TWI733345B - Automatic locking device - Google Patents

Abstract

An automatic locking device includes a base board and a container body installed on the base board. The base board has two symmetrical positioning members and two symmetrical wedge members; the container body has an accommodation space for accommodating wafers or sheet carriers; the same side of the container body has two symmetrical guide slots, two symmetrical limit members and two symmetrical moving lock members; first ends of the two moving lock members are disposed between the two guide slots and the two limit members respectively. When second ends of the two moving lock members abut against a high-point position of the wedge members respectively, the first ends are ejected and separated from the two guide slots and moved from a first limit portion to a second limit portion, so that the first ends fall into the two guide slots, and the second ends of the two moving lock members are situated at a low-point position of the wedge member to let the two moving lock members block a portion of an opening of the accommodation space and prevent the wafers or sheet carrier accommodated in the accommodation space from falling out.

Description

Automatic locking device

An automatic locking device, especially an automatic locking device that uses a wedge-shaped action to guide a movable lock piece to automatically lock the opening of the container body.

According to, wafers are the substrates in the semiconductor process, and most of them have to go through various processes such as coating, exposure, and etching. Because the wafer is fragile, the wafer is in each workstation before the subsequent processing such as dicing. During the transportation process, the wafer or the wafer frame must be put into the container for protection, such as the frame cassette (Frame Cassette), the boat magazine (Boat Magzine), etc., and then move to Workstation for the next process.

For the container that carries the wafer or the wafer frame, the inner side wall is designed with a plurality of symmetrical horizontal support ribs arranged at intervals, and each pair of support ribs is used to clamp a wafer or the side edge of the wafer frame. In electronics factories or semiconductor factories, the use of automated equipment is very common. For automated equipment, putting wafers or wafer frames in containers is a common operation procedure, but those that carry wafers or wafer frames When the container is to be transported to the next workstation, in order to prevent the wafer or wafer frame from falling and being damaged during the transportation process, a locking structure is generally designed on the container, and manual locking operation is required. However, the current locking structure design on the container is more complicated and easily damaged due to improper human operation. Not only the mechanism design cannot be used for a long time, if the locking structure is damaged or the human negligence forgets the locking operation, it will also increase the wafer or wafer. Risk of the round frame falling out of the container.

Therefore, how to solve the above-mentioned problems and deficiencies of the prior art is a subject that the related industry urgently wants to research and develop.

The main purpose of the present invention is that without manual locking operation, the automatic locking state can be completed through the wedge-shaped action guidance and positioning method on the substrate, which can more conveniently and reliably lock the opening of the container body, and it is more likely to avoid human negligence. It has the function of foolproof protection, so as to prevent the wafer or sheet carrier carried in the container body from falling to the outside.

The secondary purpose of the present invention is that the overall structure is simple, can save manpower, time, and can improve production efficiency, which is extremely competitive in the market.

To achieve the above objective, the automatic locking device of the present invention includes a substrate and a container body. The base plate is provided with two symmetrical positioning pieces and two wedges. The two positioning pieces and the two wedges are located on opposite surfaces and have a distance. The inclined surfaces of the two wedges have high point positions and low point positions. The container body has an accommodating space. The same side of the container body is provided with two symmetrical guide grooves, two stoppers and two movable locks; the first ends of the two movable locks are respectively located between the two guide grooves and the two stoppers, and the two stoppers The piece has a first limiting part and a second limiting part, the high point position corresponds to the first limiting part, and the low point position corresponds to the second limiting part. Wherein, the container body is placed on the base plate, the distance between the two positioning parts and the two wedge-shaped parts is matched with the total width of the container body, the second end of the two movable lock parts abuts against the high point position, the first of the two movable lock parts The end pushes out of the two guide grooves and moves from the first limit part to the second limit part, so that the first ends of the two movable locks fall into the second guide grooves, and the second end is located at a low point, Let the two movable locks block the opening of part of the accommodating space.

The following detailed descriptions are given through specific examples, and it will be easier to understand the purpose, technical content, characteristics and effects of this creation.

In order to solve the problem that the existing locking structure is complicated and must rely on manual operation, the inventor has used innovative structural design to make operation more convenient after years of research and development, and can replace the existing complex structure, complex process and low efficiency, and many other applications are superior In order to improve the criticism of existing products, the follow-up will introduce in detail how this creation uses an automatic locking device to achieve the most efficient functional requirements.

Please refer to the first, second and third figures at the same time. The first figure is a schematic diagram of the structure of the present invention; the second figure is a partial enlarged view of the top of the container body of the present invention; and the third figure is a diagram of the present invention A partial enlarged view of the bottom of the container body. The automatic locking device includes a base plate 10 and a container body 12. The substrate 10 is provided with two symmetrical positioning members 14 and two wedge-shaped members 16. The two positioning members 14 and the two wedge-shaped members 16 are located on opposite sides and have a distance. The distance between the two positioning members 14 and the two wedge-shaped members 16 is matched. The total width of the container body 12. The inclined surface of each wedge 16 has a high point position A and a low point position B; in detail, the highest point of height from the bottom surface 162 of the wedge member 16 to the inclined surface 164 is regarded as the high point position A, and vice versa, the bottom surface of the wedge member 16 The lowest point of the height from 162 to the inclined surface 164 is referred to as the low point position B.

The container body 12 has an accommodating space 122, two first pivot holes 124, two second pivot holes 126 and a fitting portion 128. The container body 12 is provided with two symmetrical guide grooves 18, two limiting members 20 and two movable locks 22 on the same side, wherein the two guiding grooves 18 and the two limiting members 20 are located at the top corners of the container body 12 Place. The two first pivot holes 124 are respectively located in the two guide grooves 18, the two second pivot holes 126 are located at the bottom of the container body 12, and the two first pivot holes 124 at the top of the container body 12 correspond to the container body 12, respectively. The position of the two second pivot holes 126 at the bottom position. The second limiting member 20 has a first limiting portion a and a second limiting portion b. It is worth noting that the high point position A of the wedge member 16 corresponds to the first limiting portion a, the low point position of the wedge member 16 B corresponds to the second limit part b. In this embodiment, each limiting member 20 is a triangular limiting member with a symmetrical first inclined surface 202 and a second inclined surface 204, which are used for guiding displacement, which will be described in detail later.

The two movable locks 22 have a first end 222 and a second end 224, and the first ends 222 of the two movable locks 22 are respectively located between the two guiding grooves 18 and the two limiting members 20. In this embodiment, the two movable locks 22 are both rod bodies, and an extension portion extends at both ends. For example, the end is bent and extends into an L-shaped extension portion, that is, the first end 222 and the second end 224 Form an L-shaped end. The end of the first end 222 is pivotally connected to the first pivot hole 124, and the end of the second end 224 has a shaft connection portion 2242. The automatic locking device further includes an elastic member 24, such as a spring. The elastic member 24 is mounted on the shaft. In the connecting portion 2242, the shaft connecting portion 2242 is then pivotally connected to the second pivot hole 126. When the first end 222 and the second end 224 of the two movable locks 22 are all axially connected, it is as if the movable locks formed into a ㄈ shape are located on the two sides of the container body 12 on the same side, and are used to lock the accommodating space 122 of the container body 12 The accommodating space 122 is a connected accommodating space, and the inner side wall of the accommodating space 122 has a plurality of symmetrical support ribs 1222 arranged at intervals, and each pair of support ribs is used to hold a wafer or wafer frame (Figure Not shown in) the side edge.

After understanding the detailed structure and assembly method of the present invention from the above, it is further explained how the present invention achieves the effect of automatic locking. Please refer to the first, fourth, fifth and sixth diagrams at the same time. The fourth diagram is for this The schematic diagram of the structure of the first embodiment of the unlocked state of the present invention; the fifth figure is a schematic diagram of the structure of the second embodiment of the unlocked state of the present invention; the sixth figure is a schematic diagram of the structure of the first embodiment of the locked operating state of the present invention. As shown in the fourth figure, when the container body 12 is in the unlocked state, the first end 222 of the two movable locks 22 is located in the second guide groove 18 and is limited at the position of the first limiting portion a. The accommodating space 122 of the container body 12 is used for accommodating wafers or a wafer frame (not shown in the figure), and a machine handle 26 is provided on the top outer surface of the container body 12. Since wafers or wafer frames need to be moved to different process workstations, in order to prevent wafers or wafer frames from falling out of the accommodating space 122 of the container body 12 during movement or transportation, The robotic arm (not shown in the figure) of the automated equipment is used to grab the machine handle 26 of the container body 12 to move the container body 12 to the relative position of the substrate 10, as shown in the fifth figure. Since the distance between the two positioning pieces 14 and the two wedge-shaped pieces 16 on the base plate 10 is matched with the total width of the container body 12; wherein, the two positioning pieces 14 are preferably U-shaped positioning pieces, which have a positioning effect on the container body 12. As shown in Figure 6, when the robot arm places the container body 12 on the substrate 10, the two positioning members 14 correspond to the two ends of the fitting portion 128 fixed to the bottom of the container body 12. The two positioning members 14 are used to align the container. The main body 12 performs a positioning function. At the same time, the second end 224 of the two movable locks 22 abuts the high point position A, the elastic member 24 on the shaft joint 2242 is in an uncompressed state, and the second end of the two movable locks 22 is in an uncompressed state. One end is located at the position of the first limiting portion a.

For continuation, please refer to the seventh, eighth, and ninth figures at the same time. The seventh figure is a schematic structural diagram of the second embodiment of the locking operation state of the present invention; the eighth figure is the third embodiment of the locking operation state of the present invention Schematic diagram of the structure of the example; Figure ninth is a schematic diagram of the structure of the present invention after being locked. As shown in the seventh figure, after the container body 12 is placed on the substrate 10, the second end 224 of the two movable locks 22 moves from the high point position A originally located on the inclined surface 164 to the low point position B. At this time, it is located on the axis The elastic member 24 on the connecting portion 2242 is in an elastically compressed state; at the same time, the first end 222 of the two movable lock members 22 starts from the position of the first limiting portion a of the guide groove 18 and follows the wedge member 16 The inclined surface 164 is guided and forced to be pushed out, and rotates along the inclined surface 164 of the wedge 16 to push out and escape the guide groove 18.

As shown in Figure 8 again, as the second end 224 of the two movable locks 22 moves to the low point position B, the elastic member 24 on the shaft connection portion 2242 is still elastically compressed; at the same time, the two movable locks The first end 222 of the member 22 rotates from the first inclined surface 202 of the limiting member 20 to the second inclined surface 204. At this time, the first end 222 of the two movable locking members 22 is located at the second limiting portion b of the guide groove 18 Location. Finally, as shown in the ninth figure, when the first end 222 of the two movable locks 22 is rotated from the second inclined surface 204 and dropped into the two guiding grooves 18, the elastic member 24 on the shaft connecting portion 2242 recovers its elasticity. In the compressed state, in this way, the two movable locks 22 can block the opening of part of the accommodating space 122. After the robotic arm of the automated equipment (not shown in the figure) grabs the handle 26 of the container body 12 and leaves the substrate 10, through the above-mentioned automatic locking method, the wafer or wafer frame can be prevented from being removed from the container during movement or transportation. The accommodating space 122 of the main body 12 falls outside.

In summary, the present invention can solve the problems and deficiencies of the prior art. Its key technology is to guide the two movable locks to automatically lock the openings at both ends of the container body at the same time through the wedge action and positioning method on the substrate, so as to prevent The wafer or sheet carrier carried in the container body falls to the outside. The overall structure design is quite simple, and manual operation is not required. It not only avoids problems such as improper operation and mechanical damage or forgetting the locking operation, but also saves time And to improve the fluency of the process, it can effectively improve production efficiency, and has a competitive advantage in the market.

Only the above are only the preferred embodiments of this creation, and they are not used to limit the scope of implementation of this creation. Therefore, all equivalent changes or modifications made in accordance with the characteristics and spirit of the application scope of this creation shall be included in the scope of patent application of this creation.

10: substrate 12: Container body 122: accommodating space 1222: support rib 124: The first pivot hole 126: second pivot hole 128: Fitting part 14: positioning parts 16: Wedge 162: Bottom 164: Inclined surface 18: guide groove 20: limit piece 202: The first inclined plane 204: second inclined surface 22: movable lock 222: first end 224: second end 2242: Shaft joint 24: Elastic part 26: Machine handle A: High point position B: Low point position a: The first limit part b: The second limit part

The first figure is a schematic diagram of the structure of the present invention. The second figure is a partial enlarged view of the top of the container body of the present invention. The third figure is a partial enlarged view of the bottom of the container body of the present invention. The fourth figure is a schematic diagram of the structure of the first embodiment of the present invention in the unlocked state. The fifth figure is a schematic structural diagram of the second embodiment of the present invention in the unlocked state. The sixth figure is a schematic structural diagram of the first embodiment of the locking operation state of the present invention. The seventh figure is a schematic structural diagram of the second embodiment of the locking operation state of the present invention. The eighth figure is a schematic structural diagram of the third embodiment of the locking operation state of the present invention. The ninth figure is a schematic diagram of the structure of the present invention after being locked.

10: substrate

12: Container body

122: accommodating space

1222: support rib

128: Fitting part

14: positioning parts

16: Wedge

162: Bottom

164: Inclined surface

18: guide groove

20: limit piece

202: The first inclined plane

204: second inclined surface

22: movable lock

26: Machine handle

A: High point position

B: Low point position

Claims (10)

An automatic locking device includes: A base plate on which two symmetrical positioning elements and two wedges are arranged, and the inclined surface of the wedge has a high point position and a low point position; and A container body with an accommodating space, two symmetrical guide grooves, two limiters and two movable locks are arranged on the same side of the container body, and the first ends of the two movable locks are respectively located at the two Between the guide groove and the two limiting members, the second limiting member has a first limiting portion and a second limiting portion, the high point position corresponds to the first limiting portion, and the low point position corresponds to The second limiting portion; wherein the container body is placed on the base plate, the second end of the two movable locks is against the high point position, and the first end of the two movable locks is pushed out of the two guides Guide groove, and move from the first limiting portion to the second limiting portion, so that the first ends of the two movable locks fall into the two guiding grooves, and the second end is located at the low point position , So that the two movable locks block part of the opening of the accommodating space. The automatic locking device according to claim 1, wherein each of the limiting members is a triangular limiting member with a symmetrical first inclined surface and a second inclined surface. The automatic locking device according to claim 1, wherein the container body further has two first pivot holes and two second pivot holes, the two first pivot holes are respectively located in the two guide grooves, and the second pivot hole The two pivot holes are located at the bottom of the container body, and the two first pivot holes respectively correspond to the positions of the two second pivot holes. The automatic locking device according to claim 3, wherein the end of the first end of the two movable locks is pivotally connected to the first pivot hole, and the end of the second end has a shaft connection part, which is pivotally connected to the In the second pivot hole. The automatic locking device described in claim 4 further includes an elastic member installed in the shaft joint. The automatic locking device according to claim 5, wherein the elastic member is a spring. The automatic locking device according to claim 1, wherein the two movable locks are both rod bodies, and an extension part extends at the two ends. The automatic locking device according to claim 1, wherein the bottom of the container body has a fitting part, and the two positioning members are correspondingly fixed at the two ends of the fitting part. The automatic locking device according to claim 1, wherein the two positioning parts are ㄑ-shaped positioning parts. The automatic locking device according to claim 1, wherein the two positioning members and the two wedge-shaped members are located on opposite sides, and have a gap, and the gap is matched with the total width of the container body.

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