KR20120042990A - Levitation transportation device - Google Patents

Abstract

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a floating conveying apparatus for floating and conveying an object having a lower surface by a fluid. A space for forming a uniform pressure between the region of the upper surface where the opening is enclosed and the lower surface of the object is formed so as to have an opening, and at least in the vicinity of the upper surface of the region. At least one base portion inclined inward and provided with a blowing hole for communicating with the chamber to eject the fluid; A fluid supply device which pressurizes the fluid and supplies the fluid to the chamber; A reading device for reading information selected from the group consisting of the height of the object and the variety of the object; A control device for controlling the fluid supply device to adjust the float height in accordance with the information read by the reading device; And a conveying device for conveying the object.

Description

Injury Return Device {LEVITATION TRANSPORTATION DEVICE}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a floating conveying apparatus for conveying a floating object while using a fluid such as compressed air.

There have been some proposals for a floating conveying device which conveys an object while using a fluid such as compressed air. These floating conveying apparatuses are typically provided with the floating apparatus provided with the nozzle through which fluids, such as air, pass. Fluid such as air blown out between the flotation device and the object generates a pressure, and the object floats by the pressure, and is conveyed under the driving force by the conveying device. Related arts are disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-182563.

The conventional floating conveying apparatus lacks the ability to change so that the floating height of an object can be controlled, and there exists a possibility that an object may contact a floating apparatus etc. depending on the shape and the characteristic of an object. An object of the present invention is to provide a floating conveying apparatus that can control the height of an object to be prevented from contacting the object with an object.

One aspect of the present invention provides a floating conveying apparatus for conveying an object having a lower surface by floating with a fluid. The floating conveying device partitions a chamber through which the fluid passes, and is formed to have an opening on the upper surface of the plane and the upper surface of the fluid between the region of the upper surface on which the opening is surrounded and the lower surface of the object. One or more bases arranged so that a space is formed such that the pressure becomes uniform and inclined toward at least the inner side of the region at least near the upper surface, each having a blowout hole for communicating with the chamber to eject the fluid. Wealth; A fluid supply device which pressurizes the fluid and supplies the fluid to the chamber; A reading device for reading information selected from the group consisting of the height of the object and the variety of the object; A control device for controlling the fluid supply device to adjust the float height in accordance with the information read by the reading device; And a conveying device for conveying the object.

Preferably, the control device is provided with a processor which is executed as feedback control in which the control makes the float height constant.

More preferably, the control device compares the plurality of varieties, the storage device storing the plurality of control rules corresponding to the varieties, and the plurality of varieties in which the read information is stored. And a processor that reads one of the control rules and performs the control according to the one control rule.

There is provided a floating conveying device which can control the floating height of the object to prevent the object from contacting the floating device or the like.

1 is a schematic elevation view of a floating conveying apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a flowchart of the control of the floating conveying apparatus.
3 is a graph showing the relationship between the supplied flow rate and the floating amount of the object.
4 is a partial plan view of the floating conveying apparatus according to the first embodiment or the second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a partial cross-sectional view taken along the line VV of FIG. 4.
It is a top view of the floating apparatus with which the said floating conveyance apparatus is equipped.
FIG. 7 is a partial cross-sectional view taken along line VI-VII of FIG. 6.
FIG. 8 is a partial cross-sectional view taken along the line VIII-V1II in FIG. 6.
9 is a schematic elevation view of a floating conveying apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
10 is a flowchart of control of the floating conveying apparatus.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the present specification, claims, and drawings, front, rear, left, and right sides are defined by directions written as FF, FR, L, and R in the drawings, respectively. This definition is for convenience of description, and the present invention is not necessarily limited thereto.

[First Embodiment]

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the floating conveying apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention floats the object W in the vertical direction and conveys it in the horizontal conveying direction (for example, the rear FR). It is a device for. As the object W, a thin plate such as a relatively thin object which is generally planar, for example, a glass substrate for an LCD (liquid crystal display), is preferable. The object W does not necessarily need to be planar as a whole, and at least part of its lower surface may be planar. To float, a fluid such as air is used, for example.

When the object W needs to be conveyed in a clean environment, such as a thin glass substrate for LCD, the said floating conveyance apparatus 1 is used in clean environments, such as a clean room.

As shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 4, and FIG. 5, the floating conveying apparatus 1 has the base 3 extended in the front-back direction, and the conveying apparatus which formed the column on the base 3 in the front-back direction. (5) and a plurality of floating devices 7 formed on both sides in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction on the base 3 are provided. The floating device 7 is connected with a gas supply device 9 for supplying compressed air as a fluid supply device for supplying a fluid. Instead of compressed air, you may use other gas, such as nitrogen and argon, or another fluid, such as a liquid.

The conveying apparatus 5 has the several roller 11 which forms a row in the conveyance direction of the target object W in the vicinity of the left end and the right end on the base 3, respectively. Each roller 11 is integrally connected with the worm wheel 15 via the rotating shaft 11s, respectively, and is rotatably supported by the bracket 13. A pair of drive shafts 17 are provided so as to penetrate the base 3 in the front-rear direction, and each drive shaft 17 is provided with a worm 19 which engages with each worm wheel 15 so as to be able to drive. The output shaft 21s of the motor 21 is driveably connected to the front end of each drive shaft 17 via a coupling or the like. Thereby, each roller 11 receives the drive force of the motor 21, and is made to rotate at the same rotational speed. As shown in FIG. 5, the upper end part of each said roller 11 is arrange | positioned so that it may protrude slightly upward rather than the upper surface of the said floating apparatus 7, and is aligned on a single surface. The object W can be in contact with the roller 11 in order to receive a driving force, as shown in FIG. 5 even in a floating state.

The motors 21 do not need to be a pair, and both drive shafts 17 may be connected to a single motor through suitable coupling means such as a chain. In addition, you may apply the conveying means, such as a clamper which can be driven, a belt conveyor, to the conveying apparatus 5 instead of a roller.

3 to 5, each floating device 7 includes a base portion 25, and each base portion 25 is fixed on the base 3 via the bracket 27. have. Each base portion 25 partitions a chamber 29 through which compressed air supplied from the gas supply device 9 temporarily passes.

The base part 25 is provided with the rectangular island member 33 in the center of the upper part so that the chamber 29 may be covered. The base portion 25 further includes a lower outer member 31 and an upper outer member 35 fixed thereon. The lower and upper outer members 31 and 35 surround the island member 33, while a gap in which the compressed air passes through communicates with the chamber 29. This gap defined by the lower and upper outer members 31 and 35 and the island member 33 is referred to as a jet hole 39 hereinafter.

6-8, the blowing hole 39 is a rectangular annular slit. In the blowing hole 39, the part enclosed by the inner periphery of the lower outer member 31 and the outer periphery of the island member 33 stands substantially perpendicular. On the other hand, the inner circumference 35a of the upper outer member 35 is inclined inward, and the upper part 33a corresponding to the island member is also inclined inward in the outer circumference of the island member 33.

For the above-described inclination of the upper part 33a and the inner circumference 35a, in the ejection hole 39, the part partitioned into the upper part 33a and the inner circumference 35a, that is, near the upper surface of the floating device 7, is ejected. The ball 39 is inclined inward. In the case where there is almost no inward inclination, that is, in the case of vertical, as shown in FIG. 3 as a comparative example, when the flow rate of the compressed air is at least a certain degree, the height at which the object W floats is almost independent of the flow rate of the compressed air. Do not. That is, it is difficult to control the floating height of the object W even if it controls the flow volume of compressed air. When the inward inclination is 0 ° or more, particularly 45 °, as shown in the example in FIG. 3, the higher the flow rate of the compressed air, the higher the height at which the object W rises. Therefore, the blowing hole 39 inclined inwardly as an annular shape provides controllability of the floating height of the object W through the control of the flow rate of the compressed air. As the inclination increases, the tendency is remarkable, but when it is too large, it becomes difficult to manufacture the upper outer member 35. Therefore, the inclination is preferably 45 degrees, but is not limited thereto.

The blowing hole 39F is not limited to a rectangular annular shape, but may be any other shape such as an elliptical annular shape, a shape in which part of the ring is occluded, or a plurality of through holes arranged in a rectangular annular shape. The island member 33 may be provided with the protrusion 37 so that the width | variety of the blowing hole 39 may be equalized. In addition, instead of the island member 33, the upper outer member 35 may include the projection 37.

Preferably, the upper surface of the island member 33 and the upper surface of the upper outer member 35 are aligned to form a single plane. More preferably, the plurality of floating devices 7 are aligned such that the aligned upper surfaces form a single plane. These are advantageous for stabilizing the floating height of the object W.

Referring to FIG. 4, the chambers 29 of each floating device 7 communicate with each other by a pipe 41, and communicate with the gas supply device 9.

The gas supply device 9 is provided with a blower 43, and can supply compressed air to each floating device 7 through a pipe 41. The blower 43 is driven to be controllable by the blower motor 45 electrically connected to the inverter power source 47, and controls the flow rate of the compressed air to be supplied. Instead of the blower 43, any means capable of controlling the flow rate of the compressed air, such as a compressor having a control valve, may be used.

The inverter power supply 47 is connected to the controller 53. The controller 53 includes a storage device and a so-called CPU processor, and dynamically controls the blower control unit 55 that controls the frequency of the inverter power source 47. The controller 53 is also electrically connected to a laser measuring instrument 49, which will be described later, and refers to the read floating height. The storage device stores a program configured to control the blower control unit 55 so as to match the target injury height with the target injury height. The controller 53 performs the feedback control to the blower 43 through the frequency control of the inverter power source 47 so as to make the floating height constant by using the above program according to the read floating height.

The floating conveying apparatus 1 is further provided with the laser measuring device 49 fixed via the support arm 51 at the suitable position of the base 3. The laser measuring instrument 49 is configured to read the floating height as the information of the object W. Instead of a laser measuring instrument, you may read a float height by a suitable measuring apparatus.

When compressed air is supplied to the chambers 29 of the plurality of floating devices 7 by driving the blower motor 45, compressed air is blown out from each of the blowing holes 39. As shown in FIGS. 6-8, the compressed air blown out is between the upper surface of the island member 33 and the lower surface of the target object W, and the said compressed air is uniform in the space which the opening of the blowing hole 39 surrounds. It creates a space S that creates a pressure. By being supported by the space S having a uniform pressure, buoyancy is applied to the object W and floats. On the other hand, by driving the pair of motors 21, the pair of drive shafts 17 rotate in synchronization. By the engagement of the worm wheel 15 and the worm 19, the rotation of the drive shaft 17 is transmitted to each roller 11. By contact with the rotating roller 11, the object W carried in on the floating conveying apparatus 1 is conveyed in the state which floated.

Since the floating conveying apparatus 1 is provided by combining the floating apparatus 7 which has the blowing hole 39 inclined toward the inside, and the gas supply apparatus 9 which is feedback-controlled which makes a floating height constant, it is compressed. By controlling the flow rate of air, the floating height of the object W can be controlled.

That is, referring to FIG. 2, the floating conveying apparatus 1 starts conveying the object W (S11), and the laser measuring device 49 detects the height of the floating object W (S12). The controller 53 controls the blower 43 by feedback-controlling the frequency of the inverter power source 47 so that the height of injury can be set to the target height of injury according to the height of injury of the read object W (S13). More specifically, when the read injury height is smaller than the target injury height, the frequency raising control is dynamically executed when the read injury height is larger than the target injury height. . The higher the frequency, the higher the flow rate of the compressed air by the blower 43, and thus the higher the floating height.

In the conveyance process, when the object W is to be moved from one floating device onto another adjacent floating device, the buoyancy force applied to the object W is insufficient between the floating devices of both, so depending on the shape or property of the object W There is a risk of contact with any floating device. In such a case, according to the floating conveying apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, it is possible to control to give a large floating height in advance, so that the fear of the object W coming into contact with the floating apparatus can be eliminated. On the contrary, when there is little possibility of contact, the output of the blower 43 can be suppressed and power saving can be aimed at.

Second Embodiment

As shown in FIGS. 9 and 4, the floating conveying apparatus 57 according to the second embodiment of the present invention floats the object W in the vertical direction and conveys it in the horizontal conveying direction (for example, the rear FR). It is a device for. The base 3, the conveying apparatus 5, and the floating apparatus 7 are applicable to what is similar to the first embodiment described above, and the detailed description thereof is omitted.

The gas supply device 59 is provided with a blower 61 and can supply compressed air to each floating device 7 through the piping 41. The blower 61 is driven to be controllable by the blower motor 63 electrically connected to the inverter power supply 65.

The inverter power supply 65 is connected to the controller 71. The controller 71 includes a storage device 73, an input unit 75, a processor 77, and a blower control unit 79. The memory device 73 stores a plurality of varieties, a plurality of control rules corresponding to each variety, and a program for driving the processor 77. The input unit 75 is configured to convert the variety information read by the code reader 67, which will be described later, into digital data available to the processor 77 and input the same to the processor 77. The processor 77 is configured to read the corresponding one of the plurality of control rules by matching the breed information with the plurality of breeds stored in the storage device 73. The processor 77 is configured to control the blower control unit 79 according to the one control rule read out. That is, the controller 71 controls the blower 61 through the frequency control of the inverter power supply 65 based on the control program appropriate for the breed, using the program according to the read variety information.

The control rule may be a constant value or a value that changes with time as a rule for control of the flow rate of the compressed air determined for each variety. Moreover, you may also include the information about a conveyance speed.

The float conveyance apparatus 57 is further provided with the cord reader 67 fixed via the support arm 69 in the appropriate position of the base 3. The code reader 67 is configured to read a code related to the variety information issued to the object W. FIG. As the code, a bar code, a two-dimensional code, or any other expression can be applied, and the code reader 67 is adapted to the expression used.

Since the floating conveying apparatus 57 is provided by combining the floating apparatus 7 which has the blowing hole 39 inclined toward the inside, and the gas supply apparatus 59 controlled according to the breed information, the flow rate of compressed air Through the control of, the floating height of the object W can be controlled. The control is performed in accordance with a control rule appropriate to the variety.

In other words, referring to FIG. 10, before starting to return the object W, the code reader 67 reads the code of the breed information (S21), and the input unit 75 digitizes the code (S22), and digitizes it. Variety information is input to the processor 77. The processor 77 selects a specific driving condition by matching the read variety information with a plurality of varieties stored in the storage device 73 (S23). The processor 77 further controls the blower 61 in accordance with the driving condition (S24), and adjusts the height of floating of the object W. Next, the floating conveyance apparatus 57 starts conveyance of the object W (S25). The front-rear relationship between the step of S21-S24, and the step of S25 is not limited to the above-mentioned thing.

Even in the conveyance process, even if the buoyancy force applied to the object W is sufficient, there may be a situation in which any floating device is contacted depending on the shape and properties of the object W. According to the shape and property of the object W, the height of the injury that can be prevented from contacting is investigated in advance, and this is determined as a control rule, and the combination of the breed information and the control rule is stored in the storage device 73. The conveying apparatus 57 can float and convey the object W, preventing a contact based on a control rule. On the contrary, when there is little possibility of contact, the output of the blower 61 can be suppressed and power saving can be aimed at.

The first embodiment and the second embodiment described above can be appropriately combined. That is, the floating conveyance apparatus can be comprised so that the object W may be floated based on a control rule, and will be dynamically controlled to make the float height constant.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. Based on the above disclosure, a person having ordinary skill in the art can carry out the present invention by modification or modification of the embodiment.

Claims (3)

A floating conveying device for floating and conveying an object having a lower surface by a fluid,
The fluid flows through the chamber, and is formed to have a flat upper surface and an opening on the upper surface so that the fluid becomes a uniform pressure between the region of the upper surface where the opening is surrounded and the lower surface of the object. At least one base portion disposed so as to have a space therein, the at least one base portion being inclined toward the inside of the region at least in the vicinity of the upper surface, and having a blowing hole for communicating with the chamber to eject the fluid;
A fluid supply device for supplying the fluid to the chamber by pressurizing the fluid;
A reading device for reading information on the height of the object;
A control device for controlling the fluid supply device to adjust the float height in accordance with the information read by the reading device;
Carrying apparatus for conveying the said object
Including,
Levitation conveying device. The method of claim 1,
And the control device includes a processor that executes the control as feedback control to keep the floating height constant. The method of claim 1,
The control device includes a plurality of varieties, a storage device storing a plurality of control rules corresponding to the varieties, respectively;
And a processor which reads one of the plurality of control rules by comparing the read information with the plurality of varieties stored and performs the control according to one of the control rules.

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