KR100573925B1 - Acceleration and decceleartion method for air conveyer and air conveyer thereby - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention is a pneumatic conveyor for lifting and conveying the plate-shaped member, pneumatic generator installed along the conveying direction and forming a constant air pressure upwards to float the plate-shaped member, in contact with one surface of the plate-shaped member and continuous in one direction A conveying device for conveying the plate-shaped member and orbiting the plate, and adjusting a force transmitted from the conveying device to the plate-shaped member, and for controlling the conveyance acceleration and deceleration of the plate-shaped member and the conveying device. Friction force control device for adjusting the magnitude of the friction force. The pneumatic conveyor of the present invention can increase the maximum acceleration and deceleration by adjusting the size of the friction force generated between the plate member and the transfer device, thereby reducing the fast transfer time of the plate member.

Description

Acceleration / deceleration control method of pneumatic conveyor and pneumatic conveyor using same {ACCELERATION AND DECCELEARTION METHOD FOR AIR CONVEYER AND AIR CONVEYER THEREBY}             

1 shows a state of use of a conventional pneumatic conveyor,

Figure 2 shows a partial cutaway perspective view according to an embodiment of the present invention pneumatic conveyor,

3 is a cross-sectional view showing a state of use of the pneumatic conveyor shown in FIG.

Figure 4 schematically shows the installation of the vacuum device shown in Figure 2,

5 is a view illustrating a connection state between the manifold and the air intake of FIG. 2,

6 is a cross-sectional view showing main parts according to another embodiment of the present invention pneumatic conveyor,

Figure 7 shows the arrangement of the block according to another embodiment of the pneumatic conveyor of the present invention.

<Description of Symbols for Major Parts of Drawings>

100: plate member 210: manifold

220: Lister 230: air supply device

240: air intake 250: roller

260: block 261: slit

280: air jet

The present invention relates to a pneumatic conveyor for lifting a thin plate-like member such as a wafer or an LCD panel to a certain height and then conveying it. It relates to a pneumatic conveyor using the same.

A pneumatic conveyor is a device that floats an object using air pressure, and then transfers the injured object using an appropriate acceleration and deceleration device. Pneumatic conveyors are widely used for conveying packaged products and raw materials, and are suitable for stably transferring thin members such as semiconductor wafer LCD panels.

On the other hand, as LCD panel is recently introduced as a technology to replace CRT, the demand is increasing rapidly. Accordingly, LCD manufacturers are increasing the area of LCD panels to improve productivity and produce high quality products. LCD panel transfer is mainly carried out by a cassette-automatic guided vehicle (AGV) system. However, the cassette-AGV system was designed to transport pre-7th generation LCD panels and was not suitable for carrying large 7th generation or larger LCD panels.

There are two main problems in conveying a large area plate member, one of which is to reduce the amount of deflection of the plate member and the other is to increase the acceleration and deceleration of the plate member. Currently, various techniques for reducing the amount of deflection of the plate-shaped member have been proposed.

International patents WO 03/060961 A1 and WO 03/061354 A2 disclose a pneumatic conveyor structure in which alternators for air supply and alternates for air intake are arranged alternately. In this pneumatic conveyor, the air discharge hole and the air suction hole are repeatedly formed at the bottom of the plate member to generate a uniform air pressure under the plate member. Therefore, these two international patents have the advantage of reducing the amount of deflection of the plate-shaped member, but the air exhaust hole and the air suction hole has a disadvantage that the air consumption is large.

The present applicant has proposed a pneumatic conveyor having an air pocket structure in the Republic of Korea Patent Application Nos. 2003-44165 and 2004-10812 to solve this problem. The air pocket on this pneumatic conveyor makes the air pressure generated through the restrictor uniform. Therefore, the present invention can minimize the loss of air while preventing the sagging of the large plate-shaped member. However, the conventional pneumatic conveyor disclosed above does not disclose a technique capable of appropriately adjusting the acceleration and deceleration of the plate member.

Conventional pneumatic conveyors are equipped with conveying devices, such as rollers and timing belts, in addition to pneumatic devices that float plate members for continuous operation. The conveying apparatus conveys the panel by using the frictional force generated in direct contact with the plate member. Therefore, in order for the transfer device to stably accelerate or decelerate the plate member, sufficient friction force must be generated between the plate member and the transfer device.

Conventional pneumatic conveyors adjust the pressure of the pneumatic device to secure the frictional force required for transport. That is, the conventional pneumatic conveyor floats the plate member 100 lower than the height of the roller 10 of the transfer device as shown in Figure 1 to increase the friction force between the plate member 100 and the roller 10 use. The ideal method is to keep the plate member 100 the same as the height of the roller 10, but it is very difficult to keep the height of the plate member 100 substantially the same as the roller 10, in which case the plate member ( The friction force of the roller 10 of 100 is not fully generated. On the other hand, in the former method, since the plate member 100 and the roller 10 are reliably contacted, the acceleration and deceleration of the plate member 100 can be effectively controlled. However, the roller 10 in contact with the plate member 100 is always located higher than the floating plate member 100 and the pressure of the pneumatic generator 20 is not well transmitted to the plate member 100 shown in FIG. As shown, the plate member 100 is bent bumpy. Therefore, the pneumatic conveyor of such a structure is not suitable to be applied to the LCD panel or the large-area plate-shaped member which has been enlarged as mentioned above. Therefore, there is a need for a pneumatic conveyor that can effectively transport a large area plate member.

The present invention is to solve the above problems, while providing a pneumatic conveyor that can increase the feed acceleration and deceleration of the plate-shaped member by effectively increasing the friction between the plate-like member and the transfer device while minimizing the deformation of the plate-shaped member. There is a purpose.

In addition, an object of the present invention is to provide a method for adjusting the acceleration and deceleration of a pneumatic conveyor that can effectively adjust the conveyance acceleration of the plate-like member conveyed through the pneumatic conveyor.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a pneumatic conveyor for lifting and conveying a plate-shaped member, which is installed along a conveying direction and forms a constant air pressure upwards to lift the plate-shaped member, the pneumatic generator in contact with one surface of the plate-shaped member And a conveying device for conveying the plate-shaped member continuously and orbitally moving in one direction, and adjusting the force transmitted from the conveying device to the plate-shaped member, and adjusting the conveyance acceleration and deceleration of the plate-shaped member. There is provided a pneumatic conveyor comprising a frictional force control device for adjusting the magnitude of contact frictional force between the transfer devices.

In addition, according to another embodiment of the present invention as a method for adjusting the acceleration and deceleration of the plate-shaped member conveyed through a pneumatic conveyor, the step of floating the plate-like member, continuously rotating in one direction on one surface of the plate-like member Or transferring the plate-shaped member by contacting a moving conveying means, and applying pressure in a vertical direction to a contact between the plate-shaped member and the conveying means so as to adjust a friction force between the plate-shaped member and the conveying means. Provided are methods for adjusting the acceleration and deceleration of a pneumatic conveyor.

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

Figure 2 shows an embodiment according to the present invention pneumatic conveyor, Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the state of use of the pneumatic conveyor shown in Figure 2, Figure 4 schematically shows the installation state of the vacuum apparatus shown in FIG. 5 is a view illustrating a connection state between the manifold and the air inhaler of FIG. 2.

The pneumatic conveyor of the present invention is largely divided into a pneumatic generator for floating the plate member and a conveying device for conveying the plate member. As shown in FIG. 2, the pneumatic generator includes a manifold 210, an air supply device 230, and a block 260. The manifolds 210 are arranged in the width direction of the plate member 100 in the form of elongated shape in the longitudinal direction of the plate member 100. One side of the manifold 210 is provided with an air supply device 230 for generating air pressure inside the manifold 210, the upper side of the restrictor for transmitting the pressure generated therein to the plate-shaped member (100) 220 is formed. The restrictor 220 is provided with a microchannel plate or a porous pad 221 having a plurality of holes formed therein for uniformizing air pressure moving outward through the restrictor 220. Meanwhile, although the fan is used as the air supply device 230 in this embodiment, other devices such as an air pump device may be used.

The plurality of blocks 260 in which the rectangular slit 261 is formed are arranged on the restrictor 220. The slit 261 is formed in the width direction of the manifold 210 and forms a space sealed in all directions above the restrictor 220. The space formed by the slit 261 uniformly distributes the pressure on the upper surface of the restrictor 220 so that the plate member 100 is stably floated above the manifold 210 as shown in FIG. 3.

The conveying apparatus for conveying the plate-shaped member 100 is composed of an air suction unit 240 and the roller 250. The air intake 240 and the roller 250 are installed on the left and right sides of the manifold 210 arranged in a horizontal line as shown in FIG. The roller 250 is installed slightly above the air inhaler 240 to directly contact the plate member 100.

The frictional force of the roller 250 and the plate member 100 is proportional to the load of the plate member 100. However, since the pneumatic conveyor is provided with a pneumatic generator for floating the plate member 100, the frictional force between the roller 250 and the plate member 100 is substantially smaller than the load of the plate member 100. Therefore, in order to transfer light members such as LCD panels and wafers at an appropriate speed, additional means for enhancing the friction between the roller 250 and the plate member 100 are required. In the present invention, in consideration of this point it was provided with an air inhaler 240 for applying a force in the vertical direction to the contact of the plate member 100 and the roller 250.

The air inhaler 240 is installed below the plate member 100 and is connected to a vacuum pump (not shown). In addition, an inlet 241 is formed on the upper surface of the air inhaler 240 to suck the surrounding air. Therefore, when the vacuum pump is operated, the ambient air above the air intake 240 is continuously sucked through the inlet 241, thereby lowering the pressure between the air intake 240 and the plate member 100. This action of the air inhaler 240 eventually serves to enhance the friction between the rollers 250 of the plate-like member 100. Therefore, when the suction force of the air inhaler 240 is adjusted, the magnitude of the rotational force of the roller 250 transmitted to the plate member 100 is changed, thereby adjusting the acceleration and deceleration of the plate member 100.

On the other hand, since the pneumatic generator continuously generates a force to inflate the plate member 100, the suction force of the air inhaler 240 is affected by this force. Therefore, in order to effectively adjust the frictional force between the plate member 100 and the roller 250, it is preferable to install the air intake 240 near the roller 250 as shown in FIG.

As above, the manifold 210 and the air inhaler 240 work opposite to each other. That is, the manifold 210 supplies the compressed air to the outside through the restrictor 220 to increase the pressure under the plate member, while the air inhaler 240 sucks the air under the plate member 100 to increase the pressure. It serves to drop. Therefore, if the air sucked from the air inhaler 240 is supplied to the manifold 210, the efficiency of the manifold 210 can be improved. In this embodiment, in consideration of this point, as shown in FIG. 6, a fan 300 is connected to the air intake 240 and the manifold 210 and blows in the direction of a separate manifold 210. However, since the air inhaler 240 generates suction force that increases or decreases the friction force between the roller 250 and the plate member 100, only the air supplied through the air inhaler 240 is applied to the manifold 210. It is not possible to create sufficient air pressure. Therefore, it is good to install a separate supply device in the manifold (210).

Figure 6 shows another embodiment of the present invention pneumatic conveyor.

As shown in FIG. 6, the air injector 280, which is a separate pneumatic generator, is installed above the plate member 100 in place of the air inhaler 240. The air injector 280 is installed on the plate member 100 so as to face the roller 250 to exert pressure in the gravity direction on the plate member 100. The plate member 100 is in close contact with the roller 250 by the air pressure injected from the air injector 280 to receive the rotational force of the roller 250 as it is.

Unlike this embodiment, since the roller 250 and the plate-shaped member 100 may be pressurized at the upper portion where the roller 250 and the plate-shaped member 100 are in contact with each other, the frictional force between the roller 250 and the plate-shaped member 100 may be more surely increased. There is an advantage.

Meanwhile, in the above-described embodiment, the slit 261 of the block 260 has been described as forming a uniform pressure space above the restrictor 220. However, in a pneumatic conveyor for transporting small members, it is also inefficient to reduce the size of the block 260 to form the slit 261 in terms of processing and economics. Accordingly, in this case, as shown in FIG. 7, the block 260 having a rectangular shape is arranged on the manifold 210 having the guide 211 at a predetermined interval so that the block 260 and the guide 211 have a uniform pressure. It is good to make a space.

The present invention can be quickly and accurately conveyed with almost no deformation of a large area plate member moving while floating. In addition, the present invention can control the feed acceleration and deceleration of the plate-shaped member by adjusting the friction force of the plate-like member and the conveying device.

In the above description, the acceleration and deceleration control method of the pneumatic conveyor and the technical concept of the pneumatic conveyor using the same have been described with the accompanying drawings. In addition, it is obvious that any person skilled in the art can make various modifications and imitations without departing from the scope of the technical idea of the present invention.

Claims (10)

As a pneumatic conveyor for lifting and conveying the plate-shaped member, Pneumatic generating device is installed along the conveying direction and forming a constant air pressure upwards to float the plate-shaped member, A conveying device which contacts one surface of the plate member and continuously orbits in one direction and conveys the plate member; Pneumatic conveyor including a friction force control device for adjusting the force transmitted from the conveying device to the plate member and for adjusting the amount of contact friction force between the plate member and the conveying device to adjust the transfer acceleration and deceleration of the plate member . The pneumatic conveyor according to claim 1, wherein the friction force control device is an air supply device for discharging air to the upper surface of the plate member. The method of claim 2, wherein the air supply device A manifold with a restrictor formed at regular intervals, And an air pump for supplying air to the manifold. The pneumatic conveyor according to claim 3, wherein the restrictor is provided with a porous pad capable of evenly dispersing the air pressure generated by the supply pump. The pneumatic conveyor according to claim 3, wherein the restrictor is provided with a microchannel plate capable of evenly distributing the air pressure generated by the supply pump. The pneumatic conveyor according to claim 1, wherein the frictional force control device is a vacuum device that applies an attractive force downward to the plate member. The method of claim 6, wherein the vacuum device A manifold with a restrictor formed at regular intervals, And a vacuum pump for sucking air through the restrictor. The pneumatic conveyor according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the frictional force control device is arranged near a portion where the plate-shaped member and the transfer device contact each other. The pneumatic generator according to any one of claims 1 to 7, Air supply device for continuously generating a flow of air having a predetermined pressure or more, A manifold in which air above a predetermined pressure generated by the air supply device is moved and a plurality of restrictors are formed on the upper surface; And a block installed above the manifold and partitioning the upper space of the restrictor into a space having a constant volume such that air flowing out of the manifold through the respective restrictors has a substantially uniform pressure over the entire cross section. Pneumatic conveyor, characterized in that. As a method of adjusting the acceleration and deceleration of the plate-shaped member conveyed through the pneumatic conveyor, Floating the plate-shaped member, Conveying the plate-shaped member by contacting a conveying means that is continuously rotated or moved in one direction on one surface of the plate-shaped member, and And applying pressure in the vertical direction to the contact between the plate member and the conveying means so as to adjust the friction force between the plate member and the conveying means.

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