Workpiece transfer apparatus for furnace

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10527353-B2
Application number	US-201615756425-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 29, 2016
Priority date	Aug 31, 2015
Publication date	Jan 7, 2020
Grant date	Jan 7, 2020

Abstract

A workpiece transfer apparatus for a furnace includes a carrier having access to a furnace and carrying a workpiece placed thereon, a controller for controlling movement of the carrier, the controller for determining an amount of deformation of the carrier by heat of the furnace, and the controller for determining an adjustment to the attitude of the carrier on the basis of the amount of deformation of the carrier, wherein when handing over the workpiece for a next process tool, the carrier is moved into an adjusted attitude.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A workpiece transfer apparatus for a furnace, comprising:
a robot comprising an arm and a controller,
a carrier attached to the arm and having a placement surface for carrying a workpiece into and/or out of a furnace, and
a sensor for detecting an arrival of an object at a specific position, the sensor being coupled to the controller,
the controller being configured to:
i) cause the robot to move the carrier so that the sensor detects an arrival of the distal end of the carrier at the specific position,
ii) determine a droop amount of the distal end of the carrier heated by the furnace based on a position of a base of the carrier at the time when the sensor detects the arrival of the distal end of the carrier at the specific position,
iii) determine an adjusted handover position of the carrier based on the determined droop amount of the carrier, the adjusted handover position including at least one of an adjusted height and an adjusted angle of the placement surface of the carrier, and
iv) cause the robot to move the carrier to the adjusted handover position for handover of the workpiece.

2. The transfer apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein:
the controller is configured to determine the droop amount and the adjusted position every time the carrier takes a workpiece out of the furnace.

3. The transfer apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein:
the controller is configured to perform the step i) after a handover of the workpiece occurs.

4. The transfer apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein:
the controller is configured to store a reference position of the base of the carrier at the time when the distal end of the carrier is detected by the sensor, where the distal end of the carrier is not drooped, and
the step ii) of determining the droop amount comprises determining the droop amount based on a difference between the reference position of the base of the carrier and the position of the base of the carrier at the time when the sensor detects the arrival of the distal end of the carrier at the specific position.

5. The transfer apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein:
the step iii) of determining the adjusted handover position comprises determining a droop angle of the placement surface of the carrier based on the determined droop amount.

Assignees

• Toyota Tekko Kk

Inventors

• Ooyama Yoshinori
• UEHARA Kentaroh

Classifications

• B65G1/00

  Storing articles, individually or in orderly arrangement, in warehouses or magazines (conveyor combinations in warehouses, magazines or workshops B65G37/00; stacking of articles B65G57/00; removing articles from stacks B65G59/00; loading machines B65G65/02) · CPC title

• B25J11/00

  Manipulators not otherwise provided for · CPC title

• F27D3/06 Primary

  Charging or discharging machines on travelling carriages · CPC title

• G05B2219/50362

  Load unload with robot · CPC title

• G05B19/4189

  characterised by the transport system · CPC title