TWI513643B - Substrate transfer apparatus - Google Patents

Description

Transfer mechanism

The present invention relates to a transfer mechanism, and more particularly to an automated transfer mechanism for transporting substrates in a panel process.

A transfer mechanism for transporting a substrate is used to adsorb the substrate by means of a vacuum chuck to drive the substrate, as shown in Taiwan Patent No. I226302 and Taiwan Patent Application No. 201115678. However, the above-described adsorption type transfer device only relies on the vacuum chucks to suck the substrate, and a gap occurs between the suction cups and the surface on which the substrate is adsorbed, meaning that the vacuum state between the two is destroyed. This will make the suction cups unable to hold the substrate.

Another conventional transfer mechanism carries two opposite sides of a substrate thereon by two brackets, and drives the substrate to move through a moving member connected to the two brackets, such as Taiwan Notice No. I279382 The patent shows. However, since the tray-type transfer mechanism only supports the opposite sides of the substrate by the brackets, the central region of the substrate may be recessed downward due to lack of support, especially when the size of the substrate is smaller. When the time is large, the situation of the depression is more serious, which in turn deforms the substrate, resulting in poor yield and reduced productivity in the latter stage process.

In addition, there is a composite transfer mechanism, as shown in the Taiwan Patent No. I280938, which uses a plurality of pairs of transfer arms to support two opposite sides of a panel, and on the other hand utilizes multiple The suction cup group adsorbs the printed circuit board on the peripheral side of the panel, thereby simultaneously conveying the panel and its peripheral side Printed circuit board. However, the composite transfer mechanism actually only supports the body of the panel by the transfer arms, so that when the transfer mechanism transports the panel, the central area of the panel is still lacking support. The depression is affected, which affects the yield and productivity of the latter process.

The invention provides a transfer mechanism for transporting a substrate, the transfer mechanism comprising a set of longitudinal tracks, a carrying device and a longitudinal driving device. The carrying device is movably disposed on the set of longitudinal tracks and is used to carry the substrate. The carrying device comprises an adsorption unit, two brackets, an opening and closing mechanism and a lifting mechanism. The adsorption unit is synchronously lifted and lowered by the lifting mechanism, and is adsorbed to the substrate when descending to a carrying position. In the top central area, the two brackets are lifted and lowered synchronously with the adsorption unit by the lifting mechanism, and are driven by the opening and closing mechanism to move to the two pairs of sides of the substrate to the support side when descending to the carrying position The position of the bottom surface of the substrate. The longitudinal drive is adapted to drive the carrier to move over the set of longitudinal tracks.

The carrying device preferably further includes an opening and closing mechanism for driving the two brackets to approach or away from each other. The opening and closing mechanism includes a set of transverse rails, a transmission assembly and a lateral drive. The set of transverse rails is perpendicular to the two brackets, and the two brackets are movably disposed on the set of transverse rails. The transmission assembly includes a two-wheel member and a belt, and the two-wheel member is disposed on the set of lateral rails, and the belt is wound around the two-wheel member and parallel to the set of lateral rails. The two brackets are respectively connected to the upper half and the lower half of the belt. The lateral drive device is configured to drive the two wheel members to rotate such that the belt drives the two brackets to move toward or away from each other along the set of lateral track directions.

In another aspect, the carrying device further includes a body and a lifting mechanism. The seat system is movably disposed in the set of longitudinal tracks. The lifting mechanism is configured to drive the opening and closing mechanism to move up and down simultaneously with the two brackets and the adsorption unit. Wherein, the lifting mechanism comprises a set of lifting rails, a lifting drive device and a linkage assembly. The opening and closing mechanism further includes a connecting frame movably disposed on the set of lifting rails and connected to the linkage assembly. The lifting rail is disposed on the base body, and the lifting and lowering driving device is configured to drive the linking component to drive the connecting frame to move along the lifting rail, so that the opening and closing mechanism, the two brackets and the adsorption unit simultaneously move up and down .

Preferably, the adsorption unit comprises a plurality of adsorption members arranged at intervals in a connecting arm parallel to the two brackets and arranged to be adsorbed at a position in the center of the top surface of the substrate. On the other hand, each of the brackets includes a connecting arm and a plurality of bracket arms, and the bracket arms are disposed on the connecting arm at intervals and are arranged to support the bottom surface of the substrate.

Compared with the prior art, the transfer device of the present invention supports the substrate by holding the bottom surface of the substrate by two brackets and adsorbing the center of the top surface of the substrate by an adsorption unit. In the process of transporting the substrate, the transfer device can not only prevent the substrate from falling down by the two brackets, but also can prevent the central portion of the substrate from being depressed downward by the adsorption unit, especially for a large-sized substrate. It can actually reduce its risk in the transportation process to improve the yield and productivity of subsequent processes.

Other inventive aspects and more detailed technical and functional descriptions of the present invention are disclosed in the following description.

The first figure shows a preferred embodiment of the transfer device 1 of the present invention. The transfer device 1 is for conveying a substrate 9 and comprises a set of longitudinal tracks 3, a carrying device 5 and a longitudinal driving device 7. The carrying device 5 is disposed on the set of longitudinal rails 3 for carrying the substrate 9 below. The longitudinal drive unit 7 is used to drive the carrier unit 5 along the set of longitudinal rails 3 such that the carrier unit 5 moves along the set of longitudinal rails 3 along with the substrate 9.

As shown in the second figure, the carrying device 5 includes a body 58, a lifting mechanism 56, an opening and closing mechanism 54, an adsorption unit 52, and a pair of brackets 50 on both sides of the adsorption unit 52. The seat body 58 is movably disposed on the set of longitudinal rails 3. The lifting mechanism 56 is attached to the base body 58. The opening and closing mechanism 54 is provided at the bottom of the lifting mechanism 56. The two brackets 50 and the adsorption unit 52 are disposed below the opening and closing mechanism 54.

The two brackets 50 of the carrying device 5 are configured to support the bottom surface of the substrate 9 near the opposite sides thereof, and each of the brackets 50 preferably includes a connecting arm 501 and a plurality of bracket arms 503. The bracket arms 503 are arranged at intervals in the connecting arm 501 to avoid the plurality of circuit contacts 90 on the side of the substrate 9. In addition, the end of each of the support arms 503 preferably has a cushion 505 to avoid scratching the substrate 9. On the other hand, the adsorption unit 52 is configured to adsorb the top surface of the substrate 9, preferably in a central position on the top surface of the substrate 9, so that the central portion of the substrate 9 does not become depressed downward. In addition, the adsorption unit 52 preferably includes a plurality of adsorption members 523 (for example, vacuum suction cups), and the adsorption members 523 are fixed to the opening and closing mechanism 54 by a connecting arm 521.

Referring to the third figure, the opening and closing mechanism 54 of the carrying device 5 includes a set of lateral rails 541, a transmission assembly 543, a lateral driving device 549 and a connecting bracket 540. The set of lateral rails 541 includes two parallel rails 542, both of which are suspended Straight to the two brackets 50. The two brackets 50 are movably disposed on the two slide rails 542. The transmission assembly 543 includes two parallel rod members 544, two pairs of wheel members 545 and two belts 546; the two rod members 544 are perpendicular to the two rails 542, and two ends of each rod member 544 are respectively disposed on the two rails 542 Slide rails 542; each pair of wheel members 545 are respectively sleeved on the two rod members 544; the two belts 546 are respectively wound around the two pairs of wheel members 545 and parallel to the two rails 542. In addition, one of the brackets 50 includes two first connecting members 506 (shown in the second figure) for connecting to the upper half of the two belts 546, and the two first connecting members 506 respectively have a through hole 500. The lower half of the two belts 546 are passed through; the other bracket 50 includes two second connecting members 507 (shown in the second figure) for connecting to the lower half of the two belts 546, respectively. The lateral driving device 549 is configured to drive the two pairs of wheel members 545 to rotate, so that the two belts 546 drive the first connecting member 505 and the second connecting member 507 of the two brackets 52 toward each other in the direction of the sliding rail 542. Or moving in the opposite direction so that the two brackets 52 are close to or away from each other.

The lifting mechanism 56 of the carrying device 5 includes a set of lifting rails 561, a linkage assembly 563 and a lifting drive 569. The set of lifting rails 561 includes four sliding rails 562 respectively disposed at four corners of the base body 58. The linkage assembly 563 includes two rods 564 and four gears 565. Each rod 564 extends through two opposite sides of the base body 58. The four gears 565 are respectively disposed at two ends of the two rods 564 and outside the seat body 58. . In addition, the connecting frame 540 of the opening and closing mechanism 54 is movably disposed on the four sliding rails 562 (shown in the first figure) by a plurality of sliders 548, and the connecting bracket 540 further includes a four-rack 547. Four gears 565 are respectively engaged with the linkage assembly 563. The lifting drive 569 is configured to drive the two rods 564 to rotate together with the four gears 565, and the four gears 547 are engaged with the four gears 565 along with the connection. The frame 540 is moved along the four slide rails 562 such that the opening and closing mechanism 54, the two brackets 50 and the adsorption unit 52 are simultaneously raised or lowered.

The fourth to eighth drawings show the process in which the transfer device 1 transports the substrate 9. First, the longitudinal drive unit 7 drives the carrier unit 5 to move over the set of longitudinal rails 3 above the substrate 9, as shown in the fourth figure. Then, the lifting and lowering driving device 569 of the lifting mechanism 56 drives the connecting frame 540 of the opening and closing mechanism 54 to move down along the set of lifting rails 561, so that the opening and closing mechanism 54 together with the two brackets 50 and the adsorption unit 52 Down to a load bearing position, as shown in the fifth figure, at this time, the adsorption unit 52 touches the top surface of the substrate 9. It should be noted that the adsorption unit 52 preferably includes a detecting device 525 for detecting the distance between the top surface of the substrate 9 and the adsorption unit 52 to prevent the adsorption unit 52 from striking the substrate 9. When the opening and closing mechanism 54 is lowered to the carrying position together with the two brackets 50 and the suction unit 52, as shown in the sixth figure, the lateral driving device 549 of the opening and closing mechanism 54 further drives the two brackets 50 along The group of lateral rails 541 are adjacent to the substrate 9 to support the bottom surface of the substrate 9 near the opposite sides thereof; the adsorption unit 52 is adsorbed to the central position of the top surface of the substrate 9 to avoid the substrate. 9 The center is recessed downward, affecting the quality of the substrate 9. Subsequently, as shown in the seventh figure, the lifting drive unit 569 of the lifting mechanism 56 is operated again to drive the opening and closing mechanism 54 together with the two brackets 50, the adsorption unit 52 and the substrate 9 to simultaneously rise. Finally, as shown in the eighth figure, the longitudinal drive unit 7 drives the carrier mechanism 5 along with the substrate 9 along the set of longitudinal tracks 3 for the purpose of transporting the substrate 9.

In summary, the transfer device of the present invention supports the movement of the substrate by supporting the bottom surface of the substrate by two brackets and adsorbing the center of the top surface of the substrate by an adsorption unit. Carrier device compared to previous technology The substrate can be prevented from falling down by the two brackets, and the central portion of the substrate can be prevented from being deformed downward by the adsorption unit, especially for a large-sized substrate, and the transfer device of the present invention can be used. Reduce the risk of the substrate during transportation to improve the yield and productivity of subsequent processes.

In any event, anyone can obtain sufficient teaching from the description of the above examples, and it is understood that the present invention is indeed different from the prior art, and is industrially usable and progressive. It is the invention that has indeed met the patent requirements and has filed an application in accordance with the law.

1‧‧‧Transfer device

3‧‧‧ longitudinal orbit

5‧‧‧ Carrying device

50‧‧‧ bracket

500‧‧‧through hole

501‧‧‧Connecting arm

503‧‧‧ bracket arm

505‧‧‧ cushion

506‧‧‧First connector

507‧‧‧second connector

52‧‧‧Adsorption unit

521‧‧‧Connecting arm

523‧‧‧Adsorbed parts

525‧‧‧Detection device

54‧‧‧Opening and closing institutions

540‧‧‧Connecting frame

541‧‧‧ transverse orbit

542‧‧‧rails

543‧‧‧Transmission components

544‧‧‧ rods

545‧‧‧ Wheels

546‧‧‧Land

547‧‧‧Rack

548‧‧‧ Slider

549‧‧‧Transverse drive

56‧‧‧ Lifting mechanism

561‧‧‧ Lifting track

562‧‧‧rails

563‧‧‧ linkage components

564‧‧‧ rod

565‧‧‧ Gears

569‧‧‧ Lifting device

58‧‧‧ body

7‧‧‧Longitudinal drive

9‧‧‧Substrate

90‧‧‧circuit contacts

The first figure is a perspective assembled view of a preferred embodiment of the transfer device of the present invention.

The second figure is an exploded perspective view of the preferred embodiment.

The third figure is an exploded perspective view of the carrying device of the preferred embodiment.

4 to 8 are schematic views of the process of transporting the substrate in the preferred embodiment.

1‧‧‧Transfer device

3‧‧‧ longitudinal orbit

5‧‧‧ Carrying device

50‧‧‧ bracket

52‧‧‧Adsorption unit

54‧‧‧Opening and closing institutions

540‧‧‧Connecting frame

541‧‧‧ transverse orbit

542‧‧‧rails

547‧‧‧Rack

548‧‧‧ Slider

549‧‧‧Transverse drive

56‧‧‧ Lifting mechanism

562‧‧‧rails

569‧‧‧ Lifting device

58‧‧‧ body

7‧‧‧Longitudinal drive

9‧‧‧Substrate

90‧‧‧circuit contacts

Claims (8)

A transfer mechanism for transporting a substrate comprises: a set of longitudinal tracks; a carrying device movably disposed on the set of longitudinal tracks for carrying the substrate, and comprising an adsorption unit, two brackets, and an opening And a lifting mechanism, wherein the adsorption unit is lifted and lowered synchronously with the bracket by the lifting mechanism, and is adsorbed to a central area of a top surface of the substrate when descending to a carrying position, and the two brackets are borrowed The lifting mechanism is synchronously raised and lowered with the adsorption unit, and is driven by the opening and closing mechanism when the adsorption unit is adsorbed on the substrate, and moved to two opposite sides of the substrate to a position supporting the bottom surface of the substrate; A longitudinal drive for driving the carrier to move over the set of longitudinal tracks. The transfer mechanism of claim 1, wherein the opening and closing mechanism comprises a set of transverse rails, a transmission component and a lateral drive device; the set of transverse rails is perpendicular to the two brackets, and the two brackets The frame is movably disposed on the set of lateral rails; the transmission component includes two wheel members and a belt, the two wheel members are disposed on the set of lateral rails, the belt is wound around the two wheel members and parallel to the a pair of lateral rails; the two brackets are respectively connected to the upper half and the lower half of the belt; the lateral driving device is configured to drive the two wheel members to rotate, so that the belt drives the two trays along the direction of the set of transverse rails The frames move toward each other or in opposite directions. The transfer mechanism of claim 2, wherein the set of lateral tracks comprises two parallel slide rails; the transmission assembly further comprises two rods, and the two ends of each rod are respectively disposed on the two slide rails The two pulleys are respectively sleeved on the two rods; each bracket includes a connecting member, and the two brackets are respectively connected to the upper half and the lower half of the belt by the two connecting members, Lateral drive is used One of the rods is driven to rotate with its corresponding wheel member to cause the belt to move the two connecting members toward or away from each other such that the two brackets approach or move away from each other. The transfer mechanism of claim 2, wherein the carrying device further comprises a lifting mechanism for driving the opening and closing mechanism to move up and down together with the two brackets and the adsorption unit. The transfer mechanism of claim 4, wherein the carrying device further comprises a body movably disposed on the set of longitudinal rails; the lifting mechanism comprises a set of lifting rails, a lifting drive device, and a linkage assembly The opening and closing mechanism further includes a connecting frame movably disposed on the set of lifting rails and connected to the linking component; the set of lifting rails is disposed on the base body, and the lifting driving device is configured to drive the linkage The assembly drives the connecting frame to move along the lifting rail, so that the opening and closing mechanism, the two brackets and the adsorption unit simultaneously move up and down. The transfer mechanism of any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein each of the brackets includes a connecting arm and a plurality of supporting arms, the two connecting arms are parallel to each other and coupled to the opening and closing mechanism, the brackets An arm is arranged on the connecting arm at intervals, and is arranged to support two opposite sides of the substrate; the adsorption unit further comprises another connecting arm and a plurality of adsorbing members, the other connecting arm is coupled to the The opening and closing mechanism is interposed between the two brackets and parallel to the two brackets. The transfer mechanism of claim 6, wherein the adsorbing members are corresponding to the bracket arms and are disposed at intervals in the other connecting arm. The transfer mechanism of claim 1, wherein the adsorption unit is located between the two brackets.