Wafer double-arm carrying device

Abstract

The utility model relates to a wafer double-arm carrying device, and belongs to the technical field of wafer carrying robots. According to the utility model, the lifting mechanism and the plurality of rotatable execution arms are combined to form the multi-arm wafer carrying device with free space movement, so that not only can the longitudinal movement be controlled, but also the wafer can be freely rotated and overturned in the horizontal plane, and the space utilization efficiency is improved. Wherein the lifting device is provided with a meshing structure of a central gear and a planetary gear, so that the output speed of a motor is effectively reduced, and the lifting distance is more accurate; the rotating mechanism is provided with a worm gear, a worm, an inner meshing gear and an outer gear which are combined, and speed reduction transmission is effectively achieved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The utility model relates to a wafer double-arm transport device, belonging to the technical field of wafer transport robots. Background Art

[0002] Driven by the expansion of the semiconductor industry and the growing demand for advanced electronic devices, wafers are used more and more frequently. Wafers are the core raw materials of semiconductor chips and need to be transferred between multiple production processes such as film making, oxidation, diffusion, photolithography and lithography. Throughout the process, wafer handling robots bear the heavy responsibility of handling wafers. The surface of the wafer must be smooth and defect-free to ensure the accuracy of steps such as material attachment, lithography and etching during the manufacturing process; and the wafer material must have a high purity to ensure the performance and stability of semiconductor devices.

[0003] Therefore, in order to improve production efficiency and automation level, ensure the purity of wafers, and reduce labor costs, robots must be used to accurately transport wafers, and the robot handling process can better protect the wafers. Wafer handling robots play a key role in the semiconductor wafer manufacturing process, providing efficient and accurate wafer handling, transportation and positioning at all stages of manufacturing.

[0004] At present, wafer handling robots in the existing technology generally have only three degrees of freedom, and most of their end effectors cannot be flipped, which is insufficient to meet the current process requirements to a certain extent; and most wafer handling robots still use single-arm transfer methods, which also have certain limitations in efficiency. Utility Model Content

[0005] In order to solve the above problems, the utility model provides a wafer double-arm transport device, comprising:

[0006] A lifting mechanism, including a driving group and a lifting platform connected to the driving group;

[0007] At least two actuator arms with the same structure, the actuator arms comprising a primary rotating mechanism, a large arm, a secondary rotating mechanism, a small arm, a flipping mechanism, and an end actuator connected in sequence, the primary rotating mechanism and the secondary rotating mechanism have the same structure, and the primary rotating mechanism is directly connected to the lifting platform or connected to the lifting platform through a large arm lifting frame;

[0008] The driving group allows the lifting platform to be controlled to drive the two execution arms to be lifted and lowered. The large arm and the small arm are allowed to rotate freely under the action of the primary rotating mechanism and the secondary rotating mechanism. The end effector is used to connect the wafer.

[0009] Furthermore, the driving group includes:

[0010] Base plate;

[0011] A gear set, comprising a central gear mounted on the base plate and four planetary gears meshing with the central gear, wherein the central gear is mounted on the base plate via a central shaft and a central bearing, and the planetary gears are mounted on the base plate via a lead screw and planetary bearings;

[0012] A servo motor is located above the gear set and connected to the base plate through a servo motor bracket, wherein the servo motor has a servo motor shaft, and the servo motor shaft is connected to the central shaft through a servo motor coupling;

[0013] A top support plate connected to the top of the screw rod;

[0014] The lifting platform is located above the servo motor and has an end face structure, a sleeve structure and a platform structure connected in sequence, the screw rod passes through the servo motor bracket, the end face structure is connected to the top support plate, the end face structure is located at the bottom of the sleeve structure, the sleeve structure passes through the top support plate, and the platform structure is located at the top of the sleeve structure.

[0015] In one embodiment of the utility model, the end face structure is connected to the screw via a screw nut and a screw ball. The advantages of such a connection are smooth movement, good synchronization, high precision and high transmission efficiency.

[0016] In one embodiment of the utility model, the central gear is a left-handed helical gear, and the planetary gears are right-handed helical gears. The advantages of this selection are good meshing performance, large overlap, high load-bearing capacity, stable power, and high transmission efficiency.

[0017] Furthermore, the primary rotating mechanism comprises:

[0018] A rotating bracket connected to the platform structure;

[0019] An internal gear, mounted on the rotating bracket, wherein the internal gear has an internal gear ring;

[0020] A support column, fixed to the rotating bracket;

[0021] A bearing frame connected to the top of the support column;

[0022] The worm gear shaft has two ends connected to the rotating bracket and the bearing frame through worm gear bearings respectively. A worm wheel and an external gear are installed on the worm gear shaft. The worm wheel is meshed with the worm. The worm is connected to the rotating bracket through a worm bearing and a worm support frame; the external gear has an external gear ring, and the external gear is meshed with the internal meshing gear.

[0023] In one embodiment of the utility model, a cage and cage balls are installed between the internal gear and the rotating bracket. The reason for the arrangement is to reduce the contact between the internal gear and the rotating bracket and reduce wear by rolling friction.

[0024] Furthermore, the flipping mechanism includes a stepper motor, a planetary reducer, and a small pulley shaft connected in sequence, the small pulley shaft is installed on the small bearing frame through a small pulley bearing, and the small pulley shaft is installed with a small pulley; the flipping mechanism also includes a large pulley shaft, the large pulley shaft is installed with a large pulley, the small pulley and the large pulley are connected by a synchronous belt, and the large pulley shaft is connected to the end effector through an end effector coupling.

[0025] In one embodiment of the utility model, the end effector has a double-sided fork structure, which is convenient for flipping to any side to fix the wafer.

[0026] Furthermore, there are two executing arms, and the primary rotating mechanism of one of the executing arms is connected to the platform structure of the lifting platform through a large arm lifting frame.

[0027] Beneficial effects of the utility model:

[0028] The utility model forms a multi-arm wafer handling device with free spatial movement by arranging a lifting mechanism and combining multiple rotatable execution arms, which can not only control the movement in the longitudinal direction, but also freely rotate and flip the wafer in the horizontal plane, thereby improving the space utilization efficiency; wherein, the lifting device is provided with a meshing structure of a central gear and a planetary gear, which effectively reduces the output speed of the motor and makes the lifting distance more precise; and the rotating mechanism is provided with a combination of a worm gear, a worm, an internal meshing gear and an external gear, which effectively realizes the speed reduction transmission, and is provided with a retaining frame and a retaining frame ball, so that the sliding friction is converted into rolling friction to reduce the transmission friction force; the two-stage transmission deceleration is effectively realized by the setting of a two-stage rotating mechanism, so that the rotation of the small arm is more precise; a flipping mechanism is provided to connect the end effector, and a two-stage speed reduction is realized by the setting of a stepping motor, a planetary reducer, a small pulley shaft and a large pulley shaft, thereby obtaining a more suitable flipping speed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0029] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of an implementation method of the utility model;

[0030] Figure 2 This is a half-section diagram of the structure of the lifting mechanism in one embodiment of the utility model;

[0031] Figure 3 This is a structural cross-sectional view of a rotating mechanism in one embodiment of the utility model;

[0032] Figure 4A perspective view of a rotating mechanism in one embodiment of the utility model from a top view;

[0033] Figure 5 This is a top-down sectional view of a flip mechanism in one embodiment of the utility model.

[0034] Figure 6 This is a three-dimensional schematic diagram of a flipping mechanism connected to an end effector in one embodiment of the utility model.

[0035] In the figure: 1. lifting mechanism; 2. upper arm lifting frame; 3. primary rotating mechanism; 4. flipping mechanism; 5. small arm; 6. secondary rotating mechanism; 7. upper arm; 8. end effector;

[0036] 9. Bottom plate; 10. Shell; 11. Top support plate; 12. Lifting platform; 13. Screw bearing end cover; 14. Screw; 15. Screw nut; 16. Screw ball; 17. Servo motor; 18. Servo motor bracket; 19. Servo motor coupling; 20. Rotating shaft sleeve; 21. First planetary bearing; 22. Second planetary bearing; 23. Planetary gear; 24. Center gear; 25. Servo motor shaft;

[0037] 26. Lower rotating bracket; 27. External gear; 28. Worm gear sleeve; 29. ​​Upper rotating bracket; 30. Worm; 31. Internal gear; 32. Worm gear bearing end cover; 33. Bearing frame; 34. Support column; 35. Cage; 36. Cage ball; 37. First worm gear bearing; 38. Worm gear shaft; 39. Second worm gear bearing; 40. Bearing frame end cover; 41. Worm bearing frame; 42. First sleeve; 43. Worm; 44. Second sleeve; 45. Third sleeve; 46. Worm motor bearing frame; 47. Frameless motor;

[0038] 48. Small pulley bearing; 49. Small bearing frame; 50. Small pulley shaft; 51. Small pulley; 52. Synchronous belt; 53. Small bushing; 54. Small bearing end cover; 55. Small pulley bearing seat; 56. Planetary reducer; 57. Stepper motor coupling; 58. Stepper motor; 59. Large bearing end cover; 60. Large bearing frame; 61. Large bushing; 62. Large pulley; 63. Large pulley shaft; 64. Large pulley bearing; 65. Turnover mechanism frame;

[0039] 66. End effector coupling. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0040] The technical solution of the utility model will be described clearly and completely below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are part of the embodiments of the utility model, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the utility model, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the utility model.

[0041] In the description of the present invention, it should be noted that the terms "center", "up", "down", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "inside", "outside" and the like indicate positions or positional relationships based on the positions or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as a limitation on the present invention. In addition, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance. Among them, the terms "first position" and "second position" are two different positions.

[0042] In the description of the present invention, it should be noted that, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, the terms "installation", "connection" and "connection" should be understood in a broad sense, for example, it can be a fixed connection or a detachable connection; it can be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it can be a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium, or it can be the internal communication of two components. For ordinary technicians in this field, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood according to specific circumstances.

[0043] Example 1

[0044] like Figure 1-Figure 6 The utility model provides a wafer double-arm transport device, comprising:

[0045] The lifting mechanism 1 includes a driving group and a lifting platform 12 connected to the driving group;

[0046] At least two actuator arms with the same structure, the actuator arms include a primary rotating mechanism 3, a large arm 7, a secondary rotating mechanism 6, a small arm 5, a flipping mechanism 4, and an end actuator 8 connected in sequence, the primary rotating mechanism 3 and the secondary rotating mechanism 6 have the same structure, and the primary rotating mechanism 3 is directly connected to the lifting platform 12 or connected to the lifting platform 12 through the large arm lifting frame 2;

[0047] The driving group allows the lifting platform 12 to be controlled to drive the two actuator arms to lift and lower. The large arm 7 and the small arm 5 are allowed to rotate freely under the action of the primary rotating mechanism 3 and the secondary rotating mechanism 6. The end actuator 8 is used to connect the wafer.

[0048] Furthermore, the driving group includes:

[0049] Bottom plate 9;

[0050] A gear set, comprising a central gear 24 mounted on the base plate 9 and four planetary gears 23 meshing with the central gear 24, wherein the central gear 24 is mounted on the base plate 9 via a central shaft and a central bearing, and the planetary gears 23 are mounted on the base plate 9 via a screw 14, a first planetary bearing 21 and a second planetary bearing 22;

[0051] A servo motor 17, located above the gear set and connected to the base plate 9 via a servo motor bracket 18, wherein the servo motor 17 has a servo motor shaft 25, and the servo motor shaft 25 is connected to the central shaft via a servo motor coupling 19;

[0052] A top support plate 11 is connected to the top of the screw rod 14; a housing 10 is provided between the top support plate 11 and the bottom plate 9;

[0053] The lifting platform 12 is located above the servo motor 17 and has an end face structure, a sleeve structure and a platform structure connected in sequence. The screw rod 14 passes through the servo motor bracket 18, the end face structure is connected to the top support plate 11, the end face structure is located at the bottom of the sleeve structure, the sleeve structure passes through the top support plate 11, and the platform structure is located at the top of the sleeve structure.

[0054] The end surface structure is connected to the screw 14 via a screw nut 15 and a screw ball 16 .

[0055] The central gear 24 is a left-handed helical gear, and the planetary gears 23 are right-handed helical gears.

[0056] Furthermore, the primary rotating mechanism 3 comprises:

[0057] The rotating bracket includes an upper rotating bracket 29 and a lower rotating bracket 26 that cooperate with each other, the upper rotating bracket 29 is connected to the upper arm 7; the lower rotating bracket 26 is connected to the lower arm 5;

[0058] An internal gear 31 is mounted on the rotating bracket, and the internal gear 31 has an internal gear ring;

[0059] A support column 34, fixed to the rotating bracket;

[0060] A bearing frame 33 connected to the top of the support column 34;

[0061] The worm gear shaft 38 has one end connected to the rotating bracket through the first worm gear bearing 37 and the second turbine bearing 39, and the other end connected to the bearing frame 33 through the first worm gear bearing 37. A worm wheel 30 and an external gear 27 are installed on the worm gear shaft 38. The worm wheel 30 is meshed with a worm 43. The worm 43 is connected to the lower rotating bracket 26 through a worm bearing and a worm support frame 41; the external gear 27 has an outer gear ring, and the external gear 27 is meshed with the internal meshing gear 31.

[0062] A cage 35 and cage balls 36 are provided between the internal gear 31 and the external gear 27 .

[0063] Furthermore, the flipping mechanism 4 includes a stepper motor 58, a planetary reducer 56, and a small pulley shaft 50 connected in sequence, the small pulley shaft 50 is installed on the small bearing frame 49 through the small pulley bearing 48, and the small pulley shaft 50 is installed with a small pulley 51; the flipping mechanism 4 also includes a large pulley shaft 63, the large pulley shaft 63 is installed with a large pulley 62, the small pulley 51 and the large pulley 62 are connected by a synchronous belt 52, and the large pulley shaft 63 is connected to the end effector 8 through the end effector coupling 66.

[0064] The end effector 8 has a double-sided fork structure, which is convenient for flipping to any side to fix the wafer.

[0065] Furthermore, there are two execution arms, and the primary rotation mechanism 3 of one of the execution arms is connected to the platform structure of the lifting platform 12 through the large arm lifting frame 2.

[0066] Example 2

[0067] The wafer double-arm transport device of Example 1 is used to transport wafers, and the specific steps include:

[0068] Step 1: The entire device is adjusted to a suitable height through the lifting mechanism 1. Specifically, the central gear 24 is driven to rotate by the servo motor, thereby transmitting to the four planetary gears 23, and then driving the four screw rods 14 to rotate, so that the lifting platform 12 can perform linear telescopic motion on the screw rods to achieve lifting;

[0069] Step 2: adjust the angle of the small arm 5 through the primary rotating mechanism 3, and adjust the angle of the large arm 7 through the secondary rotating mechanism 6; specifically, the worm wheel 30 and the worm 43 transmit the power to the outer gear 27, and the outer gear 27 is used as a rotor and the inner gear 31 is used as a stator, so that the outer gear ring of the outer gear 27 meshes and rotates along the inner gear ring of the inner gear 31 around the fixed support column 34, thereby driving the small arm 5 or the large arm 7 to rotate;

[0070] Step 3: Flip the end effector 8 through the flipping mechanism 4 to adapt to the position of the fixed wafer.

[0071] Although the present invention has been disclosed as above in terms of preferred embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Anyone familiar with the technology may make various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present invention should be based on the definition of the claims.

Claims

1. A wafer double-arm transport device, characterized in that: include: A lifting mechanism, including a driving group and a lifting platform connected to the driving group; At least two actuator arms with the same structure, the actuator arms comprising a primary rotating mechanism, a large arm, a secondary rotating mechanism, a small arm, a flipping mechanism, and an end actuator connected in sequence, the primary rotating mechanism and the secondary rotating mechanism have the same structure, and the primary rotating mechanism is directly connected to the lifting platform or connected to the lifting platform through a large arm lifting frame; The driving group allows the lifting platform to be controlled to drive the two execution arms to be lifted and lowered. The large arm and the small arm are allowed to rotate freely under the action of the primary rotating mechanism and the secondary rotating mechanism. The end effector is used to connect the wafer.

2. A wafer dual-arm transport device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The drive group includes: Base plate; A gear set, comprising a central gear mounted on the base plate and four planetary gears meshing with the central gear, wherein the central gear is mounted on the base plate via a central shaft and a central bearing, and the planetary gears are mounted on the base plate via a lead screw and planetary bearings; A servo motor is located above the gear set and connected to the base plate through a servo motor bracket, wherein the servo motor has a servo motor shaft, and the servo motor shaft is connected to the central shaft through a servo motor coupling; A top support plate connected to the top of the screw rod; The lifting platform is located above the servo motor and has an end face structure, a sleeve structure and a platform structure connected in sequence, the screw rod passes through the servo motor bracket, the end face structure is connected to the top support plate, the end face structure is located at the bottom of the sleeve structure, the sleeve structure passes through the top support plate, and the platform structure is located at the top of the sleeve structure.

3. A wafer dual-arm transport device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The end surface structure is connected to the screw through a screw nut and a screw ball.

4. The wafer dual-arm transport device according to claim 3, characterized in that: The central gear is a left-handed helical gear, and the planetary gears are right-handed helical gears.

5. The wafer dual-arm transport device according to claim 4, characterized in that: The primary rotating mechanism comprises: A rotating bracket connected to the platform structure; An internal gear, mounted on the rotating bracket; A support column, fixed to the rotating bracket; A bearing frame connected to the top of the support column; The worm shaft has two ends connected to the rotating bracket and the bearing frame through worm bearings respectively. A worm wheel and an external gear are installed on the worm shaft. The worm wheel is meshed with the worm. The worm is connected to the rotating bracket through a worm bearing and a worm support frame; the external gear is meshed with the internal meshing gear.

6. The wafer dual-arm transport device according to claim 5, characterized in that: A retainer and retainer balls are arranged between the internal meshing gear and the rotating bracket.

7. The wafer dual-arm transport device according to claim 6, characterized in that: The flipping mechanism includes a stepper motor, a planetary reducer, and a small pulley shaft connected in sequence, the small pulley shaft is installed on a small bearing frame through a small pulley bearing, and the small pulley shaft is installed with a small pulley; the flipping mechanism also includes a large pulley shaft, the large pulley shaft is installed with a large pulley, the small pulley and the large pulley are connected by a synchronous belt, and the large pulley shaft is connected to the end effector through an end effector coupling.

8. The wafer dual-arm transport device according to claim 7, characterized in that: The end effector has a double-sided fork structure.

9. The wafer dual-arm transport device according to claim 7, characterized in that: There are two execution arms, and the primary rotating mechanism of one of the execution arms is connected to the platform structure of the lifting platform through the large arm lifting frame.

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