A dual-robot collaborative silicon wafer picking and placing device and method

Abstract

The present invention is a dual-robot collaborative silicon wafer pick-up and placement device and method, the structure of which includes two parallel boat translation mechanisms, a boat docking transmission mechanism is provided on one side of the two boat translation mechanisms, one side of the boat docking transmission mechanism is connected to the process host, two hoisting equipment for picking up / placing boat positions are provided in parallel on the boat docking transmission mechanism, a hoisting equipment transverse movement mechanism is provided along one end of the two translation mechanisms and above the boat docking transmission mechanism, two hoisting equipment for placing / picking boat positions are provided on the two boat translation mechanisms respectively, a wafer picking and placing robot is provided on one side of the other end of the two boat translation mechanisms as a whole, and two unprocessed wafer boxes and two processed wafer boxes are provided on the other side of the other end of the two boat translation mechanisms. The advantages of the present invention: the use of the walking boat mode can shorten the robot's wafer picking and placing trajectory and improve the equipment's production capacity and stability; compared with the prior art single-robot graphite boat inserter, the use of dual robots for collaborative wafer picking and placing can improve the equipment's production capacity; compared with the prior art two-in-one graphite boat inserter, the structure is simple and the equipment cost can be reduced.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to a double-robot collaborative silicon wafer picking and placing device and method, belonging to the field of photovoltaic technology. Background Art

[0002] In the existing photovoltaic production industry, a single robot is usually used to pick and place silicon wafers on a graphite boat. The robot sequentially takes out the processed silicon wafers from the graphite boat and puts them into the processed transfer box; then it takes out the unprocessed silicon wafers from the unprocessed transfer box and puts them into the graphite boat. In this operation, the length of the robot's own motion trajectory limits the time of a wafer picking and placing cycle, which becomes a production capacity bottleneck.

[0003] There is also a dual-robot solution in the prior art: two single-robot devices are installed back to back. This solution can greatly improve the equipment's production capacity, but the investment cost is too high, which will affect the competitiveness of the equipment to a certain extent. Summary of the invention

[0004] The present invention proposes a dual-robot collaborative silicon wafer picking and placing device and method, which aims to overcome the above-mentioned shortcomings of the prior art. Compared with the single-robot equipment in the prior art, the production capacity can be greatly improved. Compared with the dual-robot equipment in the prior art, the equipment cost can be greatly reduced while maintaining a small difference in production capacity.

[0005] The technical solution of the present invention is a dual-robot collaborative silicon wafer picking and placing device, whose structure includes a first boat translation mechanism and a second boat translation mechanism arranged in parallel, a boat docking transmission mechanism is arranged on one side of one end of the first boat translation mechanism and the second boat translation mechanism as a whole, a process host is connected to the process host at the boat entry position on one side of the boat docking transmission mechanism, a first hoist boat picking / placing position and a second hoist boat picking / placing position are arranged in parallel on the boat docking transmission mechanism, a hoist transverse movement mechanism is arranged above one end of the first boat translation mechanism and the second boat translation mechanism as a whole and above the boat docking transmission mechanism, a first hoist boat placing / picking position and a second hoist boat placing / picking position are respectively arranged on the first boat translation mechanism and the second boat translation mechanism corresponding to the transverse movement mechanism of the hoist, a wafer picking robot and a wafer placing robot are adjacently arranged on one side of the other end of the first boat translation mechanism and the second boat translation mechanism as a whole, and a first unprocessed wafer box and a second unprocessed wafer box as well as a first processed wafer box and a second processed wafer box are adjacently arranged on the other side of the other end of the first boat translation mechanism and the second boat translation mechanism as a whole.

[0006] Preferably, the boat docking transmission mechanism includes a docking conveying transmission device and a docking transverse shifting device installed on the docking conveying transmission device, and the docking conveying transmission device is docked with the process host;

[0007] The sling transverse movement mechanism comprises a transverse movement mechanism and a lifting mechanism installed on the transverse movement mechanism;

[0008] The first boat translation mechanism and the second boat translation mechanism both include a translation transmission device and a graphite boat clamping and fixing device running along the translation device;

[0009] The film taking robot and the film placing robot are respectively equipped with a film taking / placing device installed on the robot, and the film taking / placing device includes a vacuum generator and a suction cup assembly connected to the vacuum generator;

[0010] The first processed wafer box and the second processed wafer box both include a first lifting device and a first wafer box device installed on the first lifting device;

[0011] The first unprocessed splicing box and the second unprocessed splicing box both include a second lifting device and a second splicing box device installed on the lifting device.

[0012] The method for picking and placing silicon wafers by the dual-robot collaborative picking and placing silicon wafer device comprises the following steps:

[0013] 1) The processed graphite boat flows out from the process main machine and completely enters the boat docking transmission mechanism, and the boat docking transmission mechanism drives the graphite boat to move horizontally to the first hanger to take / put the boat position and the second hanger to take / put the boat position 13;

[0014] 2) The spreader transverse movement mechanism clamps the graphite boat at the first spreader boat pick-up / drop-down position and the second spreader boat pick-up / drop-down position, and transversely moves to the first spreader boat drop-down / drop-down position and the second spreader boat drop-down / drop-down position of the first boat translation mechanism and the second boat translation mechanism, and puts down the graphite boat;

[0015] 3) The first boat translation mechanism and the second boat translation mechanism drive the graphite boat to translate to the robot working position, and the wafer taking robot works. The wafer taking robot first takes the silicon wafers in the slots 1 and 2 of the graphite boat No. 1, and puts them into the first processed wafer box and the second processed wafer box respectively;

[0016] 4) The first boat translation mechanism moves 2 slots, and the wafer placing robot works to take out silicon wafers from the first unprocessed wafer box and the second unprocessed wafer box and put them into slots 1 and 2 of the No. 1 graphite boat. At the same time, the wafer taking robot takes silicon wafers from slots 3 and 4 of the No. 1 graphite boat and puts them into the first processed wafer box and the second processed wafer box, and this action is repeated;

[0017] 5) After all the silicon wafers in the graphite boat No. 1 are taken out, the wafer taking robot directly takes the silicon wafers in slots 1 and 2 of the boat No. 2 without waiting. After the wafer placing robot fills the boat No. 1, it directly places the wafers in slots 1 and 2 of the boat No. 2. The boat No. 2 is driven to move by the second boat translation mechanism;

[0018] 6) The graphite boat after placing the sheets is translated to the first lifting device placing / retrieving boat position or the second lifting device placing / retrieving boat position through the first boat translation mechanism or the second boat translation mechanism;

[0019] 7) After the spreader transverse movement mechanism takes the boat, it moves transversely to the first spreader boat taking / releasing position or the second spreader boat taking / releasing position and descends to release the boat;

[0020] 8) The boat connection transmission mechanism moves horizontally to the boat entry position of the process host to complete the transportation of the boat into the process host.

[0021] The advantages of the present invention are as follows: 1) The boat-walking mode can shorten the robot's trajectory of picking up and placing wafers, effectively improving the equipment's production capacity and stability;

[0022] 2) Compared with the existing single-robot graphite boat inserter, the use of dual robots to collaboratively pick and place the sheets can effectively improve the equipment's production capacity;

[0023] 3) Compared with the two-in-one graphite boat inserting machine in the prior art, the structure is simple and the equipment cost can be effectively reduced. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024] Figure 1 It is a schematic structural diagram of a dual-robot collaborative silicon wafer picking and placing device according to the present invention.

[0025] Figure 2 It is a flow chart of the dual-robot collaborative silicon wafer picking and placing method of the present invention.

[0026] Figure 3 This is a table of the relationship between the dual-robot cooperative wafer picking and placing device of the present invention. (In the figure, "pick" represents the wafer picking robot, and "place" represents the wafer placing robot)

[0027] In the figure, 1 is the boat docking transmission mechanism, 2 is the sling transverse movement mechanism, 3 is the first boat translation mechanism, 4 is the second boat translation mechanism, 5 is the film taking robot, 6 is the film placing robot, 7 is the process host boat entry position, 8 is the first unprocessed film box, 9 is the second unprocessed film box, 10 is the first processed film box, 11 is the second processed film box, 12 is the first sling taking / placing boat position, 13 is the second sling taking / placing boat position, 14 is the first sling placing / taking boat position, 15 is the second sling placing / taking boat position DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0028] The present invention is further described in detail below with reference to examples and specific implementation modes.

[0029] like Figure 1As shown, a dual-robot collaborative silicon wafer pick-up and placement device comprises a first boat translation mechanism 3 and a second boat translation mechanism 4 arranged in parallel, a boat docking transmission mechanism 1 is arranged on one side of one end of the first boat translation mechanism 3 and the second boat translation mechanism 4 as a whole, one side of the boat docking transmission mechanism 1 (at the process host boat entry position 7) is connected to the process host, a first hoisting device boat pick-up / placement position 12 and a second hoisting device boat pick-up / placement position 13 are arranged in parallel on the boat docking transmission mechanism 1, and a first boat translation mechanism 3 and a second boat translation mechanism 4 are arranged above one end of the first boat translation mechanism 3 and the second boat translation mechanism 4 as a whole and above the boat docking transmission mechanism 1. There is a spreader transverse movement mechanism 2, and the first boat translation mechanism 3 and the second boat translation mechanism 4 corresponding to the spreader transverse movement mechanism 2 are respectively provided with a first spreader boat placing / retrieving position 14 and a second spreader boat placing / retrieving position 15, a film retrieving robot 5 and a film placing robot 6 are adjacent to each other on one side of the other end of the first boat translation mechanism 3 and the second boat translation mechanism 4 as a whole, and a first unprocessed film box 8 and a second unprocessed film box 9 and a first processed film box 10 and a second processed film box 11 are adjacent to each other on the other side of the other end of the first boat translation mechanism 3 and the second boat translation mechanism 4 as a whole.

[0030] The boat docking transmission mechanism 1 is a prior art, and its main function is to dock with the process host, responsible for the graphite boat entering and exiting the process host, and has the functions of translational conveying and lateral movement, including a docking and conveying transmission device and a docking and lateral movement device installed on the docking and conveying transmission device. The docking and conveying transmission device is used to dock with the process host, responsible for the graphite boat entering and exiting the process host; the docking and lateral movement device is responsible for the lateral movement of the graphite boat, so that the graphite boat is closer to the hanger lateral movement mechanism 2, shortening the movement stroke of the hanger lateral movement mechanism 2, improving the stability of the hanger lateral movement mechanism 2, and shortening the boat switching time. The processed graphite boat flows out of the process host and enters the boat docking transmission mechanism; it is translated and transported by the boat docking transmission mechanism 1 and completely leaves the process host; after arriving in place, the boat docking transmission mechanism 1 drives the lateral movement to the hanger boat taking position (the first hanger boat taking / putting position 12 and the second hanger boat taking / putting position 13). On the contrary, the unprocessed graphite boat is moved horizontally from the sling boat placing position (the first sling boat taking / placing position 12 and the second sling boat taking / placing position 13) by the boat docking transmission mechanism 1 to the process host boat entry position (the process host boat entry position 7), and then translated into the process host by the boat docking transmission mechanism 1.

[0031] The described sling transverse movement mechanism 2 is a prior art, and its main function is to realize the mutual switching of the boat in the boat docking transmission mechanism 1 and the graphite boat translation mechanism (the first boat translation mechanism 3 and the second boat translation mechanism 4), and has the functions of lifting and lowering and transverse movement, including a transverse movement mechanism and a lifting mechanism installed on the transverse movement mechanism. The lifting mechanism is used for the graphite boat to better detach from the boat support and avoid possible obstacles during the transverse movement; the transverse movement mechanism realizes the switching of the docking boat pick-up and drop-down position (the first sling pick-up / drop-down position 12 and the second sling pick-up / drop-down position 13) and the pick-up and drop-down position (the first sling pick-up / drop-down position 12 and the second sling pick-up / drop-down position 13) in the graphite boat transverse movement transmission mechanism. In the boat docking transmission mechanism 1, the sling boat taking position (the first sling boat taking / putting position 12 and the second sling boat taking / putting position 13) is lowered to a safe position, and after clamping and fully stabilizing the graphite boat, it rises to a safe position and moves horizontally to the boat translation device (the first boat translation mechanism 3 and the second boat translation mechanism 4) sling boat putting position (the first sling boat putting / taking position 14 and the second sling boat putting / taking position 15); it falls to a safe position, releases the clamping claws, and rises. Or in the boat translation device, the sling boat taking position (the first sling boat putting / taking position 14 and the second sling boat putting / taking position 15) is lowered, clamped, and fully stabilizing the graphite boat, and then rises to a safe position; it moves horizontally to the boat docking transmission mechanism 1 sling boat putting position (the first sling boat taking / putting position 12 and the second sling boat taking / putting position 13), the sling horizontal movement mechanism 2 falls to a safe position, releases the clamping claws, and rises.

[0032] The first boat translation mechanism 3 and the second boat translation mechanism 4 are prior art, and their main function is to translate the graphite boat through the entire group, ensuring that each slot of the graphite boat reaches the working position of the robot for picking up and placing the sheet (the sheet picking robot 5 and the sheet placing robot 6), including a translation transmission device and a graphite boat clamping and fixing device running along the translation device, the graphite boat clamping and fixing device accurately fixes the position of the graphite boat to prepare for the robot to pick up and place the sheet; the translation transmission device accurately sends each slot of the graphite boat to the working position of the robot to pick up and place the sheet. After the sling transverse movement mechanism 2 places the boat steadily and accurately on the boat placing position of the boat translation device (the first sling placing / taking boat position 14 and the second sling placing / taking boat position 15), the clamping and fixing device clamps, accurately positions and fixes the graphite boat, and gradually translates it to the corresponding working positions of the sheet picking robot 5 and the sheet placing robot 6 in batches. Or after the last slot of the graphite boat is filled with sheets, the first boat translation mechanism 3 and the second boat translation mechanism 4 translate the graphite boat to the boat translation device hoist boat picking position (the first hoist boat placement / pickup position 14 and the second hoist boat placement / pickup position 15), release the clamping device and wait for the hoist transverse movement mechanism 2 to pick up the boat.

[0033] The wafer taking robot 5 and wafer placing robot 6 are both prior art, and are respectively equipped with a wafer taking / placing device mounted on the robot, and the wafer taking / placing device is prior art, including a vacuum generator and a suction cup assembly connected to the vacuum generator. A group of vacuum generators can control multiple groups of suction cup assemblies (the number can be changed according to the number of graphite boat pages) or a group of vacuum generators can control a group of suction cup assemblies. The suction cup assembly preferably includes a suction cup body and three suction nozzles, and adopts a three-point fixing method to ensure that the silicon wafer can be stably sucked without falling off.

[0034] The first unprocessed wafer box 8 and the second unprocessed wafer box 9 are both prior art, used to store unprocessed solar cells, and both include a second lifting device and a second wafer box device mounted on the lifting device. The unprocessed silicon wafers are stored by lifting and cooperating with other belt devices. When the storage is full, the wafer placing robot 6 is waiting to take the wafers.

[0035] The first processed wafer box 10 and the second processed wafer box 11 are both prior art, used to store processed solar cells, and both include a first lifting device and a first wafer box device mounted on the first lifting device. The wafer removal robot 5 puts the processed silicon wafer into the wafer transmission device of the processed wafer box, and then unloads the wafer through the lifting device in cooperation with other belt devices.

[0036] like Figure 2 As shown, the dual-robot collaborative method for picking and placing silicon wafers includes the following steps:

[0037] 1) The processed graphite boat flows out from the process main machine and completely enters the boat docking transmission mechanism 1 (driven by the docking and conveying transmission device), and the boat docking transmission mechanism 1 drives the graphite boat to move horizontally (through the docking and transverse movement device) to the first hanger to take / put the boat position 12 and the second hanger to take / put the boat position 13;

[0038] 2) The spreader transverse movement mechanism 2 clamps the graphite boat at the first spreader boat pick-up / drop-down position 12 and the second spreader boat pick-up / drop-down position 13, and transversely moves to the first spreader boat drop-down / drop-down position 14 and the second spreader boat drop-down / drop-down position 15 of the first boat translation mechanism 3 and the second boat translation mechanism 4 and puts down the graphite boat;

[0039] 3) The first boat translation mechanism 3 and the second boat translation mechanism 4 drive the graphite boat to translate to the robot working position, and the wafer taking robot 5 starts working. The wafer taking robot 5 first takes the silicon wafers in the slots 1 and 2 of the graphite boat No. 1 and puts them into the first processed wafer box 10 and the second processed wafer box 11 respectively;

[0040] 4) The first boat translation mechanism 3 moves 2 slots, and the wafer placing robot 6 starts to work, taking out silicon wafers from the first unprocessed wafer box 8 and the second unprocessed wafer box 9 and placing them into slots 1 and 2 of the No. 1 graphite boat. At the same time, the wafer taking robot 5 takes silicon wafers from slots 3 and 4 of the No. 1 graphite boat and places them into the first processed wafer box 10 and the second processed wafer box 11, and this action is repeated (see the relationship between the two robots for wafer taking and placing). Figure 3 );

[0041] 5) After all the silicon wafers in the graphite boat No. 1 are taken out, the wafer taking robot 5 directly takes the silicon wafers in the slots 1 and 2 of the boat No. 2 without waiting. After the boat No. 1 is full, the wafer placing robot 6 directly places the wafers in the slots 1 and 2 of the boat No. 2, and the boat No. 2 is driven to move by the second boat translation mechanism 4;

[0042] 6) The graphite boat after placing the sheets is translated to the first hanger placing / retrieving boat position 14 or the second hanger placing / retrieving boat position 15 through the first boat translation mechanism 3 or the second boat translation mechanism 4;

[0043] 7) After the spreader transverse movement mechanism 2 takes the boat, it moves transversely to the first spreader taking / releasing boat position 12 or the second spreader taking / releasing boat position 13 and descends to release the boat;

[0044] 8) The boat connection transmission mechanism 1 moves horizontally to the process host boat entry position 7 (the transport belt rotates), completing the transport of the boat into the process host.

[0045] All the components mentioned above are prior art, and those skilled in the art can use any model and existing design that can achieve their corresponding functions.

[0046] The above is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention. It should be pointed out that a person skilled in the art can make several modifications and improvements without departing from the inventive concept of the present invention, which all belong to the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A dual-robot collaborative silicon wafer pick-up and placement device, characterized in that it comprises a first boat translation mechanism (3) and a second boat translation mechanism (4) arranged in parallel, a boat docking transmission mechanism (1) is arranged on one side of one end of the first boat translation mechanism (3) and the second boat translation mechanism (4), a process host is connected to the process host at a boat entry position (7) on one side of the boat docking transmission mechanism (1), a first hoisting device boat pick-up / placement position (12) and a second hoisting device boat pick-up / placement position (13) are arranged in parallel on the boat docking transmission mechanism (1), and a hoisting device cross section is arranged above one end of the first boat translation mechanism (3) and the second boat translation mechanism (4) and above the boat docking transmission mechanism (1). A lifting device transverse movement mechanism (2) is provided with a first boat translation mechanism (3) and a second boat translation mechanism (4) corresponding to the lifting device transverse movement mechanism (2), respectively, a first lifting device boat placement / removal position (14) and a second lifting device boat placement / removal position (15), a film removal robot (5) and a film placement robot (6) are adjacently arranged on one side of the other end of the first boat translation mechanism (3) and the second boat translation mechanism (4), and a first unprocessed film box (8) and a second unprocessed film box (9) as well as a first processed film box (10) and a second processed film box (11) are adjacently arranged on the other side of the other end of the first boat translation mechanism (3) and the second boat translation mechanism (4).

2. The dual-robot collaborative silicon wafer pick-and-place device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that The boat docking transmission mechanism (1) comprises a docking conveying transmission device and a docking transverse movement device installed on the docking conveying transmission device, and the docking conveying transmission device is docked with the process host; The sling transverse movement mechanism (2) comprises a transverse movement mechanism and a lifting mechanism installed on the transverse movement mechanism; The first boat translation mechanism (3) and the second boat translation mechanism (4) both comprise a translation transmission device and a graphite boat clamping and fixing device running along the translation device; The film taking robot (5) and the film placing robot (6) are respectively equipped with a film taking / placing device installed on the robot, and the film taking / placing device includes a vacuum generator and a suction cup assembly connected to the vacuum generator; The first processed wafer splicing box (10) and the second processed wafer splicing box (11) both comprise a first lifting device and a first wafer splicing box device installed on the first lifting device; The first unprocessed splicing box (8) and the second unprocessed splicing box (9) both comprise a second lifting device and a second splicing box device mounted on the lifting device.

3. The method for placing and picking silicon wafers by using a dual-robot collaborative silicon wafer placing device as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The following steps are involved: 1) The processed graphite boat flows out of the process main machine and completely enters the boat docking transmission mechanism (1), and the boat docking transmission mechanism (1) drives the graphite boat to move horizontally to the first lifting device to take / put the boat position (12) and the second lifting device to take / put the boat position (13); 2) the sling transverse movement mechanism (2) clamps the graphite boat at the first sling boat pick-up / drop-down position (12) and the second sling boat pick-up / drop-down position (13), moves transversely to the first sling boat drop-down position (14) and the second sling boat drop-down position (15) of the first boat translation mechanism (3) and the second boat translation mechanism (4), and puts down the graphite boat; 3) The first boat translation mechanism (3) and the second boat translation mechanism (4) drive the graphite boat to translate toward the robot working position, and the wafer taking robot (5) starts working. The wafer taking robot (5) first takes the silicon wafers in the slots 1 and 2 of the graphite boat No. 1 and puts them into the first processed wafer box (10) and the second processed wafer box (11) respectively; 4) The first boat translation mechanism (3) moves a distance of 2 slots, and the wafer placing robot (6) starts to work, taking out silicon wafers from the first unprocessed wafer box (8) and the second unprocessed wafer box (9) and placing them into slots 1 and 2 of the No. 1 graphite boat, and at the same time, the wafer taking robot (5) takes out silicon wafers from slots 3 and 4 of the No. 1 graphite boat and places them into the first processed wafer box (10) and the second processed wafer box (11), and this action is repeated; 5) After all the silicon wafers in the graphite boat No. 1 have been taken out, the wafer taking robot (5) directly takes the silicon wafers in the slots 1 and 2 of the boat No. 2 without waiting. After the boat No. 1 is full, the wafer placing robot (6) directly places the wafers in the slots 1 and 2 of the boat No.

2. The boat No. 2 is moved by the second boat translation mechanism (4); 6) The graphite boat after the sheet placement is translated to the first lifting device placing / retrieving boat position (14) or the second lifting device placing / retrieving boat position (15) through the first boat translation mechanism (3) or the second boat translation mechanism (4); 7) After the sling transverse movement mechanism (2) takes the boat, it moves transversely to the first sling taking / releasing boat position (12) or the second sling taking / releasing boat position (13) and descends to release the boat; 8) The boat connection transmission mechanism (1) moves horizontally to the process host boat loading position (7) to complete the transportation of the boat into the process host.

Images