KR102314364B1 - Robot for transferring substrate - Google Patents

Abstract

A robot for transferring a substrate is disclosed. In the board transport robot according to the present invention, a ball nut is installed on the outer peripheral surface of the ball screw of the lifting unit, and a bearing is installed on the outer peripheral surface of the ball screw above the ball nut. Therefore, since the longitudinal direction of the ball nut and the longitudinal direction of the bearing are substantially in a straight line, there may be an effect of reducing the volume in the radial direction of the ball screw of the lifting part and the support part on which the lifting part is installed. Then, the ball screw of the elevating part is fixed, the ball nut is rotatably installed on the ball screw, and it moves up and down along the ball screw while rotating forward and backward, and the board support part goes up and down by the elevating of the ball nut. Then, since the long ball screw does not rotate, the ball screw is prevented from being damaged by vibrational rotation, thereby making the ball screw relatively long. Therefore, in increasing the elevation height of the substrate support, there may be an effect of receiving relatively less restrictions.

Description

Substrate transfer robot {ROBOT FOR TRANSFERRING SUBSTRATE}

[0001] The present invention relates to a substrate transport robot that transports substrates.

A robot executes programs necessary for work through a control device to perform a task according to a purpose, and is widely used in various industrial fields.

The substrate transport robot is widely used in the semiconductor manufacturing field or flat panel display device manufacturing field, and transfers the substrate loaded in the cassette to the substrate processing apparatus, transfers the substrate of the substrate processing apparatus to the cassette, or any one of the substrates. The substrate is transferred from the processing apparatus to another substrate processing apparatus.

In general, the substrate transport robot is a linear motion part installed on a transport rail installed on the floor, etc., installed on the floor, etc. of the workshop so as to be able to move linearly in a direction parallel to the floor, and one end side is supported by the linear motion part and moves together with the linear motion part. A rotary motion part rotatably installed based on the part supported by the linear motion part, a lower end side is supported on the other end side of the rotary motion part, and moves together with the rotary motion part, a support part substantially perpendicular to the linear motion part, the support part It includes a board support part of a multi-axis multi-joint structure for supporting a substrate while moving together with the elevation part installed in the elevation part and the elevation part installed to be able to lift.

In addition, the lifting unit includes a driving motor, a ball screw rotated by the driving motor, and a ball nut installed on the ball screw and ascending and descending as the ball screw rotates. In addition, the ball nut is connected to the substrate support part through a bearing to be described later and moves up and down together with the ball nut. That is, the lifting unit raises and lowers the substrate support unit while the ball nut is raised and lowered by the rotation of the ball screw.

An inner ring of a bearing is installed on an outer circumferential surface of the ball nut, and the substrate support unit is coupled to an outer ring side of the bearing. The bearing prevents the substrate support from rotating by the rotation of the ball nut.

In the conventional board transport robot as described above, the bearing is installed on the outer peripheral surface of the ball nut. Therefore, there is a disadvantage in that the volume of the robot facing the radial direction of the ball screw increases.

Prior art related to a robot for transferring substrates is disclosed in Korean Patent Publication No. 10-1350021 (2014.01.03) and the like.

An object of the present invention may be to provide a robot for transferring a substrate that can solve all the problems of the prior art as described above.

Another object of the present invention may be to provide a robot for transferring a substrate capable of reducing the volume of the ball screw in the radial direction.

A robot for transferring a substrate according to the present invention includes: a linear movement unit installed to be capable of linear movement; a rotary motion part supported by one side of the linear motion part to move together with the linear motion part and rotatably installed based on the part supported by the linear motion part; The lower end side is supported on the other side of the rotary motion part, a support part that moves together with the rotary motion part; A ball screw having a lower end side and an upper end side supported by the support unit and fixed, a ball nut rotatably installed on the ball screw and ascending and lowering along the ball screw as it rotates, the upper side of the upper end of the ball nut an elevating unit having an inner ring installed at a portion of the ball screw and having a bearing elevating by the ball nut; It may include a substrate support unit connected to the bearing side and lifting and lowering together with the ball nut to support the substrate.

In the robot for transporting substrates according to the present embodiments, a ball nut is installed on the outer peripheral surface of the ball screw of the lifting unit, and a bearing is installed on the outer peripheral surface of the ball screw above the ball nut. Thus, since the longitudinal direction of the ball nut and the longitudinal direction of the bearing are substantially in a straight line, there may be an effect of reducing the volume in the radial direction of the ball screw of the lifting part and the support part on which the lifting part is installed.

Then, the ball screw of the elevating part is fixed, the ball nut is rotatably installed on the ball screw, and it moves up and down along the ball screw while rotating forward and backward, and the board support part goes up and down by the elevating of the ball nut. Then, since the long ball screw does not rotate, the ball screw is prevented from being damaged by vibrational rotation, thereby making the ball screw relatively long. Therefore, in increasing the elevation height of the substrate support, there may be an effect of receiving relatively less restrictions.

In addition, since the ball screw does not rotate, there may be an effect that the ball screw can be easily installed.

In addition, since the ball screw is divided into a plurality of zones by the support member, the length of the ball screw is shortened. For this reason, there may be an effect of relatively preventing the deformation of the ball screw.

In addition, when two driving motors for rotating the ball nut are provided, even if an abnormality occurs in one of the driving motors, the ball nut can be rotated using the other driving motor, so that the continuity of work can be improved. , there may be an effect of preventing the ball nut from being lowered by the other driving motor that has not failed.

1 is a perspective view of a robot for transferring a substrate according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view of the main part of the lifting unit shown in Figure 1;
Figure 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the bearing portion shown in Figure 2;
Figure 4 is an exploded perspective view of the main part of the robot for transferring the substrate according to the second embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a schematic side view showing the operation of the support member shown in FIG.
Fig. 6 is a schematic side view showing another example of use of the support member shown in Fig. 5;
7 is a schematic side view showing a modified example of the support member shown in FIG.
8 is an exploded perspective view of a main part of a robot for transferring a substrate according to a third embodiment of the present invention;

It should be noted that, in the present specification, in adding reference numbers to the components of each drawing, the same numbers are used for the same components, even if they are indicated on different drawings, as much as possible.

On the other hand, the meaning of the terms described in this specification should be understood as follows.

The singular expression is to be understood as including the plural expression unless the context clearly defines otherwise, and the terms "first", "second", etc. are used to distinguish one element from another, The scope of rights should not be limited by these terms.

It should be understood that terms such as “comprise” or “have” do not preclude the possibility of addition or existence of one or more other features or numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof.

The term “at least one” should be understood to include all possible combinations from one or more related items. For example, the meaning of "at least one of the first, second, and third items" means 2 of the first, second, and third items as well as each of the first, second, or third items. It means a combination of all items that can be presented from more than one.

The term “and/or” should be understood to include all combinations possible from one or more related items. For example, the meaning of "item first, second, and/or third" means not only the first, second, or third item, but also two of the first, second, or third items. It means a combination of all items that can be presented from the above.

When a component is referred to as “connected or installed” to another component, it may be directly connected or installed to the other component, but it should be understood that other components may exist in between. On the other hand, when it is mentioned that a certain component is "directly connected or installed" to another component, it should be understood that the other component does not exist in the middle. On the other hand, other expressions describing the relationship between elements, that is, "between" and "immediately between" or "neighboring to" and "directly adjacent to", etc., should be interpreted similarly.

Hereinafter, a robot for transferring a substrate according to embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

first embodiment

1 is a perspective view of a robot for transferring a substrate according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the main part of the lifting unit shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the bearing portion shown in FIG.

As shown, the substrate transport robot according to the first embodiment of the present invention may be installed and used in a clean room for manufacturing a semiconductor or flat panel display device, and may include a linear motion unit 110, a rotary motion unit 120, and a support unit ( 130 ), a lifting unit 140 , and a substrate support unit 170 may be included. Thus, the substrate S such as glass or silicon wafer loaded in the cassette is transferred to the substrate processing apparatus, the substrate of the substrate processing apparatus is transferred to the cassette, or the other substrate is processed in any one substrate processing apparatus. The substrate can be transferred to the device.

The base 50 in the form of a rail may be installed on the floor of the clean room, and the linear movement unit 110 may be installed on the base 50 to be able to reciprocate horizontally in a direction parallel to the floor of the clean room. have. The linear movement unit 110 may be installed directly on the floor of the clean room, and in this case, a plurality of wheels may be rotatably installed on the lower surface of the linear movement unit 110 .

One end of the rotational movement unit 120 is supported by the linear movement unit 110 to move together with the linear movement unit 110 . In addition, the rotary motion unit 120 may be rotatably installed with respect to the linear motion unit 110 based on a portion supported by the linear motion unit 110 .

The support part 130 is supported by the lower end side of the other end side of the rotary motion part 120 , so that it can move together with the rotary motion part 120 . The support unit 130 may include a support frame 131 having a predetermined length and a cover 135 surrounding a portion of the outer portion of the support frame 131 , and may be substantially orthogonal to the linear movement unit 110 .

The elevating unit 140 is supported by the supporting unit 130 and can be elevated along the longitudinal direction of the supporting unit 130 , and the substrate supporting unit 170 is installed in the elevating unit 140 to elevate and lower together with the elevating unit 140 . can do.

The substrate support unit 170 may include a plurality of arms 171 of a multi-axis multi-joint structure that are rotatably installed based on interconnected parts. At this time, any one arm 171 located at the outermost side may be rotatably installed on the lifting unit 140 , and the substrate S is mounted on the end of the other arm 171 located at the outermost side. The supported spokes 173 may be rotatably installed. In addition, a plurality of substrate support units 170 may be installed while having a vertical interval therebetween.

Thus, the linear motion unit 110 is moved, the rotation unit 120 is rotated, and the substrate support unit 170 is positioned on the side of the substrate S to be transported. After that, the lifting unit 140 is raised and lowered to position the spokes 173 of the substrate support unit 170 under the substrate S to be transported, and then the arms 171 rotatably connected to each other are spread out to the spokes 173 . ) is positioned below the lower surface of the substrate S to be transported. After that, the lifting unit 140 is raised, the substrate S to be transported is mounted on the spokes 173, and then the arms 171 connected rotatably to each other are folded to transport the substrate S to be transported. do. After that, the substrate S transported out by performing the above operations in an appropriate order may be carried in to a desired place.

The lifting unit 140 will be described.

The lifting unit 140 may elevate the substrate support unit 170 , and may include a ball screw 141 , a ball nut 142 , a driving motor 144 , a housing 146 , a bearing 147 , and a guide rail 148 . and a lifting block 149 .

The ball screw 141 may have a lower end and an upper end supported and fixed to the support unit 130 to be substantially perpendicular to the linear motion unit 110 , and the ball nut 142 may be rotatably installed on the ball screw 141 . . At this time, the ball nut 142 may move up and down along the ball screw 141 as it rotates forward and backward.

Spiral grooves may be formed to correspond to each other on the outer circumferential surface of the ball screw 141 and the inner circumferential surface of the ball nut 142 , and a ball may be interposed in the spiral groove. The ball helps the ball nut 142 to rotate smoothly on the outer peripheral surface of the ball screw 141 .

The driving motor 144 may provide a rotational force for rotating the ball nut 142 . In order to transmit the rotational force of the driving motor 144 to the ball nut 142 , pulleys 143 and 145 may be formed on the rotation shaft of the ball nut 142 and the driving motor 144 , respectively, and the pulley 143 . and the pulley 145 may be interconnected by a belt. Therefore, the ball nut 142 is rotated by the driving motor 144 .

The driving motor 144 may be supported and installed inside the housing 146 , and the end of the arm 171 of the substrate support unit 170 may be rotatably installed on the outer surface thereof. In addition, the housing 146 may be coupled to the bearing 147 to move up and down together with the bearing 147 . This will be described later.

The bearing 147 is installed so as to be able to move up and down on the upper part of the ball screw 141 on the upper end surface of the ball nut 142 , and can be lifted up and down by the ball nut 142 . That is, the bearing 147 is installed in the portion of the ball screw 141 on the upper side in the longitudinal direction of the ball nut 142, and the longitudinal direction of the bearing 147 and the longitudinal direction of the ball nut 142 may form an approximately straight line. have.

In addition, the inner ring of the bearing 147 may be installed on the ball screw 141 , and the outer ring may be coupled to the housing 146 . Due to the limitation of the installation space, it may be difficult to directly couple the outer ring of the bearing 147 to the housing 146 . For this reason, a protrusion block 147a coupled to the housing 146 may be formed on the outer ring of the bearing 147 .

Then, when the ball nut 142 is rotated by the driving motor 144 , the ball nut 142 moves up and down along the ball screw 141 , and the upper end of the ball nut 141 by the lifting of the ball nut 141 . The bearing 147 in contact with the surface side and the lower end surface moves up and down. For this reason, since the housing 146 is raised and lowered, the substrate support unit 170 is raised and lowered.

Since the housing 146 is located on the outside of the support 130 and cannot rotate around the ball screw 141 , when the ball nut 142 rotates, the ball nut 142 moves up and down along the ball screw 141 . will be.

The guide rail 148 and the first lifting block 149 support the housing 146 so that it can be stably raised and lowered, and at the same time, it is possible to further prevent the housing 146 from rotating.

In detail, the guide rail 148 may be installed on the support unit 130 in parallel with the ball screw 141 , and the first lifting block 149 may be installed on the guide rail 148 to be liftable. In addition, the housing 146 may be coupled to the first lifting block 149 . Then, since the housing 146 is prevented from being rotated by the guide rail 148 and the first lifting block 149 , the housing 146 is stably raised and lowered together with the ball nut 142 . The guide rail 148 may be installed on both sides with the ball screw 141 interposed therebetween.

In the board transport robot according to the first embodiment of the present invention, a ball nut 142 is installed on the outer peripheral surface of the ball screw 141, and a bearing 147 is installed on the outer peripheral surface of the ball screw 141 above the ball nut 142. this is installed Thus, since the longitudinal direction of the ball nut 142 and the longitudinal direction of the bearing 147 form an approximately straight line, the elevating unit 140 and the elevating unit ( The volume in the radial direction of the ball screw 141 of the support part 130 on which 140 is installed is reduced.

Then, the ball screw 141 of the elevating unit 140 is fixedly installed, and the ball nut 142 is rotatably installed on the ball screw 141 and ascends and descends along the ball screw 141 while rotating forward and reverse. The substrate support unit 170 is raised and lowered by the lift at 142 . That is, since the ball screw 141 does not rotate, it can be prevented that the ball screw 141 is damaged by vibration rotation. Then, since the length of the ball screw 141 can be formed to be relatively long, the height of the lifting and lowering of the substrate support unit 170 can be increased, which can be relatively less restricted. And, since the ball screw 141 does not rotate, the ball screw 141 can be easily installed.

second embodiment

Figure 4 is an exploded perspective view of the main part of the substrate transport robot according to the second embodiment of the present invention, Figure 5 is a schematic side view showing the operation of the support member shown in Figure 4, which will be described.

As shown, the substrate transport robot according to the second embodiment of the present invention may include a support module 250 for supporting the ball screw 241 to prevent the ball screw 241 from being deformed. More specifically, the support module 250 includes a drive motor 144 (see FIG. 2 ) having a long ball screw 241 installed inside the housing 246 and a substrate coupled to the outer surface of the housing 246 . Deformation by the load of the support part 170 (refer to FIG. 1) can be prevented.

The support module 250 may be installed to be liftable along the ball screw 241 , the ball screw 241 may be divided into a plurality of zones, may be supported on the guide rail 248 side, and a support member 251 , a bush 253 and a second lifting block 255 may be included.

The support member 251 integrates the support tube 251a and the support tube 251a installed in a form to surround the portion of the ball screw 241 located on the lower side of the ball nut 242 and the upper side of the bearing 247, respectively. It has a connecting portion 251b for connecting. And, the bush 253 is installed on the inner circumferential surface of each support pipe 251a so as to be in contact with the ball screw 241, and the second lifting block 255 is installed on the guide rail 248 to be lifted and supported at the same time. The connecting portion 251b of the member 251 may be coupled. Therefore, the support member 251 is supported by the guide rail 248 via the second elevating block 255 .

An upper portion of the connecting portion 251b of the support member 251 may contact the upper surface of the housing 246 , and thus the support member 251 may be moved up and down by the lifting housing 246 .

Then, since the ball screw 241 is supported in contact with the bush 253 of the support module 250 , the ball screw 241 is divided into a plurality of zones, and thus the length of the ball screw 241 is shortened. Due to this, it is possible to relatively prevent the ball screw 241 from being deformed.

FIG. 6 is a schematic side view showing another example of use of the support member shown in FIG. 5 , and only differences from FIG. 5 are explained.

As shown, the support member 251 of the support module 250 may be raised and lowered in conjunction with the ball nut 242 . The ball nut 242 and the support member 251 may be interconnected by the power transmission module 260 so that the ball nut 242 and the support member 251 can interlock and elevate.

In detail, the power transmission module 260 is rotatably supported and installed on the first belt 261 connected to the ball nut 242 and the support part 130 (see FIG. 1 ), and both end sides of the first belt 261 . The second supported first rotational support 263 , the second belt 265 connected to the support member 251 , is rotatably installed on the support 130 , and both ends of the second belt 265 are supported. A gear assembly (not shown) for transmitting the rotational force of the rotational support 267 and the first rotational support 263 to the second rotational support 267 may be included.

Thus, when the first belt 261 rotates while lifting by the lifting of the ball nut 242, the first rotating support 263 rotates, and the rotational force of the first rotating support 263 is controlled by the gear assembly. It is transmitted to the second rotation support (267). Then, since the second belt 265 is raised and lowered while rotating by the second rotating support 267 , the support member 251 is raised and lowered by the second belt 265 . For this reason, the support member 251 is raised and lowered in conjunction with the ball nut 242 .

If the first rotation support 263 and the second rotation support 267 are formed to have the same size and concentrically connected, the gear assembly may be removed.

FIG. 7 is a schematic side view showing a modified example of the support member shown in FIG. 5 , and only differences from FIG. 5 are explained.

As shown, the support tube 251c of the support member 251 is formed to be long, and the lower end surface of the support tube 251c located on the upper side of the support tube 251c is connected to the bearing 247 and When brought into contact, the support member 251 can be raised and lowered by the lifting ball nut 242 .

3rd embodiment

8 is an exploded perspective view of a main part of a robot for transferring substrates according to a third embodiment of the present invention, and only differences from the first embodiment are described.

As shown, in the robot for transferring substrates according to the third embodiment of the present invention, two driving motors 344 may be provided, and a pulley 345 may be formed on the rotation shaft of each driving motor 344 , respectively. . In addition, the first pulley 343a and the second pulley 343b which are respectively connected to the pulley 345 of each driving motor 344 through a belt may be formed in the ball nut 342 .

Then, even when one of the driving motors 344 is out of order, since the ball nut 342 can be rotated using the other driving motor 344, continuity of work can be improved.

And, in a state in which the two driving motors 344 are stopped, when one of the driving motors 344 fails, the ball nut 342 is rotated by the other driving motor 344 that does not have a failure. Since this is prevented, it is possible to prevent the ball nut 342 and the housing 346 from descending.

In addition, it is possible to reduce the cost by using two driving motors having a small capacity as compared to using one driving motor having a large capacity.

It goes without saying that the configuration of the substrate transport robot according to the third embodiment of the present invention can be applied to the substrate transport robot according to the first, second, and modified examples of the present invention.

The present invention described above is not limited to the above-described embodiments and the accompanying drawings, and it is common in the technical field to which the present invention pertains that various substitutions, modifications, and changes are possible without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention. It will be clear to those who have the knowledge of Therefore, the scope of the present invention is indicated by the following claims, and all changes or modifications derived from the meaning and scope of the claims and their equivalent concepts should be construed as being included in the scope of the present invention.

110: linear motion unit
120: rotary motion unit
130: support
140: elevator
141: ball screw
142: ball nut
147: bearing
170: substrate support

Claims (9)

a linear movement unit installed to be capable of linear movement;
a rotary motion part supported by one side of the linear motion part to move together with the linear motion part and rotatably installed based on the part supported by the linear motion part;
The lower end side is supported on the other side of the rotary motion part, a support part that moves together with the rotary motion part;
A ball screw having a lower end and an upper end supported by the support and fixed, a ball nut rotatably installed on the ball screw and ascending and descending along the ball screw as it rotates, the upper side of the upper end of the ball nut an elevating unit having an inner ring installed at a portion of the ball screw and having a bearing elevating by the ball nut;
and a substrate support part connected to the bearing side and ascending and descending together with the ball nut to support the substrate,
The lifting unit includes a guide rail installed in the support unit, and a support module supported by the guide rail to support the ball screw,
The support module is
a support member installed in a shape to surround the portions of the ball screw positioned above and below the ball nut, respectively, and a support member having a connecting portion connecting the support pipe;
Bushes respectively installed on the inner circumferential surface of the support tube and in contact with the ball screw;
and a second elevating block installed on the guide rail so as to be elevating and to which the support member is coupled. According to claim 1,
The lifting unit,
a housing coupled to the outer ring of the bearing, the substrate support unit coupled thereto, and lifting and lowering together with the bearing;
The robot for transferring the substrate, which is installed inside the housing and further comprises a driving motor for rotating the ball nut. 3. The method of claim 2,
The substrate transport robot, characterized in that the lifting unit further comprises a first lifting block installed on the guide rail to ascend and descend along the guide rail and to which the housing is coupled. delete According to claim 1,
The support module divides the ball screw into a plurality of zones. According to claim 1,
One side portion of the support module is in contact with the lifting unit, the substrate transport robot, characterized in that the lifting by the lifting unit. According to claim 1,
The support module is connected to the ball nut via a power transmission module, and the robot for transporting a substrate, characterized in that it moves up and down in conjunction with the ball nut. delete 3. The method of claim 2,
Pulleys interconnected by a belt are formed on the ball nut and the rotating shaft of the driving motor, respectively,
The pulley of the ball nut has a first pulley and a second pulley partitioned from each other,
The two driving motors are installed to rotate the first pulley and the second pulley, respectively.

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