Crown block running safety monitoring system and crown block

Abstract

The application provides a crane walking safety monitoring system and a crane, which are used for wafer box transportation. The crane walking safety monitoring system comprises a first image acquisition device arranged on the outer wall of a protective cover on one side of the running direction of the crane, a second image acquisition device arranged on the lower end face of the outer wall of the protective cover, and an image recognition system. The first image acquisition device is used for acquiring real-time image information containing the running path of the crane. The second image acquisition device is used for acquiring real-time image information containing the descending path of the grabbing mechanism. The image recognition device is electrically connected with the first image acquisition device and the second image acquisition device, and is used for judging whether there is an obstacle according to the image information collected by the two image acquisition devices, so as to avoid accidental collision of the crane in the horizontal movement process and the grabbing mechanism in the vertical movement process, and ensure the transportation safety of the wafer box.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present specification relates to semiconductor manufacturing equipment, in particular to a crane walking safety monitoring system and a crane. BACKGROUND

[0002] The production process of wafers is carried out in a clean room, and the wafer box loaded with multiple wafers is transported by a crane, and the wafer box is transported to different positions or loading ports. When the crane moves on the crane rail, or when the grabbing mechanism of the crane vertically moves the wafer box, if there are other equipment or personnel on the moving path, for example: another crane stopped in front of the crane, foreign matter placed on the wafer box loading platform (load port), and personnel entering the moving area of the crane, these disturbances may cause accidental collisions, causing wafer damage, economic losses, and affecting production progress.

[0003] In order to avoid this situation, usually the warning sign method is used to remind personnel not to enter the moving area of the crane, or to remind the cleanliness of the wafer box loading platform, which cannot provide active obstacle monitoring and cannot effectively ensure the transportation safety of the wafer box. SUMMARY

[0004] In view of the problems existing in the prior art, the purpose of the present application is to provide a crane walking safety monitoring system and a crane, wherein the crane walking safety monitoring system can identify obstacles on the horizontal moving path of the crane and the vertical moving path of the lifting device, and ensure the transportation safety of the wafer box.

[0005] The embodiments of the present specification provide the following technical solutions:

[0006] A crane walking safety monitoring system applied in wafer box conveying, comprising: a first image acquisition device, a second image acquisition device, and an image recognition device;

[0007] The first image acquisition device is arranged on the outer wall of the protective cover on one side of the traveling direction of the crane, and the second image acquisition device is arranged on the lower end face of the outer wall of the protective cover. The first image acquisition device and the second image acquisition device are electrically connected to the image recognition device;

[0008] The first image acquisition device is used to acquire a first image, and the first image contains real-time image information of the traveling path of the crane;

[0009] The second image acquisition device is used to acquire a second image, and the second image contains real-time image information of the descending path of the grabbing mechanism of the crane;

[0010] The image recognition device is used to:

[0011] determining whether the travel path has a first obstacle according to the first image, and if the first obstacle exists, issuing a parking instruction for stopping the trolley;

[0012] and determining whether the descending path has a second obstacle according to a second image, and if the second obstacle exists, issuing a rising instruction for returning the grabbing mechanism to an initial position.

[0013] In the above scheme, two image acquisition devices are arranged to respectively acquire real-time image information of the travel path of the trolley and real-time image information of the descending path of the grabbing mechanism, the image acquisition devices are electrically connected with an image recognition device, and the image recognition device is used to determine whether the travel path and the descending path have obstacles according to the real-time image information, so as to avoid accidental collision of the trolley during horizontal movement and the grabbing mechanism during vertical movement, and ensure the transportation safety of the wafer box.

[0014] The embodiment of the present specification also provides a scheme, the image recognition device pre-stores a first preset image, and the first preset image contains image information when the travel path of the trolley is unobstructed;

[0015] The image recognition device is also used to:

[0016] compare the first image and the first preset image to determine whether the travel path has a first obstacle.

[0017] The embodiment of the present specification also provides a scheme, the image recognition device also pre-stores a second preset image, and the second preset image is image information of the trolley;

[0018] The image recognition device is also used to:

[0019] perform feature extraction on the first image according to the second preset image to obtain a first feature image;

[0020] crop a minimum bounding rectangle of the trolley from the first feature image;

[0021] compare the width of the minimum bounding rectangle and the width of a preset rectangle, and when the width of the minimum bounding rectangle is greater than or equal to the width of the preset rectangle, output the parking instruction.

[0022] The embodiment of the present specification also provides a scheme, the image recognition device pre-stores a third preset image, and the third preset image contains image information when the descending path of the grabbing mechanism is unobstructed;

[0023] The image recognition device is also used to:

[0024] compare the second image and the third preset image to determine whether the descending path has a second obstacle.

[0025] The embodiment of the present specification also provides a scheme, the third preset image includes a top view image of a wafer box loading table, wherein the wafer box loading table is arranged at a preset position below the running path.

[0026] The embodiment of the present specification also provides a scheme, the first image acquisition device and / or the second image acquisition device includes a high-speed camera.

[0027] The embodiment of the present specification also provides a scheme, the image recognition device includes a frequency control module, and the frequency control module is used to control the shooting frequency of the high-speed camera.

[0028] The embodiment of the present specification also provides a scheme, the crown block running safety monitoring system further includes a first light source, and the first light source is directed to the running path.

[0029] And / or, the crown block running safety monitoring system further includes a second light source, and the second light source is directed to the descending path.

[0030] The embodiment of the present specification also provides a scheme, the crown block running safety monitoring system further includes an alarm device, and the alarm device is electrically connected to the image recognition device, and is used to send an alarm signal when the image recognition device determines that the first obstacle or the second obstacle exists.

[0031] The embodiment of the present specification also provides a crown block for wafer box transportation, which comprises a running mechanism, a grabbing mechanism, a protective cover, and a crown block running safety monitoring system as described in any one of the preceding embodiments.

[0032] Compared with the prior art, the above at least one technical scheme adopted by the embodiment of the present specification can achieve at least the following beneficial effects: by arranging the first image acquisition device on the outer wall of the protective cover on one side of the running direction of the crown block, arranging the second image acquisition device on the lower end surface of the outer wall of the protective cover, the first image acquisition device is used to acquire real-time image information containing the running path of the crown block, the second image acquisition device is used to acquire real-time image information containing the descending path of the grabbing mechanism on the crown block, the image recognition device is electrically connected to the first image acquisition device and the second image acquisition device, and is used to determine whether there is an obstacle in the running path and the descending path according to the real-time image information, so as to avoid accidental collision of the crown block during horizontal movement and the grabbing mechanism during vertical movement, and ensure the transportation safety of the wafer box. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0033] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the drawings needed to be used in the embodiments will be briefly introduced as follows. Obviously, the drawings in the following description only represent some of the embodiments of the present application, and the present application can be implemented or applied through other different specific embodiments, and each detail thereof can be modified or changed based on different views and applications without departing from the spirit of the present application. It should be noted that the following embodiments and features in the embodiments can be combined with each other without conflict. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative labor are within the scope of protection of the present application.

[0034] Figure 1 is a schematic view of a crown block in perspective;

[0035] Figure 2 is a schematic view of a vision recognition area of a crown block in side view;

[0036] Figure 3 is a schematic view of a vision recognition area of a crown block in perspective;

[0037] Figure 4 is a flowchart of a process for preventing accidental collision of a crown block;

[0038] Figure 5 is a flowchart of a process for preventing accidental collision of a grabbing mechanism;

[0039] wherein 1, a crown block, 11, a walking mechanism, 12, an outer wall of a protective cover, 13, a first image acquisition device, 14, a second image acquisition device, 2, an equipment, 21, a wafer box loading platform, 3, a wafer box, 4, a vision recognition area. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0040] The embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

[0041] The embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

[0042] It is to be understood that the embodiments described hereinbelow within the scope of the appended claims. It will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that aspects described herein can be practiced with varying particulate details and that certain structural and / or functional

[0043] It is also to be understood that the drawings shown in the following embodiments are only to schematically illustrate the basic idea of the present application, and only the components related to the present application are shown in the drawings, not drawn according to the number, shape and size of the components when actually implemented, and the shape, number and proportion of each component when actually implemented can be a random change, and the layout of the components can be more complex.

[0044] It is to be understood that "the connection of component A and component B" means that component A is directly connected with component B in contact, or component A is indirectly connected with component B through other components. The orientation words such as "up", "down", "inner", "outer", "side" and the like described in the example embodiments of the present specification are described with the angle shown in the drawings, and should not be understood as a limitation on the example embodiments of the present specification.

[0045] In addition, in the following description, specific details are provided in order to facilitate a thorough understanding of the examples. However, one skilled in the art will understand that the aspects described can be practiced without these specific details.

[0046] The automatic material handling system is a common wafer box transportation system, which is used to transport between each operation equipment or storage cabinet, not only improves the transportation efficiency, but also ensures the cleanliness of the production plant, so the automatic material handling system has become one of the necessary equipment in the semiconductor manufacturing factory.

[0047] In the automatic material handling system, the crane is the core carrier, which runs and moves at a faster speed. The crane is not only responsible for moving the wafer box between each position and the loading port, but also responsible for vertically grabbing and placing the wafer box. If there are other equipment or operating personnel on the moving path of the wafer box, for example: another crane stopped in front of the crane, foreign matter placed on the wafer box loading port, and workers entering the moving area of the crane, the existence of these objects or personnel may cause accidental collision, thereby causing wafer damage, causing economic loss and affecting production progress.

[0048] In order to avoid this situation, usually the way of warning signs is adopted to remind the staff not to enter the moving area of the overhead crane, or to remind to keep the wafer box loading platform clean, but these signs can only play a reminding role, cannot provide active obstacle monitoring, and cannot effectively guarantee the transportation safety of the wafer box.

[0049] The present application provides an overhead crane walking safety monitoring system and an overhead crane, wherein the overhead crane walking safety monitoring system is provided with an image acquisition device in the walking direction of the overhead crane and in the descending direction of the grabbing mechanism of the overhead crane, respectively, for acquiring image information in the two directions, and is provided with an image recognition device, wherein preset images without obstacles in the two directions are preset in the image recognition device, and whether there is an obstacle is judged through an image recognition algorithm, so as to avoid accidental collision and guarantee the transportation safety of the wafer box.

[0050] The technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application are described below with reference to the drawings.

[0051] As shown in the overhead crane 1, the walking mechanism 11 is located above, the grabbing mechanism (not shown in the figure) is arranged at the lower central position of the overhead crane 1, and a protective cover is arranged outside the grabbing mechanism to guarantee the safety of the grabbing mechanism and the wafer box during transportation. Figure 1

[0052] The overhead crane 1 walking safety monitoring system provided by the present application comprises a first image acquisition device 13, a second image acquisition device 14 and an image recognition device.

[0053] The first image acquisition device 13 is arranged on the outer wall 12 of the protective cover on one side of the walking direction of the overhead crane 1, and the second image acquisition device 14 is arranged on the lower end face of the outer wall 12 of the protective cover. Specifically, the first image acquisition device 13 and the second image acquisition device 14 can be installed on the same side of the outer wall 12 of the protective cover (as shown in the figure), or can be installed on the opposite side of the outer wall 12 of the protective cover. Figure 1

[0054] The first image acquisition device 13 is used for acquiring a first image, and the first image contains real-time image information of the walking path of the overhead crane 1; the second image acquisition device 14 is used for acquiring a second image, and the second image contains real-time image information of the descending path of the grabbing mechanism.

[0055] ​​The first image acquisition device 13 and the second image acquisition device 14 are electrically connected to the image recognition device. The image recognition device can be installed inside the overhead crane 1 or in the control system outside the overhead crane 1. When the image recognition device is installed inside the overhead crane 1, the first image acquisition device 13 and the second image acquisition device 14 can be physically connected, for example, using signal lines or data lines. When the image recognition device is installed in the control system, the first image acquisition device 13 and the second image acquisition device 14 can be connected to the image recognition device via wireless data transmission.

[0056] The image recognition device is used for:

[0057] Based on the first image, determine whether there is a first obstacle on the travel path. If there is a first obstacle, issue a stop command to stop the overhead crane 1.

[0058] Furthermore, based on the second image, it is determined whether a second obstacle exists on the descent path. The second obstacle may be, for example, Figure 2 and Figure 3 The obstruction may be debris or wafer cassette 3 on the wafer cassette loading platform 21 shown in the device 2. Alternatively, the second obstacle may be an item or operator in the visual recognition area 4. If a second obstacle exists, an upward command is issued to return the gripping mechanism to its initial position, that is, to the position where the gripping mechanism is stored on the overhead crane 1.

[0059] The overhead crane 1 travel safety monitoring system performs the following steps:

[0060] When the crane 1 moves on the overhead rail, the first image acquisition device 13 acquires the first image, which contains real-time image information of the crane 1's travel path.

[0061] The first image information is sent to the image recognition device, which has a preset image matching processing module. The image matching processing module imports the first image and compares it with a preset standard image of the travel path to determine whether there is an obstacle in the first image. If an obstacle is found, the overhead crane 1 stops proceeding. Figure 4 As shown, it can also simultaneously issue an alarm signal (not shown in the figure). The alarm signal is sent to the control system or audible and visual alarm via wired or wireless means to trigger the control system or audible and visual alarm to issue an alarm.

[0062] And, such as Figure 2 and Figure 3 As shown, when the trolley 1 is positioned on the wafer cassette loading platform 21 to place or grab the wafer cassette 3, the grabbing mechanism descends, and the second image acquisition device 14 acquires a second image, which contains real-time image information of the descent path of the grabbing mechanism.

[0063] The second image information is sent to the image recognition device, and an image matching processing module is preset in the image recognition device. The image matching processing module imports the second image, compares the second image with a preset standard image of the descending path, and determines whether the second image has an obstacle. If there is an obstacle, the grabbing mechanism is controlled to return, i.e., return to the initial position on the crown 1, as shown in Figure 5 The alarm signal can be sent to the control system or the audible and light alarm in a wired or wireless manner to trigger the control system or the audible and light alarm to issue an alarm.

[0064] In some embodiments, the crown 1 is further provided with a reset module electrically connected to the walking safety monitoring system of the crown 1. After the first obstacle or the second obstacle is removed, the reset module is used to start the walking safety monitoring system of the crown 1 to continue to work.

[0065] In some embodiments, the standard image of the traveling path includes a plurality of standard images with position information, the first image is a real-time image with position information, the image matching processing module acquires the position information in the first image, and compares and calculates the first image with the standard image of the traveling path with the same position information to determine whether there is an obstacle in the first image.

[0066] In some embodiments, the standard image of the descending path includes a plurality of standard images with position information, the second image is a real-time image with position information, the image matching processing module acquires the position information in the second image, and compares and calculates the second image with the standard image of the descending path with the same position information to determine whether there is an obstacle in the second image.

[0067] According to the above technical solution, the image recognition device determines whether there is an obstacle according to the image information collected by the two image collection devices, so as to avoid accidental collision of the crown 1 during horizontal movement and the grabbing mechanism during vertical movement, and ensure the transportation safety of the wafer box 3.

[0068] In some embodiments, the image recognition device pre-stores a first preset image containing image information of the traveling path of the crown 1 when the traveling path is unobstructed. The image matching processing module is further configured to acquire the first preset image, and determine whether there is an obstacle in the traveling path of the crown 1 by comparing the first image with the first preset image.

[0069] In some embodiments, the image recognition device pre-stores a second preset image, which is image information of the overhead crane 1. A feature extraction module is pre-set in the image recognition device, which acquires the second preset image, extracts features from the first image according to the second preset image, and obtains a first feature image, i.e., the first feature image is the image of the overhead crane 1 in the first image. The image matching processing module is further configured to crop a minimum circumscribed rectangle of the image of the overhead crane 1, and compare the width of the minimum circumscribed rectangle with the width of a preset rectangle, which is the circumscribed rectangle of the overhead crane 1 when the overhead crane 1 is located at a safe distance. When the width of the minimum circumscribed rectangle is greater than or equal to the width of the preset rectangle, the parking instruction is output, and the movement of the overhead crane 1 is stopped.

[0070] In some embodiments, the image recognition device pre-stores a third preset image, which contains image information when the descending path of the grabbing mechanism is unobstructed. The image matching processing module is further configured to acquire the third preset image, and determine whether there is an obstacle in the descending path of the grabbing mechanism by comparing the second image and the third preset image.

[0071] In some embodiments, the third preset image includes an overhead view of the FOUP loading platform 21, which is arranged at a predetermined station below the overhead rail (as shown in Figure 2 and Figure 3 , i.e., at a preset position below the travel path of the overhead crane 1.

[0072] Through the above technical solution, the image recognition device can identify whether there is an operator or foreign matter in the FOUP loading platform 21 and its surrounding area.

[0073] In some embodiments, a high-speed camera can be used as the first image acquisition device 13 and / or the second image acquisition device 14, or a monocular camera or a binocular camera can be used instead of the high-speed camera.

[0074] By using a high-speed camera or a camera as the image acquisition device, images in the travel direction of the overhead crane 1 and / or the descending direction of the grabbing mechanism can be captured, and three-dimensional information can be obtained, thereby expanding the safety protection range.

[0075] It should be noted that the first image acquisition device 13 and the second image acquisition device 14 can be combined into a third image acquisition device, which is installed on a rotating base. Through the movement of the rotating base, the third image acquisition device can cooperate with the movement state of the overhead crane 1 to obtain images of the travel path of the overhead crane 1 and the descending path of the grabbing mechanism.

[0076] Preferably, the image recognition device comprises a frequency control module, which can be directly electrically connected with the high-speed camera or electrically connected with the high-speed camera through the image recognition device, for controlling the shooting frequency of the high-speed camera.

[0077] In some embodiments, the crown 1 walking safety monitoring system further comprises a first light source, which is directed towards the travel path.

[0078] In some embodiments, the crown 1 walking safety monitoring system further comprises a second light source, which is directed towards the descending path.

[0079] By setting the light source, supplementary lighting can be provided, which is conducive to the image acquisition device to obtain clear images at different spatial positions.

[0080] In some embodiments, the crown 1 walking safety monitoring system further comprises an alarm device, which can be arranged in the crown 1 and connected with the image recognition device in a wired or wireless manner; or the alarm device can be arranged in the crown 1 control system and connected with the image recognition device in a wireless manner. When the image recognition device determines that there is a first obstacle or a second obstacle, an alarm signal is sent, which can be any one of a data signal, a light signal, and a sound signal.

[0081] Based on the same inventive concept, the embodiments of the present application also provide a crown for wafer box transportation, comprising a walking mechanism, a grabbing device, a protective cover, and a crown walking safety monitoring system as described in any one of the above embodiments.

[0082] Each of the embodiments in the present application is described in a progressive manner, and the same or similar parts of each embodiment can be referred to each other. Each embodiment focuses on the differences from other embodiments. In particular, for the method embodiments described later, since the method embodiments are corresponding to the system embodiments, the description is relatively simple, and the relevant parts can be referred to the part of the system embodiments.

[0083] The above is merely a specific implementation of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto. Any changes or replacements within the technical scope disclosed in the present application can be easily thought of by those skilled in the art, which should be covered in the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application should be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A crane travel safety monitoring system, applied in wafer cassette transport, characterized in that, include: A first image acquisition device, a second image acquisition device, and an image recognition device; The first image acquisition device is disposed on the outer wall of the protective cover on one side of the crane's travel direction, and the second image acquisition device is disposed on the lower end face of the outer wall of the protective cover. The first image acquisition device and the second image acquisition device are electrically connected to the image recognition device. The first image acquisition device is used to acquire a first image, which contains real-time image information of the crane's travel path; The second image acquisition device is used to acquire a second image, which contains real-time image information of the descent path of the crane's gripping mechanism; The image recognition device is used for: Based on the first image, it is determined whether there is a first obstacle on the travel path. If there is a first obstacle, a stop command is issued to stop the crane. Furthermore, based on the second image, it is determined whether there is a second obstacle on the descent path. If there is a second obstacle, an ascent command is issued, which is used to return the gripping mechanism to its initial position. The image recognition device has a first preset image stored in it, which contains image information when the crane's travel path is unobstructed. The image recognition device is also used for: By comparing the first image with the first preset image, it is determined whether there is a first obstacle on the travel path. The image recognition device also pre-stores a second preset image, which is the image information of the overhead crane; The image recognition device is also used for: The first image is subjected to feature extraction based on the second preset image to obtain a first feature image; The minimum bounding rectangle of the overhead crane is cropped from the first feature image; Compare the widths of the minimum bounding rectangle and the preset rectangle. When the width of the minimum bounding rectangle is greater than or equal to the width of the preset rectangle, output the parking command.

2. The overhead crane travel safety monitoring system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The image recognition device has a third preset image stored in it, which contains image information when the descent path of the grasping mechanism is unobstructed. The image recognition device is also used for: By comparing the second image and the third preset image, it is determined whether there is a second obstacle on the descent path.

3. The overhead crane travel safety monitoring system according to claim 2, characterized in that, The third preset image includes a top view of a wafer cassette loading stage, wherein the wafer cassette loading stage is located at a preset position below the travel path.

4. The overhead crane travel safety monitoring system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first image acquisition device and / or the second image acquisition device include a high-speed camera.

5. The overhead crane travel safety monitoring system according to claim 4, characterized in that, The image recognition device includes a frequency control module, which is used to control the shooting frequency of the high-speed camera.

6. The overhead crane travel safety monitoring system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The overhead crane travel safety monitoring system also includes a first light source, which is directed toward the travel path; And / or, the overhead crane travel safety monitoring system further includes a second light source, the second light source being oriented toward the descent path.

7. The overhead crane travel safety monitoring system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The overhead crane travel safety monitoring system also includes an alarm device, which is electrically connected to the image recognition device and is used to issue an alarm signal when the image recognition device determines that the first obstacle or the second obstacle exists.

8. A crane for transporting wafer cassettes, characterized in that, include: The traveling mechanism, the gripping mechanism, the protective cover, and the overhead crane traveling safety monitoring system as described in any one of claims 1 to 7.

Images