JP2008308315A - Carrying device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To implement a guide rail having a shape freely expanded/contracted according to temperature fluctuation and not deformed, and to implement structure unambiguously determining an optimum clearance between the guide rail and a carrying tray. <P>SOLUTION: The carrying device comprises: a pair of guide rails attached to a support base; and recess parts respectively disposed to the pair of the guide rails to pinch the carrying tray therebetween. The guide rail further comprises: guide rail main bodies having the recess parts; and rail bases having one surface in contact with a bottom surface of the guide rail main body and the other surface attached to the support base, and made from material better in heat conductivity than the guide rail main body. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present invention relates to a transport device that transports a tray.
More specifically, in a horizontal transfer type transfer device, the measurement IC device is mounted on a dedicated transfer tray, and the transfer device that transfers the inside of the device along a fixed route has a guide rail that correctly guides the transfer tray. The present invention relates to a transport device.

  Prior art documents related to the transport apparatus include the following.

JP 2006-337053 A

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a conventional example that is generally used, FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the main part of FIG. 7, FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the main part of FIG. FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining the operation of FIG. 7, and FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining the operation of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of an IC transfer device of a horizontal transfer type IC handler and its transfer path.
As shown in FIG. 8, the tray 1 is guided by guide rails 2 having cross-sectional shapes that face each other and circulate on a support base 3 of the apparatus.
As shown in FIG. 9, the guide rail 2 is fixed to the support base 3 with screws through screw holes 4.

The conveyance power of the tray 1 is directly coupled to the tray 1 using an actuator (air cylinder or the like) (not shown).
The tray 1 includes an IC loader part A for supplying pre-inspection ICs, a chamber part B for heating the tray 1, an IC inspection part C for connecting ICs to inspection equipment, and an IC unloader part D for classifying and storing post-inspection ICs. At some point, it temporarily remains on the guide rail 2 of the support base 3.

One of the measurement conditions for IC is a temperature range from room temperature to 125 degrees, and the IC is heated at a predetermined temperature therebetween.
In addition to the chamber part B, the heater has a heater for preheating and keeping warm at positions before and after the chamber part B.
In this case, a heat resistant nylon material is selected for the guide rail 2 from the viewpoint of slidability, wear resistance and heat resistance.

In such an apparatus, there is a problem that the conveyance tray is caught in the guide rail 2 during the conveyance and the conveyance stops for the following reasons.
As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the guide rail 2 is fixed at both ends or a plurality of points with screws, and does not have a structure that allows the horizontal expansion due to thermal expansion to escape, and the guide rail 2 is bent. For example, when the rail length is 600 mm, an elongation of about 5 mm occurs at Δ100 ° C.
10 and 11, (A) shows a normal temperature, and (B) shows a high temperature.

  As shown in FIG. 12, the optimum clearance E between the guide rail 2 and the transport tray 1 is not uniquely determined. If the clearance E is small, it is caught. If the clearance E is large, the transport tray 1 and the actuator (air The clearance allowable for pin fitting with a cylinder or the like) is exceeded, and the actuator and the transport tray 1 cannot be fitted.

  An object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems, and to realize a structure in which the guide rail freely expands and contracts with respect to temperature fluctuation and does not distort, and a structure that uniquely determines the optimum clearance between the guide rail and the transport tray. It is to provide a transport device.

In order to achieve such a problem, in the present invention, in the conveying device of claim 1,
In the transport device including a pair of guide rails attached to the support base and a recess provided on each of the pair of guide rails and sandwiching the transport tray, the guide rail includes a guide rail body having the recess, One surface is in contact with the bottom surface of the guide rail body, and the other surface is attached to the support base, and a rail base made of a material having better thermal conductivity than the guide rail body is provided.

In the conveyance apparatus of Claim 2 of this invention, In the conveyance apparatus of Claim 1,
A fitting groove is provided on the one surface of the rail base and into which a bottom portion of the guide rail body is fitted.

In the transport apparatus according to claim 3 of the present invention, in the transport apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
A thermal expansion absorption groove is provided at the bottom of the guide rail body to absorb thermal expansion of the guide rail body.

In the conveyance apparatus of Claim 4 of this invention, In the conveyance apparatus in any one of Claim 1 thru | or 3,
A fixing screw that is provided at each end of the guide rail body in the longitudinal direction and fixes the guide rail body to the rail base, and a length that is provided on one side of the fixing screw and absorbs elongation due to thermal expansion of the guide rail body. And a hole.

In the conveyance apparatus of Claim 5 of this invention, In the conveyance apparatus of Claim 4,
A coil spring and a washer are provided between a head of a fixing screw disposed in the elongated hole and the guide rail body.

In the conveying apparatus of Claim 6 of this invention, In the conveying apparatus in any one of Claim 1 thru | or 3,
A fixing screw provided on one end side of the guide rail body for fixing the guide rail body to the rail base; and a locking groove provided on a bottom portion of the guide rail body for locking the rail base. It is characterized by.

In the conveying apparatus of Claim 7 of this invention, In the conveying apparatus in any one of Claim 1 thru | or 6,
The guide rail body includes a plurality of small unit length guide rail bodies that are arranged with a gap therebetween and are divided into small unit lengths so as not to generate a large amount of thermal expansion.

According to claim 1 of the present invention, there are the following effects.
Since the guide rail consists of a guide rail body and a rail base, a guide rail body with a minimum rail thickness can be configured, so the amount of thermal expansion of the guide rail as a whole can be reduced and the rail base can be heated. By using a highly conductive metal, a transport device that can also be expected to have a heat dissipation effect can be obtained.
It is possible to improve the catching of the transport tray due to thermal expansion, and further, it is possible to obtain a transport device having an assembly-adjustment-free configuration by improving the assembly property.

According to claim 2 of the present invention, there are the following effects.
The rail base has a fitting groove that can be fitted to the guide rail body at room temperature, so the guide rail body can be positioned regardless of the clearance of the screw holes, and the pitch between the opposing guide rail bodies is also Since it becomes constant, the conveyance clearance of the tray can be maintained between the opposing guide rails, and a conveyance device that is free of adjustment can be obtained simply by aligning the guide rail body with the fitting groove provided in the rail base.
Replacement of the guide rail is also a user maintenance work, and a transfer device effective for the maintenance work can be obtained.

According to claim 3 of the present invention, there are the following effects.
If too much thermal expansion is taken into consideration between the guide rail body and the fitting groove, there will be many gaps at room temperature, which will not be useful.
The thermal expansion absorption groove is thermally expanded to a certain extent, and after the clearance of the fitting groove becomes insufficient, the thermal expansion absorption groove is deformed inward to obtain a conveying device that can absorb the thermal expansion.

According to claim 4 of the present invention, there are the following effects.
Since the long hole is provided, the guide rail body can be freely expanded and contracted without distortion.
Thereby, the conveyance apparatus which can prevent catching of the conveyance tray by the bending of a guide rail main body is obtained.

According to claim 5 of the present invention, there are the following effects.
Since the coil spring and the washer are provided, it is possible to obtain a transport device that has a better slidability during thermal expansion of the guide rail body.

According to claim 6 of the present invention, there are the following effects.
A guide screw is provided on one end of the guide rail body, and a fixing screw for fixing the guide rail body to the rail base and a locking groove for locking the rail base are provided on the bottom of the guide rail body. The rail body is put in a structure that fits into the rail base, and one end is screwed, but the other end is free, so the guide rail body does not bend and can be expanded and contracted freely against temperature fluctuations Is obtained.

According to claim 7 of the present invention, there are the following effects.
The guide rail body is arranged with a gap between each other and is composed of a plurality of small unit length guide rail bodies divided into small unit lengths so as not to generate a large amount of thermal expansion. A transfer device that is less susceptible to thermal expansion of the rail body is obtained.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is an explanatory view of the main part configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.
In the figure, the same symbol structure as in FIG. 7 represents the same function.
Only the difference from FIG. 7 will be described below.

In FIG. 1, a guide rail 11 includes a guide rail body 13 having a recess 12, and
One surface is in contact with the bottom surface of the guide rail body 13 and the other surface is attached to the support base 3, and has a rail base 14 made of a material having better thermal conductivity than the guide rail body.
The fitting groove 15 is provided on one surface of the rail base 14 and the bottom portion of the guide rail body 13 is fitted.

The fixing screws 16 are provided at both ends of the guide rail body 13 in the longitudinal direction, and fix the guide rail body 13 to the rail base 14.
The elongated hole 17 is provided on one side of the fixing screw 16 and absorbs elongation due to thermal expansion of the guide rail body 13.

  In the above configuration, the thickness of the guide rail 2 in the conventional example of FIG. 7 is thick as shown in FIG. 9 and there is thermal expansion in the length direction as well as in the length direction. In the embodiment of FIG. A good metal such as aluminum is used as a rail base 14, and a guide rail main body 13 with a minimum rail thickness is mounted thereon, and the guide rail 11 as a whole has a length direction and a height direction. Can also suppress thermal expansion.

  Since the rail base 14 has a fitting groove 15 that can be fitted to the bottom of the guide rail body 13, the guide rail body 13 can be positioned regardless of the clearance of the screw hole of the fixing screw 16. The pitch between the opposing guide rail bodies 13 can also be made constant.

One end of the guide rail body 13 is screwed with a fixing screw 16, and a degree of freedom is provided at a portion of the fixing screw 16 at the other end.
That is, even if the long rail, for example, 600 mm remains, a long hole 17 is provided in the portion of the fixing screw 16 at the other end of the guide rail body 13, and the fixing screw 16 is a stepped screw (shoulder bolt). In addition, even when the thermal expansion is performed, the guide rail main body 13 can be allowed to escape without being compressed.

As a result,
Since the guide rail 11 includes the guide rail main body 13 and the rail base 14, the guide rail main body 13 with the minimum rail thickness can be configured, so that the thermal expansion amount of the guide rail 11 as a whole can be suppressed to a low level. By making the rail base 14 a metal having good thermal conductivity, a transport device that can also expect a heat dissipation effect can be obtained.
The catching of the transport tray 1 due to thermal expansion can be improved, and further, a transport device having a configuration without assembly adjustment can be obtained by improving the assemblability.

  Since the rail base 14 has a fitting groove 15 that can be fitted to the guide rail body 13 at room temperature, the guide rail body 13 can be positioned regardless of the clearance of the screw holes, and the opposing guide rail body Since the pitch between the guides 13 is also constant, the conveyance clearance of the tray 1 can be maintained between the opposing guide rails 11, and only by aligning the guide rail body 13 with the fitting groove 15 provided in the rail base 14, A transfer device that is free of adjustment is obtained.

The replacement of the guide rail 11 is also a user maintenance work, and a conveyance device effective for the maintenance work can be obtained.
Since the elongated hole 17 is provided, the guide rail body 13 can freely expand and contract and does not distort.
Thereby, the conveyance apparatus which can prevent catching of the conveyance tray 1 by the bending of the guide rail main body 13 is obtained.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of the main part configuration of another embodiment of the present invention.
In FIG. 2, the thermal expansion absorption groove 21 is provided at the bottom of the guide rail body 13 and absorbs thermal expansion of the guide rail body 13.
Reference numeral 22 denotes a hole for the fixing screw 16.

If the guide rail body 13 and the fitting groove 15 are too much in consideration of thermal expansion, there will be many gaps at room temperature and they will not be useful.
The thermal expansion absorption groove 21 is thermally expanded to the extent that the guide rail body 13 is present, and after the clearance of the fitting groove 15 becomes insufficient, the thermal expansion absorption groove 21 can be deformed inward to absorb the thermal expansion. A conveying device is obtained.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of the main part configuration of another embodiment of the present invention.
In FIG. 3, the coil spring 31 and the washer 32 are provided between the head of the fixing screw 16 disposed in the elongated hole 17 and the guide rail body 13.

  As a result, since the coil spring 31 and the washer 32 are provided, a conveying device with better sliding property during thermal expansion of the guide rail body 13 can be obtained.

4 and 5 are explanatory views of the main part configuration of another embodiment of the present invention.
In FIG. 4, the fixing screw 41 is provided on one end side of the guide rail main body 13, and fixes the guide rail main body 13 to the rail base 14.
The locking groove 42 is provided at the bottom of the guide rail body 13 and locks the rail base 14.

  As a result, a fixing screw 41 that is provided on one end side of the guide rail body 13 and fixes the guide rail body 13 to the rail base 14, and a latch that is provided on the bottom of the guide rail body 13 and locks the rail base 14. Since the groove 42 is provided, the guide rail body 13 is placed so as to be fitted into the rail base 14, and one end is screwed 41, but the other end is free, so the guide rail body 13 is not bent. Thus, it is possible to obtain a transfer device that can freely expand and contract with respect to temperature fluctuations.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view of the main part configuration of another embodiment of the present invention.
In FIG. 6, the guide rail body 51 includes a plurality of small unit length guide rail bodies 53 that are arranged with a gap 52 therebetween and divided into small unit lengths so as not to generate a large amount of thermal expansion.

Reference numeral 54 denotes a fixing screw.
For example, specifically, the unit length guide rail body 53 is 140 mm, the gap 52 is 10 to 15 mm, and the distance from the fixing screw 54 to the end of the unit length guide rail body 53 is 20 mm.
For example, by setting the mounting screw pitch to about 100 mm, the thermal expansion at that location can be suppressed to about 0.8 mm.
A sufficient gap is provided between adjacent unit length guide rail bodies 53 so that adjacent unit length guide rail bodies 53 do not interfere with each other.

As a result,
The guide rail body 51 is arranged with a gap 52 between each other, and is composed of a plurality of small unit length guide rail bodies 53 that are divided into small unit lengths so as not to generate a large amount of thermal expansion. Thus, a transfer device that is less affected by thermal expansion of the guide rail body 51 is obtained.

The above description merely shows a specific preferred embodiment for the purpose of explanation and illustration of the present invention.
Therefore, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and includes many changes and modifications without departing from the essence thereof.

It is principal part structure explanatory drawing of one Example of this invention. It is principal part structure explanatory drawing of the other Example of this invention. It is principal part structure explanatory drawing of the other Example of this invention. It is principal part structure explanatory drawing of the other Example of this invention. It is principal part structure explanatory drawing of the other Example of this invention. It is principal part structure explanatory drawing of the other Example of this invention. It is structure explanatory drawing of the prior art example generally used conventionally. It is principal part structure explanatory drawing of FIG. It is principal part structure explanatory drawing of FIG. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing of FIG. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing of FIG. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

Reference Signs List 1 tray 2 guide rail 3 support base 4 screw hole 5 screw 11 guide rail 12 recess 13 guide rail body 14 rail base 15 fitting groove 16 fixing screw 17 long hole 21 thermal expansion absorption groove 22 hole for fixing screw 16 31 coil Spring 32 Washer 41 Fixing screw 42 Locking groove 51 Guide rail body 52 Clearance 53 Small unit length guide rail body 54 Fixing screw A IC loader part B Chamber part C IC inspection part D IC unloader part E Clearance

Claims (7)

In a transport apparatus comprising a pair of guide rails attached to a support base and a recess provided on each of the pair of guide rails and sandwiching a transport tray,
The guide rail has a guide rail body having the recess,
And a rail base made of a material having one surface in contact with the bottom surface of the guide rail main body and the other surface being attached to the support base and having a thermal conductivity better than that of the guide rail main body. The conveying apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a fitting groove provided on the one surface of the rail base and into which a bottom portion of the guide rail body is fitted. The conveyance device according to claim 1, further comprising a thermal expansion absorption groove provided at a bottom portion of the guide rail main body for absorbing thermal expansion of the guide rail main body. A fixing screw provided at each of both ends in the longitudinal direction of the guide rail body and fixing the guide rail body to the rail base;
The conveying device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising an elongated hole provided on one side of the fixing screw to absorb elongation due to thermal expansion of the guide rail body. The conveying apparatus according to claim 4, wherein a coil spring and a washer are provided between a head of a fixing screw disposed in the elongated hole and the guide rail body. A fixing screw provided on one end side of the guide rail body and fixing the guide rail body to the rail base;
The conveying apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a locking groove that is provided at a bottom portion of the guide rail body and locks the rail base. The guide rail body includes a plurality of small unit length guide rail bodies that are arranged with a gap therebetween and divided into small unit lengths so as not to generate a large amount of thermal expansion. The conveying apparatus in any one of thru | or 6 thru | or 6.

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