Vacuum robot, vacuum motor, and vacuum motor encoder

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11749553-B2
Application number	US-202017090922-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 6, 2020
Priority date	Nov 14, 2019
Publication date	Sep 5, 2023
Grant date	Sep 5, 2023

Abstract

A first vacuum motor includes a first pivoting shaft member, a bearing that rotatably supports the first pivoting shaft member, a disk disposed to be rotatable together with the first pivoting shaft member and having slits, a first bracket that is made of a non-magnetic material and supports the bearing, a recess formed in the first bracket to be dented in the axial direction, and a sensor unit disposed to face the disk in the axial direction via a thin wall formed by the recess. By the thin wall, the space where the sensor unit is disposed under the atmospheric pressure is isolated from the space where the disk is disposed under a reduced pressure lower than the atmospheric pressure.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vacuum robot comprising:
a vacuum motor; and
an arm driven by the vacuum motor,
wherein the vacuum motor includes
a shaft that extends in an axial direction,
a bearing configured to rotatably support the shaft,
a disk disposed to be rotatable together with the shaft and having slits,
a bearing support formed of a non-magnetic material and provided with a recess that supports the bearing, the recess formed in the bearing support to be dented in the axial direction, and
a magnetic sensor disposed to face the disk in the axial direction via a thin wall of the bearing support that is formed by the recess, and

the thin wall isolates a space where the magnetic sensor is disposed under an atmospheric pressure from a space where the disk is disposed under a reduced pressure lower than the atmospheric pressure.

2. The vacuum robot according to claim 1 , wherein the magnetic sensor is accommodated in the recess.

3. The vacuum robot according to claim 2 , wherein the recess has an axial depth larger than a thickness of the magnetic sensor in the axial direction.

4. The vacuum robot according to claim 3 , wherein the magnetic sensor includes:
a sensor head board;
a sensor support configured to support the sensor head board; and
a signal processing board configured to process a signal of the sensor head board,
the sensor head board, the sensor support, and the signal processing board are accommodated in the recess by being stacked in the axial direction, and
the recess has an axial depth larger than a thickness of the stacked sensor head board, sensor support, and signal processing board in the axial direction.

5. The vacuum robot according to claim 4 , wherein the sensor support is formed of a non-magnetic material.

6. The vacuum robot according to claim 1 , wherein a plurality of vacuum motors is provided, and
the plurality of vacuum motors are arranged by being stacked in the axial direction.

7. The vacuum robot according to claim 1 , wherein the recess is formed in a surface of one side of the bearing support in the axial direction to be dented toward the other side of the bearing support in the axial direction, and the dent in the axial direction is formed to reach an outer surface of the bearing support in a diameter direction, thereby forming an opening in the outer surface of the bearing support in the diameter direction.

8. The vacuum robot according to claim 7 , wherein the magnetic sensor includes:
a sensor head board; and
a signal processing board configured to process a signal of the sensor head board,
the signal processing board includes a connector, and
the connector is disposed in the opening to be exposed to an outside.

9. The vacuum robot according to claim 1 , wherein the magnetic sensor includes:
a sensor head board: and
a sensor support configured to support the sensor head board, and
the recess is thicker in axial thickness than the thin wall, and includes a mounting portion therein in which the sensor support is mounted.

10. The vacuum robot according to claim 1 , wherein the bearing support includes:
a plurality of bolt holes arranged at a plurality of locations on the bearing support in a circumferential direction, and formed to penetrate the plurality of locations in the axial direction; and
a wall that covers at least a portion of an outer side of the recess in a diameter direction, and extends in the circumferential direction, and
a part of the plurality of bolt holes is formed in the wall.

11. A vacuum motor comprising:
a shaft that extends in an axial direction;
a bearing configured to rotatably support the shaft;
a disk disposed to be rotatable together with the shaft and having slits;
a bearing support formed of a non-magnetic material and provided with a recess that supports the bearing, the recess formed in the bearing support member to be dented in the axial direction; and
a magnetic sensor disposed to face the disk in the axial direction via a thin wall of the bearing support that is formed by the recess, and configured to detect the slits,
wherein the thin wall isolates a space where the magnetic sensor is disposed under an atmospheric pressure from a space where the disk is disposed under a reduced pressure lower than the atmospheric pressure.

12. An encoder for a vacuum motor including a shaft that extends in an axial direction, a bearing configured to rotatably support the shaft, and a bearing support formed of a non-magnetic material and provided with a recess that supports the bearing, the recess formed in the bearing support to be dented in the axial direction, the encoder comprising:
a disk disposed to be rotatable together with the shaft and having slits; and
a magnetic sensor disposed to face the disk in the axial direction via a thin wall of the bearing support that is formed by the recess, and configured to detect the slits,
wherein the thin wall isolates a space where the magnetic sensor is disposed under an atmospheric pressure from a space where the disk is disposed under a reduced pressure lower than the atmospheric pressure.

13. The vacuum robot according to claim 2 , wherein a plurality of vacuum motors is provided, and
the plurality of vacuum motors are arranged by being stacked in the axial direction.

14. The vacuum robot according to claim 2 , wherein the recess is formed in a surface of one side of the bearing support in the axial direction to be dented toward the other side of the bearing support in the axial direction, and the dent in the axial direction is formed to reach an outer surface of the bearing support in a diameter direction, thereby forming an opening in the outer surface of the bearing support in the diameter direction.

15. The vacuum robot according to claim 14 , wherein the magnetic sensor includes:
a sensor head board; and
a signal processing board configured to process a signal of the sensor head board,
the signal processing board includes a connector, and
the connector is disposed in the opening to be exposed to an outside.

16. The vacuum robot according to claim 2 , wherein the magnetic sensor includes:
a sensor head board, and
a sensor support configured to support the sensor head board, and
the recess is thicker in axial thickness than the thin wall, and includes a mounting portion therein in which the sensor support is mounted.

17. The vacuum robot according to claim 2 , wherein the bearing support includes:
a plurality of bolt holes arranged at a plurality of locations on the bearing support in a circumferential direction, and formed to penetrate the plurality of locations in the axial direction, and
walls that cover at least a portion of an outer side of the recess in a diameter direction, and extend in the circumferential direction, and
a part of the plurality of bolt holes is formed in the walls.

18. A semiconductor manufacturing system, comprising:
a transfer chamber in which a vacuum robot is disposed to transfer a semiconductor wafer under a vacuum environment; and
a plurality of processing chambers arranged around the transfer chamber and configured to perform a preset processing on the semiconductor wafer,
wherein the vacuum robot includes a vacuum motor and an arm driven by the vacuum motor,
the vacuum motor includes:
a shaft that extends in an axial direction;
a bearing configured to rotatably support the shaft;
a disk disposed to be rotatable together with the shaft and having slits;
a bearing support formed of a non-magnetic material and provided with a recess that su

Assignees

• Yaskawa Electric Corp

Inventors

• Harada Masanobu
• Akae Hiromitsu
• Iwasaki Norihisa

Classifications

• H10P72/0454

  surrounding a central transfer chamber · CPC title

• H10P72/7602 Primary

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

• H10P72/3302 Primary

  Mechanical parts of transfer devices · CPC title

• H01L21/68707 Primary

  Electricity · mapped topic

• B25J19/027

  Electromagnetic sensing devices · CPC title