KR100699272B1 - Transferring apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

A transfer apparatus is provided to perform stably simply loading/unloading processes regardless of various loading/unloading directions by using an improved rotating unit. A transfer apparatus includes a vehicle unit for moving a predetermined path, a loading/unloading unit(40) with a lifting part, and a rotating unit. The rotating unit(50) is composed of a rotating motor(51) between the vehicle unit and the loading/unloading unit, a lifting bracket(57) capable of moving up and down, a decelerating part(61) for decreasing the speed of the rotating motor, and a torque transfer part(70) connected to the rotating motor and the decelerating part. The torque transfer part is composed of a driving pulley(71) connected with the rotating motor, a following pulley(75) and a rotating belt(77) for connecting the driving pulley and the following pulley with each other.

Description

Conveyer {TRANSFERRING APPARATUS}

1 is a layout view of the transfer apparatus according to the present invention,

2 is an exploded perspective view of the transfer apparatus,

3 is a perspective view showing the position of the workpiece and the workpiece,

4 and 5 are planar views showing the process of loading the workpiece.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

10: feeder 20: workpiece

21: gripper bit 23: pin receiving portion

25: workpiece position pin

30: balance unit 31: track

40: transfer unit 41: gripper

43: gripper bracket 45: lifting unit

47: lifting drive 49: lifting belt

50: rotating unit 51: rotating motor

53: rotating pin 55: guide pin

57: lifting bracket 61: reducer

70: rotational force transmission unit 71: drive pulley

72: rotation pin accommodation portion 73: guide pin accommodation portion

75: driven pulley 77: rotating belt

79: idler 80: rotation angle limiting means

81: rotation protrusion 83: rotation stopper

The present invention relates to a transfer apparatus, and more particularly, to a transfer apparatus that can be easily and stably loaded with respect to various transfer directions.

Transfer devices are generally used in semiconductor manufacturing lines to transfer or store reticles, front opening unified pods (FOUPs), etc. to various processes or storage rooms. The conveying device is conveyed in various ways and includes one or more overhead hoist vehicles. Reticle or front open pods are generally rectangular in shape and used in semiconductor manufacturing processes and are fed into and out of various processes by a transfer device. Such a reticle or the like has a pin receiving portion for receiving a positioning pin provided in the loading position of the equipment, etc. at the lower end in order to maintain a constant direction. For example, the pin housing portion has a structure that is not inserted into the positioning pin at the stacking position when the pin housing portion is changed in the 180 ° direction.

An automated material processing system for semiconductor manufacturing based on a combination of a vertical carousel and an overhead hoist for efficiently processing such FOUPs is disclosed in Korean Patent Publication No. 2005-10944 (2005.01.28). The prior art includes at least one overhead vehicle configured to move the FOUP along a suspension track forming a predetermined route, and a plurality of kerosene reservoirs, such as reservoirs disposed in the stocker housing.

The carousel reservoir selected by this configuration is located above the vertical carousel stocker almost immediately below the suspension track. The overhead hoist vehicle is then moved to a position almost immediately above the selected carousel reservoir along the suspension track. The overhead hoist is lowered toward the selected reservoir to lift the desired FOUP from the carousel reservoir or place the FOUP in the carousel reservoir.

However, the prior art has a problem in that the position of the pin receiving portion such as the FOUP is out of a predetermined range, or the unstable transfer of the FOUP is not possible.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a transfer apparatus that can easily cope with various transfer directions.

According to the present invention, the above object is the transfer apparatus, the transfer apparatus,

A bogie unit that runs along a predetermined suspension track; A loading unit coupled to the lower side of the trolley unit, the lifting unit having a lifting unit for elevating between a transfer position for holding and releasing a workpiece and a traveling position driven by the trolley unit; And a rotation unit interposed between the balance unit and the transfer unit and coupled to the balance unit to swivel the transfer unit within a predetermined angle range with respect to the balance unit. Is made by

Here, the rotation unit, the rotation motor for providing a rotational force; A lifting bracket supported by the trolley unit to be coupled to and detachable from the rotational motor; A reducer supported by the lifting bracket to reduce the rotational speed of the rotation motor; It is preferable to include a rotational force transmission unit coupled to the rotational motor and the reducer to transmit a rotational force.

The rotational force transmission unit may include: a driving pulley supported by the lifting bracket and coupled to the rotational motor; A driven pulley coupled to the reducer and interlocked with the driving pulley; A rotating belt connecting the driving pulley and the driven pulley; It is preferable to have at least one idler for maintaining the tension of the rotating belt.

In addition, at least one rotating pin to any one of the drive motor and the driven pulley; It is preferable to have a rotation pin receiving portion engaged with the rotation pin on the other of the driving motor and the driven pulley.

In addition, it is preferable to include a rotation angle limiting means having a rotational projection protruding from the plate surface of the lifting bracket to limit the rotational angle of the lifting unit, and a rotation stopper provided in the loading unit and engaged with the rotational projection.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described with respect to the transfer device 10 which is a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The conveying apparatus 10 grips the workpiece 20 such as a reticle and a front opening unified pod (FOUP) in a predetermined process, and transports it to a workbench and a storage place that undergoes various processes. The workpiece 20 is loaded and unloaded at this position.

1 and 2, the conveying apparatus 10 includes a trolley unit 30 that travels along a predetermined suspension track 31; It is coupled to the lower side of the trolley unit 30, and having a lifting unit 45 for lifting up and down between the transfer position for holding and releasing the workpiece 20 and the traveling position run by the trolley unit 30 Unit 40; A rotation unit interposed between the trolley unit 30 and the transfer unit 40 and coupled to the trolley unit 30 to swivel the transfer unit 40 within a predetermined angle range with respect to the trolley unit 30 ( 50). The conveying device 10 is provided on the pivoting protrusion 81 protruding from the plate surface of the lifting bracket 57 and the stacking unit 40 so as to limit the rotational angle of the stacking unit 40 to fit the pivoting protrusion 81. The physics includes a rotation angle limiting means 80 having a rotation stopper 83.

The workpiece 20 is used in a semiconductor manufacturing process, as shown in FIG. 3, and is transported by various transfer apparatuses, and stored in a predetermined storage position in an input, an export process, or the like. The workpiece 20 has three workpiece position pins 25 formed to protrude in a horizontal direction on the surface of the plate to be engaged with the gripper 41 in the upper region, and the gripper bites 21 formed at the lower region to protrude in the lower region. And a pin receiving portion 23 engaged with it. Workpiece 20 includes a reticle, a front opening unified pod (FOUP), and the like.

As shown in FIG. 1, the balance unit 30 travels along a predetermined track 31 fixed to a ceiling or the like by suspension. The trolley unit 30 carries the workpiece 20 to the worktable or storage unit for carrying out each process to load the workpiece 20. Rotating unit 50 is coupled to the lower portion of the trolley unit 30, the transfer unit 40 is coupled to the elevating unit 30 and the elevating belt (49).

As shown in FIG. 2, the transfer unit 40 includes a lifting unit 45 for elevating between the transfer position for gripping and releasing the workpiece 20 and the traveling position for running by the cart unit 30. ) Is coupled to the lower side of the balance unit (30). The transfer unit 40 has a gripper 41 engaged with the gripper bit 21 of the workpiece 20 to hold the workpiece 20, and a gripper bracket 43 supporting the gripper 41.

The gripper 41 is supported by the gripper bracket 43 to grip the workpiece 20. The gripper 41 has a gripper driving part (not shown) for moving the gripper bit 21 of the workpiece 20 so as to be gripped and released. Thus, the gripper 41 can hold the workpiece 20 stably.

The gripper bracket 43 supports the gripper 41 and is coupled to the reducer 61 to swivel with respect to the balance unit 30.

The lifting unit 45 is a lifting motor 47 having a driving motor (not shown) for providing a driving force for lifting and lowering the transfer unit 40 and a drum (when not running) connected to the driving motor to wind the lifting belt 49. ) And a lifting belt 49 which is wound around the drum of the lifting driving part 47 to enable the lifting unit 40 to lift up and down. Thus, the lifting unit 45 makes it possible to move up and down between the transfer position for holding and releasing the workpiece 20 and the traveling position running by the cart unit 30.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the lifting belt 49 is supported on one end of the trolley unit 30 and the other end is coupled to the gripper bracket 43 to allow the gripper bracket 43 to move up and down. The lifting belt 49 may include a cable for supplying power to a driving unit (not shown) to move the gripper 41.

As shown in FIG. 2, the rotation unit 50 is interposed between the balance unit 30 and the transfer unit 40 to move the transfer unit 40 within a predetermined angle range with respect to the balance unit 30. It is coupled to the balance unit 30 so as to be swivelable. The rotation unit 50 is rotated with the lifting direction of the transfer unit 40 as the axis. The rotation unit 50 includes a rotation motor 51 providing a rotational force, a lifting bracket 57 supported on the lifting belt 49 of the trolley unit 30 so as to be coupled to and detachable from the rotation motor 51, and lifting up and down. The reducer 61 which is supported by the bracket 57 to reduce the rotational speed of the rotational motor 51 and the rotational force transmission unit 70 which connects the rotational motor 51 and the reductionr 61 to each other to transmit rotational force are provided. Have Thus, by rotating the transfer unit 40 with respect to the balance unit 30, it is possible to simply load the workpiece 20 to be loaded in various directions.

The rotation motor 51 provides a rotational force that the transfer unit 40 can rotate. The rotational motor 51 is a rotational center, and the guide pin 55 coupled to the guide pin receiving portion 73 of the driving pulley 71 and the guide pin 55 in a radial direction so that the driving pulley 71 rotates. It has at least one pivot pin 53 provided spaced apart.

The elevating bracket 57 is supported by the elevating belt 49 to be elevated and lowered to the cart unit 30 so as to be coupled to and detachable from the rotational motor 51. The lifting bracket 57 supports the driving and driven pulleys 71 and 75, the idler 79 and the reducer 61, and a transfer unit 40 coupled to the reducer 61 is disposed at the lower side.

The reducer 61 is supported by the lifting bracket 57 to reduce the rotational speed of the rotation motor 51, one end is coupled to the driven pulley 75, and the other end is coupled to the gripper bracket 43. The reducer 61 is a harmonic having a wave generator (not shown) for producing an elliptical wave, a cylindrical flex spline (not shown), and a cylindrical circular spline (not shown). It includes a drive (Harmonic Drive) and can be changed to various known types. Thus, the transfer unit 40 can be rotated more stably.

The rotational force transmission unit 70 is coupled to the rotational motor 51 and the reducer 61 to transmit the rotational force. The rotational force transmission unit 70 is driven by the elevating bracket 57 and coupled to the rotational motor 51, and the driven pulley 75 coupled to the reduction gear 61 and driven with the driving pulley 71. ), A rotating belt 77 connecting the driving pulley 71 and the driven pulley 75, and at least one idler 79 for maintaining the tension of the rotating belt 77. The rotational force transmission unit 70 may be changed to various known types as well as embodiments. Thus, the rotational force can be transmitted relatively stable.

The driving pulley 71 is coupled to the rotational motor 51 and is supported by the lifting bracket 57 and coupled to the rotational motor 51. The driving pulley 71 is in contact with the rotation belt 77 on the outer circumferential surface and spaced apart from the guide pin accommodation portion 73 for receiving the guide pin 55 of the rotation motor 51 at the center and the guide pin accommodation portion 73. And a rotation pin accommodation portion 72 engaged with the rotation pin 53 of the rotation motor 51. Thus, the rotational force of the rotating motor 51 is transmitted stably.

The rotation angle limiting means 80 includes a rotation protrusion 81 protruding downward from the plate surface of the gripper bracket 43 toward the loading unit 40 so as to limit the rotation angle of the loading unit 40 and the loading unit ( 40 has a rotation stopper 83 in contact with the rotation protrusion 81 to limit the rotation. The rotation protrusion 81 may be provided at the transfer unit 40, and the rotation stopper 83 may be provided at the gripper bracket 43. The pivoting protrusion 81 and the pivoting stopper 83 may be variously changed as necessary, such as the shape of the protrusion and the groove engaging the protrusion. Thus, the rotation angle of the transfer unit 40 is limited in a predetermined range can be a stable rotation.

With this configuration, the rotation process of the transfer device 10 according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.

As shown in Fig. 4A, when the three workpiece position pins 25 of the stacked position and the pin receiving portion 23 of the workpiece 20 held by the gripper bite portion 21 coincide with each other, they are placed in the stacked position. When the cart unit 30 arrives, the transfer unit 40 descends and the pin receiving portion 23 of the workpiece 20 engages with the workpiece position pin 25, and the gripper 41 grips the gripper portion 21. And the workpiece 20 is loaded in the stowed position. Then, when the transfer unit 40 rises to reach the transfer position of the balance unit 30, the balance unit 30 travels along the track 31 as shown in FIG. 4B and proceeds to the next process.

As shown in FIG. 5A, when the three workpiece position pins 25 in the stacked position and the pin receiving portion 23 held by the gripper bit portion 21 are shifted by 180 degrees, the balance unit 30 is placed in the stacked position. When this arrives, the rotation motor 51 of the rotation unit 50 coupled to the trolley unit 30 rotates. When the driving pulley 71 rotates by the engagement of the rotation pin 53 of the rotation motor 51 and the rotation pin receiving portion 72 of the driving pulley 71, the rotation force is driven by the rotation belt 77. 75). Accordingly, the reducer 61 rotates to reduce the speed, and rotates the support brackets coupled to the lower end of the reducer 61 to hold the pin receiving portion held by the workpiece position pin 25 and the gripper bite 21. Make sure that (23) matches. At this time, the rotation angle range is limited by the rotation protrusion 81 and the rotation stopper 83 which are the rotation angle limiting means 80. Thus, when the transfer unit 40 is lowered and the pin receiving portion 23 of the workpiece 20 is engaged with the workpiece position pin 25, the gripper 41 is separated from the gripper bit portion 21 and the workpiece ( 20) is loaded at the loading position. Then, when the transfer unit 40 is raised to reach the transfer position of the balance unit 30, the balance unit 30 travels along the track 31 as shown in Figure 5b to proceed to the next process. The transfer apparatus 10 may include a controller (not shown) for controlling such a process. The unloading process of the workpiece 20 is omitted because it is the reverse of the loading process.

In this process, even when the workpiece position pin 25 and the position pin receiving portion 23 are shifted in a predetermined angle range as well as 180 °, the transfer unit 40 can be easily rotated.

Thus, according to the present invention, even when the position of the pin receiving portion of the workpiece is out of a predetermined range, it is possible to easily and stably transfer the workpiece.

As described above, according to the present invention, there is provided a transfer device that can be easily and stably loaded with respect to various loading directions.

Claims (5)

In the conveying device, A bogie unit that runs along a predetermined suspension track; A loading unit coupled to the lower side of the trolley unit, the lifting unit having a lifting unit for elevating between a transfer position for holding and releasing a workpiece and a traveling position driven by the trolley unit; A rotation motor interposed between the trolley unit and the transfer unit and coupled to the trolley unit to swivel the rotatable unit within a predetermined angle range with respect to the trolley unit and to provide a rotational force; An elevating bracket coupled to and separated from the rotating motor and supported by the bogie unit to elevate; A reducer supported by the lifting bracket to reduce the rotational speed of the rotation motor; A rotation unit coupled to the rotation motor and the reduction gear and including a rotation force transmission unit for transmitting rotational force, The rotational force transmitting unit includes: a driving pulley supported by the lifting bracket and coupled to the rotational motor; A driven pulley coupled to the reducer and interlocked with the driving pulley; Transfer device comprising a rotating belt for connecting the drive pulley and the driven pulley. delete The method of claim 1, The rotational force transmission unit, Transfer device further comprises at least one idler for maintaining the tension of the rotating belt. The method of claim 3, At least one pivot pin in one of the drive motor and the driven pulley; And a rotation pin accommodation portion engaged with the rotation pin on the other of the drive motor and the driven pulley. The method of claim 1, A transfer angle limiting means having a pivoting protrusion protruding from the plate surface of the lifting bracket so as to limit the pivoting angle of the transfer loading unit, and a rotational angle stopper provided on the transfer loading unit and engaged with the pivoting protrusion. .

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