JPH09208008A - Board conveyance device and method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To carry a large and thin board out of and in a cassette without damaging it by fitting a first and second handling arms which can carry the board out of and in a collecting shelf in the cassette and can be moved horizontally and vertically respectively. SOLUTION: After inserting the first handling arm 1 whose width and thickness are small into a cassette 5 where a plurality of boards 4 under a bent condition are stored and keeping the boards 4 under a bent condition horizontal, it is possible to carry the boards 4 out of and in the cassette 5 whose pitch of a board storing shelf 6 is small without damaging the board 4 in conveying the large and thin boards 4 so as to move a second handling arm 2 whose width and thickness are larger than those of the first handling arm to hold the boards 4.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a carrying device and a carrying method for a glass substrate used in a liquid crystal display device, for example.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a single handling arm has been used for carrying a substrate, particularly for carrying a substrate in and out of a cassette. For example, in the one disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-50035 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-267539, a single handling arm having an appropriate width capable of stably holding a substrate and a suction mechanism by vacuum or the like is provided. The substrates are loaded and unloaded from the cassette one by one.

[0003]

Since the conventional substrate transfer is carried out by a single handling arm, no particular problem occurs for a relatively small and thick substrate, but a large number of thin and large substrates are provided in a cassette. When the sheets are stored, the substrate 4 is largely bent as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, and when the handling arm 2 is inserted between the substrates 4 and 4, the handling arm 2 contacts the substrate 4. It is extremely difficult to insert it between the substrates without
There was a problem such as damage. Further, when the pitch of the substrate storage shelves 6 of the cassette 5 is increased in order to prevent the contact between the substrate 4 and the handling arm 2, there is a problem that the substrate storage efficiency is reduced.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, and it is possible to carry in and out any substrate from the cassette without lowering the storage efficiency of the substrate in the cassette and without damaging the substrate. An object is to provide a substrate transfer device and a substrate transfer method.

[0005]

A substrate transfer apparatus according to the present invention is provided with first and second handling arms for loading and unloading a substrate into and from a storage rack in a cassette and for horizontally and vertically moving the substrates separately. It is what Also,
The width and thickness of the first handling arm are smaller than the width and thickness of the second handling arm. Further, the first handling arm is configured to be able to lift the center of the substrate. Further, the second handling arm is configured so as to stably hold the substrate. Further, the size of the substrate to be transferred is 200 mm square or more and the thickness is 0.7 mm or less. As a substrate transfer method, the first handling arm is used to make the bent substrate horizontal. The process is carried out including a process, a process of stably holding the leveled substrate by using the second handling arm, and a process of loading / unloading the held substrate to / from the storage shelf of the cassette.

[0006]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Embodiment 1. A substrate transfer device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a substrate transfer device of the present invention, FIGS. 2, 3, and 4 are schematic diagrams showing a process of unloading a substrate from a cassette by this device, and FIG. 5 is first and second handling of this device. It is sectional drawing which shows the state in which the arm was inserted in the cassette. In the figure,
Numeral 1 is a first handling arm for lifting a flexed substrate stored in a cassette to a horizontal state so that the substrate can be inserted between the substrates without damaging it.
The width and thickness of the handling arm are small. Reference numeral 2 is a second handling arm for stably holding the substrate, which has a U-shape with an appropriate width and has a function such as vacuum suction. Reference numeral 3 denotes a height adjusting mechanism for adjusting the insertion position of the first handling arm 1 into the cassette 5 according to the amount of bending of the substrate. The amount of deflection of the substrate varies depending on the size, thickness, and material of the substrate, so adjustment is necessary when the type of substrate changes. Reference numeral 4 is a substrate, 5 is a cassette, and 6 is a substrate storage shelf of the cassette 5.

Next, a process of unloading the substrate 4 from the cassette 5 by the substrate carrying device according to the present embodiment will be described. First, the first handling arm 1 and the second handling arm 2 are brought close to the cassette 5 in which the large-deflected substrate 4 is stored, and the cassette is stopped at a position corresponding to the substrate 4 to be carried out and the state shown in FIG. . Next, the first handling arm 1
Is inserted between the substrates to obtain the state shown in FIG. Next in Figure 3-
As shown in a, by raising the first handling arm 1, the flexed substrate 4 is brought into a horizontal state. Next, the second handling arm 2 is inserted under the leveled substrate 4 to obtain the state of FIG. 3B. Here, as shown in FIG. 5, the gap between the substrate 4 and the second handling arm 2 is larger than that in the conventional example of FIG. Can be inserted. Next, as shown in FIG. 4-a, the second handling arm 2 inserted between the substrates is raised to bring the substrate 4 to be carried out away from the substrate storage rack 6 of the cassette 5. At this point, in order to secure the holding of the substrate 4, vacuum suction or the like may be performed by the second handling arm 2. Finally, FIG.
2B, the substrate 4 is unloaded from the cassette 5 by horizontally moving the first handling arm 1 and the second handling arm 2 simultaneously while holding the substrate 4. Further, when the substrate 4 is loaded into the cassette 5, a process reverse to the above-described unloading process is performed. When a substrate having a size of 200 mm square or more and a thickness of 0.7 mm or less was loaded into or unloaded from the cassette using the substrate transporting device of this configuration, the substrate could be transported without being damaged.

According to the present invention, first, the first handling arm 1 having a small width and a small thickness is inserted into the cassette 5 accommodating a plurality of flexed substrates 4, and the flexed substrate 4 is inserted. After being placed in a horizontal state, the width from the first handling arm 1 for holding the substrate,
Since the second handling arm 2 having a large thickness is moved, the substrates 4 can be carried in and out from the cassette 5 having a small pitch of the substrate storage shelves 6 without damaging the substrates even when the large and thin substrates are transported.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a substrate transfer device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a substrate unloading process of the substrate transfer device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a substrate unloading process of the substrate transfer device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a substrate unloading process of the substrate transfer device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the first and second handling arms of the substrate transfer device according to the first embodiment of the present invention are inserted into the cassette.

FIG. 6 is a view showing a handling arm of a conventional substrate transfer device of this type.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a positional relationship between a handling arm and a substrate in a cassette of a conventional substrate transfer device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 1st handling arm, 2 2nd handling arm, 3 Height adjustment mechanism of 1st handling arm, 4 boards, 5 cassettes, 6 board storage shelves.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A substrate transfer apparatus, comprising: first and second handling arms capable of carrying in and out a substrate to and from a storage rack in a cassette and moving horizontally and vertically separately. 2. The substrate transfer apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the width and the thickness of the first handling arm are smaller than the width and the thickness of the second handling arm. 3. The substrate transfer apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first handling arm is configured to be capable of lifting the center of the substrate. 4. The substrate transfer device according to claim 1, wherein the second handling arm is configured to stably hold the substrate. 5. The substrate transfer device according to claim 1, wherein the transferred substrate has a size of 200 mm square or more and a thickness of 0.7 mm or less. 6. A step of leveling a flexed substrate using a first handling arm, a step of stably holding the leveled substrate using a second handling arm, and a step of holding the held substrate. A substrate transfer method comprising a step of carrying in and out of a storage shelf of a cassette.