A clamping claw and a clamping device

Abstract

The embodiment of the utility model discloses a clamping claw and a clamping device. A transmission unit is provided with a sub-bracket at each end along the transmission direction thereof, and the sub-bracket has at least two mounting surfaces located on the same plane; the clamping unit includes at least two pairs of clamping parts, and a clamping part is provided on each mounting surface, and a first preset angle is formed between two adjacent clamping parts on the sub-bracket; the driving unit is connected to the transmission unit and drives the two sub-brackets to move closer to or away from each other, so as to drive each pair of clamping parts to clamp or open. By arranging one of the clamping parts of different pairs on different mounting surfaces of the same plane of the sub-bracket, the clamping parts of different pairs will not interfere with each other when clamping the wafer container; the user selects a corresponding pair of clamping parts to clamp the wafer container according to the placement state of the wafer container, so that a clamping claw can be directly adapted to clamp the wafer container in different placement states, thereby improving the efficiency of clamping the wafer container.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The utility model relates to the technical field of automatic clamping, in particular to a clamping claw and a clamping device. Background Art

[0002] The wafer manufacturing process is complex, with many production steps and high technical requirements. Specialized handling equipment is generally required for transportation between different production steps.

[0003] At present, in certain processes of wafer production, manufacturers will place wafers in wafer containers, and place the wafer containers containing wafers on the machine table and wait for the equipment to transport them to the corresponding workstations. However, in the actual handling process, there are at least two placement states of the wafer container on the machine table, and the clamps on the current handling equipment are usually only suitable for directly clamping wafer containers in one placement state. If the placement state of the clamps does not match that of the wafer container, the clamps usually need to rotate at multiple angles to clamp the wafer container, which will greatly reduce the efficiency of wafer container handling; at the same time, there is also the problem that some types of clamps occupy too much space in a certain direction. Utility Model Content

[0004] The utility model aims to solve at least one of the technical problems existing in the prior art. To this end, the utility model provides a clamping claw and a clamping device to solve the problem that the clamping claw in the prior art cannot directly clamp wafer containers in various placement states.

[0005] In a first aspect, the utility model provides a clamping jaw, comprising:

[0006] The transmission unit has a sub-bracket at each end along the transmission direction thereof, and the sub-bracket has at least two mounting surfaces located on the same plane;

[0007] The clamping unit comprises at least two pairs of clamping parts, one of the clamping parts is arranged on each of the mounting surfaces, and a first preset angle is formed between two adjacent clamping parts on the sub-bracket;

[0008] A driving unit is connected to the transmission unit and drives the two auxiliary brackets to move closer to or farther from each other, so as to drive each pair of the clamping parts to clamp or open.

[0009] Based on this, wafer containers in various placement states are clamped by at least two pairs of clamping parts on different mounting surfaces on the same plane, thereby avoiding interference of non-working clamping parts with the wafer containers; and by limiting the angle between two adjacent clamping parts on the sub-bracket to further adapt to wafer containers in more placement states, thereby improving the efficiency of the clamps in transporting wafer containers in different placement states.

[0010] Furthermore, the clamp also includes a box body in which the driving unit and the transmission unit are built, the box body has two oppositely arranged through holes, and the transmission unit extends out of the box body through the through holes to be connected to the auxiliary bracket.

[0011] Furthermore, a hose is provided on the outer circumference of the connection between the transmission unit and the auxiliary bracket, one end of the hose is connected to the outer side wall of the box body and is arranged along the circumference of the through hole, and the other end is connected to the auxiliary bracket.

[0012] Furthermore, the clamping jaw further comprises an air extraction unit, and the air extraction unit comprises:

[0013] An air extraction pipeline is arranged in the box body to extract the gas in the box body;

[0014] The exhaust element is arranged on the outside of the box body and is connected with the exhaust pipeline to exhaust the gas in the box body and prevent the external gas from flowing back into the box body.

[0015] Furthermore, the clamp is used to clamp a wafer container, the wafer container has edges, and each pair of opposite sides of the clamping parts is provided with a groove for the edges to extend into, and an elastic sensing element is provided in the groove for detecting the displacement of the edge in the groove along a preset direction.

[0016] Furthermore, the transmission unit includes two distance sensing elements arranged opposite to each other along the transmission direction, and are used to detect the displacement of the transmission unit in the opposite direction of the preset direction.

[0017] Furthermore, the clamping jaw further comprises:

[0018] An in-place detection element is provided on one side of the transmission unit and is used to detect whether the wafer container is in place;

[0019] The position detection element is arranged at one side of the transmission unit and is used to detect the position of the wafer container.

[0020] Furthermore, the in-situ detection element and the position detection element are arranged on the same side of the transmission unit.

[0021] Further, the in-situ detection element includes an ultrasonic sensor;

[0022] and / or,

[0023] The position detection element includes a visual camera.

[0024] In a second aspect, the utility model provides a clamping device, including a walking assembly and the clamping claw as described above.

[0025] One or more of the above embodiments of the present invention have at least one or more of the following beneficial effects:

[0026] By arranging one of the clamping parts of different pairs on different mounting surfaces of the same plane of the sub-bracket, the clamping parts of different pairs will not interfere with each other when clamping the wafer container; the user selects a corresponding pair of clamping parts to clamp the wafer container according to the placement state of the wafer container, so that one clamping claw can be directly adapted to clamp wafer containers in different placement states, thereby improving the efficiency of clamping the wafer container.

[0027] Additional aspects and advantages of the present invention will be given in part in the following description and in part will become apparent from the following description or will be learned through the practice of the present invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0028] The disclosure of the present invention will become easier to understand with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is easy for those skilled in the art to understand that these drawings are only for illustrative purposes and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present invention. In addition, similar numbers in the drawings are used to represent similar components, among which:

[0029] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of the clamping jaw provided in an embodiment of the utility model;

[0030] Figure 2 It is a cross-sectional view of the internal structure of the clamping jaw provided by an embodiment of the utility model;

[0031] Figure 3 It is a cross-sectional view of the internal structure of the clamping jaw provided by an embodiment of the utility model;

[0032] Figure 4 yes Figure 3 Enlarged view of point A in the middle.

[0033] Description of reference numerals:

[0034] 1. Transmission unit; 11. Distance sensing element; 2. Clamping unit; 21. Clamping portion; 211. Groove; 212. Elastic sensing element; 3. Driving unit; 4. Sub-bracket; 41. Mounting surface; 5. Box body; 51. Through hole; 52. Exhaust element; 521. Through hole; 6. Hose; 7. In-situ detection element; 8. Position detection element. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0035] Some embodiments of the present invention are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that these embodiments are only used to explain the technical principles of the present invention and are not intended to limit the protection scope of the present invention.

[0036] As described in the background technology, the robots on current handling equipment are usually only suitable for directly clamping wafer containers in one placement state. If wafer containers in different placement states are to be deliberately clamped, the robot needs to rotate at multiple angles, which will greatly reduce the efficiency of wafer container handling. There is also the problem that some types of robots occupy too much space in a certain direction.

[0037] In order to solve one or more of the above technical problems in the prior art, the utility model creatively proposes a clamping claw and a clamping device thereof.

[0038] By arranging one of the clamping parts of different pairs on different mounting surfaces of the same plane of the sub-bracket, the clamping parts of different pairs will not interfere with each other when clamping the wafer container; the user selects a corresponding pair of clamping parts to clamp the wafer container according to the placement state of the wafer container, so that one clamping claw can be directly adapted to clamp wafer containers in different placement states.

[0039] The present invention will be described in detail below through specific embodiments.

[0040] Example 1

[0041] The utility model embodiment provides a clamping claw, referring to Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, the clamp includes a transmission unit 1, a clamping unit 2 and a driving unit 3; the transmission unit 1 is provided with a sub-bracket 4 at both ends along its transmission direction, and the sub-bracket 4 has at least two mounting surfaces 41 located on the same plane; the clamping unit 2 includes at least two pairs of clamping parts 21, each mounting surface 41 is provided with a clamping part 21, and a first preset angle is formed between two adjacent clamping parts 21 on the sub-bracket 4 to adapt to wafer containers in different placement states; the driving unit 3 is connected to the transmission unit 1 and drives the two sub-brackets 4 to move closer to or away from each other, so as to drive each pair of clamping parts 21 to clamp or open, so as to realize the taking and placing of the wafer container.

[0042] Specifically, after knowing the placement state of the wafer container, the clamping claw moves to the side of the wafer container and places the corresponding pair of clamping parts 21 on the opposite sides of the wafer container, and then starts the driving unit 3, thereby driving the two sub-supports 4 to approach each other, and then driving the pair of clamping parts 21 to clamp the wafer container, and the clamping claw moves the wafer container to the corresponding workstation and then releases the pair of clamping parts 21. When the clamping claw needs to clamp a wafer container in other placement states, it only needs to select the corresponding pair of clamping parts 21, and because the mounting surfaces 41 on the sub-support 4 are all located on the same plane, it is not easy for other clamping parts 21 that do not need to clamp the wafer container to interfere with the wafer container to be clamped. At the same time, a first preset angle is formed between the two adjacent clamping parts 21 on the sub-support 4, which further reduces the possibility that other clamping parts 21 that do not need to clamp the wafer container interfere with the wafer container to be clamped.

[0043] In this embodiment, the wafer container can be a wafer basket. It can be understood that, in order to facilitate the clamping of the wafer container and ensure the stability of the wafer container during movement, the side of the wafer container is generally provided with edges.

[0044] Exemplarily, the clamping unit 2 includes two pairs of clamping parts 21 for clamping wafer containers in two placement states.

[0045] Preferably, one of the two pairs of clamping parts 21 is arranged at one end of the sub-bracket 4 away from the transmission unit 1, and the other pair of clamping parts 21 is arranged at a point in the length direction of the sub-bracket 4, so that the clamping areas of the two pairs of clamping parts 21 are independent of each other, which is convenient for clamping wafer containers in different placement states.

[0046] In this embodiment, the placement state of the wafer container includes a horizontal state and a vertical state.

[0047] Preferably, the first preset angle is a right angle.

[0048] In this embodiment, the main body of the auxiliary bracket 4 is L-shaped, a side surface of the short side of the auxiliary bracket 4 is used to install a clamping portion 21, and an end of the long side of the auxiliary bracket 4 away from the short side is connected to the transmission unit 1.

[0049] Exemplarily, the clamping portion 21 is in a rectangular parallelepiped shape, and the size of the clamping portion 21 can be adjusted according to the placement state and the size of the wafer container.

[0050] Preferably, refer to Figure 2 and Figure 3 As shown, the clamp further includes a box body 5 with a built-in drive unit 3 and a transmission unit 1, the box body 5 has two oppositely arranged through holes 51, and the transmission unit 1 extends through the through holes 51 to connect with the auxiliary bracket 4. In this embodiment, a mounting base is connected to one end of the long side of the auxiliary bracket 4 away from the short side, so as to facilitate connection with the transmission unit 1.

[0051] Furthermore, a hose 6 is provided on the outer circumference of the connection between the transmission unit 1 and the sub-bracket 4, one end of the hose 6 is connected to the outer wall of the box body 5 and is arranged along the circumference of the through hole 51, and the other end is connected to the sub-bracket 4. In the present embodiment, the other end is connected to the mounting base, that is, the box body 5 is sealed by shielding the through hole 51, so as to prevent the dust generated by the friction of the drive unit 3, the transmission unit 1 and the sub-bracket 4 during the movement from flowing out of the external environment, thereby maintaining the cleanliness of the external environment.

[0052] In this embodiment, the hose 6 may be a rubber bellows or a rubber flexible joint.

[0053] Furthermore, the clamp further includes an air extraction unit for extracting the gas in the box body 5 to maintain a negative pressure state inside the box body 5 to prevent the dust in the box body 5 from flowing into the external environment. The air extraction unit includes an air extraction pipeline and an exhaust element 52. The air extraction pipeline is arranged in the box body 5 to extract the gas in the box body 5. The exhaust element 52 is arranged outside the box body 5 and communicated with the air extraction pipeline to exhaust the gas in the box body 5 and prevent the external gas from flowing back into the box body 5.

[0054] In this embodiment, the exhaust element 52 is a small box with a chamber. A through hole 521 is provided on a side of the small box away from the ground to facilitate exhaust while reducing the possibility of dust flowing into the external environment.

[0055] Preferably, refer to Figure 2 As shown, each pair of opposite sides of the clamping parts 21 are provided with grooves 211 for the edges of the wafer container to extend into, and elastic sensing elements 212 are provided in the grooves 211 for detecting the displacement of the edges in the grooves along a preset direction. When the clamping parts 21 clamp the wafer container, the edges press the elastic sensing elements 212 for detecting the displacement of the edges in the grooves 211 along a preset direction. When the displacement value detected by the elastic sensing elements 212 reaches the standard, it is preliminarily determined that the clamping jaws have stably clamped the wafer container, thereby reducing the risk of the wafer container being damaged during movement.

[0056] In this embodiment, the preset direction is the direction of the clamping jaws being released. The elastic sensing element 212 is a pressure sensor with a spring, which can convert the displacement value of the edge in the groove into a pressure value.

[0057] Further, see Figure 3 and Figure 4As shown, the transmission unit 1 includes two distance sensing elements 11 arranged opposite to each other along the transmission direction, which are used to detect the displacement of the transmission unit 1 in the opposite direction of the preset direction. In this embodiment, the distance sensing element 11 is a through-beam sensor. When the driving unit 3 transmits power through the transmission unit 1, the two distance sensing elements 11 will detect the change of the displacement value, and the displacement value can be converted into the clamping force of the clamping part 21 on the wafer container through calculation. Through the dual detection of the pressure on the wafer container and the displacement value of the transmission unit 1, the clamping claw can only move the wafer container when the wafer container is clamped, which greatly reduces the risk of the wafer container falling during the movement.

[0058] Furthermore, the clamp also includes an in-situ detection element 7 and a position detection element 8, both of which are respectively arranged on one side of the transmission unit 1. The in-situ detection element 7 is used to detect whether the wafer container is in place, and the position detection element 8 is used to detect the position of the wafer container.

[0059] Preferably, the in-situ detection element 7 and the position detection element 8 are arranged on the same side of the transmission unit 1, so as to simultaneously detect whether the wafer container is in place and the position of the wafer container, shorten the time of finding the position of the wafer container, and improve the clamping efficiency of the clamp.

[0060] In this embodiment, the in-position detection element 7 includes an ultrasonic sensor, and the position detection element 8 includes a visual camera. Specifically, both the in-position detection element 7 and the position detection element 8 are arranged on a side of the box body 5 away from the auxiliary bracket 4.

[0061] Example 2

[0062] Corresponding to the above-mentioned embodiment 1, the embodiment of the utility model further provides a clamping device, wherein in this embodiment, the same or similar contents as those in the above-mentioned embodiment 1 can be referred to the above introduction, and will not be repeated in the following. The device includes a clamping jaw and a walking assembly, and the walking assembly is connected to the clamping jaw and drives the clamping jaw to move.

[0063] In this embodiment, the walking component can be an AGV vehicle.

[0064] Generally, in a clean room, there are multiple machines, on which wafer containers are placed, and the wafer containers are placed in two states: horizontally and vertically. The gripping device starts to operate after receiving the gripping instruction, in which the gripping instruction includes the machine position of the wafer container and the placement state of the wafer.

[0065] The walking component drives the clamp to move to the front of the corresponding machine, and then moves the clamp. The in-situ detection element 7 and the position detection element 8 are detected at the same time. After determining that the wafer container is in place and obtaining the specific position of the wafer container, the clamp is driven to move so that the corresponding pair of clamping parts 21 are respectively located on the opposite sides of the wafer container, and the edges are aligned with the grooves 211 of the clamping parts 21. Then the driving unit 3 is operated, and the two sub-supports 4 are driven to approach each other through the transmission unit 1, thereby driving the corresponding pair of clamping parts 21 to clamp the wafer container. When the displacement value of the transmission unit 1 and the pressure value of the wafer container reach the standard, it is determined that the clamp has stably clamped the wafer container. Then the walking component drives the clamp to move to the next station and put down the wafer container.

[0066] In the description of this specification, the description with reference to the terms "one embodiment", "some embodiments", "example", "specific example", or "some examples" means that the specific features, structures, materials or characteristics described in conjunction with the embodiment or example are included in at least one embodiment or example of the utility model. In this specification, the schematic representation of the above terms does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or example. Moreover, the specific features, structures, materials or characteristics described can be combined in any one or more embodiments or examples in a suitable manner.

[0067] In addition, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the indicated technical features. Therefore, the features defined as "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one of the features. In the description of the present utility model, the meaning of "plurality" is at least two, such as two, three, etc., unless otherwise clearly and specifically defined.

[0068] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described above, it can be understood that the above embodiments are exemplary and cannot be understood as limitations of the present invention. Ordinary technicians in the field can change, modify, replace and modify the above embodiments within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A clamping jaw, characterized in that: The clamping jaws include: The transmission unit has a sub-bracket at each end along the transmission direction thereof, and the sub-bracket has at least two mounting surfaces located on the same plane; The clamping unit comprises at least two pairs of clamping parts, one of the clamping parts is arranged on each of the mounting surfaces, and a first preset angle is formed between two adjacent clamping parts on the sub-bracket; A driving unit is connected to the transmission unit and drives the two auxiliary brackets to move closer to or farther from each other, so as to drive each pair of the clamping parts to clamp or open.

2. The clamping jaw according to claim 1, characterized in that: The clamp further comprises a box body in which the driving unit and the transmission unit are built, the box body has two oppositely arranged through holes, and the transmission unit extends out of the box body through the through holes to be connected with the auxiliary bracket.

3. The clamping jaw according to claim 2, characterized in that: A hose is provided on the outer circumference of the connection between the transmission unit and the auxiliary bracket. One end of the hose is connected to the outer side wall of the box body and is arranged along the circumference of the through hole, and the other end is connected to the auxiliary bracket.

4. The clamp according to claim 3, characterized in that: The clamping jaw further comprises an air extraction unit, and the air extraction unit comprises: An air extraction pipeline is arranged in the box body to extract the gas in the box body; The exhaust element is arranged on the outside of the box body and is connected with the exhaust pipeline to exhaust the gas in the box body and prevent the external gas from flowing back into the box body.

5. The clamping jaw according to claim 1, characterized in that: The clamping claw is used to clamp a wafer container, which has edges. Each pair of opposite sides of the clamping parts is provided with a groove for the edges to extend into. An elastic sensing element is provided in the groove to detect the displacement of the edge in the groove along a preset direction.

6. The clamping jaw according to claim 5, characterized in that: The transmission unit comprises two distance sensing elements arranged opposite to each other along the transmission direction, and are used to detect the displacement of the transmission unit in the opposite direction of the preset direction.

7. The clamping jaw according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that The clamping jaws also include: An in-place detection element is provided on one side of the transmission unit and is used to detect whether the wafer container is in place; The position detection element is arranged at one side of the transmission unit and is used to detect the position of the wafer container.

8. The clamping jaw according to claim 7, characterized in that: The in-position detection element and the position detection element are arranged on the same side of the transmission unit.

9. The clamping jaw according to claim 7, characterized in that: The in-situ detection element includes an ultrasonic sensor; and / or, The position detection element includes a visual camera.

10. A clamping device, characterized in that: The device comprises the clamping jaw and a travel assembly as described in any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the travel assembly is connected to the clamping jaw and drives the clamping jaw to move.

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