WO2015040915A1

WO2015040915A1 - Transport-in/transport-out apparatus and transport-in/transport-out method

Info

Publication number: WO2015040915A1
Application number: PCT/JP2014/066646
Authority: WO
Inventors: 裕一郎嵩; 仁史乾; 剛史永田; 俊平上垣; 峻一植松
Original assignee: シャープ株式会社
Priority date: 2013-09-18
Filing date: 2014-06-24
Publication date: 2015-03-26
Also published as: JP2015060910A

Abstract

　This transport-in/transport-out apparatus (100) is provided with a carrier stage (2) having protruding parts (3, 4) used to position a transported object (1), and a transfer robot (50) for transporting the transported object (1) into and out from a treatment apparatus (200). The transfer robot (50) includes a retainer part (5) for retaining the transported object (1), a drive unit (22) for moving the retainer part (5), and a controller (21) for controlling the drive unit (22). The controller (21) controls the drive unit (22) in such a way that the carry position at which the transported object (1) is carried on the transported object (1) retained by the retainer part (5) subsequent to treatment is a position further away from the protruding parts (3, 4) than is the carry position when the transported object (1) which was positioned by the protruding parts (3, 4) prior to treatment is removed by the retainer part (5), so that the transported object (1) subsequent to treatment by the treatment apparatus (200) is carried on the carrier stage (2) without interfering with the protruding parts (3, 4).

Description

Loading / unloading apparatus and loading / unloading method

The present invention relates to a loading / unloading apparatus and a loading / unloading method for transferring an object to be transferred between a processing apparatus and a mounting table, and in particular, it is necessary to avoid generation of a substrate made of a brittle material or an external scratch. The present invention relates to a loading / unloading apparatus and a loading / unloading method for holding and transferring a transferred object such as a part.

In recent years, display panels such as liquid crystal display panels have been required to be smaller and lighter. In particular, the glass substrate constituting the display panel is required to be thin. For this reason, the strength of the glass substrate and the display panel on which the glass substrate is mounted is reduced, and many glass cracks may occur when handling these in the production process of the display panel and the display device having the display panel.

In general, a liquid crystal display panel includes a thin film transistor substrate and a color filter substrate, and the thin film transistor substrate is mounted on the color filter substrate so that a terminal region provided for mounting a control circuit protrudes from the color filter substrate. It is pasted together. For this reason, the terminal region is thinner than other regions of the liquid crystal display panel and is easily broken.

Thus, in a liquid crystal display panel, there are directions that are more likely to break compared to handling a glass substrate alone, so the production equipment in each manufacturing process accurately calculates the orientation of the liquid crystal display panel to be handled. It is necessary to transport or process the liquid crystal display panel.

Although different from a liquid crystal display panel, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-138477 (Patent Document 1) discloses a loading / unloading apparatus that corrects the direction of a conveyed object (bare chip) and conveys the conveyed object. Can be mentioned.

A loading / unloading device disclosed in Patent Document 1 mounts a storage unit that stores a transported object, a transport robot that takes out the transported object from the storage unit and transports it to a processing device, and a transported object processed by the processing device. A mounting table for mounting, an imaging unit for imaging a singular point of an object to be transported mounted on the mounting table, and rotation of a loading / unloading device by performing image processing on image data obtained by the imaging unit Image processing means for calculating a corner, a posture control unit for controlling the posture (position) of the conveyed object based on the result of the image processing, and a transfer robot for accommodating the conveyed object whose posture is controlled in the accommodating unit With.

By adopting such a configuration, it is possible to accommodate the bare chip in the accommodation unit after correcting the position of the bare chip after the processing by the processing apparatus. When correcting the position of the bare chip, using the image processing means, data based on the diagonal corner image of the bare chip acquired by the imaging means, and the bare chip stored in advance in the storage device in the image processing apparatus The rotation angle (shift amount in the rotation direction) around the center point of the bare chip and the center of the bare chip after processing is calculated by performing an arithmetic process with the dimension data. Based on the calculated rotation angle, the bare chip is rotated, and the posture of the bare chip after processing is corrected to the posture taken out from the storage unit before processing. Then, the sucked bare chip is accommodated in the accommodating part by the holding part of the transfer robot adsorbing and transporting the calculated center point of the bare chip.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-138477

Here, it is premised that there is no fixing pin for positioning in the housing disclosed in Patent Document 1, and it is difficult to immediately apply the configuration disclosed in Patent Document 1 to the present invention. For the purpose of placing the substrate at a predetermined position of the processing apparatus, a positioning fixing pin is provided in the storage portion in order to store the substrate at a predetermined position of the storage portion after processing in the previous process. In some cases, the substrate may come into contact with the fixing pins even if the substrate is returned to the original position only by correcting the posture of the substrate based on the rotation angle calculated as described above.

In particular, when the substrate is expanded due to heat treatment or the like by the processing apparatus, when the position of the substrate is displaced not only in the rotation direction but also in the front and rear and / or left and right directions by the processing by the processing apparatus, the substrate and the fixing pin It is difficult to reliably avoid the interference.

This invention is made | formed in view of the above problems, and the objective of this invention suppresses interference with the convex part provided in the mounting base, and a to-be-conveyed object, and a to-be-conveyed object is damaged. An object of the present invention is to provide a loading / unloading apparatus and a loading / unloading method that can prevent the above-described problems.

A loading / unloading device according to the present invention is a loading / unloading device for sequentially loading / unloading a plurality of objects to / from a processing apparatus, and a mounting table provided with a convex portion used for positioning of the objects to be conveyed; And a transfer robot that carries the object to be conveyed placed on the processing apparatus and places it on the processing table. The transfer robot includes a holding unit for holding an object to be transported, a driving unit for moving the holding unit, and a control unit for controlling the driving unit. The control unit moves the processed object held by the holding unit upward so that the transferred object is placed on the mounting table without interfering with the convex part after processing by the processing device. The position of the object to be transported when placed on the mounting table is transported when the transported object positioned by the convex portion before processing by the processing device is taken out from the top of the mounting table by the holding unit. The drive unit is controlled so that the position is farther from the convex portion than the object placement position.

The carry-in / out apparatus according to the present invention preferably further includes a rotation mechanism for rotating the object to be conveyed. In this case, the control unit determines the direction of the transported object when the processed transported object is placed on the mounting table by the transfer robot before the transported object is loaded into the processing apparatus. It is preferable to control the rotation mechanism so as to be substantially the same as the direction of the conveyed object positioned on the mounting table.

Here, the rotation mechanism includes a rotation mechanism provided in the carry-in / out device itself and a rotation mechanism provided outside the carry-in / out device. Examples of the rotation mechanism provided outside the carry-in / out device include a rotation mechanism including a stage for placing an object to be conveyed and a rotation driving unit that rotates the stage. Note that the rotation mechanism may be provided in the processing apparatus.

The loading / unloading apparatus according to the present invention is provided in the processing apparatus after the transferred object is loaded and placed in the processing apparatus by the transfer robot in advance and the position of the transferred object is processed by the processing apparatus. It is preferable that the apparatus further includes a deviation amount storage unit that stores a deviation amount in the rotation direction of the transported object after processing, which is calculated from the relationship with the placed position. In this case, the control unit is configured so that the rotation amounts of the plurality of objects to be sequentially transferred by the transfer robot are the same based on the information on the deviation amount from the deviation amount storage unit. It is preferable to control the rotation mechanism.

The loading / unloading apparatus according to the present invention is arranged in the processing apparatus after the transferred object is loaded into the processing apparatus by the transfer robot and the position of the transferred object is processed by the processing apparatus. It is preferable to further include a position detecting means for detecting the position on which it is placed. It is preferable that the position detection means detects the positions of a plurality of objects to be transferred that are sequentially transferred by the transfer robot. In this case, it is preferable that the control unit controls the rotation mechanism based on a shift amount in the rotation direction of the conveyed object calculated from the position information of the conveyed object detected by the position detecting unit. .

In the loading / unloading apparatus according to the present invention, the position detection unit rotates the object to be conveyed by performing image processing on the image unit that acquires image data of the object to be conveyed and the image data acquired by the imager. It is preferable to include image processing means for calculating the amount of direction deviation.

In the carry-in / out device according to the present invention, it is preferable that the convex portion has a tapered shape tapered at the tip.

In the carry-in / out device according to the present invention, the holding unit preferably holds the object to be conveyed by a vacuum suction force.

The loading / unloading method according to the present invention is a loading / unloading method for sequentially loading / unloading a plurality of objects to / from a processing apparatus, and is placed on a mounting table provided with a convex portion for positioning the objects to be conveyed. A step of carrying the object to be carried into the processing apparatus by the transfer robot and placing the object to be conveyed after the processing by the processing apparatus is carried out from the processing apparatus by the transfer robot and placed on the mounting table. And a step of performing. In the step of unloading the transferred object from the processing apparatus by the transfer robot and mounting the transferred object on the mounting table, the mounting position of the transferred object when the processed object to be processed is mounted on the mounting table. However, a position farther from the convex portion than a placement position of the transported object when the transported object that has been positioned by the convex section before the processing by the processing apparatus is taken out from the mounting table by the transfer robot. Thus, the object to be transported after the processing by the processing apparatus is placed on the mounting table without interfering with the convex portion.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a loading / unloading apparatus and a loading / unloading method capable of suppressing the interference between the convex portion provided on the mounting table and the object to be transported and preventing the substrate from being damaged.

It is a plane schematic diagram which shows the carrying in / out apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention, and a processing apparatus. It is a side surface schematic diagram of the carrying in / out apparatus and processing apparatus which are shown in FIG. It is a schematic diagram which shows the state which the transfer robot shown in FIG. 1 hold | maintains the to-be-conveyed object mounted in the mounting base. It is a figure which shows the state which the transfer robot shown in FIG. 1 conveys a to-be-conveyed object toward a processing apparatus. It is a figure which shows the state which carried and mounted the to-be-conveyed object in the processing apparatus by the transfer robot shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the state which the transfer robot shown in FIG. 1 evacuated from the processing apparatus. It is a figure which shows the state which the transfer robot shown in FIG. 1 hold | maintains the to-be-conveyed object mounted in the processing apparatus after a process. It is a figure which shows the state which the transfer robot shown in FIG. 1 conveys the to-be-conveyed object toward a mounting base. It is a figure which shows the state which the transfer robot shown in FIG. 1 mounts the to-be-conveyed object after a process on a mounting base. It is a plane schematic diagram which shows the carrying in / out apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention, and a processing apparatus. It is a side surface schematic diagram of the carrying in / out apparatus shown in FIG. 10, and a processing apparatus. It is a plane schematic diagram which shows the carrying in / out apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 3 of this invention, and a processing apparatus. It is a plane schematic diagram which shows the carrying in / out apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 4 of this invention, and a processing apparatus.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the following embodiments, the same or common parts are denoted by the same reference numerals in the drawings, and description thereof will not be repeated.

(Embodiment 1)
1 and 2 are a schematic plan view and a schematic side view showing a carry-in / out apparatus and a processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. A carry-in / out apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the carry-in / out device 100 according to the present embodiment includes a mounting table 2 for mounting the transferred object 1 and a transferred object 1 mounted on the mounting table 2. The transfer robot 50 that carries the object to be transported 1 after being processed by the processing apparatus 200 and places it on the mounting table 2 while carrying it in the processing apparatus 200 and placing it on the mounting table 2, and the operations of various operators. And an input unit 23 for receiving.

As the transported object 1, for example, a single plate made of a material such as a glass substrate, a silicon wafer, PZT (lead titanate), or SiC can be employed. These materials are called brittle materials and have a hard and brittle nature. Moreover, the to-be-conveyed object 1 has the rectangular shape containing

short side

1a, 1c and

long side

1b, 1d, for example.

The mounting table 2 is provided with

positioning pins

3 and 4 as convex portions for positioning the conveyed object 1. The positioning pins 3 and 4 are provided so as to protrude from the surface of the mounting table 2. By pressing the object to be conveyed 1 against these positioning

pins

3 and 4, the position of the object to be conveyed 1 can be made constant when the objects to be conveyed 1 are sequentially conveyed toward the processing apparatus 200.

For example, when the long side 1b of the conveyed object 1 is pressed against the positioning pin 3 and the short side 1a of the conveyed object 1 is pressed against the positioning pin 4, the conveyed object 1 has a long side parallel to the X axis, and is short. The sides are aligned so that they are parallel to the Y axis.

Note that the object to be conveyed 1 may be pressed against the positioning pins 3 and 4 by operating pins (not shown) provided on the mounting table 2, or the object 1 may be pressed against the positioning pins 3 and 4 by the operator. Good.

The surface of the mounting table 2 is flattened so that an external force due to the roughness of the surface shape of the mounting table 2 is not applied to the object 1 having a flat shape. Further, the surface of the mounting table 2 may be subjected to Teflon (registered trademark) processing or the like as necessary. By softening the surface of the mounting table 2 by Teflon (registered trademark) processing or the like, friction between the article 1 and the mounting table 2 can be further reduced.

The positioning pins 3 and 4 can employ, for example, metal pins made of aluminum or stainless steel that are difficult to cut. The positioning pins 3 and 4 are preferably cylindrical pins fixed to the mounting table 2 in order to prevent the brittle transported object 1 from cracking while easily positioning with the transported object 1. . In addition, the shape of the positioning pins 3 and 4 is not limited to a cylindrical shape, and may be a polygonal column shape.

The resin pins may be coated on the positioning pins 3 and 4 in order to reduce friction with the conveyed object 1. In addition, when the positioning pins 3 and 4 are composed only of metal pins, the resin coating does not peel off due to repeated use, and therefore can be used for a long time. Thereby, the trouble of exchange can be saved.

Moreover, since the positioning pins 3 and 4 are fixed without being configured so that unnecessary external force is not applied to the transported object 1 from the positioning pins 3 and 4, the transported object 1 is prevented from being damaged. be able to.

The transfer robot 50 includes a holding unit 5 for holding the conveyed object 1, an X-axis arm 8 extending in the X-axis direction, a Y-axis arm 7 extending in the Y-axis direction, and a Z-axis direction. The extending Z-axis arm 6, the drive unit 22 for moving the holding unit 5 by moving the X-axis arm 8, the Y-axis arm 7 and the Z-axis arm 6, and the control unit 21 for controlling the drive unit 22. Including.

The driving unit 22 includes an X-axis driving unit 22X, a Y-axis driving unit 22Y, and a Z-axis driving unit 22Z. As the X-axis drive unit 22X, the Y-axis drive unit 22Y, and the Z-axis drive unit 22Z, for example, a mechanism such as a servo motor or an air cylinder can be appropriately employed.

The Y-axis arm 7 is supported by the X-axis arm 8 so as to be movable in the X-axis direction. The Y-axis arm 7 is driven by the X-axis drive unit 22X and reciprocates in the X-axis direction. The Z-axis arm 6 is supported by the Y-axis arm 7 so as to be movable in the Y-axis direction. The Z-axis arm 6 is driven by the Y-axis drive unit 22Y and reciprocates in the Y-axis direction. The Z-axis arm 6 is driven by the Z-axis drive unit 22Z and reciprocates in the Z-axis direction.

The holding part 5 is provided at the tip of the Z-axis arm 6, and the holding part 5 is provided with a vacuum chuck (not shown) for vacuum-sucking the object 1 to be conveyed. The holding unit 5 holds the object to be conveyed 1 by controlling the vacuum pressure in a decompression device (not shown) connected to the vacuum chuck via a pipe, and the holding unit 5 does not hold the object to be conveyed 1. Switch between non-holding state.

The object 1 can be adsorbed by a vacuum chuck. In this case, when the center of gravity of the object to be conveyed 1 and the center of the vacuum chuck (the center of the holding position of the object 1 to be conveyed by the holding unit 5) are matched, the objects to be conveyed 1 having different sizes are handled. Even if it exists, the to-be-conveyed object 1 can be stably hold | maintained also using the same holding | maintenance part 5. FIG.

When the object to be conveyed 1 is adsorbed, the vacuum pressure is preferably low so that an excessive external force is not applied to the object to be conveyed 1. For example, when ½ of the surface area of the conveyed object 1 is adsorbed by a vacuum chuck, the vacuum pressure is preferably set to about −70 KPa.

The holding unit 5 may be provided with a plurality of suction pads each connected to a decompression device. The arrangement of the plurality of suction pads provided in the holding unit 5 may need to be changed according to the size of the conveyed object 1. In this case, the holding unit 5 may be configured to be detachably attached to the tip of the Z-axis arm 6, and the holding unit 5 having a different suction pad arrangement for each size of the conveyed object 1. A plurality of the holding portions 5 may be appropriately selected according to the size of the object 1 to be carried in and out.

The input unit 23 is included in an operation panel disposed so as to be retracted from the distribution path of the transported object 1. The operation panel includes various input key groups including a numeric keypad as a function of the input unit, and a touch sensor. As a function of the display unit, a liquid crystal display unit integrated with the touch sensor, an LED (Light Emitting Diode), and the like Including various indicators.

The processing apparatus 200 is disposed away from the mounting table 2 and includes a stage 201 for processing the transported object 1. As the processing apparatus 200, for example, various apparatuses used in manufacturing processes such as a film forming apparatus such as sputtering and CVD, an exposure apparatus, a baking apparatus, a cleaning apparatus, a printing apparatus, a coating apparatus, and a bonding apparatus are used. Accordingly, the object to be transported 1 is subjected to processing such as film formation, exposure, baking, washing, coating, and bonding. In the present embodiment, in particular, the processing apparatus 200 is such that the stage 201 does not rotate and the conveyed object 1 does not shift in the rotation direction after processing.

3 to 9 are diagrams showing each operation when the transfer robot 50 according to the present embodiment transfers an object to be transferred between the mounting table 2 and the processing apparatus 200. FIG. With reference to FIGS. 3 to 9, the transfer operation of the loading / unloading apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment, that is, a loading / unloading method for loading / unloading the object 1 to / from the processing apparatus will be described.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which the transfer robot shown in FIG. 1 holds the object to be transported placed on the placing table. As shown in FIG. 3, in the step of loading and placing the article to be conveyed 1 placed on the mounting table 2 provided with a convex portion for positioning the article to be conveyed 1 in the processing apparatus 200, The transfer robot 50 holds the conveyed object 1 positioned at a predetermined position by the positioning pins 3 and 4. At this time, the control unit 21 causes the driving unit 22 to move the holding unit 5 to the approximate center of the conveyed object 1.

Specifically, the control unit 21 moves the Y-axis arm 7 closer to the end of the X-axis arm 8 on the mounting table 2 side by the X-axis drive unit 22X based on information on the coordinate position set in advance. The Z-axis arm 6 is moved along the Y-axis direction by the Y-axis drive unit 22Y so as to be positioned substantially above the center of the conveyed object 1. Next, the control unit 21 lowers the Z-axis arm 6 by the Z-axis drive unit 22Z so as to approach the transported object 1 along the Z-axis direction, thereby bringing the holding unit 5 and the transported object 1 into contact with each other. At this time, the object 1 is adsorbed by the vacuum chuck of the holding unit 5 and held in vacuum.

Subsequently, the state in which the conveyed object 1 is vacuum-held by the holding unit 5 is maintained, and the Z-axis arm 6 is moved upward by the Z-axis driving unit 22Z, so that the conveyed object 1 is higher than the positioning pins 3 and 4. Move to position. Thereby, the conveyed object 1 is taken out from the mounting table 2.

In order to avoid rubbing between the positioning pins 3 and 4 and the object 1 to be conveyed, the object 1 may be moved away from the positioning pins 3 and 4 and then the Z-axis arm 6 may be moved upward. Good. Further, in order to prevent the transported object 1 from falling from the holding unit 5 during movement, it is preferable that the center of the holding position of the transported object 1 by the holding unit 5 coincides with the center of gravity of the transported object 1.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the transfer robot illustrated in FIG. 1 conveys the object to be conveyed toward the processing apparatus. As shown in FIG. 4, when the transfer robot 50 transports the transported object 1 taken out from the mounting table 2 toward the processing apparatus 200, the control unit 21 sucks and holds the transported object 1. The X-axis direction, Y-axis direction, and Z-axis direction are moved by the X-axis drive unit 22X, the Y-axis drive unit 22Y, and the Z-axis drive unit 22Z so that the holding unit 5 is moved to a predetermined position of the processing apparatus 200 by the drive unit 22. Control the movement of.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a state in which the transfer robot shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, when the transfer robot 50 loads and places the article 1 on the processing apparatus 200, the control unit 21 moves above a predetermined position of the stage 201 in the processing apparatus 200. The holding unit 5 is moved by the driving unit 22 so as to be positioned. As a result, the object 1 is carried into the processing apparatus 200. Subsequently, the control unit 21 lowers the holding unit 5.

In order to prevent the conveyed object 1 held by the holding unit 5 and the stage 201 from coming into contact with each other vigorously and damaging the conveyed object 1, the control unit 21 is moved in the Z-axis direction by the Z-axis driving unit 22Z. The object 1 and the stage 201 are brought close to or in contact with each other while controlling the operation speed. Subsequently, the transported object 1 is placed on the stage 201 by releasing the suction of the holding unit 5 by the vacuum chuck.

FIG. 6 is a view showing a state where the transfer robot 50 shown in FIG. 1 is retracted from the processing apparatus. As shown in FIG. 6, after the transported object 1 is placed on the stage 201, the control unit 21 uses the drive unit 22 to hold the holding unit 5 so that the holding unit 5 does not hinder the processing operation by the processing apparatus 200. Is evacuated from the processing apparatus 200. After the holding unit 5 is retracted from the processing apparatus 200, the above-described processing is performed on the transported object 1.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a state in which the transfer robot shown in FIG. 1 holds the object to be transported placed on the processing apparatus after processing. In the step of unloading the article 1 to be transported after processing by the processing apparatus 200 and placing it on the mounting table 2, the transfer robot 50 is mounted on the processing apparatus 200 after processing as shown in FIG. Hold the placed object. At this time, the control unit 21 causes the driving unit 22 to move the holding unit 5 to the approximate center of the conveyed object 1.

Specifically, the control unit 21 moves the Y-axis arm 7 closer to the end of the X-axis arm 8 on the processing apparatus 200 side by the X-axis driving unit 22X, and is positioned substantially above the center of the conveyed object 1. In this way, the Z-axis arm 6 is moved along the Y-axis direction by the Y-axis drive unit 22Y. Next, the control unit lowers the Z-axis arm 6 so as to approach the conveyed object 1 along the Z-axis direction by the Z-axis driving unit 22Z, and brings the holding unit 5 and the conveyed object 1 into contact with each other. At this time, the conveyed object 1 is sucked and held by the vacuum chuck of the holding unit 5.

When the X coordinate and Y coordinate of the transported object 1 processed by the processing apparatus 200 are hardly shifted, the holding unit 5 is moved to the same place where the transported object 1 is placed on the stage 201. The transported object 1 is held.

On the other hand, even if the X coordinate and Y coordinate of the transported object 1 after processing by the processing apparatus 200 are shifted to some extent, the processing apparatus 200 repeatedly performs the same processing on the transported object 1 that is sequentially loaded and unloaded. For this reason, there are many cases where the X coordinate and the Y coordinate of the conveyed object 1 after processing are regularly shifted to some extent.

In such a case, the amount of deviation in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction can be calculated in advance by measuring the position of the conveyed object 1 after processing. When a correction amount that eliminates the shift amount is input from the storage device that stores the calculated shift amounts in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction to the control unit 21, the control unit 21 receives the input. Based on the information regarding the correction amount, the holding unit 5 can be moved to the approximate center of the conveyed object 1.

In addition, in order to prevent the to-be-conveyed object 1 from falling from the holding | maintenance part 5 in the middle of moving the to-be-conveyed object 1 from the processing apparatus 200 to the mounting base 2, the center of the holding position of the to-be-conveyed object 1 by the holding | maintenance part 5 is carried out. It is preferable that the center of gravity of the conveyed object 1 coincides.

Subsequently, the control unit 21 maintains the state in which the transported object 1 is sucked and held by the holding unit 5, moves the Z-axis arm 6 upward by the Z-axis driving unit 22 Z, and moves the X-axis driving unit 22 X and the Y-axis. The Y-axis arm 7 and the Z-axis direction are moved out of the processing apparatus 200 by the drive unit 22Y. Thereby, the to-be-conveyed object 1 is carried out of the processing apparatus 200.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the transfer robot illustrated in FIG. 1 conveys the processed object toward the mounting table. As shown in FIG. 8, when the transfer robot 50 transports the transported object 1 unloaded from the processing apparatus 200 toward the processing apparatus 200, the control unit 21 sucks and holds the transported object 1. The X-axis direction, Y-axis direction, and Z-axis direction are moved by the X-axis drive unit 22X, the Y-axis drive unit 22Y, and the Z-axis drive unit 22Z so that the holding unit 5 is moved to a predetermined position of the mounting table 2 by the drive unit 22. Control the movement of.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the transfer robot illustrated in FIG. 1 places the processed object on the mounting table. As shown in FIG. 9, when the transfer robot 50 places the processed object 1 on the mounting table 2, the control unit 21 determines that the processed object 1 is a

positioning pin

3, 4. The placement position of the transported object 1 when the processed transported object 1 is placed on the mounting table 2 so as to be placed on the mounting table 2 without interfering with the processing table 2 A position farther from the positioning pins 3 and 4 than the placement position of the object to be conveyed 1 when the object to be conveyed 1 that has been positioned by the positioning pins 3 and 4 on the mounting table 2 is taken out before the object is unloaded. The drive part 22 is controlled so that it may become.

Specifically, before the object 1 is carried into the processing apparatus 200, the short side 1a of the object 1 is in contact with the positioning pin 4, and the long side 1b of the object 1 is the positioning pin 3. In contrast to the object 1 being placed on the mounting table 2 so as to come into contact with the object 1, the short side 1 a of the object 1 is positioned after the object 1 is processed by the processing device 200. The object to be conveyed 1 is placed on the mounting table 2 so that the distance from the pin 4 is L1 mm in the X-axis direction and the long side 1b of the object to be conveyed 1 is L2 mm away from the positioning pin 3 in the Y-axis direction.

At the time of mounting, the control unit 21 controls the operation speed in the Z-axis direction by the Z-axis driving unit 22Z while bringing the conveyed object 1 and the mounting table 2 close to or in contact with each other, and then the holding unit 5 Release suction by vacuum chuck. Thereby, the to-be-conveyed object 1 is mounted in the mounting base 2. FIG.

The distance L2 between the object 1 and the positioning pin 3 and the distance L1 between the object 1 and the positioning pin 4 when placing the object 1 away from the positioning pins 3 and 4 are as follows: It depends on the size of the conveyed product 1. For example, when the size of the transported object 1 is about 100 mm × 100 mm, the distances L1 and L2 are preferably about 1 mm, and when the size of the transported object 1 is about 1000 mm × 1000 mm In this case, L1 and L2 are preferably about 10 mm. That is, the distances L1 and L2 are preferably about 1/100 of the size of the conveyed object 1.

As described above, when the holding unit 5 holds approximately the center of the processed object 1 after processing (substantially the same place as the holding unit 5 held the transferred object 1 before processing). Are the X and Y coordinate positions when the holding unit 5 places the processed object 1 after processing on the mounting table 2, and the X when the holding unit 5 takes out the processed object 1 before processing from the mounting table 2. The above-described change of the mounting position can be realized by the operator inputting the correction amount from the input unit 23 so as to be separated from the positioning pins 3 and 4 by the distances L1 and L2 from the Y coordinate position. it can.

Before the transfer of the transferred object by the transfer robot 50 is started, the loading position of the transferred objects is sequentially changed as described above by the operator inputting the correction amount. Is done.

The positional deviations of the conveyed object 1 in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction include the X-axis arm 8 and the Y-axis in addition to the positional deviation of the conveyed object 1 in the processing apparatus 200 that occurs after the processing as described above. The movement accuracy of the arm 7, the change in the shape of the transferred object 1 due to the processing of the processing apparatus 200, the expansion and contraction of the transferred object 1 due to the temperature change, and the deviation of the transferred object 1 from the holding unit 5 that occurs during the transfer. It can happen due to various factors. By setting the above correction amount in consideration of the cause of such positional deviation, the placement position of the article 1 actually placed on the placement table 2 is set to be higher than the set placement position. Even if it changes inward, it can prevent reliably that the to-be-conveyed object 1 and the positioning pins 3 and 4 interfere, and can prevent the to-be-conveyed object 1 from being damaged.

As described above, the carry-in / out method according to the present embodiment is configured to process the object 1 to be conveyed placed on the mounting table 2 provided with the positioning pins 3 and 4 for positioning the object 1 to be conveyed. And the process of carrying in and placing on the mounting table 2 and carrying the article 1 to be transported after the processing by the processing apparatus 200 on the mounting table 2.

In the step of unloading the transferred object 1 from the processing apparatus 200 and mounting it on the mounting table 2, the mounting position of the transferred object 1 when the processed transferred object 1 is mounted on the mounting table 2 is as follows: When the object to be conveyed, which has been positioned by the positioning pins 3 and 4 before processing by the processing apparatus 200, is taken out from the mounting table 2, the position is farther from the positioning pins 3 and 4 than the mounting position of the object 1 to be conveyed. As described above, the object 1 to be transported after being processed by the processing apparatus 200 is placed on the mounting table 2 without interfering with the positioning pins 3 and 4.

The processed object 1 after processing is placed on the placing table 2 and then accommodated in the accommodating portion. Since the storage unit can tolerate a certain amount of positional deviation of the transported object 1, the mounting position actually mounted on the mounting table 2 with respect to the correction amount input by the input unit 23 is as described above. Even if it is a case where it fluctuates slightly due to factors, the conveyed object 1 is accommodated in the accommodating portion without being damaged.

Thus, in the loading / unloading apparatus and loading / unloading method according to the present embodiment, the object to be conveyed 1 interferes with the positioning pins 3 and 4 by placing the object 1 away from the positioning pins 3 and 4. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the conveyed object 1 from being damaged.

In addition, by inputting the correction amount to the input unit 23, the placement position of the transported object 1 that is placed on the mounting table after processing is uniformly changed with respect to the transported object 1 that is sequentially carried in and out. For this reason, in this embodiment, compared with the case where positional displacement is corrected by imaging the processed object 1 after processing and performing image processing, imaging time, image processing time, and the like are not required. Production tact can be greatly shortened.

(Embodiment 2)
10 and 11 are a schematic plan view and a schematic side view showing the carry-in / out apparatus and the processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. With reference to FIG. 10 and FIG. 11, the carry-in / out apparatus 100A according to the present embodiment will be described.

As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the carry-in / out device 100A according to the present embodiment includes a rotation mechanism 30A on the processing device 200A side when compared with the carry-in / out device 100 according to the first embodiment. In other respects, the other configurations are substantially the same.

The carry-in / out device 100A according to the present embodiment includes the mounting table 2, the transfer robot 50, and the rotation mechanism 30A.

The loading / unloading apparatus 100A includes a rotation driving unit 222 that can rotate the stage 201 of the processing apparatus 200A in the DR1 direction. The rotation mechanism 30A includes a stage 201 and a rotation drive unit 222. The direction of the conveyed object 1 can be corrected by rotating the stage 201 by the rotation driving unit 222 while the conveyed object 1 is attracted to the stage 201. Note that the rotation mechanism 30A including the stage 201 of the processing apparatus 200A is included in the carry-in / out apparatus in the present embodiment.

As the processing apparatus 200A, for example, a rotation processing apparatus such as a spin coater or a spin cleaning machine can be adopted.

For example, a display panel such as a liquid crystal display panel 10 or an organic EL panel can be used as the transported object. In the following, a case where the liquid crystal display panel 10 is handled as an object to be conveyed will be described as an example.

The liquid crystal display panel 10 includes a thin film transistor substrate 11 disposed on the stage 2, a counter substrate 12 disposed on the thin film transistor substrate 11, and a liquid crystal provided between the thin film transistor substrate 11 and the counter substrate 12. The layer 13 and the thin film transistor substrate 11 and the counter substrate 12 are adhered to each other, and a sealing material 14 provided in an annular shape is provided between the thin film transistor substrate 11 and the counter substrate 12 so as to enclose the liquid crystal layer 13.

The counter substrate 12 includes a transparent substrate such as a glass substrate, a color filter (not shown) formed on the main surface disposed on the liquid crystal layer 13 side, and a counter electrode (not shown) formed on the color filter. including.

The thin film transistor substrate 11 has a terminal region 11a for attaching a control circuit substrate (not shown). The terminal region 11a protrudes from the counter substrate 12 in a state where the thin film transistor substrate 11 and the counter substrate 12 are bonded together. For this reason, the terminal area | region 11a becomes thinner than the other area | region of the liquid crystal display panel 10, strength becomes low, and it becomes easy to break. On the other hand, in the liquid crystal display panel 10, the thin film transistor substrate 11 and the counter substrate 12 overlap each other at the short side portion 10 a and the long side portion 10 b where the end surface of the thin film transistor substrate 11 and the end surface of the counter substrate 12 are substantially flush with each other. Since the thickness is increased, the strength is increased and it is difficult to break.

Therefore, when positioning the liquid crystal display panel 10 on the mounting table 2 before processing, the long side portion 10b of the liquid crystal display panel 10 is pressed against the positioning pin 3A, and the short side portion 10a of the liquid crystal display panel 10 is pressed against the positioning pin 4A. Is preferably pressed. Compared with the case where the low strength terminal region 11a is pressed against the positioning pins 3A and 4A, the liquid crystal display panel 10 can be prevented from being damaged.

Even when the liquid crystal display panel 10 processed by the processing apparatus 200A is placed on the mounting table 2, the long side portion 10b and the short side portion 10a of the liquid crystal display panel 10 are positioned on the positioning pins 3A and 4A side. Thus, the liquid crystal display panel 10 is preferably placed. In such a case, the liquid crystal display panel 10 is displaced unexpectedly during the processing in the processing apparatus 200A or during the transfer from the processing apparatus 200A to the mounting table 2, and the liquid crystal display panel 10 is moved to the positioning pins 3A, Even when a situation such as climbing onto 4A occurs, a strong portion of the liquid crystal display panel 10 comes into contact with the positioning pins 3A and 4A, and the liquid crystal display panel 10 can be prevented from being damaged. .

Further, when the above-described unexpected displacement occurs and the liquid crystal display panel 10 comes into contact with the positioning pins 3A and 4A, the positioning pins 3A and 4A It is preferable that the shape is a truncated cone shape, the apex portion is rounded, or the like. That is, it is preferable that the positioning pins 3A and 4A have a tapered shape at the tip.

When a rotation processing apparatus is used as the processing apparatus 200A, the object to be transported (liquid crystal display panel 10) may be shifted in the rotation direction after processing. For this reason, if the liquid crystal display panel 10 is unloaded from the processing apparatus 200A and placed on the mounting table 2 without correcting the shift in the rotation direction of the liquid crystal display panel 10, the positioning pins 3A and 4A and the liquid crystal display panel 10 are placed. And the liquid crystal display panel 10 is damaged.

In the carry-in / out device 100A according to the present embodiment, the interference between the liquid crystal display panel 10 and the positioning pins 3A and 4A (by correcting the shift in the rotational direction of the liquid crystal display panel 10 after processing using a rotation mechanism ( Contact). The specific operation and the loading / unloading method for loading / unloading the object to / from the processing apparatus will be described below.

In the step of loading and placing the liquid crystal display panel 10 placed on the placing table 2 provided with a convex portion for positioning the object to be transported into the processing apparatus 200A, the transfer robot 50 is an embodiment. The liquid crystal display panel 10 is sucked and held by the holding unit 5 and the liquid crystal display panel 10 is placed at a predetermined position of the stage 201 in the processing apparatus 200 A by substantially the same operation as the transfer operation according to 1. Note that the liquid crystal display panel 10 is preferably placed on the stage 201 so that the center of the liquid crystal display panel 10 and the rotation center of the stage 201 coincide.

After the liquid crystal display panel 10 is placed on the stage 201, the control unit 21 retracts the holding unit 5 from the processing apparatus 200 by the driving unit 22. After the holding unit 5 is retracted from the processing apparatus 200A, the processing apparatus 200A spin-cleans the liquid crystal display panel 10.

At this time, the stage 201 is horizontally rotated in the DR1 direction by the rotation driving unit 222 configured by an electric motor such as a DC motor while the liquid crystal display panel 10 is held by suction. The stage 201 stops after rotating for a predetermined time.

When the stage 201 stops after the cleaning process, it often stops at a position rotated from the position before the process. For this reason, the liquid crystal display panel 10 after processing is also positioned on the stage 201 while being rotated in the rotation direction (DR1 direction) from the position where it was placed before the cleaning processing. Thereby, the shift | offset | difference of a rotation direction generate | occur | produces in the liquid crystal display panel 10 before a process, and the liquid crystal display panel 10 after a process.

Since the cleaning power of the processing apparatus 200A is often set according to the processing time, the rotational direction deviation after processing becomes constant to some extent by making the rotational speed constant. This tendency is particularly noticeable when the stage 201 is rotated at a relatively low speed.

For this reason, the position of the liquid crystal display panel 10 when the transfer robot 50 is loaded and placed on the processing apparatus 200A and the position where the liquid crystal display panel 10 is placed on the processing apparatus 200A after being processed by the processing apparatus 200A. Can be calculated in advance.

In the step of unloading the liquid crystal display panel 10 processed by the processing device 200A from the processing device 200A and placing it on the mounting table 2, the rotation correction amount is input to the pre-calculated amount of deviation in the rotational direction. 23, the control unit 21 drives the rotation drive unit 222 based on the input information about the rotation correction amount, and the orientation of the liquid crystal display panel 10 after processing is changed to the stage 201 before processing. The stage 201 is rotated so as to be substantially the same as the direction of the liquid crystal display panel placed on the LCD.

Further, the control unit 21 uniformly controls the rotation mechanism 30A so that the rotation amounts of the plurality of transferred objects sequentially transferred by the transfer robot are the same.

After the stage 201 is rotated as described above, the adsorption of the stage 201 to the liquid crystal display panel 10 is released. Subsequently, the transfer robot 50 sucks and holds the liquid crystal display panel 10 by the holding unit 5 and carries the liquid crystal display panel 10 out of the processing apparatus 200A.

The liquid crystal display panel 10 unloaded from the processing apparatus 200A is operated in substantially the same manner as in the first embodiment, so that the short side portion 10a of the liquid crystal display panel is separated from the positioning pin 4 by L1 mm in the X-axis direction, and the long side portion 10b is It is mounted on the mounting table 2 so as to be separated from the positioning pin 3 by L2 mm in the Y-axis direction.

As described above, in the present embodiment, by providing the rotation mechanism 30 A, the transferred object when the transferred object after processing is placed on the mounting table 2 by the transfer robot 50. Of the rotational direction can be corrected so that the orientation of the workpiece is substantially the same as the orientation of the conveyed object positioned on the mounting table 2 before the conveyed object is carried into the processing apparatus 200A. Further, the conveyed object 1 can be placed away from the positioning pins 3 and 4 in a state where the positional deviation in the rotational direction is corrected.

For this reason, in the loading / unloading apparatus and loading / unloading method according to the present embodiment, even if the object to be conveyed 1 is displaced in the rotation direction by the processing apparatus 200A, the object to be conveyed 1 is positioned with the positioning pins 3 and 3. 4 can be prevented from interfering. Thereby, damage to the conveyed object 1 can be prevented.

(Embodiment 3)
FIG. 12 is a schematic plan view showing a carry-in / out device and a processing device according to the present embodiment. With reference to FIG. 12, carry-in / out apparatus 100B according to the present embodiment will be described.

As shown in FIG. 12, the loading / unloading apparatus 100B according to the present embodiment is different from the loading / unloading apparatus 100A according to the second embodiment in that it includes a deviation amount storage unit 24 and the processing apparatus 200A. The transfer robot 50B is different in that it has a rotation mechanism 30B for rotating the object to be transferred, and the other configurations are substantially the same.

The carry-in / out device 100B according to the present embodiment includes the mounting table 2, the transfer robot 50B, the rotation mechanism 30B, and the deviation amount storage means 24.

The transfer robot 50B includes a holding unit 5 for holding an object to be conveyed, an X-axis arm 8 extending in the X-axis direction, a Z-axis arm 6 extending in the Z-axis direction, and the Z-axis direction as a rotation axis. A rotating body 19, a driving unit 22B for moving the holding unit 5 by moving the X-axis arm 8, the Y-axis arm 7, the Z-axis arm 6 and the rotating body 19, and a control for controlling the driving unit 22B Part 21.

The driving unit 22B includes an X-axis driving unit 22X, a Y-axis driving unit 22Y, a Z-axis driving unit 22Z, and a rotating body driving unit 22R.

The rotating body 19 is attached to the tip of the Z-axis arm 6 so as to be rotatable. The rotating body 19 is driven by the rotating body driving unit 22R, and rotates in the DR2 direction in the figure, for example, with the Z-axis direction as the rotation axis. The holding part 5 is provided at the tip of the rotating body 19. The rotating mechanism 30B includes a rotating body 19 and a rotating body driving unit 22R.

Further, the carry-in / out device 100 B includes a shift amount storage unit 24. The deviation amount storage means 24 is placed on the processing apparatus after the transferred object is loaded into the processing apparatus by the transfer robot and the position of the transferred object is processed by the processing apparatus. This is a storage medium in which the shift amount in the rotation direction of the processed object after processing, which is calculated in advance from the relationship with the existing position, is stored.

The control unit 21 controls the loading / unloading device 100B based on the information input from the deviation amount storage unit 24.

For example, a display panel such as a liquid crystal display panel 10 or an organic EL panel can be used as the transported object.

As the processing apparatus 200A, for example, a rotation processing apparatus such as a spin cleaning machine can be employed. For this reason, as in the second embodiment, it is necessary to correct a shift in the rotational direction of the liquid crystal display panel 10 after processing using a rotation mechanism in the transfer operation. The specific operation, that is, a loading / unloading method for loading / unloading the object to / from the processing apparatus will be described below.

In the step of loading and placing the liquid crystal display panel 10 placed on the placement table 2 provided with a convex portion for positioning the object to be conveyed into the processing apparatus 200A, the transfer robot 50B is an embodiment. The liquid crystal display panel 10 is sucked and held by the holding unit 5 and the liquid crystal display panel 10 is placed at a predetermined position of the stage 201 in the processing apparatus 200 A by substantially the same operation as the transfer operation according to 1.

After the liquid crystal display panel 10 is placed on the stage 201, the control unit 21 retracts the holding unit 5 from the processing apparatus 200A by the driving unit 22B. After the holding unit 5 is retracted from the processing apparatus 200A, the processing apparatus 200A sucks and holds the liquid crystal display panel 10 and performs spin cleaning.

After the spin cleaning process, the liquid crystal display panel 10 is rotated in the rotation direction (DR1 direction in FIG. 10) from the position placed on the stage 201 before the spin cleaning process for the same reason as in the second embodiment. It is located on the stage 201 in a state.

In the step of unloading the liquid crystal display panel 10 processed by the processing apparatus 200A from the processing apparatus 200A and placing it on the mounting table 2, the adsorption of the stage 201 to the liquid crystal display panel 10 is released after the spin cleaning process, and the transfer robot 50 hold | maintains the liquid crystal display panel 10 by adsorption | suction by the holding | maintenance part 5, and carries out the liquid crystal display panel 10 from 200A of processing apparatuses.

At this time, information on the amount of deviation in the rotational direction of the liquid crystal display panel 10 stored in the deviation amount storage means 24 is input from the deviation amount storage means 24 to the control unit 21. Based on the information, the control unit 21 drives the rotating body driving unit 22R so that the orientation of the liquid crystal display panel 10 after processing is substantially the same as the orientation of the liquid crystal display panel placed on the stage 201 before processing. The rotating body 19 is rotated so that

The correction of the amount of deviation in the rotation direction is not limited to the case where the liquid crystal display panel 10 is carried out from the processing apparatus 200A as described above, and the liquid crystal display panel 10 is transported toward the mounting table 2. It may be done in the middle.

The liquid crystal display panel 10 whose rotation direction has been corrected by the rotating body 19 has the short side portion 10a of the liquid crystal display panel separated from the positioning pin 4 by L1 mm in the X-axis direction and the long side by the operation substantially the same as in the first embodiment. The part 10b is mounted on the mounting table 2 so as to be separated from the positioning pin 3 by L2 mm in the Y-axis direction.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the transfer robot 50 B is provided with the rotation mechanism 30 B, so that the processed object to be processed is mounted on the mounting table 2 by the transfer robot 50. The deviation of the rotational direction is corrected so that the direction of the conveyed object at that time is substantially the same as the direction of the conveyed object positioned on the mounting table 2 before the conveyed object is carried into the processing apparatus 200A. be able to. Further, the object to be conveyed can be placed away from the positioning pins 3 and 4 in a state where the positional deviation in the rotational direction is corrected.

For this reason, in the loading / unloading method and loading / unloading method according to the present embodiment, even if the object to be conveyed is displaced in the rotation direction by the processing apparatus 200A, the object to be conveyed is positioned on the positioning pins 3 and 4. Interference can be suppressed. Thereby, damage of a to-be-conveyed object can be prevented.

In addition, since the shift amount storage means 24 is used to automatically input information regarding the shift amount in the rotation direction to the control unit 21, the operator can input the shift amount in the rotation direction for each size of the object to be conveyed. The work to enter in can be omitted. Thereby, it is possible to prevent damage to the conveyed object due to an input error.

(Embodiment 4)
FIG. 13 is a schematic plan view showing a carry-in / out apparatus and a processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. With reference to FIG. 13, the carry-in / out apparatus 100C according to the present embodiment will be described.

As illustrated in FIG. 13, the carry-in / out device 100 C according to the present embodiment further includes a position detection unit 40 that detects the position of the conveyed object when compared with the carry-in / out device 100 A according to the second embodiment. In other respects, the other configurations are substantially the same.

The carry-in / out device 100C according to the present embodiment includes the mounting table 2, the transfer robot 50, the rotation mechanism 30A, and the position detection means 40.

The position detection means 40 has processed the position of the object to be conveyed and the object to be conveyed when the object to be conveyed (liquid crystal display panel 10) is loaded and placed on the processing apparatus 200A by the transfer robot 50. Later, a position on the processing apparatus 200A is detected. The position detection unit 40 includes an imaging unit 25 and an image processing unit 26.

The imaging means 25 is installed so as to be able to image the liquid crystal display panel 10 located in the processing apparatus 200A, and images the entire liquid crystal display panel 10 or a specific pattern provided on the liquid crystal display panel 10. As the imaging means 25, for example, a camera can be employed.

Specifically, the imaging unit 25 images the liquid crystal display panel 10 that is loaded and placed in the processing apparatus 200A by the transfer robot 50, and the liquid crystal display that is placed after being processed by the processing apparatus 200A. The panel 10 is imaged. Further, the imaging unit 25 outputs the image data of the liquid crystal display panel 10 acquired by imaging to the image processing unit 26.

The image processing unit 26 detects the position of the liquid crystal display panel 10 by performing image processing on the image data input from the imaging unit 25, and compares the position of the liquid crystal display panel 10 before and after the detected processing. The amount of deviation in the rotational direction of the liquid crystal display panel 10 afterwards is calculated. The image processing unit 26 outputs information related to the amount of deviation in the rotation direction of the liquid crystal display panel 10 to the control unit 21.

The control unit 21 drives the rotation driving unit 222 based on the information about the rotation direction input from the image processing unit 26, and the orientation of the liquid crystal display panel 10 after processing is placed on the stage 201 before processing. The stage 201 is rotated so as to be substantially the same as the orientation of the liquid crystal display panel 10.

Even when the amount of deviation in the rotational direction after processing varies from processing to processing by spin cleaning at high speed, the position detection means 40 detects the amount of deviation in the rotational direction for each processing, thereby allowing the liquid crystal display after processing to be performed. The orientation of the panel 10 can be reliably corrected so as to be substantially the same as the orientation of the liquid crystal display panel 10 placed on the stage 201 before processing.

In the present embodiment, the transfer operation, that is, the loading / unloading method for loading / unloading the object to / from the processing apparatus is substantially the same as in the second embodiment except for the operation of correcting the amount of deviation in the rotation direction.

In the step of loading and placing the liquid crystal display panel 10 serving as a transported object placed on a mounting table provided with a convex portion for positioning the transported object into the processing apparatus 200A, the transfer robot 50 includes: The liquid crystal display panel 10 is sucked and held by the holding unit 5 and the liquid crystal display panel 10 is placed at a predetermined position of the stage 201 in the processing apparatus 200A by substantially the same operation as the transfer operation according to the second embodiment. Put. After the liquid crystal display panel 10 is placed on the stage 201, the control unit 21 retracts the holding unit 5 from the processing apparatus 200 by the driving unit 22.

Subsequently, the liquid crystal display panel 10 placed on the stage 201 is imaged by the imaging means 25. At this time, the image data obtained by the imaging unit 25 is input to the image processing unit 26. After imaging, the processing apparatus 200A spin-cleans the liquid crystal display panel 10.

In the step of unloading the liquid crystal display panel 10 processed by the processing apparatus 200A from the processing apparatus 200A and mounting it on the mounting table 2, the imaging means 25 captures the liquid crystal display panel 10 mounted on the stage 201 after the spin cleaning process. Take an image with. At this time, the image data obtained by the imaging unit 25 is input to the image processing unit 26.

Subsequently, the image processing unit 26 detects the position of the liquid crystal display panel 10 by performing image processing on the image data input from the imaging unit 25, and compares the position of the liquid crystal display panel 10 before and after the detected processing. The amount of deviation in the rotational direction of the liquid crystal display panel 10 after the processing is calculated. The image processing unit 26 outputs information related to the amount of deviation in the rotation direction of the liquid crystal display panel 10 to the control unit 21.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the position detection means 40 and the rotation mechanism 30A are provided, so that the position to be transported away from the positioning pins 3 and 4 with the rotational direction deviation corrected. An object can be placed.

For this reason, in the loading / unloading method and loading / unloading method according to the present embodiment, even if the transferred object is displaced in the rotation direction by the processing device, the transferred object interferes with the positioning pins 3 and 4. Can be suppressed. Thereby, damage of a to-be-conveyed object can be prevented.

Further, the position detection means 40 can detect the positions of a plurality of objects to be transferred sequentially by the transfer robot, and can calculate the amount of deviation in the rotation direction of the objects to be transferred. By sequentially performing the correction, it is possible to reliably prevent the conveyed object from being damaged.

It should be noted that the present embodiment can naturally be applied to a case where the processing apparatus performs a processing operation that does not involve a rotation operation and the amount of deviation in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction varies depending on the processing.

In the first and second embodiments described above, the control unit 21 inputs the shift amount in the X-axis direction, the shift amount in the Y-axis direction, or the shift amount in the rotation direction to the input unit 23, so that the control unit 21 is based on the input information. The case where the position of the conveyed object is corrected by driving the drive unit 22 has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the displacement amount storage means is provided as in the third embodiment. You may correct the position of a to-be-conveyed object based on the information regarding the deviation | shift amount input into the control part 21 from the memory | storage means.

In the second embodiment described above, the case where the rotation mechanism configured by the stage 201 and the rotation drive unit 222 is provided on the processing apparatus 200A side is described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the mounting table 2 In addition, a rotation mechanism including a stage and a rotation drive unit may be separately provided around the processing apparatus 200A.

In this case, after the processing by the processing apparatus 200A, the liquid crystal display panel 10 is mounted on a stage provided around the mounting table 2 and the processing apparatus 200A. After the stage is rotated by the rotation drive unit and the orientation of the liquid crystal display panel 10 is corrected, the liquid crystal display panel 10 is mounted on the mounting table 2.

In the above-described first to third embodiments, the case where the amount of deviation is uniformly corrected for a plurality of objects to be conveyed has been described as an example. You may correct | amend and detect the deviation | shift amount of a to-be-conveyed object for every process.

As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, embodiment disclosed this time is an illustration and restrictive at no points. The scope of the present invention is defined by the terms of the claims, and includes meanings equivalent to the terms of the claims and all changes within the scope.

1 transported object, 2 mounting table, 3, 4, 3A, 4A positioning pin, 5 holding part, 6 Z-axis arm, 7 Y-axis arm, 8 X-axis arm, 10 liquid crystal display panel, 11 thin film transistor substrate, 11a terminal area , 12 counter substrate, 13 liquid crystal layer, 14 sealing material, 19 rotating body, 21 control unit, 22, 22B driving unit, 22R rotating body driving unit, 22X X-axis driving unit, 22Y Y-axis driving unit, 22Z Z-axis driving unit , 23 input unit, 24 deviation amount storage means, 25 imaging means, 26 image processing means, 30A, 30B rotation mechanism, 40 position detection means, 50, 50B transfer robot, 100, 100A, 100B, 100C carry-in / out device, 200 , 200A processing device, 201 stage, 222 rotation drive unit.

Claims

A loading / unloading apparatus for sequentially loading / unloading a plurality of objects to / from a processing apparatus,
A mounting table provided with a convex portion used for positioning the conveyed object;
A transfer robot that carries the object to be transported placed on the mounting table into the processing apparatus and places it on the processing apparatus, and unloads the object to be transported after being processed by the processing apparatus from the processing apparatus and places it on the mounting table; With
The transfer robot includes a holding unit for holding an object to be transported, a driving unit for moving the holding unit, and a control unit for controlling the driving unit,
The control unit moves the processed object held by the holding unit to the front so that the processed object processed by the processing apparatus is placed on the mounting table without interfering with the convex part. When the object to be transferred is placed on the mounting table, the position of the object to be transferred is positioned by the convex portion before the processing by the processing device. A loading / unloading device that controls the driving unit so as to be positioned farther from the convex portion than a placement position of an object.
A rotation mechanism for rotating the object to be conveyed;
The control unit is configured so that the direction of the transported object when the processed transported object is placed on the mounting table by the transfer robot is set on the mounting table before the transported object is loaded into the processing apparatus. The loading / unloading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the rotation mechanism is controlled so as to be substantially the same as a direction of an object to be transported that has been positioned in step 1.
The relationship between the position of the transferred object when the transferred object is loaded into the processing apparatus and placed by the transfer robot in advance and the position of the transferred object after being processed by the processing apparatus. A displacement amount storage means for storing the displacement amount in the rotational direction of the conveyed object after processing calculated from
The control unit uniformly controls the rotation mechanism so that the rotation amounts of the plurality of objects to be transferred sequentially by the transfer robot are the same based on the information on the shift amount from the shift amount storage unit. The loading / unloading device according to claim 2 to be controlled.
The transfer robot detects the position of the transferred object when the transferred object is loaded into the processing apparatus and placed thereon, and the position where the transferred object is mounted on the processing apparatus after being processed by the processing apparatus. It further comprises a position detection means,
The position detection means detects the positions of a plurality of objects to be transferred sequentially by the transfer robot,
The carry-in according to claim 2, wherein the control unit controls the rotation mechanism based on a deviation amount in a rotation direction of the conveyed object calculated from position information of the conveyed object detected by the position detection unit. Out device.
5. The loading / unloading device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the convex portion has a tapered shape tapered at a tip.
A loading / unloading method for sequentially loading / unloading a plurality of objects to / from a processing apparatus,
A step of loading and placing the object to be conveyed, which is placed on the placing table provided with a convex portion for positioning the object to be conveyed, into the processing apparatus by the transfer robot;
A step of unloading the object to be transported after the processing by the processing device from the processing device by the transfer robot and placing it on the mounting table.
In the step of unloading the transferred object from the processing apparatus by the transfer robot and mounting the transferred object on the mounting table, the mounting position of the transferred object when the processed object to be processed is mounted on the mounting table. However, the position farther from the convex portion than the placement position of the transported object when the transported object positioned by the convex portion before processing by the processing apparatus is taken out from the mounting table by the transfer robot. The carrying-in / out method of mounting the to-be-conveyed object after the processing by the processing apparatus on the mounting table without causing the convex part to interfere.