US-12623339-B2 - Articulated work robot device

Abstract

An articulated work robot device includes a lower body, a bridgehead coupled to a common axis at a first position of the lower body to be rotatable, first and second articulated arms configured to be overlapped with each other up and down and having first ends respectively disposed at second and third positions opposite to each other with respect to the common axis on the bridgehead to be rotatable together through the common axis, first and second plurality of hands respectively coupled at second ends of the first and second articulated arms through scissor links, and first and second composite drive modules disposed in an internal space of the bridgehead and driving the first and second articulated arms and the first and second plurality of hands, respectively.

Inventors

• Hyunseok Jang
• Kwangmin JUNG
• Geun Young JANG
• Sang Hyuk JEON
• Hyun Sik Moon

Assignees

• RAON ROBOTICS INC.

Dates

Publication Date

20260512

Application Date

20231207

Priority Date

20230421

Claims (20)

1. 1 . An articulated work robot device comprising: a lower body; a bridgehead coupled to a common axis at a first position of the lower body to be rotatable; first and second articulated arms configured to be overlapped with each other up and down, and having first ends respectively disposed at second and third positions opposite to each other with respect to the common axis on the bridgehead to be rotatable together through the common axis; first and second plurality of hands respectively coupled at second ends of the first and second articulated arms through scissor links; and first and second composite drive modules respectively disposed inside the bridgehead at the second and third positions opposite each other with respect to the common axis, each composite drive module including an articulated control motor connected to an articulated drive shaft and a plurality of hand control motors connected to a plurality of hand drive shafts to independently drive corresponding articulated arm and plurality of hands, wherein the articulated drive shaft and the plurality of hand drive shafts are enclosed by magnetic-fluid seals or vacuum-barrier thin films to maintain in a vacuum state; and a controller configured to fold a non-working one of the first and second articulated arms toward the common axis during rotation of the bridgehead, and to simultaneously process a plurality of wafers by overlapping or spreading the plurality of corresponding hands of a working articulated arm up and down or left and right.
2. 2 . The articulated work robot device of claim 1 , wherein the lower body includes: an axis control motor for moving the common axis up and down to adjust a height of the bridgehead; and a linear guide disposed vertically outside of the common axis to guide the up-down movement.
3. 3 . The articulated work robot device of claim 1 , wherein the bridgehead arranges the first to third positions in a triangular shape.
4. 4 . The articulated work robot device of claim 1 , wherein the first articulated arm operates at a lower side of the second articulated arm and independently drives the first plurality of hands at an upper or lower side of the second end.
5. 5 . The articulated work robot device of claim 1 , wherein the second articulated arm operates at an upper side of the first articulated arm and independently drives the second plurality of hands at an upper or lower side of the second end.
6. 6 . The articulated work robot device of claim 1 , wherein the first and second articulated arms are respectively coupled to a plurality of links at the second and third positions, and each of the plurality of links is axially rotated to implement a complex motion.
7. 7 . The articulated work robot device of claim 1 , wherein the first plurality of hands are axially coupled to at an upper or lower portion of the second end of the first articulated arm up and down through a first scissor link, and are disposed at a lower side of the second plurality of hands to be driven independently.
8. 8 . The articulated work robot device of claim 1 , wherein the second plurality of hands are axially coupled to at an upper or lower portion of the second end of the second articulated arm up and down through a second scissor link, and are disposed at an upper side of the first plurality of hands to be driven independently.
9. 9 . The articulated work robot device of claim 1 , wherein each of the first and second plurality of hands loads or unloads a work object by fixedly coupling a work tool at a position opposite to an axis of the scissor link.
10. 10 . The articulated work robot device of claim 1 , wherein the first composite drive module is driven independently of the second composite drive module, and includes: a first articulated control motor connected to a first articulated drive shaft that provides joint motion power for the first articulated arm; a first plurality of hand control motors connected to a first plurality of hand drive shafts that provide independent hand motion power for the first plurality of hands; and a first magnetic fluid seal or vacuum-barrier thin film, surrounding the first articulated drive shaft and the first plurality of hand drive shafts.
11. 11 . The articulated work robot device of claim 1 , wherein the second composite drive module is driven independently of the first composite drive module, and includes: a second articulated control motor connected to a second articulated drive shaft that provides joint motion power for the second articulated arm; a second plurality of hand control motors connected to a second plurality of hand drive shafts that provide independent hand motion power for the second plurality of hands; and a second magnetic fluid seal or vacuum-barrier thin film, surrounding the second articulated drive shaft and the second plurality of hand drive shafts.
12. 12 . The articulated work robot device of claim 1 , wherein the controller simultaneously processes the plurality of wafers in a first work chamber by overlapping the plurality of corresponding hands in the work progressing articulated arm of the first and second articulated arms up and down.
13. 13 . The articulated work robot device of claim 1 , wherein the controller simultaneously processes the plurality of wafers in a second work chamber by spreading the plurality of corresponding hands in the work progressing articulated arm of the first and second articulated arms left and right.
14. 14 . The articulated work robot device of claim 1 , wherein during a work process, the controller folds a work arm corresponding to one of the first and second articulated arms to position the work arm in the first position and unfolds the work arm to perform an articulated motion simultaneously while independently driving a plurality of work hands coupled to the work arm.
15. 15 . The articulated work robot device of claim 1 , further comprising: an alignment operation performing unit including the controller configured to correct a degree of misalignment of the plurality of hands based on rotation degrees of the plurality of hands and entry and exit time points of work objects in the plurality of hands.
16. 16 . The articulated work robot device of claim 15 , wherein the alignment operation performing unit further includes: a plurality of encoders, coupled to the common axis inside the bridgehead, for obtaining the rotation degrees of the plurality of hands; and a plurality of laser transceivers coupled to the hand control motors inside the bridgehead and disposed in an entry direction of the arm to detect the entry and exit time points of the work objects in the plurality of hands during movement of the arm.
17. 17 . The articulated work robot device of claim 16 , wherein the plurality of encoders detect a rotation angle in a first direction with respect to an axis formed by a scissor link for a first hand among the plurality of hands, and detect a rotation angle in a second direction, corresponding to a direction opposite to the first direction, with respect to the axis for a second hand among the plurality of hands.
18. 18 . The articulated work robot device of claim 16 , wherein a plurality of optical transceivers are disposed on both sides of a center of the entry direction of the arm, so that when the plurality of hands enter after being spread by a first angle, the plurality of hands are perpendicular to the entry direction and the plurality of optical transceivers detect the entry and exit time points of the work objects by transmitting and receiving light in a transmission and reception direction that is not necessarily perpendicular.
19. 19 . The articulated work robot device of claim 18 , wherein the plurality of optical transceivers detect time points when reception of the light is interrupted as the entry time points, and detect time points when an interruption of the light reception is released and the light is received as the exit time points.
20. 20 . An articulated work robot device comprising: a lower body; a bridgehead coupled to a common axis at a first position of the lower body to be rotatable; first and second articulated arms that are operated independently of each other in a work process and rotate together through the common axis; first and second composite drive modules respectively disposed inside the bridgehead at second and third positions opposite to each other with respect to the common axis, each including an articulated control motor and a plurality of hand control motors to independently drive the corresponding articulated arm and a plurality of hands; and first and second plurality of hands respectively coupled to second ends of the first and second articulated arms through first and second links, each plurality of hands including independently operable work tools coupled to second ends of the links, the work tools being driven by corresponding composite drive module.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO PRIOR APPLICATIONS This application claims priority to Korean Patent Application Nos. 10-2023-0052958 (filed Apr. 21, 2023), 10-2023-0052960 (filed Apr. 21, 2023), and 10-2023-0052975 (filed Apr. 21, 2023), which are all hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. BACKGROUND The present disclosure relates to an articulated work robot technology, and more specifically, to an articulated work robot device in which an arm and a hand can operate independently of each other to implement articulated complex motion. A vacuum robot, one of the core components of semiconductor vacuum process equipment, has a significant impact on the throughput, footprint, maintainability, and downtime of the entire equipment, so the robot performance, robot structure, and equipment placement layout should be selected to match process characteristics such as particle sensitivity, AWC (Auto Wafer Centering) precision, and process time. In particular, as the process time increases due to improvements in semiconductor micro-manufacturing technology, a new wafer transfer robot that can reduce the footprint is needed for equipment with a relatively long wafer process time. PRIOR ART DOCUMENT Patent Document Korean Patent No. 10-1535068 (2015 Jul. 2.) SUMMARY According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the present disclosure provides an articulated work robot device in which an arm and a hand can operate independently of each other to implement articulated complex motion. According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the present disclosure provides an articulated work robot device that can be driven independently by providing independent motion power for each of an upper and lower axis drives, an articulated arm drive, and a hand drive. According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the present disclosure provides an articulated work robot device that can minimize the rotation radius by folding a non-working articulated arm during a common axis rotation. According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the present disclosure provides an articulated work robot device that can accurately align each work object by correcting the misalignment of a plurality of hands. Among embodiments, an articulated work robot device comprises: a lower body; a bridgehead coupled to a common axis at a first position of the lower body to be rotatable; first and second articulated arms configured to be overlapped with each other up and down, and having first ends respectively disposed at second and third positions opposite to each other with respect to the common axis on the bridgehead to be rotatable together through the common axis; first and second plurality of hands respectively coupled at second ends of the first and second articulated arms through scissor links; and first and second composite drive modules disposed in an internal space of the bridgehead and driving the first and second articulated arms and the first and second plurality of hands, respectively. The lower body may include: an axis control motor for moving the common axis up and down to adjust a height of the bridgehead; and a linear guide disposed vertically outside of the common axis to guide the up-down movement. The bridgehead may arrange the first to third positions in a triangular shape. The first articulated arm may operate at a lower side of the second articulated arm and independently drive the first plurality of hands at an upper or lower side of the second end. The second articulated arm may operate at an upper side of the first articulated arm and independently drive the second plurality of hands at an upper or lower side of the second end. The first and second articulated arms may be respectively coupled to a plurality of links at the second and third positions, and each of the plurality of links may be axially rotated to implement a complex motion. The first plurality of hands may be axially coupled to at an upper or lower portion of the second end of the first articulated arm up and down through a first scissor link, and may be disposed at a lower side of the second plurality of hands to be driven independently. The second plurality of hands may be axially coupled to at an upper or lower portion of the second end of the second articulated arm up and down through a second scissor link, and may be disposed at an upper side of the first plurality of hands to be driven independently. Each of the first and second plurality of hands may load or unload a work object by fixedly coupling a work tool at a position opposite to an axis of the scissor link. The first composite drive module may be driven independently of the second composite drive module, and may include: a first articulated control motor connected to a first articulated drive shaft that provides joint motion power for the first articulated arm; a first plurality of hand control motors connected to a first plurality of hand drive shafts that provide independent ha