JP2000243809A - Articulated robot device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an articulated robot device where a first and a second articulated arms are lessened in occupation area that is determined when a hand is moved to a standby position, prevented from interfering mechanically with each other without deteriorating them in rigidity, and each possessed of a parallel displacement locus that is set lower than a set plane. SOLUTION: First articulated arms 14 and 18 provided with a parallel displacement mechanism which moves a first hand 21 in parallel between a standby position and an operating position, and a second articulated arms 114 and 118 provided with a parallel displacement mechanism which reciprocates a second hand 121 in parallel between a standby position and an operating position, are provided to a pivoting base 7 which is driven to pivot with respect to a base 1 to transfer substrates 22 to devices 100 and 200. The first articulated arms 14 and 18 and the second articulated arms 114 and 118 are arranged at the pivoting base 7 confronting each other in a vertical direction, so that the articulated arms 14, 18 and 114, 118 can be reduced to an irreducible minimum in occupation area.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an articulated robot apparatus, and more particularly to an articulated robot apparatus used for transporting a flat work including a substrate.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An articulated robot apparatus having two articulated arm means is used for transferring a flat work including a substrate. The robot apparatus disclosed in “Scalar type robot for substrate transfer” of Japanese Patent No. 2739413 is an example of the configuration thereof, and includes a parallel moving mechanism in which the trajectories of a first hand and a second hand are parallel. And these hands are provided in the first and second articulated arm means.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a robot device disclosed in the above publication. In the drawing, a first arm 214 constituting a first articulated arm means is provided on a rotation base 301 so as to be rotatable around a rotation axis P1, and a rotation end of the first arm 214 is provided. In the second arm 2
18 is rotatably provided, and a first hand 221 is rotatably provided at a rotating end of the second arm 218.

A first arm 314 constituting a second articulated arm means is provided on the rotation base 301 so as to be rotatable around a rotation axis P2, while a rotation end of the first arm 314 is provided. A second arm 318 is rotatably provided in the section, and a second hand 321 is rotatably provided at a rotating end of the second arm 318. Further, a motor for individually driving the first and second articulated arm means is built in the rotation base 301,
The movement of the rotation of the motor is transmitted to each hand via a pulley or a belt built in the arm, so that the hand is moved in a trajectory.

[0005] Then, the substrate 22 is held by suction by suction pads provided on each hand, moved between the operation position and the standby position shown in the figure, and the rotation base 301 is rotated by 180 degrees, so that The substrate 22 held by one hand 221 is transported to another device (not shown), and at the same time, the substrate 22 is taken out from another device by the second hand 321 to reduce the time.

[0006]

However, according to the robot apparatus constructed as described above, the first and second articulated arm means are connected to the rotating shafts P1 and P1 of the rotating base 301.
2 are arranged side by side in the horizontal direction (along the horizontal plane). For this reason, when the first and second articulated arm means are moved between the standby position and the operating position as shown in the figure, the width dimension D2 determined by the maximum width becomes large.
There was a problem that the interference range along the moving direction when moving the main body was increased. In FIG. 5, which is a cross-sectional view taken along line XX of FIG. 4, the first and second hands are
8 and 318, the upper first hand 321 must be fixed because the upper and lower hands must be overlapped to prevent mechanical interference of the hands. Offset arm 33 to do
An offset arm 331 for fixing the second hand 221 to 0 and below is required. By providing these offset arms 330 and 331, respectively, the height from the mounting surface of the first and second articulated arm means to the substrate to be transferred is increased, and two offset arms are required. Therefore, there is a problem that the rigidity of the hand is weakened.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems. The first and second articulated arm means are folded and the hand is moved to a standby position. Can reduce the interference range when moving in the first and second directions without reducing the rigidity.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a multi-joint robot device that can prevent mechanical interference of the first hand and can set the parallel movement trajectory of the first and second hands low from an installation surface.

[0008]

According to the present invention, there is provided a translation mechanism for translating a first hand between a standby position and an operating position. A first multi-joint arm means having a parallel movement mechanism for moving the second hand between a standby position and an operation position in parallel with the second hand; An articulated robot device disposed on a rotating base for transferring a load including a substrate to a predetermined device by the first hand and the second hand. The first hand and the second hand are moved in parallel to the standby position by arranging the second hand and the second articulated arm so as to face each other in the vertical direction of the rotation base. It is characterized by minimizing the occupied area at the time.

Further, the rotating base is formed in a substantially U-shape having upper and lower bases vertically opposed to each other, the first multi-joint arm means being provided on the upper base, and the first articulated arm means being provided on the lower base. It is characterized in that two articulated arm means are provided.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing an example of use of the articulated robot device. In this figure, this articulated robot apparatus is provided with an apparatus 100 for temporary storage by moving a wafer or a substrate 22 shown by a broken line in the figure in a direction indicated by an arrow Y in FIG. In order to insert and remove the devices 200 and 200 that perform the predetermined processing,
It is arranged at the approximate center of. Also, if necessary, Z
A lifting mechanism and a moving mechanism (not shown) for raising and lowering or moving the articulated robot device in the direction (vertical direction) and the X direction (right and left direction) are provided so that the substrate 22 can be moved in and out of another device. Used to be.

In the example shown in the figure, a substrate 22 which is placed neatly in a rack in the apparatus 100 is held by hands 21 and 121 and introduced through an opening 201 provided in the apparatus 200 facing the apparatus 100. An example is shown in which the processing is returned to the rack of the apparatus 100 again after the predetermined processing is completed.

For this purpose, a turning base 7 is provided on the base 1 so as to be driven to turn in the direction of the arrow, and the first arms 14 and 114 shown in FIG. So as to be rotatable in an up-down relationship, and
At the pivotal ends of the arms 14, 114, the second arm 1
8 and 118, and a first hand 21 and a second hand 121 at the pivotal ends of the second arms 18 and 118.
Is rotatably provided.

Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 which is a cross-sectional view taken along line XX of FIG. 1, a motor 2 is fixed inside the base 1. A belt 4 is stretched between the fixed pulley 3 and the speed reducer 6 having the pulley 5 fixed to the input shaft as shown in the drawing, so that the speed reducer 6 is moved to the bottom surface with the forward and reverse driving of the motor 2. 1, the rotating base 7 fixed as shown in the drawing is configured to rotate in the direction of arrow K in FIG.

As shown in the figure, the turning base 7 has a U-shape when projected on a vertical plane, and allows the first arm 114 to freely turn on the upper surface 7a opened upward. On the other hand, the first arm 14 is rotatably supported on the lower surface 7b opened downward so that the rotating shaft portions P1 and P2 indicated by dashed lines in each arm are positioned on the same axis. It is configured.

Next, a parallel moving mechanism for moving the hands 21 and 121 in parallel will be mainly described. Motors 8 and 108 are fixed in the rotating base 7 via brackets so as to be in a vertical and symmetrical relationship. Pulleys 9 and 109 are fixed to output shafts of these motors. Further, the output shaft of the speed reducer 12 is incorporated in the first arm 14 that rotates about the rotation shaft portion P1 so that the output shaft is fixed.
Further, the base of the speed reducer 12 is fixed to the rotation base,
A pulley 11 is fixed to an input shaft of the speed reducer 12, and a belt 10 is stretched between the pulley 9 of the motor and a pulley 9 of the motor. 14. In addition, a pulley 13 that relatively rotates in the arm body together with the rotation of the first arm 14 is fixed to the rotation base 7 so as to surround the speed reducer 12, and is provided as a shaft support. Also, one end of the first arm 14 is attached,
A pulley 16 is provided at the other end of the first arm 14 via a belt 15 to be rotated at a constant ratio.

The pulley 16 is protruded in a state irrelevant to the rotation of the first arm 14, and the pulley 16
One end of the arm 18 is attached, and the other end of the second arm 18 is rotated at a fixed ratio via the pulley 17 and the belt 19 in the second arm together with the rotation of the second arm 18. The pulley 20 is projected in a state unrelated to the rotation of the second arm 18, and a hand 21 for attaching and stopping the substrate 22 from the upper surface to the pulley 20 is attached. take out,
The transport to the processing location and the return of the processed substrate are performed simultaneously on the same vertical line in a mutually symmetrical relationship.

On the other hand, the lower first arm 114, which rotates about the rotation shaft P2 in the rotation base 7, is built in such that the base of the speed reducer 112 is fixed. Numeral 12 is fixed to the rotation base 7, and a pulley 111 is fixed to the input shaft of the speed reducer 112,
A belt 110 is stretched between the pulley 109 of the motor and the belt 110 so as to reduce the forward and reverse rotational power of the motor 108 before transmitting it to the first arm 114. Also, by surrounding the speed reducer 112,
A pulley 113 that relatively rotates in the arm body together with the rotation of the first arm 114 is fixed to the rotation base 7 and provided as a shaft support.

A pulley 116 is attached to one end of the first arm 114, and the other end of the first arm 114 is rotated at a fixed ratio via a belt 115. The pulley 116 is projected in a state irrelevant to the rotation of the first arm 114. One end of the second arm 118 is attached to the pulley 116 and the second arm 1
At the other end of the pulley 120, a pulley 120 that is rotated at a fixed ratio via a pulley 117 and a belt 119 inside the second arm together with the rotation of the second arm 118 is referred to as a rotation of the second arm 118. A hand 1 that protrudes into an unrelated state, and suction-fixes the substrate 122 to the pulley 120, respectively.
A hand 21 is used to take out the unprocessed substrate by the hand 112, and to carry the substrate to the processing location and return the processed substrate simultaneously on the same vertical line in a staggered alternate relationship.

As described above, one of the hands 21 and 121 is provided from the upper surface and the other is provided from the lower surface so as to operate so as not to interfere with each other. , And the transport of the processed substrate and the return of the processed substrate are simultaneously performed on the same vertical line in a staggered, alternately symmetrical relationship. That is, the device basically differs from the device described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5 is that in the case of Japanese Patent No. 2743913, the arms and the like are arranged on the same horizontal line, while Since they are arranged on a line, it is advantageous in terms of space in a horizontal plane. Further, by forming the rotation base portion into a U-shape, the end of the first arm of the first multi-joint arm is rotatably supported on the upper ceiling, and the second multi-joint arm is The first arm is supported on the lower end side as shown in the figure, and can be stacked up and down to save space, and can support highly rigid arm means.

The above pulleys 13, 113 and pulley 1
6, 116 and pulleys 20, 120 and pulley 17,
117 has a diameter ratio of 2: 1, and the rotation of the motors 8 and 108 is controlled by the pulleys 9 and 109 and the belt 1.
0, 110, pulleys 11, 111 and reduction gears 12, 1
When the first arm 14 and the first arm 14 are rotated through the pulley 12, the pulleys 13 and 113 and the pulley 1 are rotated.
6, 116 and pulleys 17, 117, pulley 2
0 and 120, the second arms 18 and 118 and the hands 21 and 121 rotate, and each hand
A linear reciprocating motion is performed in the radial direction with the center at 2,112.

Further, in the plan view of FIG.
A plurality of suction chucks 130 are provided on 121, and are configured to hold the substrate suction by vacuum suction through the through holes. Further, a magnetic fluid seal is used between the first arms 14, 114 and the pulleys 13, 113, the first arms 14, 114 and the pulleys 16, 116, and the second arms 18, 118 and the pulleys 20, 120. To reduce dust from the environment.

In the above configuration, when the upper and lower articulated arms are folded so as to be at the standby position as shown in FIG. 3, since the rotating shafts P1 and P2 are common in the vertical direction, the standby position Since the width dimension D1 determined by the maximum width when moving between the guide rail G and the movement positioning can be reduced, the interference range along the moving direction when moving on the guide rail G can be reduced. Also, the motors 8, 10
By incorporating the rotating base 8 in the rotating base 7, further space saving can be achieved. Since the upper and lower articulated arms are overlapped in the vertical direction, there is no need for a hand mounting part such as an offset arm which is a part for stacking hands again as in the related art. For this reason, the rotating shaft portion P2
From the arm mounting surface to the lower surface of the lower substrate. More specifically, the height can be reduced by about 30 mm as compared with the case where the multi-joint arms are provided side by side as described above, so that it is easy to cope with a change in the size of the substrate 22.

That is, the substrate size is 400 × 500 mm
In the case of a large substrate of 650 × 750 mm, the stroke in the Z-axis direction shown in FIG. 1 is required to be about 600 mm or more, and when the entire robot device is self-propelled on a traveling rail, the height becomes about 50 mm more. Since it is necessary to increase the dimension in the direction, even if it is as low as about 30 mm as described above, it is significant.

Further, since the hands 21, 121 can be directly attached to each arm, the rigidity of the hands increases, which is particularly advantageous when a large glass substrate is transferred.

[0025]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The area occupied by the first and second articulated arm means determined when the hand is moved to the standby position can be reduced, and mechanical interference between the first and second hands can be achieved without reducing rigidity. Can be prevented, and by setting the parallel movement trajectory of the first and second hands lower than the installation surface, it is possible to more flexibly cope with the fluctuation of the conveyed object, and further, on the guide rail. It is possible to provide an articulated robot device capable of shortening an interference range along a moving direction when moving.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing a usage example of an articulated robot device.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line XX of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the robot device shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a plan view for explaining the operation of a conventional robot device.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line XX of FIG. 4;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Base 2 Motor 3 Pulley 4 Belt 5 Pulley 6 Reducer 7 Rotation base 8, 108 Motor 9, 109 Pulley 10, 110 Belt 11, 111 Pulley 12, 112 Reduction gear 13, 113 Pulley 14, 114 First arm 15, 115 Belt 16, 116 Pulley 17, 117 Pulley 18, 118 Second Arm 19, 119 Belt 20, 120 Pulley 21, 121 Hand 22 Substrate

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A first multi-joint arm means having a parallel moving mechanism for moving a first hand in parallel between a standby position and an operating position, and moving the second hand between a standby position and an operating position. A second articulated arm having a parallel movement mechanism for performing parallel movement is provided on a rotation base that is driven to rotate with respect to the base, and a load including a substrate is transferred to the first hand and the second hand.
An articulated robot device for transferring to a predetermined device by the hand described above, wherein the first articulated arm means and the second articulated arm means are opposed to each other in the vertical direction of the rotating base. The articulated robot device, wherein the occupied area when the first hand and the second hand move in parallel to the standby position is minimized by arranging them. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the rotating base is formed in a substantially U-shape having upper and lower bases opposing each other vertically, and the first multi-joint arm means is provided on the upper base and the first articulated arm is provided on the lower base. 2. The multi-joint arm means according to claim 1, wherein:
An articulated robot device according to item 1.