JP2012096893A - Substrate carriage - Google Patents

Abstract

In a substrate transport cart that allows a flat substrate to be mounted and transported by a plurality of substrate support hands, the position of the substrate on the substrate support hand without damage to the substrate, scratches or contamination on the substrate. It is possible to provide a substrate transfer carriage that can be easily corrected or rotated.
A substrate support hand has a movable contact portion capable of moving a relative position between a placed substrate and the substrate support hand while maintaining the substrate placement state, and can be switched between valid and invalid. The ball bearing consists of a plurality of points arranged in a plane.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a substrate transport cart for transporting a flat substrate such as a color filter for a liquid crystal display device.

  When manufacturing a flat substrate such as a color filter for a liquid crystal display device, each process of the manufacturing line is automated, and in each process of the manufacturing line, glass or the like is used by a transfer conveyor / transfer robot / substrate transfer cart. The substrate and the substrate in the middle of the process are transported.

  Conventionally, production units are joined in-line, and a substrate is transferred between the production units by a transfer conveyor and transfer robot, thereby creating a smooth flow and mass production. However, recently, with the increase in size of mother boards to improve production efficiency and reduce production costs, the production facilities have also increased in size, and the required area of the production plant has increased. The area limitation of joining with the surface becomes remarkable. For this reason, some production units are independent and divided, and during that time, the substrate is often received, transported, and loaded by the substrate transport cart.

  In addition, there are more opportunities to use the substrate transport cart for the purpose of coping with diversification of product specifications and adapting to more flexible process design. The substrate transfer cart can easily select a transfer route according to the selection and order between the production units, and can easily deal with irregular treatments because it is easy to intervene manually.

  FIG. 2A is a schematic side view showing an example of the configuration of a conventional substrate transport cart, and FIG. 2B is a diagram for explaining a state in which the substrate transport cart of FIG. It is a model side view. The substrate transport cart 300 includes a support table 310, a stand 320 provided vertically on the support table 310, a hand arm 330 that holds a substrate, and a plurality of wheels 341. It can be moved up and down as indicated by the vertical block arrows.

A case will be described in which the substrate 361 placed on the loading pin 352 of the stage 351 of the apparatus delivery port 350 is received by the hand arm 330 of the substrate transport carriage and transported.
First, after adjusting the tip height of the hand arm 330 of the substrate transport carriage 300 as described above, the substrate is transported along the horizontal block arrow to the position reaching the back end of the substrate 361 on the loading pin 352 of the stage 351. The carriage 300 is moved horizontally, and then the hand arm 330 is lifted higher than the loading pin 352, thereby leaving the loading pin 352 and placing the substrate 361 on the hand arm 330.
Next, the substrate transport carriage 300 is moved horizontally in the direction opposite to the block arrow until the tip of the hand arm 330 returns to the front of the stage 351, whereby the substrate 361 placed on the hand arm 330 of the substrate transport cart 300 is removed. The substrate transfer carriage 300 can be freely transferred.

On the other hand, in the current situation where the substrate size is increasing, it is possible to take a large space with the horizontal movement of the substrate transfer carriage as described above in order to receive, transfer, and load the substrate in the substrate transfer carriage 300. There is a problem in efficiently and efficiently arranging production facilities in a factory, and an improved type that can hold a substrate in two horizontal / vertical states has been proposed as in Patent Document 1. As a result, a substrate transport cart for efficiently receiving, transporting and loading substrates with a minimum work area has been provided. However, it is necessary to provide a vacuum suction unit for each substrate transporting carriage, and to vacuum-suck the substrate placed on the hand arm, which complicates the structure of the substrate transporting carriage.

  Further, in the conventional type substrate transport cart shown in FIG. 2, there is a case where the substrate is rotated horizontally when the position of the substrate placed on the hand arm is corrected or the orientation of the orientation flat is changed. The improved type as in Document 1 becomes difficult. Furthermore, even with a conventional type substrate transport cart, manual correction or rotation of the substrate position on the hand arm (substrate support hand) may cause breakage, damage to the chip, scratches on the back surface, and dirt. is there. In order to avoid the above problems, there is a method in which the substrate is once transferred from the substrate transfer carriage to the separately provided substrate stand with rotation and position adjustment function, and after rotating and adjusting the position, the substrate is returned to the substrate transfer carriage again. However, it takes time to transfer, resulting in work loss, and new defects may occur due to the special work described above.

JP 2009-71117 A

  The present invention is proposed in view of the above-mentioned problems, and the problem to be solved by the present invention is to fix a flat substrate by a plurality of substrate support hands (corresponding to the hand arm). In a substrate transport cart that can be transported in a substrate, a substrate transport cart is provided that makes it possible to easily correct or rotate the position of the substrate on the substrate support hand without damaging the substrate, scratching or soiling the substrate. It is to be.

  As a means for solving the above-mentioned problems, the invention according to claim 1 is a substrate transport carriage that can transport a flat substrate fixedly mounted by a plurality of substrate support hands. A substrate transport carriage characterized in that the hand has a movable contact portion that can move between relative positions of the placed substrate and the substrate support hand while maintaining the substrate placement state, and can be switched between valid and invalid. is there.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the substrate transfer carriage according to the first aspect, the movable contact portion includes a plurality of points in which ball bearings are arranged in a plane.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, the substrate support hand includes a support pad portion for horizontally mounting a flat substrate from below, and a movable contact portion penetrating the support pad portion. The substrate transport cart according to claim 1, wherein the substrate transport cart has a structure capable of moving up and down from the surface of the portion.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the movable contact portion enables a plurality of movable contact portions to be collectively lifted and lowered by operating a lift lever through a lift positioning box provided at the bottom of the movable contact portion. It is a board | substrate conveyance trolley in any one of Claims 1-3 characterized by the above-mentioned.

  Further, the invention described in claim 5 has a substrate drop prevention guide for preventing the substrate from largely protruding from the region on the substrate support hand or falling. The substrate transport cart according to any one of the above.

The invention described in claim 6 is characterized in that when the relative position of the substrate and the substrate support hand is moved, a cushioning material is installed on the target surface where the substrate edge may collide. It is a board | substrate conveyance carriage in any one of -5.

  According to the present invention, in a substrate transport cart that can fix and transport a flat substrate by a plurality of substrate support hands, the substrate support hand is provided with a movable contact portion, and the movable contact portion is enabled and disabled. A substrate transport carriage that can easily correct or rotate the position of the substrate on the substrate support hand without causing damage to the substrate, scratches or dirt on the substrate by switching between the two states. it can.

It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of a structure of this invention, Comprising: (a) is a schematic plan view for demonstrating the 1st structural example of a board | substrate support hand periphery, (b) is the whole board | substrate conveyance trolley. It is a model side view for demonstrating the example of a structure. (A) is a schematic side view which shows an example of a structure of the conventional board | substrate conveyance trolley, (b) is a schematic side surface for demonstrating the state which the board | substrate conveyance trolley of (a) intends to mount a board | substrate. FIG. It is a schematic plan view for demonstrating the 2nd structural example periphery of the board | substrate support hand of this invention. It is a schematic plan view for demonstrating the relationship between the support pad part in FIG. 3, and a movable contact part. FIGS. 3A and 3B are schematic views for explaining the structure of a movable contact portion including a ball bearing in FIGS. 3 and 4, and FIGS. 3A and 3B are side views from different angles around a shaft at right angles. It is a model perspective view for demonstrating the mechanism which raises / lowers the movable contact part containing the ball bearing in FIG. In the 2nd example of composition of the present invention, it is a mimetic sectional view for explaining the state around a substrate support hand at the time of carrying a substrate. In the 2nd structural example of this invention, it is a schematic cross section for demonstrating the state of the board | substrate support hand periphery at the time of correcting or rotating a board | substrate position. It is a model perspective view for demonstrating the state in which a board | substrate fall prevention guide functions at the time of board | substrate conveyance by the board | substrate conveyance carriage of this invention. It is a model perspective view for demonstrating the state in which a shock absorbing material functions, when correcting or rotating the board | substrate position by the board | substrate conveyance carriage of this invention. It is a schematic cross section for demonstrating the example of the rotation mechanism of the ball bearing of the movable contact part used for this invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the configuration of the present invention, in which (a) is a schematic plan view for explaining a first configuration example around the substrate support hand, and (b) is a substrate. It is a model side view for demonstrating the structural example of the whole conveyance trolley | bogie. The function of placing the substrate 361 by the hand arm 330 in the example of the configuration of the conventional substrate transfer carriage 300 shown in FIG. 2 is that the substrate is placed on the support pad portion 44 in the substrate transfer carriage 1 of the present invention. This function can be fulfilled by the substrate support hand 41 which is provided on the surface and does not have a movable contact portion.

A plurality of substrate support hands 41 having no movable contact portion are arranged in parallel on the same plane, one end in the same direction is fixed to the hand support portion 30, and along the side surface of the stand 20 upright on the support base 10. The height of the horizontal plane of the substrate support hand 41 can be adjusted by sliding the hand support portion 30 up and down as in the conventional case. Furthermore, in the present invention, not only the function of transporting as a carriage without changing the position where the substrate 361 is placed, but also the position of the substrate on the substrate support hand can be easily corrected or rotated in the substrate placement state. Add a new function to make it possible. The latter function can be provided by a substrate support hand 42 having a movable contact.

  Specifically, a plurality of substrate support hands 42 having a movable contact portion 45 are arranged on the same plane in parallel with the substrate support hand 41 having no movable contact portion. However, the plane formed by the substrate support hand 41 having no movable contact portion is a different plane whose height can be changed. Only the substrate support hand 42 having the movable contact portion directly places the substrate when exercising a new function that allows the position of the substrate to be easily corrected or rotated. Only in this case, the height of the substrate support hand 42 is made to protrude from the height of the substrate support hand 41 to enable the movable contact portion 45 provided on the surface of the substrate support hand 42 on which the substrate is placed. On the other hand, in the case of carrying the substrate while being fixed, the substrate supporting hand 42 and the substrate mounted by setting the height of the substrate supporting hand 42 equal to or less than the height of the substrate supporting hand 41 not having the movable contact portion. The function of the movable contact portion 45 that enables movement of the relative position to the support hand is invalidated.

  The adjustment of the heights of the substrate support hand 41 having no movable contact portion and the substrate support hand 42 having a movable contact portion includes the adjustment of the height of a substrate drop prevention guide 43 described later, including the hand support portion 30. It is possible by devising the attachment method. That is, the vertical movement of the substrate support hand 41 having no movable contact portion represented by a thick solid arrow in FIG. 1B and the vertical movement of the substrate support hand 42 having a movable contact portion represented by a thin solid arrow. The vertical movement of the substrate drop prevention guide 43 represented by a dotted arrow can be set so that the relationship between the heights can be changed. Further, the overall height can be increased and decreased according to the vertical block arrow, and the entire carriage is horizontally moved according to the horizontal block arrow, as in the conventional substrate transfer carriage shown in FIG.

  The movable contact portion is supported not only when the substrate support hand is different from the substrate support hand having no movable contact portion as in the first example described above, but also as in the second example described later. A plurality of locations can be provided in at least a part of the substrate support hand having the pad portion so that switching between valid / invalid is possible. Any of the movable contact portions can be constituted by a ball bearing arranged in a plane by utilizing a point contact structure with the substrate plane by the ball bearing and a low friction property of rolling.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view for explaining a second configuration example around the substrate support hand of the present invention. A plurality of substrate support hands 40 are arranged in parallel on the same plane, one end in the same direction is fixed to the hand support portion 30, and a substrate drop prevention guide 43 described later is also fixed to the hand support portion 30 and provided as appropriate. it can. In addition, the height of the horizontal plane of the substrate support hand 40 can be adjusted by sliding the hand support portion 30 up and down along the side surface of the stand upright on the support base, as shown in FIG. This is the same as the configuration example.

  In the second configuration example shown in FIG. 3, a support pad portion 46 for horizontally mounting a flat substrate from below is provided on the surface on which the substrate of the substrate support hand 40 is placed, and the support pad portion. 46 and the base portion of the substrate support hand are provided with a movable contact portion 47 so that the movable contact portion 47 can be moved up and down from the surface of the support pad portion 46. In this example, the planar position of the movable contact portion 47 is illustrated in the center portion of the support pad portion 46. However, the present invention is not limited, and any position on the substrate support hand that protrudes from the end portion of the support pad portion or the support pad portion. It can also be set as the plane position.

FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view for explaining the relationship between the support pad portion and the movable contact portion in FIG. 3. A through-hole 461 of the support pad portion for passing the movable contact portion 47 is provided in the central portion of the support pad portion 46, and a ball bearing 470 can be used at the tip of the movable contact portion 47. As the support pad portion 46, various elastomer materials such as vulcanized rubber and thermosetting resin-based elastomer can be used as in the conventional case.

  FIGS. 5A and 5B are schematic views for explaining the structure of the movable contact portion including the ball bearing in FIGS. 3 and 4, and FIGS. 5A and 5B are side views from different angles that are perpendicular to each other around the axis. FIG. The movable contact portion supports the ball bearing 470 at the tip by a ball bearing column 471, and is provided at a lower portion of the ball bearing column 471 perpendicular to the axis of the column to be used for vertical movement of the movable contact unit. A pin 472 is provided.

  The technique for holding and rotating the ball bearing 470 at the tip of the ball bearing post 471 can be achieved by a similar method using components generally used in various scenes where the ball bearing is used. is there. FIG. 11 is a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining an example of the rotation mechanism of the ball bearing of the movable contact portion used in the present invention.

  The main ball 473 in the figure corresponds to the above-described ball bearing 470 for placing the substrate and moving it freely. A state in which a high-precision main ball 473 rides on a plurality of small balls 474 arranged on a concave spherical surface inside the ball receiver 475 in order to realize free rotation with a small frictional resistance indicated by a curved arrow in the main ball. Installed. In FIG. 5, the detailed structure of the portion where the ball bearing 470 at the tip is supported by the ball bearing column 471 can function well by using such a rotation mechanism.

  FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view for explaining a mechanism for moving up and down the movable contact portion including the ball bearing in FIGS. The movement for moving the movable contact portion 47 up and down is made possible by the lifting / lowering positioning box 48 receiving an external force on the lifting / lowering box drive shaft 49 connected to the bottom surface thereof and moving in the horizontal direction in the figure as indicated by the block arrows. The movable contact portion guide pin 472 is supported through the movable contact portion guide pin oblique elongated holes 481 provided on the two opposing surfaces of the elevating positioning box 48, and moves along the elongated holes, thereby driving the drive shaft 49. Can be converted into a vertical movement of the movable contact portion 47.

Next, how the mechanism for raising and lowering the movable contact portion corresponds to how the substrate is handled on the substrate support hand will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8. FIG.
FIG. 7 is a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining a state around the substrate support hand when the substrate is transported in the second configuration example of the present invention. In the substrate support hand 40 fixed to the hand support portion 30 or in the vicinity of being connected in parallel to the substrate support hand, the lift box drive shaft 49 passes through the hand support portion 30 and passes through the lift lever 491 connected to the outside. Can be pushed and pulled in the left-right direction. A plurality of elevating positioning boxes 48 are connected to the elevating box drive shaft 49, and each elevating positioning box 48 is provided with the above-described movable contact portion 47 provided linearly below the support pad portion 46 having a through hole. It can be moved up and down collectively through the bush 482.

  In FIG. 7, the lift lever 491 is pushed in as indicated by a block arrow, and the plurality of connected lift positioning boxes 48 are moved to the left in the figure at the same time, so that each movable contact portion 47 is lowered by the above-described mechanism. Since the tip of the movable contact portion 47 is retracted below the upper surface of the support pad 46, the substrate 361 on the support pad can be stably conveyed. The linear bush 482 is a linear motion guide that is generally used, and can guarantee a stable and free vertical movement of the movable contact portion 47 that passes therethrough.

FIG. 8 is a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining a state around the substrate support hand when the substrate position is corrected or rotated in the second configuration example of the present invention. In the same mechanism as in FIG. 7, the lifting lever 491 is pulled to the right as indicated by a block arrow, and the plurality of connected lifting positioning boxes 48 move all at once in the right direction in the drawing, so that each of the movable mechanisms can be moved by the mechanism described above. Since the contact portion 47 is held at a high position and the tip of the movable contact portion 47 protrudes above the upper surface of the support pad 46, the position can be smoothly corrected or rotated with respect to the substrate 361 on the support pad. .

  FIG. 9 is a schematic perspective view for explaining a state in which the substrate drop prevention guide functions during substrate conveyance by the substrate conveyance carriage of the present invention. The substrate transport cart can be directly connected to the stand 20 and can be provided with a handle 35 and a mechanism (not shown) for connecting to the handle 20. The hand support 30 can be moved up and down as needed, or an axis perpendicular to the axis of the stand. In contrast, the hand support 30 and the substrate support hand 40 connected thereto can be tilted. In particular, the substrate drop prevention guide 43 can be provided in order to prevent the substrate from falling when the substrate 361 placed by tilting the plane formed by the plurality of substrate support hands is tilted from the horizontal state. If the height of the substrate drop prevention guide 43 can be changed in the second example as well as the first example shown in FIG. It can function effectively without getting in the way. Further, even when the placed substrate is not tilted, if the substrate drop prevention guide 43 is present when the substrate position is corrected or rotated, the substrate is damaged due to protruding from the region where the substrate is to be placed. Etc. can be avoided.

  As measures for preventing breakage or the like when the substrate position is corrected or rotated, in addition to the above-described substrate fall prevention guide 43, measures can be taken by providing a buffer material. FIG. 10 is a schematic perspective view for explaining a state in which the cushioning material functions when the substrate position is corrected or rotated by the substrate transport carriage of the present invention.

  In particular, the example shown in FIG. 10 is an example in which the orientation of the placed substrate is changed by 90 degrees, and may be necessary when the position of the orientation flat for determining the orientation of the substrate is to be changed. After placing the substrate 362 indicated by the broken line on the substrate support hand 40, the substrate support is changed from the state in which the movable contact portion as shown in FIG. 7 is disabled to the state in which the movable contact portion is enabled as shown in FIG. The state of the hand 40 is changed, and the orientation of the substrate is changed. At that time, it is not that the substrate placement state is not interrupted at all, but if it involves a large movement as in this example, the substrate 362 is once lifted and rotated, and then placed at a substantially appropriate position. The substrate 363 after moving on the substrate support hand can be obtained by performing accurate alignment in the mounted state. By the above operation, the original orientation flat position 364 is moved to a new orientation flat position 365. After that, by returning the state of the substrate support hand 40 from the state in which the movable contact portion is made valid to the state in which the movable contact portion is made invalid, it is possible to shift to the transfer work.

  As described above, when correcting or rotating the substrate position, it is possible to prevent the end portion of the substrate from colliding with or contacting each part of the substrate transport carriage of the present invention and causing damage including scratches and cracks. In addition, providing a cushioning material has a great effect. That is, when the relative position of the substrate and the substrate support hand is moved, the cushioning material can be installed on the target surface where the substrate edge may collide. In the figure, an example is shown in which the cushioning material 60 is provided on the surface of the hand support unit 30 on the substrate placement side. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and there is a possibility of a collision such as the substrate drop prevention guide 43 or a part of the stand 20. It is desirable to provide as wide a surface as possible. The cushioning material can be widely used as long as it is a cushioning clean material, but various elastomer materials such as vulcanized rubber and thermosetting resin elastomer used for the support pad portion 46 on the substrate support hand 40 can be used. Can be used.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Substrate conveyance cart 10 ... Support stand 20 ... Stand 30 ... Hand support part 35 ... Handle 40 ... Substrate support hand 41 ... Substrate support hand which does not have a movable contact part 42 ... Substrate support hand 43 having a movable contact portion ... Substrate drop prevention guides 44, 46 ... Support pad portions 45, 47 ... Movable contact portion 48 ... Elevating positioning box 49 ... Elevating / lowering Box drive shaft 50... Wheel 60... Buffer material 300... Substrate transport cart 310... Support stand 320... Stand 330 ... Hand arm 341. 351 ... Stage 352 ... Loading pin 361 ... Substrate 362 ... Substrate 363 before movement on the substrate support hand ... Substrate 364 after movement on the substrate support hand The orientation flat position 365 of the substrate 362 before the movement. The orientation flat position 461 of the substrate 363 after the movement. The through hole 470 of the support pad portion. The ball bearing 471. Movable contact portion guide pin 473... Main ball 474. Small ball 475... Ball receiver 481... Oblique long hole 482 for movable contact portion guide pin.

Claims (6)

  A substrate transporting carriage that allows a flat substrate to be fixed and transported by a plurality of substrate support hands, wherein the substrate support hand maintains the substrate mounting state and the substrate mounted and the substrate support hand And a movable contact portion that can be switched between valid and invalid.   The substrate transport carriage according to claim 1, wherein the movable contact portion includes a plurality of points on which ball bearings are arranged in a plane.   The substrate support hand includes a support pad portion for horizontally mounting a flat substrate from below, and a structure in which the movable contact portion can be moved up and down from the surface of the support pad portion through the support pad portion. The substrate transport cart according to claim 1, wherein the substrate transport cart is provided.   The movable contact part enables a plurality of movable contact parts to be collectively lifted and lowered by operating a lift lever through a lift positioning box provided at the bottom of the movable contact part. The board | substrate conveyance trolley of description.   The substrate transport carriage according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a substrate fall prevention guide for preventing the substrate from largely protruding from an area on the substrate support hand or dropping.   6. The substrate transport carriage according to claim 1, wherein a buffer material is installed on a target surface where the substrate end may collide when the relative position of the substrate and the substrate support hand is moved. .