JPH1135109A - Transfer machine - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] To provide a transfer machine which improves storage efficiency in a cassette stocker. A shelf (7) is provided on at least one side of a passage (3) extending in one direction.
In the transfer machine for transferring the load 6 to the shelf 7, a reciprocating moving body 9 reciprocally movable in the passage 3 in the direction, and a reciprocating moving body 9 are provided on the reciprocating moving body 9 so as to be vertically movable, and the load 3 And a holding body 10 capable of holding and releasing the holding. Clamping body 10
Are provided on both one end and the other end of the passage 3.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a transfer machine suitable for use when transferring an object to be transferred between floors, for example.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As is well known, a semiconductor wafer is processed through a number of processing steps in a semiconductor manufacturing plant. In each of these processing steps, the processing time is different, so that it is almost impossible to directly transfer from processing apparatus to processing apparatus. Therefore, the semiconductor wafers are temporarily stored in the cassette stocker while being stored in the wafer cassette during the standby for the next process.

[0003] Generally, this type of cassette stocker includes:
In order to efficiently store the wafer cassette, a plurality of shelves and a transfer machine for transferring the wafer cassette to the plurality of shelves are provided.

FIGS. 3 to 5 show an example of a conventional transfer machine. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 1 denotes a cassette stocker. In the center of the cassette stocker 1, a rail 3 (passage) extending in one direction is laid. One end of the rail 3,
Side walls 4 and 5 are provided on the other end side, respectively, and a transfer port (not shown) facing the rail 3 is formed in the side wall 4.

[0005] On both sides of the rail 3, shelves 7 to which the wafer cassette 6 (load) is transferred are provided. Shelf 7
As shown in FIG. 4, a plurality of stages are provided on both sides of the rail 3. On the other hand, on the rail 3, a transfer machine 8 that can travel along the rail 3 is provided.
The transfer machine 8 transfers the wafer cassette 6 to the shelf 7 and the shelf 7
The wafer cassette 6 is transferred from FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, a rectangular up / down column 9 (reciprocating body), which runs in a reciprocating manner on the rail 3, and a holding body 10 provided on the side wall 4 side of the up / down column 9. It is.

[0006] The holding body 10 includes an elevating unit 11 that is vertically movable along the elevating column 9 and an elevating unit 1.
1 includes a swing arm 13 attached to the swing arm 13 so as to be able to swing around the first axis 12 and a holding hand 15 attached to the swing arm 13 so as to be able to swing around the second axis 14. The holding hands 15 are configured to be separated and approachable from each other.

In the transfer machine having the above-described configuration, the lifting column 9 travels on the rail 3 and receives the wafer cassette 6 transferred by a transfer device (not shown). That is, after the elevating unit 11 moves up and down along the elevating column 9 and is positioned at a predetermined height, the swing arm 13 and the holding hand 15 are rotated around the first and second axes 12 and 14, respectively. By swinging, the holding hand 15 is opposed to the wafer cassette 6. When the holding hands 15 approach each other and hold the wafer cassette 6, the wafer cassette 6 can be received.

After the elevating column 9 travels toward the side wall 5 and stops at a predetermined position, the elevating part 11 is moved by the elevating column 9.
Is moved to a predetermined height. Thereafter, as described above, the swing arm 13 and the holding hand 15 swing,
As shown in FIG. 3, the wafer cassette 6 held by the holding hand 15 is transported to a predetermined position on the shelf 7.

Then, the wafer cassette 6 is placed on the shelf 7 by releasing the holding of the wafer cassette 6 by the holding hands 15 being separated from each other. On the other hand, when the wafer cassette 6 is taken out by the transfer machine 8, the operation is performed in the reverse order of the procedure for mounting the wafer cassette 6 on the shelf 7.
Further, the wafer cassette 6 can be transferred from the shelf 7 to a shelf 7 of another height by the same operation as described above.

[0010]

However, the conventional transfer machine as described above has the following problems. The swing arm 13 and the holding hand 15 are swingable about the first and second axes 12 and 14, respectively. However, since the swing arm 13 and the holding hand 15 are provided only on the side wall 4 side of the elevating column 9, the holding hand 15 is provided. Is limited in the range in which the wafer cassette 6 can be transferred.
That is, the wafer cassette 6 cannot be transferred to the side wall 5 side.

As a result, a dead space 16 in which the wafer cassette 6 cannot be placed on the shelf 7 is generated in the cassette stocker 1 which originally has only a limited storage space as shown in FIG. The storage efficiency was reduced. The present invention has been made in consideration of the above points, and has as its object to provide a transfer machine that improves the storage efficiency in a cassette stocker.

[0012]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention employs the following constitution. The transfer machine according to claim 1, wherein the transfer machine is configured to be able to run on a passage extending in one direction, a shelf is provided on at least one side of the passage, and the load is transferred to the shelf. A reciprocating body that is reciprocally movable in the passage in the direction described above, and a holding body that is provided on the reciprocating body so as to be able to move up and down in the vertical direction and that is capable of holding and releasing the load. Are provided on both one end side and the other end side.

Therefore, according to the transfer machine of the present invention, the reciprocating moving body travels on the passage, and at the same time, the holding body can move up and down to transfer the load to the shelf. Then, the load on one end side and the other end side of the passage can be transferred to the reciprocating moving body by the holding body.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the transfer machine according to the first aspect, wherein the holding member is provided on the reciprocating body so as to be vertically movable and vertically movable. A swing arm attached to be swingable about a first axis, and a swing arm attached to the swing arm so as to be able to swing about a second axis;
It is characterized by comprising a holding hand which can be separated from and approached to each other.

Therefore, according to the transfer machine of the present invention, the elevating unit can move up and down with respect to the reciprocating body, and the swing arm can swing about the first axis with respect to the elevating unit. Further, with respect to the swing arm, the holding hand can swing about the second axis and can hold and release the load.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a transfer machine according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. In these figures, the same components as those in FIGS. 3 to 5 shown as conventional examples are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted. As shown in FIG. 1, a rail 3 extending in one direction is laid in the center of the cassette stocker 1, and a side wall 4 is provided at one end of the rail 3 and a side wall 5 is provided at the other end. ing.

On both sides of the rail 3, a wafer cassette 6
A plurality of shelves 7 are provided, on each of which a plurality of shelves 7 are mounted.
Are arranged. As shown in FIG. 2, the transfer machine 8 is provided on both the one end and the other end of the rail 3 with respect to the elevating column 9 that reciprocates on the rail 3. And a holding body 10.

The holding body 10 includes an elevating unit 11 that is vertically movable along the elevating column 9 and an elevating unit 1.
1 includes a swing arm 13 attached to the swing arm 13 so as to be able to swing around the first axis 12 and a holding hand 15 attached to the swing arm 13 so as to be able to swing around the second axis 14. The holding hands 15 are configured to be separated and approachable from each other.

In the transfer machine having the above structure, first, the holding body 10 located on one end side of the rail 3, that is, on the side wall 4 side.
As a result, the wafer cassette 6 is operated in the same operation as the above-described conventional example.
Can be transferred onto the shelf 7. Thereafter, the lifting column 9 travels to the side wall 4 side. Next, the holding body 10 located on the other end side of the rail 3, that is, on the side wall 5 side, holds the wafer cassette 6 placed on the shelf 7.

That is, after the elevating unit 11 on the side wall 5 moves up and down along the elevating column 9 and is positioned at the height of the shelf 7 on which the wafer cassette 6 is mounted, the swing arm 13
And the holding hands 15 are respectively the first and second axes 1
By swinging around 2 and 14, the holding hand 15 is opposed to the wafer cassette 6. Then, the holding hands 15 approach each other and hold the wafer cassette 6 on the shelf 7.

In this state, the holding hand 15 once swings around the second axis 14 so that the wafer cassette 6 is positioned on the rail 3, that is, while the wafer cassette 6 is being held, the lifting column 9 is held. Is moved so that it does not come into contact with another wafer cassette 6 on the shelf 7 even if it travels on the rail 3. Then, after the elevating column 9 travels toward the side wall 5, it stops at a predetermined position.

In this state, after the elevating unit 11 has moved to the predetermined empty shelf 7 height, the holding hand 15 swings around the second axis 14 again to hold the held wafer cassette 6 on the shelf. 7 and separated from each other to release the holding of the wafer cassette 6 from the
Transfer to is completed.

According to the transfer machine of the present embodiment, the rail 3
To the position on the shelf 7 where the wafer cassette 6 cannot be transferred.
Can be transferred while holding the wafer cassette 6. Therefore, the wafer cassette can be placed in the space on the shelf 7 which has been a dead space.

In the above embodiment, the shelves 7 are provided on both sides of the rails 3. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the shelves 7 may be provided only on one side of the rails 3. Further, although the transfer machine 8 is configured to travel on the rails 3, a configuration in which the rails 3 are not provided and the transfer machine 8 includes tires that travel on the floor surface may be employed.

[0025]

As described above, according to the transfer machine according to the first aspect, the reciprocating body that can freely travel in one direction on the passage, and the reciprocating body that can move up and down in the vertical direction. And a holding body capable of holding and releasing the load. The holding body is provided on both one end side and the other end side of the passage. As a result, a load can be placed in a space on a shelf which has been a dead space, and an excellent effect that storage efficiency is improved can be achieved.

According to the transfer apparatus of the present invention, the holding unit is provided on the reciprocating body so as to be movable up and down, and the swing arm is attached to the lifting unit so as to be swingable about the first axis. And a holding hand that is attached to the swing arm so as to be swingable about the second axis, and that can be separated from and approached to each other. Thereby, the lifting / lowering unit moves with respect to the reciprocating moving body, and after the swing arm and the holding hand swing about the first and second axes, respectively, the holding hands are separated from each other, approach and hold the load. This makes it possible to release the sandwiching, and to provide an excellent effect that the load can be transferred.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view showing an embodiment of the present invention, and is a plan view in which holding bodies are provided on both ends of a rail with respect to a lifting column.

FIG. 2 is a view showing the embodiment of the present invention, and is a front view in which a holding body is provided on both one end side and the other end side of the rail with respect to the elevating column.

FIG. 3 is a plan view illustrating an example of a transfer machine according to the related art.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an example of a transfer machine according to the related art.

FIG. 5 is a front view showing an example of a transfer machine according to the related art.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 3 rail (passage) 6 wafer cassette (load) 7 shelf 8 transfer machine 9 elevating column (reciprocating moving body) 10 holding body 11 elevating unit 12 first axis 13 swing arm 14 second axis 15 holding hand

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A transfer machine which is free to run on a passage extending in one direction, a shelf is provided on at least one side of the passage, and loads are transferred to the shelf. A reciprocating reciprocating body, and a reciprocating moving body, a reciprocating moving body, a reciprocating moving body, a reciprocating moving body, and a reciprocating moving body. A transfer machine, which is provided on both ends. 2. The transfer machine according to claim 1, wherein the holding body is provided on the reciprocating body so as to be movable up and down in a vertical direction, and the lifting part is swingable about a first axis. And a swinging arm attached to the swinging arm, and a gripping hand attached to the swinging arm so as to be swingable about a second axis and separated from and approachable to each other.