KR20120014101A - Loading and unloading system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A loading and unloading system is provided to increase the number of loaded and unloaded articles while shortening transfer time of a traversal trolley. CONSTITUTION: A stacker crane(6) travels along a transit rail(7). The stacker crane comprises a mobile placement apparatus(10) transferred along a mast(9). A stacker crane controller(16) controls the stacker crane. A loading and unloading system controller(18) controls a loading and unloading system(2). A slide conveyer(24) is mounted on a traversal trolley(22).

Description

Supply export system {LOADING AND UNLOADING SYSTEM}

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a supply take-out system, and more particularly to an improvement in the speed of supply take-out.

A system is known which supplies and transports articles such as a substrate of a liquid crystal display, a substrate of a plasma panel display, a substrate of a solar cell, and the like to a processing apparatus one by one (Patent Document 1: JP2004-168483 A). In patent document 1, the trolley | bogie which mounts a mobile mounting apparatus, such as a SCARA arm, is arrange | positioned between a cassette and the station of a processing apparatus, and a trolley runs between a cassette and a station. The article is moved and placed by the moving placing device. However, with the enlargement of a board | substrate, a supply carrying speed may fall and it cannot follow a process on the processing apparatus side. Therefore, the inventors have studied to make it possible to supply and take out articles in a shorter time, and have reached the present invention.

Japanese Patent Publication No. 2004-168483A

An object of the present invention is to shorten the movement time of articles in a supply take-out system.

The present invention provides a supply discharging system for supplying and discharging a plurality of articles stored in a cassette to a processing apparatus one by one, comprising: a plurality of cassette placing tables arranged in a row, a station of the processing apparatus, and the plurality of cassettes A traverser bogie which moves on a straight path between the mounting table and the station of the processing apparatus, and a moving placement apparatus for articles, mounted on the traverser bogie, and placing the traverser bogie phase on the And a controller for controlling the slide conveyor and the slide conveyor to move simultaneously in parallel with the straight path.

In the present invention, the movement time of the article is shortened by simultaneously moving the traverser bogie and the slide conveyor. The kind of mobile mounting apparatus mounted on a slide conveyor includes the floating conveying apparatus using air pressure, a scalar arm, a fork slide, etc. other than the roller conveyor of an Example.

Preferably, the controller knows the current and next destination of the traverser balance and changes the position of the slide conveyor according to the next destination before the next movement commences. For example, when the current stroke (travel distance) is long and the next travel distance is short, the ratio of the stroke of the slide conveyor to the next movement is increased, and the ratio of the stroke of the traverser bogie is reduced. Since the slide conveyor is suitable for moving a short distance in a short time, by first assigning the stroke of the slide conveyor to a short distance movement, the total movement time of this time and the next time can be shortened. In addition, when the slide conveyor is moved in the reverse direction in this movement having a long stroke, the stroke of the slide conveyor in the next movement can be lengthened. This is effective when the current travel distance is long and the next travel distance is short. Also, when the station moves the traverser bogie to the next destination side and moves the slide conveyor in the reverse direction by the same distance in waiting time such as waiting for the release of goods from the station, the stroke of the slide conveyor can be lengthened in this movement. Can be. As a result, the stroke of the traverser bogie in the next movement can be shortened, and the movement time can be reduced.

Further, preferably, at least three cassette mounting tables are provided to be switchable between the article supply cassette, the article discharge cassette, and the spare cassette. The spare cassette becomes the next article supply cassette or the next article ejection cassette, and the article supply cassette becomes the next article ejection cassette when empty. In this way, the supply cassette and the discharge cassette of the article can be used all the time, so that no time for waiting for the arrival of a new cassette occurs.

Further, preferably, the controller controls the traverser balance and the slide conveyor so as to minimize the movement time of the present time when the movement direction of the traversal balance and the movement direction of the next traversal are reverse. When the current movement direction and the next movement direction are reverse, when the slide conveyor and the traverser bogie are moved to perform this movement in the shortest time, the stroke of the slide conveyor is also secured in the next movement. Therefore, the next movement can be performed in the shortest time. In addition, the shortest time means the shortest time compared with the case of limiting the speed of the traverser bogie or slide conveyor for adjusting the stroke.

In addition, when the movement direction of the present time and the movement direction of the next time are the same direction, it is preferable to preferentially assign the stroke of the slide conveyor to the movement of the short stroke side. In general, the slide conveyor has a large acceleration / deceleration rate, but a small upper limit speed, which limits the movable stroke. On the other hand, the traverser bogie has no limit on the stroke, and the acceleration / deceleration speed is low but the upper limit speed is large. In addition, the maximum speed in each movement is referred to as the "maximum speed", and the limit of the "maximum speed" is the upper limit speed. If the stroke is short, the traverser bogie does not reach the upper limit speed and the movement time can be shortened by allocating the stroke of the traverser bogie running at low speed to the slide conveyor. Therefore, it is preferable to preferentially assign a stroke to which the slide conveyor can move to movement on the side where the maximum speed of the traverser bogie is low, and in general, movement on the side with the shortest stroke. In addition, when the stroke of this time is long and the movement distance of the next time is short, the example which moved the slide conveyor in the reverse direction in this movement was demonstrated. This is an example in which the stroke of the slide conveyor in this movement is negative and the stroke is preferentially assigned to the slide conveyor in the next movement.

1 is a block diagram of an essential part of a supply discharging system of an embodiment.
2 is a side cross-sectional view of the traverser bogie in the embodiment.
3 is a front view of the main portion of the cassette station in the embodiment.
4 is a block diagram of a balance controller in the embodiment.
FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating an algorithm for generating speed patterns of traverser bogies and slide conveyors in an embodiment.
Fig. 6 shows the movement of the traverser bogie in the modification, 1) a stationary state at station A, 2) a stationary state at station B, and 3) a station C. The stationary state at is shown.
7 shows the movement of the traverser bogie in the second variant, bringing the article into the station in 1), advancing the traverser bogie in standby in 2) and taking the article from the station in 3). Export and move to next destination in 4).

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention The following shows an optimal embodiment. The scope of the present invention is based on the description of the claims, and should be determined in accordance with the understanding of those skilled in the art in view of the description of the specification and well-known techniques in this field, and various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is possible. In particular, the plurality of embodiments and modifications described herein can be arbitrarily combined as necessary.

[Example]

1 to 7 show an embodiment and its modifications. In the figure, 2 is a supply take-out system, and supplies and unloads articles, such as a substrate of a liquid crystal display, one by one between the station 5 of the processing apparatus 4 and the cassette station 20. In addition, the articles are supplied and taken out one by one between the cassette stations 20. The processing apparatus 4 is equipped with one or more station 5. The range of the supply carrying-out system 2 is shown by the broken line of FIG. 6 is a stacker crane and runs along the travel rails 7. The stacker crane 6 includes a mobile mounting apparatus 10 on a platform 8 that moves up and down along a mast 9, and the cassette 21 of the liquid crystal display substrate is connected to the cassette station 20. Wit to move on. 12 is a production management controller, and manages the processing apparatus 4 and the like. 14 is a conveyance controller, which controls the stacker crane 6 via the stacker crane controller 16, and controls the supply discharging system 2 via the feed discharging system controller 18. As shown in FIG.

In the supply take-out system 2, for example, four or three cassette stations 20 are arranged in a straight line, and a traverser bogie (between the cassette station 20 and the station 5) ( The travel rail 23 of 22 is arrange | positioned in a straight line. The traverser trolley 22 carries the slide conveyor 24. 25 is a screw shaft and moves the slide conveyor 24 with respect to the traverser trolley 22 in parallel with the traveling rail 23. 26 is a gas phase rail, and the slide conveyor 24 moves along the gas phase rail 26 by the wheel 34 of FIG. 28 is a moving motor, which rotates the screw shaft 25. 30 is a weather controller, which communicates with the supply take-out system controller 18 to perform traveling and moving placement control of the traverser trolley 22 and the slide conveyor 24.

2 shows the structure of the traverser bogie. 32 is a traveling motor, which drives the traveling wheel 33 of the vehicle. The slide conveyor 24 has a traveling wheel 34 and moves along the gas phase rail 26. 35 is a nut, which is mounted on the slide conveyor 24 and combined with the screw shaft 25. 36 is a board | substrate, such as a liquid crystal display, a plasma panel display, a solar cell, and a kind of board | substrate is arbitrary. The slide conveyor 24 is equipped with the roller conveyor which consists of the rollers 37, and moves the board | substrate 36 one by one between the cassette 21 and the station 5. As shown in FIG. In addition, instead of a roller conveyor, you may mount a floating conveying apparatus, a scara arm, etc. in the slide conveyor 24. As shown in FIG. Further, in order to reverse the direction of the substrate 36 between the cassette 21 and the station 5, a turntable may be provided on the slide conveyor 24.

3 shows the structure of the cassette station 20. 40 is a support part, supports the cassette 21, and moves up and down along the guide 41. As shown in FIG. 42 is a roller, and carrying in and out of the board | substrate 36 from the cassette 21 is performed. By raising the cassette 21 to the support part 40, it can move | move between the stacker crane 6 and mounting. By moving the cassette 21 up and down by the support part 40 of the board | substrate 36 by one minute, the board | substrate 36 can be carried in and out by the roller 42 one by one. In addition, the structure of the cassette station 20, in particular, the type of the mobile mounting apparatus itself is arbitrary.

4 shows control of the traverser bogie 22 and the slide conveyor 24. The supply carrying-out system controller 18 is equipped with the reception buffer 50, and stores the conveyance instruction | command from the conveyance controller 14. As shown in FIG. In addition, the unit of a conveyance command is, for example, one movement of the trolley | bogie 22, and carrying out of the article accompanying this. The stroke table 51 describes the target stroke (outlier of the stroke) of the trolley 22 and the target stroke of the slide conveyor 24 for each combination of the starting point and the destination to which the trolley 22 moves. Here, the target stroke is a stroke that can move in the shortest time when the distance between the destination and the starting point is distributed to the trolley | bogie 22 and the conveyor 24 according to this stroke. The starting point and destination of the trolley 22 are limited to the cassette station 20 and the station 5 of the processing apparatus. For example, the target stroke is described in the table 51 for each combination thereof. In the stroke table 51, the movement from the station A to the station B and, conversely, the movement from the station B to the station A may be stored as the same data. Note that the same moving distance may be stored as the same data.

The balance state table 52 is connected to the current position of the traverser bogie 22, that is, the central position in the longitudinal direction of the body of the traverser bogie 22, and the current position of the slide conveyor 24, that is, the traverser bogie 22. The current position of the slide conveyor 24 is stored. In addition, for example, the conveyor stroke which the slide conveyor 24 can move may be memorize | stored, but when this position is determined, the stroke is known, and a conveyor stroke may be abbreviate | omitted.

The cassette station table 53 stores the allocation of four cassette stations 20. For example, in Fig. 4, the first cassette station is for supplying, the second cassette station is for carrying out good products, the third cassette station is for taking out defective products, and the fourth cassette station is spare, and the substrate is next. A cassette for supplying the The cassette management unit 56 stores the number of substrates in each cassette from the execution result of the transfer instruction of the substrate, for example, when the supply cassette becomes empty, it is converted into a cassette for carrying out good or defective products, and the spare cassette is supplied to the cassette for supply. Switch to For example, when an empty cassette is allocated for carrying out good quality goods, the cassette management unit 56 requests the stacker crane controller 16 to take out the current quality goods carrying out cassette and replace it with a spare cassette. In the above example, the cassette 21 is placed as a spare article supply cassette, and then assigned to a supply cassette, and then assigned as a cassette for carrying out good or defective items. However, the empty cassette may be carried in as a spare cassette and used for carrying out good or defective products.

In the embodiment, the substrate is conveyed from the cassette for supply to the station 5, the substrate is inspected and processed in the processing apparatus 4, and the substrate is discriminated as good or bad. In addition, a substrate for which good or bad has been previously determined is supplied from the supply cassette to the cassette for good quality and the cassette for defective product without passing through the processing apparatus 4. For this reason, although there are two cassettes for carrying out good quality goods and defective goods, what is necessary is just three cassette stations of spare, supply, and carrying out, when not discriminating good goods and defective goods.

The stroke controller 54 determines the strokes of the traverser bogie 22 and the slide conveyor 24 in this movement in consideration of the destination in this movement and the destination in the next movement. The speed pattern preparation unit 55 generates the speed patterns of the traverser bogie and the slide conveyor according to the determined stroke, and transmits the speed patterns to the servo systems 58 and 59 in the weather controller 30, for example. In addition, you may transfer each function of the controller 18 of FIG. 4 to the weather controller 30.

5 to 7 show the operation of the embodiment. The supply carrying-out system controller 18 reads out the next two destinations from the receiving buffer 50 etc., and determines whether the movement directions in two movements are the same or reverse. When the direction of movement is reversed, the traverser bogie 22 and the slide conveyor 24 are controlled to execute each movement in the shortest time. The stroke table 51 describes how the stroke from the origin of the movement to the destination can be moved in the shortest time by distributing it to the traverser trolley and conveyor. The stroke for moving in the shortest time is the target stroke.

The direction of movement of this time and the next time is reversed, and the conveyor may not move by the target stroke in this time of movement. In this case, the part exceeding the movable stroke is allocated to the stroke of the traverser bogie. In addition, when the stroke which a slide conveyor can move also does not reach a target stroke even in the 2nd movement, the shortfall is similarly allocated to the stroke of a traverser trolley | bogie. Then, the speed pattern creation unit 55 creates a speed pattern for each of the slide conveyor and the traverser bogie for the first movement, and inputs the speed pattern to the servo system when the waiting is finished and the movement can be started. do. In addition, waiting is waiting for the transfer of the board | substrate between the station 5, the cassette station 20, etc. to end.

When the two movement directions are reversed, by moving the slide conveyor in the first movement, the stroke of the slide conveyor in the next movement can be lengthened. On the other hand, when the movement directions in the two movements are the same, how to assign the stroke of the slide conveyor to the first movement and the second movement becomes a problem. When the movement directions are the same, the target stroke of the bogie and the conveyor in the next two movements is read out from the stroke table 51, and if one of the maximum speeds of the bogies in the two movements is smaller than or equal to a predetermined value, one of them is smaller than the other. It is determined whether or not the political abnormality is large. When the difference of the maximum speed of a trolley | bogie is below a predetermined value, the stroke of a slide conveyor is distributed according to ratio of the moving distance, for example.

The difference in the maximum speed of the bogie in two movements is a case where the stroke (moving distance) is different and the one stroke is long and the other stroke is short. In the case where the maximum speed is different, the stroke is shorter, so that the trolley preferentially assigns the stroke of the slide conveyor to the side where the maximum speed is low, that is, the side on which the slide conveyor is effective. Then, when the target stroke described in the slide table is assigned, the vehicle can travel in the shortest time. This assigns the remaining stroke of the slide conveyor in the next movement. After the above process, the process shifts from the joiner A to the case where the moving direction is reversed.

6 and 7 show a variation on the algorithm of FIG. In the algorithm of FIG. 5, when the moving directions are the same, the strokes movable by the slide conveyor are distributed to the next two movements. Here, in the extreme case, the stroke of the slide conveyor in the first movement may be negative. This is suitable when the moving distance in the first movement is sufficiently long and the moving distance in the next movement is short. This example is shown in FIG. In 1), the traverser trolley | bogie 22 stops at the movement mounting position with the station A. FIG. In 2), it moves toward the next station B, and the moving direction is from left to right in the drawing. At this time, the slide conveyor 24 reversely travels to secure the stroke in the next movement. The station C stops at the moving position with the next station C in 3) and uses the stroke obtained by back running the slide conveyor 24 between the movements to the station B from the station B to the station C. FIG. Reduce the travel time to). This is suitable when the distance between the stations A and B is long and the distance between the stations B and C is short.

FIG. 7 shows the processing when there is a waiting time in the traverser bogie 22 and the slide conveyor 24 at the stop at the station. In 1) of FIG. 7, the substrate is loaded from the slide conveyor 24 into the station 5 of the processing apparatus 4. Next, while waiting to receive a board | substrate from the station 5, for example, the traverser trolley 22 and the slide conveyor 24 are moved by the same distance in the reverse direction, and position is adjusted as 2). In 3), take out of the board | substrate from the station 5, and drive in 4) toward the next destination station. Since the slide conveyor 24 made the movable stroke long in the step 2), the moving time of 4) can be shortened.

In the Examples, the following effects are obtained.

(1) The moving time can be shortened by simultaneously moving the traverser bogie and the slide conveyor. For this reason, it can cope with the enlargement of a board | substrate, and can respond also to the route with a long moving distance, when many routes which move a board | substrate in the vicinity of the station 5 generate | occur | produce.

(2) By grasping the current destination and the next destination of the traverser bogie and changing the position of the slide conveyor in advance according to the next destination, the stroke of the slide conveyor can be lengthened, further reducing the travel time. Can be.

(3) When the current movement direction and the next movement direction of the traverser bogie are in the reverse direction, if each movement is controlled to be performed in the shortest time, it can be moved at high speed with simple control.

(4) When the movement direction is the same in the current movement of the traverser bogie and the next movement, the stroke of the slide conveyor is preferentially assigned to the movement of the side where the stroke is short and the maximum speed of the traverser bogie is low. Then, since the stroke is short, the section in which the bogie can move only at low speed can be moved at high speed.

(5) The process is simplified by providing a table describing the optimum value of stroke assignment for each section in which the bogie moves.

(6) By moving the traverser bogie in the same direction twice in succession and moving the traverser bogie from the first movement in the reverse direction when the first stroke is long, the traverser bogie can be used more effectively in the next movement to shorten the travel time. Can be.

(7) By adjusting the position of the slide conveyor in accordance with the movement of the next time when the traverser bogie is waiting, the next movement time can be shortened.

2: supply take-out system
4: processing unit
5: station
6: stacker crane
7: running rail
8: platform
9: mast
10: transfer tact device
12: Production Management Controller
14: Return Controller
16: Stacker Crane Controller
18: Supply Export System Controller
20: cassette station
21: cassette
22: Traverser Balance
23: running rail
24: slide conveyor
25: screw shaft
26: weather rail
28: moving motor
30: weather controller
32: traveling motor
33, 34: driving wheel
35: nut
36: substrate
37: roller
40: support
41: Guide
42: roller
50: Receive Buffer
51: stroke table
52: Balance Status Table
53: cassette station table
54: stroke control unit
55: speed pattern generator
56: cassette management unit
58, 59: servo system

Claims (4)

A supply carrying system for supplying and carrying out a plurality of articles stored in a cassette to a processing apparatus one by one,
A plurality of cassette placing tables arranged in a row,
The station of the processing unit,
A traverser bogie moving on a straight path between the plurality of cassette placing tables and the station of the processing apparatus,
A slide conveyor provided with a moving placing device of the article, mounted on the traverser bogie, and moving the traverser bogie phase in parallel with the straight path;
And a controller for controlling the traverser bogie and the slide conveyor to move simultaneously.
The method of claim 1,
And said controller grasps the current destination and the next destination of said traverser balance and changes the position of the slide conveyor according to the next destination before starting the next movement.
The method of claim 2,
And at least three of the cassette placing tables so as to be switchable between the article supply cassette, the article discharge cassette, and the spare cassette.
The method of claim 2,
The controller controls the traverser bogie and the slide conveyor so that the current movement time is the shortest when the current movement direction and the next movement direction of the traverser bogie are reverse, and the current movement direction of the traverser bogie. And a stroke in which the slide conveyor can move to preferentially move the stroke on the side where the stroke is the same, when the next and next movement directions are the same direction.

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