JP-7855362-B2 - Horizontal articulated robot

JP7855362B2JP 7855362 B2JP7855362 B2JP 7855362B2JP-7855362-B2

Inventors

栗林保

Assignees

ニデックインスツルメンツ株式会社

Dates

Publication Date: 20260508
Application Date: 20220217

Claims (7)

In a horizontal articulated robot in which the arm moves horizontally, The system comprises a hand on which an object to be transported is mounted, an arm to which the hand is rotatably connected at its tip, a main body to which the base end of the arm is rotatably connected, and an arm lifting mechanism for raising and lowering the arm. The arm comprises a first arm portion whose base end is rotatably connected to the main body, and a second arm portion whose base end is rotatably connected to the tip end of the first arm portion. The lower side of the first arm is connected to the upper side of the main body, The lower side of the second arm is connected to the upper side of the first arm, The tip of the second arm portion is rotatably connected to the base end of the third arm portion, which constitutes a part of the arm, or to the base end of the hand. The first distance, which is the horizontal distance between the first pivot center, which is the pivot center of the first arm portion with respect to the main body, and the second pivot center, which is the pivot center of the second arm portion with respect to the first arm portion, is shorter than the second distance, which is the horizontal distance between the third pivot center, which is the pivot center of the third arm portion or the hand connected to the second arm portion with respect to the second arm portion, and the second pivot center. A horizontal articulated robot characterized in that, when the arm is lowered to its lowest position, the upper end of the arm lifting mechanism is positioned to the side of the base end of the first arm.
The arm lifting mechanism comprises a ball screw for raising and lowering the arm, and a guide rail for guiding the arm in the vertical direction. The screw shaft of the ball screw is positioned such that its axial direction and vertical direction coincide. The guide rails are arranged so that their longitudinal direction and vertical direction coincide. The horizontal articulated robot according to claim 1, characterized in that when the arm is lowered to its lower limit position, the screw shaft and the upper end of the guide rail are positioned to the side of the base end of the first arm.
The horizontal articulated robot according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that when the arm is lowered to its lowest position, the upper end of the arm lifting mechanism is positioned below the lower end of the second arm.
When the first arm portion and the second arm portion are positioned at a predetermined reference position relative to the main body portion with the arms overlapping each other, the longitudinal direction of the first arm portion and the longitudinal direction of the arms portion are defined as the first direction side, and the side opposite the first direction side is defined as the second direction side. A horizontal articulated robot according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, when the first arm portion and the second arm portion are positioned at the reference position relative to the main body portion with the arms overlapping each other and when the arms are lowered to the lower limit position, the base end of the first arm portion is the end portion on the first direction side of the first arm portion and is positioned on the second direction side of the upper end portion of the arm lifting mechanism, and the tip portion of the second arm portion is the end portion on the first direction side of the second arm portion and is positioned above the arm lifting mechanism.
The lifting mechanism is housed inside the main body. The horizontal articulated robot according to claim 4, characterized in that when the first arm portion and the second arm portion are positioned relative to the main body portion at the reference position with respect to the main body portion in a state where they overlap each other, the first-direction side end of the second arm portion is positioned at the same position as the first-direction side end of the main body portion in the lateral direction of the arm length.
The base end of the third arm is rotatably connected to the tip end of the second arm, The horizontal articulated robot according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the base end of the hand is rotatably connected to the tip end of the third arm.
The horizontal articulated robot according to claim 6, characterized by comprising: a first arm drive mechanism for rotating the first arm relative to the main body; a second arm drive mechanism for rotating the second arm relative to the first arm; a third arm drive mechanism for rotating the third arm relative to the second arm; and a hand drive mechanism for rotating the hand relative to the third arm.

Description

This invention relates to a horizontal articulated robot in which the arm moves horizontally. Conventionally, horizontal articulated robots for transporting semiconductor wafers are known (see, for example, Patent Document 1). The horizontal articulated robot described in Patent Document 1 is used in a semiconductor manufacturing system. The semiconductor manufacturing system includes an EFEM (Equipment Front End Module), and the horizontal articulated robot constitutes a part of the EFEM. The EFEM includes a housing that accommodates the horizontal articulated robot. The horizontal articulated robot described in Patent Document 1 comprises a hand on which a semiconductor wafer is mounted, an arm to which the hand is rotatably connected at its tip, and a main body to which the base end of the arm is rotatably connected. The arm comprises a first arm portion whose base end is rotatably connected to the main body, a second arm portion whose base end is rotatably connected to the tip end of the first arm portion, and a third arm portion whose base end is rotatably connected to the tip end of the second arm portion. The hand is rotatably connected to the tip end of the third arm portion. The first arm portion is positioned above the main body, the second arm portion is positioned above the first arm portion, the third arm portion is positioned above the second arm portion, and the hand is positioned above the third arm portion. Furthermore, the horizontal articulated robot described in Patent Document 1 is equipped with an arm lifting mechanism for raising and lowering the arm. The arm lifting mechanism comprises a drive mechanism having a ball screw and a motor for rotating the screw shaft of the ball screw, and a guide mechanism having a guide rail and a guide block that engages with the guide rail. The arm lifting mechanism is housed inside the main body and is positioned below the first arm. That is, the ball screw and guide rail, which constitute part of the arm lifting mechanism, are positioned below the first arm. Japanese Patent Publication No. 2015-36186 This is a plan view illustrating the configuration of a horizontal articulated robot according to an embodiment of the present invention.Figure 1 shows plan views of the horizontal articulated robot in different states.Figure 2 is a side view of the horizontal articulated robot shown.Figure 3 is a side view of the horizontal articulated robot with its arm in the raised position.Figure 2 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the horizontal articulated robot shown.This diagram illustrates the configuration of the arm lifting mechanism from the E-E direction in Figure 3. The embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. (Configuration of a horizontal articulated robot) Figure 1 is a plan view illustrating the configuration of a horizontal articulated robot 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 is a plan view of the horizontal articulated robot 1 shown in Figure 1 in a different state. Figure 3 is a side view of the horizontal articulated robot 1 shown in Figure 2. Figure 4 is a side view of the horizontal articulated robot 1 shown in Figure 3 with the arm 12 raised. Figure 5 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the horizontal articulated robot 1 shown in Figure 2. Figure 6 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the arm lifting mechanism 20 from the E-E direction in Figure 3. The horizontal articulated robot 1 (hereinafter referred to as "Robot 1") in this embodiment is an industrial robot for transporting semiconductor wafers 2 (hereinafter referred to as "Wafer 2"), which are the objects to be transported. The wafer 2 is formed in a thin, disc-like shape. Robot 1 is used by being incorporated into a semiconductor manufacturing system 3. In the following description, the X direction, as shown in Figure 1, which is perpendicular to the vertical direction, will be referred to as the "left-right direction," and the Y direction, as shown in Figure 1, which is perpendicular to both the vertical and left-right directions, will be referred to as the "front-back direction." Furthermore, the Y1 direction side in Figure 1, which is one side of the front-back direction, will be referred to as the "front," and the Y2 direction side in Figure 1, which is the opposite side, will be referred to as the "back." The semiconductor manufacturing system 3 includes an EFEM 4. Robot 1 constitutes a part of the EFEM 4. The EFEM 4 includes, for example, multiple load ports 7 that open and close the FOUP 6 in which wafers 2 are housed, and a housing 8 in which robot 1 is housed. The housing 8 is formed in the shape of a rectangular box. When viewed from above, the external shape of the housing 8 is a long, narrow rectangle in the left-right direction. The multiple load ports 7 are arranged, for example, on the front side of the housing 8. Furthermore, the multiple load p