JP2000094228A - Device and method for separating and taking out disk substrates - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a device and a method for separating and taking out disk substrates capable of positively taking out and transporting one disk substrate from a disk substrate group. SOLUTION: A disk substrate group 23 is held on the pin shaft 3 of a stack pole and is upwardly, downwardly moved by means of a lifting spacer 4. The outer boundary of the disk substrate group 23 is provided with a plurality of separating screws 11 at appropriate spaced intervals. Rotating the separating screws 11 successively separates and takes out of disk substrate at the upper portion of the disk substrate group 23.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a disk substrate unloading apparatus which separates disk substrates one by one from a disk substrate group stacked on a stack pole and takes out the separated sheets (individual disk substrates). About the method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a format for simultaneously transporting a large number of manufactured disk substrates at the same time, a cassette transportation using a cassette (magazine) provided with slits for individually storing disks, or a disk substrate mounted on a vertically set pin shaft. There is a stack pole transport in which the pin shafts are made portable by stacking (stacking). An advantage of cassette transport is that the disk substrates are always separated by slits and are stored in a cassette in a non-contact manner. However, because the slits are provided individually,
With a normal size cassette for disk substrates, the number of disk substrates that can be carried simultaneously is small.

The only way to convey a large amount is to increase the size of the cassette. However, in the case of human conveyance, the size of the cassette is naturally regulated. Here, the cassette is usually provided with an opening for loading and unloading a disk at an upper portion, and the cassette is stored with the disk surface vertical.

[0004] On the other hand, many disk processing apparatuses use a horizontal attitude as a reference as a processing installation attitude. Therefore, when the cassette transport system is used, it is necessary to provide an attitude conversion mechanism in almost all handling apparatuses (sheet-fed transport apparatuses) or to perform an operation for that purpose.

[0005] Next, in the case of stack pole transfer, there is an advantage that a large number of disk substrates can be transferred simultaneously (at one time) (for example, the maximum number of CD substrates to be delivered is about 250 CD substrates). In addition, since the disk substrates are stacked horizontally, both the loading operation and the unloading operation can be performed by a simple handling device (sheet-feeding device) or mechanism. However, since the disk substrates are stacked in the vertical direction, problems such as rubbing of the disks occur more than in the cassette transport method.

[0006] The two broadly classified methods have advantages and disadvantages, respectively.
A stack pole system in which a handling mechanism and a device used for taking out are simple and easy is frequently used.

[0007]

One of the mass simultaneous transfer methods of a disk substrate. In a currently used stack pole transfer method, when a DVD (digital video disk) substrate is transferred by this method, the following method is required. The problem comes out.

In the case of a DVD substrate having a thickness of only half (0.6 mm) of a CD substrate, the rigidity of the disk substrate itself is low. Direction. It becomes just like a bat umbrella. The amount of deflection depends on the material of the disk substrate, but is larger than the thickness of the disk substrate. Therefore, in this method of laminating (stacking) in the direction perpendicular to the substrate surface, the bent disk comes into contact with the disk substrate below it. After a while, it comes into close contact with the lower disk substrate and cannot be easily separated.

Although the cause of this adhesive force has not been determined, the outer peripheral portion of the upper disk substrate droops to form a sucker state, causing the lower disk substrate to be attracted, and the upper disk substrate to be moved downward. It is conceivable that contact and rubbing with the disk substrate generates static electricity due to friction between the two, causing the lower disk substrate to be electrostatically attracted. Therefore, if a single wafer is taken out and transported by a handling mechanism or apparatus (eg, a hand using a vacuum suction method using a suction pad) in this state, the disk substrate that has come into close contact is transported while being in close contact. In the next step, a fatal error will occur.

Conventionally, in order to prevent such a transfer abnormality, in the stack pole transfer system, each time one disk substrate is stacked, a spacer ring is provided so that the disk substrate does not contact the lower disk substrate already stacked. (Sometimes simply referred to as a spacer).

In the case of a DVD substrate, the above method is a very effective means in consideration of the low rigidity of the substrate and the bending of the outer peripheral portion, and it is possible to permanently obtain a physically non-contact state between the disk substrates. . However, the following problems have occurred due to the insertion of the spacer ring.

First, since the spacer ring is sandwiched between each disk substrate, the simultaneous mass transport capability, which is an advantage of the stack pole transport method, is reduced by half. In particular, this is because the greater the deflection of the disk substrate, the more it becomes necessary to insert a thicker spacer ring,
The strengths cannot be replaced by the weaknesses.

Secondly, when the disk substrate is taken out and conveyed, a necessary operation must be taken such that after the disk substrate is taken out, the spacer ring must also be taken out surely. Therefore, the handling mechanism / device requires two units for the disk substrate and the spacer ring, or a unit capable of performing two operations, and the handling mechanism / device is increased in size (enlarged installation area) and complicated ( (A factor of the cost UP).

Third, in the process of transporting one disk substrate to the next process, two take-out operations (the same applies to the loading operation from the previous process) are required. That is, 2
It is necessary to access the stack pole twice, and it is not easy to respond to high-speed tact. In view of the above points, the harm caused by the spacer ring being sandwiched is large.

In view of the above, the present invention makes use of the advantages of the stack pole transfer system without inserting a spacer ring, and furthermore, by adding a method and mechanism for reliably separating a disk substrate that has come into close contact with the stack plate, to thereby ensure reliability. It is another object of the present invention to provide a disk substrate separating and extracting apparatus and method capable of extracting and transporting one disk substrate from a disk substrate group.

[0016]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a disk substrate separating apparatus for separating and extracting disk substrates one by one from a group of disk substrates stacked on a stack pole. In the take-out device, a plurality of separation screw shafts that rotate in contact with the outer peripheral portion of the disk substrate are provided.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the above object is achieved.
The invention described in the first aspect is characterized in that an involute curve shape is incorporated in the shape of the screw portion of the screw shaft.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer system comprising:
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, the substrate separating and extracting mechanism centered on the separating screw shaft is concentrated above the stack pole.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a semiconductor device comprising:
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the second or third aspect, a friction mechanism that is movable in the same direction as the stacking direction of the disk substrates is added to the separating screw shaft. In order to achieve the above object, according to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the fourth aspect of the present invention, a nozzle or an outlet capable of ejecting an arbitrary gas is provided from a lower portion of the separating screw shaft toward the disk substrate. It is characterized by the following.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer system comprising:
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the fifth aspect of the present invention, a gas subjected to a static elimination treatment is used as a gas to be ejected.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer system comprising:
The described invention is directed to a disk substrate separating and extracting method for separating and extracting disk substrates one by one from a disk substrate group stacked on a stack pole, wherein a plurality of separating screws rotating in contact with an outer peripheral portion of the disk substrate. The disk substrate is taken out of the stack pole one by one by a shaft.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the above object is achieved.
The invention described in claim 7 is characterized in that, in the invention according to claim 7, an involute curve shape is adopted in the shape of the screw portion of the screw shaft so that the initial contact between the screw shaft and the disk substrate is smoothly performed. .

[0023]

Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below. 1 is a partially sectional front view of a stack pole, FIG. 2 is a view showing a state of stacked substrates, FIG. 3 is a top view of a substrate separation / extraction device, and FIG. 4 is a substrate separation / extraction device showing a first embodiment. FIG. 5 is a front view of a substrate separating and extracting apparatus according to a second embodiment, and FIGS. 6 (a) and 6 (b).
FIG. 3 is an enlarged configuration diagram of a separation screw portion.

As shown in FIG. 1, a stack pole used for disk production includes a stack pole base 1, a positioning hole 2 provided in the base 1, and a positioning hole 2
Pin shaft 3 vertically set up (usually finished to a diameter that allows insertion of the inner diameter hole of the disc substrate)
And a lifting spacer 4 provided at the lowermost portion of the pin shaft 3 and capable of moving up and down about the pin shaft 3 as a center axis.

As shown in FIG. 2, the disk substrate group 23
Is ideally horizontal like the upper three substrates, but in practice it often hangs down or adheres like the lower three substrates. The vertical movement of the lifting spacer 4 is performed by an external actuator. In the embodiment, the operation is performed by the lifter unit. The lifter unit is, as shown in FIG.
, A coupling 6, a screw shaft 7 parallel to the pin shaft 3 of the stack pole, a fork-type mover 9 attached to a mover 8 on the screw shaft 7, and upper and lower limit sensors (not shown). You.

As shown in FIG. 4, the disk substrate single-wafer separating unit according to the first embodiment has a rotating shaft 10, a separating screw 11 spline-joined to the rotating shaft 10, and an optional It comprises a spring 12 to which friction can be applied and a stopper 13 for holding the spring 12. The rotating shaft 10 has a spindle structure below the unit base 14, and is rotated by rotating a timing pulley 15 by a motor (not shown).

A plurality of disk substrate single-wafer separating units are arranged at equal intervals on a pitch circle where the separation screw 11 comes into contact with the disk substrate with the center of the stack pole (that is, the center of the disk substrate to be stacked) as the center. (As shown in FIG. 3, three units are arranged in this embodiment). Further, the timing pulleys 15 of the respective units are connected by a single timing belt (not shown) so that they can be rotated synchronously.

The disk substrate single-wafer separating unit according to the second embodiment is obtained by combining three desk substrate single-wafer separating units according to the first embodiment into one unit.
As shown in FIG. 5, a timing pulley 15 and a drive pulley 16 attached to each rotary shaft 10 are connected by a timing belt (not shown) so that each separation screw 11 can rotate synchronously. In addition, a unit cylinder 17 that moves up and down with each unit and an indexing table 21 that enables automatic replacement of a stack pole are added. A lifter unit is provided, though not shown.

The shape of the separation screw 11 will be described. The pitch of the separation screw 11 is the same as the thickness of the target disk substrate (0.6 mm for the DVD substrate), and is basically one pitch +
It is a screw with only a thread of α (overlap). Further, since the separating screw 11 and the rotating shaft 10 are spline-coupled, the separating screw 11 has a structure that can be moved in the vertical direction.

Next, the operation of the apparatus for separating and taking out substrates will be described mainly on the second embodiment shown in FIG. The stack poles in which the disk substrates are stacked and stored are arranged on the indexing table 21. At this time, a disk substrate single wafer separation unit (hereinafter referred to as DSU [Disk Sep.
[uniting Unit] is driven to lift the unit cylinder 17 to the upper retreat position.
A lifter unit for moving the lifting spacer 4 of the stack pole up and down is also retracted to the rear by a unit cylinder (not shown). This is to prevent collision due to interference during the automatic stack pole changing operation by the indexing drive 22.

Next, the indexing table 21 is
The sheet is rotated by an appropriate angle and positioned at the sheet separating position by SU. After the positioning is completed, the unit cylinder 17 is driven to lower the DSU to the initial position, and the lifter unit is moved forward by driving the unit cylinder (not shown) to move the fork type movable element 9 (FIG. 4) to the lifting spacer 4. To be inserted inside. At this time, the initial position of each separation screw 11 of the DSU is a position (phase) where the point A (one crest) is directed toward the center of the DSU pitch circle (see FIG. 6A).

Next, the motor 5 (FIG. 4) of the lifter unit is operated to raise the fork-type mover 9.
By moving the fork mover 9 inserted in the lifting spacer 4, the disk substrate group 23 stored in the stack pole moves up on the pin shaft 3. The disk substrate group 23 is raised to a position where the uppermost disk substrate 23a of the stacked disk substrate group 23 (see FIG. 6B) contacts the separation screw 11 of the DSU. The detection of the height of contact with the separation screw 11 is performed by a not-shown contact position disk presence / absence sensor (specifically, for example, a transmission type optical fiber sensor is installed on the side of the disk substrate, and on / off thereof is performed). To detect).

The initial state of contact between the disk substrate 23a and the separation screw 11 at the contact position is preferably such that the disk substrate 23a lifts each separation screw 11 lightly. Therefore, the lift amount of the disk substrate group 23 is adjusted in such a manner. Due to the weight of the separation screw 11, the disk substrate 23a
The separation screw 11 surely contacts.

Here, as in the embodiment, each separation screw 1
By disposing the spring 12 on the upper movable side of 1, the contact force of the spring is applied to the contact portion between the separation screw 11 and the disk substrate 23a, and the contact state further increases the adhesion. At the same time, poor contact due to variations in the thickness direction, such as warpage and bending, which the disk substrate itself has,
Can be absorbed and relaxed. When each separation screw 11 comes into contact with the disk substrate 23a, the motor 20 is driven,
Each separation screw 11 is rotated once in synchronization with this. This rotation is the sheet-separating operation of the disk substrate 23a.

The operation of separating the discs will be described in detail with reference to FIG. At the time of initial contact with the disk substrate 23a, the separation screw 11 is in contact with the disk substrate 23a at the lower surface of the thread portion A. Next, the separation screw 11 starts to rotate, and the contact point reaches the part B. In the portion B, where the number of threads is two, the “lower thread” of the two threads on the lower surface of the disk substrate 23a starts to contact therefrom.

Here, the involute curve is formed by using the root diameter of the separation screw 11 as a base circle at the cutting edge of the "lower screw thread" of the two threads of the separation screw 11 (tentatively referred to as the cutting screw cutting edge on the disk substrate). By applying the shape, the amount of contact with the disk substrate 23a (the size of the engagement range) gradually increases in accordance with the rotation of the separation screw 11. That is, in the portion B, the contact amount between the “lower thread” and the disk substrate 23a is 0, but the contact amount increases linearly until the portion C, so that a smooth rotational contact operation is performed.

The area between the parts B and D is an area where two threads overlap each other.
3a is the same as a state in which a wedge corresponding to the size of a screw thread is driven between the disk substrate 23b and the disk substrate 23b therebelow, and physically separates them. Here, during the rotation operation from the part B to the part D, static electricity removal processing is performed from the air nozzle 25 (FIG. 3) installed on the side of the separation screw 11 toward the gap between the separated disk substrates. Blow compressed compressed air. As a result, the static electricity of the disk substrate generated in the staff and the vacuum pocket created by the close contact of the disk substrates (the outer periphery of the disk substrate is closely adhered to, and the (This state is temporarily called as such) is removed or alleviated to more reliably perform the separating operation.

The disk substrate 23a separated from the lower disk substrate 23b by the rotation from the part D to the part A comes to the upper surface of the screw of the separation screw 11. At this time, the lower disk substrate 23b is pressed by the lower surface of the thread. Here, a separated disk substrate 23 such as a suction hand (not shown) is used.
The sheet separation and take-out operation is completed by sucking and transporting a. Next, since the contact position disk presence / absence sensor is turned off by removing one disk substrate, the stacked disk substrates are lifted by the lifter unit until the contact position disk presence sensor is turned on. One cycle ends.

[0039]

According to the present invention, even if the spacer ring is eliminated, the disc substrates that are in close contact with each other can be reliably separated and taken out one by one. Therefore, the mass transport of the disk substrates can be performed simultaneously by taking advantage of the advantage of the stack pole transport system.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially sectional front view of a stack pole.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a state of a laminated substrate.

FIG. 3 is a top view of the substrate separating and extracting apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a front view of the substrate separating and extracting apparatus according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a front view of a substrate separating and extracting apparatus according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged configuration diagram of a separation screw portion.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Stack pole base 2 Positioning hole 3 Pin shaft 4 Lifting spacer 5 Lifter motor 6 Coupling motor 7 Screw shaft 8 Mover 9 Fork-type mover 10 Rotation axis 11 Separation screw 12 Spring 13 Spring stopper 14 Unit base 15 Timing pulley 16 Drive pulley 17 Unit cylinder 18 Motor side drive pulley 19 Screw drive timing belt 20 Motor 21 Indexing table 22 Indexing drive 23 Disk substrate group 23a Upper disk substrate 23b Disk substrate just below disk substrate 23a 25 Air nozzle

Claims (8)

[Claims] An apparatus for separating and extracting disk substrates one by one from a group of disk substrates stacked on a stack pole, comprising: a plurality of separating screws rotating in contact with an outer peripheral portion of the disk substrate; An apparatus for separating and extracting a disk substrate, comprising a shaft. 2. The disk substrate separation and take-out device according to claim 1, wherein an involute curve shape is incorporated in the shape of the screw portion of the screw shaft. 3. The disk substrate separation / extraction device according to claim 2, wherein the substrate separation / extraction mechanism centered on the separation screw shaft is concentrated above the stack pole. 4. The disk substrate separation and take-out device according to claim 2, wherein a friction mechanism that is movable in the same direction as the disk substrate stacking direction is added to the separation screw shaft. 5. The disk substrate separation / extraction device according to claim 4, wherein a nozzle or a discharge port capable of discharging an arbitrary gas is provided from a lower portion of the separation screw shaft toward the disk substrate. 6. The disk substrate separating and extracting apparatus according to claim 5, wherein a gas subjected to static elimination is used as the gas to be ejected. 7. A disk substrate separating and extracting method for separating and extracting disk substrates one by one from a disk substrate group stacked on a stack pole, wherein a plurality of separating screws rotating in contact with an outer peripheral portion of the disk substrate. A disk substrate separating and extracting method, wherein disk substrates are individually extracted from a stack pole by a shaft. 8. The method for separating and extracting a disk substrate according to claim 7, wherein an involute curve shape is adopted as the shape of the screw portion of the screw shaft, and the initial contact between the screw shaft and the disk substrate is smoothly performed. .