Power supply device, system, exposure device and method of manufacturing article

Abstract

A power supply device has a plurality of power supply terminals for supplying power to a plurality of units. Each unit includes a power receiving part that receives power from any of the plurality of power supply terminals, and a device that does not receive power from the power receiving part and provides control information to the power supply device, the control information including information regarding the power consumption of the unit. The power supply device has a plurality of power sources and a control part that acquires the control information from each of the devices of the plurality of units when power is not supplied to the plurality of units through the plurality of power supply terminals, and selects from the plurality of power sources a power source for supplying power to at least one of the plurality of units through any of the plurality of power supply terminals based on the control information.

Description

Technology Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a power supply device, a system, an exposure device, and a method for manufacturing an article. Background Technology

[0002] Industrial equipment may be equipped with a standard unit group that meets basic specifications and an optional unit group that provides selectable functional extensions. In addition, industrial equipment may also be equipped with units developed according to the individual requirements of customers. Furthermore, it is possible to provide hardware and / or software that allows for upgrades to the basic specifications even after the vendor has delivered the industrial equipment to the customer. On the other hand, it is difficult to individually prepare power supplies capable of supporting all unit configurations in which various combinations can be employed.

[0003] First, it is difficult to accurately determine the total power consumption of multiple units included in industrial equipment. For example, in the case of ultra-high-precision industrial equipment such as semiconductor lithography or FPD lithography, even with the same unit configuration, the power consumption used for environmental control varies depending on the installation location due to the influence of the installation environment (ambient temperature, humidity, altitude) or equipment (cooling water temperature, power supply voltage input). Furthermore, the power consumption used for vibration damping control may vary depending on the floor strength of the installation site.

[0004] In addition, beyond the influence of differences in the installation environment, the role of each unit may differ during the process from workpiece entry to alignment measurement, repeated scan exposure, and workpiece exit in the exposure sequence. Consequently, the timing of peak power consumption may vary depending on the exposure sequence. For example, measurement systems such as alignment scopes and off-axis scopes consume a large amount of power during measurement but almost none during exposure. Conversely, for disk drive mechanisms that drive disks and substrate drive mechanisms that drive substrates, they consume almost no power during measurement but consume a large amount of power during exposure. It is desirable to be able to provide a power supply with a uniform load after understanding the characteristics of each unit as described above.

[0005] Based on the above circumstances, for units consisting only of standard configurations, it is possible to prepare a suitable power supply based on design data that considers the power consumption specifications of each unit and the sequence control executed by the software controlling the industrial equipment. However, if the power system of industrial equipment is constructed under the premise of using all options, the surplus power is large in the case of industrial equipment without option configurations. A configuration with large surplus power is undesirable from the perspective of energy saving because it reduces power efficiency. Furthermore, since the operation of standard units differs depending on whether option configurations are present or not, the power consumption of the standard units themselves may also fluctuate.

[0006] As mentioned above, it is difficult to accurately determine the power consumption of industrial equipment simply because there are many combinations of standard and optional units with known characteristics. In addition, power consumption may increase when special-order units, whose specifications are finalized after consultation with the customer, are connected to the power system, or when performance or functions are upgraded after the equipment has been delivered. It is very difficult to cope with such situations using the industrial equipment's pre-prepared power system. In the worst-case scenario, there is a possibility that the industrial equipment may shut down due to exceeding the power system's capacity.

[0007] Consequently, when units or functions were added, it was necessary to expand the power supply or carry out extensive wiring work. As a result, an inefficient power system was constructed, which could lead to problems such as increased power loss or an unnecessarily large installation area. Furthermore, since wiring work is performed after the main breaker is turned off, the downtime of industrial equipment may be prolonged.

[0008] Patent Document 1 describes a power distribution control circuit and a server distribution control circuit. When the power distribution control circuit obtains a power prediction value from a server device, it sends a switching instruction to output internal power externally to a server device with low power consumption, and sends a switching instruction to receive externally output internal power to a server device with high power consumption. The server distribution control circuit generates distribution information indicating how much surplus power to allocate to which server and sends it to the server power distribution circuit. However, the server device cannot send the power prediction value to the power distribution control circuit unless it is in a state where power is supplied and it is operating as a server device. Prior art literature

[0009] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2010-170369 The problem to be solved

[0010] The present invention provides an advantageous technology for facilitating the reconfiguration of a power supply device that supplies power to a plurality of units. means of solving the problem

[0011] One aspect of the present invention relates to a power supply device having a plurality of power supply terminals for supplying power to a plurality of units, wherein each unit comprises a receiving part that receives power from any of the plurality of power supply terminals and a device that does not receive power from the receiving part and provides control information including information regarding the power consumption of the unit to the power supply device, and the power supply device comprises a plurality of power sources and a control part that acquires the control information from each of the devices of the plurality of units in a state where power is not supplied to the plurality of units through the plurality of power supply terminals, and selects from the plurality of power sources a power source for supplying power to at least one of the plurality of units through any of the plurality of power supply terminals based on the control information. Effects of the invention

[0012] According to the present invention, an advantageous technique is provided to facilitate the reconfiguration of a power supply device that supplies power to a plurality of units. Brief explanation of the drawing

[0013] FIG. 1 is a drawing illustrating the configuration of a power supply device in an industrial device. FIG. 2a is a diagram illustrating unit power information stored in the non-volatile memory of an IoT device. FIG. 2b is a diagram illustrating unit power information stored in the non-volatile memory of an IoT device. FIG. 3 is a drawing illustrating details of a part of an industrial device. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an allocation sequence in which a power supply control unit dynamically allocates power resources in an industrial device. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the operation of allocating built-in power to an added unit. FIG. 6 is a drawing illustrating the configuration of a unit embedded in an industrial device. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of an online system using a power supply device in industrial equipment. Specific details for implementing the invention

[0014] Embodiments are described in detail below with reference to the attached drawings. Furthermore, the following embodiments do not limit the invention according to the claims. Although multiple features are described in the embodiments, not all of these multiple features are essential to the invention, and multiple features may be combined at will. Additionally, in the attached drawings, the same reference number is assigned to identical or similar components, and redundant descriptions are omitted.

[0015] FIG. 1 illustrates the configuration of a power supply device (1) in an industrial device IE of one embodiment. The industrial device IE is an example of a system including a power supply device (1). The industrial device IE may have a plurality of units (200, 201, 202, 203). Each of the plurality of units (200, 201, 202, 203) may include a power receiving unit (230, 231, 232, 233). Each of the plurality of units (200, 201, 202, 203) may include an IoT device (210, 211, 212, 213). The power supply device (1) may be provided with a plurality of power supply terminals (110, 111, 112, 113, 114) for supplying power to the receiving portions (230, 231, 232, 233) of a plurality of units (200, 201, 202, 203). Additionally, the power supply device (1) may be provided with a plurality of built-in power sources (power sources) (100, 101, 102, 103).

[0016] Power PWR from an external power source may be supplied to a plurality of built-in power sources (100, 101, 102, 103). In one example, among the plurality of built-in power sources (100, 101, 102, 103), the built-in power source (103) may be a backup built-in power source, and among the plurality of power supply terminals (110 to 114), the power supply terminal (114) may be a backup power supply terminal. The power supply device (1) may be equipped with a power supply control unit (130). The power supply control unit (130) may be configured to select a built-in power source from among the plurality of built-in power sources (100 to 103) to supply power to at least one of the plurality of units (200 to 203) through any of the plurality of power supply terminals (110 to 114). Additionally, the power supply device (1) may be equipped with a PoE hub (131). A PoE hub (131) is an example of a communication interface having the function of supplying power to an IoT device of a unit connected to a plurality of power supply terminals (110 to 114) among a plurality of units (200 to 203). The power supply device (1) may also have a switch circuit (132) that determines the connection between at least one of a plurality of built-in power sources (100 to 103) and at least one of a plurality of power supply terminals (110 to 114). In addition, in the example of FIG. 1, the switch circuit (132) is arranged to determine the connection between at least one of a plurality of built-in power sources (100 to 103) and at least one of a power supply terminal (113, 114). The determination of the connection includes making a connection and disconnecting the connection.

[0017] A plurality of IC memories (memory elements) (120, 121, 122, 123, 124) are each allocated to a plurality of power supply terminals (110, 111, 112, 113, 114). Location information (identification information) of a corresponding power supply terminal among the plurality of power supply terminals (110, 111, 112, 113, 114) is stored in each of the plurality of IC memories (120, 121, 122, 123, 124). The power supply control unit (130) may have a function of managing a plurality of built-in power supplies (100 to 103), a function of controlling a switch circuit (132), and a function of communicating with an industrial equipment control unit (150) through a PoE hub (131).

[0018] The power supply control unit (130) may turn the multiple built-in power supplies (100 to 103) into an operating state (ON) or a stopped state (OFF) by sending a control signal to each of the multiple built-in power supplies (100 to 103). Additionally, the power supply control unit (130) may acquire information from the multiple built-in power supplies (100 to 103), such as their specifications (e.g., rated output power, output voltage) and / or status (e.g., error status), at any time or at a predetermined timing. Power PWR may be supplied to the power supply control unit (130) from an external power source. The power supply control unit (130) may be started by supplying power PWR to the power supply control unit (130) from an external power source, by operating a switch not shown, or by inputting a start signal such as a start command. A plurality of built-in power supplies (100 to 103) can be activated by a control signal or a start signal from a power supply control unit (130). By being activated, the plurality of built-in power supplies (100 to 103) can output a voltage according to their respective specifications based on the power PWR.

[0019] The power supply control unit (130) can control the switch circuit (132) based on the specifications of each of the plurality of built-in power supplies (100 to 103) (e.g., rated output power, output voltage) and the specifications of the plurality of units (200 to 203) (e.g., power consumption, input voltage) and connection points (power supply terminals). This means selecting a built-in power supply that supplies power to each of the plurality of units (200 to 203) from the plurality of built-in power supplies (100 to 103). The power supply control unit (130) can obtain information regarding the specifications of the plurality of units (200 to 203) (e.g., power consumption, input voltage) and connection points (power supply terminals) from IoT devices (210 to 213) provided in each of the plurality of units (200 to 203). The power supply control unit (130) may have an output unit that outputs information indicating the specifications and status of a plurality of built-in power supplies (100 to 103) and at least one of the power consumption of a plurality of units (200 to 203). The output unit may include, for example, at least one of a display unit and a communication unit.

[0020] FIGS. 2a and 2b schematically illustrate an example of unit power information stored in the non-volatile memory (flash ROM (306) described later) of an IoT device provided in the unit. In this example, unit (200) is a standard unit (a unit that is standardly embedded in an industrial device IE), and unit (203) is an optional unit (a unit that is standardly embedded in an industrial device IE by user selection). FIG. 2a schematically illustrates an example of unit power information stored in the IoT device (210) of the standard unit (200). FIG. 2b schematically illustrates an example of unit power information stored in the IoT device (213) of the optional unit (203).

[0021] The first row contains information regarding the unit name, connected power supply terminal, connected internal power source, and input voltage. If the unit is a standard unit, all information may exist from the beginning of installation because it is a load with a fixed connection plan. On the other hand, if the unit is an optional unit or a unit with an unconfirmed connection, information regarding the connected power supply terminal and the connected internal power source does not exist from the beginning of installation. In the example of FIG. 2b, the power supply terminal with an unconfirmed connection location is indicated as X, and the internal power source with an unconfirmed connection location is indicated as Y. X is obtained from an IC memory containing location information of the power supply terminal, and this is explained with reference to FIG. 3. Y is determined by the power supply control unit (130) executing an allocation sequence to dynamically allocate power resources (internal power sources (100 to 103)), and this is explained with reference to FIG. 4.

[0022] In the second row, multiple power consumption information according to the operating state of the industrial device IE is stored or recorded. In the example of FIGS. 2a and 2b, the industrial device IE is an exposure device such as a semiconductor exposure device or an FPD exposure device. Since the power consumption of each unit fluctuates significantly during initialization, idle, measurement, and exposure in an exposure device, these four examples are illustrated in FIGS. 2a and 2b. The types of operating states are defined according to the characteristics of the industrial device IE, and the number thereof may increase or decrease. If the operating states are classified in more detail, the power supply control unit (130) can estimate the overall load (power consumption) more accurately. For example, the initialization sequence may include multiple operations managed and executed systematically by the industrial device control unit (150), and power consumption information may be acquired for each of these multiple operations and stored in an IoT device as part of the unit power information. The power supply control unit (130) of the power supply device (1) can obtain unit power information stored in the non-volatile memory of the unit's IoT hub through the PoE hub (131).

[0023] FIG. 3 illustrates details of a part of the industrial device IE shown in FIG. 1. In FIG. 3, unit (200) among a plurality of units (200 to 203) is shown, but other units may also include a similar configuration. The IoT device (210) may include, for example, a LAN communication unit (300), a receiving interface (301), a transmitting interface (302), a communication device (303), a processor (304), a memory (305), a flash ROM (306), an interface (307), and a bus (308). In addition to the unit control unit (220), the unit (200) may have a plurality of components not shown, and said plurality of components may be controlled by the unit control unit (220). The unit control unit (220) may communicate with the IoT device (210) through the interface (307). The IC memory (120) assigned to the power supply terminal (110) to which the unit (200) is connected may include a power receiving circuit (310), a flash ROM (311), and a communication device (312). Other IC memories (121 to 124) may also include the same configuration.

[0024] The unit (200) is provided with a receiving unit (231) that receives power from any of the plurality of power supply terminals (110 to 114) of the power supply device (1), and operates using the power received by the receiving unit (231). The power received by the receiving unit (231) from any of the plurality of power supply terminals (110 to 114) of the power supply device (1) is supplied to a plurality of components not shown above, in addition to the unit control unit (220).

[0025] Meanwhile, the IoT device (210) can operate by receiving power from the PoE hub (131) of the power supply device (1). The IoT device (210) can operate by receiving power from the PoE hub (131) of the power supply device (1) when the receiving part (231) of the unit (200) is not receiving power from any of the multiple power supply terminals (110 to 114) of the power supply device (1). The receiving interface (301) supplies power to the transmitting interface (302) based on the power supplied from the PoE hub (131). The voltage supplied by the receiving interface (301) to the transmitting interface (302) may be the same as or different from the voltage supplied from the PoE hub (131) to the receiving interface (301). The power transmission interface (302) supplies power to the receiving circuit (310) of the IC memory (120) assigned to the power supply terminal (110) to which the unit (200) is connected. When power is supplied from the power transmission interface (302), the receiving circuit (310) supplies power to the flash ROM (311) and the communication device (312) based on that power. The flash ROM (311) stores location information (identification information) of the power supply terminal (110) to which the IC memory (120) is assigned, and the location information is transmitted to the communication device (303) of the IoT device (210) through the communication device (312). The location information is stored or recorded in the flash ROM (306) as part of the unit power information. The power supply control unit (130) of the power supply device (1) can obtain unit power information stored in the flash memory (306) through the PoE hub (131) and the LAN communication unit (300).

[0026] A configuration for supplying power to an IoT device (210) from a PoE hub (131) enables power to be supplied to the IoT device (210) before power is supplied to the unit (200) from the power supply terminal (110) (or, 111 to 114). In other words, a configuration for supplying power to an IoT device (210) from a PoE hub (131) enables power to be supplied to the IoT device (210) when power is not supplied to the unit (200) from the power supply terminal (110) (or, 111 to 114). A configuration for supplying power directly to the IoT device (210) from a power supply device (1) instead of a PoE hub (131) (i.e., without through the power supply terminals (110 to 114)) may also be adopted. Alternatively, a configuration may be adopted in which power is supplied from a battery to the IoT device (210) (within the IoT device (210) or within the unit (200)). In such a configuration, the PoE hub (131) is unnecessary, and a hub that does not have a power supply function may be used.

[0027] Alternatively, there may be cases where wireless communication is possible because the distance between the power supply unit (1) and the unit (200 to 204) is close. In this case, the IoT device (210 to 214) may be a wireless type IC tag, and an RFID reader / writer may be used instead of a PoE HUB (131) as a means of communication between the power supply control unit (130) and the IC tag.

[0028] In one example, the communication device (312) and the communication device (303) may be configured to perform serial communication with the communication device (312) as a slave node and the communication device (303) as a master node. By storing or writing the location information of the power supply terminal transmitted from the communication device (312) to the communication device (303) in the flash ROM (306), the information of X described with reference to FIGS. 2a and 2b is determined. When the IoT device (210) confirms that the location information is stored in the flash ROM (306), it may turn off the power transmission interface (302). Then, the IoT device (210) may be configured not to communicate with the IC memory (120) until power is supplied from the PoE hub (131) to the power receiving interface (301).

[0029] Multiple power consumption information according to the operating state of the industrial device (e.g., power consumption information during initialization, idling, measurement, and exposure) can be stored in a flash ROM (306) via the interface (307) of the IoT device (210) from the unit control unit (220). As the initial value of the power consumption information, for example, a value measured under a predetermined sequence condition during inspection at the time of shipment of the unit (200) may be used.

[0030] As described above, each unit may include a device (IoT device) that provides control information (unit control information) including information regarding the power consumption of the unit to the power supply device (1) without receiving power from the power receiving unit (231). The power supply device (1) may acquire the corresponding control information (unit control information) from each device (IoT device) of the plurality of units (200 to 204) in a state where power is not supplied to the plurality of units (200 to 204) through the plurality of power supply terminals (110 to 114). Based on the corresponding control information, the power supply device (1) may select from the plurality of built-in power sources (100 to 103) a built-in power source for supplying power to at least one of the plurality of units (200 to 204) through any of the plurality of power supply terminals (110 to 114).

[0031] FIG. 4 illustrates an allocation sequence in which a power supply control unit (130) of a power supply device (1) dynamically allocates power resources (built-in power supplies (100 to 103)) in an industrial device IE to a unit. Here, the unit (203) is an optional unit, and Y is present in the control information stored in the IoT device (213) of the unit (203). Additionally, the built-in power supply (103) is a spare built-in power supply. In step S401, the power supply control unit (hereinafter, control unit) (130) checks whether all of the multiple built-in power supplies (100 to 103) are OFF, and if all of the multiple built-in power supplies (100 to 103) are OFF, proceeds to step S402. In step S402, the control unit (130) prohibits turning ON the built-in power supplies (100 to 103) by operating a power switch or a start command. Next, in step S403, the control unit (130) obtains control information (unit control information) of the IoT devices (210 to 214) of the units (200 to 204) via LAN communication through the PoE hub (131).

[0032] Next, in step S404, the control unit (130) calculates the surplus power of each built-in power source (100 to 103) based on the output voltage and output power upper limit of the built-in power sources (100 to 103) and the connection information and power consumption information among the control information acquired in step S403. Additionally, the control unit (130) has previously acquired information indicating the output voltage and output power upper limit of the built-in power sources (100 to 103). In FIG. 5, the surplus power of the built-in power sources (100 to 103) is schematically illustrated. "INIT." indicates the power consumption during initialization, "IDOL" indicates the power consumption during idle, "Measurement" indicates the power consumption during measurement, and "Exposure" indicates the power consumption during exposure. Additionally, the cross-hatched portion indicates the power consumption of the unit to which the corresponding built-in power source has already been assigned. The built-in power supply (100) is already assigned to the knit (200), the built-in power supply (101) is already assigned to the unit (201), and the built-in power supply (102) is already assigned to the unit (202). The difference between the top of the cross-hatching section and the upper limit of the output power is the surplus power.

[0033] In step S405, the control unit (130) determines whether there is an IoT device (i.e., a unit corresponding to that IoT device) whose internal power supply is not determined, based on the connection information among the control information obtained in step S403. The IoT device whose internal power supply is not determined (here, the IoT device (213)) is an IoT device in which Y, described in FIG. 2a and 2b, exists in the control information. If there is an IoT device whose internal power supply is not determined, the control unit (130) proceeds to step S406, and if there is no such IoT device, it proceeds to step S410.

[0034] In step S410, the control unit (130) allows the built-in power supply (100 to 103) to be turned ON by operating the power switch or by a start command, thereby terminating the allocation sequence.

[0035] The operation in the case where there is an IoT device for which the internal power supply of the connection point has not been determined is described below. In step S406, the control unit (130) compares the power consumption of the unit (203) obtained from the control information stored in the IoT device (213) with the surplus power of the internal power supply (100 to 103) calculated in step S404. In the example of FIG. 5, the internal power supply (100) has surplus power for supplying power to the unit (203), the internal power supply (101) does not have surplus power for supplying power to the unit (203), and the spare internal power supply (103) has surplus power for supplying power to the unit (203). Additionally, the internal power supply (102) has an output voltage of 48V and is not suitable for the unit (203) with an input voltage of 24V.

[0036] In step S407, the control unit (130) determines whether among the plurality of built-in power sources (100 to 103), the output voltage is suitable for the unit (203) and whether there is surplus power to supply power to the unit (203). If such built-in power source does not exist, the control unit (130) performs an error notification in step S411. In that case, it is necessary to perform a task to eliminate the cause of the error. For example, it is necessary to take measures such as lowering the power consumption of the unit (200 to 202) by reviewing the operation plan of the industrial equipment control unit (150) and then re-entering power consumption information into the IoT devices (200a to 202a) on the unit side. As a more specific example, a measure may be adopted in which the power consumption of the units (200 to 202) is lowered by reviewing the operation plan of the industrial equipment control unit (150), and then the power consumption information of the IoT devices (210 to 212) of the units (200 to 202) is re-entered.

[0037] Meanwhile, among the multiple built-in power supplies (100 to 103), if there is one that has an output voltage suitable for the unit (203) and also has surplus power for supplying power to the unit (203), in step S408, the control unit (130) determines the built-in power supply to be allocated to the unit (203). Here, the control unit (130) may make the built-in power supply already allocated to a unit, i.e., the built-in power supply (100), a candidate for allocation with a high priority even with the reserve built-in power supply (103). If the built-in power supply having surplus power is only the reserve built-in power supply (103), the control unit (130) may allocate the reserve built-in power supply (103) to the unit (203). The control unit (130) allocates the built-in power supply (100) to the unit (203) by controlling the switch circuit (132). In other words, the control unit (130) can also be said to determine the built-in power supply (100) allocated to the unit (203) by controlling the switch circuit (132).

[0038] In step S409, the control unit (130) stores connection information indicating that the built-in power connected to the IoT device (213) of the unit (203) is the built-in power (100). By executing step S409, the control unit (130) is able to manage the added unit (203) as a fixed load, so the time required for execution is reduced when the next allocation sequence is executed. After step S409, the process returns to step S404.

[0039] In the above case, the plurality of units includes at least one first unit from which of the plurality of built-in power sources power is already determined, and at least one second unit from which of the plurality of built-in power sources power is not yet determined. The control unit (130) can select from the plurality of power sources a built-in power source to supply power to the second unit among the plurality of built-in power sources based on the surplus power of the power source supplying power to the first unit among the plurality of built-in power sources and the control information of the second unit.

[0040] In order to make effective use of surplus power using a system including the above-mentioned power supply device (1), it is desirable to accurately determine the actual power consumption of each unit. The power consumption of the industrial equipment IE may differ even for the same operation sequence due to environmental conditions at the installation site of the industrial equipment IE. Therefore, it is desirable that the current consumption value stored in the IoT device (210 to 213) managing the unit (200 to 203) be updated frequently, rather than remaining as the initial value set at the time of shipment, etc. For example, after the installation of the industrial equipment IE, it is desirable to measure the current consumption of the unit (200 to 203) periodically or at any timing and update the current consumption value stored in the IoT device (210 to 213).

[0041] FIG. 6 illustrates an example of the configuration of a unit (200) connected to a power supply unit (1) in an industrial device IE. Other units (201 to 203) may have a similar configuration. The unit (200) may be equipped with an IoT device (210) for storing power information, a unit control unit (220), and a power receiving unit (230) for receiving power supplied from the power supply unit (1), as described above. Additionally, the unit (200) may be equipped with a current sensor (261) for measuring the current supplied from the power supply unit (1), a memory (260), a power receiving circuit (262), a power supply circuit (263), a measurement unit (264), and a driving unit (265).

[0042] The receiving circuit (262) and the power circuit (263) receive power supplied from the power supply unit (1) through the receiving section (230) and the current sensor (261), and generate and supply the voltage required for each of the unit control section (220), the measuring section (264), and the driving section (265). The unit control section (220) detects the current consumption of the unit (200) based on the output of the current sensor (261).

[0043] The unit control unit (220) receives a command from the industrial equipment control unit (150), which manages the control of initialization, idle, measurement, and exposure respectively, and controls the measurement unit (264) and the driving unit (265). At this time, the unit control unit (220) periodically collects the current consumption value of the unit (200) from the current sensor (261) for each sequence of initialization, idle, measurement, and exposure and stores it in the memory (260). After a predetermined number of current consumption values ​​are accumulated in the memory (260), the unit control unit (220) determines the actual power consumption of the unit (200) based on the current consumption value and can overwrite the power consumption information of the IoT device (210). In this way, by managing power consumption and updating power consumption information even after installation on a unit basis, the power supply control unit (130) can always accurately determine the surplus power of each built-in power source.

[0044] Additionally, the unit control unit (220) may be equipped with a CPU capable of handling big data. In such a case, the unit control unit (220) may not determine the actual power consumption solely based on the information of the measured current value from the current sensor (261), but may determine the power consumption as a predicted value through machine learning that associates data such as the state of the measurement unit (264) and the driving unit (265) with dependent variables. By using a predicted value that dynamically identifies fluctuations in power consumption caused by changes in the environment or changes in the unit's timing, the power supply control unit (130) can identify the surplus power of each built-in power source in real time. Accordingly, the power supply control unit (130) can dynamically and appropriately allocate the built-in power source to each unit.

[0045] The power supply control unit (130) may have the function of outputting (or transmitting) power information to the industrial equipment control unit (150). There are two main purposes for this function: one is for the industrial equipment control unit (150) to identify changes in the power consumption of each unit, and the other is for the industrial equipment control unit (150) to identify the specifications of the power consumption of each built-in power source and the surplus power.

[0046] Regarding information indicating changes in the power consumption of the unit, that is, the industrial equipment control unit (150) can use it as data for state management for predictive maintenance and abnormal detection of the unit. In addition, it can be utilized as data for maintaining performance as well as for predicting failures. For example, in high-precision industrial equipment such as an exposure device, slight temperature changes directly have an adverse effect on performance, but by predicting changes in heat quantity from changes in power consumption and changing the control parameters for temperature control of the unit, the impact of deterioration in temperature control performance within the exposure device can be suppressed to a minimum.

[0047] Regarding the latter, that is, the specifications of power consumption of each built-in power source and information on surplus power, the industrial equipment control unit (150) can identify these, thereby allowing the operation plan during initialization, idling, measurement, and exposure to be flexibly reviewed from the perspective of performance upgrades or energy saving.

[0048] In addition, the specifications of power consumption and surplus power of each built-in power source may be used to provide hardware and software that upgrades the basic specifications even after the industrial equipment has been delivered to the customer. Such information may be provided to the industrial equipment online.

[0049] FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an online system for centrally managing power supply devices for industrial equipment. Multiple industrial equipment (601) is installed in a customer factory (600). Multiple industrial equipment (601) can periodically output data to a server (603) through an Ethernet switch (602). The data from the server (603) is shared by a server (611) of an industrial equipment maker's office through a network cloud protected by a firewall, and an administrator can view the data via a terminal (613) by storing the data in a data server (612). By including surplus power information of each built-in power source described in FIG. 1 to 5 in this data, the surplus power within each industrial equipment (601) installed in the customer factory (600) can be accurately identified.

[0050] Based on this information, if an industrial equipment manufacturer receives a special order for an additional individual request regarding the industrial equipment (601) after installation, it is possible to develop the equipment while taking surplus power into account, and there is an advantage in that it is not necessary to install unnecessary power. Furthermore, even if it is determined that there is no surplus power when providing hardware or software to upgrade performance to the basic specifications after installation, the power supply with insufficient power can be identified. Therefore, there is an advantage in that the repair can be completed with the minimum necessary repairs, such as replacing it with a power supply of the required capacity. These advantages lead to a reduction in installation area, a reduction in delivery time, and a reduction in downtime during repairs, which also leads to the provision of services with high customer satisfaction.

[0051] As explained above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to accurately determine power in industrial equipment even after installation, without imposing restrictions on the operation of connected loads, and also to flexibly respond to the expansion of units. Of course, the present invention can be applied to systems other than industrial equipment.

[0052] A method for manufacturing an article is described as an application example in which the above-described industrial apparatus is configured as an exposure device. The method for manufacturing an article may include an exposure process for exposing a substrate using the exposure device, a development process for developing the substrate that has undergone the exposure process, and a processing process for processing the substrate that has undergone the development process to obtain an article. A photosensitive material (photoresist) is coated on the substrate provided to the exposure device. By the exposure process, a pattern of the original plate is transferred to the photosensitive material as a latent image pattern. In the development process, this latent image pattern is converted into a physical device pattern. The processing process may include, for example, a process of patterning the underlying layer using the device pattern. The processing process may also include a process of dicing the substrate.

[0053] The present invention can be realized by supplying a program that realizes one or more functions of the above-described embodiment to a system or device through a network or storage medium, and by a process in which one or more processors in a computer of the system or device read and execute the program. In addition, it can also be realized by a circuit (e.g., an ASIC) that realizes one or more functions.

[0054] The invention is not limited to the above embodiments, but various changes and modifications are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, claims are appended to clarify the scope of the invention.

[0055] This application claims priority based on Japanese patent application No. 2020-193758 filed on November 20, 2020, and incorporates the entire contents of the application herein by reference. Explanation of the symbols

[0056] 1: Power supply 200 to 203: Unit 111 to 114: Power supply terminals 210 to 213: IoT devices 100 to 103: Built-in power supply (power) 130: Power supply control unit (control unit)

Claims

Claim 1 A power supply device having a plurality of power supply terminals for supplying power to a plurality of units, wherein each unit comprises a receiving part that receives power from any of the plurality of power supply terminals and a device that does not receive power from the receiving part and provides control information including information regarding the power consumption of the unit to the power supply device, wherein the power supply device comprises a plurality of power sources and a control unit, wherein the control unit acquires the control information from each of the devices of the plurality of units before starting to supply power to the plurality of units through the plurality of power supply terminals, selects a power source from the plurality of power sources to supply power to at least one of the plurality of units through any of the plurality of power supply terminals based on the control information, supplies connection information indicating the selected power source to the device of the at least one unit, and subsequently enables the activation of the plurality of power sources. Claim 2 A power supply device according to claim 1, wherein the control information of the device of the at least one unit to which the connection information is supplied is updated to include the connection information, and the control unit connects the corresponding unit and the power indicated by the connection information based on the connection information when the control information obtained from any of the plurality of units includes the connection information. Claim 3 A power supply device according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of units includes at least one first unit from which power is to be supplied among the plurality of power sources, and at least one second unit from which power is to be supplied among the plurality of power sources, and wherein the control unit selects from the plurality of power sources a power source to supply power to the second unit among the plurality of power sources based on the surplus power of the power source supplying power to the first unit among the plurality of power sources and the control information of the second unit. Claim 4 A power supply device having a plurality of power supply terminals for supplying power to a plurality of units, wherein each unit comprises a receiving part that receives power from any of the plurality of power supply terminals, and a device that does not receive power from the receiving part and provides control information including information regarding the power consumption of the corresponding unit to the power supply device, wherein the power supply device comprises a plurality of power sources, a control part that acquires the control information from each of the devices of the plurality of units while power is not supplied to the plurality of units through the plurality of power supply terminals, and selects from the plurality of power sources a power source for supplying power to at least one of the plurality of units through any of the plurality of power supply terminals based on the control information, and a plurality of memory elements corresponding to each of the plurality of power supply terminals such that one memory corresponds to one of the power supply terminals, wherein each of the plurality of units is connected to a memory element corresponding to the one of the power supply terminals among the plurality of memory elements when connected to one of the plurality of power supply terminals, and each of the plurality of memory elements includes identification information for identifying the corresponding power supply terminal among the plurality of power supply terminals, and among the plurality of power supply terminals A power supply device characterized by supplying the identification information to the device of the unit connected to the corresponding power supply terminal. Claim 5 A power supply device according to claim 4, wherein each of the plurality of memory elements operates by receiving power from the device of a unit connected to the corresponding power supply terminal among the plurality of power supply terminals, and supplies identification information to the device. Claim 6 A power supply device characterized by further comprising, in any one of claims 1 to 4, a communication interface having a function of supplying power to a device of a unit connected to a plurality of power supply terminals among the plurality of units. Claim 7 A power supply device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the device includes a non-volatile memory for storing the control information, and the control unit acquires the control information stored in the non-volatile memory. Claim 8 A power supply device according to claim 7, wherein the control information stored in the non-volatile memory is updated at any or a predetermined timing, and the control unit acquires the updated control information. Claim 9 A power supply device characterized by further comprising, in any one of claims 1 to 4, an output unit that outputs information indicating at least one of the specifications and status of the plurality of power sources and the power consumption of the plurality of units. Claim 10 A unit that is connected to any of the plurality of power supply terminals of a power supply device having a plurality of power sources and a plurality of power supply terminals for supplying power to a plurality of units, and operates by power supplied from the power supply device, and is characterized by having a device that stores control information including information regarding the power consumption of the unit and connection information indicating a power source selected by the power supply device for the unit among the plurality of power sources, a power receiving unit that receives power from any of the plurality of power supply terminals, and a communication unit that provides the control information to the power supply device without receiving power from the power receiving unit. Claim 11 A unit according to claim 10, characterized in that, until the power for the unit is selected by the power supply device, information indicating that the power is undetermined is stored in the device as the connection information. Claim 12 A unit that is connected to any of the plurality of power supply terminals of a power supply device having a plurality of power sources and a plurality of power supply terminals for supplying power to a plurality of units, and operates by power supplied from the power supply device, and comprises a device for storing control information, a receiving unit that receives power from any of the plurality of power supply terminals, and a communication unit that provides the control information to the power supply device without receiving power from the receiving unit, wherein the power supply device has a plurality of memory elements corresponding to each of the plurality of power supply terminals such that one memory corresponds to one of the power supply terminals, and each of the plurality of memory elements includes identification information that identifies the corresponding power supply terminal among the plurality of power supply terminals, and when the unit is connected to one of the plurality of power supply terminals, the device is connected to the memory element among the plurality of memory elements that corresponds to the one power supply terminal, acquires the identification information from the memory element, and updates the control information to include the identification information. Claim 13 A system comprising a plurality of units and a power supply device having a plurality of power supply terminals for supplying power to the plurality of units, wherein each unit comprises a power receiving part that receives power from any of the plurality of power supply terminals and a device that does not receive power from the power receiving part and provides control information including information regarding the power consumption of the unit to the power supply device, wherein the power supply device comprises a plurality of power sources and a control unit, wherein the control unit acquires the control information from each of the devices of the plurality of units before starting to supply power to the plurality of units through the plurality of power supply terminals, selects a power source from the plurality of power sources to supply power to at least one of the plurality of units through any of the plurality of power supply terminals based on the control information, supplies connection information indicating the selected power source to the device of the at least one unit, and subsequently enables the activation of the plurality of power sources. Claim 14 A system characterized in that, in paragraph 13, the control information of the device of the at least one unit to which the connection information is supplied is updated to include the connection information, and the control unit connects the corresponding unit and the power indicated by the connection information based on the connection information when the control information obtained from any of the plurality of units includes the connection information. Claim 15 A system comprising a plurality of units and a power supply device having a plurality of power supply terminals for supplying power to the plurality of units, wherein each unit comprises a power receiving part that receives power from any of the plurality of power supply terminals and a device that does not receive power from the power receiving part and provides control information including information regarding the power consumption of the corresponding unit to the power supply device, wherein the power supply device comprises a plurality of power sources and a control part that acquires the control information from each of the plurality of units in a state where power is not supplied to the plurality of units through the plurality of power supply terminals, and selects from the plurality of power sources a power source for supplying power to at least one of the plurality of units through any of the plurality of power supply terminals based on the control information, and a plurality of memory elements corresponding to each of the plurality of power supply terminals such that one memory corresponds to one of the power supply terminals, wherein each of the plurality of units is connected to a memory element corresponding to the one of the plurality of power supply terminals when connected to one of the plurality of power supply terminals, and each of the plurality of memory elements has identification information for identifying the corresponding power supply terminal among the plurality of power supply terminals. A system characterized by including, and supplying the identification information to the device of a unit connected to a corresponding power supply terminal among the plurality of power supply terminals. Claim 16 An exposure device comprising a plurality of units and a power supply device having a plurality of power supply terminals for supplying power to the plurality of units, wherein each unit comprises a power receiving part that receives power from any of the plurality of power supply terminals and a device that does not receive power from the power receiving part and provides control information including information regarding the power consumption of the unit to the power supply device, wherein the power supply device comprises a plurality of power sources and a control unit, wherein the control unit acquires the control information from each of the devices of the plurality of units before starting to supply power to the plurality of units through the plurality of power supply terminals, selects a power source from the plurality of power sources to supply power to at least one of the plurality of units through any of the plurality of power supply terminals based on the control information, supplies connection information indicating the selected power source to the device of the at least one unit, and subsequently enables the activation of the plurality of power sources. Claim 17 An exposure apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the control information of the device of the at least one unit to which the connection information is supplied is updated to include the connection information, and the control unit connects the corresponding unit and the power supply indicated by the connection information based on the connection information when the control information obtained from any of the plurality of units includes the connection information. Claim 18 An exposure apparatus comprising a plurality of units and a power supply device having a plurality of power supply terminals for supplying power to the plurality of units, wherein each unit comprises a power receiving part that receives power from any of the plurality of power supply terminals and a device that does not receive power from the power receiving part and provides control information including information regarding the power consumption of the corresponding unit to the power supply device, wherein the power supply device comprises a plurality of power sources and a control part that acquires the control information from each of the devices of the plurality of units while power is not supplied to the plurality of units through the plurality of power supply terminals, and selects from the plurality of power sources a power source for supplying power to at least one of the plurality of units through any of the plurality of power supply terminals based on the control information, and a plurality of memory elements corresponding to each of the plurality of power supply terminals such that one memory corresponds to one of the power supply terminals, wherein each of the plurality of units is connected to a memory element corresponding to the one of the power supply terminals among the plurality of memory elements when connected to one of the plurality of power supply terminals, and each of the plurality of memory elements has identification information for identifying the corresponding power supply terminal among the plurality of power supply terminals. An exposure device characterized by including, and supplying the identification information to the device of a unit connected to a corresponding power supply terminal among the plurality of power supply terminals. Claim 19 A method for manufacturing an article, characterized by comprising: an exposure process for exposing a substrate using an exposure device described in any one of claims 16 to 18; a developing process for developing the substrate that has undergone the exposure process; and a processing process for processing the substrate that has undergone the developing process to obtain an article.

Images