Conveyors and conveyor systems

Abstract

A conveyor is disclosed, comprising: a base portion; an upper and lower track portion extending upward from the base portion; a body movable up and down along the upper and lower track portions; and an arm having: a connecting portion connected to the body, a protrusion connected to the connecting portion and protruding forward of the body, and an adsorption portion formed at the front end of the protrusion portion for adsorbing an object, wherein the arm is rotatable relative to the body.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to a conveyor and a conveying system. Background Technology

[0002] When performing back-side thinning on a predetermined object (e.g., a sapphire wafer), multiple wafers are arranged on a block for productivity, thereby processing multiple wafers simultaneously, and the block on which the wafers are mounted is also enlarged.

[0003] When seven 4-inch wafers are installed, the block size is 360 pixels, and because it is made of ceramic, it weighs over 10 kilograms. To move the block in an automated process, a transfer robot is required. When using a standard multi-joint robot as the transfer robot, a large and very expensive robot must be used.

[0004] The background technology of this invention has been disclosed in Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2018-0096121. Summary of the Invention

[0005] This invention is proposed to solve the problems of the prior art, and its purpose is to provide a smaller conveyor and conveying system that can transport objects compared with the prior art.

[0006] However, the technical problems to be solved by the embodiments of the present invention are not limited to those described above, and other technical problems may also exist.

[0007] As a technical means to achieve the aforementioned technical problem, a conveyor according to a first aspect of the present invention includes: a base portion; an upper and lower track portion extending upward from the base portion; a body that can move up and down along the upper and lower track portions; and an arm comprising: a connecting portion connected to the body, a protrusion connected to the connecting portion and protruding forward of the body, and an adsorption portion formed at the front end of the protrusion portion for adsorbing an object, wherein the arm is rotatable relative to the body.

[0008] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the conveyor further includes a vacuum forming structure, wherein the adsorption section may have one or more downwardly opening adsorption ports and a gas movement channel for connecting the one or more adsorption ports with the vacuum forming structure.

[0009] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the conveyor further includes an adsorption guiding member disposed on the lower surface of the adsorption section, wherein the adsorption guiding member has a communication port formed through it in the vertical direction, communicating with the adsorption port.

[0010] In a conveyor according to an embodiment of the present invention, the adsorption part adsorbs the central region of the object, and the length of the protrusion may be longer than the length from the edge portion of the object facing the machine body to the outermost portion of the central region.

[0011] In a conveyor according to an embodiment of the present invention, the object may include: a circular block and a plurality of wafers disposed on the block along the circumferential direction of the block.

[0012] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the conveyor may further include a reinforcing part for supporting the body on the underside of the body.

[0013] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the conveyor may further include a rotating structure for guiding the relative rotation of the upper and lower track portions with respect to the base portion.

[0014] According to a first aspect of the present invention, a conveying system includes: a conveying unit for conveying objects along a length direction; a plurality of processing devices arranged at intervals along the length direction on one side of the conveying unit in a width direction; and a conveying structure disposed on one side of the conveying unit in the width direction between the conveying unit and the plurality of processing devices, the conveying structure including: a track extending along the length direction; and a conveyor configured to move along the track, wherein the conveyor can convey objects between the conveying unit and the processing devices.

[0015] In a transmission system according to an embodiment of the present invention, the transmission structure may include a plurality of the transmissions.

[0016] In a transmission system according to an embodiment of the present invention, the plurality of processing devices may be divided into a plurality of groups, and each of the plurality of transmitters may perform transmission relative to each of the plurality of groups.

[0017] In a conveying system according to an embodiment of the present invention, the conveyor includes: upper and lower tracks extending upward from the base portion; a body movable up and down along the upper and lower tracks; and an arm having: a connecting portion connected to the body, a protrusion protruding from the connecting portion toward the front of the body, and an adsorption portion formed at the front end of the protrusion portion for adsorbing an object, wherein the arm is rotatable relative to the body.

[0018] In a conveying system according to an embodiment of the present invention, the conveying unit may have multiple conveying devices of different heights, one of which may carry an object moving from the conveying unit to the processing device, and another of which may carry an object moving from the processing device to the conveying unit.

[0019] The solutions described above are merely exemplary and should not be construed as limiting the present invention. In addition to the exemplary embodiments described above, further embodiments may be included in the accompanying drawings and detailed description.

[0020] Invention Effects

[0021] According to the present invention, even without a multi-joint structure, it is possible to transport objects and to flip the transporter and transport system containing the objects. Therefore, low-cost, space-efficient automation for transporting objects in processes such as thinning, grinding, DMP, and CMP can be achieved.

[0022] It also ensures space efficiency. Attached Figure Description

[0023] Figure 1 This is a schematic perspective view of a conveyor according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0024] Figure 2 The slave and slave of the transmitter according to an embodiment of the present invention Figure 1 A stereoscopic image viewed from different angles.

[0025] Figure 3 This is an enlarged view of a portion of the arm of a conveyor according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0026] Figure 4 This is a schematic perspective view of a transmission system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0027] Figure 5 This is a schematic perspective view of another example of a transmission system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0028] Figure 6 This is a schematic top view of another example of a transmission system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0029] In the picture:

[0030] 1: Conveyor; 11: Base; 12: Upper and lower track; 13: Body; 131: Outer shell; 132: Square tube; 133: Coupling part; 14: Arm; 141: Connecting part; 1411: Coupling unit; 1412: Connecting unit; 142: Protrusion; 143: Adsorption part; 151: Tube component; 16: Adsorption guide component; 17: Reinforcing part; 18: Rotating structure; 5: Conveying structure; 51: Track; 6: Processing device; 7: Loading part; 8: Conveying part; 81: Conveying device; 82: Conveying device; 9: Object; 91: Block; 92: Wafer. Detailed Implementation

[0031] The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, enabling those skilled in the art to readily implement the invention. However, the present invention can be implemented in many different forms and is not limited to the embodiment described herein. Furthermore, for the purpose of clearly illustrating the invention in the drawings, parts unrelated to the description have been omitted, and similar reference numerals have been used for similar parts throughout the specification.

[0032] Throughout this specification, when describing a part as being "connected" to another part, this includes not only the case of a "direct connection" but also the case where there are other elements between them to "electrically connect" or "indirectly connect".

[0033] Throughout this specification, when a component is described as being "above," "upper part," "upper end," "lower," "lower part," or "lower end" of another component, this includes not only cases where one component is in contact with another component, but also cases where there are other components between the two components.

[0034] Throughout this specification, when it is stated that a part "comprises" a certain constituent element, unless otherwise specifically stated to the contrary, it means that other constituent elements may also be included, rather than excluding other constituent elements.

[0035] Furthermore, the terms related to direction or position (upper side, upper surface, lower side, etc.) in the description of embodiments of the present invention are set based on the configuration states of each component shown in the figures. For example, refer to Figure 1 Generally speaking, the 12 o'clock direction can be the upper side, the surface facing the 12 o'clock direction can be the upper surface, and the 6 o'clock direction can be the lower side, etc.

[0036] This invention relates to a conveyor and a conveying system.

[0037] First, a conveyor (hereinafter referred to as "this conveyor") 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. Furthermore, a conveyor having the same or similar meaning as a conveying robot can be used. For reference, this conveyor 1 can share content with the conveying system of an embodiment of the present invention described later.

[0038] refer to Figure 1 The conveyor 1 includes a base 11.

[0039] Furthermore, this conveyor 1 includes upper and lower track sections 12. The upper and lower track sections 12 extend upward from the base section 11.

[0040] In addition, the conveyor 1 includes a body 13, which can move up and down along the upper and lower track sections 12.

[0041] Furthermore, the conveyor 1 includes an arm 14. The arm 14 includes: a connecting portion 141 connected to the body 13; a protrusion 142 connected to the connecting portion 141 and protruding forward of the body 13; and an adsorption portion 143 formed at the front end of the protrusion 142 for adsorbing the object 9.

[0042] Arm 14 can rotate relative to the body 13.

[0043] refer to Figure 2 For example, the connecting portion 141 may include: a connecting unit 1412 having a circular cross-section, connected to the body 13; and a coupling unit 1411 disposed at the front end of the connecting unit 1412 to hold the rear end of the protrusion 142 and connected to the rear end of the protrusion 142. The body 13 may include: a shell 131 extending forward and backward; a square tube portion 132 disposed inside the shell 131 extending forward and backward; and a coupling portion 133 extending forward and backward disposed inside the square tube portion 132 and surrounding the connecting unit 1412 of the connecting portion 141. The connecting unit 1412 may be connected to the coupling portion 133, such that while restricting the forward and backward movement of the coupling portion 133, it can rotate around the forward and backward axis. For example, although not shown, the connecting unit 1412 may have a circular cross-section and extend in the front-back direction. However, one or more outwardly or inwardly protruding stepped portions may be formed on the outer surface of the connecting unit 1412, and a recessed portion or stepped portion that engages with the outer surface of the connecting unit 1412 may be formed on the inner surface of the coupling portion 133. While restricting the front-back movement of the connecting unit 1412 by the one or more stepped portions, it can rotate with the front-back direction as the axis. Thus, the arm 4 can be rotated.

[0044] Through the structure of the arm 14, the conveyor 1 can easily move and flip heavy blocks.

[0045] Furthermore, when arm 14 adsorbs object 9, the adsorption section 143 can be the part opposite to the adsorbed part of object 9. The adsorption section 143 will be described below.

[0046] The conveyor 1 may include a vacuum forming structure. For example, the vacuum forming structure may include a vacuum forming section and a pipe component 151.

[0047] Furthermore, the adsorption section 143 may have an adsorption port with one or more downward openings and a gas movement channel for connecting one or more adsorption ports and a vacuum forming structure. The gas movement channel may be connected to the pipe component 151. Therefore, the vacuum forming section may be connected to the adsorption port. When the vacuum forming section draws in gas (vacuum forming), a vacuum (negative pressure) is formed inside the adsorption port, thereby allowing adsorption to occur. When the vacuum forming section stops drawing in gas, adsorption may be interrupted.

[0048] Furthermore, the gas movement channel and the pipe component 151 can be directly or indirectly connected. For example, the gas movement channel can be directly connected to the pipe component 151, or the gas movement channel and the pipe component 151 can be indirectly connected in the form of an additional channel forming a protrusion 142 that is connected to the gas movement channel at one end and to the pipe component 151 at the other end.

[0049] In addition, the conveyor 1 may include an adsorption guide member 16 disposed on the lower surface of the adsorption section 143.

[0050] The adsorption guiding member 16 can be made of an elastic material, such as a flexible material. For example, the adsorption guiding member 16 can be made of one or more materials including rubber, silicone, etc. In addition, a through-hole can be formed in the adsorption guiding member 16, extending vertically and communicating with the adsorption port. Therefore, when the adsorption part 143 adsorbs, the adsorption force can act on the adsorbed object through the adsorption port and the through-hole communicating with the adsorption port. When adsorbing these objects, the adsorption guiding member 16 can elastically deform to reduce the impact force applied to the object.

[0051] In addition, refer to Figure 1 The adsorption section 143 can adsorb the central region of the object.

[0052] refer to Figure 1 For example, object 9 may include a circular block 91 and a plurality of wafers 92 arranged on the block 91 along the circumferential direction of the block 91. Therefore, the central region of the block 91 may be a region surrounded by a plurality of wafers 91 but without wafers 91 disposed thereon, and the adsorption part 143 may adsorb the central region of the block 91.

[0053] For reference, in this conveyor, the object may include: a block made of ceramic or sapphire material that is introduced into the thinning processing device during wafer thinning, and multiple wafers arranged on the block along the circumferential direction of the block.

[0054] Furthermore, the length 'a' of the protrusion 142 can be longer than the length from the edge portion of the object 9 facing the body 13 to the outermost portion of the central region. When the object 9 includes a circular block 91 and multiple wafers 92, the edge portion of the object 9 can refer to the portion of the outer periphery of the upper surface of the object 9 facing the length 'a' of the protrusion 142 (i.e., the portion facing the body 13), and the length of the protrusion 142 can be longer than the length from the portion of the upper surface of the object 9 facing the length 'a' of the protrusion 142 to the outer periphery of the central region. Thus, the adsorption portion 143 of the arm 14 can cover the central region of the object 9 while adsorbing the central region.

[0055] Furthermore, the portion of the body 13 facing the track section 12 is mounted on the track section 12 and can be moved vertically relative to the track section 12. This portion may be referred to as the mounting section.

[0056] Furthermore, a reinforcing part 17 supporting the lower side of the body 13 is provided. For example, the portion of the reinforcing part 17 facing the track part 12 is movably mounted on the track part 12. Thus, the reinforcing part 17 can support the body 13 and move as the body 13 moves up and down.

[0057] In addition, refer to Figure 2 The conveyor 1 may include a rotating structure 18 for guiding the relative rotation of the upper and lower track sections 12 relative to the base section 11. For example, the rotating structure 18 may include: a main rack extending downward from the upper and lower track sections 12 and located below the base section 11; a pinion located on the lower side of the base section 11 and meshing with the main rack; an auxiliary rack located at the lower part of the base section 11 and meshing with the pinion; and a power supply unit (including a motor) for rotating the auxiliary rack. When the power supply unit rotates the auxiliary rack, the pinion rotates accordingly. As the pinion rotates, the main rack can rotate in the circumferential direction of the upper and lower track sections 12, thereby completing the rotation of the upper and lower track sections 12.

[0058] As described above, this conveyor 1 can pick up the central area of ​​the object 9, transport it, and place it. At this time, due to the structure of the arm 14 of this conveyor 1, even if the object 9 includes a block 91 and multiple wafers 92 set on the block 91, and is heavy, the object 9 can be easily picked up and transported using a small scale.

[0059] Furthermore, according to this conveyor 1, since the arm 14 can rotate relative to the body 13, the arm 14 can pick up the object 9 and flip it.

[0060] The following describes a transmission system (hereinafter referred to as "this transmission system") according to an embodiment of the present invention. However, this transmission system may include the aforementioned transmission machine. Therefore, it may share content with the transmission machine. Here, in the description of this transmission system, the same reference numerals are used for components that are the same or similar in structure to those described in the aforementioned transmission machine, and repeated descriptions are simplified or omitted.

[0061] refer to Figure 4 and Figure 5This conveying system includes a conveying section 8 for conveying an object 9 along its length. The conveying section 8 may include a conveying device 81. For example, the conveying device 81 may include a conveyor belt and a rotating device for rotating the conveyor belt (e.g., it may include two or more pulleys). The object 9 may be loaded onto the conveyor belt, and the object 9 on the conveyor belt may be conveyed by rotating the conveyor belt via the rotating device. Since the structure of such a conveying device 81 is obvious to those skilled in the art, a detailed description thereof is omitted.

[0062] In addition, refer to Figure 4 and Figure 5 This conveying system may include a loading section 7 in which an object 9 is prepared. The conveying section 8 may receive the object 9 from the loading section 7 and convey it. For example, the loading section 7 may be located on one side of the conveying device 81 along its length, and the object 9 may be loaded from the loading section 7 onto the conveying device 81 and conveyed along the length of the conveying device 81 (by the rotation of the conveyor belt).

[0063] In addition, refer to Figure 4 and Figure 5 The conveying unit 8 may include multiple conveying devices 81 and 82 at different heights. In other words, the conveying unit 8 may include multiple conveying devices 81 and 82, and these multiple conveying devices 81 and 82 may be arranged in a vertical direction. Therefore, the conveying unit 8 may include a first conveying device 81 and a second conveying device 82 located below the first conveying device 81. One of the first conveying device 81 and the second conveying device 82 may receive an object 9 from the loading unit 7 and convey it to the processing device 6 on which the object 9 is to be moved, while the other receives the object 9 conveyed from the processing device 6 and conveys it to the loading unit 7. Therefore, the directions in which the first conveying device 81 and the second conveying device 82 move the object may be opposite, and consequently, the rotation directions of the conveyor belts of the first conveying device 81 and the second conveying device 82 may be different (opposite directions).

[0064] In addition, refer to Figure 4 and Figure 5 This conveying system includes multiple processing devices 6. The multiple processing devices 6 are arranged at intervals along the length of the conveying section 8 on one side of the width direction. For reference, a processing device 6 can refer to an apparatus that performs a processing procedure on an object; for example, a processing device 6 can be a grinding machine for grinding the object. Alternatively, a processing device 6 can be a processing apparatus for performing a thinning process. Alternatively, a processing device 6 can be one of a DMP device, a CMP device, a Waxmounter, etc.

[0065] For example, refer to Figure 4 Two processing devices 6 can be arranged at intervals along the length of the conveyor 8 on one side of the conveyor 8 in the width direction. Additionally, refer to... Figure 5 Alternatively, two or more processing devices 6 can be arranged at intervals along the length of the conveyor section 8 on one side of the width direction. In this way, a variety of processing devices 6 can be provided.

[0066] In addition, refer to Figure 4 and Figure 5 The conveying system includes a conveying structure 5, which is disposed on one side of the conveying section 8 in the width direction between the conveying section 8 and a plurality of processing devices 6.

[0067] The conveying structure 5 includes: a track 51 extending along the length of the conveying section 8, and the aforementioned conveyor 1 movably disposed along the track 51.

[0068] This conveyor 1 can transport the object 9 between the conveyor section 8 and the processing device 6. In other words, this conveyor 1 picks up the object 9 from the conveyor section 8 and places it on the processing device 6, or picks up the object 9 from the processing device 6 and places it on the conveyor section 8.

[0069] As described above, the conveying unit 8 may include a first conveying device 81 and a second conveying device 82. In the first conveying device 81 and the second conveying device 82, one can receive the object 9 from the loading unit 7 and convey it to the processing device 6 where the object 9 is to be moved, while the other can load the object 9 conveyed from the processing device 6 and convey it to the loading unit 7. With this in mind, the conveyor 1 can pick up the object 9 from one of the conveying structures and convey it to the processing device 6 for placement, and can pick up the processed object from the processing device 6 and convey it for placement using another conveying structure.

[0070] In addition, refer to Figure 4 and Figure 5 The transmission structure 5 may include more than one of the same transmission units 1. (See reference...) Figure 4 When there is only one conveyor 1, it can perform transfers to multiple processing devices 6. For example, when there is only one conveyor 1 and two processing devices 6, the conveyor 1 can move an object between one of the two processing devices 6 and the transfer unit 8, and move an object 9 between the other of the two processing devices 6 and the transfer unit 8. For example, after the conveyor 1 transfers an object 9 to one processing device 6, while the processing device 6 is performing a processing process on the object 9, the object 9 can be transferred between the other processing device 6 and the transfer unit 8 (for example, the object 9 can be transferred from the transfer unit 8 to the other processing device 6, or the object 9 can be transferred from the other processing device 6 to the transfer unit 8).

[0071] Additionally, refer to Figure 5The transmission structure 5 may include multiple conveyors 1. In this case, the number of conveyors 1 may be less than the number of processing devices 6. Therefore, the multiple processing devices 6 can be divided into multiple groups, and each of the multiple conveyors can transmit to multiple groups. In this situation, the number of groups can correspond to the number of conveyors 1. For example, when there are 4 processing devices 6 and 2 conveyors 1, the 4 processing devices 6 can be divided into 2 groups, each group containing 2 processing devices, and each of the 2 groups is handled by one conveyor 1. That is, one conveyor 1 can transmit the object 9 between each of the 2 processing devices 6 in one group and the transmission unit 8.

[0072] Therefore, this conveyor 1 can pick up an object 9 from the conveying unit 8 and place it on a processing device 6 in a group. Then, while one processing device 6 is processing an object 9, it can pick up another object 9 and place it on another processing device 6 in the group. Thus, even if each processing device 6 does not have this conveyor, the object 9 can be conveyed without delay.

[0073] In addition, this conveyor 1 includes a base portion 11.

[0074] Furthermore, this conveyor 1 includes upper and lower track sections 12. The upper and lower track sections 12 extend upward from the base section 11.

[0075] In addition, this conveyor 1 includes a body 13 that can move up and down along the upper and lower track sections 12.

[0076] Furthermore, the conveyor 1 includes an arm 14. The arm 14 includes: a connecting portion 141 connected to the body 13; a protrusion 142 protruding from the connecting portion 141 toward the front of the body 13; and an adsorption portion 143 formed at the front end of the protrusion for adsorbing the object 9. The arm 14 is rotatable relative to the body 13.

[0077] Since this transporter 1 has already been described above, a detailed description will be omitted.

[0078] Additionally, this conveying system may include a plurality of processing devices 6 arranged at intervals along the length of the conveying section 8 from the other side of the width direction. Furthermore, this conveying system includes a conveying structure 5 arranged between the conveying section 8 and the plurality of processing devices 6 on the other side of the width direction of the conveying section 8.

[0079] The plurality of processing devices 6 and the conveying structure 5 disposed on the other side of the width direction of the conveying section 8 correspond to or are the same as the plurality of processing devices 6 and the conveying structure 5 disposed on one side of the width direction of the conveying section 8, therefore, detailed descriptions will be omitted.

[0080] Additionally, refer to Figure 6As another example of this conveying system, the conveying system may include: the conveyor 1; two processing devices 6, located on one side and the other side of the conveyor 1 respectively; and a loading unit 7, located in front of the conveyor 1. In this case, the conveyor 1 can pick up the object 9 from the loading unit 7 and convey it to one of the two processing devices 6, while one processing device 6 is performing a processing process, picking up the object 9 from the other processing device 6 and placing it on the loading unit 7, or picking up the object 9 from the loading unit 7 and placing it on the other processing device 6.

[0081] The above description of the present invention is exemplary, and it should be understood that those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains can readily modify and implement it in other specific forms without changing the technical concept or essential features of the invention. Therefore, the embodiments described above are exemplary in all respects and not restrictive. For example, each constituent element described as a single form can be implemented separately, and similarly, constituent elements described as a dispersed form can be implemented in combination.

[0082] The scope of this invention is determined by the scope of the claims rather than by the content of the invention, and should be interpreted as including all changes or modifications derived from the meaning and scope of the claims and their equivalents within the scope of this invention.

Claims

1. A conveyor, wherein, include: Base section; The upper and lower track sections extend upward from the base section; The body can move up and down along the upper and lower track sections; The arm comprises: a connecting portion, which is connected to the body; a protrusion, which is connected to the connecting portion and protrudes forward of the body; and an adsorption portion, which is formed at the front end of the protrusion for adsorbing an object. as well as Vacuum-formed structures, The arm is rotatable relative to the machine body. The adsorption section has one or more downward-opening adsorption ports and a gas movement channel connecting the one or more adsorption ports to the vacuum forming structure, in the central region of the adsorption target. The length of the protrusion is greater than the length from the edge portion of the object facing the body to the outermost portion of the central region. The object comprises: a circular block and a plurality of wafers disposed on the block along the circumferential direction of the block.

2. The conveyor according to claim 1, wherein, It also includes an adsorption guiding component disposed on the lower surface of the adsorption section. The adsorption guiding component has a through-hole that communicates with the adsorption port in a vertical direction.

3. The conveyor according to claim 1, wherein, It also includes a reinforcing section for supporting the body on the underside of the body.

4. The conveyor according to claim 1, wherein, It also includes a rotating structure for guiding the relative rotation of the upper and lower track sections relative to the base section.

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