Silicon rod loading and unloading device and silicon rod multi-station processing machine

Abstract

The present application discloses a silicon rod loading and unloading device and a silicon rod multi-station processing machine, wherein the silicon rod loading and unloading device includes: a silicon rod loading and unloading area, provided with a silicon rod supporting platform for supporting and placing silicon rods upright; a reversing carrier for performing reversing movement; and a silicon rod clamp provided on a first mounting surface of the reversing carrier; wherein, by driving the reversing carrier to perform reversing movement, the silicon rod clamp of the reversing carrier is switched between the silicon rod loading and unloading area and the silicon rod functional area to transfer the silicon rods, thereby realizing fast, convenient and stable transportation of silicon rods.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of silicon workpiece processing, and in particular to a silicon rod loading and unloading device and a silicon rod multi-station processing machine. Background Art

[0002] With society's increasing emphasis on and openness to the use of green and renewable energy, the photovoltaic solar power generation sector is gaining increasing attention and development. Within this sector, crystalline silicon solar cells are typically manufactured on high-quality silicon wafers. These wafers are cut from pulled or cast silicon ingots using a multi-wire saw and subsequently processed.

[0003] The existing silicon wafer production process, taking single crystal silicon products as an example, generally, the general operation procedures may include: first, using a silicon rod cutter to cut the original long silicon rod to form multiple short silicon rods; after the cutting is completed, using a silicon rod squarer to square the cut short silicon rods to form single crystal silicon rods; then, each single crystal silicon rod is subjected to chamfering, rolling and other processing operations to make the surface shaping of the single crystal silicon rod meet the corresponding flatness and dimensional tolerance requirements; subsequently, using a slicer to slice the single crystal silicon rod to obtain single crystal silicon wafers. Taking polysilicon products as an example, generally speaking, the approximate operating procedures may include: first, using a silicon ingot squaring machine to square the primary silicon ingot (large-sized silicon ingot) to form a secondary silicon ingot (small-sized silicon ingot); after squaring, using a silicon ingot cutting machine to cut the secondary silicon ingot to form polysilicon rods; then, performing chamfering, rolling and other processing operations on each polysilicon rod to make the surface shaping of the polysilicon rod meet the corresponding flatness and dimensional tolerance requirements; subsequently, using a slicer to slice the polysilicon rods to obtain polysilicon wafers.

[0004] However, generally speaking, in related technologies, the operations required for each process are arranged independently, and the operating equipment is scattered in different production units or production workshops or different production areas of the production workshops. The conversion of workpieces performing different process operations requires transportation and allocation. In this way, the process is complicated and inefficient, and more manpower or transfer equipment is required, which poses a great safety hazard. In addition, there are many flow links between the operating equipment of each process, which increases the risk of damage to the workpiece during the transfer process, and is prone to non-production factors. Unqualified products reduce the qualified rate of products and the unreasonable losses caused by existing processing methods. This is a major improvement issue faced by various companies.

[0005] Application Contents

[0006] In view of the various deficiencies of the above-mentioned existing related technologies, the purpose of this application is to disclose a silicon rod loading and unloading device and a silicon rod multi-station processing machine, which are used to solve the problems of low workpiece transfer efficiency existing in the existing related technologies.

[0007] To achieve the above-mentioned and other purposes, the present application discloses a silicon rod loading and unloading device, comprising: a silicon rod loading and unloading area, provided with a silicon rod supporting platform for supporting and placing silicon rods upright; a reversing carrier for performing reversing movement; and a silicon rod clamp provided on a first mounting surface of the reversing carrier; wherein, by driving the reversing carrier to perform reversing movement, the silicon rod clamp of the reversing carrier is switched between the silicon rod loading and unloading area and the silicon rod functional area to transfer the silicon rods.

[0008] The silicon rod loading and unloading device disclosed in the present application provides a reversing carrier, and a silicon rod clamp is arranged on the reversing carrier. The silicon rod clamp is used to clamp the silicon rod, and the reversing carrier can be used to reversingly move the silicon rod clamp to switch between different positions, thereby transporting the silicon rod clamped by the silicon rod clamp to different areas. In this way, the silicon rod can be transported quickly, conveniently and stably.

[0009] In certain embodiments, the silicon rod clamp includes: a clamp mounting member disposed on the reversing carrier; and at least two silicon rod clamping members disposed along the clamp mounting member at intervals.

[0010] In some embodiments, the silicon rod clamp includes: a clamp arm mounting seat, which is provided on the clamp mounting seat; at least two clamp arms, which are movably provided on the clamp arm mounting seat; and a clamp arm driving mechanism, which is used to drive the at least two clamp arms to open and close.

[0011] In some embodiments, the clamping arm driving mechanism includes: an opening and closing gear, provided on the clamping arm; a gear driving member, having teeth meshing with the opening and closing gear on the clamping arm; and a driving source, connected to the gear driving member, for driving the gear driving member to move.

[0012] In some embodiments, the gear drive member is a rack, and opposite sides of the rack are respectively provided with teeth meshing with the opening and closing gears on the at least two clamping arms; the driving source is a cylinder or a motor for driving the rack to move.

[0013] In certain embodiments, at least one of the at least two silicon rod holders is provided with a guide drive mechanism for driving it to move along the fixture mounting member to adjust the spacing between the at least two silicon rod holders.

[0014] In certain embodiments, the silicon rod loading and unloading device further includes a height detector, which is disposed on the reversing carrier and is used to detect the height of the silicon rod.

[0015] In certain embodiments, the silicon rod loading and unloading device further includes a flatness detector, which is disposed on the second mounting surface of the reversing carrier and is used to detect the plane flatness of the silicon rod.

[0016] In some embodiments, the flatness detector includes: a contact detection structure; a detector shift mechanism; and a detection controller connected to the contact detection structure and the detector shift mechanism, for controlling the detector shift mechanism to drive the contact detection structure to shift and controlling the contact detection structure to sequentially detect the relative distances of various detection points on the surface to be tested in the silicon rod.

[0017] The present application further discloses a multi-station silicon rod processing machine, comprising the silicon rod loading and unloading device as described above. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] Figure 1 Shown is a schematic diagram of the three-dimensional structure of the silicon rod multi-station processing machine in a certain perspective in an embodiment of the present application.

[0019] Figure 2 Shown is a top view of a multi-station silicon rod processing machine according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0020] Figure 3 Shown is a side view of a multi-station silicon rod processing machine according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0021] Figure 4 Shown is a schematic structural diagram of a silicon rod clamping member in a multi-station silicon rod processing machine of the present application in one embodiment.

[0022] Figure 5 Shown is a schematic structural diagram of another embodiment of a silicon rod clamping member in the silicon rod multi-station processing machine of the present application.

[0023] Figure 6 Shown is a rear view of the silicon rod clamp in the silicon rod multi-station processing machine of the present application.

[0024] Figure 7 The diagram shows a state where a silicon rod is placed upright on a silicon rod supporting platform.

[0025] Figure 8 The diagram shows a silicon rod being clamped by a silicon rod clamp.

[0026] Figure 9 A schematic diagram showing the state in which silicon rods are placed in the pre-processing area by a reversing carrier.

[0027] Figure 10 It shows a schematic diagram of the state in which a height detector detects the height of silicon rods on a loading and unloading platform.

[0028] Figure 11 and Figure 12 The diagram shows the state of a flatness detector detecting the flatness of a silicon rod surface.

[0029] Figure 13 A schematic diagram showing the deviation correction operation for a single crystal silicon rod is shown.

[0030] Figure 14 A schematic diagram showing the deflection correction operation for polysilicon rods is shown.

[0031] Figure 15 The diagram shows a state where a first processing operation is performed on a first silicon rod and a second silicon rod is loaded.

[0032] Figure 16 A schematic diagram showing the state of the silicon rod multi-station processing machine of the present application performing processing operations on three silicon rods at the same time.

[0033] Figure 17 Schematic diagram showing the status of silicon rods being unloaded after processing. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0034] The following describes the embodiments of the present application through specific examples. Those skilled in the art will readily understand the other advantages and benefits of the present application from the disclosure herein. The present application may also be implemented or applied through various other specific embodiments, and the details in this specification may be modified or altered based on different viewpoints and applications without departing from the spirit of the present application.

[0035] It should be noted that the structures, proportions, sizes, etc. illustrated in the drawings of this specification are only used to match the contents disclosed in the specification for understanding and reading by those familiar with this technology, and are not used to limit the conditions for implementation of this application. Therefore, they have no substantial technical significance. Any modification of the structure, change in the proportional relationship, or adjustment of the size should still fall within the scope of the technical content disclosed in this application without affecting the efficacy and purpose that can be achieved by this application. At the same time, terms such as "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "middle" and "one" quoted in this specification are only for the convenience of description and are not used to limit the scope of implementation of this application. Changes or adjustments in their relative relationships should also be considered as the scope of implementation of this application without substantially changing the technical content.

[0036] See also Figures 1 to 3 , which is a schematic structural diagram of a multi-station silicon rod processing machine according to the present application in one embodiment, wherein, Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the three-dimensional structure of the multi-station silicon rod processing machine in a certain perspective in the embodiment of the present application. Figure 2 This is a top view of the multi-station silicon rod processing machine in the embodiment of the present application. Figure 3 This is a side view of a multi-station silicon ingot processing machine according to an embodiment of the present application. In one embodiment, the multi-station silicon ingot processing machine is used to process silicon ingots. Here, the silicon ingots are rectangular silicon ingots, which can be either single crystal silicon ingots or polycrystalline silicon ingots, and are therefore within the scope of protection of this application.

[0037] Taking single crystal silicon rods as an example, the process for forming single crystal silicon rods may include: first, using a silicon rod cutter to cut the original long silicon rod to form multiple short silicon rods; after cutting, using a silicon rod squarer to square the cut short silicon rods to form single crystal silicon rods with a rectangular cross-section. The specific implementation of using a silicon rod cutter to cut the original long silicon rod to form multiple short silicon rods can be found in patent publications such as CN105856445A, CN105946127A, and CN105196433A. The specific implementation of using a silicon rod squarer to square the cut short silicon rods to form single crystal silicon rods with a rectangular cross-section can be found in patent publications such as CN105818285A. However, the process for forming a single crystal silicon rod is not limited to the aforementioned technology. In an alternative embodiment, the process for forming a single crystal silicon rod may further include: first, using a full silicon rod squaring machine to square the original long silicon rod to form a long single crystal silicon rod with a substantially rectangular cross-section; and after the squared long silicon rod is cut using a silicon rod cutting machine to form short silicon rods. The specific implementation of using a full silicon rod squaring machine to square the original long silicon rod to form a substantially rectangular long single crystal silicon rod can be found in patent publications such as CN106003443A.

[0038] Taking polycrystalline silicon rods as an example, the process for forming polycrystalline silicon rods may include: first, using a silicon ingot squaring machine to square a primary silicon ingot or silicon cube (large-sized silicon ingot) to form a secondary silicon ingot (small-sized silicon ingot); after squaring, using a silicon ingot cutter to cut the secondary silicon ingot to form polycrystalline silicon rods. Specifically, the method for using a silicon ingot squaring machine to square a primary silicon ingot (large-sized silicon ingot) to form a secondary silicon ingot (small-sized silicon ingot) can be found in patent publications such as CN102172997A, CN105216128A, and CN105690582A. The method for using a silicon ingot cutter to cut a secondary silicon ingot to form polycrystalline silicon rods can be found in patent publications such as CN105196434A.

[0039] Whether it is a single crystal silicon rod or a polycrystalline silicon rod, it still needs to undergo corresponding subsequent processing operations, such as grinding, chamfering, tumbling or rounding, and these subsequent processing operations can be implemented by the silicon rod multi-station processing machine described in this application.

[0040] Combine Figures 1 to 3 The silicon rod multi-station processing machine of the present application includes: a machine base 1, a silicon rod loading and unloading device 2, a first processing device 3, a second processing device 4, and a silicon rod conversion device 5.

[0041] The multi-station silicon rod processing machine of the present application is described in detail below.

[0042] The machine base 1, serving as the main component of the multi-station silicon ingot processing machine of this application, comprises a silicon ingot processing platform. The platform can be divided into multiple functional areas based on the specific silicon ingot processing operations. Specifically, in this embodiment, the platform includes at least a pre-processing area, a first processing area, and a second processing area.

[0043] The silicon rod transfer device 5 is located in the center of the silicon rod processing platform and is used to transfer the silicon rods 100 loaded by the silicon rod loading and unloading device 2 between the pre-processing area, the first processing area, and the second processing area on the silicon rod processing platform. In one embodiment, the silicon rod transfer device 5 is rotatably mounted on the silicon rod processing platform and includes: a disc-shaped or annular conveyor body 51; a silicon rod positioning mechanism 53 disposed on the conveyor body 51 for positioning the silicon rods; and a transfer drive mechanism for driving the conveyor body 51 to rotate and thereby transfer the silicon rods to the position determined by the silicon rod positioning mechanism 53.

[0044] As previously described, in one embodiment, the silicon rod processing platform includes a pre-processing area, a first processing area, and a second processing area. To accommodate these functional areas, the conveyor body 51 may include three silicon rod positioning mechanisms 53, each capable of positioning a single silicon rod. Furthermore, the angles between each of the three silicon rod positioning mechanisms 53 correspond to the angular distribution between the three functional areas. Thus, when a silicon rod positioning mechanism 53 corresponds to a specific functional area, the other two silicon rod positioning mechanisms 53 also correspond to the other two functional areas. Thus, during the assembly line operation, at any given moment, when a silicon rod is positioned on each silicon rod positioning mechanism 53 and each silicon rod positioning mechanism 53 corresponds to a functional area, the silicon rods are located at the corresponding functional area and are performing the corresponding processing operation. For example, a silicon rod in the pre-processing area may undergo pre-processing, a silicon rod in the first processing area may undergo the first processing, and a silicon rod in the second processing area may undergo the second processing. In an optional embodiment, the pre-processing area, the first processing area, and the second processing area on the silicon ingot processing platform are spaced 120 degrees apart. Accordingly, the three silicon ingot positioning mechanisms 53 on the disc-shaped or ring-shaped conveyor body 51 are also spaced 120 degrees apart. Of course, the number of silicon ingot positioning mechanisms 53 can vary based on actual needs and is not limited thereto. For example, the number of silicon ingot positioning mechanisms 53 can be determined based on the number of functional areas provided on the silicon ingot processing platform.

[0045] In one embodiment, the silicon rod positioning mechanism 53 may further include a rotating support platform 531 , a rotating pressing device 533 , a lifting driving device (not shown), and a rotating driving device (not shown).

[0046] The rotating support platform 531 is used to support the silicon rod 100 and to place the silicon rod 100 upright, that is, the bottom of the silicon rod 100 is located on the rotating support platform 531. In particular, the rotating support platform 531 can also be designed to rotate. For example, the rotating support platform 531 has a rotating shaft relative to the conveying body 51 to achieve rotation. In this way, after the rotating support platform 531 supports the silicon rod 100, the rotating support platform 531 and the silicon rod 100 thereon can rotate together. Furthermore, the contact surface of the rotating support platform 531 for contacting the silicon rod has damping to provide a certain friction force to drive the silicon rod. The rotating support platform 531 is adapted to the silicon rod 100. In an optional embodiment, the rotating support platform 531 can be a circular support platform adapted to the cross-sectional dimensions of the silicon rod 100.

[0047] A rotary pressing device 533 is positioned above the rotating support platform 531 and is used to press against the top of the silicon ingot 100 to compress the silicon ingot 100. The rotary pressing device 533 may further include a movably mounted support 532 and a movable pressing block 534 disposed at the bottom of the support 532. The support 532 is movably mounted on a central mounting frame 13 located in the central region of the conveyor body 51 and rotates therewith. Specifically, the central mounting frame 13 may include at least six vertically mounted columns 131, arranged in three groups of two columns. Each group of two columns 131 is used to movably mount a support 532. Each support 532 is driven by a lifting drive to move up and down along the columns 131. In an optional embodiment, the columns 131 are cylindrical structures with a relatively smooth surface. If necessary, lubricant may be applied to the surface of the columns 131 to facilitate smooth lifting of the support 532. Additionally, a protective sleeve may be provided over the mounting post 131 to protect it from dust, debris, and other contaminants. The movable pressing block 534 is adapted to fit the silicon rod 100. In an alternative embodiment, the movable pressing block 534 may be a circular, pancake-shaped block adapted to the cross-sectional dimensions of the silicon rod 100. Furthermore, the movable pressing block 534 in the rotary pressing device 533 is axially connected to the support 532 and is capable of rotational movement relative to the support 532.

[0048] As previously mentioned, the rotating platform 531 is designed to be capable of self-rotation, and the pressing movable block 534 in the rotating pressing device 533 is axially connected to the support 532. Therefore, the rotating platform 531 or the pressing movable block 534 can be linked to a rotation drive device. In one embodiment, when the rotating platform 531 is linked to a rotation drive device, the rotating platform 531 serves as the active rotating component and the pressing movable block 534 serves as the driven rotating component. In another embodiment, when the pressing movable block 534 is linked to a rotation drive device, the pressing movable block 534 serves as the active rotating component and the rotating platform 531 serves as the driven rotating component.

[0049] In actual application, the rotary pressing device 533 can cooperate with the rotary supporting platform 531 below it. Specifically, after the silicon rod 100 is placed vertically on the rotary supporting platform 531, the lifting drive device drives the support 532 to move downward along the mounting column 131 until the pressing movable block 534 on the support 532 presses against the top of the silicon rod 100. Subsequently, when it is necessary to rotate the silicon rod 100, the rotary driving device drives the linked rotary supporting platform 531 or the pressing movable block 534 to rotate, and the friction between the rotary supporting platform 531, the silicon rod 100, and the pressing movable block 534 is used to drive the silicon rod 100 to rotate together, thereby adjusting the working surface or working area of ​​the silicon rod 100, so that the adjusted working surface or working area of ​​the silicon rod 100 can be processed. The rotation speed and rotation angle of the silicon rod 100 can be controlled by the rotary driving device. In a specific implementation, the lifting drive device may be, for example, a cylinder or a lifting motor, and the rotation drive device may be, for example, a rotation motor.

[0050] The disc-shaped or annular conveying body 51 is driven and rotated by a conversion drive mechanism. The rotation of the disc-shaped or annular conveying body 51 enables the silicon rod positioning mechanism 53 on the conveying body 51 and the silicon rods 100 positioned by the silicon rod positioning mechanism 53 to be converted between different functional positions. In one embodiment, the conversion drive mechanism further includes: a conversion toothed belt, which is arranged on the circumference of the disc-shaped or annular conveying body 51; a drive motor and a linkage structure connected to the drive motor and driven by the drive motor, which is arranged on the silicon rod processing platform of the machine base 1, and the linkage structure includes a rotating gear meshing with the conversion toothed belt. In this way, the rotating gear drives the disc-shaped or annular conveying body 51 to rotate under the drive motor to drive the silicon rod positioning mechanism 53 and the silicon rods 100 thereon to be converted to other functional positions to complete the conveying. The drive motor can be a servo motor.

[0051] The silicon rod loading and unloading device 2 is provided in the pre-processing area of ​​the silicon rod processing platform and is used to load the silicon rods to be processed into the pre-processing area of ​​the silicon rod processing platform and to unload the processed silicon rods from the pre-processing area of ​​the silicon rod processing platform. Furthermore, the silicon rod loading and unloading device 2 is used to load the silicon rods to be processed into the pre-processing area of ​​the silicon rod processing platform and to unload the processed silicon rods from the pre-processing area of ​​the silicon rod processing platform. Specifically, it is used to load the silicon rods to be processed onto the rotating carrier 531 in the conveying body 51 corresponding to the pre-processing area of ​​the silicon rod processing platform and to unload the processed silicon rods from the rotating carrier 531 in the conveying body 51 corresponding to the pre-processing area of ​​the silicon rod processing platform.

[0052] In one embodiment, the silicon rod loading and unloading device 2 further includes a silicon rod loading and unloading area, a reversing carrier 23 , and a silicon rod clamp 25 .

[0053] The silicon rod loading and unloading area is equipped with a silicon rod support platform 21 for vertically placing silicon rods 100. A reversing carrier 23 is configured for reversing movement. A silicon rod clamp 25 is mounted on a first mounting surface of the reversing carrier 23. By driving the reversing carrier 23 to reversing movement, the silicon rod clamp 25 of the reversing carrier 23 switches between the silicon rod loading and unloading area and the pre-processing area to transfer the silicon rods 100.

[0054] The silicon rod loading and unloading device is mounted on a bottom mounting structure protruding from the machine base 1. One side of the bottom mounting structure serves as the silicon rod loading and unloading area, where a silicon rod support platform 21 is located. The silicon rod support platform 21 is used to support the silicon rods 100. In a preferred embodiment, to facilitate the clamping of the silicon rod clamp 25 and to enable the loaded silicon rods 100 to be adjusted to fit within the clamp 25, the silicon rod support platform 21 is a rotary design. The silicon rod support platform 21 is equipped with a rotating shaft and a drive motor. Under the control of the drive motor, the silicon rod support platform 21 rotates about the rotating shaft to adjust the angle of the silicon rods 100 on the silicon rod support platform 21. In an alternative embodiment, the silicon rod support platform 21 can also be a lifting design. That is, the rotating shaft below the silicon rod support platform 21 can be controlled to move in a telescopic manner, driving the silicon rod support platform 21 to move up and down, thereby adjusting the height of the silicon rods on the silicon rod support platform 21.

[0055] The reversing carrier 23 is arranged on the bottom mounting structure and can perform reversing movement relative to the bottom mounting structure. In one embodiment, the reversing carrier 23 achieves reversing movement through a reversing mechanism. The reversing mechanism that enables the reversing carrier 23 to achieve reversing movement may include a rotating shaft and a reversing motor, and the reversing carrier 23 is connected to the bottom mounting structure below it through the rotating shaft. When implementing the reversing movement, the reversing motor is started to drive the rotating shaft to rotate to drive the reversing carrier 23 to rotate to achieve reversing movement. The aforementioned driving rotation of the rotating shaft can be designed to be unidirectional rotation or bidirectional rotation. The unidirectional rotation can be, for example, clockwise rotation or counterclockwise rotation, and the bidirectional rotation can be, for example, clockwise rotation and counterclockwise rotation. In addition, the angle of rotation of the driving rotating shaft can be set according to the actual structure of the silicon rod loading and unloading device, wherein the actual structure of the silicon rod loading and unloading device can be, for example, the angle of rotation of the driving rotating shaft can be set according to the positional relationship between the silicon rod loading and unloading area and the pretreatment area or the structure of the reversing carrier 23. The center of the reversing base 231 in the reversing carrier 23 is connected to the rotating shaft. Generally, the reversing base 231 can be in the shape of a circular disc, but is not limited thereto. The reversing base 231 can also be in the shape of a square disc or an elliptical disc.

[0056] Furthermore, if necessary, due to mechanical structural design, the positional relationship between the silicon rod loading and unloading area and the pre-processing area cannot satisfy the requirement that the reversing carrier 23, through reversing motion, the silicon rod clamp 25 on the reversing carrier 23 precisely corresponds to the silicon rod loading and unloading area and the pre-processing area. In this case, the silicon rod loading and unloading device may further include a translation mechanism for driving the reversing carrier 23 to perform translational motion toward and away from the pre-processing area relative to the bottom mounting structure. In one embodiment, the silicon rod loading and unloading device further includes a conversion chassis 241 between the reversing carrier 23 and the bottom mounting structure. The reversing carrier 23 is connected to the conversion chassis 241 via a rotating shaft, and the conversion chassis 241 is mounted on the bottom mounting structure via the translation mechanism.

[0057] In one feasible embodiment, the translation mechanism further includes: a translation rack, arranged on the bottom mounting structure along the translation direction; a translation rotation gear, arranged on the conversion chassis 241 and engaged with the translation rack; a translation drive motor (not shown), used to drive the translation gear to rotate so that the conversion chassis 241 and the reversing carrier 23 thereon move forward and backward along the translation rack relative to the bottom mounting structure.

[0058] In practical applications, the translation rack can be, for example, at least one rack of a certain length, which can be mounted on a bottom mounting structure. To ensure smoother translational movement of the conversion chassis 241 and the reversing carrier 23 thereon, at least two translation gears can be configured for each rack, with the at least two translation gears spaced apart. The translation gears can be connected to a translation drive motor via a transmission shaft. The translation drive motor can be, for example, a servo motor.

[0059] In actual application, as mentioned above, the translation mechanism includes a translation rack, a translation gear, and a translation drive motor. The translation drive motor drives the translation gear to rotate so that the conversion chassis 241 and the reversing carrier 23 thereon move along the translation rack to achieve the purpose of precise movement. The above translation mechanism is only an example, but is not intended to limit the present application. Alternatively, in other optional embodiments, the translation mechanism may include: a lead screw and a servo motor. The lead screw has the characteristics of high precision, reversibility and high efficiency. In this way, through the cooperation of the servo motor and the lead screw, the accuracy of the horizontal movement of the conversion chassis 241 and the reversing carrier 23 thereon in the translation direction is improved, that is, the horizontal travel distance of the conversion chassis 241 and the reversing carrier 23 thereon in the translation direction is made more accurate.

[0060] Furthermore, in this embodiment, in order to ensure that the conversion chassis 241 and the reversing carrier 23 thereon can move more smoothly and more steadily along the translation direction relative to the bottom mounting structure, the translation mechanism may further include a translation guide rail and a translation slide, wherein the translation guide rail is arranged along the translation direction at the bottom of the conversion chassis 241, and the translation slide is mounted on the bottom mounting structure. Through the cooperation of the translation guide rail and the translation slide, the conversion chassis 241 and the reversing carrier 23 thereon are assisted in moving along the translation direction. In actual application, the translation drive motor drives the translation gear to rotate so that the conversion chassis 241 and the reversing carrier 23 thereon move along the translation rack. At the same time, the translation guide rail and the translation slide, which serve as auxiliary facilities, slide in the translation slide, thereby achieving the translation movement of the conversion chassis 241 and the reversing carrier 23 thereon. Alternatively, in other embodiments, the translation mechanism may further include a translation guide rail and a translation slider, wherein the translation guide rail is arranged on the bottom mounting structure along the translation direction, and the translation slider is installed on the bottom of the conversion chassis 241. The translation guide rail and the translation slider cooperate to enable the translation slider to slide along the translation guide rail, thereby assisting the conversion chassis 241 and the reversing carrier 23 thereon to move along the translation direction.

[0061] The silicon rod clamp 25 is used to clamp the silicon rod. In one embodiment, the silicon rod clamp 25 includes a clamp mounting member 251 and at least two silicon rod clamps 253. The clamp mounting member 251 is disposed on the reversing carrier 23. The at least two silicon rod clamps 253 are spaced along the clamp mounting member 251. In one embodiment, the workpiece support platform at the aforementioned silicon rod loading and unloading area can support the silicon rod in an upright position. Therefore, the at least two silicon rod clamps 253 are vertically spaced apart, that is, at least two silicon rod clamps 253 are disposed one above the other.

[0062] In terms of specific implementation, each silicon rod clamp 253 further includes: a clamp arm mounting seat 252 and at least two clamp arms 254, wherein the clamp arm mounting seat 252 is provided on the fixture mounting member 251, and at least two clamp arms 254 are movably provided on the clamp arm mounting seat 252. Considering that the cross section of the silicon rod to be processed, whether it is a single crystal silicon rod or a polycrystalline silicon rod, is polygonal, and in related technologies, the cross section of the silicon rod is mostly rectangular, therefore, in one embodiment, the silicon rod clamp 253 is a square workpiece clamp as a whole, and the clamp arms 254 constituting the silicon rod clamp 253 are two symmetrically designed, and a single clamp arm 254 is designed to have a single flat clamping surface (see Figure 4 ) or angled clamping surface (see Figure 5 ), the angled clamping surface is composed of two continuous straight clamping surfaces with a folded angle between them. Of course, additional cushioning pads can be added to the straight clamping surfaces of the clamping arm 254 to prevent damage to the silicon ingot surface during clamping, effectively protecting the silicon ingot. Furthermore, the silicon ingot clamp 253 can also serve as a centering adjustment mechanism.

[0063] In general, when the clamping arms 254 of the silicon rod clamping member 253 are in the clamped state, the center of the clamping space formed by the two clamping arms 254 coincides with the center of the silicon rod supporting platform 21. Figure 5Taking the silicon rod clamp 253 with the clamping arms 254 shown as an example, when the silicon rod clamp 253 is used to clamp the silicon rod 100 placed upright on the silicon rod support platform 21, the clamping arms 254 in the silicon rod clamp 253 contract, and the angled clamping surfaces in the clamping arms 254 abut against the silicon rod 100, wherein the two straight clamping surfaces in the angled clamping surfaces correspond to two adjacent side surfaces of the silicon rod 100. As the clamping arms 254 contract and clamp the silicon rod 100, the silicon rod 100 is pushed by the two clamping arms 254 on both sides and moves toward the center of the clamping space until the silicon rod 100 is clamped by the two clamping arms 254 in the silicon rod clamp 253. At this point, the center of the silicon rod 100 is located at the center of the clamping space of the silicon rod clamp 253. In particular, in order to enable the at least two clamping arms 254 in the silicon rod clamping member 253 to smoothly and firmly clamp silicon rods of different types and sizes, the silicon rod clamping member 253 further includes a clamping arm driving mechanism for driving the at least two clamping arms 254 to open and close.

[0064] See also Figure 6 , which is a rear view of the silicon rod fixture 25. In a specific implementation, as Figure 6 As shown, the clamping arm driving mechanism further includes: an opening and closing gear 255 , a gear driving member 256 , and a driving source 257 .

[0065] The opening and closing gears 255 are provided on the corresponding clamping arms 254. The gear driving member 256 has teeth that mesh with the opening and closing gears 255 on the clamping arms 254. A driving source is connected to the gear driving member 256 to drive the gear driving member 256 to move. In one embodiment, the gear driving member 256 is a rack located between the two clamping arms 254. The two outer surfaces of the rack facing the clamping arms 254 on both sides are respectively provided with teeth corresponding to the opening and closing gears 255 on the two clamping arms 254. The driving source 257 can be, for example, a drive motor or a cylinder.

[0066] In this way, according to the above implementation method, in actual application, when the clamping arm 254 needs to be clamped, the rack 256 as the gear driving member is driven upward by the driving motor or cylinder as the driving source, and the rack 256 drives the opening and closing gears 255 engaged on both sides to rotate outward. During the outward rotation, the opening and closing gear 255 drives the clamping arm 254 (the opening and closing gear 255 and the clamping arm 254 can be connected by a rotating shaft) to move downward to change from a loose state to a clamping state; conversely, when the clamping arm 254 needs to be loosened, the rack 256 as the gear driving member is driven downward by the driving motor (or cylinder) as the driving source, and the rack 256 drives the opening and closing gears 255 engaged on both sides to rotate inward. During the inward rotation, the opening and closing gear 255 drives the clamping arm 254 (the opening and closing gear 255 and the clamping arm 254 can be connected by a rotating shaft) to move upward to change from a clamping state to a loose state. Of course, the above is only one embodiment and is not intended to limit the working state of the silicon rod clamp 253. In fact, the aforementioned "upward", "outward rotation", "lowering", "downward", "inward rotation", "upward", as well as "loosening" and "clamping" state changes can all be subject to other changes according to the structure and operation mode of the clamping arm 254 and the structure of the clamping arm drive mechanism.

[0067] As those skilled in the art are aware, for single crystal silicon rods or multicrystalline silicon rods, due to the different specifications of the original long silicon rods or primary silicon ingots (large-sized silicon ingots), the cutting operations for the original long silicon rods or the squaring and cutting operations for the primary silicon ingots are different, which inevitably leads to significant size differences between single crystal silicon rods and multicrystalline silicon rods, between individual single crystal silicon rods, and between individual multicrystalline silicon rods. Since the silicon rod clamp 25 is used to clamp the silicon rods 100 in an upright position, the impact of the aforementioned size differences on the silicon rod clamp 25 is mainly reflected in the concern about whether the silicon rod clamp 253 in the silicon rod clamp 25 can clamp the silicon rods. In order to reduce or even eliminate the risk that the silicon rod clamp 253 may not be able to clamp the silicon rods.

[0068] In one implementation, the silicon rod clamp 25 utilizes fixed silicon rod clamps. Specifically, as many silicon rod clamps 253 as possible are vertically fixedly mounted on the first mounting surface of the reversing carrier 23. Furthermore, the spacing between adjacent silicon rod clamps 253 is minimized. Thus, these silicon rod clamps 253 can accommodate silicon rods of various lengths. For example, if the silicon rod is long, more silicon rod clamps 253 on the reversing carrier 23 are used for clamping; if the silicon rod is short, fewer silicon rod clamps 253 on the reversing carrier 23 are used for clamping.

[0069] In other implementations, the silicon rod clamp 25 uses a movable silicon rod clamp, that is, a silicon rod clamp 253 is movably provided vertically on the first mounting surface of the reversing carrier 23. Since the silicon rod clamp 253 is a movable design, the number of silicon rod clamps 253 can be greatly reduced, and generally two or three are sufficient. In this way, these movable silicon rod clamps 253 can cover silicon rods of various specifications and lengths. For example, if the length of the silicon rod is longer, the silicon rod clamp 253 is moved to extend the clamping distance between the two silicon rod clamps 253; if the length of the silicon rod is shorter, the silicon rod clamp 253 is moved to shorten the clamping distance between the two silicon rod clamps 253. In the implementation method in which the silicon rod clamp 25 adopts a movable silicon rod clamp, in order to facilitate the smooth and stable up and down movement of the movable silicon rod clamp to adjust its position, the clamp mounting member 251 in the silicon rod clamp 25 can be used to guide the movable silicon rod clamp 253. In one possible implementation method, the clamp mounting member 251 can adopt a guide column structure, and the clamp arm mounting seat 252 adopts a movable block structure that is sleeved on the guide column structure. Specifically, the guide column structure as the clamp mounting member 251 includes two guide columns arranged upright and parallel, and the movable block structure as the clamp arm mounting seat 252 is provided with two through holes or two clips corresponding to the two guide columns in the guide column structure. If through holes are used, the movable block is sleeved on the guide column and can slide along the guide column. If clips are used, the movable block is clipped to the guide column and can slide along the guide column. In actual application, the clip can be clipped to at least half of the guide column.

[0070] There are also various variations of the silicon rod clamp 25 with movable silicon rod clamps 253. Taking two silicon rod clamps 253 as an example, in one optional embodiment, one of the two silicon rod clamps 253 is movable, while the other is fixed. In this way, in actual use, the clamping distance between the movable silicon rod clamp 253 and the fixed silicon rod clamp 253 is adjusted by moving the movable silicon rod clamp 253. As can be seen from the above, the silicon rod 100 is placed upright. Therefore, regardless of the length of the silicon rod, the bottom of the silicon rod 100 is always relatively easy to determine. Therefore, preferably, the upper silicon rod clamp 253 of the two silicon rod clamps 253 is designed to be movable. In this way, only the position of the upper silicon rod clamp 253 needs to be adjusted. To achieve movement of the silicon rod clamp 253, the movable silicon rod clamp 253 can be provided with a guide drive mechanism. The guide drive mechanism can be used to drive the movable silicon rod clamping member 253 to move up and down along the fixture mounting member 251.

[0071] In one implementation, the guide drive mechanism may, for example, include: a guide screw 258 and a guide motor 259, wherein the guide screw 258 is arranged vertically, one end of the guide screw 258 is connected to the clamp arm mounting seat 252, and the other end of the guide screw 258 is connected to the guide motor 259. The guide motor 259 can be arranged at the top of the reversing carrier 23, but is not limited to this. The guide motor 259 can also be arranged at the bottom of the reversing carrier 23. The guide screw 258 has the characteristics of high precision, reversibility, and high efficiency. Therefore, when the position of the upper silicon rod clamp 253 needs to be adjusted, the guide motor 259 drives the guide screw 258 to rotate. During the rotation of the guide screw 258, the silicon rod clamp 253 is driven to move up and down along the clamp mounting member 251. For example, when the guide motor 259 drives the guide screw 258 to rotate in the forward direction, the upper silicon rod clamp 253 is driven to move upward along the clamp mounting member 251 away from the lower silicon rod clamp 253; when the guide motor 259 drives the guide screw 258 to rotate in the reverse direction, the upper silicon rod clamp 253 is driven to move downward along the clamp mounting member 251 toward the lower silicon rod clamp 253. The clamping distance between the two silicon rod clamps 253 is adjusted to effectively clamp silicon rods 100 of different specifications and lengths.

[0072] In another optional embodiment, both silicon rod clamps 253 are movable. Thus, in practice, the clamping distance between the two movable silicon rod clamps 253 can be adjusted by moving them. Since the silicon rod clamps 253 are movable, at least one of the two silicon rod clamps 253 must be equipped with a guide drive mechanism to drive the two silicon rod clamps 253 along the fixture mounting member 251.

[0073] Compared with the previous optional embodiment, in this optional embodiment, since the two silicon rod clamps 253 in the silicon rod clamp 25 are both movable, there will be a situation where a guide drive mechanism is set on one of the two silicon rod clamps 253 or a guide drive mechanism is set on both silicon rod clamps 253. Now, let's take the case where the upper silicon rod clamping member 253 of the two silicon rod clamping members 253 is provided with a guide drive mechanism as an example. In this case, on the one hand, the clamping arm mounting seat 252 and the clamp mounting member 251 in the two silicon rod clamping members 253 are movably connected, that is, the clamping arm mounting seat 252 and the clamping arm 254 thereon in any silicon rod clamping member 253 move up and down along the clamp mounting member 251. In addition, the guide drive mechanism provided includes a guide screw 258 and a guide motor, wherein one end of the guide screw 258 is connected to the clamping arm mounting seat 252 in the upper silicon rod clamping member 253, and the other end of the guide screw 258 is connected to the guide motor 259. The guide motor 25 9 can be set at the top of the reversing carrier 23. In this way, when the position of the upper silicon rod clamping member 253 needs to be adjusted, the guide motor 259 drives the guide screw 258 to rotate. During the rotation of the guide screw 258, the silicon rod clamping member 253 is driven to move up and down along the clamp mounting member 251. For example, when the guide motor 259 drives the guide screw 258 to rotate in the forward direction, the upper silicon rod clamping member 253 is driven to move upward along the clamp mounting member 251 to move away from the lower silicon rod clamping member 253; when the guide motor 259 drives the guide screw 258 to rotate in the reverse direction, the upper silicon rod clamping member 253 is driven to move downward along the clamp mounting member 251 to move closer to the lower silicon rod clamping member 253. The silicon rod clamping member 253 moves up and down along the clamp mounting member 251 to adjust the clamping distance between the two silicon rod clamping members 253, thereby effectively clamping silicon rods 100 of different specifications and lengths.

[0074] In fact, when both silicon rod clamps 253 are of movable design, the guide drive mechanism can not only adjust the clamping distance between the two silicon rod clamps 253 to effectively clamp silicon rods 100 of different specifications and lengths, but also achieve the purpose of lifting and lowering the clamped silicon rods 100. After the two silicon rod clamps 253 effectively clamp the silicon rods, the silicon rods 100 are lifted and lowered by driving the movement of the silicon rod clamps 253. Specifically, still taking the upper silicon rod clamp 253 provided with a guide drive mechanism as an example, first, the upper silicon rod clamp 253 moves up and down along the clamp mounting member 251 through the guide drive mechanism to adjust the clamping distance between it and the lower silicon rod clamp 253; then, the clamping arm drive mechanism in each silicon rod clamp 253 drives the corresponding two clamping arms to perform a clamping action to clamp the silicon rod smoothly and firmly; then, the upper silicon rod clamp 253 is driven by the guide drive mechanism to move upward along the clamp mounting member 251. At this time, due to the action of friction, the clamped silicon rod 100 and the lower silicon rod clamp 253 move upward together. Among them, the upward movement of the clamped silicon rod 100 utilizes the friction between the upper silicon rod clamp 253 and the silicon rod 100, and the upward movement of the silicon rod clamp 253 utilizes the friction between the silicon rod 100 and the lower silicon rod clamp 253. The upper silicon rod clamping member 253 drives the silicon rod 100 and the lower silicon rod clamping member 253 to move downward under the drive of the guide drive mechanism. The process is the same and will not be repeated here.

[0075] It should be noted that in other variations, for example, a guide drive mechanism is provided on the lower silicon rod clamp 253 of the two silicon rod clamps 253. The structure, setting method and driving working method of the guide drive mechanism are similar to those of the guide drive mechanism of the upper silicon rod clamp 253. For example, the lower silicon rod clamp 253 is driven by the guide drive mechanism to move up and down along the clamp mounting member 251 to adjust the clamping distance between it and the upper silicon rod clamp 253, and the lower silicon rod clamp 253 is driven by the guide drive mechanism to drive the silicon rod 100 and the upper silicon rod clamp 253 to move up and down along the clamp mounting member 251. For another example, if both silicon rod clamps 253 are provided with a guide drive mechanism, the setting method and driving working method of the guide drive mechanism and the movement method of the two silicon rod clamps 253 are self-evident and will not be described in detail here.

[0076] In the case where the movable silicon rod clamp 253 moves up and down along the fixture mounting member 251 to adapt to silicon rods of different lengths, in addition to the silicon rod clamp 253 adopting a movable structural design and being provided with a guide drive mechanism, it is necessary to know the length of the silicon rod currently to be clamped. In view of this, the silicon rod loading and unloading device of the present application may also include a height detector 7 for detecting the height of the upright silicon rod supported by the silicon rod supporting platform 21, thereby serving as a basis for the subsequent upward or downward movement of the movable silicon rod clamp 253 along the silicon rod clamp mounting member 251 and the moving distance.

[0077] When the silicon rod clamp 25 in the silicon rod loading and unloading device 2 is used to load the silicon rod to be processed from the silicon rod loading and unloading area to the pre-processing area of ​​the silicon rod processing platform 11 for subsequent processing operations, in one embodiment, for example, the first processing device 3 and the second processing device 4 respectively perform the first processing operation and the second processing operation on the silicon rod 100, and the subsequent processing operation at least includes the corresponding silicon rod surface shaping treatment. Therefore, before performing subsequent processing operations on the silicon rod, it is necessary to know the current flatness status of the silicon rod 100. In view of this, the silicon rod multi-station processing machine of the present application may also include a flatness detector, which is at least used to perform plane flatness detection on the silicon rod 100 to be processed. In one embodiment, the flatness detector is arranged on the second mounting surface of the reversing carrier 23, and specifically includes: a contact detection structure, a detector shift mechanism, and a detection controller.

[0078] The contact detection structure in a flatness tester is used to perform flatness testing on the surface of a silicon rod by contacting it. Generally speaking, this involves sequentially contacting each detection point on the surface to determine the relative distances between the detection points. The flatness of the surface is then determined based on these relative distances.

[0079] In this embodiment, the flatness of the surface to be tested is determined based on the relative distance values ​​of each detection point by calculating the difference between the maximum and minimum values ​​of the measured relative distance values. If the difference is less than the standard value or falls within the standard range, it indicates that the flatness of the surface to be tested meets the standard. In a specific implementation, the contact detection structure 61 may further include a retractable contact probe and an on-off switch.

[0080] The telescopic contact probe is used to contact the surface to be tested of the silicon rod 100. An on / off switch is associated with the telescopic contact probe and is connected to the detection controller. Upon contact between the telescopic contact probe and the surface to be tested of the silicon rod 100, the on / off switch sends a corresponding on / off signal to the detection controller. This signal is then used by the detection controller to calculate the relative distance between the detection point on the surface to be tested currently contacted by the telescopic contact probe and the reference point.

[0081] In an optional embodiment, the telescopic contact probe in the contact detection structure may further include: a contact probe, a probe base for setting the contact probe, and an elastic support member that is at least partially built into the probe base and is used to support the contact probe. The contact probe may be, for example, a cylindrical rod-shaped object, and the top of the rod-shaped object may be sharpened and rounded or additionally provided with a bump. In practical applications, the contact probe may be made of high-hardness, high-wear-resistant cemented carbide. The probe base may be, for example, a cylindrical table, which is a hollow structure that can accommodate the contact probe in the form of a rod. When the probe base accommodates the contact probe, the top of the contact probe protrudes from the probe base. The elastic support member is built into the probe base and is used to support the contact probe, and the elastic support member is also associated with the on-off switch. The elastic support member supports the contact probe mainly in the conduction of force. Here, the conduction of force is at least reflected in the following two aspects: First, receiving the resistance force exerted on the contact probe due to contact with the surface to be measured and transmitting the resistance force to the on-off switch, so that the on-off switch can generate a corresponding on-off signal according to the resistance force. Second, providing a restoring force to restore the contact probe to its original state. The elastic support member receives the force and provides a restoring force to restore the contact probe to its original state according to the action of the force, so that the contact probe moves outward relative to the probe base to restore its original state according to the restoring force. In practical applications, the elastic support member can be, for example, a pressure spring, and the opposite ends of the pressure spring can correspond to the contact probe and the on-off switch respectively. However, the components of the contact detection structure and the structure of each component are not limited to the aforementioned embodiment.

[0082] In other embodiments, the contact detection structure may still be modified in other ways, for example: the contact probe may be, for example, a tetrahedral rod, and the probe base may be, for example, a tetrahedral tubular table. The elastic support may also be a flexible spring sheet, and the opposite ends of the flexible spring sheet may correspond to the contact probe and the on-off switch, respectively. The on-off switch is a high-precision switch with high sensitivity, and can sense even very subtle forces. In addition, in other implementations of this optional embodiment, a signal transmission device or a signal transmission circuit may be included between the on-off switch and the detection controller, so that the on-off signal generated by the on-off switch can be transmitted to the detection controller via the signal transmission device or the signal transmission circuit.

[0083] In actual application of the contact detection structure of this embodiment, when the telescopic contact probe contacts the surface to be tested of the silicon rod 100, the telescopic contact probe retracts relative to the probe base under the obstruction of the surface to be tested of the silicon rod 100. The elastic support member receives the pressing force of the contact probe by supporting the contact probe and transmits the pressing force to the on-off switch, so that the on-off switch generates a corresponding on signal or off signal according to the pressing force. The on signal or off signal is transmitted to the detection controller through the signal transmission device or signal transmission circuit. The detection controller can convert the relative distance of the detection point in the surface to be tested currently contacted by the contact probe relative to the reference point according to the on signal or off signal.

[0084] The detector shift mechanism in the flatness detector is used to drive the contact detection structure 61 to shift. In this embodiment, the detector shift mechanism can be, for example, a three-dimensional shift mechanism. In specific implementation, the three-dimensional shift mechanism may include: a first direction shift mechanism, a second direction shift mechanism, and a third direction shift mechanism. For ease of description, the first direction is marked as the X axis, the second direction is marked as the Y axis, and the third direction is marked as the Z axis. Figure 1 It can be seen that the second direction Y-axis is consistent with the translation direction of the translation mechanism in the aforementioned silicon rod loading and unloading device. Therefore, in an optional embodiment, the second direction shifting mechanism can overlap with the aforementioned translation mechanism, that is, the second direction shifting mechanism is also served by the aforementioned translation mechanism. The structure and operation of the translation mechanism can be found in the aforementioned description, so the second direction shifting mechanism is not described in detail.

[0085] The following describes in detail the first direction shifting mechanism and the third direction shifting mechanism.

[0086] The first-direction shift mechanism further includes a side shift base 243 and a first-direction shift unit. The first-direction shift unit provides for shifting the side shift base 243 in a first direction (e.g., the X-axis direction). The first-direction shift unit further includes a first-direction rack disposed on the bottom mounting structure along the first direction; a first rotating gear disposed on the side shift base 243 and meshing with the first-direction rack; and a first drive motor for driving the first rotating gear to rotate, thereby advancing and retracting the side shift base 243 along the first-direction rack. Specifically, the first-direction rack may be, for example, at least one rack of a certain length, mounted on the bottom mounting structure. To ensure smoother movement of the side shift base 243 in the first direction, at least two first rotating gears may be provided for each rack, with the at least two first rotating gears spaced apart. The first rotating gears may be connected to the first drive motor via a transmission shaft. The first drive motor is connected to and controlled by the detection controller. The first drive motor may be, for example, a servo motor. In actual application, as described above, the first direction shifting unit includes a first direction rack, a first rotating gear, and a first drive motor. The first drive motor receives a shift control instruction from the detection controller and drives the first rotating gear to rotate according to the shift control instruction so that the side shift base 243 shifts along the first direction rack until the required shift value is met, thereby achieving the purpose of precise shifting. The shift control instruction includes at least the shift value or a parameter related to the shift value.

[0087] In addition, the above-mentioned first-direction shifting unit is only an example, and is not intended to limit the present application. For example, in an optional embodiment, the first-direction shifting unit may include: a lead screw and a servo motor, wherein the lead screw has the characteristics of high precision, reversibility and high efficiency. In this way, through the cooperation between the servo motor and the lead screw, the accuracy of the horizontal movement of the side shift base 243 in the first direction is improved. In addition, the first-direction shifting unit may also include a first-direction guide rail and a first slider, wherein the first-direction guide rail is arranged on the bottom mounting structure along the first direction, and the first slider is provided on the side shifting base 243 and cooperates with the first-direction guide rail. Through the cooperation between the first-direction guide rail and the first slider, the side shifting base 243 is assisted to shift along the first direction.

[0088] In actual application, the first drive motor receives a shift control instruction from the detection controller (the shift control instruction includes at least a shift value or parameters related to the shift value) and drives the first rotating gear to rotate according to the shift control instruction so that the side shift base 243 shifts along the first direction rack. The shift control instruction includes at least a shift value or parameters related to the shift value. At the same time, the first direction guide rail and the first slider serve as auxiliary facilities. The first slider slides along the first direction guide rail, thereby realizing the shift of the side shift base 243 along the first direction.

[0089] Alternatively, in other embodiments, the first-direction shifting unit may further include a first-direction guide rail and a first slide, wherein the first-direction guide rail is arranged on the side shifting base 243 along the first direction, and the first slide is mounted on the bottom mounting structure, and the first-direction guide rail cooperates with the first slide to assist the side shifting base 243 in shifting along the first direction. As mentioned above, the flatness detector is used to detect the surface flatness of silicon rods. Therefore, under normal circumstances, the flatness detector can be used in conjunction with other processing equipment. This type of processing equipment can be a single-function processing equipment (such as a cutting machine, a grinding machine, or a polishing machine) or a multi-function composite processing equipment. The single-function processing equipment can be, for example, a cutting machine, a grinding machine, or a polishing machine, and the composite processing equipment can be, for example, an all-in-one grinding and polishing machine.

[0090] Since, in one embodiment, the second direction shifting mechanism is concurrently performed by the aforementioned translation mechanism, in order to cooperate with the first direction translation mechanism, in the structure of the translation mechanism, the conversion chassis 241 is mounted on the bottom mounting structure through the translation mechanism, which is essentially the conversion chassis 241 being mounted on the side shifting base of the first direction shifting mechanism through the translation mechanism, which is specially explained here.

[0091] The third-direction shifting mechanism can provide the contact detection structure 61 to shift in a third direction (for example, the Z-axis direction, hereinafter, the shift in the third direction will also be generally referred to as up and down shifting) relative to the reversing carrier 23. In one embodiment, the contact detection structure 61 is provided on the reversing carrier 23 through a detection structure mounting member 63. The detection structure mounting member 63 can adopt a guide column structure, and the contact detection structure adopts a movable block structure that is sleeved on the guide column structure. Specifically, the guide column structure serving as the detection structure mounting member 63 includes two guide columns that are vertically arranged and parallel, and the contact detection structure 61 is provided with two through holes or two clips corresponding to the two guide columns in the guide column structure.

[0092] If a through hole is used, the contact detection structure is sleeved on the guide column and can slide along the guide column. If a clip is used, the contact detection structure is clipped on the guide column and can slide along the guide column, wherein the clip can be clipped on at least half of the guide column. Therefore, in order to achieve the up and down displacement of the contact detection structure 61 along the detection structure mounting member 63, the third directional shifting mechanism may further include: a screw and a lifting motor, wherein the screw is vertically arranged, one end of the screw is connected to the contact detection structure 61, and the other end of the screw is connected to the lifting motor, and the lifting motor can be arranged at the top of the reversing carrier 23, but it is not limited to this. The lifting motor can also be arranged at the bottom of the reversing carrier 23. The lead screw has the characteristics of high precision, reversibility and high efficiency. Thus, when the position of the contact detection structure 61 needs to be adjusted, the lifting motor drives the lead screw to rotate, and during the rotation of the lead screw, the contact detection structure 61 is driven to move up and down along the detection structure mounting part 63. For example: the driving motor drives the lead screw to rotate forward, which drives the upper contact detection structure 61 to move upward along the detection structure mounting part 63; the driving motor drives the lead screw to rotate reversely, which drives the contact detection structure 61 to move downward along the detection structure mounting part 63.

[0093] In actual application, the lifting motor receives a shift control instruction from the detection controller that includes at least a shift value or a parameter related to the shift value and drives the screw to rotate according to the shift control instruction to drive the contact detection structure 61 to move up and down along the detection structure mounting member 63 until the shift value requirement is met, thereby achieving the purpose of precise shifting. It should be noted that the third-direction shift mechanism using a combination of a screw and a drive motor is only an example and is not intended to limit the third-direction shift mechanism of the present application. Alternatively, in other embodiments, the third-direction shift mechanism may also use a toothed belt shift mechanism. The toothed belt shift mechanism may include a synchronous toothed belt, a rotating gear, and a drive motor, wherein the synchronous toothed belt is provided on the second mounting surface of the reversing carrier 23, the contact detection structure 61 may be connected to the synchronous toothed belt through a connecting member, the rotating gear is meshed with the synchronous toothed belt, and the drive motor is used to drive the rotating gear to rotate so as to use the synchronous toothed belt to drive the contact detection structure 61 to move up and down along the detection structure mounting member 63.

[0094] The detection controller is connected to the contact detection structure and the detector shift mechanism, and is used to control the detector shift mechanism to drive the contact detection structure to shift and control the contact detection structure to sequentially detect the relative distances of various detection points on the surface to be tested in the silicon rod. In one embodiment, the detector shift mechanism may include a first-direction shift mechanism, a second-direction shift mechanism, and a third-direction shift mechanism. Therefore, the detection controller is connected to the first-direction shift mechanism, the second-direction shift mechanism, and the third-direction shift mechanism, and is used to send corresponding shift control instructions to the first-direction shift mechanism, the second-direction shift mechanism, and the third-direction shift mechanism, respectively, to drive and control the contact detection structure to reach a predetermined detection position through three-dimensional displacement and to contact the detection points on the surface to be tested of the silicon rod 100 at the detection position. The contact detection structure may include: a telescopic contact probe and an on-off switch, wherein the on-off switch is connected to a detection controller. When the telescopic contact probe contacts the surface to be tested of the silicon rod 100, the on-off switch sends an on-off signal to the detection controller. The detection controller calculates the relative distance of the detection point on the surface to be tested currently contacted by the contact probe relative to the reference point based on the on-off signal.

[0095] In practical applications, the setting of the reference point can be determined according to the structural characteristics or detection method of the flatness detector, such as the structure of the first direction shift mechanism, the second direction shift mechanism, and the third direction shift mechanism in the detector shift mechanism. The relative distance converted according to the reference point is related to the reference point and the displacement distance along the second direction of the contact detection structure driven by the second direction shift mechanism. The displacement distance along the second direction is the distance between the initial position of the contact detection structure when the second direction shift mechanism is not activated and the contact position of the contact detection structure when the second direction shift mechanism is paused after the contact detection structure touches the detection point in the side surface to be tested of the silicon rod 100. Of course, a simple way to handle it is to directly set the reference point to the initial position of the contact detection structure when the second direction shift mechanism is not activated. In this way, the relative distance of the detection point in the surface to be tested relative to the reference point is the displacement distance along the second direction of the contact detection structure driven by the second direction shift mechanism.

[0096] It should be noted that, in one embodiment, the flatness detector is disposed on the second mounting surface of the reversing carrier 23, while the aforementioned silicon rod clamp is disposed on the first mounting surface of the reversing carrier 23. Here, the first mounting surface and the second mounting surface can be set according to the actual device structure. For example, the first mounting surface and the second mounting surface are two mounting surfaces disposed in opposite directions in the reversing carrier 23. Furthermore, the first mounting surface and the second mounting surface can differ by 180°, so that the silicon rod support platform 21 located in the silicon rod loading and unloading area is aligned with the rotating support platform 531 located in the pre-processing area of ​​the silicon rod conversion device 5. In this way, after the reversing carrier 23 is rotated 180°, the original first mounting surface can be switched to the second mounting surface, or the original second mounting surface can be switched to the first mounting surface. However, in actual applications, the relationship between the first mounting surface and the second mounting surface is not necessarily so critical. The first mounting surface and the second mounting surface may also be, for example, 90° apart. That is, the silicon rod support platform 21 located in the silicon rod loading and unloading area and the rotating support platform 531 located in the pre-processing area of ​​the silicon rod conversion device 5 are 90° out of phase. In fact, the first mounting surface and the second mounting surface may be positioned at any position within a suitable range, as long as unnecessary interference is ensured between the first mounting surface and the second mounting surface, or between the silicon rod support platform 21 located in the silicon rod loading and unloading area and the rotating support platform 531 located in the pre-processing area of ​​the silicon rod conversion device 5. In addition, the aforementioned height detector 7 can be installed on either the first mounting surface or the second mounting surface, or even on other parts of the reversing carrier 23.

[0097] In particular, through the cooperation of the flatness detector 7 and the silicon rod clamp 25, the silicon rod 100 can also be corrected. As can be seen from the previous description, the silicon rod clamp 25 can be used to clamp the silicon rod 100 and then transfer the silicon rod 100 to the rotating support platform 531 of the silicon rod positioning mechanism 53 at the pre-processing position after the reversing carrier 23 performs a reversing movement. However, in this way, the following situation may occur: the rotating support platform 531 is not located in the central area of ​​the silicon rod 100. In this case, the silicon rod product after subsequent processing operations is likely to not meet the workpiece specification requirements. Therefore, before the silicon rod is subjected to subsequent processing operations, the silicon rod 100 can also be corrected. During the correction operation, it is easy to operate and ideally the center of the silicon rod 100 is aligned with the center of the rotating support platform 531.

[0098] In actual application, the flatness detector 7 performs a plane flatness detection on the silicon rod 100 carried on the rotating carrier 531, thereby obtaining an overall position overview of the silicon rod 100; the obtained overall position overview of the silicon rod 100 is compared and analyzed with the position of the rotating carrier 531, thereby obtaining the deviation information between the center of the silicon rod 100 and the center of the rotating carrier 531; the reversing carrier 23 rotates 180° to perform a reversing motion, and the silicon rod clamp 25 on the reversing carrier 23 corresponds to the silicon rod 100 on the rotating carrier 531 and clamps the silicon rod 100; the first direction shifting mechanism and the second direction shifting mechanism in the aforementioned three-dimensional shifting mechanism are used to drive the reversing carrier 23 to move in the first direction and / or the second direction, thereby driving the silicon rod clamp 25 and the silicon rod 100 clamped by the silicon rod clamp 25 to adjust the position relative to the rotating carrier 531, and finally the center of the silicon rod 100 is aligned with the center of the rotating carrier 531, thereby completing the correction operation for the silicon rod 100.

[0099] The first processing device 3 is located in the first processing area of ​​the silicon ingot processing platform 11 and is used to perform a first processing operation on the silicon ingot 100. The second processing device 4 is located in the second processing area of ​​the silicon ingot processing platform 11 and is used to perform a second processing operation on the silicon ingot 100 after the first processing operation of the first processing device 3. In this embodiment, as described above, the silicon ingot positioning mechanism 53 can position the silicon ingot 100 in an upright position. Therefore, the first processing device 3 performs the first processing operation on the upright silicon ingot 100, and the second processing device 4 performs the second processing operation on the upright silicon ingot 100 using a vertical processing method.

[0100] It should be noted that for different types of silicon rods, the first processing device 3 and the second processing device 4 will also have different variations and combinations. For example: if the silicon rod 100 is a single crystal silicon rod, the first processing device 3 can be a rounding and rough grinding device and the second processing device 4 can be a rounding and fine grinding device; if the silicon rod 100 is a polycrystalline silicon rod, the first processing device 3 can be a rough grinding device and the second processing device can be a chamfering and fine grinding device. In particular, in one embodiment, a protective door can be added between the pretreatment area and the first processing area and between the second processing area and the pretreatment area to isolate the pretreatment area from the first processing area and the second processing area, thereby protecting the silicon rod and preventing the silicon rod from being contaminated or damaged.

[0101] The following description will be made in detail by taking the silicon rod 100 as a single crystal silicon rod as an example.

[0102] When the silicon rod 100 is a single crystal silicon rod, the first processing device 3 is a rounding and rough grinding device, and the second processing device 4 is a rounding and fine grinding device.

[0103] The slicing and rough grinding device 3, serving as the first processing device, is installed on the machine base 1 and located in the first processing area of ​​the silicon ingot processing platform. It is used to slice and rough grind single crystal silicon ingots. The slicing and rough grinding device 3 has a first receiving space for receiving single crystal silicon ingots conveyed by the conveyor body 51 of the silicon ingot transfer device 5. The slicing and rough grinding device 3 primarily comprises a first frame 31 and at least one pair of first grinding tools 33. The at least one pair of first grinding tools 33 are positioned opposite each other on the first frame 31 and are used to slice and rough grind single crystal silicon ingots on the silicon ingot transfer device 5 located in the first processing area. Furthermore, each first grinding tool 33 further comprises a first spindle 32 and a first grinding wheel 34. The mounting surfaces of the first spindle 32 and the first frame 31 are provided with a transverse sliding guide mechanism and a longitudinal sliding guide mechanism. The transverse sliding guide mechanism can be, for example, a combination of a slide rail and a slider, while the longitudinal sliding guide mechanism can be, for example, a combination of a slide rail and a slider. The lateral sliding guide mechanism allows the first spindle 32 or the first grinding wheel 34 to move forward and backward laterally relative to the first frame 31. The longitudinal sliding guide mechanism allows the first spindle 32 to move up and down longitudinally relative to the first frame 31.

[0104] In one practical application, at least one pair of first grinding tools 33 is mounted on a grinding tool base. The grinding tool base is longitudinally slidably connected to the first frame 31 via a longitudinal sliding guide mechanism. At least one pair of first grinding tools 33 is transversely slidably connected to the grinding tool base via a transverse sliding guide mechanism. The grinding tool base is controlled by a lifting motor, and the longitudinal sliding guide mechanism slides longitudinally on the first frame 31. Each of the at least one pair of first grinding tools 33 is independently controlled by a forward / backward motor to slide transversely on the grinding tool base. A first grinding wheel 34 is mounted at the working end of the first spindle 32 and has first abrasive particles of a first grit size. Here, the single crystal silicon rod to be processed is a silicon cube with a roughly rectangular cross-section, four side surfaces, and R-angled connecting edges between adjacent side surfaces. Therefore, a pair of first grinding tools 33 in the rounding and rough grinding device 3 are arranged relative to each other, and a first accommodating space for accommodating the single crystal silicon rod is left between the two. When the single crystal silicon rod is transported between the pair of first grinding wheels in the first accommodating space, the first grinding wheel can contact a pair of opposite side surfaces or a pair of connecting edge surfaces in the single crystal silicon rod to perform corresponding processing operations.

[0105] In actual application, the silicon rod transfer device 5 is first used to transfer the single crystal silicon rod to the first processing position of the silicon rod processing platform. The silicon rod positioning mechanism 53 is used to position and adjust the single crystal silicon rod so that a pair of connecting edge faces in the single crystal silicon rod correspond to a pair of first grinding tools 33. The first grinding tools 33 then perform a rounding operation on the connecting edge faces of the single crystal silicon rod. The rounding operation may, for example, include: cooperating with the silicon rod positioning mechanism 53 to position and adjust the single crystal silicon rod, rotating the first grinding wheel 34 in the first grinding tool 33 according to the feed rate and driving the first grinding tool 33 to move up and down to perform grinding, performing multiple rough cuts on the first pair of connecting edge faces and their adjacent areas, and performing multiple rough cuts on the second pair of connecting edge faces and their adjacent areas, so that the connection between each connecting edge face and the adjacent side surface forms a preliminary arc connection.

[0106] The silicon rod positioning mechanism 53 then positions and adjusts the single crystal silicon rod so that a pair of side surfaces of the single crystal silicon rod correspond to the pair of first grinding tools 33, and the first grinding tools 33 perform a rough grinding operation on the side surfaces of the single crystal silicon rod. The rough grinding operation may, for example, include: positioning and adjusting the single crystal silicon rod by the silicon rod positioning mechanism 53 so that a first pair of side surfaces of the single crystal silicon rod correspond to the pair of first grinding tools 33, and performing a rough grinding operation on the first pair of side surfaces of the single crystal silicon rod by the first grinding wheels 34 of the pair of first grinding tools 33; then, positioning and adjusting the single crystal silicon rod by the silicon rod positioning mechanism 53 so that a second pair of side surfaces of the single crystal silicon rod correspond to the pair of first grinding tools 33, and performing a rough grinding operation on the second pair of side surfaces of the single crystal silicon rod by the first grinding wheels 34 of the pair of first grinding tools 33. Among them, the rough grinding operation of any pair of side surfaces may, for example, include: providing a feed rate to drive the first grinding wheels 34 in a pair of first grinding tools 33 to move from top to bottom to grind a pair of side surfaces of the single crystal silicon rod; after the pair of first grinding wheels 34 grind to the bottom of the single crystal silicon rod and pass through the single crystal silicon rod, they stay at the lower limit position, and then increase the feed rate to drive the pair of first grinding wheels 34 to move from bottom to top to grind the single crystal silicon rod; after the pair of first grinding wheels 34 grind to the top of the single crystal silicon rod and pass through the single crystal silicon rod, they stay at the upper limit position, and continue to increase the feed rate to drive the pair of first grinding wheels 34 to move from top to bottom to grind the single crystal silicon rod; in this way, grinding, increasing the feed rate, reverse grinding, increasing the feed rate, after repeating several times, a pair of side surfaces of the single crystal silicon rod can be ground to a preset size.

[0107] The rounding and fine-grinding device 4, serving as the second processing device, is mounted on the machine base 1 and located in the second processing area of ​​the silicon ingot processing platform. It is used to round and fine-grind the single crystal silicon ingots after the rounding and rough-grinding processes by the rounding and rough-grinding device 3. The rounding and fine-grinding device 4 has a second receiving space for receiving the single crystal silicon ingots conveyed by the conveying body 51 of the silicon ingot conversion device 5. The rounding and fine-grinding device 4 primarily comprises a second frame 41 and at least one pair of second grinding tools 43. The at least one pair of second grinding tools 43 are disposed oppositely on the second frame 41 and are used to round and fine-grind the single crystal silicon ingots on the silicon ingot conversion device 5 located in the second processing area.

[0108] Furthermore, each second grinding tool 43 further includes a second spindle 42 and a second grinding wheel 44. The mounting surface between the second spindle 42 and the second frame 41 is provided with a transverse sliding guide mechanism and a longitudinal sliding guide mechanism. The transverse sliding guide mechanism can be, for example, a combination of a slide rail and a slider, and the longitudinal sliding guide mechanism can be, for example, a combination of a slide rail and a slider. The transverse sliding guide mechanism enables the second spindle 42 or the second grinding wheel 44 to move forward and backward transversely relative to the second frame 41, while the longitudinal sliding guide mechanism enables the second spindle 42 to move up and down longitudinally relative to the second frame 41.

[0109] In one practical application, at least one pair of second grinding tools 43 is mounted on a grinding tool base. The grinding tool base is longitudinally slidably connected to the second frame 41 via a longitudinal sliding guide mechanism. At least one pair of second grinding tools 43 is transversely slidably connected to the grinding tool base via a transverse sliding guide mechanism. The grinding tool base is controlled by a lifting motor, and the longitudinal sliding guide mechanism slides longitudinally on the second frame 41. Each of the at least one pair of second grinding tools 43 is independently controlled by a forward and backward motor to slide transversely on the grinding tool base. A second grinding wheel 44 is mounted at the working end of the second spindle 42 and has second abrasive particles of a second grit size. Relatively speaking, the second abrasive particles in the second grinding wheel 44 have a smaller grit size than the first abrasive particles in the first grinding wheel 34 of the cutting and rough grinding device 3. Therefore, a pair of second grinding tools 43 in the rounding and fine grinding device 4 are arranged relative to each other, and a second accommodating space for accommodating the single crystal silicon rod is left between the two. When the single crystal silicon rod is transported between the pair of second grinding wheels 44 in the second accommodating space, the second grinding wheel 44 can contact the single crystal silicon rod to perform corresponding processing operations.

[0110] In actual application, the silicon rod conversion device 5 is first used to transfer the single crystal silicon rod to the second processing position of the silicon rod processing platform, the silicon rod positioning mechanism 53 positions and rotates the single crystal silicon rod, and the second grinding tool 43 rounds the connecting edge surface of the single crystal silicon rod.

[0111] The rounding operation may, for example, include: positioning the single crystal silicon rod by the silicon rod positioning mechanism 53 so that a pair of second grinding wheels 44 in the second grinding tool 43 are directly opposite to the side of the single crystal silicon rod, and the spacing between the pair of second grinding wheels 44 is smaller than the current diagonal spacing of the single crystal silicon rod, and the difference between the two spacings is the feed amount of the at least one pair of second grinding wheels 44; the single crystal silicon rod is driven to rotate by the silicon rod positioning mechanism 53 in the second accommodating space, and the pair of second grinding wheels 44 grinds a pair of connecting edges corresponding to a pair of chamfers of the cross section of the rotating single crystal silicon rod into an arc shape, wherein the single crystal silicon rod rotates at a slower speed when being contacted and ground by the second grinding wheel 44, and the single crystal silicon rod rotates at a faster speed after its connecting edges are ground by the second grinding wheel 44 and pass through the second grinding wheel, and The single crystal silicon rod continues to rotate, causing the other pair of connecting edges corresponding to the other pair of chamfers to contact the second grinding wheel 44 and be ground into an arc shape by the second grinding wheel 44. The pair of second grinding wheels 44 continue to move downward, similar to the previous steps, grinding and rounding each connecting edge of the next section of the single crystal silicon rod until the grinding and rounding reaches the bottom of the single crystal silicon rod, completing the single rounding of the connecting edge of the single crystal silicon rod. The feed rate is increased, and the pair of second grinding wheels 44 are driven from bottom to top, grinding each connecting edge of the single crystal silicon rod. After repeating this process of grinding, increasing the feed rate, reverse grinding, and increasing the feed rate several times, the connecting edge of the single crystal silicon rod is ground to a predetermined size and is completely rounded, that is, the connecting edge and the side surface are smoothly rounded. The silicon rod positioning mechanism 53 then adjusts the position of the single crystal silicon rod so that a pair of side surfaces of the single crystal silicon rod correspond to the pair of second grinding tools 43, and the second grinding tools 43 perform fine grinding on the side surfaces of the single crystal silicon rod.

[0112] The fine grinding operation may, for example, be as follows: the silicon rod positioning mechanism 53 is used to position and adjust the single crystal silicon rod so that the first pair of side surfaces of the single crystal silicon rod corresponds to the pair of second grinding tools 43, and the second grinding wheel 44 in the pair of second grinding tools 43 is used to fine grind the first pair of side surfaces of the single crystal silicon rod; subsequently, the silicon rod positioning mechanism 53 is used to position and adjust the single crystal silicon rod so that the second pair of side surfaces of the single crystal silicon rod corresponds to the pair of second grinding tools 43, and the second grinding wheel 44 in the pair of second grinding tools 43 is used to fine grind the second pair of side surfaces of the single crystal silicon rod. Among them, the fine grinding operation of any pair of side surfaces may, for example, include: providing a feed rate to drive the second grinding wheels 44 in a pair of second grinding tools 43 to move from top to bottom to grind a pair of side surfaces of the single crystal silicon rod; after a pair of second grinding wheels 44 grind to the bottom of the single crystal silicon rod and pass through the single crystal silicon rod, they stay at the lower limit position, and then increase a feed rate to drive a pair of second grinding wheels 44 to move from bottom to top to grind the single crystal silicon rod; after a pair of second grinding wheels 44 grind to the top of the single crystal silicon rod and pass through the single crystal silicon rod, they stay at the upper limit position, and continue to increase a feed rate to drive a pair of second grinding wheels 44 to move from top to bottom to grind the single crystal silicon rod; in this way, grinding, increasing the feed rate, reverse grinding, increasing the feed rate, after repeating several times, a pair of side surfaces of the single crystal silicon rod can be ground to a preset size.

[0113] From the above description, it can be seen that in an optional embodiment, the rounding and fine grinding operation performed by the rounding and fine grinding device 4 as the second processing device on the single crystal silicon rod adopts a grinding process of first grinding the connected edge surface and then grinding the side surface, but it is not limited to this. In other modified embodiments, the rounding and fine grinding operation performed by the rounding and fine grinding device 4 on the single crystal silicon rod may also adopt a grinding process of first grinding the side surface and then grinding the connected edge surface, which should have the same technical effect.

[0114] The following detailed description will be given by taking the silicon rod 100 as a polycrystalline silicon rod as an example.

[0115] When the silicon rod 100 is a polycrystalline silicon rod, the first processing device 3 is a rough grinding device, and the second processing device 4 is a chamfering and fine grinding device.

[0116] The rough grinding device 3, serving as the first processing device, is mounted on the machine base 1 and located in the first processing area of ​​the silicon rod processing platform. It is used to perform rough grinding operations on polycrystalline silicon rods. The rough grinding device 3 has a first receiving space for receiving polycrystalline silicon rods conveyed by the conveying body 51 in the silicon rod conversion device 5. The rough grinding device 3 primarily comprises a first frame 31 and at least one pair of first grinding tools 33. The at least one pair of first grinding tools 33 are disposed opposite each other on the first frame 31 and are used to perform rough grinding operations on the polycrystalline silicon rods on the silicon rod conversion device 5 located in the first processing area. Furthermore, each first grinding tool 33 further comprises a first spindle 32 and a first grinding wheel 34. The mounting surfaces of the first spindle 32 and the first frame 31 are provided with a transverse sliding guide mechanism and a longitudinal sliding guide mechanism. The transverse sliding guide mechanism can be, for example, a combination of a slide rail and a slider, and the longitudinal sliding guide mechanism can be, for example, a combination of a slide rail and a slider. The first spindle 32 or the first grinding wheel 34 can move forward and backward laterally relative to the first frame 31 by using the transverse sliding guide mechanism, and the first spindle 32 can move up and down longitudinally relative to the first frame 31 by using the longitudinal sliding guide mechanism.

[0117] In one practical application, at least one pair of first grinding tools 33 is mounted on a grinding tool base. The grinding tool base is longitudinally slidably connected to the first frame 31 via a longitudinal sliding guide mechanism. At least one pair of first grinding tools 33 is transversely slidably connected to the grinding tool base via a transverse sliding guide mechanism. The grinding tool base is controlled by a lifting motor, and the longitudinal sliding guide mechanism slides longitudinally on the first frame 31. Each of the at least one pair of first grinding tools 33 is independently controlled by a forward and backward motor to slide transversely on the grinding tool base. A first grinding wheel 34 is mounted at the working end of the first spindle 32 and has first abrasive particles of a first grit size. Here, the polysilicon rod to be processed is a silicon cube with a rectangular cross-section, four sides, and four corners. Therefore, the pair of first grinding tools 33 in the rough grinding device 3 are arranged relative to each other, with a first accommodating space for accommodating the polycrystalline silicon rod left between them. When the polycrystalline silicon rod is transported between the pair of first grinding wheels 34 in the first accommodating space, the first grinding wheel 34 can contact the opposite pair of side surfaces or a pair of corners of the polycrystalline silicon rod to perform the corresponding rough grinding operation.

[0118] In actual application, the polycrystalline silicon rod is first transferred to the first processing position of the silicon rod processing platform by the silicon rod conversion device 5, and the polycrystalline silicon rod is positioned and adjusted by the silicon rod positioning mechanism 53 so that a pair of side surfaces of the polycrystalline silicon rod corresponds to a pair of first grinding tools 33, and the first grinding tools 33 perform rough grinding on the side surfaces of the polycrystalline silicon rod.

[0119] The rough grinding operation may be, for example, as follows: the silicon rod positioning mechanism 53 positions and adjusts the polycrystalline silicon rod so that the first pair of side surfaces of the polycrystalline silicon rod corresponds to the pair of first grinding tools 33, and the first grinding wheels 34 in the pair of first grinding tools 33 perform rough grinding on the first pair of side surfaces of the polycrystalline silicon rod; then, the silicon rod positioning mechanism 53 positions and adjusts the polycrystalline silicon rod so that the second pair of side surfaces of the polycrystalline silicon rod corresponds to the pair of first grinding tools 33, and the first grinding wheels 34 in the pair of first grinding tools 33 perform rough grinding on the second pair of side surfaces of the polycrystalline silicon rod, wherein the rough grinding operation of any pair of side surfaces may, for example, include: providing a feed amount, driving the pair of first grinding tools The first grinding wheels 34 in 33 move from top to bottom to grind a pair of side surfaces of the polycrystalline silicon rod; after the pair of first grinding wheels 34 grind to the bottom of the polycrystalline silicon rod and pass through the polycrystalline silicon rod, they stop at the lower limit position, and then the feed amount is increased, and the pair of first grinding wheels 34 are driven to move from bottom to top to grind the polycrystalline silicon rod; after the pair of first grinding wheels 34 grind to the top of the polycrystalline silicon rod and pass through the polycrystalline silicon rod, they stop at the upper limit position, and the feed amount is further increased, and the pair of first grinding wheels 34 are driven to move from top to bottom to grind the polycrystalline silicon rod; in this way, grinding, increasing the feed amount, reverse grinding, and increasing the feed amount are repeated several times, and the pair of side surfaces of the polycrystalline silicon rod can be ground to a preset size.

[0120] The chamfering and fine-grinding device, serving as the second processing device, is installed on the machine base 1 and located in the second processing area of ​​the silicon rod processing platform. It is used to chamfer and fine-grind the polycrystalline silicon rods after they have been rough-ground by the rough-grinding device 3. The chamfering and fine-grinding device 4 has a second receiving space for receiving the polycrystalline silicon rods conveyed by the conveying body 51 of the silicon rod conversion device 5. The chamfering and fine-grinding device 4 mainly includes a second frame 41 and at least one pair of second grinding tools 43. The at least one pair of second grinding tools 43 are arranged in opposing directions on the second frame 41 and are used to chamfer and fine-grind the polycrystalline silicon rods on the silicon rod conversion device 5 located in the second processing area.

[0121] Furthermore, each second grinding tool 43 further includes a second spindle 42 and a second grinding wheel 44. The mounting surface between the second spindle 42 and the second frame 41 is provided with a transverse sliding guide mechanism and a longitudinal sliding guide mechanism. The transverse sliding guide mechanism can be, for example, a combination of a slide rail and a slider, and the longitudinal sliding guide mechanism can be, for example, a combination of a slide rail and a slider. The transverse sliding guide mechanism enables the second spindle 42 or the second grinding wheel 44 to move forward and backward transversely relative to the second frame 41, while the longitudinal sliding guide mechanism enables the second spindle 42 to move up and down longitudinally relative to the second frame 41.

[0122] In one practical application, at least one pair of second grinding tools 43 is mounted on a grinding tool base. The grinding tool base is longitudinally slidably connected to the second frame 41 via a longitudinal sliding guide mechanism. At least one pair of second grinding tools 43 is transversely slidably connected to the grinding tool base via a transverse sliding guide mechanism. The grinding tool base is controlled by a lifting motor, and the longitudinal sliding guide mechanism slides longitudinally on the second frame 41. Each of the at least one pair of second grinding tools 43 is independently controlled by a forward and backward motor to slide transversely on the grinding tool base. A second grinding wheel 44 is mounted on the working end of the second spindle 42 and has second abrasive particles of a second size. Relatively speaking, the second abrasive particles in the second grinding wheel 44 have a smaller particle size than the first abrasive particles in the first grinding wheel 34 of the rough grinding device 3. Therefore, the pair of second grinding tools 43 in the chamfering and fine-grinding device 4 are arranged relative to each other, leaving a second accommodating space for accommodating the polycrystalline silicon rods. When the polycrystalline silicon rods are transported between the pair of second grinding wheels 44 in the second accommodating space, the second grinding wheels 44 can contact the polycrystalline silicon rods to perform the corresponding chamfering processing.

[0123] In actual application, the polycrystalline silicon rod is first transferred to the second processing position of the silicon rod processing platform by the silicon rod conversion device 5, and the polycrystalline silicon rod is positioned and rotated by the silicon rod positioning mechanism 53 so that the corners of the polycrystalline silicon rod correspond to the second grinding wheel 44 in a pair of second grinding tools 43, and the second grinding tools 43 perform chamfering processing on the polycrystalline silicon rod.

[0124] The chamfering operation may, for example, include: first, when chamfering, the silicon rod positioning mechanism 53 is rotated by a certain angle so that the first pair of corners of the polycrystalline silicon rod corresponds to the second grinding wheel 44 in the pair of second grinding tools 43; the pair of second grinding wheels 44 are lowered to the grinding position. At this time, the spacing between the pair of second grinding wheels 44 is smaller than the current diagonal spacing between the first pair of corners in the polycrystalline silicon rod. The difference between the two spacings is the feed amount of the pair of second grinding wheels 44. The pair of second grinding wheels 44 move downward to grind the first pair of corners in the silicon rod 100 to form a chamfer. The second grinding wheel 44 continues to move downward, as in the previous steps, to grind the first pair of corners of the next section of the silicon rod 100 until it reaches the bottom of the silicon rod 100, completing the single corner grinding of the silicon rod 100; the feed rate is continued to be increased, and the second grinding tool 43 is driven to move from bottom to top, and the second grinding wheel 44 grinds the first pair of corners of the silicon rod 100; in this way, grinding, increasing the feed rate, reverse grinding, and increasing the feed rate are repeated several times, and the first pair of corners of the silicon rod 100 can be ground to a preset size to form a first pair of chamfered surfaces. Then, the second pair of corners are chamfered and finely ground: when chamfering, the silicon rod positioning mechanism 53 is first rotated by a certain angle so that the second pair of corners of the polycrystalline silicon rod corresponds to the second grinding wheel 44 in the pair of second grinding tools 43; the pair of second grinding wheels 44 descends to the grinding position. At this time, the distance between the pair of second grinding wheels 44 is smaller than the current diagonal distance between the second pair of corners in the silicon rod 100. The difference between the two distances is the feed amount of the pair of second grinding wheels 44. The pair of second grinding wheels 44 moves downward to grind the second pair of corners in the silicon rod 100 to form Chamfered surface; a pair of second grinding wheels 44 continue to move downward, as in the previous steps, to grind the second pair of edges and corners of the next section of the silicon rod 100 until it is ground to the bottom of the silicon rod 100, completing a single edge grinding of the silicon rod 100; continue to increase the feed rate, drive the second grinding tool 43 to move from bottom to top, and let the second grinding wheel 44 grind the second pair of edges and corners of the silicon rod 100; in this way, grinding, increasing the feed rate, reverse grinding, increasing the feed rate, after repeating several times, the second pair of edges and corners of the silicon rod 100 can be ground to a preset size to form a second pair of chamfered surfaces.

[0125] Subsequently, the silicon rod positioning mechanism 53 is used to position the polycrystalline silicon rod and rotate the polycrystalline silicon rod so that the side surfaces of the polycrystalline silicon rod correspond to the second grinding wheels 44 in the pair of second grinding tools 43, and the second grinding tools 43 perform fine grinding on the polycrystalline silicon rod. The fine grinding operation may, for example, include: positioning and adjusting the polycrystalline silicon rod by the silicon rod positioning mechanism 53 so that the first pair of side surfaces of the polycrystalline silicon rod correspond to the pair of second grinding tools 43, and the second grinding wheels 44 in the pair of second grinding tools 43 perform fine grinding on the first pair of side surfaces of the polycrystalline silicon rod; subsequently, positioning and adjusting the polycrystalline silicon rod by the silicon rod positioning mechanism 53 so that the second pair of side surfaces of the polycrystalline silicon rod correspond to the pair of second grinding tools 43, and the second grinding wheels 44 in the pair of second grinding tools 43 perform fine grinding on the second pair of side surfaces of the polycrystalline silicon rod, wherein the fine grinding operation of any pair of side surfaces may, for example, include: providing a feed amount, driving the pair of second grinding tools The second grinding wheel 44 in 43 moves from top to bottom to grind a pair of side surfaces of the polysilicon rod; after the pair of second grinding wheels 44 grind to the bottom of the polysilicon rod and pass through the polysilicon rod, they stop at the lower limit position, and then the feed amount is increased, and the pair of second grinding wheels 44 are driven to move from bottom to top to grind the polysilicon rod; after the pair of second grinding wheels 44 grind to the top of the polysilicon rod and pass through the polysilicon rod, they stop at the upper limit position, and the feed amount is further increased, and the pair of second grinding wheels 44 are driven to move from top to bottom to grind the polysilicon rod; in this way, grinding, increasing the feed amount, reverse grinding, and increasing the feed amount are repeated several times, and then the pair of side surfaces of the polysilicon rod can be ground to a preset size.

[0126] It should be noted that the above is only an exemplary description and is not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present application. For example, in the description of the processing operation of the chamfering and fine grinding device as the second processing device, the chamfering processing operation of the polysilicon rod is performed first and then the fine grinding processing operation of the polysilicon rod is performed, but this is not limited to it. In other embodiments, it is feasible to first perform the fine grinding processing operation of the polysilicon rod and then perform the chamfering processing operation of the polysilicon rod, which should still fall within the scope of protection of the present application.

[0127] Subsequently, after the silicon rod 100 has been processed by the first processing device 3 and the second processing device 4, the silicon rod conversion device 5 converts the silicon rod from the second processing position to the pre-processing position, and the silicon rod loading and unloading device unloads the processed silicon rod from the pre-processing position of the silicon rod processing platform. Of course, before unloading the silicon rod 100, if necessary, the flatness detector can still be used to detect the flatness of the silicon rod 100 after the processing in the pre-processing position. Using the flatness detector, on the one hand, the flatness of the silicon rod 100 can be detected to check whether the silicon rod meets the product requirements after each processing operation, so as to determine the effect of each processing operation; on the other hand, the wear condition of the processing components in each processing device can also be indirectly obtained by detecting the flatness of the silicon rod 100, so as to facilitate real-time calibration or correction, or even repair or replacement.

[0128] The silicon rod multi-station processing machine of the present application integrates multiple processing devices. The silicon rod loading and unloading device can be used to load and unload silicon rods quickly, smoothly and without damage. The silicon rod conversion device can be used to transfer silicon rods in an orderly and seamless manner between various processing devices and automatically realize multiple steps of silicon rod processing. Multiple processing devices can perform corresponding processing operations on corresponding silicon rods at the same time, thereby improving production efficiency and the quality of product processing operations.

[0129] The following combination Figures 7 to 16The multi-station processing of silicon ingots performed by the multi-station processing machine of the present application in certain embodiments is described in detail. In the following embodiments, the silicon ingots can be either single crystal or polycrystalline silicon ingots. The single crystal silicon ingots to be processed are silicon cubes with a roughly rectangular cross-section, four side faces, and R-angled connecting facets between adjacent side faces. The polycrystalline silicon ingots to be processed are silicon cubes with a rectangular cross-section, four side faces, and four corners. The silicon rod multi-station processing machine used includes a silicon rod processing platform, a silicon rod loading and unloading device, a first processing device, a second processing device, and a silicon rod conversion device, wherein the silicon rod loading and unloading device includes: a silicon rod loading and unloading area, which is provided with a silicon rod supporting platform for supporting the silicon rods in an upright position; a reversing carrier, which is used for reversing movement; a silicon rod clamp, which is provided on the first mounting surface of the reversing carrier; a height detector, which is provided on the reversing carrier, which is used to detect the height of the silicon rod; and a flatness detector, which is provided on the second mounting surface of the reversing carrier, which is used to detect the flatness of the silicon rod. The silicon ingot processing platform is equipped with a pretreatment area, a first processing area, and a second processing area. These areas are arranged sequentially according to the silicon ingot processing steps. Accordingly, the silicon ingot transfer device is also equipped with three silicon ingot positioning mechanisms. The pretreatment area, the first processing area, and the second processing area are arranged at 120° angles to each other. Therefore, the three silicon ingot positioning mechanisms are also arranged at 120° angles to each other. Here, the direction following the order of the pretreatment area, the first processing area, and the second processing area is considered the forward direction, and the direction opposite to the forward direction is considered the reverse direction.

[0130] Step 1, place the first silicon rod to be processed on the workpiece carrier platform of the silicon rod loading and unloading device. In this embodiment, the first silicon rod 101 is placed upright on the silicon rod carrier platform 21, and the operation of placing the first silicon rod 101 on the silicon rod carrier platform 21 in the silicon rod loading and unloading area can be performed manually or by using a corresponding jig, and the jig can be, for example, a silicon rod transfer jig. In addition, when necessary, the angle of the first silicon rod 101 on the silicon rod carrier platform 21 can be adjusted by rotating the silicon rod carrier platform 21, and the angle can be, for example, placed at 45°, that is, the two diagonals of the first silicon rod 101 correspond to the lateral direction (X-axis direction) and the translation direction (Y-axis direction), respectively. The specific state of the silicon rod multi-station processing machine after the above operations are implemented can be found in Figure 7 , Figure 7 The diagram shows a state where a silicon rod is placed upright on a silicon rod supporting platform.

[0131] Step 2, loading the first silicon rod to be processed into the pre-processing area of ​​the silicon rod processing platform. In this embodiment, loading the first silicon rod 101 to be processed into the pre-processing area of ​​the silicon rod processing platform 11 is implemented by the silicon rod clamp 25 in the silicon rod loading and unloading device 2. Specifically, first, ensure that the silicon rod clamp 25 in the silicon rod loading and unloading device 2 corresponds to the silicon rod loading and unloading area. For example, the reversing carrier 23 can be driven to perform a reversing movement so that the silicon rod clamp 25 of the reversing carrier 23 is transferred to the silicon rod loading and unloading area; then, the clamping arm 254 in the silicon rod clamping member 253 is driven to perform a downward movement to switch from a loose state to a clamping state and to clamp the first silicon rod 101. The state of the silicon rod multi-station processing machine after the above operation is performed can be specifically referred to. Figure 8 , Figure 8 The diagram shows a state where a silicon rod is clamped by a silicon rod clamp; then, the first silicon rod 101 is removed from the silicon rod loading and unloading area. In this disengagement operation, in an optional embodiment, the silicon rod clamping member 253 remains in a clamped state, and the silicon rod supporting platform 21 in the silicon rod loading and unloading area is used to move downward, so that the first silicon rod 101 is separated from the silicon rod supporting platform 21; in another optional embodiment, the silicon rod clamping member 253 is driven to move upward (the silicon rod clamping member 253 is a movable design) to drive the first silicon rod 101 to be separated from the silicon rod supporting platform 21; then, the reversing carrier 23 is driven to make a reversing movement (for example, rotate 180 degrees) so that the silicon rod clamp 25 on the reversing carrier 23 is transferred from the silicon rod loading and unloading area to the pre-processing area; then, the first silicon rod 101 is placed on the rotating supporting platform 531 of the first silicon rod positioning mechanism 53 in the pre-processing area, and the rotary pressing device 533 of the first silicon rod positioning mechanism 53 is made to move downward by the lifting drive device to press the first silicon rod 101 to achieve positioning. The state of the silicon rod multi-station processing machine after the above operation is implemented can be specifically referred to. Figure 9 , Figure 9 A schematic diagram showing the state in which silicon rods are placed in the pre-processing area by a reversing carrier.

[0132] It should be noted that, in an optional embodiment, before the silicon rod clamp 25 is used to clamp the first silicon rod, the height of the first silicon rod 101 can be detected by the height detector 7. In this way, the silicon rod clamping members 253 in the silicon rod clamp 25 can be subsequently moved upward or downward according to the detection result of the height detector 7 to adjust the clamping distance between the multiple silicon rod clamping members 253. The specific state of the silicon rod multi-station processing machine after the above operation is implemented can be seen in Figure 10 , Figure 10 It shows a schematic diagram of the state in which a height detector detects the height of silicon rods on a loading and unloading platform.

[0133] Step 3: perform a flatness test on the first silicon rod at the pre-treatment area. Figure 11 and Figure 12 , which is a schematic diagram showing the state of a flatness detector detecting the flatness of a silicon rod surface.

[0134] In this embodiment, the flatness detection of the first silicon rod 101 in the pre-treatment area is carried out by a flatness detector. Specifically, the reversing carrier 23 is driven to perform reversing motion (for example, rotate 180 degrees), so that the flatness detector on the reversing carrier 23 is transferred from the silicon rod loading and unloading area to the pre-treatment area, wherein the silicon rod clamp 25 and the flatness detector are respectively arranged on the first mounting surface and the second mounting surface set back to each other in the reversing carrier 23. At this stage, if necessary, the rotary pressing device 533 of the first silicon rod positioning mechanism 53 is driven to perform rotational motion to adjust the angle of the first silicon rod 101, for example, the first silicon rod 101 is driven to rotate 45 degrees, so that the first silicon rod 101 is respectively aligned with the two diagonals. The two adjacent side surfaces should be adjusted in the lateral direction (X-axis direction) and the translation direction (Y-axis direction) so that they correspond to the lateral direction and the translation direction, respectively. That is, one of the side surfaces is directly opposite the flatness detector on the reversing carrier 23. Next, the flatness detector is used to perform a planar flatness inspection on the four side surfaces of the first silicon ingot 101. The planar flatness inspection of any side surface further includes: the inspection controller controls the detector shift mechanism to drive the contact detector 61 to shift and control the contact detector 61 to sequentially inspect each inspection point on the current side surface to be inspected of the first silicon ingot 101.

[0135] Specifically, on the one hand, the detection of each detection point in any surface to be tested includes: the detection controller controls the detector shift mechanism (including the first direction shift mechanism, the second direction shift mechanism, and the third direction shift mechanism) to drive the contact detector to shift in the moving plane so that the contact detector corresponds to the current detection point to be tested; the detection controller controls the detector shift mechanism (mainly the second direction shift mechanism) to drive the contact detector to move toward the current detection point to be tested until it contacts the silicon rod. At this time, the detection controller will receive a conduction signal (or disconnection signal) sent by the contact detector and suspend the operation of the detector shift mechanism controlled by the detection controller according to the conduction signal (or disconnection signal), and calculate the relative distance of the detection point in the surface to be tested currently contacted by the contact detector relative to the reference point through the reference point information and the movement distance of the detector shift mechanism (mainly the second direction shift mechanism) in the second direction; the detection controller controls the detector shift mechanism to drive the contact detector to move away from the current detection point to be tested to reset, thereby completing the detection of one detection point.

[0136] On the other hand, for the detection of multiple detection points on the surface to be tested, it is necessary to switch positions between the detection points. Therefore, after completing the detection of the previous detection point, the contact detector is reset through the detector shift mechanism and then shifted to the position of the next detection point through the detector shift mechanism. Among them, multiple detection points belonging to the same side to be tested can be arranged in a regular dot matrix. It should also be noted that after completing the flatness detection of one side of the first silicon rod 101, it is necessary to switch to the next side for flatness detection. The switching of the side can be achieved by transferring the first silicon rod 101. For example, in the workpiece loading structure, the rotary pressing device 533 of the first silicon rod positioning mechanism 53 can be driven to rotate to adjust the angle of the first silicon rod 101 (for example, driving the first silicon rod 101 to rotate 90°) and switch to the next adjacent side.

[0137] Additionally, in step 3, in addition to using the flatness detector 7 to perform a plane flatness detection on the first silicon rod 101 at the pretreatment position, the first silicon rod 101 can also be corrected by the cooperation of the flatness detector 7 and the silicon rod clamp 25. In this embodiment, in the correction operation, generally, the center of the first silicon rod 101 is mainly aligned with the center of the rotating carrier 531. The specific operations of the correction operation may include: the flatness detector 7 performs a plane flatness detection on the first silicon rod 101 carried on the rotating carrier 531, thereby obtaining an overall position profile of the first silicon rod 101; the obtained overall position profile of the first silicon rod 101 is compared and analyzed with the position of the rotating carrier 531, thereby obtaining the deviation information between the center of the first silicon rod 101 and the center of the rotating carrier 531; the reversing carrier 23 rotates 180° to perform a reversing motion, and the silicon rod clamp 25 on the reversing carrier 23 corresponds to the rotating carrier 531. The first silicon rod 101 is placed on the supporting platform 531 and the first silicon rod 101 is clamped; the detection controller is used to control the first direction shifting mechanism and / or the second direction shifting mechanism in the detector shifting mechanism to drive the reversing carrier 23 to move in the first direction and / or the second direction, thereby driving the silicon rod clamp 25 and the first silicon rod 101 clamped by the silicon rod clamp 25 to adjust the position relative to the rotating supporting platform 531, and finally the center of the first silicon rod 101 is aligned with the center of the rotating supporting platform 531, thereby completing the correction operation for the first silicon rod 101.

[0138] In addition, for different types of silicon rods, the correction operation has differences in details.

[0139] Taking single crystal silicon rod as an example, please refer to Figure 13 , which is a schematic diagram showing the deviation correction operation of the single crystal silicon rod. Figure 13As shown, the single crystal silicon rod to be processed is a silicon cube with a roughly rectangular cross-section, having four side surfaces, and a connecting facet with an R angle formed between two adjacent side surfaces. Therefore, the correction operation for the single crystal silicon rod can specifically include: using a flatness detector to perform a planar flatness test on the four side surfaces of the single crystal silicon rod carried on the rotating carrier, thereby obtaining the center O1 of the side surface of the single crystal silicon rod formed by the four side surfaces; using a flatness detector to perform a planar flatness test on the four connecting facets of the single crystal silicon rod carried on the rotating carrier, thereby obtaining the center O2 of the connecting facet of the single crystal silicon rod formed by the four connecting facets; calculating the size of the finished single crystal silicon rod after the single crystal silicon rod is processed at multiple stations; and deducing the center O2 of the finished single crystal silicon rod based on the size of the finished single crystal silicon rod, the center O1 of the side surface of the single crystal silicon rod, and the center O2 of the connecting facet of the single crystal silicon rod. 3. Compare and analyze the center O3 of the obtained single crystal silicon rod product with the center O of the rotating support table, and then obtain the deviation information between the two; the reversing carrier performs reversing motion, and the silicon rod clamp on the reversing carrier corresponds to the single crystal silicon rod on the rotating support table and clamps the single crystal silicon rod, and uses the detection controller to control the first direction shift mechanism and / or the second direction shift mechanism in the detector shift mechanism to drive the reversing carrier to move in the first direction and / or the second direction, thereby driving the silicon rod clamp and the single crystal silicon rod clamped by the silicon rod clamp to adjust the position relative to the rotating support table, and finally the center O3 of the single crystal silicon rod product is made to coincide with the center O of the rotating support table, thereby completing the deviation correction operation for the single crystal silicon rod.

[0140] Taking polysilicon rods as an example, please refer to Figure 14 , which is a schematic diagram showing the deviation correction operation of the polysilicon rod. Figure 14 As shown, the polycrystalline silicon rod to be processed is a silicon cube with a rectangular cross-section, having four sides and four corners. Therefore, the polycrystalline silicon rod deflection correction operation can specifically include: using a flatness detector to perform a planar flatness test on the four sides of the polycrystalline silicon rod supported on the rotating support table, thereby obtaining the center O1 of the polycrystalline silicon rod formed by the four sides; comparing and analyzing the obtained center O1 of the polycrystalline silicon rod with the center O of the rotating support table, and then obtaining deviation information between the two; the reversing carrier performs a reversing motion, and the silicon rod clamp on the reversing carrier corresponds to the polycrystalline silicon rod on the rotating support table and clamps the polycrystalline silicon rod; using a detection controller to control the first direction shift mechanism and / or the second direction shift mechanism of the detector shift mechanism to drive the reversing carrier to move in the first direction and / or the second direction, thereby driving the silicon rod clamp and the polycrystalline silicon rod clamped by the silicon rod clamp to adjust the position relative to the rotating support table, and finally aligning the center O1 of the polycrystalline silicon rod with the center O of the rotating support table, thereby completing the deflection correction operation for the polycrystalline silicon rod.

[0141] Step 4: The first silicon rod that has completed the flatness test is transferred from the pre-processing area to the first processing area and the first processing operation is performed on the first silicon rod in the first processing area. At this stage, the second silicon rod to be processed is loaded into the pre-processing area and pre-processed. The specific status of the silicon rod multi-station processing machine after the above operations can be found in Figure 15 , which is a schematic diagram showing the state of performing a first processing operation on the first silicon rod and loading the second silicon rod.

[0142] In this embodiment, the first silicon rod that has completed the flatness inspection is transferred from the pretreatment position to the first processing position by rotating the silicon rod transfer device 5 by a first preset angle. As previously described, the pretreatment position, the first processing position, and the second processing position are spaced 120 degrees apart, and the three silicon rod positioning mechanisms are also spaced 120 degrees apart. Therefore, rotating the silicon rod transfer device 5 by the first preset angle is actually rotating the silicon rod transfer device 5 by 120 degrees in the forward direction. The first silicon rod positioning mechanism 53 originally located in the pretreatment position and the first silicon rod 101 positioned therein are then transferred to the first processing position.

[0143] The first processing operation on the first silicon ingot 101 in the first processing position is performed by the first processing device 3. When the first silicon ingot 101 is a single crystal silicon ingot, the first processing device 3 is a slicing and rough grinding device. The slicing and rough grinding operations performed by the slicing and rough grinding device on the single crystal silicon ingot generally include slicing and rough grinding operations.

[0144] The rounding operation may include: cooperating with the first silicon rod positioning mechanism 53 to adjust the positioning of the first silicon rod 101, rotating the first grinding wheel 34 in the first grinding tool 33 according to the feed amount and driving the first grinding tool 33 to move up and down to perform grinding, performing multiple rough cutting on the first pair of connecting edge faces and the adjacent areas of the first silicon rod 101 and performing multiple rough cutting on the second pair of connecting edge faces and the adjacent areas, so that the connection between each connecting edge face and the adjacent side surface forms a preliminary arc connection.

[0145] The rough grinding operation may include: positioning and adjusting the first silicon rod 101 by the first silicon rod positioning mechanism 53 so that the first pair of side surfaces of the first silicon rod 101 correspond to the pair of first grinding tools 33, and performing rough grinding operation on the first pair of side surfaces of the first silicon rod 101 by the first grinding wheel 34 in the pair of first grinding tools 33; then, positioning and adjusting the first silicon rod 101 by the first silicon rod positioning mechanism 53 so that the second pair of side surfaces of the first silicon rod 101 correspond to the pair of first grinding tools 33, and performing rough grinding operation on the second pair of side surfaces of the first silicon rod 101 by the first grinding wheel 34 in the pair of first grinding tools 33.

[0146] In the case where the first silicon rod 101 is a polycrystalline silicon rod, the first processing device 3 is a rough grinding device. The rough grinding process of the polycrystalline silicon rod by the rough grinding device can generally include: first, the silicon rod transfer device 5 transfers the first silicon rod 101 to the first processing position; the first silicon rod positioning mechanism 53 positions and adjusts the first silicon rod 101 so that the first pair of side surfaces of the first silicon rod 101 correspond to the pair of first grinding tools 33 in the rough grinding device 3; the first grinding tools 33 are fed laterally relative to the first frame 31 according to the feed amount; the first grinding wheel 34 in the first grinding tool 33 is rotated and driven to move up and down to perform rough grinding on the first pair of side surfaces of the first silicon rod 101; and the first silicon rod positioning mechanism 53 positions and adjusts the second pair of side surfaces of the first silicon rod 101 so that the second pair of side surfaces of the first silicon rod 101 correspond to the pair of first grinding tools 33 in the rough grinding device 3; the first grinding wheel 34 in the first grinding tool 33 is rotated and driven to move up and down to perform rough grinding on the second pair of side surfaces of the first silicon rod 101.

[0147] In step 4, the implementation process of loading the second silicon rod to be processed into the pretreatment area and performing pretreatment can refer to the description in the above steps 2 and 3, which will not be repeated here.

[0148] Step 5: The first silicon rod that has completed the first processing operation is transferred from the first processing position to the second processing position, and the second silicon rod that has completed the pretreatment is transferred from the pretreatment position to the first processing position; the first silicon rod in the second processing position is subjected to the second processing operation. At this stage, the second silicon rod in the first processing position is subjected to the first processing operation, and the third silicon rod to be processed is loaded into the pretreatment position and pretreated. The specific status of the silicon rod multi-station processing machine after the above operations is implemented can be seen in Figure 16 , Figure 16 A schematic diagram showing the state of the silicon rod multi-station processing machine of the present application performing processing operations on three silicon rods at the same time.

[0149] In this embodiment, the first silicon rod that has completed the first processing operation is transferred from the first processing position to the second processing position, and the second silicon rod that has completed the pretreatment is transferred from the pretreatment position to the first processing position by rotating the silicon rod conversion device 5 by a second preset angle. As mentioned above, the pretreatment position, the first processing position, and the second processing position are distributed at 120° between each other, and the three silicon rod positioning mechanisms are also distributed at 120° between each other. Therefore, rotating the silicon rod conversion device 5 by the second preset angle is actually rotating the silicon rod conversion device 5 by 120° in the forward direction. The first silicon rod positioning mechanism 53 originally located in the first processing position and the first silicon rod 101 positioned therein are transferred to the second processing position, and the first silicon rod positioning mechanism 53 originally located in the pretreatment position and the first silicon rod 101 positioned therein are transferred to the first processing position.

[0150] The second processing operation on the first silicon rod 101 in the second processing position is performed by the second processing device 4. If the first silicon rod 101 is a single crystal silicon rod, the second processing device 4 is a rounding and fine grinding device. The rounding and fine grinding operation performed on the single crystal silicon rod by the rounding and fine grinding device can generally include: rounding processing and fine grinding processing. The rounding processing operation further includes: using the silicon rod conversion device 5 to transfer the first silicon rod 101 to the second processing position of the silicon rod processing platform; using the first silicon rod positioning mechanism 53 to position and rotate the first silicon rod 101; causing the second grinding tool 43 to feed laterally relative to the second frame 41 according to the feed amount; rotating the second grinding wheel 44 in the second grinding tool 43 and driving the second grinding tool 43 to move up and down to grind and round each connecting edge surface of the first silicon rod 101, so that the connecting edge surface of the first silicon rod 101 is ground to a predetermined size and is completely rounded, that is, the connecting edge surface and the side surface have a smooth transition.

[0151] The fine grinding operation further includes: positioning and adjusting the first silicon rod 101 by the first silicon rod positioning mechanism 53 so that the first pair of side surfaces of the first silicon rod 101 correspond to the pair of second grinding tools 43 in the rounding and fine grinding device 4, feeding the second grinding tool 43 laterally relative to the second frame 41 according to the feed amount, rotating the second grinding wheel 44 in the second grinding tool 43 and driving the second grinding tool 43 to move up and down to fine grind the first pair of side surfaces of the first silicon rod 101; driving the first silicon rod 101 to rotate forward (or reverse) by 90° by the silicon rod positioning mechanism 53 so that the second pair of side surfaces of the first silicon rod 101 correspond to the pair of second grinding tools 43 in the rounding and fine grinding device 4, rotating the second grinding wheel 44 in the second grinding tool 43 and driving the second grinding tool 43 to move up and down to fine grind the second pair of side surfaces of the first silicon rod 101.

[0152] In the case where the first silicon rod 101 is a polycrystalline silicon rod, the second processing device 4 is a chamfering and fine-grinding device. The chamfering and fine-grinding processing operations of the polycrystalline silicon rod by the chamfering and fine-grinding device can generally include: chamfering processing operations and fine-grinding processing operations. The chamfering processing operation further includes: using the silicon rod conversion device to transfer the first silicon rod 101 to the second processing position of the silicon rod processing platform, and the first silicon rod positioning mechanism 53 to position and adjust the first silicon rod 101, for example, driving the first silicon rod 101 to rotate 45°, so that the first pair of edges in the first silicon rod 101 corresponds to a pair of second grinding tools 43 in the chamfering and fine-grinding device, so that the second grinding tool 43 is horizontally fed relative to the second frame 41 according to the feed amount, the second grinding wheel 44 in the second grinding tool 43 is rotated and the second grinding tool 43 is driven up and down to adjust the first The first pair of corners of the silicon rod 101 are ground so that the first pair of corners of the first silicon rod 101 are ground into chamfered surfaces; the silicon rod positioning mechanism 53 drives the first silicon rod 101 to rotate forward (or reverse) 90° so that the second pair of corners of the first silicon rod 101 correspond to the pair of second grinding tools 43 in the chamfering and fine-grinding device 4, and the second grinding wheel 44 in the second grinding tool 43 is rotated and the second grinding tool 43 is driven to move up and down to grind the second pair of corners of the first silicon rod 101, so that the second pair of corners of the first silicon rod 101 are ground into chamfered surfaces.

[0153] The fine grinding operation further includes: positioning and adjusting the single crystal silicon rod by the silicon rod positioning mechanism, for example, the first silicon rod positioning mechanism 53 drives the first silicon rod 101 to rotate 45°, so that the first pair of side surfaces of the first silicon rod 101 correspond to the pair of second grinding tools 43 in the chamfering and fine grinding device, and the second grinding tool 43 is fed laterally relative to the second frame 41 according to the feed amount, and the second grinding wheel 44 in the second grinding tool 43 is rotated and the second grinding tool 43 is driven to move up and down to fine grind the first pair of side surfaces of the first silicon rod 101; the silicon rod positioning mechanism 53 drives the first silicon rod 101 to rotate forward (or reverse) 90°, so that the second pair of side surfaces of the first silicon rod 101 correspond to the pair of second grinding tools 43 in the chamfering and fine grinding device 4, and the second grinding wheel 44 in the second grinding tool 43 is rotated and the second grinding tool 43 is driven to move up and down to fine grind the second pair of side surfaces of the first silicon rod 101.

[0154] In step 5, the process of transferring the second silicon rod 102 after the flatness test from the pretreatment area to the first processing area and performing the first processing operation on the second silicon rod 102 in the first processing area can be described in the above-mentioned step 4. The process of loading the third silicon rod to be processed into the pretreatment area and performing pretreatment can be described in the above-mentioned steps 2 and 3, which will not be repeated here.

[0155] Step 6: Transfer the first silicon rod that has completed the second processing operation from the second processing position to the pre-processing position, transfer the second silicon rod that has completed the first processing operation from the first processing position to the second processing position, and transfer the third silicon rod that has completed the pre-processing from the pre-processing position to the first processing position; unload the first silicon rod on the pre-processing position, load the fourth silicon rod to be processed into the pre-processing position, and pre-process the fourth silicon rod located at the pre-processing position. At this stage, perform the second processing operation on the second silicon rod on the second processing position, and perform the first processing operation on the third silicon rod on the first processing position. The specific status of the silicon rod multi-station processing machine after the above operations can be found in Figure 17 , Figure 17 Schematic diagram showing the status of silicon rods being unloaded after processing.

[0156] In this embodiment, transferring the first silicon rod that has completed the second processing operation from the second processing position to the pretreatment position, transferring the second silicon rod that has completed the first processing operation from the first processing position to the second processing position, and transferring the third silicon rod that has completed the pretreatment operation from the pretreatment position to the first processing position are accomplished by rotating the silicon rod transfer device 5 by a third preset angle. As previously described, the pretreatment position, the first processing position, and the second processing position are spaced 120 degrees apart, and the three silicon rod positioning mechanisms 53 are also spaced 120 degrees apart. Therefore, rotating the silicon rod transfer device 5 by the third preset angle can actually be accomplished by rotating the silicon rod transfer device 5 240 degrees in the reverse direction or 120 degrees in the forward direction. Since the loading and unloading of silicon rods, surface flatness inspection, the first processing operation, and the second processing operation have been described above, they will not be repeated here.

[0157] Through the above steps, we can see that the processing devices at each processing station perform their respective functions, and the various processing devices are transferred in an orderly and seamless manner to automatically realize multiple processes of silicon rod processing, forming an assembly line operation, improving production efficiency and product processing quality.

[0158] The above embodiments are merely illustrative of the principles and effects of this application and are not intended to limit this application. Anyone skilled in the art may modify or alter the above embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of this application. Therefore, all equivalent modifications or alterations made by one of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit and technical concepts disclosed in this application shall be covered by the claims of this application.

Claims

1. A silicon rod loading and unloading device, characterized in that: Applicable to a multi-station silicon rod processing machine, the multi-station silicon rod processing machine is provided with a silicon rod processing platform, the silicon rod processing platform includes a pre-processing area; the silicon rod loading and unloading device includes: The silicon rod loading and unloading area is equipped with a silicon rod supporting platform for vertically placing silicon rods; A reversing carrier is provided on a bottom mounting structure and is used for reversing movement; the reversing carrier is used for reversing movement relative to the bottom mounting structure via a reversing mechanism, the reversing mechanism including a rotating shaft and a reversing motor; the reversing carrier is used for translational movement relative to the bottom mounting structure toward / away from the pretreatment area via a translation mechanism; A silicon rod clamp is provided on the first mounting surface of the reversing carrier; the silicon rod clamp comprises: a clamp mounting member provided on the reversing carrier; at least two silicon rod clamping members are provided along the vertical spacing of the clamp mounting member; The silicon rod clamping member includes: a clamping arm mounting seat, which is arranged on the clamp mounting member; at least two clamping arms, which are movably arranged on the clamping arm mounting seat; and a clamping arm driving mechanism for driving the at least two clamping arms to open and close. The clamp arm driving mechanism includes: an opening and closing gear provided on the clamp arm; a gear driving member having teeth meshing with the opening and closing gear on the clamp arm; and a driving source connected to the gear driving member for driving the gear driving member to move. Among them, by driving the reversing carrier to perform reversing movement, the silicon rod clamp of the reversing carrier is converted between the silicon rod loading and unloading position and the silicon rod functional position to be used for loading the silicon rods to be processed from the silicon rod loading and unloading position to the silicon rod functional position in an upright state or unloading the processed silicon rods from the silicon rod functional position to the silicon rod loading and unloading position.

2. The silicon rod loading and unloading device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The gear driving member is a rack, and opposite sides of the rack are respectively provided with tooth patterns that mesh with the opening and closing gears on the at least two clamping arms; the driving source is a cylinder or a motor for driving the rack to move.

3. The silicon rod loading and unloading device according to claim 1, characterized in that: At least one of the at least two silicon rod clamping members is provided with a guide drive mechanism for driving it to move along the fixture mounting member to adjust the distance between the at least two silicon rod clamping members.

4. The silicon rod loading and unloading device according to claim 1, characterized in that: It also includes a height detector, which is arranged on the reversing carrier and is used to detect the height of the silicon rods.

5. The silicon rod loading and unloading device according to claim 1, characterized in that: It also includes a flatness detector, which is arranged on the second mounting surface of the reversing carrier and is used to detect the plane flatness of the silicon rod.

6. The silicon rod loading and unloading device according to claim 5, characterized in that: The flatness detector comprises: Contact detection structure; a detector shifting mechanism; and A detection controller is connected to the contact detection structure and the detector shift mechanism, and is used to control the detector shift mechanism to drive the contact detection structure to shift and control the contact detection structure to sequentially detect the relative distances of various detection points on the surface to be tested in the silicon rod.

7. A multi-station silicon rod processing machine, characterized in that: It comprises the silicon rod loading and unloading device according to any one of claims 1-6.

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