A voice coil motor and a motion device

Abstract

The present invention discloses a voice coil motor and a motion device having such a voice coil motor. Among them, the voice coil motor includes a motor mover and a motor stator. An axial channel is provided in the motor mover, and a telescopic tube is accommodated in the axial channel. Both ends of the telescopic tube are respectively connected with a joint, and the two joints are respectively fixedly installed on opposite ends of the motor mover and the motor stator. The voice coil motor of the present invention has an internal air supply pipeline, eliminating the air supply pipeline design of related parts, greatly reducing the design complexity and processing difficulty of the parts.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of integrated circuit equipment manufacturing, and more particularly to a voice coil motor with a built-in vacuum pipeline and a motion device having such a voice coil motor. Background Art

[0002] In recent years, with the continuous improvement of the integration degree of large-scale integrated circuit devices, the accuracy requirements of the workpiece stage have been continuously improved, especially the motion accuracy requirements of its vertical module have also been continuously improved, such as in the fields of lithography equipment, film thickness detection equipment, etc. The voice coil motor is often used in the vertical motion module of workpiece stages such as lithography equipment or film thickness detection equipment that require fast and high-precision positioning because of its simple structure, convenient maintenance, high reliability, high energy conversion efficiency, fixed stroke and direct drive characteristics, as well as smooth output characteristics and linear control. Lithography equipment and film thickness detection equipment usually involve vacuum adsorption of silicon wafers or substrates. However, in well-known existing voice coil motor suppliers, such as BEI in the United States and Akribis in Singapore, the voice coil motor products they provide only provide motion functions and do not have vacuum pipelines. This makes it necessary to design vacuum pipelines on relevant parts in the vacuum pipeline design of the vertical module, which will increase the design complexity and processing difficulty of relevant parts.

[0003] For another example, in Chinese Patent CN201710827822.0, the magnet of the voice coil motor of the invention is solid. When making vertical motion and applied to a motion device that requires adsorption function, the pipeline can only be added from the outside.

[0004] In addition, in US Patent US6779278B1, in the vertical module of the invention, the vertical module is driven by a voice coil motor, but the pipeline for providing vacuum to the adsorption device is realized by designing and processing complex air channels on the support of the voice coil motor. This greatly improves the design complexity and processing difficulty of the voice coil motor support. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The object of the present invention is to provide a voice coil motor with a built-in vacuum pipeline and a motion device having such a voice coil motor to solve the above technical problems.

[0006] To achieve the above object, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a voice coil motor, the voice coil motor includes a motor mover and a motor stator, an axial channel is provided in the motor mover, a telescopic tube is accommodated in the axial channel, and two ends of the telescopic tube are respectively connected with a joint, and the two joints are respectively fixedly installed on opposite ends of the motor mover and the motor stator.

[0007] In one embodiment, the motor mover is composed of a motor housing, a magnet, and a back iron. The top end of the magnet is fixed on the inner end face of the motor housing, and the bottom end is fixedly assembled with the back iron. The axial channel is arranged in the magnet and the back iron. The motor stator is composed of a cylindrical coil bracket and a coil wound around the coil bracket. The coil bracket has a central cavity for inserting the assembly of the magnet and the back iron. The two connectors are respectively installed on the inner end face of the motor housing and the bottom end face of the coil bracket.

[0008] In one embodiment, the magnet and the back iron have central through holes that are aligned with each other, and the axial channel is composed of the central through holes.

[0009] In one embodiment, the inner end face of the motor housing and the bottom end face of the coil bracket are respectively provided with threaded holes for installing the two connectors. Sealing grooves are provided in the threaded holes for installing O-rings.

[0010] In one embodiment, the telescopic tube is a helically coiled flexible tube.

[0011] In one embodiment, the telescopic tube is a corrugated tube.

[0012] In one embodiment, the telescopic tube is a telescopic sleeve.

[0013] According to another aspect of the present invention, a motion device is provided. The motion device includes a suction cup and a voice coil motor. The voice coil motor is the voice coil motor as described above. The suction cup is provided with a suction hole that is in fluid communication with the connector on the motor mover.

[0014] In one embodiment, the motion device further includes a rotating base, a vertical base, a rotating motor, a horizontal base, and a horizontal motor. The suction cup is fixed to the rotor of the rotating motor. The stator of the rotating motor is fixedly connected to the rotating base. The suction cup is connected to the rotating base through a rotating bearing. The stator of the voice coil motor is fixedly installed on the vertical base. The mover of the voice coil motor is fixedly connected to the rotating base. The stator of the voice coil motor is fixedly connected to the vertical base. The mover of the horizontal motor is fixedly connected to the vertical base. The vacuum pipeline is communicated with the telescopic tube of the voice coil motor to provide vacuum for the suction cup.

[0015] By adopting the above technical solutions, the present invention has the beneficial effect that by designing a vacuum pipeline inside the voice coil motor, the vacuum pipeline design of the relevant parts of the voice coil motor is cancelled, greatly reducing the design complexity and processing difficulty of the parts. Description of the Drawings

[0016] Figure 1Exploded view of a voice coil motor according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0017] Figure 2 It has Figure 1 Cross-sectional view of the mechanism of the voice coil motor shown;

[0018] Figure 3 It is Figure 1 Axonometric view of the motor housing of the voice coil motor shown;

[0019] Figure 4 It is Figure 1 Axonometric view of the coil bracket of the voice coil motor shown;

[0020] Figure 5 It has Figure 1 Cross-sectional perspective view of the moving device of the voice coil motor shown. Detailed implementation manners

[0021] The preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, so as to more clearly understand the purpose, features and advantages of the present invention. It should be understood that the embodiments shown in the drawings are not limitations on the scope of the present invention, but only to illustrate the essential spirit of the technical solution of the present invention.

[0022] In the following description, certain specific details are set forth for the purpose of explaining various disclosed embodiments to provide a thorough understanding of the various disclosed embodiments. However, those skilled in the relevant art will recognize that the embodiments may be practiced without one or more of these specific details. In other instances, well-known devices, structures, and techniques associated with the present application may not be shown or described in detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure the description of the embodiments.

[0023] Unless the context requires otherwise, throughout the specification and claims, the words "comprising" and its variants, such as "including" and "having", shall be understood in an open, inclusive sense, i.e., shall be interpreted as "including, but not limited to".

[0024] References to "an embodiment" or "one embodiment" throughout the specification mean that the particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. Thus, the appearances of "in an embodiment" or "in one embodiment" throughout the specification need not all refer to the same embodiment. Additionally, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any manner in one or more embodiments.

[0025] As used in this specification and the appended claims, the singular forms "a" and "the" include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. It should be noted that the term "or" is generally used in its inclusive sense of "and / or" unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

[0026] In the following description, in order to clearly show the structure and working mode of the present invention, many directional terms will be used for description. However, words such as "front", "rear", "left", "right", "outer", "inner", "outward", "inward", "up", "down", etc. should be understood as convenient terms and should not be understood as restrictive terms.

[0027] It should be noted that in the claims and the specification of the present application, relational terms such as first and second are only used to distinguish one entity or operation from another entity or operation, and do not necessarily require or imply any such actual relationship or order between these entities or operations

[0028] As Figure 1 and 2 shown, the voice coil motor 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention may include a motor housing 11, a magnet 12, a spiral hose 13, a back iron 14, connectors 15a and 15b, a coil 16, and a coil bracket 17. Among them, both the back iron 14 and the magnet 12 are generally cylindrical in shape and have a central through hole with a relatively large diameter. When the back iron 14 and the magnet 12 are axially connected to each other, their central through holes communicate with each other to form an axial channel for accommodating the spiral hose 13, that is, this axial channel serves as the routing space for the spiral hose 13. However, it should be understood that the axial channel does not necessarily have to be located at the center. The motor housing 11 is in the shape of a cylinder with a top end plate. After the back iron 14 and the magnet 12 are fixedly assembled together (for example, by gluing), the magnet 12 is then fixed into the motor housing 11 (by screw fixation or gluing). Specifically, the end (top end) of the magnet 12 is fixed on the inner end face of the motor housing 11, and the bottom end is fixedly connected to the back iron 14 to form a motor mover. The coil 16 is wound around the cylindrical coil bracket 17 to form a motor stator. The coil bracket 17 has an internal cavity and a bottom end plate, and this cavity is used to accommodate the assembly of the magnet 12 and the back iron 14. The motor stator containing the magnet 12 and the back iron 14 can be installed into the motor housing 11, thereby fixing the magnet 12 to the motor housing 11. After installation, an annular gap is formed between the outer peripheral surface of the assembly of the magnet 12 and the back iron 14 and the inner peripheral surface of the motor housing 11, and this annular gap is used to accommodate the coil bracket 17 wound with the coil 16.

[0029] Both ends of the spiral hose 13 are respectively fixedly connected to the connectors 15a and 15b; and the connectors 15a and 15b are respectively fixedly installed on the coil bracket 17 and the motor housing 11. Specifically, the connectors 15a and 15b are respectively fixedly installed on the end plates of the coil bracket 17 and the motor housing 11, thereby forming a voice coil motor with a gas supply pipeline (usually also called a vacuum pipeline).

[0030] It should be understood that the spiral hose 13 can also be replaced by other telescopic tubes that can change length, such as flexible bellows, telescopic sleeves, etc.

[0031] As Figure 3 shown, on the top end face of the motor housing 11 of this embodiment, a sealing groove 111, a joint screw hole 112, and a mounting screw hole 113 are formed. The sealing groove 111 surrounds the joint screw hole 112 and is used to accommodate an O-ring (as shown by the reference numeral 4c in Figure 2 ), the joint screw hole 112 is used to fix the joint 15b, and the mounting screw hole 113 is used to fixedly connect the motor housing 11 (i.e., the motor mover) and the moving part (for example Figure 2 the motor connecting member 2 in). In the illustrated preferred embodiment, the joint screw hole 112 is located at the center of the top end plate of the motor housing 11, and the 4 mounting screw holes 113 are evenly distributed on the outer periphery of the joint screw hole 112. However, it should be understood that the joint screw hole 112 and the mounting screw hole 113 may also be distributed in other ways.

[0032] As Figure 4 shown, the coil bracket 17 of this embodiment has a bottom end plate, and on its bottom end face, a sealing groove 171, a joint screw hole 172, and a mounting screw hole 173 are formed. The sealing groove 171 surrounds the joint screw hole 172 and is used to accommodate an O-ring (as shown by the reference numeral 4a in Figure 2 ), the joint screw hole 172 is used to fixedly mount the joint 15a, and the mounting screw hole 173 is used to fixedly connect the coil bracket 17 (i.e., the motor stator) and other components (for example Figure 2 the motor base 3 in). In the illustrated preferred embodiment, the joint screw hole 172 is located at the center of the bottom end plate of the coil bracket 17, and the 4 mounting screw holes 173 are evenly distributed on the outer periphery of the joint screw hole 172. However, it should be understood that the joint screw hole 172 and the mounting screw hole 173 may also be distributed in other ways.

[0033] Through the above structure, a vacuum channel sealed relative to the outside world is formed between the two mounting joints 15a and 15b.

[0034] Figure 2 shows a specific structure of the voice coil motor 1 applying this embodiment. The motor housing 11 (i.e., the voice coil mover) of the voice coil motor 1 is fixedly connected to the motor connecting member 2 through the mounting screw hole 113, and the O-ring 4c is installed in the sealing groove 111 to prevent the vacuum passing through the voice coil motor from leaking. The coil bracket 17 (i.e., the voice coil stator) of the voice coil motor 1 is then fixedly connected to the motor base 3 through the mounting screw hole 173, and the O-ring 4a is installed in the sealing groove 171 to prevent the vacuum passing through the voice coil motor from leaking. The adsorption device (for example, a suction cup) 5 is fixedly connected to the motor connecting member 2, and the two are sealed by the O-ring 4b. In this way, the vacuum can be provided to the adsorption device 5 without leakage. This mechanism cancels the design of the air supply pipeline (vacuum pipeline) of the motor connecting member 2, greatly reducing the design complexity and processing difficulty of the motor connecting member 2.

[0035] Figure 5 A motion device applying the voice coil motor 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention mainly includes: a voice coil motor 1, a chuck 501, a rotating base 502, a vertical base 503, a rotating motor 504, a horizontal base 505, a horizontal motor 506, etc. The chuck 501 is fixed on the rotor of the rotating motor 504. The stator of the rotating motor 504 is fixedly connected to the rotating base 502. The chuck 501 is connected to the rotating base 502 through a rotating bearing (not shown) so as to be able to rotate relative to the rotating base 502, thereby providing driving force and guiding support for the rotation of the chuck 501 around the vertical axis. The rotating motor 504 is commercially available, and its specific structure will not be described herein. The voice coil motor 1 (specifically, the motor stator) is fixedly installed on the vertical base 503. The motor mover of the voice coil motor 1 is fixedly connected to the rotating base, thereby providing driving force for the vertical movement of the chuck 501. The motor stator of the voice coil motor 1 is fixedly connected to the vertical base 503. The mover of the horizontal motor 506 is fixedly connected to the vertical base 503, and the stator is fixed on the horizontal base 505, thereby providing horizontal driving force for the chuck 501. The vertical base 503 is designed with a vacuum pipeline, and this vacuum pipeline is communicated with the pipeline of the voice coil motor 1 to provide vacuum for the chuck 501 to adsorb the silicon wafer. By adopting the motion device of this voice coil motor, the air pipeline design of the rotating base 502 is cancelled, greatly reducing the design complexity and processing difficulty of the rotating base 502.

[0036] It should be understood that the above-mentioned motion device is only an application example of the voice coil motor of the present invention, and its specific structure is not limited to the illustrated embodiment. For example, the horizontal motion unit may be absent.

[0037] The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above. However, it should be understood that after reading the above teachings of the present invention, those skilled in the art can make various changes or modifications to the present invention. These equivalent forms also fall within the scope defined by the appended claims of this application.

Claims

1. A voice coil motor, the voice coil motor comprising a motor mover and a motor stator, characterized in that, an axial channel is provided in the motor mover, a telescopic tube is accommodated in the axial channel, two joints are respectively connected to both ends of the telescopic tube, and the two joints are respectively fixedly installed on opposite ends of the motor mover and the motor stator; the telescopic tube is a helically coiled flexible tube or the telescopic tube is a corrugated tube or the telescopic tube is a telescopic sleeve; the motor mover is composed of a motor housing, a magnet and a back iron, the top end of the magnet is fixed on the inner end face of the motor housing, the bottom end of the magnet is fixedly assembled with the back iron, the axial channel is provided in the magnet and the back iron, the motor stator is composed of a cylindrical coil holder and a coil wound on the coil holder, the coil holder has a central cavity for inserting the assembly of the magnet and the back iron, and the two joints are respectively installed on the inner end face of the motor housing and the bottom end face of the coil holder; threaded holes for installing the two joints are respectively provided on the inner end face of the motor housing and the bottom end face of the coil holder, and a sealing groove is provided in the threaded hole for installing an O-ring; a sealing groove, a joint screw hole and a mounting screw hole are formed on the top end face of the motor housing; the sealing groove surrounds the joint screw hole and is used for accommodating the O-ring, the joint screw hole is used for fixing the joint, and the mounting screw hole is used for fixedly connecting the motor housing with a moving part, and the moving part is a motor connecting piece; the motor connecting piece is used for connecting an adsorption device, and the two are sealed by an O-ring.

2. The voice coil motor according to claim 1, characterized in that, the magnet and the back iron have centrally aligned through holes, and the axial channel is composed of the centrally aligned through holes.

3. A motion device, characterized in that, the motion device includes a suction cup and a voice coil motor, the voice coil motor is the voice coil motor according to any one of claims 1 to 2, and the suction cup is provided with a suction hole that is in fluid communication with the joint on the motor mover.

4. The motion device according to claim 3, characterized in that, the motion device further includes a rotary base, a vertical base, a rotary motor, a horizontal base and a horizontal motor, the suction cup is fixed to the rotor of the rotary motor, the stator of the rotary motor is fixedly connected to the rotary base, the suction cup is connected to the rotary base through a rotary bearing, the stator of the voice coil motor is fixedly installed on the vertical base, the mover of the voice coil motor is fixedly connected to the rotary base, and the stator of the voice coil motor is fixedly connected to the vertical base; the vertical base is designed with a vacuum pipeline that communicates with the telescopic tube of the voice coil motor to provide vacuum for the suction cup.

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