JPH06335891A - Joint for vacuum manipulator - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] (Modified) [Construction] In a vacuum mechanism equipped with cooling and heat insulation functions for mechanical elements that are sensitive to severe temperatures, heat is applied to the bearing mechanism mounting parts 3 and 14 where rattling easily occurs due to thermal deformation. The elastic support member 17 is attached. [Effect] Even if rattling occurs due to temperature deformation, this adiabatic elastic member deforms following it, so rattling of the mechanical system does not occur. Further, since the heat insulating elastic member prevents heat inflow from the outside or heat loss to the outside in the severe heat environment of the outside, it is possible to set the mechanical element weak against the severe temperature within the allowable range.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a manipulator driving mechanism element used in a vacuum environment, and particularly to a space manipulator susceptible to heat and temperature changes and a wafer handling for a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus for film growth. Optimal drive mechanism elements.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there are almost no manipulators used in a vacuum environment, and there is only a wafer handling mechanism in a vacuum chamber of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus or the like, and a mechanism for introducing power into the chamber.

A wafer handling mechanism is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-28.
There is one disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 5413. In this apparatus, the mechanism portion is heated to 200 ° C. or higher by the heat of the vapor deposition source, and there is a concern that the bearing or the like will be seized at the mechanism portion. In the prior art, in such a case, a gap of a contact sliding portion such as a bearing or a gear is set larger than usual to prevent galling.

Recently, the development of high-performance manipulators used in outer space has begun. However, the conventional space manipulators do not have such high driving accuracy and short life. Therefore, the gap of the mechanical element is enlarged, or the lubricant is coated to drive the element in a short time even if the gap is small. Further, in order to improve high temperature resistance, a heat shield cover is provided outside the manipulator to suppress radiant heat intrusion from the outside and prevent an abnormal temperature rise of drive mechanism elements inside the joint.

On the other hand, it is conceivable to thermally insulate or cool these components from the outside in order to protect the drive mechanical elements from a severe temperature environment. In this case, depending on the adiabatic cooling method, rattling due to thermal deformation occurs in the portion of the manipulator that is driven relative to each other, and it becomes impossible to realize highly accurate driving.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a drive mechanism which has a high positioning accuracy of a vacuum manipulator in a harsh thermal environment and which can be used for a long period of time.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, first, in order to prevent the temperature of the mechanical element part used in the drive mechanism part in vacuum from changing due to heat intrusion or cooling from the outside, It is necessary to block heat transfer to the mechanical element or remove self-heating of the mechanical element part by cooling. At this time, the rattling of the mechanical system caused by the generated temperature distribution should be removed by using an elastically deformable member having the rigidity required by the mechanical system and the heat insulating property capable of protecting the temperature of the mechanical element part. To do.

[0008]

In the bearing mechanism portion provided between the drive side portion including and fixing the above mechanical element and the driven side portion connected thereto via the power transmission portion, the bearing mechanism portion and the driven side portion are By mounting an elastically deformable support having excellent heat insulating properties between them, heat transfer between the mechanical element and the outside can be blocked. Further, against rattling caused by thermal deformation due to a temperature difference between the driving side part and the driven side part, it is possible to prevent rattling by absorbing the deformation by the elastic member.
As a result, it is possible to realize a highly accurate vacuum drive mechanism that improves reliability of mechanical element parts such as a motor that is vulnerable to a harsh thermal environment and is free of rattling.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an appearance of a space articulated manipulator, which is shown as a typical example of a drive mechanism used in a vacuum and a severe temperature environment. FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the joint portion of this multi-joint manipulator.
The inside of the joint is generally composed of a drive side case 1 including and fixing a motor, a brake, a speed reducer, and the like, and a driven side case 3 coaxially arranged with the rotation shaft, and there is a relative relationship between them. Bearing mechanism 9 for smooth rotation
Is installed. The heat intrusion into the motor 7 or the like from the outside or the heat outflow to the outside is caused by the bearing mechanism 9 and the driven case 3
It is blocked by the elastic heat insulating supports 11a and 11b mounted between and. Further, a portion of the surface of the drive side case that is exposed to the outside by the notch of the driven side case 3 is covered with a heat shield plate to prevent heat transfer to the outside. With this configuration, the motor 7
In addition to the mechanical element parts such as the above, the bearing mechanism 9 can be protected from the severe temperature environment.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a cross section of the elastic heat insulating support of the bearing mechanism. 11c is the driven case 3
11e is an elastically deformable portion for absorbing relative deformation between the driving side case 14 and the driven side case 3 caused by thermal deformation. This elastic heat insulating support 11
For example, stainless steel, which has a relatively low thermal conductivity, may be used as the material. Alternatively, if the elastic deformability is to be increased, a titanium alloy having a low thermal conductivity and a Young's modulus smaller than stainless steel may be used.

FIG. 5 shows another sectional shape of the heat insulating elastic support. Also with this cross section, even if thermal deformation occurs in the axial direction or the radial direction with respect to the rotation direction, stable driving can be performed without causing rattling by the adiabatic elastic support member 19.

FIG. 6 is a heat insulating elastic support member 1 shown in FIG.
9, a bearing mechanism 9 and a tightening portion 19a for integrating this member are provided, and FIG. 7 is a perspective view thereof. FIG. 7 is a view in which the adiabatic elastic support is divided in the circumferential direction for rotation, but even in the case of a cylindrical member integrated in the circumferential direction, by providing a plurality of fastening portions 19a at equal intervals. Similar functions can be realized. Further, the crimp portion 19a may of course be applied to a heat insulating elastic support member having a shape as shown in FIG. By this fastening portion, the bearing 9 and the adiabatic elastic support can be integrated, and the number of parts can be reduced to facilitate the assembly.

FIG. 8 shows the deformability of the elastic heat insulating support 17 divided into the axial direction and the radial direction. That is, the 17d portion mainly follows the deformation in the radial direction.
The portion e is a portion that is deformed mainly following the axial deformation. Further, by using stainless steel or titanium alloy having a low thermal conductivity as a material, it is possible to realize a bearing support having sufficient thermal insulation performance with elastic constants of each part required for the entire mechanism.

FIG. 9 shows a heat insulating elastic support 17 in FIG.
In order to make the bearing integrated with the bearing 9, a fastening portion 17g is provided. As a result, the assembly performance can be improved.

FIG. 10 shows the member 18 in charge of the elastic deformability in the radial direction and the member in charge of the elastic deformability in the axial direction in the elastic performance separating structure in the axial direction and the radial direction in FIGS. The member 18 'is separated. With this structure, the elastic constants in each direction can be more easily matched with the design value, and a highly reliable drive mechanism can be realized.

FIG. 11 shows the components of the embodiment of FIG. 10 in which the components 18 and 18 'are attached to the driven case.
12 and 13 show an example in which the axial elastic deformability component 18 'of FIG. 11 is attached to the driven case. For example, such a method facilitates assembly.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view showing the heat insulating elastic support member 11 shown in FIG. 4 which is integrally formed in the circumferential direction. Alternatively, in FIG. 15, slits 11s are provided in the circumferentially integrated heat insulating elastic support member 11 of FIG. 14 so that the elastic constant is made smaller than that of the circumferentially integrated structure. With such a structure, the elastic constant can be easily controlled to an arbitrary value. 16 and 17 show a case where the heat insulating elastic support having the sectional view shown in FIG. Similar to FIG.
By providing slits in the circumferential direction, the required elastic constant can be obtained (FIG. 17).

18 and 19 are shown in FIG. 4 or FIG.
When the adiabatic elastic support member is divided in the circumferential direction,
It is a perspective view of the structure. 15 or 1
When it is difficult to achieve the elastic constant and the heat insulating property to the target values even with the slit structure as in No. 7, it is easy to reduce the elastic constant and improve the heat insulating property by dividing in the circumferential direction as in this embodiment. . Further, by adopting such a divided structure, it becomes easier to set the elastic constant and the heat insulating property to target values.

FIG. 20 is a sectional view for fixing the heat insulating elastic supporting member to the driven case 3 so that the heat insulating elastic member divided in the circumferential direction of FIGS. 18 and 19 can be easily fixed to the driven case 3. It has a notch. As a result, the adiabatic elastic support members divided in the circumferential direction can be prevented from shifting, and a stable drive mechanism can be realized.

[0021]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Even if rattling occurs due to temperature deformation, the adiabatic elastic member follows and deforms, so rattling of the mechanical system does not occur. Further, since the heat insulating elastic member prevents heat inflow from the outside or heat loss to the outside in a severe heat environment of the outside, it is possible to set a mechanical element weak against a severe temperature within an allowable range.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a space articulated manipulator shown as a typical example of a drive mechanism used in a vacuum and a severe temperature environment.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a joint portion of an articulated manipulator.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of an articulated manipulator.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of an elastic heat insulating support of the bearing mechanism.

FIG. 5 is a second cross-sectional view of the heat insulating elastic support tool.

FIG. 6 is a third sectional view of the heat insulating elastic support member.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a fourth cross-sectional view of the elastic heat insulating support.

FIG. 9 is a fifth sectional view of the heat insulating elastic support tool.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of a modified example of the elastic performance separation structure in the axial direction and the radial direction in FIGS. 8 and 9 of the specific embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a sixth sectional view of the heat insulating elastic support tool.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a component in charge of elastic deformability in the axial direction.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a component in charge of elastic deformability in the axial direction.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view when the heat insulating elastic support member is integrally formed in the circumferential direction.

FIG. 15 is a perspective view of a modified example of FIG.

16 is a perspective view of a modified example of the heat insulating elastic support shown in FIG.

FIG. 17 is a perspective view of a modified example of the heat insulating elastic support shown in FIG.

FIG. 18 is a perspective view when the heat insulating elastic support member relating to FIG. 4 or FIG. 9 is divided in the circumferential direction.

FIG. 19 is a perspective view of the heat insulating elastic support member relating to FIG. 4 or FIG. 9 when divided in the circumferential direction.

FIG. 20 is a plan view of a modified example of the heat insulating elastic member divided in the circumferential direction of FIGS.

[Explanation of symbols]

3 ... driven side case of joint, 9, 9 '... bearing, 14 ... drive side case, 17 ... adiabatic elastic support member.

Front Page Continuation (72) Yuichi Yanase Inventor Yuichi Yanase 502 Jinritsucho, Tsuchiura City, Ibaraki Prefecture

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A drive side case having a drive side boom in which a drive mechanism element is contained and fixed, and a driven side boom which is arranged in the drive side case so as to rotate concentrically relative to each other via a power transmission mechanism. In a joint for a vacuum manipulator having a driven side case having, and a bearing mechanism mounted between the driving side case and the driven side case, an elastic supporting member having heat insulating performance is provided between the bearing mechanism and the driven side case. A joint for vacuum manipulators. 2. The joint for a vacuum manipulator according to claim 1, wherein the elastic support member has a portion that elastically deforms mainly in a radial direction with respect to a rotation axis and a portion that elastically deforms mainly in an axial direction. 3. The joint for a vacuum manipulator according to claim 2, wherein a member which is elastically deformable mainly in the radial direction and a member which is elastically deformable mainly in the axial direction are separated from each other. 4. A joint for a vacuum manipulator according to claim 1, 2, or 3, wherein the elastic supporting member is integrally formed in a rotation circumferential direction with respect to a rotation shaft. 5. The joint for a vacuum manipulator according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the elastic support member is separated into a plurality of parts in the circumferential direction of rotation. 6. The joint for a vacuum manipulator according to claim 5, wherein a notch for positioning the elastic support member is provided in the drive side case. 7. A drive side case having a drive side boom in which a drive mechanism element is contained and fixed, and a driven side boom which is arranged in the drive side case so as to rotate concentrically relative to each other via a power transmission mechanism. In a joint for a vacuum manipulator having a driven side case having a plurality of bearing mechanisms mounted between the drive side case and the driven side case, an elastic support having heat insulation performance between the bearing mechanism and the driven side case. A joint for a vacuum manipulator, characterized in that a member is provided, and an elastic constant of the elastic supporting member is changed depending on an installation place.