Carrier device, work processing apparatus, control method of carrier device and storage medium storing program

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11380559-B2
Application number	US-202016842974-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 8, 2020
Priority date	Apr 9, 2019
Publication date	Jul 5, 2022
Grant date	Jul 5, 2022

Abstract

An object is to suppress dew condensation in a carrier device. There is provided a carrier device comprising a body; a rotational part provided to be rotatable relative to the body; an arm supported on the rotational part; an end effector provided in a leading end portion of the arm and configured to hold a work; a gas supply unit configured to supply a gas to an arm-side internal space provided in an arm-side base portion of the end effector and/or in the leading end portion of the arm; and an exhaust unit provided in a body-side internal space that communicates with the arm-side internal space and configured to discharge the gas in the arm-side internal space and/or in the body-side internal space.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A carrier device, comprising:
a body;
a rotational part provided to be rotatable relative to the body;
an arm supported on the rotational part;
an end effector provided in a leading end portion of the arm and configured to hold a work;
a gas supply unit comprising at least one of a gas supply line or a supply port configured to supply a gas to an arm-side internal space and outside an actuator for driving the end effector to fill the arm-side internal space with the gas, the arm-side internal space provided in an arm-side base portion of the end effector and/or in the leading end portion of the arm; and
an exhaust unit provided in a body-side internal space that communicates with the arm-side internal space and configured to discharge the gas filled in the arm-side internal space and/or in the body-side internal space.

2. The carrier device according to claim 1 , further comprising
a supply amount controller configured to control a supply amount of the gas that is to be supplied to the arm-side internal space, the supply amount controller including at least one of a flow control valve, an on-off valve or an orifice, wherein
the supply amount controller is configured to perform on/off control of a supply of the gas to the arm-side internal space and/or control of the supply amount of the gas to the arm-side internal space, according to an atmospheric pressure of an external environment of the carrier device or a discharge amount by the exhaust unit.

3. The carrier device according to either claim 1 ,
wherein the body is configured to move in a vertical direction and rotate in a horizontal direction.

4. The carrier device according to claim 1 ,
wherein the exhaust unit is provided with an ejector that is in fluid connection with the gas supply unit.

5. The carrier device according to claim 1 ,
wherein the actuator comprises a cylinder, and the end effector includes a chuck mechanism configured to be driven by the cylinder to press and hold the work, and
the gas supply unit supplies part of the gas that is to be supplied to the cylinder, to the arm-side internal space.

6. The carrier device according to claim 1 ,
wherein the gas supply unit includes a flexible pipe that is placed in the carrier device.

7. The carrier device according to any one of claim 1 ,
wherein the carrier device conveys the work in a wet environment.

8. The carrier device according to any one of claim 1 ,
wherein the gas supply unit supplies a gas including dry air and/or nitrogen.

9. The carrier device according to any one of claim 1 ,
wherein the carrier device is placed in a work processing apparatus to be in fluid connection with a utility line of the work processing apparatus, and
wherein the gas supply unit receives a supply of the gas from the utility line.

10. The carrier device according to claim 1 ,
wherein the carrier device is a multi-joint robot that includes the end effector and at least one arm unit and is configured such that an internal space of the end effector and an internal space of the at least one arm unit are in fluid communication with each other.

11. A work processing apparatus, comprising:
a carrier device, comprising: a body; a rotational part provided to be rotatable relative to the body; an arm supported on the rotational part; an end effector provided in a leading end portion of the arm and configured to hold a work; a gas supply unit comprising at least one of a gas supply line or a supply port configured to supply a gas to an arm-side internal space and outside an actuator for driving the end effector, to fill the arm-side internal space with the gas, the arm-side internal space provided in an arm-side base portion of the end effector and/or in the leading end portion of the arm; and an exhaust unit provided in a body-side internal space that communicates with the arm-side internal space and configured to discharge the gas filled in the arm-side internal space and/or in the body-side internal space; and
a work processing module configured to process the work conveyed by the carrier device.

12. The work processing apparatus according to claim 11 ,
wherein the carrier device transfers the work in a wet environment to/from the work processing module that performs work processing.

13. A control method of a carrier device of a work,
wherein the carrier device comprises a body; a rotational part provided to be rotatable relative to the body; an arm supported on the rotational part; and an end effector provided in a leading end portion of the arm and configured to hold a work,
the control method comprising:
a gas supply process of supplying a gas to an arm-side internal space and outside an actuator for driving the end effector to fill the arm-side internal space with the gas, the arm-side internal space provided in an arm-side base portion of the end effector and/or in the leading end portion of the arm;
a supply amount control process of controlling a supply amount of the gas that is to be supplied to the arm-side internal space; and
an exhaust process of discharging the gas filled in the arm-side internal space and/or a body-side internal space that communicates with the arm-side internal space,
wherein the supply amount control process comprises performing on/off control of a supply of the gas to the arm-side internal space and/or control of the supply amount of the gas to the arm-side internal space, according to an atmospheric pressure of an external environment of the carrier device or a discharge amount in the exhaust process.

14. A non-volatile storage medium configured to store a program that operates a computer to perform a control method of a carrier device of a work,
wherein the carrier device comprises a body; a rotational part provided to be rotatable relative to the body; an arm supported on the rotational part; an end effector provided in a leading end portion of the arm and configured to hold a work,
the program comprises:
a gas supply process of controlling a gas supply unit comprising at least one of a gas supply line or a supply port to supply a gas to an arm-side internal space and outside an actuator for driving the end effector to fill the arm-side internal space with the gas, the arm-side internal space provided in an arm-side base portion of the end effector and/or in the leading end portion of the arm;
a supply amount control process of controlling a supply amount controller to control a supply amount of the gas that is to be supplied to the arm-side internal space, the supply amount controller including at least one of a flow control valve, an on-off valve or an orifice; and
an exhaust process of controlling an exhaust unit to discharge the gas filled in the arm-side internal space and/or a body-side internal space that communicates with the arm-side internal space,
wherein the supply amount control process comprises performing on/off control of a supply of the gas to the arm-side internal space and/or control of the supply amount of the gas to the arm-side internal space, according to an atmospheric pressure of an external environment of the carrier device or a discharge amount by the exhaust unit.

15. A carrier device, comprising:
a body;
a rotational part provided to be rotatable relative to the body;
an arm supported on the rotational part;
an end effector provided in a leading end portion of the arm and configured to hold a work;
a gas supply unit comprising at least one of a gas supply line or a supply port configured to supply a gas to an arm-side internal space provided in an arm-side base portion of the end ef

Assignees

• Ebara Corp
• Hirata Spinning

Inventors

• Eto Yohei
• Kunisawa Junji
• Hombo Teruaki
• Kanazawa Keiji

Classifications

• H10P72/7602

  the wafers being placed on a robot blade or gripped by a gripper for conveyance · CPC title

• H10P72/3202

  Mechanical details, e.g. rollers or belts · CPC title

• H10P72/0456

  in-line arrangement · CPC title

• H10P72/0402 Primary

  Apparatus for fluid treatment (H10P72/0441, H10P72/0448 take precedence) · CPC title

• H10P72/0464 Primary

  characterised by the construction of the transfer chamber · CPC title