and the separating operation of the work with respect to the hot plate is also completed, it is possible to quickly perform the transfer and take-out operations of the work thereafter. Thereby, the lamination processing time can be shortened.

In the laminating apparatus according to the present invention, since the work placing member for placing the work is also used as a member for forming the chamber space, the structure of the apparatus is simplified and the maintainability is improved. In addition, the occurrence of failure is suppressed and the weight of the device is reduced.
In addition, when a plurality of workpiece holding arms are installed on the lower surface side of the upper chamber member and the upper chamber member holding the workpiece is brought into contact with the workpiece mounting member, the arm is placed on the workpiece mounting member. When the workpiece is transferred and the upper chamber member is separated from the workpiece placement member, the arm scoops up the workpiece from the workpiece placement member, and the workpiece is separated from the workpiece placement member. That is, it is possible to transfer the workpiece between the arm and the workpiece mounting member while maintaining a simple configuration without separately providing a driving means for the workpiece holding arm.

It is a perspective view which shows the lamination processing system which concerns on this invention. 2A is a plan view showing the hot plate, FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view taken along line 3B-3B shown in FIG. 2A, and FIG. FIG. 2D is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a main part 3C (spacer structure) of FIG. 2B, and FIG. 2D is a cross-sectional view of the main part 3Ds (plunger pin structure of the hot plate) of FIG. FIG. It is a fragmentary sectional view which shows the cross section in the 4A-4A line | wire of the principal part 4As (exhaust hole and recessed part structure of a hot plate) of FIG. 2 (A). Each figure is a schematic view of the laminating apparatus of the present invention as seen from the direction of arrow E in FIG. 1. FIG. 4 (A) shows a state where the upper chamber member is in the raised position, and FIG. FIG. 4C shows a state in which the workpiece is placed on the plunger pin. FIG. 5A is a schematic diagram showing a state in which the upper chamber member of the conventional apparatus is in the raised position, and FIG. 5B shows a state in which the upper chamber member of the conventional apparatus is in the contact position. It is a schematic diagram.

1 ... Laminating system, 10 ... Laminating equipment (laminating unit),
10a ... pedestal, 20 ... hot plate (work placement member), 21 ... work heating unit, 22 ... groove,
23 ... Spacer, 24 ... Exhaust hole, 24a ... Upper end opening,
25 ... Plunger pin, 25a ... Pin part, 25b ... Seat part, 25c ... Lid, 25d ... Hole,
26 ... spring (elastic member), 27 ... concave, 40 ... upper chamber member,
41 ... Main body (lid part), 42 ... Diaphragm, 42a ... Pressing film part,
43 ... frame (wall), 43a ... contact part, 43b ... opposite part,
44 ... arm, 44a ... arm base, 44b ... arm tip,
45 ... Intake / exhaust port, 46 ... Mesh member (net-like body), 47 ... Seal member, 48 ... Recessed part,
50 ... Lifting member, 50a ... Linear actuator,
80 ... Work loading / unloading robot (work loading / unloading unit)
81 ... Robot base, 82 ... Swivel part, 83 ... Robot arm support part,
84 ... Robot arm, 84a ... Robot arm base, 84b ... Robot hand,
100 ... Conventional laminating equipment, 120 ... Hot plate, 125 ... Pin,
130d: distance from hot plate to pin center, 140: upper chamber member,
Fa: Elevating stroke of the upper chamber member 40 of the apparatus of the present invention,
Fb: the height of the lower vacuum chamber of the apparatus of the present invention,
Ga: Up and down stroke of the conventional upper chamber member 140,
Gb: Height of the lower vacuum chamber Sb of the conventional device,
S: Chamber space, Sa: Upper vacuum chamber, Sb: Lower vacuum chamber, W: Workpiece.

Hereinafter, a laminating system according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
As shown in FIG. 1, the laminating system 1 includes a laminating apparatus (laminating unit) 10 and a work loading / unloading robot (work loading / unloading unit) 80.
The work W (work heated by a hot plate) to be processed by the laminating apparatus 10 of the present embodiment is, for example, a laminate of a plurality of glass substrates, and an adhesive is sandwiched between the glass substrates. Is.

As shown in FIG. 1, the laminating apparatus 10 includes a hot plate (work placing member) 20 installed on a pedestal 10a, an upper chamber member 40 disposed above the hot plate 20, and an upper chamber member 40. An elevating mechanism 50 that supports the hot plate 20 so as to be movable up and down is provided. The hot plate 20 is configured by providing a heater (not shown) on the back side (lower surface) of a work heating unit 21 to be described later, which is the main body.
In the laminating apparatus 10, as will be described later, a chamber space S (see FIG. 3) used when laminating the workpiece W is formed by the hot plate 20 and the upper chamber member 40. Further, the lifting mechanism 50 uses four well-known linear actuators 50a (see FIG. 1, for example, an air cylinder) installed in a vertically oriented state. Is omitted.

  The hot plate 20 is for heating a thin plate-like workpiece W to be laminated, and a work heating unit 21 (see FIG. 2) located at the center of the upper surface thereof, and a back side (lower surface side) of the work heating unit 21 And a heater (not shown) for heating. During the laminating process, the workpiece W to be processed is heated by the hot plate 20 while being placed on the workpiece heating unit 21.

  Further, the hot plate 20 is provided with a groove 22 formed on the outer surface of the work heating unit 21 on the upper surface thereof. In other words, the groove 22 is formed in an arrangement along the outer peripheral edge of the workpiece W placed on the workpiece heating unit 21. That is, as shown in FIGS. 2B and 2C, in the laminating apparatus 10 of this embodiment, the workpiece W is placed on the hot plate 20 so that the outer peripheral edge thereof is positioned at the upper end opening of the groove 22. It is carried in.

Further, the hot plate 20 is provided with a spacer 23 on the hot plate outside the groove 22 and installed at a position where an outer peripheral region of a diaphragm 42 to be described later comes into contact (see FIG. 2A).
As shown in FIG. 2A, the spacer 23 is a thin plate-like frame member having a rectangular shape in plan view, and is installed on the hot plate 20 so as to surround the outside of the groove 22. The spacer 23 is provided separately from the hot plate 20 and is detachable, but may be integrated with the hot plate 20.
Then, as shown in FIG. 2C, the height position of the upper surface of the spacer 23 may be equivalent to the height position of the upper surface of the workpiece W placed on the hot plate 20, for example. Or you may change the height of a long side and a short side. The height of the spacer 23 may be set to an optimum height.

The hot plate 20 is formed with exhaust holes 24 used for gas discharge (see FIG. 3).
Specifically, the exhaust hole 24 is formed in the lower vacuum chamber Sb (the diaphragm 42 and the hot plate 20) of the chamber space S formed between the upper chamber member 40 and the hot plate 20 when the upper chamber member 40 is lowered. And is used when the gas in the space surrounded by (see FIG. 4C) is discharged by a pump (not shown).
An upper end opening 24a of the exhaust hole 24 opened on the upper surface of the hot plate 20 is an outer edge portion of the spacer 23 of the hot plate 20, as shown in FIG. A recess 48 facing the chamber space S is provided at a portion facing the hot plate 20 and facing the upper end opening 24a of the exhaust hole 24 of the frame 43. Therefore, the gas in the lower vacuum chamber Sb of the chamber space S can be reliably exhausted without being blocked by the diaphragm 42 via the exhaust hole 24 and the recess 48a.

Further, the hot plate 20 includes a plurality of plunger pins 25 installed so as to protrude upward from the upper surface thereof (see FIG. 2D). These plunger pins 25 are mainly used to hold the workpiece W carried into the laminating apparatus 10 in a state where it is separated upward (floated) from the hot plate 20.
Each plunger pin 25 includes a pin portion 25a and a lower end seat portion 25b, and is installed (sitting) in a hole 25d formed in the hot plate 20, and the plunger tip (upper end) is an upper opening of the hole 25d. It is installed in a state where it can be projected and retracted between a protruding position protruding upward (see FIG. 2D) and a retracted position where the plunger tip enters the hole 25d (see FIG. 4C). .
As shown in FIG. 2D, a lid body 25c having a hole through which the pin portion 25a is formed is attached to the upper end opening of each hole 25d. Each plunger pin 25 is a spring (elastic member). ) 26 is always urged toward the upper lid body 25c by 26, and is held in the protruding position (see FIG. 2D). As the spring 26, a spring having a spring strength capable of holding the workpiece W placed on the plunger pin 25 in a state of being separated from the hot plate 20 is used.
Accordingly, each plunger pin 25 is located at the protruding position (see FIG. 2D) when there is no load, and even when the workpiece W is placed, the plunger pin tip protrudes from the upper surface of the hot plate 20. Located in the support position. Then, when the workpiece W is pushed downward by a diaphragm 42 described later, the plunger pin 25 is moved to the retracted position (see FIG. 4C). That is, the workpiece W pushed by the diaphragm 42 is brought into contact with the workpiece heating portion 21 of the hot plate 20, and is heated and laminated in this state.

In addition, a plurality of recesses 27 are formed on the upper surface of the hot plate 20 to store arms 44 described later attached to the upper chamber member 40 (see FIGS. 2A and 3).
As shown in FIG. 2A, recesses 27 having openings on the upper surface of the hot plate 20 are formed at six locations on the upper surface of the hot plate 20. Each recess 27 is formed at a position corresponding to a position of an arm 44 described later. Therefore, when the upper chamber member 40 is lowered to the lowered position (contact position, see FIG. 4C), each arm 44 is stored in the corresponding concave portion 27, so that the frame 43 of the upper chamber member 40 is The lower end portion can come into contact with the upper surface of the hot plate 20.

As shown in FIG. 3, the upper chamber member 40 includes a main body (lid portion) 41 of an upper chamber that is a rectangular plate-shaped member, a diaphragm 42 attached to the lower surface side of the main body 41, and an outer periphery of the lower surface of the main body 41. And a frame body (wall portion) 43 installed over the entire circumference.
A plurality of arms 44 (see FIG. 4) for holding the substrate are provided on the inner side (or lower end) of the frame 43 on the lower surface side of the upper chamber member 40.

  The diaphragm 42 is a film body for pressing the workpiece W against the hot plate 20, and includes a pressing film portion 42a (see FIG. 3). The film part 42a is sized to completely cover the entire surface of the workpiece heating part 21 and the entire groove 22, and the outer peripheral part of the film part 42a is pressed against the upper surface of the spacer 23 installed outside the groove 22. It is.

4A to 4C, the main body 41 of the upper chamber member 40 is a rectangular plate-like member supported by an elevating mechanism 50, and has an intake / exhaust port 45 at the center thereof. Yes. The intake / exhaust port 45 introduces outside air into the upper vacuum chamber Sa (see FIGS. 4A to 4C) between the main body 41 and the diaphragm 42 by a pump (not shown), and the diaphragm 42 is heated to a hot plate. 20, that is, for applying a pressing force to be pressed against the workpiece W.
A mesh member (net-like body) 46 is disposed in the upper vacuum chamber Sa between the main body 41 and the diaphragm 42. When the mesh member 46 is disposed in this portion, a gap is always formed between the main body 41 and the diaphragm 42 when the gas between the main body 41 and the diaphragm 42 of the upper chamber member 40 is exhausted from the intake / exhaust port 45. Therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent the diaphragm 42 from being in close contact with the main body 41 and closing the intake / exhaust port 45. The size of the mesh member 46 only needs to face the entire surface of the intake / exhaust port 45, but the size facing the entire surface of the pressing film portion 42a of the diaphragm 42 is more preferable.

Further, a seal member 47 is provided at the lower end portion of the frame body 43 of the upper chamber member 40 so as to be installed over the entire circumference thereof.
The lower end portion of the frame 43 includes a contact portion 43a that contacts the upper surface of the hot plate 20 when the upper chamber member 40 is lowered, and a portion 43b that faces the hot plate 20 disposed on the inner side thereof. . The abutting portion 43a and the facing portion 43b are adjacent to each other through a step. Since the seal member 47 is installed in the abutting portion 43a, the upper chamber member 40 is lowered to the lowered position (see FIG. 4C), and the upper chamber member 40 and the hot plate 20 are brought into contact with each other. When S (see FIG. 3) is formed, airtightness in the chamber space S is secured. Further, an exhaust hole 24 is disposed at a position facing the facing portion 43b of the hot plate 20. That is, the recessed portion 48 is formed at the position of the frame 43 facing the exhaust hole 24. Therefore, when the gas in the chamber space S is discharged from the exhaust hole 24, the gas can be discharged quickly and reliably.

Each arm 44 (six in the apparatus of the present embodiment) is attached to the lower surface side of the upper chamber member 40 (see FIGS. 1 and 4).
As shown in FIG. 4, each arm 44 includes an arm base 44 a that is attached and fixed to the frame body 43, and an arm tip 44 b that extends horizontally from the lower end of the arm base 44 a toward the inside of the laminating apparatus 10. ing. The workpiece W is placed and held on the upper surface of the arm tip 44b.

  The upper chamber member 40 having such a configuration is supported by the elevating member 50 as described above, and is moved upward from the hot plate 20 (separated position, see FIG. 4A), and the frame body 43. It is possible to move up and down between a lowered position (abutting position, see FIG. 4C) in which the lower end of the abutting part abuts against the hot plate 20. When the upper chamber member 40 is lowered to the lowered position, a chamber space S surrounded by the upper chamber member 40 (the main body 41 and the frame body 43) and the hot plate 20 is formed (see FIG. 3). Of the chamber space S, the space surrounded by the main body 41 of the upper chamber member 40 and the diaphragm 42 is the upper vacuum chamber Sa, and the space surrounded by the diaphragm 42 and the hot plate 20 is the lower vacuum chamber Sb. is there.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a workpiece loading / unloading robot (work loading / unloading unit) 80 loads and unloads the workpiece W into and from the laminating apparatus 10, and can be turned around the vertical axis of the robot base 81 and the robot base 81. , A U-shaped robot arm support portion 83 fixed to the upper portion of the swing portion 82, and a robot arm 84 installed on the robot arm support portion 83.

  The robot arm 84 includes a robot arm base 84a that can be moved up and down on the robot arm support 83, and a robot hand 84b that can be moved back and forth in the horizontal direction with respect to the robot arm base 84a (see FIGS. 1 and 4). A)). With the robot hand 84b, the workpiece W is carried into and out of the laminating apparatus 10 in a single wafer manner (one by one).

  In addition, since the raising / lowering operation of the robot arm 84 and the advancing / retreating operation of the robot hand 84b are operations performed by a well-known robot, detailed description of the configuration and operation thereof is omitted here. Further, in the present embodiment, a case where a double column (double mast) type slide arm robot is used as the workpiece loading / unloading robot 80 has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this. A single column type slide arm robot, a vertical articulated robot, or a horizontal articulated robot may be used.

The operation of such a laminating system will be described with reference to FIGS.
Here, the operation will be described starting from a workpiece loading step of loading a workpiece W into the laminating apparatus 10 by a workpiece loading / unloading robot (hereinafter simply referred to as a robot) 80.

In the workpiece loading process, first, the workpiece W to be laminated accommodated in a magazine (not shown) is taken out by the robot hand 84b of the robot 80 and loaded into the laminating apparatus 10 (see FIG. 1). The position where the workpiece W is carried in is between the main body 41 of the upper chamber member 40 and the arm tip portion 44b of the arm 44 (see FIG. 4A).
Thereafter, when the robot arm 84 is moved downward, the loaded work W is placed on the arm tip portion 44b of the arm 44 attached to the upper chamber member 40 (see FIG. 4A). When the placement of the workpiece W on the arm 44 is completed, the robot hand 84b is retracted and moved to the outside of the laminating apparatus 10, and the loading of the workpiece W is completed.

When the work carry-in process is completed, a laminating process is then performed.
The laminating process is generally performed by sequentially executing an upper chamber lowering process (chamber forming process), a preheating process, a pressing process (heating process), a press releasing process, and an upper chamber rising process (work removal process) in this order. .

When the work carry-in process is completed, first, an upper chamber lowering process is executed.
In this step, the elevating mechanism 50 is operated to lower the upper chamber member 40 toward the hot plate 20. By this operation, first, the workpiece W placed on the arm tip portion 44b of the arm 44 is transferred onto the plunger pin 25 of the hot plate 20 (see FIG. 4B).
When the upper chamber member 40 is further lowered, the arm 44 enters the recess 27 of the hot plate 20, and finally the seal member 47 of the upper chamber member 40 contacts the upper surface of the hot plate 20 (FIG. 4). (See (C)). Thereby, the upper chamber lowering step is completed.
By the way, as shown in FIG. 5A, in the upper chamber lowering process in the conventional laminating apparatus 100, the workpiece W is placed on the pin 125 by the robot hand. It is necessary to increase the height so that the robot hand can enter 130d between the hot plate 120 and the tip height of the pin 125. In this case, since the workpiece W is transferred onto the pin 125 from a position higher than the pin 125, the workpiece holding height of the robot hand is set so that the workpiece W does not interfere (collision or rubbing) with the pin 125. Has a certain margin. For this reason, the rising position of the upper chamber member 140 has to be installed at a position higher than the workpiece holding height of the robot hand, and the up / down stroke Ga of the upper chamber member 140 tends to be long.
In this regard, since the workpiece W is placed on the arm 44 attached to the upper chamber member 40 in the laminating apparatus 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention, the up / down stroke Fa of the upper chamber member 40 (see FIG. 4A). ) Is sufficient with a stroke that allows the arm 44 to be completely exposed from the hot plate 20. Therefore, compared with the conventional laminating apparatus 100, the raising / lowering stroke Fa of the upper chamber member 40 becomes short, and the raising / lowering time can be shortened. Thereby, the lamination processing time can be shortened.

  In the next preheating step, evacuation is performed on both the upper vacuum chamber Sa and the lower vacuum chamber Sb. Specifically, a pump (not shown) is operated to discharge air in the upper vacuum chamber Sa from the intake / exhaust port 45, and air in the lower vacuum chamber Sb is discharged from the exhaust hole 24. During this process, the workpiece W is still placed on the plunger pin 25. The hot plate 20 is preheated to a predetermined temperature by a heater (not shown), and the work W is heated (preheated) by the radiant heat from the preheated hot plate 20. Thereby, it can prevent that the workpiece | work W is heated suddenly, and generation | occurrence | production of the curvature of the workpiece | work W can be prevented.

  In the subsequent pressing step, the upper vacuum chamber Sa is opened to the atmosphere. As a result, downward atmospheric pressure is applied to the film body portion 42a of the diaphragm 42, and the workpiece W is pressed against the hot plate 20 by this pressure. Accordingly, the plunger pin 25 is moved to the retracted position (see FIG. 4C), and the workpiece W pushed by the film body portion 42a comes into contact with the workpiece heating portion 21 of the hot plate 20. In this state, the workpiece W is heated and laminating is performed.

When the press process for a predetermined time is completed, a press release process is executed next.
In this step, the lower vacuum chamber Sb is opened to the atmosphere. As a result, both the inside of the upper vacuum chamber Sa and the inside of the lower vacuum chamber Sb become atmospheric pressure, and the force for pressing the workpiece W against the hot plate 20 is released. When the pressing force is released, the workpiece W is pushed upward by the plunger pin 25 biased upward, and the workpiece W is separated from the hot plate 20 upward.
Incidentally, as shown in FIG. 5B, the conventional laminating apparatus 100 has a hot plate 120 installed in the chamber space S and secures a space for the pins 125 to retreat under the hot plate 120. Since it was necessary, the volume of the lower vacuum chamber Sb of the chamber space S (particularly, the height Gb of the lower vacuum chamber Sb) was increased accordingly. When the volume of the lower vacuum chamber Sb is increased, it takes time until the interior of the chamber space S has a predetermined degree of vacuum.
In this regard, in the laminating apparatus 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention, the hot plate 20 is used as the lower chamber member and the arm 44 is provided on the upper chamber member 40, so that a space is secured below the hot plate 20. Therefore, the volume of the lower vacuum chamber Sb (particularly, the height Fb of the lower vacuum chamber Sb) can be reduced accordingly. Thereby, time until lower vacuum chamber Sb is made into predetermined vacuum degree can be shortened, and lamination processing time can be shortened.

  In the subsequent upper chamber ascent process, the elevating mechanism 50 is operated to raise the upper chamber member 40 away from the hot plate 20. By this operation, the workpiece W placed on the plunger pin 25 is scooped up by the arm tip portion 44b of the arm 44. That is, the workpiece W is placed on the arm tip 44b, and the laminating process ends.

When the laminating process is completed, a workpiece unloading process is executed next.
In this step, the robot hand 84b of the robot 80 enters the laminating apparatus 10. The approach position of the robot hand 84b is between the workpiece W and the hot platen 20.
Thereafter, the robot arm 84 is raised, and the work W placed on the arm tip 44b is scooped up by the robot hand 84b. As a result, the workpiece W is transferred and held on the robot hand 84b.
Thereafter, the robot hand 84b is moved backward to move (unload) the workpiece W to the outside of the laminating apparatus 10. Thereafter, the workpiece W is stored in the magazine of the processed workpiece storage destination, and a series of laminating processes is completed. Here, as the robot 80, a double hand robot including two robot hands 84b may be used. In this case, the processed work W can be unloaded to the outside of the laminating apparatus 10 with one robot hand, and the unprocessed work W can be supplied (loaded) to the inside of the laminating apparatus 10 with the other robot hand. .
In the case where the laminating process is continuously performed, such a series of steps is repeatedly performed.

Note that the laminating apparatus and the laminating system according to the present invention are not limited to the above-described embodiments, and the present invention includes laminating apparatuses and laminating processes in various modes modified without departing from the gist of the present invention. System included.

Claims (10)

In laminating equipment that performs laminating on thin plate workpieces,
An upper chamber member having a diaphragm mounted on a lower surface thereof;
A workpiece placement member installed below the upper chamber member, on which the workpiece is placed;
At least one of the upper chamber member and the workpiece mounting member is in contact with a separation position where the upper chamber member and the workpiece mounting member are separated from each other, and the workpiece mounting member and the upper chamber member are in contact with each other. It is relatively close to and away from the abutting position that forms the chamber space inside,
A laminating apparatus, wherein an arm for holding the work carried in and out on the work placing member is provided on a lower surface side of the upper chamber member.   The laminating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the work placing member has a concave portion for storing the plurality of arms on the upper surface thereof.   The laminating apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the work placing member has a heater for heating the work placed on the upper surface thereof. Below the upper chamber member, a hot plate is installed as the workpiece mounting member,
The laminating apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the hot plate heats a thin plate-like work carried on the hot plate.   It further includes a plurality of plunger pins for holding the workpiece at a position spaced upward from the hot plate, and each plunger pin protrudes upward and can protrude into and out of a plurality of holes formed in the upper surface of the hot plate. The laminating apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the laminating apparatus is urged upward by an elastic member. The hot plate is provided with a work heating unit disposed at the center of the upper surface, and a heater for heating installed on the lower surface thereof,
The laminate according to claim 4 or 5, wherein a groove is formed on the outer surface of the work heating unit along the outer peripheral edge of the work placed on the work heating unit. apparatus.   The diaphragm includes a film body for pressing a workpiece having a size covering the entire surface of the workpiece heating unit and the entire groove, and the outer peripheral portion of the film body is pressed onto the heat plate outside the groove. The laminating apparatus as described in any one of Claims 4-6 which installed the spacer. The upper chamber member has a lid box shape having a wall portion and a lid portion, and an airtight seal member is disposed at a contact portion of the wall portion with the heat plate,
The hot plate is provided with an exhaust hole for exhausting gas in the chamber space below the wall portion of the upper chamber member, and faces the chamber space at a portion facing the exhaust hole in the wall portion. The laminating apparatus as described in any one of Claims 4-7 which provided the hollow part. The diaphragm is disposed on the lower surface side of the main body of the upper chamber member,
The main body of the upper chamber member includes an air supply / exhaust port for applying a pressing force to the diaphragm, and a mesh body is disposed between the main body of the upper chamber member and the diaphragm. The laminating apparatus described.   A laminating unit comprising the laminating apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 9, and a work loading / unloading unit for loading and unloading the work into and from the laminating unit. The unit includes a robot arm that can transfer the workpiece onto the arm when the upper chamber member is separated from the workpiece mounting member, and can take out the workpiece on the arm. A laminating system, wherein the work is conveyed sheet by piece between the work loading / unloading unit and the laminating unit.

Images