JP2010115727A - Conveyance device and vacuum device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technique for achieving high speed conveyance while surely retaining an object to be conveyed under high temperature environment, and for minimizing dust in conveyance of the object. <P>SOLUTION: This conveyance device 50 is provided with: a freely extendable link mechanism 20 with a plurality of arms; and a placement part 5 connected via a third left arm 3L and a third right arm 3R at its front end of movement for placing a substrate 10 thereon. In the placement part 5, locking parts 5a, 5b contacted with the side part of the substrate to be locked, are arranged. In the distal ends of the left arm 3L and the right arm 3R, an energizing means 9 provided with: protruded drive support parts 31L, 31R arranged in the arms 3L, 3R; and a driven mechanism part 6 driven by the protruded drive support parts 31L, 31R, is arranged. The driven mechanism part 6 includes: a driven part 61 with an oblong hole 62 slidably engageable with the drive support parts 31L, 31R; and an energizing part 6a guided and moved toward the locking parts 5a, 5b of the placement part 5 corresponding to the movement of the drive support parts 31L, 31R in the oblong hole 62 of the driven part 61. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a transfer apparatus for transferring a transfer object such as a substrate, and more particularly to a transfer apparatus suitable for a vacuum apparatus including a plurality of process chambers such as a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.

In the field of semiconductor manufacturing or the like, a substrate transfer apparatus 101 as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 has been conventionally used.
The substrate transport apparatus 101 includes a drive unit 102, an arm unit 103 including a plurality of arms connected to the drive unit 102, and an end effector 104 connected to the tip of the arm unit 103. The back surface of the substrate W is supported by the upper surface of the effector 104, and the substrate W is transferred between a plurality of process chambers (not shown).

  The end effector 104 is generally made of ceramics or stainless steel. Accordingly, when the arm portion 103 is extended and retracted or swiveled at a high speed, the end effector 104 also operates at a high speed. Therefore, the substrate W slides on the end effector 104 due to the acceleration applied to the substrate W, so that the substrate W is positioned correctly. There is a problem that can not be transported.

In addition, in the prior art, there is a problem that dust generated when the substrate W slides on the end effector 104 contaminates the surface of the substrate W.
Therefore, as shown in FIG. 10, it has been proposed to provide a plurality of holding portions 105 on the upper surface of the end effector 104 and make contact at a predetermined location on the back surface of the substrate W.

  Since the holding portion 105 is generally formed of a resin-based elastic material such as rubber or elastomer, it prevents the back surface of the substrate W from slipping and functions as a non-slip pad. As a result, the substrate W is held in a stable transport posture without slipping on the upper surface of the end effector 104 (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  Here, when the holding portion 105 formed of a resin-based elastic material such as an elastomer has a relatively low temperature of the substrate W and the surrounding atmosphere (for example, 200 ° C. or lower), the slip of the substrate W is efficiently suppressed. However, when the temperature is high (for example, 300 to 500 ° C.), there is a problem that the holding unit 105 cannot be prevented from slipping due to the alteration or deformation due to heat.

  On the other hand, even when the temperature is relatively low (for example, 200 ° C. or lower), the substrate W may stick due to the adhesive force of the holding unit 105, and the substrate W may not be properly separated from the end effector 104. For example, when the substrate W is delivered to the stage in the process chamber, there are problems that the substrate W is not separated from the holding unit 105 and that the substrate W is cracked, and that the substrate W cannot be transferred to the correct position.

Furthermore, since the slip of the substrate W is suppressed by the frictional force between the holding unit 105 and the substrate W in principle, when an acceleration exceeding the maximum static frictional force determined by both substances is applied to the substrate W, The substrate W slips on the end effector 104. Therefore, there is a problem that the operation speed of the substrate transport apparatus 101 cannot be increased beyond the maximum static frictional force between the holding unit 105 and the substrate W.
JP 2002-353291 A

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problems of the prior art, and the object of the present invention is to provide an environment in which the temperature of the conveyed product and the surrounding atmosphere is high even in a relatively low environment. In this case, the transported object is reliably held and high-speed transport is achieved.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a technique for reducing dust as much as possible during conveyance of a conveyed product.

The present invention, which has been made to achieve the above object, is connected to a telescopic link mechanism having a plurality of arms to which power from a driving source is transmitted, and a driving link portion at the operating tip of the link mechanism. A placement portion for placing the conveyed product, and the placement portion is provided with a locking portion for contacting and locking the side portion of the conveyed product, and the link mechanism The drive link unit is provided with an urging unit by a slide mechanism, and the urging unit includes a drive support unit provided in the drive link unit of the link mechanism and a driven mechanism unit driven by the drive support unit. The driven mechanism portion includes a driven portion having a long groove-like sliding portion that can be slidably engaged with the drive support portion, and the drive support portion connected to the driven portion in the long groove-like sliding portion of the driven portion. Depending on the movement of A conveying device having a biasing portion which is guided movement along a direction towards the part.
In the present invention, the biasing means is provided with the convex drive support portions on a pair of adjacent link members whose rotation directions are opposite to each other, and the driven mechanism portion is adjacent to the pair of adjacent drive members. It is also effective to have a driven portion having a long groove-like sliding portion that engages with the convex drive support portion provided on each link member, and the convex biasing portion.
In the present invention, the biasing means is provided with a follower that is rotatable about a support shaft on one of a pair of adjacent link members whose rotation directions are opposite directions, and the biasing means of the pair of adjacent link members. The convex drive support portion is provided on the other side, and the convex drive support portion provided on the other of the pair of adjacent link members and the long groove-like sliding portion provided on the driven portion are engaged. It is also effective to be configured to slide together.
In the present invention, it is also effective that the driven mechanism portion is configured such that the driven portion and the biasing portion are integrally formed.
In the present invention, the driven mechanism portion includes a driven contact portion provided on the driven portion side and a driven contact portion provided on the biased portion side in which the driven portion and the biased portion are separated. However, it is also effective that the power is transmitted by contacting with the movement of the driven portion.
In the present invention, it is also effective to have a biasing force adjusting member for adjusting a biasing force with respect to the driven portion on the biasing portion side of the driven mechanism portion.
In the present invention, it is also effective to have a biasing member for reducing the biasing force of the biasing portion in the biasing portion of the driven mechanism portion of the biasing means.
In the present invention, it is also effective that the long groove-like sliding portion of the driven portion of the driven mechanism portion is a long hole.
Moreover, this invention is a vacuum apparatus which has a vacuum chamber and the conveying apparatus mentioned above, and is comprised so that the mounting part of the said conveying apparatus may carry in and out in the said vacuum tank.

  In the present invention, the urging means that is operated by the slide mechanism is provided at the operating tip of the link mechanism, and the conveyed product is mechanically gripped by the urging portion of the driven mechanism portion and the locking portion of the mounting portion. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the slip of the transported object on the upper surface of the mounting portion (in principle, without slipping) and realize the high-speed transport of the transported object.

  In addition, when all members including the urging means are made of metal, not only in the environment where the temperature of the transported object and the surrounding atmosphere is relatively low, but also when the temperature during transport is high (eg, 300 to 500 ° C.) Even so, slippage of the conveyed product can be suppressed without thermal alteration or deformation.

Further, the urging means is configured to transmit power by a driven portion having, for example, a convex drive support portion provided in the drive link portion and a long groove-like slide portion capable of engaging and sliding with the drive support portion. A small transport device can be provided with a simple configuration.
Furthermore, since there is no sliding part in the part which grips a conveyed product, generation | occurrence | production of the dust which contaminates a conveyed product can be reduced.

  On the other hand, in the present invention, the driven mechanism portion of the urging means includes a driven contact portion provided on the driven portion side and a driven contact portion provided on the urged portion side, in which the driven portion and the urged portion are separated. Is configured to contact with the movement of the driven portion to transmit the power, the driven contact portion provided in the biasing portion of the driven mechanism portion is moved with an appropriate force by the driven portion. Since it can be pressed and brought into close contact with the driving contact portion, the driven mechanism portion can be reliably moved to the downstream side in the substrate transport direction with high accuracy, for example, along the guide member.

  Further, in the present invention, when the urging portion of the driven mechanism portion of the urging means has a depressing member for depressing the urging force, the optimum force according to the device configuration, the size of the conveyed object, etc. Thus, the conveyed product can be held securely.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a configuration of an embodiment of a transport apparatus according to the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 1, the transfer device 50 of the present embodiment is of a so-called frog-leg type that transfers a substrate 10 as a transfer object in a vacuum processing tank, for example, and drives a link mechanism 20 described below. The first and second drive shafts 11 and 12 are arranged concentrically in the vertical direction.

Each of the drive shafts 11 and 12 is configured such that the rotational power in the clockwise direction or the counterclockwise direction is transmitted from the independent first and second drive sources M1 and M2, respectively.
One end portion (base end portion) of the first left arm 1L is fixed to the first drive shaft 11, and one end portion (base end portion) of the second drive shaft 12 is fixed to the first end portion (base end portion). The right arm 1R is fixed.

One end portion (base end portion) of the second left arm 2L is attached to the other end portion (tip portion) of the first left arm 1L so as to be rotatable in the horizontal direction around the support shaft 21L. ing.
One end portion (base end portion) of the second right arm 2R is attached to the other end portion (tip end portion) of the first right arm 1R so as to be rotatable in the horizontal direction around the support shaft 21R. ing.

In the present embodiment, the first left arm 1L and the first right arm 1R are formed in a straight line and have the same distance between fulcrums.
The second left arm 2L is formed in a straight line, and one end (base end) of the third left arm 3L is fixed to the other end (tip) by a fixing screw 22L. ing.
The second right arm 2R is formed in a straight line, and one end (base end) of the third right arm 3R is fixed to the other end (tip) by a fixing screw 22R. ing.

Here, the third left arm 3L and the third right arm 3R constitute a drive link portion, and are formed in a substantially “<” shape, and the convex portions of the respective bent portions are outward of the link. It is arranged facing the side.
Further, the other end portion (tip portion) of the third left arm 3L is attached so as to be rotatable in the horizontal direction around a support shaft 23L provided on the surface of the power transmission mechanism 4 described later.

On the other hand, the other end portion (tip portion) of the third right arm 3R is attached so as to be rotatable in the horizontal direction around a support shaft 23R provided on, for example, the surface side of the power transmission mechanism 4 described later.
In the present embodiment, the distance between the support shafts 23L of the second left arm 2L to the support shaft 23L of the third left arm 3L and the support shaft 21R of the second right arm 2R to the third right arm 3R. The distance between the fulcrums of the support shaft 23R is configured to have the same distance.

The power transmission mechanism 4 includes a pair of gears (not shown) that mesh with each other in a rectangular thin box-shaped housing, for example.
These gears have the same number of teeth, and the respective rotation shafts are fixed to the above-described support shafts 23L and 23R, and thus are configured to rotate at the same speed in the reverse direction to act as posture control mechanisms. Has been.
These support shafts 23L and 23R are arranged close to each other in a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the substrate 10.

  In the case of the present invention, there is no particular limitation, but from the viewpoint of holding the conveyed product in a balanced manner, it passes through the rotation center axis of the first and second drive shafts 11 and 12, and the substrate conveyance direction (arrow P direction). It is preferable that the support shafts 23L and 23R are arranged at positions orthogonal to the axis.

On the downstream side of the power transmission mechanism 4 in the substrate transport direction, a mounting portion 5 as a so-called end effector is provided.
The mounting portion 5 is provided with support members 5L and 5R provided at a predetermined interval.

Here, at the end of the support members 5L and 5R on the downstream side in the substrate transport direction, convex locking portions 5a and 5b that can come into contact with the side of the substrate 10 are provided.
On the other hand, in the present embodiment, an urging means 9 by a slide mechanism described below is provided.

FIG. 2A is a configuration diagram showing the entire urging means in the present embodiment, and FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2A, in the present embodiment, the tip ends of the third left arm 3L and the third right arm 3R are each formed in a semicircular shape. Convex drive support portions 31L and 31R (hereinafter simply referred to as “drive convex portions”) are provided on the front side surfaces 30L and 30R of the third left arm 3L and the third right arm 3R, respectively. The biasing means 9 is constituted by the portions 31L and 31R and the driven mechanism portion 6.

  In the present embodiment, the drive protrusions 31L and 31R are preferably made of a metal material such as stainless steel, and a predetermined distance from the support shaft 23L of the third left arm 3L and the support shaft 23R of the third right arm 3R. It is provided only at a position apart. In this case, the drive convex portions 31L and 31R are disposed on the downstream side in the substrate transport direction from the support shafts 23L and 23R of the third left arm 3L and the third right arm 3R.

In this example, the drive convex portions 31L and 31R of the third left arm 3L and the third right arm 3R pass through the rotation center axes of the first and second drive shafts 11 and 12 in the substrate transport direction. It is provided so as to be line symmetric with respect to the extending straight line.
The drive convex portions 31L and 31R of the present embodiment are engaged with a long hole (long groove-like sliding portion) 62 of the driven portion 61 described later, and have the same configuration.

  As shown in FIG. 2B, the drive convex portions 31L and 31R are centered on support shafts 32L and 32R provided upright on the front side surfaces 30L and 30R of the third left arm 3L and the third right arm 3R. As cylindrical rotating shafts 33L and 33R supported so as to be rotatable in the horizontal direction.

For example, disk-shaped support portions 34L and 34R having slightly larger diameters than the respective rotation shafts 33L and 33R are provided above the respective rotation shafts 33L and 33R.
On the other hand, the driven mechanism portion 6 of the present embodiment is preferably made of a metal member such as stainless steel and has a straight bar-like main body portion 60.

  At one end of the main body portion 60 of the driven mechanism portion 6, for example, a rectangular flat plate driven portion 61 extending in a direction orthogonal to the main body portion 60 is attached. In the driven portion 61, for example, a long hole 62 extending linearly along the longitudinal direction of the driven portion 61 is formed in the central region in the width direction.

  As shown in FIG. 2B, the long hole 62 of the driven portion 61 has a width that is slightly larger than the diameter of the rotation shafts 33L and 33R of the drive convex portions 31L and 31R, and the support portions 34L and 34R. It is set to be smaller than the diameter.

In addition, the length of the long hole 62 of the driven portion 61 is set to be longer than the maximum distance between the driving convex portions 31L and 31R that move as the third left arm 3L and the third right arm 3R rotate. Has been.
With such a configuration, when the third left arm 3L and the third right arm 3R are rotated, the drive shafts 33L, 33R of the drive convex portions 31L, 31R are engaged in the long holes 62 of the driven portion 61. While sliding, the edge of the opening upstream or downstream in the substrate transport direction is pressed.

  A convex (for example, pin-shaped) biasing portion 6 a is attached to the other end portion of the main body portion 60 of the driven mechanism portion 6. The tip of the urging portion 6a can be coated with a heat-resistant resin material such as PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene resin) for preventing the generation of dust.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2 (b), the drive convex portions 31L and 31R of the third left arm 3L and the third right arm 3R are formed as long holes in the driven portion 61 of the driven mechanism portion 6. In the state engaged with 62, for example, by being guided by a guide member 63 provided on the front side surface of the mounting portion 5, the main body portion 60 of the driven mechanism portion 6 linearly moves in the substrate transport direction or the opposite direction. It is configured as follows.

Next, the operation principle and configuration of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.
Hereinafter, the distance between the support shaft 23L of the third left arm 3L and the support shaft 32L of the drive convex portion 31L, and the distance between the support shaft 23R of the third right arm 3R and the support shaft 32R of the drive convex portion 31R. Let us consider the case where r is the distance of each.

  In the embodiment of the present invention, when the link mechanism 20 is extended, as shown in FIG. 3A, the angle formed by the distal ends of the third left arm 3L and the third right arm 3R is, for example, 180 degrees. Set to be larger.

  In this state, the drive convex portions 31L and 31R of the third left arm 3L and the third right arm 3R engaged with the long hole 62 of the driven portion 61 of the driven mechanism portion 6 are within the long hole 62. The size of the long hole 62 of the driven portion 61 and the positions of the drive convex portions 31L and 31R are determined so as to be positioned at both ends.

  Then, the reference length of the driven mechanism portion 6 (here, the biasing portion 6a of the biasing portion 6a) is set so that the biasing portion 6a on the downstream side of the driven mechanism portion 6 in the substrate transport direction does not come into contact with the side portion of the substrate 10 to be transported. The distance from the front end portion to the support shafts 32L, 32R of the drive convex portions 31L, 31R is set.

In this example, for example, the drive protrusions 31L and 31R are positioned outward in the direction orthogonal to the substrate transport direction from the support shafts 23L and 23R of the third left arm 3L and the third right arm 3R. (An angle θ _{1 with} respect to the substrate transport direction).

On the other hand, in the state where the link mechanism 20 is contracted, as shown in FIG. 3B, the angle formed by the distal ends of the third left arm 3L and the third right arm 3R is smaller than 180 degrees, for example. Set.
In this state, the driving convex portions 31L and 31R are rotationally moved in directions approaching each other around the support shafts 23L and 23R of the third left arm 3L or the third right arm 3R, respectively.

Here, for example, each of the drive protrusions 31L and 31R has a third value so that the angle θ ₀ with respect to the substrate transport direction is smaller in absolute value than the angle θ _{1 with} respect to the substrate transport direction when the link mechanism 20 is extended. The size, shape, and position of each member described above are set so as to be positioned on the inner side in the vertical direction of the substrate transport direction from the support shafts 23L and 23R of the left arm 3L and the third right arm 3R.

In such a configuration, when the third left arm 3L and the third right arm 3R are rotated in the contraction direction, the drive convex portions 31L and 31R move downstream in the substrate transport direction, and the length of the driven portion 61 is increased. The opening edge of the hole 62 is pressed, the driven mechanism 6 moves downstream in the substrate transport direction, and the distance between the urging portion 6a and the side of the substrate 10 to be transported becomes small (r · cos θ ₀ > r · cos θ ₁ , that is, d <D).

  As a result, the downstream portion (biasing portion 6a) of the driven mechanism portion 6 in the substrate transport direction comes into contact with the side portion of the substrate 10 to be transported, and the placement portion 5 is locked to the side portion of the substrate 10. A force F in the direction toward the portions 5a and 5b acts, and thereby, a pressing force acts on the substrate 10 from the upstream and downstream sides in the substrate transport direction, and the substrate 10 is held (gripped) on the mounting portion 5. Is done.

  In such a contracted state of the link mechanism 20, the first left arm 1 </ b> L and the first right arm 1 </ b> R can be rotated in the same direction to perform a turning operation while holding the substrate 10.

4A to 4C are explanatory views showing the operation of the transport device in the present embodiment.
Here, a case where the substrate 10 is carried into the processing chamber 8 from the transfer chamber 7 will be described as an example. The transfer chamber 7 and the processing chamber 8 are connected to a vacuum exhaust system (not shown). In addition, a gate valve (not shown) is connected between the transfer chamber 7 and the processing chamber 8, and after the gate valve is opened, the loading and unloading operations are performed.

First, as shown in FIG. 4A, the locking mechanism 5a, 5b of the mounting portion 5 is directed to the processing chamber 8 side while the link mechanism 20 is contracted and the substrate 10 is held as described above.
From this state, the first left arm 1L is rotated in the clockwise direction and the first right arm 1R is rotated in the counterclockwise direction, whereby the extension operation of the link mechanism 20 is started, and FIG. As shown, the substrate 10 goes straight toward the processing chamber 8.

Further, by continuing the extension operation of the link mechanism 20, the substrate 10 is carried into the processing chamber 8 as shown in FIG.
In this state, as described with reference to FIG. 3A, the biasing portion 6 a of the driven mechanism portion 6 and the side portion of the substrate 10 are not in contact with each other, so that the illustration shown in the processing chamber 8 is provided. The substrate 10 can be detached from the placement unit 5 of the transfer device 50 by supporting and raising the substrate 10 by the lifting mechanism that does not.

  The timing for releasing the contact between the biasing portion 6a of the driven mechanism portion 6 and the side portion of the substrate 10 may be the same as the state in which the link mechanism 20 is fully extended, or before the link mechanism 20 is fully extended (immediately before). However, it can be changed as appropriate according to the size and arrangement of the transfer device and vacuum device to which the present invention is applied.

  Thereafter, the first left arm 1L is rotated in the counterclockwise direction, and the first right arm 1R is rotated in the clockwise direction to perform the contraction operation of the link mechanism 20, whereby the placement unit 5 is moved into the transfer chamber. 7 to return to the state described above.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the biasing means 9 that operates by the slide mechanism is provided at the operating tip of the link mechanism 20, and the biasing section of the driven mechanism 6 that moves downstream in the substrate transport direction. Since the substrate 10 is mechanically gripped and held by the 6a and the locking portions 5a and 5b, the sliding of the substrate 10 on the upper surface of the mounting portion 5 is suppressed (in principle, no slipping), High-speed conveyance of the substrate 10 can be realized.

In addition, by making all members including the driven mechanism portion 6 from metal, not only the environment of the conveyed product and the surrounding atmosphere is relatively low, but also the temperature during conveyance is high (for example, 300 to 500 ° C.). Even if it is a case, the slip of the board | substrate 10 can be suppressed without a thermal alteration and a deformation | transformation.
Furthermore, the urging portion 6a of the driven mechanism portion 6 is a convex member, and since there is no sliding portion in the portion that holds the substrate 10, generation of dust that contaminates the substrate 10 can be reduced.

5 to 7 show other embodiments of the present invention. In the following, portions corresponding to those of the above-described embodiments are denoted by common reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted.
FIG. 5 shows an example in which the driven mechanism portion of the urging means has a depressing member for depressing the urging force of the urging portion.

  As shown in FIG. 5, in the present embodiment, the support portion 64 of the urging portion 6a is configured to move along the direction in which the main body portion 60 extends, and the front end portion of the main body portion 60 and the urging portion 6a. A compression coil spring (a depressing member) 65 is mounted around the support portion 64 therebetween. And when the force to the main-body part 60 direction acts on the front-end | tip part of the urging | biasing part 6a, it is comprised so that the urging | biasing part 6a may move to the main-body part 60 direction against the elastic force of the compression coil spring 65. Yes.

  According to the present embodiment having such a configuration, the urging force with respect to the substrate 10 can be adjusted when the substrate 10 is held (gripped). There is a merit that the degree becomes large and versatility becomes high. Since other configurations and operational effects are the same as those of the above-described embodiment, detailed description thereof is omitted.

FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional side view showing the main part of still another embodiment of the present invention so that the third left arm 3L and the third right arm 3R are positioned below the power transmission mechanism 4. It is composed.
As shown in FIG. 6, in the present embodiment, the driven mechanism portion 6 having the above-described configuration is provided at the distal ends of the third left arm 3 </ b> L and the third right arm 3 </ b> R provided below the power transmission mechanism 4. The main body 60 is configured to move straight along the substrate transport direction.

  A biasing member 6 b is attached to the distal end portion of the main body portion 60 of the driven mechanism portion 6. The biasing member 6 b is made of a plate-like elastic material made of a metal such as stainless steel, and is disposed upward from the tip of the main body 60.

The tip of the biasing member 6b is provided with, for example, a concave-shaped biasing portion 6c, and the biasing portion 6c protrudes onto the mounting portion 5 through a hole 5c provided in the mounting portion 5. As the driven mechanism portion 6 moves, the concave surface portion of the urging portion 6 c comes into contact with or separates from the side portion of the substrate 10.
According to the present embodiment having such a configuration, the urging force with respect to the substrate 10 can be adjusted when the substrate 10 is held (gripped) as in the above embodiment.

  In addition, according to the present embodiment, for example, an arm mechanism in which the vertical distance between the upper end effector and the lower end effector shown in FIGS. 22 and 23 of US Pat. No. 6,364,599B1 is reduced. It can be used as a wafer gripping mechanism for the lower arm. 2A and 3B can be used as the wafer gripping mechanism of the upper arm of this arm mechanism. Since other configurations and operational effects are the same as those of the above-described embodiment, detailed description thereof is omitted.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a main part of still another embodiment of the present invention, and shows another example having a biasing member for reducing the biasing force of the biasing part.
As shown in FIG. 7, the present embodiment is a modification of the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, and a direction orthogonal to the extending direction of the main body 60, for example, at the distal end of the main body 60 of the driven mechanism 6. A straight rod-shaped attachment member 67 extending in the direction of the belt is fixed, and two band-shaped ring-shaped biasing urging portions 6d and 6e made of metal such as stainless steel are transported from the attachment member 67 to the both ends of the attachment member 67, respectively. It is attached so as to protrude downstream in the direction.

  Here, the two depressurizing and urging portions 6d and 6e are formed in the same size and shape, and are straight lines extending in the substrate transport direction through the rotation center axes of the first and second drive shafts 11 and 12. It arrange | positions so that it may become line symmetrical with respect to it.

  According to the present embodiment having such a configuration, it is possible to adjust the urging force with respect to the substrate 10 when holding (gripping) the substrate 10 as in the embodiment shown in FIG. In contrast, since the substrate 10 is biased by the two biasing biasing portions 6d and 6e arranged in line symmetry, there is an advantage that the substrate 10 can be held (gripped) with a good balance.

  In the present embodiment, the third left arm 3L, the third right arm 3R, and the driven mechanism portion 6 are configured to be positioned below the power transmission mechanism 4 as in the embodiment shown in FIG. It is also possible to do.

  In this case, the mounting portion 5 is provided with a hole (not shown) as in the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, and the mounting member 67 and the depressing biasing portions 6d and 6e are mounted through the hole. The depressurizing and urging portions 6 d and 6 e may be configured to be positioned above the portion 5 and to be in contact with or separated from the side portion of the substrate 10.

  According to this embodiment, for example, an arm mechanism having a small vertical distance between the upper end effector and the lower end effector shown in FIGS. 22 and 23 of US Pat. No. 6,364,599B1. There is an advantage that it can be used as a wafer gripping mechanism of the lower arm. Note that the above-described configuration of FIG. 7 can be used as the wafer gripping mechanism of the upper arm of this arm mechanism. Since other configurations and operational effects are the same as those of the above-described embodiment, detailed description thereof is omitted.

8 (a) and 8 (b) are configuration diagrams showing the main part of still another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 (a) shows a state in which the link mechanism 20 is extended, FIG. b) shows a state in which the link mechanism 20 is contracted.
As shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, in the present embodiment, the follower 61A is provided with a long hole 62A only in a region corresponding to the third right arm 3R side of the follower 61A. .

  The follower 61A is supported so as to be rotatable in the horizontal direction about a support shaft 35 provided on the front side surface 30L of the third left arm 3L. In this example, the support shaft 35 is provided at the same position as the drive convex portion 31L described above, and thus the driven portion 61A is configured to rotate around one end portion (left end portion). .

  The elongated hole 62A of the driven portion 61A is formed so as to extend linearly along the longitudinal direction of the driven portion 61A, and engages with the driving convex portion 31R (rotary shaft 33R) provided on the third right arm 3R. It is configured.

Further, the driven portion 61A of the present embodiment is separated from the main body portion 60 of the driven mechanism portion 6A. A drive contact portion 61a extending in a direction orthogonal to the substrate transport direction and having a predetermined size is provided at a downstream side of the follower portion 61A in the substrate transport direction.
On the other hand, a driven contact portion 60a that contacts the drive contact portion 61a of the driven portion 61A described above is provided at the end portion of the driven mechanism portion 6A opposite to the biasing portion 6a of the main body portion 60.

  Further, a support portion 60b is provided at an end portion of the driven mechanism portion 6A opposite to the biasing portion 6a of the main body portion 60, and the main body portion 60 is provided between the support portion 60b and the guide member 63 described above. A compression coil spring 66 is mounted around the.

  In such a configuration, when the third left arm 3L and the third right arm 3R are rotated in the contraction direction from the extended state shown in FIG. 8A, the driven portion 61A rotates clockwise about the support shaft 35. And the driving convex portion 31R rotates counterclockwise, whereby the driven portion 61A moves downstream in the substrate transport direction.

  Then, the drive contact portion 61a of the driven portion 61A contacts the driven contact portion 60a of the main body portion 60 of the driven mechanism portion 6A and urges it to the downstream side in the substrate transport direction, so that the driven mechanism portion 6A becomes a compression coil. It moves to the downstream side in the substrate transport direction against the elastic force of the spring 66.

  As a result, the biasing portion 6a on the downstream side in the substrate transport direction of the driven mechanism portion 6A comes into contact with the side portion of the substrate 10 to be transported, and the locking portion 5a of the placement portion 5 is in contact with the side portion of the substrate 10. A force F in a direction toward 5 b acts, and thereby, a pressing force acts on the substrate 10 from the upstream side and the downstream side in the substrate transport direction, and the substrate 10 is held (gripped) on the mounting portion 5.

  According to the present embodiment having such a configuration, the driven contact portion 60a provided on the biasing portion 6a of the driven mechanism portion 6A is pressed against the drive contact portion 61a of the driven portion 61A with an appropriate force to be in close contact. Therefore, the driven mechanism portion 6A can be reliably moved to the downstream side in the substrate transport direction with high accuracy along the guide member 63, for example.

  In addition, according to the present embodiment, since the driven portion 61A and the main body portion 60 are separated, the main body portion 60 is slid only in the vicinity of the portion where the biasing portion 6a contacts the side portion of the substrate 10. There is a merit that generation of dust due to sliding between the guide member 63 and the main body 60 can be reduced. Since other configurations and operational effects are the same as those of the above-described embodiment, detailed description thereof is omitted.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various changes can be made.
For example, in the above-described embodiment, the power is transmitted by combining the driving convex portion and the long hole penetrating the driven portion. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the driving convex portion is engaged with the driving convex portion. As long as the power transmission is performed by sliding, a concave groove can be used as the driven side.

Further, regarding the slide mechanism of the urging means, the shape of the drive convex portion, the size of the long groove-like sliding portion, and the like can be appropriately changed according to the transport device to which the present invention is applied.
Furthermore, the present invention can be applied to a transfer apparatus having various link mechanisms and a vacuum apparatus having a plurality of processing chambers.
Furthermore, it is also possible to form a driving convex portion on a plurality of adjacent link portions that move relatively in parallel, and to move the driven mechanism portion by the driving convex portion to hold the conveyed product by the above-described operation. It is.

The top view which shows the structure of embodiment of the conveying apparatus which concerns on this invention (A): The block diagram which shows the whole urging | biasing means in the embodiment, (b): The block diagram which shows the driven mechanism part of the urging means in the embodiment (AA line of FIG. 2 (a)) (Cross section) (A) (b): Explanatory drawing which shows the operation principle and structure of this invention in detail (A)-(c): Explanatory drawing which shows operation | movement of the conveying apparatus in embodiment of this invention. The block diagram which shows the principal part of other embodiment of this invention The fragmentary sectional side view which shows the principal part of further another embodiment of this invention The block diagram which shows the principal part of further another embodiment of this invention (A) (b): The block diagram which shows the principal part of further another embodiment of this invention Schematic configuration diagram of a transfer device according to the prior art Schematic configuration diagram of the main part of a conventional transport device

Explanation of symbols

1L ... 1st left arm, 1R ... 1st right arm, 2L ... 2nd left arm, 2R ... 2nd right arm, 3L ... 3rd left arm (drive link part), 3R ... 3rd Right arm (drive link portion), 4 ... power transmission mechanism, 5 ... mounting portion, 5a, 5b ... locking portion, 6 ... driven mechanism portion, 6a ... biasing portion, 7 ... conveying chamber, 8 ... processing chamber, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 9 ... Energizing means, 10 ... Board | substrate (conveyed object), 20 ... Link mechanism, 31L, 31R ... Drive convex part (convex drive support part), 50 ... Conveyance apparatus, 61 ... Drive part, 62 ... Long hole ( Long groove sliding part)

Claims (9)

A telescopic link mechanism having a plurality of arms to which power from a drive source is transmitted;
A connecting portion for placing a transported object, connected via a drive link portion at the operating tip of the link mechanism;
The mounting portion is provided with a locking portion for contacting and locking with the side portion of the conveyed product,
The drive link portion of the link mechanism is provided with a biasing means by a slide mechanism,
The biasing means includes a drive support portion provided in a drive link portion of the link mechanism, and a driven mechanism portion driven by the drive support portion,
The driven mechanism section includes a driven section having a long groove-shaped sliding section that can be slidably engaged with the drive support section, and movement of the drive support section within the long groove-shaped sliding section of the driven section connected to the driven section. And a biasing portion that is guided and moved along a direction toward the locking portion of the placement portion.   The biasing means includes a pair of adjacent link members whose rotation directions are opposite to each other, and the convex drive support portions are provided on the pair of adjacent link members, respectively, and the driven mechanism portion is provided on each of the pair of adjacent link members. The conveying apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a driven portion having a long groove-like sliding portion that engages with the convex drive support portion provided; and the convex urging portion.   The biasing means is provided with a follower that is rotatable about a support shaft on one of a pair of adjacent link members whose rotation directions are opposite to each other, and is convex on the other of the pair of adjacent link members The convex drive support portion provided on the other of the pair of adjacent link members and the long groove-like slide portion provided on the follower portion are engaged and slid. The conveying apparatus according to claim 1 configured as described above.   The conveying device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the driven mechanism unit is configured such that the driven unit and the urging unit are integrally formed.   In the driven mechanism section, the driven section and the urging section are separated from each other, and a driving contact section provided on the driven section side and a driven contact section provided on the urging section side include the driven section. The conveying device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the conveying device is configured to contact with the movement of the portion to transmit power.   The conveying device according to claim 5, further comprising an urging force adjusting member for adjusting an urging force with respect to the driven portion on the urging portion side of the driven mechanism portion.   The conveying device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the urging portion of the driven mechanism portion of the urging means has a urging member for urging the urging force of the urging portion.   The conveying device according to claim 1, wherein the long groove-like sliding portion of the driven portion of the driven mechanism portion is a long hole. A vacuum chamber;
It has a conveyance device given in any 1 paragraph of Claims 1 thru / or 8,
The vacuum apparatus comprised so that the mounting part of the said conveying apparatus may carry in and out in the said vacuum chamber.

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