Mechanical arm applied to vacuum environment and driving single body thereof

Abstract

The utility model provides a mechanical arm applied to a vacuum environment and a driving single body thereof. The mechanical arm comprises a lifting module, at least one universal driving module, at least one rotating shaft and a movable arm part, the universal driving module is assembled and stacked on the lifting module. The universal driving module comprises a seat body, a motor and a bearing. The motor is arranged on the base and provided with a stator, a rotor and a spacer ring, the stator and the rotor are separated through the spacer ring, the stator is located on the outer ring side, and the rotor is located on the inner ring side. The bearing is arranged on the seat body. The rotating shaft is assembled to a rotor of the universal driving module, and the bearing is coupled between the rotating shaft and the seat body. The movable arm part is assembled to the rotating shaft. Therefore, according to the mechanical arm applied to the vacuum environment and the driving single body of the mechanical arm, the overall structure of the mechanical arm is simplified and the manufacturing cost and complexity are reduced through the modularized driving single body, and meanwhile operation in the vacuum environment is facilitated.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The utility model relates to a kind of mechanical arm applied to vacuum environment and its drive monomer. BACKGROUND

[0002] The existing precision manufacturing equipment, for example, is applied to the related equipment of semiconductor process or substrate process, often faces part process needs operating under vacuum environment, so the maintenance of vacuum system becomes the subject that relevant technical personnel need to think.

[0003] For the maintenance technology of the above-mentioned vacuum system, in addition to how to generate the required vacuum system, the related instrument equipment operating under vacuum environment is also the subject of technology. For example, if the equipment does not have effective gas blocking structure, it is easy to cause loss of vacuum degree due to space communication. In practice, the causes of air leakage of the vacuum system include real leak, virtual leak and outgassing, and the technician needs to monitor these possible air leakage forms at any time. In semiconductor process, real leak is the gas outside the vacuum system, which enters the inside of the vacuum system through system shell, pipe wall, welding defects or flange and joint of scratch knife edge; Virtual leak is the escape of gas molecules in the system, which often occurs in vacuum sealing weld, thread gap and interlayer gas escape. There are two kinds of outgassing phenomena. One is to release the gas molecules adsorbed on the wall of the vacuum system, which is most common in screw, O-ring vacuum sealing and E-gun coating heating. The other is that the equipment instrument contains high vapor pressure substance, which evaporates into gas when the vacuum degree reaches its vapor pressure.

[0004] No matter what the above is, it will affect the vacuum degree required by the process environment, and even cause process failure in severe cases. INVENTION CONTENTS

[0005] The utility model provides a kind of mechanical arm applied to vacuum environment and its drive monomer, mechanical arm is simplified overall structure by modular drive monomer to reduce manufacturing cost and complexity, simultaneously benefit in operating in vacuum environment.

[0006] A kind of mechanical arm applied to vacuum environment of the utility model, including lifting module, at least one general drive module, at least one rotating shaft and movable arm part. General drive module is assembled and stacked on lifting module. General drive module includes seat, motor and bearing. Motor is arranged in seat, motor has stator, rotor and spacer ring, spacer ring separates stator and rotor, stator is located on the side of outer ring, and rotor is located on the side of inner ring. Bearing is arranged in seat. Rotating shaft is assembled to the rotor of general drive module, and bearing is coupled between rotating shaft and seat. Movable arm part is assembled to rotating shaft.

[0007] The utility model discloses a general drive single body of mechanical arm, including general drive module and pivot. General drive module includes seat body, motor and bearing. Motor sets up at seat body, and motor has stator, rotor and spacer ring, and spacer ring divides stator and rotor, and stator is located the side of outer ring, and rotor is located the side of inner ring. Bearing sets up at seat body. The rotor of general drive module is assembled to pivot, and bearing is coupled between pivot and seat body.

[0008] In the embodiment of the utility model, the above-mentioned still includes multiple sealing elements, which are respectively arranged between the seat body and the stator, and the seat body and the stator, the seat body, the spacer ring and the sealing element separate the vacuum side and the atmospheric side, and the bearing, the pivot and the rotor are located on the vacuum side.

[0009] In the embodiment of the utility model, the above-mentioned at least one general drive module includes multiple general drive modules, which are stacked one by one on the lifting module, and the at least one pivot includes multiple pivots, which are respectively assembled to the general drive modules, and the pivots are coaxially nested with each other.

[0010] In the embodiment of the utility model, the above-mentioned still includes multiple sealing elements, which are respectively arranged between the seat body and the stator, and the seat body and the stator, the seat body, the spacer ring and the sealing element separate the vacuum side and the atmospheric side, and the bearing, the pivot and the rotor are located on the vacuum side.

[0011] In the embodiment of the utility model, part of the above-mentioned sealing element is located at the opposite ends of the spacer ring in the axial direction.

[0012] In the embodiment of the utility model, the above-mentioned seat body has multiple first grooves adjacent to the rotor.

[0013] In the embodiment of the utility model, the above-mentioned seat body has multiple second grooves adjacent to the bearing.

[0014] In the embodiment of the utility model, the above-mentioned drive single body is suitable for being matched with a test assembly to perform a gas leakage test, the test assembly includes a test sleeve and a test base, the drive single body is assembled on the test base, and the test sleeve is assembled to the top surface of the drive single body to cover the pivot, so that the general drive module is adjacent between the test sleeve and the test base in appearance.

[0015] Based on the above, since the mechanical arm is composed of the drive single body composed of the general drive module and the pivot as the basic component, the complete mechanical arm can be composed by matching the lifting module and the movable arm part. That is, the general drive module serves as the modular component of the mechanical arm, which can simplify the overall structure and facilitate disassembly and assembly.

[0016] In addition to the ability to stack different numbers of drive units to assemble different conditions of the robot arm according to the rotation requirements, the motor of the universal drive module is separated from the stator and the rotor by a partition ring, so that the stator (which contains complex components such as coils and silicon steel sheets) which is prone to heat, complex materials and difficult to control pollution sources is isolated from the atmosphere side, and the relatively simple rotor (which includes permanent magnets) is isolated from the vacuum side, so that the robot arm can perform substrate transfer operations in a vacuum environment.

[0017] In order to make the above features and advantages of the present application more obvious and easy to understand, the following embodiments are described in detail below, and the drawings are described as follows. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0018] Figure 1A is a schematic diagram of a robot arm according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0019] Figure 1B is a partial structural schematic diagram of the robot arm of Figure 1A

[0020] Figure 2 is an exploded schematic diagram of the robot arm of Figure 1A

[0021] Figure 3A is a cross-sectional view of a drive unit of the robot arm;

[0022] Figure 3B shows a partitioned schematic diagram of the drive unit of Figure 3A

[0023] Figure 4A is a schematic diagram of the drive unit in a test state;

[0024] Figure 4B is an exploded schematic diagram of Figure 4A

[0025] Figure 4C is a partitioned schematic diagram of Figure 4A

[0026] Figure 5A is a partial structural schematic diagram of a robot arm of another embodiment;

[0027] Figure 5B is an exploded schematic diagram of the robot arm of Figure 5A

[0028] Figure 6A is a partial structural schematic diagram of a robot arm of another embodiment;

[0029] Figure 6B is an exploded schematic diagram of the robot arm of Figure 6A ​​​​​​​DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] Figure 1A is a schematic diagram of a mechanical arm according to an embodiment of the present application. Figure 1B is Figure 1A is a schematic diagram of a partial structure of the mechanical arm. Figure 2 is Figure 1A is an exploded schematic diagram of the mechanical arm. Please refer to Figure 1A , Figure 1B and Figure 2 , in this embodiment, the mechanical arm 10 comprises a body 200A, a movable arm portion 300A assembled on the body 200A, and at least one driving unit (for example, driving unit 100A and driving unit 100B in this embodiment), a motor module 400, and a lifting module 500 assembled in the body 200A, wherein the motor module 400 comprises, for example, power supply and control module and other related electrical devices, which are placed at the bottom layer of the body 200A. The lifting module 500 is arranged on the motor module 400, and can drive the driving unit 100A and the driving unit 100B assembled thereon to move up or down after being driven by the motor module 400. The driving unit 100B and the driving unit 100A are sequentially stacked on the lifting module 500, and are structurally coupled between the motor module 400 and the movable arm portion 300A, so as to be driven by the motor module 400 to move the movable arm portion 300A relative to the body 200A in different rotation dimensions. Through the mutual matching of the lifting module 500, the driving unit 100A, and the driving unit 100B, the substrate 20 can be transported.

[0031] As shown in Figure 2 , the body 200A comprises a sleeve 210A, a chassis 230, and a shelf 220. The sleeve 210A and the chassis 230 form a containing space after being combined, and the containing space is layered by the shelf 220, so that the motor module 400 is located at the bottom layer, and the lifting module 500, the driving unit 100A, and the driving unit 100B are located at the upper layer. At the same time, the motor module 400 has a driving shaft 410, which is structurally coupled to the driving unit 100A and the driving unit 100B by passing through the lifting module 500 and the shelf 220.

[0032] As shown in Figure 2 , the driving unit 100A and the driving unit 100B have the same constituent members, that is, each comprises a universal driving module 110, and the difference is only in the size of the shaft 120A and the shaft 120B, so as to be stacked together as shown in Figure 1B , that is, two universal driving modules 110 are stacked together, the shaft 120A is coaxially sleeved outside the shaft 120B, and the shaft 120A and the shaft 120B are connected to the driving components of the movable arm portion 300A, respectively.

[0033] Figure 3A This is a cross-sectional view of the drive unit of the robotic arm. Figure 3B Show Figure 3A A partition diagram of the driver unit, in which Figure 3B To facilitate identification Figure 3A The cross-section is omitted. The composition of the general-purpose drive module 110 will be described here using the drive unit 100A as an example. Please refer to [reference needed]. Figure 3A In this embodiment, the universal drive module 110 includes: a motor 111, an encoder assembly 112, a base 113, a bearing 114, an anti-slinging oil groove 115, a spacer ring 116, and seals 117a and 117b. The motor 111 is placed inside the base 113 and has a stator 111a and a rotor 111b. The encoder assembly 112 is located at the bottom of the motor 111 and includes an encoder 112a and an encoder ring 112b. The encoder 112a is located on the bottom part 113b of the base 113a, and the encoder ring 112b is connected to the structure of the rotor 111b so that the rotor 111b, the rotating shaft 120A, and the drive shaft 410 of the aforementioned motor module 400 can rotate synchronously after being structurally coupled. The bearing 114 is located on the top part 113a of the base 113, and the rotating part of the bearing 114 is used to sleeve onto the rotating shaft 120B and achieve a structural connection with the rotor 111b. Spacer 116 separates stator 111a from rotor 111b, with stator 111a located on the outer ring side and rotor 111b located on the inner ring side. The encoder assembly 112 is as known in existing motor technology and will not be described further.

[0034] Please refer to Figure 3B And compare Figure 3A As described above, in addition to the spacer ring 116, multiple seals 117a and 117b of the universal drive module 110 are respectively disposed on the base 113 and between the base 113 and the stator 111a. Seals 117a are disposed on the top surface of the top component 113a of the base 113, so as to form an airtight structure when another universal drive module 110 is stacked on top of it or when it abuts against other structures. Seals 117b are disposed between the stator 111a and the top component 113a, and between the stator 111a and the bottom component 113b. The two seals 117b shown are located at opposite ends of the spacer ring 116 along the axial direction, thereby forming an airtight structure between the stator 111a and the rotor 111b together with the spacer ring 116. Combined with the top component 113a and the bottom component 113b of the base 113, they form... Figure 3BThe partition line L1 on the sectional view is to isolate the stator 111a (which also contains complex components such as coils and silicon steel sheets) that is prone to heat generation, material complexity, and pollution source that is not easy to control from the atmospheric side S2 (which is equivalent to the space where the outer ring side is located), and to isolate the rotor 111a (which includes permanent magnets) that has a relatively simple structure from the vacuum side S1 (which is equivalent to the space where the inner ring side is located).

[0035] In this way, when multiple universal drive modules 110 are stacked together in the axial direction, the vacuum side S1 and the atmospheric side S2 can be effectively distinguished by the partition line L1, and the rotation shaft (for example Figure 3B the rotation shaft 120B shown) is in the vacuum side S1, which is conducive to allowing it and the movable arm portion (for example, the movable arm portion 300A mentioned above) connected thereto to be in a vacuum environment to perform the substrate 20 transmission operation.

[0036] In addition, as Figure 3A shown, the base body 113 of the universal drive module 110 of the present embodiment also has multiple first grooves 115b and second grooves 115a, where the first grooves 115b are adjacent to the rotor 111b, and the second grooves 115a are adjacent to the bearing 114. Here, the first grooves 115b and the second grooves 115a are respectively oil throwing grooves, which are used to prevent the lubricating oil of the bearing 114 from contaminating other components under the condition of centrifugal force cooperating with gravity when the rotation shaft 120A rotates.

[0037] Figure 4A is a schematic diagram of a drive unit in a testing state. Figure 4B is an exploded schematic diagram of Figure 4A Figure 4C is a partition schematic diagram of Figure 4A Please refer to Figure 4A and Figure 4B In the present embodiment, the drive unit 100B is taken as an example, and because there is a modular universal drive module 110, the drive unit 100B can be leak tested before it is assembled to constitute the robot arm 10. Here, the drive unit 100B is suitable for being matched with a test assembly to perform a leak test, and the test assembly includes a test sleeve 31 and a test base 32. The drive unit 100B is assembled on the test base 32, and the test sleeve 31 is assembled to the top surface of the drive unit 100B to cover the rotation shaft 120B, so that the universal drive module 110 is visually adjacent between the test sleeve 31 and the test base 32. In the present embodiment, the test base 32 has a sealing member or sealing structure to abut the bottom surface of the universal drive module 110, and the top surface of the universal drive module 110 has the sealing member 117a mentioned above to abut the bottom of the test sleeve 31. Then, please refer to Figure 4C which is similar to the aforementioned Figure 3B ​, the partition thereof can be better identified by omitting the section line. Based on the above-mentioned component configuration, the test sleeve 31 and the test base 32 can combine the universal driving module 110 to form the leak detection module 30 with the separation line L1, and thus the vacuum side S1 and the atmospheric side S2 are separated. Accordingly, the test sleeve 31 and the test base 32 can ensure the air tightness with the universal driving module 110, so that whether the universal driving module 110 has the air leakage phenomenon can be effectively detected during the leak detection process.

[0038] Figure 5A is a partial structural schematic diagram of a robot arm of another embodiment. Figure 5B is an exploded schematic diagram of the robot arm of Figure 5A . Figure 6A is a partial structural schematic diagram of a robot arm of another embodiment. Figure 6B is an exploded schematic diagram of the robot arm of Figure 6A . Please refer to Figure 5A and Figure 5B , the robot arm of the present embodiment is constructed by sequentially stacking the driving monomer 100A, the driving monomer 100B, the driving monomer 100C and the driving monomer 100D from top to bottom, and is matched with the body 200B (which includes the sleeve 210B, the shelf 220 and the chassis 230) and the movable arm part 300B. Please refer to Figure 6A and Figure 6B , the robot arm of the present embodiment is constructed by sequentially stacking the driving monomer 100A, the driving monomer 100B, the driving monomer 100C from top to bottom, and is matched with the body 200C (which includes the sleeve 210C, the shelf 220 and the chassis 230) and the movable arm part 300C.

[0039] In summary, in the above-mentioned embodiments of the present application, the robot arm is constructed by using the driving monomer composed of the universal driving module and the rotating shaft as the basic component, and thus the complete robot arm can be constructed by matching the lifting module and the movable arm part. That is, the universal driving module is used as the modular component of the robot arm, which can simplify the overall structure and facilitate disassembly.

[0040] Furthermore, the motor of the universal driving module is separated by the partition ring to separate the stator and the rotor, and is matched with the plurality of sealing members to form the air tight structure of the universal driving module, so as to separate the vacuum side and the atmospheric side of the overall structure. The stator (which further contains the coil, the silicon steel sheet and other complex components) which is easy to generate heat, has complex materials and is difficult to control the pollution source is isolated in the atmospheric side, and the rotor (which includes the permanent magnet) and the rotating shaft assembled thereon which have relatively simple structure are isolated in the vacuum side, so that the robot arm can perform the substrate transmission operation in the vacuum environment.

[0041] In this, in addition to being able to stack different numbers of drive units according to rotation requirements to assemble different condition manipulators, each drive unit can also be matched with a test assembly to perform a leak test. In other words, the manipulator composed of the universal drive module can be confirmed for a leak before assembly. Compared to the existing manipulator which must be tested for leaks after the overall structure is completed, the modularity of the universal drive module provides technicians with simpler and more intuitive operating conditions.

[0042] Finally, it should be noted that: the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present application, and not to limit them; although the present application has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that: it can still modify the technical solutions recorded in the foregoing embodiments, or make equivalent replacement for part or all of the technical features; and these modifications or replacements do not make the essence of the corresponding technical solutions deviate from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application.

Claims

1. A robot arm for use in a vacuum environment, characterized by, Comprising: a lifting module; at least one universal driving module assembled and stacked on the lifting module, the universal driving module comprising: a seat body; a motor disposed in the seat body, the motor having a stator, a rotor and a spacer ring separating the stator and the rotor, wherein the stator is located at the outer ring side and the rotor is located at the inner ring side; a bearing disposed in the seat body; at least one shaft assembled to the rotor of the universal driving module, wherein the bearing is coupled between the shaft and the seat body; and a movable arm portion assembled to the shaft, the seat body having a plurality of first grooves adjacent to the rotor, and the seat body having a plurality of second grooves adjacent to the bearing.

2. The robot arm for use in a vacuum environment according to claim 1, characterized in that, The at least one universal driving module comprises a plurality of universal driving modules stacked one by one on the lifting module, the at least one shaft comprises a plurality of shafts respectively assembled to the plurality of universal driving modules, and the plurality of shafts are coaxially nested with each other.

3. The robot arm for use in a vacuum environment according to claim 1, wherein, Further comprising a plurality of seals respectively arranged between the seat body, the seat body and the stator, the seat body, the spacer ring and the plurality of seals separating a vacuum side and an atmospheric side, and the bearing, the shaft and the rotor being located at the vacuum side.

4. The robot arm for use in a vacuum environment according to claim 3, wherein, Part of the plurality of seals are located at opposite ends of the spacer ring in the axial direction.

5. A drive unit of a robot arm, characterized by Comprising: a universal driving module comprising: a seat body; a motor disposed in the seat body, the motor having a stator, a rotor and a spacer ring separating the stator and the rotor, wherein the stator is located at the outer ring side and the rotor is located at the inner ring side; a bearing disposed in the seat body; and a shaft assembled to the rotor of the universal driving module, wherein the bearing is coupled between the shaft and the seat body, the seat body has a plurality of first grooves respectively adjacent to the shaft and the rotor, and the shaft has a plurality of second grooves adjacent to the bearing.

6. The drive unit of a robot arm according to claim 5, characterized in that, Further comprising a plurality of seals respectively arranged between the seat body, the seat body and the stator, the seat body, the spacer ring and the plurality of seals separating a vacuum side and an atmospheric side, and the bearing, the shaft and the rotor being located at the vacuum side.

7. The drive unit of a robot arm according to claim 6, characterized in that, Part of the plurality of seals are located at opposite ends of the spacer ring in the axial direction.

8. The drive unit of the robot arm according to claim 5, characterized in that, Suitable for being matched with a test assembly for air leakage test, the test assembly comprising a test sleeve and a test base, the driving unit is assembled on the test base, the test sleeve is assembled to the top surface of the driving unit to cover the shaft, so that the universal driving module is adjacent between the test sleeve and the test base in appearance.

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