KR101718417B1 - Stocker apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed is a stocker apparatus. The stocker apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: a plurality of masts which are arranged to stand up vertically on a traveling carriage which travels along a traveling rail, and of which lower ends are fixed to the traveling carriage; a fork unit movably coupled to the mast to transfer and load a cassette to a cassette rack; and a mast supporting unit provided at an upper region of the mast to support the mast so that the upper region of the mast is prevented from tilting in the forking direction of the cassette upon forking work of the cassette by the fork unit.

Description

STOCKER APPARATUS

The present invention relates to a stocker apparatus, and more particularly, to a stalker apparatus capable of preventing an upper region of a mast from tilting in a forking direction of a cassette during forking work of a cassette, To a stacker apparatus capable of transferring cassettes more accurately.

In order to maximize the working efficiency and increase the cleanliness, a plurality of substrates, which have been completed through various processes, are transported to a cassette through a transport robot in a production site of a flat panel display device such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) or an organic light emitting diode (OLED) Respectively.

A cassette containing a plurality of substrates is carried by a so-called stocker device, which is also referred to as a transport device, and carried out of a stacked or stacked state on a cassette shelf.

That is, the cassette in which the substrate is stored is not transferred to the next manufacturing process immediately after the completion of the corresponding process in the manufacturing facility of the flat panel display device, but the buffering problem caused by the difference in processing ability and time of each process is eliminated It can be temporarily stored on a cassette shelf of the cassette storage system and transported to each manufacturing facility of the flat panel display device performing the process as required.

Fig. 1 is a schematic side view of a stoker apparatus according to the related art, and Fig. 2 is a front view of the stoker apparatus of Fig. 1. Fig.

Referring to these drawings, the stoker apparatus 1 according to the related art includes a traveling carriage 3 having a plurality of wheels 2 driven along a traveling rail, A plurality of masts 4 that are arranged to stand up and fixed to the traveling carriage 3 and a mast 4 which is coupled to the mast 4 so as to be movable up and down to move the cassette to the cassette shelf 8 And a fork unit (5) for transferring.

As described above, the stocker apparatus 1 having such a configuration is capable of moving the fork unit 5 vertically and horizontally on the mast 4 while moving along the running rail by the driving of the wheel 2, (handling) to carry the cassette out of the cassette shelf 8 or for loading the cassette onto the cassette shelf 8 via forking.

However, in the case of the conventional art having such a structure, since the lower end of the mast 4 is fixed, the mast 4, which is a free end when the cassette is forking work as shown in FIG. 1, May be inclined in the forking direction of the cassette forcocking the cassette, which causes the deflection amount of the fork unit 5 to become large, thereby causing difficulty in accurate transferring to the cassette.

In addition, in the case of the conventional art, the upper portion of the mast 4 inclined by the inertia when the stocker 1 is driven in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 2 is vibrated in the running direction at the time of stop, There is a problem that a vibration cancel waiting time is generated and a tact time is delayed.

Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2009-0046890

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a cassette which is capable of preventing the upper region of the mast from tilting in the forking direction of the cassette during forking work of the cassette, And to provide a stocker apparatus capable of transferring more accurately.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a traveling mooring vehicle comprising: a plurality of masts which are arranged to rise along a traveling direction of a traveling traveling vehicle along a traveling rail and whose lower ends are fixed to the traveling traveling vehicle; A fork unit movably coupled to the mast, the fork unit transferring a cassette to a cassette shelf; And an upper region of the mast which supports the mast such that an upper region of the mast is prevented from tilting in the forking direction of the cassette when forking work of the cassette by the fork unit A stocker apparatus including a mast supporting unit may be provided.

The mast supporting unit may be a magnetic auxiliary type mast supporting unit for supporting the mast in a non-contact manner on a magnetic levitation.

The magnetic auxiliary type mast supporting unit includes: a superconducting electromagnet provided on an upper portion of the mast; The superconducting electromagnet is disposed at a position corresponding to the superconducting electromagnet and is spaced apart from the mast. A current is induced when the superconducting electromagnet of the mast passes through the superconducting electromagnet to generate a repulsive force with the superconducting electromagnet, Coil.

A mast connection bar may be provided at an upper portion of the mast to connect a plurality of masts. The superconducting electromagnet may be provided symmetrically on both sides of the mast connection bar.

The magnetic auxiliary type mast supporting unit may further include a plurality of magnetic levitation guides disposed on both sides of the mast connecting bar.

The induction coil may be provided on an inner wall of the magnetic levitation guide along a direction in which the traveling carriage travels.

The superconducting electromagnet and the induction coil may be disposed symmetrically with respect to the mast connection bar.

A forking motion sensing unit for sensing a forking motion of the cassette by the forking unit; And a controller for controlling a current applied to the superconducting electromagnet based on a sensing signal from the forking motion sensing unit and a strength thereof.

And a vibration generation blocking unit provided in an upper region of the mast to prevent vibrations caused by tilting of the mast when the traveling vehicle stops after traveling.

The vibration generation blocking unit may be a non-contact type linear motor provided in an upper region of the mast connecting bar and synchronized with the traveling speed and moving distance of the traveling bogie.

The non-contact type linear motor includes: a linear motor driver coupled to an upper end of the mast connecting bar; And a linear motor permanent magnet disposed adjacent to the linear motor driving unit and interacting with the linear motor driving unit.

The linear motor permanent magnet may be disposed on the inner wall of the guide connecting wall connecting the plurality of magnetic levitation guides at the top.

According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent the upper region of the mast from tilting in the forking direction of the cassette during the forking work of the cassette, thereby reducing the deflection amount of the fork unit more than before, .

1 is a schematic side view of a conventional stocker apparatus.
Fig. 2 is a front structural view of Fig. 1. Fig.
3 is a perspective view of a stocker apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 4 is a plan view of the fork unit of the stocker apparatus with the cassette loaded. Fig.
5 is an enlarged structural view of the upper part of the mast shown in Fig.
Fig. 6 is a side view of the structure of Fig. 5. Fig.
7 is a control block diagram of a stocker apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In order to fully understand the present invention, operational advantages of the present invention, and objects achieved by the practice of the present invention, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings and the accompanying drawings which illustrate preferred embodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Like reference symbols in the drawings denote like elements. The object to be described below includes a substrate including a liquid crystal display (LCD), a plasma display panel (PDP), and an OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diodes), a semiconductor wafer, Not only can it be a cassette but also various kinds of distribution products including a general box, but a cassette on which a mask for OLED manufacturing or a substrate is mounted will be considered.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a stocker apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 4 is a plan view of a state where a cassette is loaded on a fork unit of the stocker apparatus, FIG. FIG. 6 is a side view of FIG. 5, and FIG. 7 is a control block diagram of a stocker apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to these drawings, the stocker apparatus according to the present embodiment is configured such that the upper region of the mast 107 is inclined in the forking direction of the cassette 101 during the forking work of the cassette 101 The mast 107 and the cassette 101 can be more accurately transferred by reducing the amount of deflection of the fork unit 129 compared with the prior art. And a mast supporting unit 160 for supporting the mast 107. The mast supporting unit 160 includes a fork unit 129 for transferring the mast 101 to a cassette lathe.

In addition, the stocker apparatus according to the present embodiment may include a vibration generation blocking unit 180 for preventing vibration caused by tilting of the mast 107, and a controller 190 for controlling them .

The mast 107 is a kind of column that is arranged to rise along the vertical direction on the traveling carriage 105 which travels along the traveling rail 104 through the wheel 105a.

The masts 107 are arranged in pairs, and the lower ends thereof are fixed to the traveling carriage 105, respectively. That is, the mast 107 is installed on the traveling carriage 105 movably installed on the traveling rail 104 and capable of traveling from the starting point to the destination.

The mast 107 is provided at its upper portion with a mast connecting bar 107a for connecting a plurality of masts 107 as shown in Figs. The mast connecting bar 107a connects the pair of masts 107 to prevent the mast 107 from swinging.

Although not shown in detail, the mast 107 is provided with a vertically arranged frame 108 in which a linear guide (not shown) capable of guiding vertical movement is provided in the vertical direction. And the belt 116 may be disposed in the up-and-down arrangement frame 108 in the up-and-down direction. The belt 116 may be provided with a fork unit 129 which can be moved up and down.

The mast 107 can be designed to have a rigid structure and sufficient height to lift the object up to the height of each port of the cassette shelf 100.

In the structure of the mast 107 as described above, the fork unit 129 is coupled to the mast 107 so as to be movably coupled to the mast 107, that is, movable vertically and horizontally, and the cassette 101 is connected to the cassette shelf 100).

In other words, the fork unit 129 can be moved up / down along the vertical direction of the mast 107 and can be moved from the cassette shelf 100 to the cassette 107 while being operated in the front- (101) or the cassette (101) is loaded on the cassette shelf (100).

In order to transfer the cassette 101 to the fork unit 129, a means for driving the fork unit 129 is required. Such a means may be provided in the mast 107.

The fork unit 129 substantially carries the cassette 101, that is, the cassette 101 is loaded.

4, the fork unit 129 includes a fork body 136, a fork handle 130 that can move linearly with respect to the port of the cassette shelf 100 and enter the port, A pair of horizontal robot arms 137 for rotatably installed on the body 136 and coupled to the one end of the fork handle 130 for linear movement of the fork handle 130, And an arm driving unit 138 for driving the horizontal robot arm 137.

The horizontal robot arm 137 is rotatably mounted on the arm driving unit 138 and can be moved to one side of the fork body 136 by the arm driving unit 138. The fork handle 130 thus moves to the fork body 136 ). ≪ / RTI >

1, since the lower end of the mast 107 is fixed, the upper end of the mast 107, which is a free end of the cassette 101 when the cassette 101 is forking work by the fork unit 129, There is a fear that the area tilts in the forking direction of the cassette 101 forking the cassette 101. [

1, when the upper area of the mast 107 is inclined in the forking direction of the cassette 101 forcing the cassette 101, the deflection amount of the fork unit 129 It is difficult to precisely transfer the cassette 101 to the cassette 101.

To solve this problem, the mast supporting unit 160 is applied to the stocker apparatus of this embodiment as shown in Figs. 3, 5 to 7.

The mast supporting unit 160 is provided in the upper area of the mast 107 and is configured such that the upper area of the mast 107 is inclined in the forking direction of the cassette 101 during the forking operation of the cassette 101 by the fork unit 129 And serves to support the mast 107 so as to be prevented from falling.

Contact type method may be considered for application of the mast supporting unit 160. However, in the case of the contact type method, there is a risk of generation of particles, and therefore, in this embodiment, the magnetic force is applied to the mast 107 in a non- The common-mode mast supporting unit 160 is applied.

The magnetically supple mast supporting unit 160 includes a superconducting electromagnet 161 provided at an upper portion of the mast 107 and a mast 107 disposed at a position corresponding to the superconducting electromagnet 161, And an induction coil 162 that induces a current when the superconducting electromagnet 161 of the superconducting electromagnet 161 passes and generates a repulsive force with the superconducting electromagnet 161 as a magnet having a polarity opposite to that of the superconducting electromagnet 161.

The superconducting electromagnet 161 may be provided symmetrically on both sides of the mast connecting bar 107a connecting the upper portion of the mast 107. [

A plurality of magnetic levitation guides 170 may be disposed on both sides of the mast connecting bar 107a at positions spaced apart from the mast connecting bar 107a. An induction coil 162 is disposed on the inner wall of the magnetic levitation guide 170, Can be arranged. The induction coil 162 may be provided on the inner wall of the magnetic levitation guide 170 along the direction in which the traveling carriage 105 travels.

At this time, the superconducting electromagnet 161 and the induction coil 162 may be disposed symmetrically with respect to the mast connecting bar 107a.

The operation of the magnetic auxiliary-type mast supporting unit 160 having such a structure will be described. When a current is applied to the superconducting electromagnet 161 in a state where the superconducting electromagnet 161 provided on the mast connecting bar 107a is disposed on the induction coil 162, a current is induced in the induction coil 162, Becomes a magnet having a magnetic pole in a direction opposite to that of the superconducting electromagnet 161. A magnetic repulsive force is applied between the mast connecting bar 107a of the mast 107 and the magnetic levitation guide 170. This force causes the upper region of the mast 107 to move along the cassette 101 ) In the forking direction of the cassette 101 forking can be canceled.

Particularly, when controlling the current applied to the superconducting electromagnet 161 through the controller 190 to be described later, the strength of the repulsive force between the mast connection bar 107a of the mast 107 and the magnetic levitation guide 170 can be finely adjusted It can be used in correspondence with the amount of the substrate stored in the cassette 101. That is, when the storage amount of the substrate stored in the cassette 101 is large, the repulsive force strength between the mast connecting bar 107a of the mast 107 and the magnetic levitation guide 170 can be further increased.

For this control, the stoker apparatus according to this embodiment is provided with a forking motion sensing unit 195 and a controller 190. [

The forking motion sensing unit 195 senses the forking operation of the cassette 101 by the fork unit 129. [

The controller 190 controls the current applied to the superconducting electromagnet 161 and the intensity thereof based on the sensing signal from the forking motion sensing unit 195.

The controller 190 may include a central processing unit 191 (CPU), a memory 192 (MEMORY), and a support circuit 193 (SUPPORT CIRCUIT) as shown in FIG.

The central processing unit 191 controls the currents applied to the superconducting electromagnets 161 based on the sensing signal from the forking motion sensing unit 195 and various computers 110 ) Processors.

The memory 192 (MEMORY) is connected to the central processing unit 191. The memory 192 may be a local or remote computer-readable recording medium and may be, for example, a random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), floppy disk, hard disk, At least one readily available memory.

A support circuit 193 (SUPPORT CIRCUIT) is coupled with the central processing unit 191 to support the typical operation of the processor. Such a support circuit 193 may include a cache, a power supply, a clock circuit, an input / output circuit, a subsystem, and the like.

In this embodiment, the controller 190 controls the current applied to the superconducting electromagnet 161 and the intensity thereof based on the detection signal from the forking motion detector 195. At this time, the controller 190 controls the current and intensity of the current applied to the superconducting electromagnet 161 on the basis of the sensing signal from the forking motion sensing unit 195, and on the basis of the detection information of the coordinate detecting unit 155, A series of processes or the like that control the operation of the computer 120 may be stored in the memory 192. [ Typically, software routines may be stored in memory 192. The software routines may also be stored or executed by other central processing units (not shown).

Although processes according to the present invention are described as being performed by software routines, it is also possible that at least some of the processes of the present invention may be performed by hardware. As such, the processes of the present invention may be implemented in software executed on the computer 110 system, or in hardware such as an integrated circuit, or in a combination of software and hardware.

On the other hand, in the stoker apparatus according to the present embodiment, the upper part of the mast 107 inclined by the inertia when traveling in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 2, that is, the problem described with reference to FIG. 2, is vibrated in the running direction at the time of stop, The vibration generation stop unit 180 is further provided to solve the problem that the vibration cancel waiting time for the vibration generating unit 107 is generated and the tact time is delayed.

3 and 5 to 7, the vibration generation stopping unit 180 is provided in the upper area of the mast 107, and when the traveling carriage 105 is stopped after traveling, the mast 107 In order to prevent the occurrence of vibration due to the tilting of the tilting mechanism.

The vibration generation stopping unit 180 is applied to a linear motor 180 provided in the upper region of the mast connecting bar 107a and synchronized with the traveling speed and moving distance of the traveling bogie 105 .

The noncontact type linear motor 180 includes a linear motor driver 181 coupled to the upper end of the mast connecting bar 107a and a linear motor driver 181 disposed adjacent to the linear motor driver 181, And may include a linear motor permanent magnet 182 acting thereon.

At this time, the linear motor permanent magnet 182 may be disposed on the inner wall of the guide connecting wall 172 connecting the plurality of magnetic levitation guides 170 from above. The guide connecting wall 172 may be a ceiling structure of the clean room.

When such a vibration generating stop unit 180 is applied to the stocker apparatus, vibration can be prevented from occurring due to tilting of the mast 107 when the traveling truck 105 is stopped after traveling, ) Can be reduced, and the tact time can be reduced thereby.

According to the present embodiment having the structure and function as described above, it is possible to prevent the upper region of the mast 107 from tilting in the forking direction of the cassette 101 in the forging operation of the cassette 101, The amount of deflection of the unit 129 is reduced compared to the conventional case, and the cassette 101 can be transferred more accurately.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. It is therefore intended that such modifications or alterations be within the scope of the claims appended hereto.

100: cassette shelf 101: cassette
104: running rail 105: running carriage
105a: wheel 107: mast
107a: mast connection bar 129: fork unit
160: mast supporting unit 161: superconducting electromagnet
162: induction coil 170: magnetic levitation guide
172: guide connecting wall 180: vibration generating stop unit
181: Linear motor drive unit 182: Linear motor permanent magnet
190: controller 195: forking motion detection unit

Claims (12)

A plurality of masts which are arranged to rise along a vertical direction on a traveling vehicle running along the traveling rail and whose lower ends are fixed to the traveling vehicle;
A mast connection bar provided at an upper portion of the plurality of masts and connecting the plurality of masts;
A fork unit movably coupled to the mast, the fork unit transferring a cassette to a cassette shelf;
A mast provided in an upper region of the mast and supporting the mast so that the upper region of the mast is prevented from tilting in the forking direction of the cassette when forking work of the cassette by the fork unit, A supporting unit; And
And a vibration generation blocking unit provided at an upper region of the mast to prevent vibrations caused by tilting of the mast when the traveling vehicle stops after traveling,
Wherein the vibration generation blocking unit includes a non-contact type linear motor provided in an upper region of the mast connecting bar, the non-contact type linear motor being synchronized with the traveling speed and moving distance of the traveling car,
In the non-contact type linear motor,
A linear motor driver coupled to an upper end of the mast connection bar; And
And a linear motor permanent magnet disposed adjacent to the linear motor driving unit and interacting with the linear motor driving unit. The method according to claim 1,
The mast supporting unit includes:
Wherein the mast supporting unit is a magnetic auxiliary mast supporting unit for supporting the mast in a non-contact manner of magnetic levitation. 3. The method of claim 2,
The magnetic auxiliary type mast supporting unit comprises:
A superconducting electromagnet provided on an upper portion of the mast; And
A superconducting electromagnet for generating a repulsive force between the superconducting electromagnet and the superconducting electromagnet, the superconducting electromagnet being spaced apart from the mast at a position corresponding to the superconducting electromagnet, Wherein the stocker comprises: The method of claim 3,
Wherein the superconducting electromagnets are symmetrically provided on both sides of the mast connection bar. 5. The method of claim 4,
The magnetic auxiliary type mast supporting unit comprises:
And a plurality of magnetic levitation guides disposed on both sides of the mast connection bar. 6. The method of claim 5,
Wherein the induction coil is provided on an inner wall of the magnetic levitation guide along a direction in which the traveling carriage travels. 5. The method of claim 4,
Wherein the superconducting electromagnet and the induction coil are arranged symmetrically with respect to the mast connection bar. The method of claim 3,
A forking motion sensing unit for sensing a forking motion of the cassette by the forking unit; And
And a controller for controlling a current applied to the superconducting electromagnet based on a sensing signal from the forking motion sensing unit and a strength thereof. delete delete delete The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the linear motor permanent magnet is disposed on an inner wall of a guide connecting wall connecting the plurality of magnetic levitation guides at an upper portion thereof.

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