TWI574905B - A conveyor with a jaw - Google Patents

Description

Carrying device with jaws

The present invention relates to a method of suppressing vibration of a conveying device and a jaw having a jaw.

Patent Documents 1 and 2 disclose that the vibrating elastic body is provided by the article supporting portion of the conveying device, and the vibration applied to the article is suppressed. Patent Document 1 (JP2001-298065) shows vibration suppression of a hand provided at the front end of a Selective Compliance Assembly Robot Arm of an unmanned transport vehicle, and discloses that the hand is formed in two layers and is on the second floor. Configure the content of the viscoelastic body between. Patent Document 2 (JP 2006-298535) discloses a configuration in which a vibration-damping material is disposed between a lifting platform of an arm of an overhead traveling vehicle, that is, a hand having a gripping article, and a lifting and lowering driving portion of the jaw. Moreover, the content of the contact surface of the hand with the article formed by the viscoelastic body is also disclosed.

[Previous Technical Literature] [Patent Literature]

[Patent Document 1] JP2001-298065

[Patent Document 2] JP2006-298535

However, in the constitution of Patent Document 2, since the vibration damping material can be disposed Since the range is limited to the contact surface with the article, it is difficult to use a vibration damping material having a large area to obtain a sufficient vibration damping effect. Moreover, the safety mechanism when the vibration-suppressing material is damaged is not reviewed.

An object of the present invention is to provide a vibration damping member having a large area and obtaining a sufficient vibration damping effect, and to provide a safety mechanism when a vibration damping member is broken.

The present invention relates to a conveying device provided with a jaw supporting an article from below, wherein the jaw is provided with a plurality of hands, and a switching member that switches a plurality of hands in a synchronized manner, and the hand The utility model comprises: a fixing member fixed to the switch member; a finger member supporting the article from below; the vibration suppressing member being composed of the vibration suppressing material, disposed between the fixing member and the finger member, and being carried Provided on the fixing member and placing the finger member; and a restricting member that restricts movement of the finger member beyond the allowable range with respect to the fixing member.

Moreover, the present invention is a vibration suppression method for a jaw in a conveying apparatus, the conveying apparatus including a jaw supporting an article from below, and the vibration damping method of the jaw is characterized in that the jaw has a plurality of The hand and the switch members of the plurality of hands are synchronously turned on, and the hand system has: a fixing member fixed to the switch member; a finger member that supports the article from below; the vibration suppressing member, which is composed of the vibration suppressing material, disposed between the fixing member and the finger member, and placed on the fixing member And placing a finger member; and a restricting member that limits a relative position of the finger member with respect to the fixing member; suppressing vibration of the fixing member from being transmitted to the finger member by the vibration suppressing member, and restricting the finger member relative to the member by the restricting member The movement of the fixed member beyond the allowable range.

In the present invention, since it is not necessary to arrange the vibration-damping member in the range in contact with the article, it is possible to use the vibration-damping member having a large area and being easily deformed, and it is possible to effectively suppress vibration. Further, if the vibration-damping member is broken, the position of the finger member can be restricted by the restriction member. Therefore, a vibration damping material that absorbs vibration easily can be used. In the present specification, the description relating to the conveying device can also be directly applied to the vibration suppression method of the jaws.

Preferably, the vibration-damping member has a through hole in the vertical direction, and a regulating member is disposed in the through hole. In this way, it is not necessary to configure an extra space for the restriction member, so that the hand can be miniaturized. For example, a second through hole is provided in the member on one side of the fixing member or the finger member so as to overlap the through hole of the vibration damping member. The restricting member is configured to include a first member attached to the other member of the fixing member or the finger member and extending toward the second through hole to restrict relative movement in the horizontal direction; and a flange mounted on the flange The first member penetrates the second through hole and has a larger diameter than the second through hole, and restricts relative movement in the vertical direction.

Preferably, the finger member is provided with: a mounting member mounted on the vibration damping member; and a support member positioned to be lower than the mounting member to support the article; And a connecting member that connects the mounting member and the supporting member. In this way, it is possible to obtain a hand that is miniaturized in the height direction as compared with a case where the fixing member, the vibration-damping member, and the finger member are vertically overlapped. For example, at least a pair of vibration-damping members are provided, and a pair of mounting members and coupling members are also provided, and a support member is disposed between the pair of mounting members.

2‧‧‧Elevated moving vehicle

4‧‧‧Transition orbit

6‧‧‧Transition Drive Department

7‧‧‧Axis

8‧‧‧Transverse movement

9‧‧‧Rotary Drives

10‧‧‧ Lifting and Driving Department

12‧‧‧ hanging material

14‧‧‧claw

16‧‧‧Hands

17‧‧‧ Items

18‧‧‧Switch components

19‧‧‧Anti-drop cover

19a‧‧‧Anti-drop film

20‧‧‧Fixed components

22‧‧‧ finger components

24, 26‧‧‧ vibration suppression members

25, 46, 70‧‧‧through holes

27‧‧‧Central Department

28, 29‧‧‧ Both ends

30, 66‧‧‧Cylinder

32‧‧‧Protruding

34, 68, 71‧‧ ‧ tapered surface

36, 44, 45‧‧‧ installation components

38‧‧‧ Cable

40‧‧‧Support members

42‧‧‧Connected components

48‧‧‧ highlights

50‧‧‧ screws

51‧‧‧Flange

52‧‧‧Swing piece

54‧‧‧ Position sensor

56‧‧‧ bracket

58‧‧‧Wiring harness

60‧‧‧ socket

62‧‧‧Bundle

64‧‧‧Fixed ring

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of an elevated walker of the embodiment.

Fig. 2 is a plan view showing an exploded state of the jaws of the embodiment, the chain line showing the connection relationship of the members, and a vibration damping member disposed between the finger member at the upper portion of the figure and the lower fixing member.

Figure 3 is a front elevational view of the jaw of the embodiment.

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the main part of the jaw of the embodiment.

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a main portion of a jaw of a modification.

The preferred embodiments for carrying out the invention are shown below. The scope of the present invention should be determined in accordance with the description of the scope of the claims, the description of the specification and the well-known embodiments of the invention, and the understanding of the ordinary skill in the art.

[Examples]

The embodiment and its modifications are shown in Figures 1 to 5. Fig. 1 shows an overhead traveling vehicle 2 as an example of a conveying device. The component symbol 4 is a traveling rail provided in a ceiling space of a clean room, and a traveling drive unit of a 6-series overhead traveling vehicle 2, and is disposed in the traveling rail 4. Self-moving drive unit 6 and suspended by the shaft 7 The overhead traveling vehicle body constituted by the portion 8, the rotation driving portion 9, the elevation driving portion 10, the gripper 14, and the like. The lateral movement unit 8 causes the rotation drive unit 9, the elevation drive unit 10, and the like to move laterally in the horizontal direction in the horizontal plane along the travel rail 4, and the rotation drive unit 9 rotates the elevation drive unit 10 around the vertical axis. Further, the lateral movement unit 8 and the rotation drive unit 9 may not be provided.

The elevation drive unit 10 raises and lowers the jaws 14 via a suspension material 12 such as a belt, a rope, or a metal wire. The jaws 14 support the front opening wafer transfer cassette (FOUP, Front Opening Unified) by switching the pair of hands 16 and 16 in the XX direction of FIG. 1 (the direction parallel to the traveling direction of the overhead traveling vehicle 2). The flange portion of the article 17 such as Pod). The number of the hands is plural, and is not limited to one pair, and may be three or four. The component symbol 18 is a switch member that switches the hands 16 and 16 by moving the hands 16 and 16 in the X-X direction in synchronization. The component symbols 19 and 19 are a pair of front and rear anti-drop covers, and the articles 17 are prevented from falling out of the hands 16 and 16 by falling forward and backward of the falling prevention pieces 19a and 19a. The transporting device may be any one having a lower portion of the flange portion supporting the article 17 and having a plurality of hand portions that are freely switchable in the horizontal direction, and may be a bogie or a bogie.

Fig. 2 shows the structure of the hands 16, 16, and the pair of hands 16, 16 have the same structure. The component symbol 20 is a fixing member that is attached to the switch member 18 and located at the lower portion of the hand 16, 22 is a finger member that is located above the fixing member 20 and supports the flange portion of the article 17, and 24, 26 is a vibration-damping member, located at the finger Between the member 22 and the fixing member 20, the finger member 22 is supported, and vibration of the fixing member 20 is prevented from being transmitted to the finger member 22. The vibration-damping members 24 and 26 are viscoelastic bodies such as a sheet shape or a rectangular parallelepiped shape, but may be anti-vibration rubber or vibration-suppressing alloy. Further, assuming that the vibration-damping member 24 is broken, the position of the finger member 22 can be restricted by the tubular piece 30 and the flange 51. The pieces are limited to the allowable range. Therefore, the vibration-damping member 24 can be selected in terms of vibration absorption capability as compared with strength, rigidity, and the like. Furthermore, the possibility that the vibration-damping member 26 is broken is smaller than that of the vibration-damping member 24. The vibration-damping member 24 is provided with a through hole 25, and the tubular piece 30 is disposed in the through hole 25, and the flange 51 and the tubular piece 30 prevent the finger member 22 from moving in the vertical direction with respect to the fixing member 20. The direction is shifted beyond the allowable length. The tubular piece 30 is a cylindrical member provided with a female screw on the inner circumference, and is fixed to the both end portions 28, but may be a simple cylindrical member that does not have a female screw. The restricting member is constituted by the tubular piece 30 and the flange 51.

The chain line of Fig. 2 indicates the positional relationship between the fixing member 20 and the finger member 22, and the positions of the vibration-damping members 24, 26 on the fixing member 20 and the finger member 22. The finger member 22 is located at the upper portion, the fixing member 20 is located at the lower portion, and the vibration-suppressing members 24, 26 are disposed between the members. Further, the article 17 of the FOUP or the like has a configuration in which a load greater than the other is applied to one of the pair of hands 16, 16. Therefore, if the elastic modulus of the vibration-damping members 24 and 26 on the larger load side is larger than the side where the load is small, the article 17 such as FOUP can be horizontally supported. Instead of changing the modulus of elasticity, the area of the vibration-damping members 24 and 26 on the larger side of the load is increased, and the area on the side where the load is smaller is reduced.

The fixing member 20 is attached to the right and left sides of the center portion 27, and has both end portions 28 and 28 that protrude toward the article 17 side of the FOUP or the like. The cylindrical piece 30 is provided on the upper surface of the both end portions 28, and the front ends of the end portions 28 and 28 are provided with protruding portions 32 and 32, and the upper surfaces of the protruding portions 32 and 32 are oriented toward the protruding portion 32. The tapered faces 34, 34 of the front end 32 are lowered. The mounting member 36 is a switch member 18 that mounts the hand 16 to the side of the jaw body. Further, the cable 38 is coupled to the in-position sensor 54 and the jaw body of the finger member 22.

The finger member 22 is provided with a support member 40 at the center in the left-right direction. The support member 40 is in contact with the flange portion of the article 17 such as FOUP and is supported from below. In addition, the left-right direction in this specification is the left-right direction of FIG. 2, and is the longitudinal direction of the center part 27 and the support member 40. A mounting member 44 is disposed on the left and right sides of the support member 40. The mounting member 44 is located higher than the supporting member 40. A connecting member 42 is present between the supporting member 40 and the mounting member 44 for coupling the supporting member 40 with Mounting member 44. The mounting member 44 has a through hole 46 that supports the bottom surface of the mounting member 44 by the upper surface of the vibration damping members 24, 26, and the bottom surfaces of the vibration damping members 24, 26 are supported by the both end portions 28. Further, the intrinsic screw 50 is screwed to the female screw portion of the tubular piece 30.

The tubular piece 30 and the flange 51 function to limit the range of movement of the attachment member 44 with respect to the both end portions 28 within an allowable range, or may be replaced by a fitting instead of a screw. In the embodiment, although the tubular piece 30 is provided to the fixing member 20, and the flange 51 and the through hole 46 are provided in the finger member 22, the arrangement may be reversed upside down, and the cylindrical piece 30 may be set. The member 22 is referred to, and the flange 51 and the through hole 46 are provided to the fixing member 20. The component symbol 52 is a wobble piece that is rotated when the bottom surface of the flange portion of the article 17 contacts the support member 40, and the swivel of the wobble piece 52 is detected by the in-position sensor 54 and is mounted to the bracket 56. The wire harness 58 is routed to the mounting member 36.

The detailed configuration of the hand 16 is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, and the in-position sensor 54, the mounting member 36, and the like are omitted in FIG. A tubular piece 30 is disposed in the through hole 25, and the flange 51 is screwed to the tubular piece 30 by a screw 50. The mounting member 44 is displaceable in the horizontal direction within a range of the difference between the outer diameter of the through hole 46 and the cylindrical piece 30, and the finger member 22 can be vertically inclined with respect to the fixing member 20 by deformation of the vibration suppressing members 24, 26. The direction is shifted and can be displaced in the horizontal direction within a range of the difference between the outer diameter of the through hole 46 and the cylindrical piece 30.

When the vibration-damping member 24 is broken, the finger 51 is locked by the flange 51 and the tubular piece 30, so that the finger member 22 can be prevented from shifting beyond the allowable range with respect to the fixing member 20. Further, if it is assumed that the vibration-damping member 24 is broken, the protruding piece 48 is lowered toward the lower direction of FIG. 4 and abuts against the tapered surface 34, whereby the protruding piece 48 can be restricted from retreating toward the right side of FIG. Therefore, it is also possible to prevent the finger member 22 from being detached from the article 17 by the protruding piece 48 and the tapered surface 34 preventing the finger member 22 from retreating beyond the allowable range. Further, the vibration-damping member 26 can be elongated upward to prevent the attachment member 44 from leaning forward on the left side of FIG. 4 due to the load from the article 17.

The signal of the in-position sensor 54 is output via the socket 60 via the wire harness 58. Whenever the article 17 is in place, the wire harness 58 is repeatedly bent as the finger member 22 is lowered relative to the fixing member 20. Since the wire harness 58 may be broken as a result, the wire harness 58 is bundled underneath by the binding band 62, and the wire harness 58 is fixed to the bracket 56 above the wire harness 58 by the fixing ring 64, thereby preventing the wire harness 58 from being broken. line.

Fig. 5 shows a hand of a modification, which is the same as the embodiment of Figs. 1 to 4 except for the specific configuration, and the same reference numerals denote the same members. The both end portions 29 are the same as the both end portions 28 except for the protruding portions 32 having the distal ends, and the attachment member 45 is the same as the attachment member 44 except that the through holes 70 have a tapered surface that expands downward. The tubular piece 66 is the same as the tubular piece 30 except that it has a tapered surface 68 that is narrowed upward. In the modification of FIG. 5, when the vibration-damping member 24 is damaged, the tapered surface 68 comes into contact with the tapered surface 71 and is locked, thereby fixing the position and posture of the attachment member 45.

Describe the vibration suppression. Due to the movement of the overhead traveling vehicle 2, vibrations in the up-and-down direction, the traveling direction, the left-right direction, and the like are applied from the traveling drive unit 6 to the hand. 16, 16, and by the vibration-damping members 24, 26, the vibration in either direction can be suppressed. Since the vibration-damping member 24 has a large area and a small elastic modulus and is easily deformed, it can effectively suppress vibration. Therefore, the influence of vibration on the semiconductor wafer or the like in the article 17 can be reduced.

The embodiment has the following features.

1) The vibration-damping member 24 having a smaller specific modulus, that is, a softer one, can be used, and the mounting members 44, 45 are supported in a larger area. Therefore, the finger member 22 can be effectively suppressed in vibration as compared with the case of using a vibration-damping member having a larger elastic modulus, that is, a harder and smaller area.

2) By forming the finger member 22 from the support member 40 at a lower position, the attachment member 44 at a higher position, and the connection member 42 connecting the members, the hand 16 that is miniaturized in the height direction can be realized.

3) By restricting the range of movement of the finger member 22 by the tubular piece 30, the flange 51, and the through hole 46, the position and posture of the finger member 22 can be restricted even when the vibration-damping member 24 is broken.

4) Since the tubular piece 30 and the flange 51 are disposed in the through hole 25, the size can be reduced.

5) By the tapered surface 34 and the protruding piece 48, or the tapered faces 68, 71, the finger member 22 can be prevented from retreating unexpectedly.

6) The finger member 22 can be prevented from tilting forward by the vibration damping member 26.

7) Since the vibration-damping members 24, 26 are not in contact with the article 17, it is less likely to contaminate or damage the article 17.

8) When the lower portion of the wire harness 58 is bundled by the binding band 62 and fixed to the bracket 56 by the fixing ring 64 above the wire harness 58, the wire harness 58 is not broken even if it is repeatedly raised and lowered.

9) The load from the article 17 is unevenly applied to the pair of hands 16, 16 In the case of the shape, if the elastic modulus of the vibration-damping members 24, 26 on the larger side of the load is higher than the side where the load is smaller, the article 17 can be horizontally supported.

16‧‧‧Hands

20‧‧‧Fixed components

22‧‧‧ finger components

24, 26‧‧‧ vibration suppression members

25‧‧‧through holes

28‧‧‧ Both ends

30‧‧‧Cylinder

32‧‧‧Protruding

34‧‧‧Conical surface

44‧‧‧Installation components

46‧‧‧through holes

48‧‧‧ highlights

50‧‧‧ screws

51‧‧‧Flange

Claims (4)

A conveying device including a gripper, comprising: a gripper conveying device for supporting an article from below, wherein the gripper includes a plurality of hands and switches the plurality of hands in a synchronized manner a switch member, wherein the hand is provided with: a fixing member fixed to the switch member; a finger member that supports the article from below; the vibration suppressing member, which is composed of a vibration suppressing material, and is disposed on the fixing member and the finger Between the members, and placed on the fixing member, and placing the finger member; and a restricting member that restricts movement of the finger member beyond the allowable range when the vibration-damping member is broken; the vibration-damping member has The through hole in the up-and-down direction, and the restricting member is disposed in the through hole. According to the first aspect of the invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the second through hole is provided in the member on one side of the fixing member or the finger member so as to overlap the through hole of the vibration damping member. The restriction member is configured to include a first member attached to the other member of the fixing member or the finger member and extending toward the second through hole to restrict relative movement in the horizontal direction; and convex The edge is attached to the first member, penetrates the second through hole, and has a larger diameter than the second through hole, and restricts relative movement in the vertical direction. The transfer device with a jaw according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the finger member includes a mounting member that is placed on the vibration-damping member; A support member that supports the article at a position lower than the mounting member, and a coupling member that couples the mounting member with the support member. The carrier device according to the third aspect of the invention, wherein the vibration-damping member is provided at least in a pair, the mounting member and the connecting member are provided in a pair, and the support is disposed between the pair of mounting members. member.