Vertical silicon wafer transferring mechanism and manipulator
By designing a vertical silicon wafer load transfer mechanism, using a movable main clamp finger and a flexible gas finger, the problem that the existing technology cannot effectively clamp the vertical silicon wafer set, and achieves efficient multi-stack silicon Plate clamping and load transfer.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202421311735.1
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Utility models(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2024-06-11
- Publication Date
- 2025-02-14
- Estimated Expiration
- 2034-06-11
AI Technical Summary
The existing load transfer mechanism of horizontally clamped silicon wafer sets cannot effectively clamp the vertically loaded silicon wafer sets, resulting in low load transfer efficiency and slow speed, and the inability to clamp a single multiple stack of silicon wafer sets.
A vertical silicon wafer load transfer mechanism is designed, using a clamping assembly, including a main clamping finger and a secondary clamping finger. The main clamping finger is controlled by the cylinder to move along the length and thickness of the silicon wafer group, and the secondary clamping finger is a flexible gas finger passing through. Air pressure controls clamping force to achieve vertical clamping.
It realizes efficient clamping and load transfer of multiple vertical silicon wafer sets, improves working efficiency and ensures quality protection of silicon wafers.
Smart Images
Figure CN222475468U_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] The present application belongs to the technical field of silicon wafer production, and in particular, relates to a vertical silicon wafer transfer mechanism and a robot equipped with the transfer mechanism. Background Art
[0002] When transferring a whole stack of silicon wafers, most of them are transferred by horizontal clamping. Especially for multiple stacks of silicon wafers loaded vertically, they are first placed horizontally and then clamped horizontally for loading. Not only is the process complicated, but the clamping requirements are high, resulting in the need for single-stack clamping, and it is impossible to clamp multiple stacks of silicon wafers at a time. At the same time, for the whole stack of silicon wafers in vertical packaging, they are all inserted into the packaging box, and the root cannot be clamped by a horizontal clamping mechanism. Therefore, it is necessary to design a transfer mechanism that can clamp multiple stacks of silicon wafers vertically to meet the needs of existing production conditions, improve work efficiency, and protect the quality of silicon wafers. Summary of the invention
[0003] The present application provides a vertical silicon wafer transfer mechanism and a robot equipped with the transfer mechanism, which solves the technical problems that the existing horizontally clamped silicon wafer group cannot solve the clamping of the vertical silicon wafer group, not only has a small number of single transfers, but also has a slow transfer speed and a long round-trip transfer time.
[0004] In order to solve at least one of the above technical problems, the technical solution adopted in this application is:
[0005] A vertical silicon wafer transfer mechanism is provided with a group of clamping components on at least one side of a mounting frame. The clamping components are provided with at least one set of clamping finger groups, and the clamping finger groups are configured with main clamping fingers and auxiliary clamping fingers on the same end side plane in the thickness direction of the silicon wafer group.
[0006] In general, each of the main clamping fingers is equipped with two auxiliary clamping fingers, and the auxiliary clamping fingers are disposed on both sides of the main clamping finger; the main clamping finger and the auxiliary clamping fingers clamp or release asynchronously.
[0007] In general, the main clamping fingers are controlled by cylinder one and cylinder two arranged on the mounting frame, wherein cylinder one can make the main clamping fingers move up and down along the length direction of the silicon wafer group, and cylinder two can make the main clamping fingers open or close along the thickness direction of the silicon wafer group.
[0008] In general, the main clamping fingers are constructed as flat clamping plates, which are non-flexible structures, and the depth of clamping the silicon wafer group by the main clamping fingers is not less than the depth of clamping the silicon wafer group by the auxiliary clamping fingers.
[0009] In general, the auxiliary clamping fingers are constructed as flexible air fingers with a cavity inside; one side of the auxiliary clamping fingers used to clamp the side plane of the silicon wafer group is a flat surface, and a plurality of spaced bosses are provided on the side away from the silicon wafer group, and the finger tips are arc-shaped straight structures.
[0010] In general, an air pipe joint connected to the flexible air finger is provided on the outside of each of the flexible air fingers, and is controlled by air pressure to adjust the tension of the finger tip in contact with the silicon wafer, so that the finger tip bends inwards or warps outwards.
[0011] In one embodiment, when the mounting frame is constructed as a strip structure, at least two sets of the clamping finger groups are arranged on a single side surface of the mounting frame, and the clamping finger groups are configured below the mounting frame.
[0012] Furthermore, an upwardly suspended tube shaft is provided above the mounting frame, and the tube shaft is arranged on the back side of the clamping assembly and is located between the two sets of clamping finger groups.
[0013] In one embodiment, when the mounting frame is constructed as a flat plate structure, the clamping assemblies are provided on both sides of the mounting frame, and the clamping assemblies on both sides are arranged back to back; each clamping assembly is equipped with two sets of clamping finger groups.
[0014] A robot arm is provided with the transfer mechanism as described above.
[0015] A vertical silicon wafer transfer mechanism designed by the present application is particularly suitable for the transfer of vertically placed silicon wafer groups. The overall structure is simple and the design is reasonable. Multiple silicon wafer groups can be clamped vertically without interfering with each other. Multiple silicon wafer groups can also be transferred synchronously, which not only has a good clamping effect, but also has high loading efficiency. Silicon wafer groups can be accurately clamped synchronously, and then the corresponding silicon wafer groups can be placed based on different clamping components. The present application also proposes a manipulator provided with the transfer mechanism. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0016] Figure 1 is a three-dimensional diagram of the transfer mechanism of Example 1 in the present application;
[0017] Figure 2 is a front view of the transfer mechanism of the first embodiment of the present application;
[0018] Figure 3 is a side view of the transfer mechanism of the first embodiment of the present application;
[0019] Figure 4 is a three-dimensional diagram of the transfer mechanism of Example 2 of the present application;
[0020] Figure 5 is a front view of the transfer mechanism of the second embodiment of the present application;
[0021] Figure 6 It is a side view of the transfer mechanism of Example 2 in the present application.
[0022] In the figure:
[0023] 100, transfer mechanism 10, mounting frame 11, cylinder 1
[0024] 12. Cylinder 2 20. Clamping assembly 21. Main clamping finger
[0025] 22. Secondary clamp finger 30. Pipe axis DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0026] The present application is described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.
[0027] This embodiment provides a vertical silicon wafer transfer mechanism 100. Figure 1 and Figure 3 As shown, at least on one side of the mounting frame 10, a group of clamping components 20 is provided, and at least one set of clamping finger groups is provided in the clamping component 20, and the clamping finger groups are configured with main clamping fingers 21 and auxiliary clamping fingers 22 on the same end side plane in the thickness direction of the silicon wafer group, and each main clamping finger 21 is equipped with two auxiliary clamping fingers 22, and the auxiliary clamping fingers 22 are arranged in parallel with the main clamping fingers 21 and are arranged on both sides of the main clamping fingers 21, and the main clamping fingers 21 and the auxiliary clamping fingers 22 are clamped or released asynchronously. The main clamping fingers 21 and the auxiliary clamping fingers 22 in each set of clamping finger groups are clamping fingers arranged in pairs; that is, each set of clamping finger groups is provided with two groups of auxiliary clamping fingers 22 and one group of main clamping fingers 21.
[0028] In general, the main clamping finger 21 is controlled by cylinder 11 and cylinder 2 12 arranged on the mounting frame 10, wherein cylinder 11 can make the main clamping finger 21 move up and down along the length direction of the silicon wafer group, and cylinder 2 12 can make the main clamping finger 21 open or close along the thickness direction of the silicon wafer group.
[0029] Specifically, the main clamping finger 21 is constructed as a flat clamping plate, which is a non-flexible structure, and the depth of its clamping silicon wafer group is not less than the depth of the auxiliary clamping finger 22 clamping the silicon wafer group. The auxiliary clamping finger 22 is mainly used to assist the main clamping finger 21 to clamp the silicon wafer group to prevent the main clamping finger 21 from slipping when clamping the silicon wafer group. The silicon wafer group mentioned in this application can be an independently stacked silicon wafer group, a silicon wafer group with a plastic packaging film, or a silicon wafer group with a sulfur-free paper pad, which can realize vertical clamping of the silicon wafer group, and can clamp multiple stacks of silicon wafer groups at a time without mutual exclusion; hereinafter collectively referred to as a silicon wafer group.
[0030] Especially for a whole stack of silicon wafers wrapped in sulfur-free paper or plastic packaging film, the setting of the auxiliary clamping finger 21 can not only ensure that the packaging paper or packaging film is in contact with the plane of the silicon wafer group during the transfer of the silicon wafer group, but also facilitate the control of the synchronous conversion angle of the silicon wafer group so that it can be placed vertically. The main clamping finger 21 can be extended and retracted along the length direction of the silicon wafer group and moved in the thickness direction through the cylinder 1 11 and the cylinder 2 12 to adjust the position of the clamping finger with the silicon wafer group.
[0031] In common, the auxiliary clamping finger 22 is constructed as a flexible air finger, the interior of which is a cavity, and the structure of all flexible air fingers is the same. One side of the auxiliary clamping finger 22 used for clamping the side plane of the silicon wafer group is a flat surface, and a plurality of spaced bosses are provided on the side surface away from the silicon wafer group, and the finger tip is an arc-shaped flat structure. An air pipe joint connected to it is provided on the outside of each flexible air finger, and then connected to an external air pump through the air pipe joint. All flexible air fingers are controlled by air pressure to adjust the tension of the finger tip in contact with the silicon wafer, so that the finger tip bends inward or warps outward. That is, by controlling the air pressure in the air finger, the internal pressure is controlled to open or tighten the finger tip, so as to adjust the bending change direction of the finger tip of the air finger to loosen the silicon wafer group or clamp the silicon wafer group.
[0032] When the air fingers are inflated with positive pressure, the inner cavity of the air fingers expands and deforms due to the increased air pressure. The air pressure deformation of the finger tips is the largest, and they will bend inward, that is, bend toward the flat surface of the silicon wafer group; thereby reducing the clamping distance between the alignment air fingers to clamp the silicon wafer group. When the air fingers are evacuated with negative pressure, the inner cavity of the air fingers will shrink and deform, and the finger tips will bend outward, that is, the two alignment air fingers will open in opposite directions, both of which will bend and open in the direction away from the silicon wafer group, thereby expanding the clamping distance between the alignment air fingers and releasing the silicon wafer group.
[0033] Embodiment 1:
[0034] like Figure 1-3 As shown, when the mounting frame 10 is constructed as a strip structure, a tube shaft 30 arranged in parallel with the clamping finger group 20 is provided on one side of the mounting frame 10 close to the clamping assembly 20 , and two sets of clamping finger groups are provided on a single side of the mounting frame 10 .
[0035] That is, the clamping assembly 20 is only arranged on a single side of the mounting frame 10, and two sets of gripping finger groups are arranged in the clamping assembly 20. The mounting frame 10 is connected to the arm end of the manipulator through the tube shaft 30, the upper end of the tube shaft 30 is directly connected to the rotating shaft on the arm end, and the lower end of the tube shaft 30 is fixed on the mounting frame 10; the tube shaft 30 is arranged on the back of the clamping assembly 20, and it is located between the two sets of gripping finger groups, that is, located in the middle of the mounting frame 10. At least two sets of gripping finger groups are arranged on a single side of the mounting frame 10, and the gripping finger groups are arranged below the mounting frame 10. The cylinder 11 and the cylinder 12 are both arranged on the side of the mounting frame 10 and can be arranged across the thickness of the mounting frame 10. The cylinder 11 drives the main gripping finger 21 to telescopically move up and down in the vertical direction.
[0036] When taking materials, the silicon wafer groups are placed upright based on the layout of the clamping assembly 20; the manipulator drives the transfer mechanism 100 to be located directly above the silicon wafer group to be loaded and corresponds to the position of the silicon wafer group. The two groups of main clamping fingers 21 in the clamping assembly 20, driven by the cylinders 12 on both sides, can synchronously clamp the middle position of the upper ends of the two groups of silicon wafer groups, and then control all other auxiliary clamping fingers 22 to synchronously clamp the two ends of the silicon wafer group, completely clamp the silicon wafer group, and then realize the work of synchronously clamping two stacks of silicon wafer groups.
[0037] When the position of the wafer group needs to be adjusted, all the secondary clamping fingers 22 can be controlled to release the wafers first, and all the main clamping fingers 21 can clamp the wafer group. Then, the main clamping fingers 21 can drive the wafer group to rise or fall by the cylinder 11 to adjust the position height of the wafer group. After the position adjustment is completed, the main clamping fingers 21 can be controlled by the cylinder 11 to withdraw to a position where they are flush with the secondary clamping fingers 22. Then, the secondary clamping fingers 22 can be controlled based on actual needs to determine whether the wafer group needs to be clamped.
[0038] When the silicon wafer group needs to be placed horizontally, the manipulator drives the transfer mechanism 100 to clamp the silicon wafer group and transfer it to the top of the loading position, and drives the mounting frame 10 to be set horizontally by controlling the tube shaft 30, so that the clamping assembly 20 drives the silicon wafer group to be set horizontally and laterally in the air. The manipulator controls the clamping assembly 20 to move downward as a whole, and moves close to the discharge tray that automatically rises to the highest loading position, and the arm end controls the silicon wafer group to be placed smoothly on the discharge tray. First, the air pressure in all the auxiliary clamping fingers 22 is synchronously reduced, so that the fingertips are tilted outward to separate from the silicon wafer group first; then, the two main clamping fingers 21 are synchronously opened along the thickness direction of the silicon wafer group through two cylinders 12 to separate from the silicon wafer group. Then, the manipulator controls the clamping assembly 20 through the arm end to move away from the loading position and move back to the material removal position to prepare for the next batch of silicon wafer group to be removed.
[0039] Embodiment 2:
[0040] like Figure 4-6 As shown, the biggest difference between this embodiment and the first embodiment is that the mounting frame 10 is constructed as a flat plate structure and the number of the silicon wafer groups clamped is different. The mounting frame 10 is provided with clamping assemblies 20 on both sides, and the clamping assemblies on both sides are arranged opposite to each other; each clamping assembly 10 is equipped with two sets of clamping finger assemblies, and each set of clamping finger assemblies is provided with a main clamping finger 21 and two auxiliary clamping fingers 22.
[0041] In this embodiment, the cylinder 11 is arranged on the top of the mounting frame 10, and the number of the cylinders is also two, which are respectively arranged at the two ends of the top of the mounting frame 10. The cylinder 11 on one side is used to control the main clamping fingers 21 arranged opposite to each other on the same side, mainly controlling the main clamping fingers 21 on the same end side to move up and down along the length direction of the silicon wafer group. The fixing block used to connect the cylinder 11 passes through the thickness direction of the mounting frame 10, and can drive the two main clamping fingers 21 on the same side arranged opposite to each other to move up and down along the length direction of the silicon wafer group.
[0042] The cylinder 2 12 is arranged below the mounting frame 10, that is, it is integrally arranged on the same side as the main gripper finger 21, and it can drive the main gripper finger 21 to move along the thickness direction of the silicon wafer group. At this time, the arm end of the manipulator can be installed on the mounting frame 10, and it can drive all the silicon wafer groups to be transferred together through the mounting frame 10.
[0043] When taking materials, the silicon wafer groups are placed upright based on the layout of the clamping assembly 20, and the manipulator drives the transfer mechanism 100 to be located directly above the silicon wafer group to be loaded and corresponding to the position of the silicon wafer group. The clamping assemblies 20 on both sides are controlled to work synchronously, that is, all the main clamping fingers 21 are controlled to synchronously clamp the middle position of the upper ends of the two silicon wafer groups, and then all other auxiliary clamping fingers 22 are controlled to synchronously clamp the two ends of the silicon wafer group, completely clamp the silicon wafer group, and then four stacks of silicon wafer groups can be clamped synchronously. Then the manipulator controls the mounting frame 10 to drive the clamping assembly 20 to quickly move the four silicon wafer groups upward and detach them from the box to complete the material taking action.
[0044] When the silicon wafer group needs to be placed horizontally, the robot arm drives the transfer mechanism 100 to clamp the silicon wafer group and transfer it to the top of the loading position, and controls the mounting frame 10 to drive the single side surface of the mounting frame 10 to rotate and then set it horizontally, so that all the clamping components 20 drive the silicon wafer group to be horizontally suspended.
[0045] The manipulator (illustration omitted) controls the clamping assembly 20 to move downward as a whole, and automatically moves to the discharge tray at the highest loading position. The arm end controls the silicon wafer group to be placed stably on the discharge tray. First, the air pressure in all the auxiliary clamping fingers 22 is reduced synchronously, so that the fingertips are tilted outward to separate from the silicon wafer group first; then, the two main clamping fingers 21 are opened synchronously along the thickness direction of the silicon wafer group through two cylinders 12 to separate from the silicon wafer group. Then, the arm end in the manipulator drives the transfer mechanism 100 to move synchronously, so that all the clamping fingers move synchronously in the horizontal plane along the length direction of the silicon wafer group toward the side away from the silicon wafer group, so that the clamping assembly 20 is synchronously away from the silicon wafer group.
[0046] After the two stacks of silicon wafers that have been placed on the loading position are transferred and removed, the discharge tray on the loading position is returned to the highest position to wait for the placement of the next set of silicon wafers. The clamping assembly 20 is then controlled by the manipulator to rotate 180° along the horizontal axis, so that the clamping assembly 20 and the two stacks of silicon wafers on the other side are still horizontally arranged and located directly above the loading position. The above steps of placing the silicon wafers horizontally are repeated, so that the two stacks of silicon wafers clamped by the clamping assembly 20 on this side are horizontally placed on the discharge tray. Finally, the transfer mechanism 100 is controlled by the manipulator to move away from the loading position and back to the material removal position to prepare for the next batch of silicon wafers to be removed.
[0047] A robot is provided with a transfer mechanism 100 as described above, wherein the transfer mechanism 100 can be pivotally connected to the arm end of the robot through a tube shaft 30, and the clamping assembly 20 can clamp the thickness plane of the silicon wafer group, which is driven by the arm end to drive the silicon wafer group to and fro between various workstations.
[0048] A vertical silicon wafer transfer mechanism designed by the present application is particularly suitable for the transfer of vertically placed silicon wafer groups. The overall structure is simple and the design is reasonable. Multiple silicon wafer groups can be clamped vertically without interfering with each other. Multiple silicon wafer groups can also be transferred synchronously, which not only has a good clamping effect, but also has high loading efficiency. Silicon wafer groups can be accurately clamped synchronously, and then the corresponding silicon wafer groups can be placed based on different clamping components. The present application also proposes a manipulator provided with the transfer mechanism.
[0049] The above detailed description of the embodiments of the present application is only a preferred embodiment of the present application and cannot be considered to limit the scope of implementation of the present application. All equivalent changes and improvements made within the scope of the present application should still fall within the scope of the patent coverage of the present application.
Claims
1. A vertical silicon wafer transfer mechanism, characterized in that: A clamping assembly is arranged on at least one side of the mounting frame, and the clamping assembly is provided with at least one set of clamping fingers, and the clamping finger group is configured with main clamping fingers and auxiliary clamping fingers for clamping the same end side plane in the thickness direction of the silicon wafer group.
2. The vertical silicon wafer transfer mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that: Each of the main clamping fingers is equipped with two auxiliary clamping fingers, and the auxiliary clamping fingers are arranged on both sides of the main clamping finger; the main clamping finger and the auxiliary clamping fingers clamp or release asynchronously.
3. A vertical silicon wafer transfer mechanism according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The main clamping fingers are controlled by cylinder 1 and cylinder 2 arranged on the mounting frame, wherein cylinder 1 can make the main clamping fingers move up and down along the length direction of the silicon wafer group, and cylinder 2 can make the main clamping fingers open or close along the thickness direction of the silicon wafer group.
4. The vertical silicon wafer transfer mechanism according to claim 3, characterized in that: The main clamping fingers are constructed as flat clamping plates, which are non-flexible structures, and the depth of the silicon wafer group clamped by the main clamping fingers is not less than the depth of the silicon wafer group clamped by the auxiliary clamping fingers.
5. A vertical silicon wafer transfer mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 2 and 4, characterized in that: The auxiliary clamping finger is constructed as a flexible air finger with a cavity inside; the side surface of the auxiliary clamping finger used to clamp the side plane of the silicon wafer group is a flat surface, and a plurality of spaced bosses are arranged on the side surface away from the silicon wafer group, and the finger tip is an arc-shaped flat structure.
6. The vertical silicon wafer transfer mechanism according to claim 5, characterized in that: An air pipe joint connected to the flexible air finger is arranged on the outside of each of the flexible air fingers, and is controlled by air pressure to adjust the tension of the finger tip in contact with the silicon wafer, so that the finger tip bends inwards or warps outwards.
7. A vertical silicon wafer transfer mechanism according to any one of claims 1-2, 4 and 6, characterized in that: When the mounting frame is constructed as a strip structure, at least two sets of the clamping finger groups are arranged on a single side surface of the mounting frame, and the clamping finger groups are configured below the mounting frame.
8. The vertical silicon wafer transfer mechanism according to claim 7, characterized in that: An upwardly suspended tube shaft is provided above the mounting frame. The tube shaft is arranged on the back side of the clamping assembly and is located between the two sets of clamping finger groups.
9. A vertical silicon wafer transfer mechanism according to any one of claims 1-2, 4 and 6, characterized in that: When the mounting frame is constructed as a flat plate structure, the clamping components are provided on both sides of the mounting frame, and the clamping components on both sides are arranged opposite to each other; each clamping component is equipped with two sets of clamping finger groups.
10. A robot, characterized in that: It is equipped with a vertical silicon wafer transfer mechanism as described in any one of items 1-9.