KR101199800B1 - Screen door system for light curtain - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A screen door system for a light curtain is provided to obtain the safety of workers and prevent the damage of a device by preventing workers and objects from being unexpectedly entered in a detection area of a light curtain by a screen door. CONSTITUTION: A screen door system for a light curtain comprises a light curtain(110), a screen door, a guide frame, a door actuating part(140), and a control part(150). The light curtain is installed on a path to be entered into a device and outputs detecting signals by detecting the entrance of workers and objects. The screen door prevents the workers and objects from being entered in a detection area of the light curtain. The guide frame guides to vertically move the screen door at the front side of the detection area. The door actuating part lifts the screen door to reciprocate between a first position and a second position. The control part controls the door actuating part to move the screen door to the first position when overhead hoist transports load and unload the objects on the device. [Reference numerals] (1) Manufacturing device; (110) Light curtain; (140) Door actuating part; (150) Control part; (160) Light curtain control part; (170) First I/O interface; (180) Second I/O interface; (190) Display part

Description

Light curtain screen door system {Screen door system for light curtain}

The present invention relates to a light curtain screen door system, and more particularly, to block an undesired entry of a worker or an object into a detection area of a light curtain by a blocking door, thereby ensuring the safety of the operator and at the same time OHT It relates to a light curtain screen door system for ensuring that overhead hoist transports are carried without delay.

In general, overhead hoist transports (OHTs) used in logistics automation systems for semiconductor wafers, such as 300 mm wafers, are used to load and unload wafer carriages (also called FOUPs) into production equipment. For the safety of the light curtain (Light Curtain) is installed, the light curtain is installed so that the light emitting element and the light receiving element are arranged in a pair of sensing bars are installed vertically, the light output from the light emitting element is received by the light receiving element Whether or not the worker enters the detection zone is detected.

This light curtain prevents worker accidents or damage to equipment by suddenly stopping the transfer of wafer carriage during loading or unloading when a body or an object accidentally enters the sensing area while the worker is working or transporting goods in the bay. Do it.

However, when a detection or an error signal is generated from the conventional light curtain, there is a problem that a subsequent OHT does not proceed and waits until the operator takes action, thereby causing a return delay.

In addition, the OHT failure occurs due to the emergency stop of the OHT, which causes a delay in the operation of the automated material handling systems (AMHS) for a long time.
Such light curtain related technology is disclosed in Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 10-2009-0051692.

In order to solve the conventional problems as described above, the present invention is to prevent the operator or object from entering the detection area of the light curtain by the screen door to prevent unwanted entry, thereby ensuring the safety of the operator and at the same time It aims to prevent damage, furthermore, to ensure that overhead hoist transports (OHTs) are conveyed without delay and to improve productivity through reduced equipment error.

Other objects of the present invention will be readily understood through the following description of the embodiments.

In order to achieve the object as described above, according to an aspect of the present invention, the light curtain is installed on the path for entering the equipment, and detects the entry of the operator or object to output a detection signal; A blocking door to block entry of an operator or an object into the detection area of the light curtain; A guide frame for guiding the blocking door to move up and down in front of the sensing area; A door driver configured to lift the blocking door to reciprocate between a first position located at a front side of the sensing area and a second position deviating from the first position; And a control unit which controls the door driving unit to move the blocking door to the first position when the overhead hoist transports (OHT) loads / unloads the transport object to the equipment.

The guide frame is positioned vertically spaced apart from each other, the blocking door is slidably coupled up and down, the support is installed the light curtain; And a frame main body installed to support the support, wherein the light curtain includes: a sensing table respectively installed on the support; And a light emitting device and a light receiving device, which are arranged in a plurality of vertically to each of the sensing tables and installed to face each other, wherein the light receiving device receives light output from the light emitting device and outputs a detection signal.

The door driving unit, a timing pulley rotatably installed at intervals up and down on any one of the support; A timing belt connected to both ends of the timing pulley and having one side fixed to the blocking door to lift the blocking door by an endless track; And a driving motor installed to rotate any one of the timing pulleys.

A light curtain control unit outputting a detection signal received from the light curtain to a manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing a semiconductor wafer; And first and second I / O interfaces for communication between the light curtain controller and overhead hoist transports (OHT), wherein the controller is configured to receive a detection signal output from the second I / O interface, The OHT may be controlled together with a door driver, and the door driver may be controlled to move the blocking door to the second position when an error of the device or the device is offline with the OHT.

According to the light curtain screen door system according to the present invention, the screen door to prevent the operator or object from entering the detection area of the light curtain undesirably, thereby ensuring the safety of the operator and at the same time prevent damage to the equipment In addition, the object of the present invention is to ensure that overhead hoist transports (OHT) are conveyed without delay, and to improve productivity through error reduction of equipment.

1 is a block diagram showing a light curtain screen door system according to an embodiment of the present invention,
Figure 2 is a front view showing the main part of the light curtain screen door system according to an embodiment of the present invention,
Figure 3 is a plan view showing the main part of the light curtain screen door system according to an embodiment of the present invention,
Figure 4 is a side view showing the main portion of the light curtain screen door system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. It is to be understood, however, that the invention is not to be limited to the specific embodiments, but is to be understood to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention, And the scope of the present invention is not limited to the following examples.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like or corresponding elements are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant explanations thereof will be omitted.

1 is a block diagram showing a light curtain screen door system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the light curtain screen door system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a light curtain 110, a blocking door 120, and a guide frame 130. And a door driver 140 and a controller 150.

The light curtain 110 is installed on a path for entering the equipment, and outputs a detection signal by detecting that an operator or an object enters the equipment. For example, the light curtain 110 transfers the overhead hoist transports (OHT), for example, OHT. Overhead Hoist Transports Material may be installed to detect entry of an operator or object into equipment loaded / unloaded by OHT.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the blocking door 120 prevents an operator or an object from entering a detection area of the light curtain 110, for example, a light transmission area between the light emitting device and the light receiving device.

Guide frame 130 may include a support 131 and the frame body 132, the support 131 so that the blocking door 120 can move up and down in front of the detection area by the light curtain 110. The guide, for example, consists of a pair of vertically spaced apart from each other, the blocking door 120 is coupled to slide up and down, the light curtain 110 is installed. In addition, the frame body 132 is installed on the mounting surface to support the support (131). Here, the blocking door 120 is guided so as to be elevated by the support 131 by slidably coupled to the rail provided on the support 131, the guide coupling portion 121 provided on both sides of the rear.

The light curtain 110 includes a plurality of sensing stands 111 respectively installed on the support 131 and a plurality of sensing stands 111 and vertically arranged on each of the sensing stands 111 and installed to face each other. And a light receiving element 113, for example, a photodiode, receives light output from the light emitting element 112, for example, a light emitting diode, and outputs a detection signal for receiving light from the light emitting element 112.

The door driver 140 moves the blocking door 120 to reciprocate between a first position located at the front side of the sensing area and a second position deviating from the first position. Here, the first position may be located on a path for entering equipment, materials, and the like, and the second position may be positioned to be spaced apart from the path for entering equipment, materials, and the like, spaced upwardly from the first position.

The door driving unit 140 has a pair of timing pulleys 141 and two ends connected to the timing pulleys 141, respectively, rotatably installed at intervals up and down on any one of the support units 131, and the blocking door 120. 1) is fixed to one side and includes a timing belt 142 for elevating the blocking door 120 by the endless track motion, and a drive motor 143 is installed to rotate any one of the timing pulley 141. Can be. Here, one side of the timing belt 142 is fixed to the blocking door 120. In addition, the driving motor 143 may be directly connected to the timing pulley 141, or may be connected to the timing pulley 141 using a reducer, gear, or belt to provide rotational force, and may be installed on the support 131. Can be. Meanwhile, a timing belt 142 on which one side of the blocking door 120 is fixed is also connected to both ends of the timing belt 142 in the support 131 positioned on the opposite side of the support 131 on which the driving motor 143 is installed. A pair of timing pulleys 141 may be installed.

The control unit 150 is a driving motor of the door driving unit 140 to move the blocking door 120 to the first position when the overhead hoist transports (OHT) loading / unloading the transport to the equipment equipped with the light curtain 110 When the control unit 143 is received and an operation signal of an operation unit (not shown) for the operator's door release or other door release signal output from the equipment or the OHT is received, the blocking door 120 is driven to return to the second position. The motor 143 may be controlled. In this case, the controller 150 may check the loading / unloading of the transport object by the OHT through an operation signal of the OHT, a detection signal by a separate sensing unit, or a signal output from the equipment.

On the other hand, when the control unit 150 receives the operator's manual mode (manual mode) of the operation signal output from the operation unit, by using the operation of the unit for releasing the power transmission or the door driving unit 140 itself, the door driving unit 140 Is to be in a state capable of manual operation of the blocking door 120, thereby allowing the operator to manually move the blocking door 120 between the first and second positions.

The light curtain screen door system 100 according to the present invention may further include a light curtain controller 160 and first and second I / O interfaces 170 and 180.

The light curtain control unit 160 outputs the detection signal received from the light receiving element 113 of the light curtain 110 to the manufacturing equipment 1 for manufacturing the semiconductor wafer, whereby the manufacturing equipment 1 the light curtain In addition to being able to indicate that the worker or the object enters the 110 to the outside, it is possible to stop the manufacturing process. In addition, the light curtain controller 160 may display whether the light curtain 110 is detected to the outside through the display 190.

The first and second I / O interfaces 170 and 180 are provided for communication between the light curtain controller 160 and overhead hoist transports (OHT), respectively, and may be configured as an interface capable of optical communication, for example. The / O interface can be used.

The control unit 150 may receive the detection signal output from the second I / O interface 180, and perform operation control of the OHT together with the driving motor 143 of the door driving unit 140, the light curtain 110. ) Or an error of the installed equipment or the equipment may control the drive motor 143 of the door driving unit 140 to move the blocking door 120 to the second position when the offline with the OHT. That is, the controller 150 may be formed separately from the OHT controller for controlling the operation of the OHT, and may also perform the OHT operation control as in the present embodiment.

The operation of the light curtain screen door system according to the present invention will be described.

When the light curtain 110 is in operation, when a worker or an object enters the detection area of the light curtain 110 by a mistake of the operator, the light curtain 110 detects this and outputs a detection signal.

When the equipment on which the light curtain 110 is installed is automatically loaded / unloaded by the OHT according to a host command, that is, when the equipment is online, the controller 150 receives a signal from the equipment and the Under the control of the driving motor 143, the blocking door 120 in the upper position, for example, the second position, descends to the first position to serve as a screen door, and the controller 150 when an error or an offline change of the equipment occurs. When the blocking door 120 is automatically raised from the first position to the second position, and during the online operation by changing the operation mode of the blocking door 120 to the manual mode, it is possible to manually operate the blocking door 120 have. In addition, when the operation mode of the blocking door 120 is changed to the manual mode and the blocking door 120 is moved to the second position of the upper part, the operation mode of the blocking door 120 is changed to the automatic mode. ) Is moved to the lower first position.

In addition, the safety of the worker and the equipment or materials by the blocking door 120 is secured to ensure that the operation of the equipment, such as overhead hoist transports (OHT) determined by the light curtain 110 can be returned without delay. It is possible to improve the productivity by reducing the error of the equipment.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be limited to the described embodiments, but should be determined by the equivalents of the claims, as well as the following claims.

110: light curtain 111: detection bar
112 light emitting element 113 light receiving element
120: blocking door 121: guide coupling portion
130: guide frame 131: support
132: frame body 140: door drive unit
141: timing pulley 142: timing belt
143: drive motor 150: control unit
160: light curtain control unit 170: the first I / O interface
180: second I / O interface 190: display unit

Claims (4)

Light curtains are installed on the path for entering the equipment, and detects the entry of the operator or the object to output a detection signal;
A blocking door to block entry of an operator or an object into the detection area of the light curtain;
A guide frame for guiding the blocking door to move up and down in front of the sensing area;
A door driver configured to lift the blocking door to reciprocate between a first position located at a front side of the sensing area and a second position deviating from the first position; And
And a controller configured to control the door driving unit to move the blocking door to the first position when an overhead hoist transport (OHT) loads / unloads a transport object to the equipment.
The guide frame,
Located vertically spaced apart from each other, the blocking door is slidably coupled up and down, and includes a support on which the light curtain is installed and a frame body installed to support the support,
The light curtain,
And a light emitting device and a light receiving device, each of which is installed on the support and are arranged to face each other and are arranged to face each other vertically, wherein the light receiving device receives light output from the light emitting device and receives a detection signal. Light curtain screen door system, characterized in that for outputting. delete The method of claim 1, wherein the door driving unit,
Timing pulleys are rotatably installed at intervals up and down on any one of the supports;
A timing belt connected to both ends of the timing pulley and having one side fixed to the blocking door to lift the blocking door by an endless track; And
Light curtain screen door system, characterized in that it comprises a drive motor for rotating any one of the timing pulley. The light curtain control unit of claim 1, further comprising: a light curtain control unit outputting a detection signal received from the light curtain to a manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing a semiconductor wafer; And
First and second I / O interfaces for communication between the light curtain control unit and overhead hoist transports (OHT),
The control unit,
Receiving a detection signal output from the second I / O interface, and performs the operation control of the OHT with the door driving unit, when the error of the equipment or the equipment is offline with the OHT the blocking door is the second Light curtain screen door system, characterized in that for controlling the door drive to move to the position.

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