JPS62201726A - Conveyor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To have the run of a branch passage without giving any damage to the article mounted on a conveyed body, by installing a guide body oppositely in the projecting body installed in the side of the conveyed body, while connecting the guide body to the projecting body with pressure in a noncontact way, and drawing the guide body into the branch passage. CONSTITUTION:When a conveyed body 19 is positioned in a branch passage 4, a rod 14 is projected outward by an air cylinder 13, whereby a guide body 17 at a tip of a moving member 12 interlocking with this rod is opposed to the projecting body 21 installed in one end of the conveyed body 19. Next, the guide body is turned round in a horizontal direction by a motor 15 and the projecting body 21 comes into space between paired side faces of the guide body 17. Simultaneously gas is jetted out of an exhaust nozzle (h) installed in each inner surface at both sides of the guide body, whereby the guide body 17 and the projecting body 21 are connected with each other in a noncontact way. Then, a movable wall 5 is moved to a rear end of the branch passage by an air cylinder 8 while the guide body 17 is operated in a drawing direction by the air cylinder 13 and the conveyed body 19 is drawn into the branch passage together with the guide body 17 in a noncontact state. Therefore, no impact is imposed on an article 20 on the conveyed body.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a transport gAM for floating an object using gas and transporting the object to a transport path in a non-contact manner.

(Prior Art) For example, in a conveyance device for conveying an article by a W111 conveyor, if the article is something that should not be subjected to impact, such as a semiconductor wafer, the object to be conveyed is levitated by gas, Conveyance is performed in a non-contact state with respect to the conveyance path. According to such a conveyance device, it is possible to reduce the impact given to the conveyed object compared to the case where the conveyed object is conveyed in contact with the conveyance path, so that the article conveyed by the conveyed object can be It is possible to prevent problems such as attaching 1n or causing is.

When transferring an article to a conveyed object that is conveyed without contacting the conveyance path in this way, the conveyed object is introduced into a branch path branching from the conveyance path, and the conveyance path is connected to another conveyance path. This allows for effective use in transporting objects.

By the way, conventionally, in order to introduce the above-mentioned object to be conveyed from the conveyance path to the branch path, an operating rod for retraction, for example, is engaged with the object to be conveyed while the object is facing the branch path, and this operation is performed. The rod was driven to introduce the object to be transported into the branch path.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, if the conveyed object is pulled into the branch S in this way, when the actuating rod is engaged with the conveyed object, the actuating rod will cause the conveyed object to Impact is inevitable. Therefore, the impact may scratch or damage the articles on the conveyed object.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a conveyance device that can introduce a conveyed body from a conveyance path into a branch path without giving ml to the conveyed body.

[Structure of the invention] (Means and effects for solving the problem) This invention has the following features:
It is movable along the direction of the branch path and is driven by a first drive source, to the side of a branch path branched from a transfer path for transporting the transported object in a non-contact manner by floating the object with gas. A moving member is provided, and a guide body is provided at the tip of the moving member from which gas is ejected from the side surface and is rotationally driven by a second drive source, and the side surface of the guide body is connected to the conveyance path of the object to be conveyed. By facing a protrusion protruding from one end surface in the direction of movement along the guide body, the conveyed object is interlocked with the movement of the guide body in a non-contact state by the pressure of gas ejected from the side surface of the guide body. It is designed so that it can be introduced into a branch road.

(actual example) An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

The conveyance device shown in FIG. 1 includes a conveyance path 1. The conveyance device shown in FIG. This conveyance path 1 has a bottom wall 2, and sides that are erected on both sides of the bottom wall 2 in the width direction! 3, the cross-sectional shape is formed into a substantially U-shape. The joining walls 2.3 forming this conveyance path 1 are formed in a hollow shape that communicates with each other, and gas such as compressed air is supplied into this hollow part from a supply source (not shown), and the gas is supplied to the bottom wall 2. Top and side! I! The water is ejected from a large number of ejection holes drilled in the inner surfaces of the tubes 3 and 3, respectively. Further, a branch path 4 branches off from the conveyance path 1 at right angles. This branch path 4 is formed only by the bottom v5 having the same structure as the bottom wall 2 of the conveyance path 1, but similarly to the conveyance path 1 described above, side walls may be provided between and on the sides in the width direction. Above conveyance path 1
side! ! The portion of No. 3 corresponding to the branch path 4 is formed into a movable portion W5 that is movable along the longitudinal direction of the branch path 4 as shown by the arrow in FIG. A connecting portion 6 is protruded from the bottom surface of this flexible wall 5, and this connecting portion 6 is connected to the branch path 4.
It is slidably inserted into an insertion portion 7 formed along the longitudinal direction of the. The rod 9 of the first air cylinder 8 is attached to the end of the connecting portion 6 that protrudes from the insertion portion 7 hl to the lower surface side of the branch path 4. has been done. When the rod 9 is in the protruding state, the movable M15 forms a part of the side wall 3 of the conveyance path 1, and when the rod 9 is driven in the retracting direction, the movable M15 is moved to the end of the branch path 4. , so that a part of the side M13 is opened.

A base 11 is disposed on one side of the branch road 4 along the direction of the branch road 4. A movable member 12 is slidably provided on this base 11. A rod 14 of a second air cylinder 13 serving as a first driving source is connected to the rear end of the moving member 12. Further, a motor 15 as a second drive source is provided at the tip of the moving member 12. A guide body 17 is attached to the rotating shaft 16 of the motor 15 and is formed substantially in the shape of a trowel and hollow. This guide body 17 is rotatably driven by the motor 15 from a vertical state to a horizontal state within a range of approximately 90 degrees, and the same gas as that in the conveyance path 1 is supplied into the guide body 17. . The gas supplied to the guide body 17 is ejected from ejection holes bored on both inner surfaces of the guide body 17.

On the other hand, an object 19 to be transported is placed on the transport path 1 with an article 20 such as a semiconductor wafer placed thereon.

In other words, the conveyed object 19 floats on the conveyance path 1 in a non-contact state due to the gas ejected from the jet hole of the conveyance path 1, and the thrust is generated by the nozzle provided on the conveyed object 19 (Fig. This can be obtained by the pressure of gas ejected from a linear motor (not shown) or by a linear motor (not shown).

On one end surface of the transported object 19 in the moving direction, the transported object 1
A projecting body 21 is provided to draw the conveyance path 9 from the conveyance path 1 to the branch path 4. That is, the conveyed object 19 is transferred to the branch path 4.
When it stops at the point, the second air cylinder 13 is activated and its a-rad 14 protrudes. After the moving member 12 is driven in the direction of protruding into the conveyance path 1 in conjunction with the O-rad 14, that is, in the forward direction, the motor 15 is activated to rotate the guide body 17 from a vertical state to a horizontal state. let

Then, the protrusion 2 is placed between the pair of side walls of the guide body 17.
1 enters, so if the guide body 17 is driven in the backward direction by the second air cylinder 13 in this state, the conveyed body 19 will be Guide body 1 via projecting body 21
7 can be moved a.

In the transport device having such a structure, in order to take the transported object 19 into the branch path 4, the transported object 19 is first stopped in a state where the transported object 19 is positioned opposite to the branch path 4. When the conveyed object 19 is positioned, the second air cylinder 13
is activated, and the rod 14 is urged in the projecting direction. When this rod 14 protrudes to the stroke end, the id body 1 provided at the tip of the moving member 12 that interlocks with this rod 14 protrudes to the stroke end.
7 faces a protrusion 21 provided on one end surface of the conveyed object 19 . Then, the motor 15 operates and the guide body 17
is rotated approximately 90 degrees from the vertical position shown in FIG. 1 to the horizontal position shown in FIG.

Then, as shown by the line a in FIG. The guide body 17 and the projecting body 2 are blown out and the pressure of this gas
1 are coupled in a non-contact manner. Next, the first air cylinder 8 is activated and the rod 9 is driven from the protruding state to the retracting direction, and the movable W! 5 from the front end side to the rear end side of the branch path 4 to open a part of the side wall 3 of the conveyance path 1, and at the same time, the rod 14 of the second air cylinder 13 is driven in the retracting direction. When the second air cylinder 13 is driven in the retracting direction and the guide body 17 provided at its tip is interlocked with it via the moving member 12, it is connected to the guide body 17 via the protrusion 21 in a non-contact state. The conveyed objects 19 that have been moved are interlocked. Therefore, the conveyed object 19 is drawn from the conveyance path 1 to the branch path 4 by the guide body 17 as shown in FIG. At this time, since the conveyed object 19 is moved without being in contact with the guide body 17, an impact is applied to the conveyed object 19, and the article 20 placed thereon is prevented from collapsing. Moreover,
The conveyed object 19 is transferred to the conveying path 1 and branch path 4 by gas pressure.
Since the conveyed object 19 is floating against the air, the compressibility of the gas and the vibration-absorbing effect also cause the conveyed object 19 to receive a shock.

Note that the transported object 19 drawn into the branch path 4 is transferred to the transport path 1.
In order to return to the original state, the first and second air cylinders 8.13 and the motor 15 are operated in the opposite direction.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, the present invention has an advantage in that when the transported object, which is floated by gas and transported in a non-contact state, is drawn from the transport path to the branch path, a bump is made on one side of the transported object. A guide body is placed to face the provided projecting body, the guide body and the conveyed body are connected in a non-contact state by the pressure of the gas ejected from the side surface of the guide body, and the guided body is driven. The objects to be transported are now linked. Therefore, since the object to be conveyed can be drawn from the conveyance path to the branch path without applying any impact to the object, the article attached to the object to be conveyed at this time will not be damaged.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a plan view when the conveyed object is located on the conveyance path, FIG. 2 is a plan view when the object is similarly drawn into the branch path, and FIG. 3 is a schematic view. FIG. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Conveyance path, 4... Branch path, 12... Moving member, 13... Second air cylinder (first drive vJm>,
15... Motor (second drive source), 17... Guide body, 19... Transported object, 20... Article, 21...
Projection. Applicant's agent Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue 1 Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3

Claims (1)

[Claims] A transport path for floating the transported object with gas and transporting it in a non-contact state, a branch path branching from the transport path, and a first drive source movably provided along the direction of the branch path. a moving member driven by a moving member; a guide body from which gas is ejected from a side surface and rotatably provided at the tip of the moving member and driven in a rotational direction by a second drive source; By protruding from one end surface of the guide body in the movement direction along the conveyance path and facing the side surface from which the gas of the guide body is blown out, the conveyed object is moved by the pressure of the gas blown out from this side surface. A conveying device characterized by comprising a protruding body that interlocks movement in a non-contact manner.