Robot system for automatically opening and closing a container

Abstract

The invention relates to a robot system (6) for automatically opening and closing a container (7). The robot system (6) comprises, inter alia, a gripper (5) which is fastened to a tool flange (4) of a robot arm (2) such that the gripper (5) is automatically movable along a programmed movement path by a robot controller (3), on which the programmed movement path is stored in a robot program, setting the envisaged joint configuration in question at the robot arm (2), and which gripper has a first gripping tool (5.1) for automatically moving a container upper part (7.2) between its closed position and its open position, and at least one second gripping tool (5.2) for automatically moving a latching tab (8.1, 8.2) of the container (7) between its locking position and its release position.

Description

[0001] Robot system for automatically opening and closing a container

[0002] The invention relates to a robot system for automatically opening and closing a container with at least one container lower part, a container upper part which is adjustably mounted on the container lower part between a closed position and an open position, and at least one locking tab which is adjustable between a locking position and an unlocking position and which is designed to lock the container upper part in its closed position to the container lower part when it is in the locking position and to release the container upper part for opening when it is in the unlocking position.

[0003] WO 2018 192 799 A1 describes a robot gripper for handling objects, in particular containers, each having at least one holding foot by means of a robot, comprising a gripper base body which has a connecting flange which is designed to fasten the robot gripper to a tool flange of a robot arm, further comprising a counterholder connected to the gripper base body, which counterholder has a cutout which is adapted in its shape and size to the holding foot of the object in order to be able to receive it in a form-fitting manner, and an actuator arranged on the gripper base body, preferably adjustably mounted, which is designed to press against the holding foot of the object in a clamping position in order to fix it against the counterholder and to release the holding foot in a release position such that the counterholder is adjustable relative to the holding foot,in order to be able to release the object's holding foot from the robot gripper. US 5 123 681 A describes a hand- and robot-operated lock for a two-part silicon wafer storage container with a lock attachment portion on one part and a support portion on the other part for use with the lock, comprising a horizontally extending, rigid upper tab portion having a first end portion with a locking portion suitable for releasable attachment to the support portion, the horizontally extending, rigid upper tab portion further comprising a second end portion with an elongated connecting pin, a resiliently flexible, curved arc portion with a horizontally extending, rigid lower tab portion, the curved arc portion comprising an upper end portion with pivot pin portions,wherein the pivot pin portions comprise pivot pins adapted for pivotal connection to the closure mounting portion on the storage container, and an elongated, upright, resiliently flexible body portion formed integrally with the horizontally extending upper tab portion and extending between it and the curved arc portion.

[0004] The object of the invention is to create a robot system with which a container designed exclusively for manual handling can nevertheless be handled automatically by means of a robot arm with a gripper attached to its tool flange.

[0005] The object is achieved by a robot system for automatically opening and closing a container with at least one container lower part, a container upper part adjustably mounted on the container lower part between a closed position and an open position and at least one locking tab adjustable between a locking position and an unlocking position, which is designed to lock the container upper part in its closed position with the container lower part when it is in the locking position and to release the container upper part for opening when it is in the unlocking position, comprising:

[0006] - a robot arm with several links and several joints, wherein the joints connect the links in a mutually adjustable manner, with automatically controllable drives, of which one drive is designed to move one of the joints in each case, so that by automatically controlled movement of the joints by means of the drives, the links of the robot arm can be adjusted to a desired joint configuration,

[0007] - a robot controller designed to automatically control the drives in order to adjust the robot arm to a respective intended joint configuration,

[0008] - a gripper which is attached to a tool flange of the robot arm, so that the gripper can be moved automatically along a programmed movement path by the robot controller, on which the programmed movement path is stored in a robot program, setting the respective intended joint configuration on the robot arm, and which has a first gripping tool for automatically moving the container upper part between its closed position and its open position, and

[0009] - comprising at least one second gripping tool for automatically moving the locking tab between its locking position and its unlocking position.

[0010] The robot system is part of an automated workstation or the robot system can form the automated workstation. The robot system comprises at least one robot arm, a robot controller for automatic, program-controlled or manually controlled operation of the robot arm, and at least one gripper, which is fastened in particular to a tool flange of the robot arm. The robot arm can, for example, be designed as an articulated arm robot. The robot arm can accordingly have a kinematic chain of several links and joints, which in particular comprises links and joints configured alternately in a linear chain. The articulated arm robot can, for example, be designed as a 6-axis robot or a redundant 7-axis robot.Both the robot arm and the associated robot controller can be designed and configured to operate the robot arm in a force / torque controlled manner, in particular in a compliance controlled manner. For this purpose, at least one force sensor and / or at least one torque sensor can be assigned to each joint of the robot arm. The force sensors and / or torque sensors of the plurality of joints of the robot arm supply the robot controller with signals containing information about the forces and / or torques occurring at the respective joint in question. Instead of individual force sensors and / or torque sensors in each joint, the robot arm can also have a multi-axis force sensor and / or multi-axis torque sensor that is mounted on a tool flange of the robot arm.

[0011] The container can generally be any container which has at least one container bottom part and one container top part and at least one locking tab.

[0012] Specifically, the container may be a transport container for a magazine designed to store and transport a group of wafers. Thus, the container may be a wafer transport container.

[0013] Such containers have a container base, a container top that is adjustably mounted on the container base between a closed position and an open position, and at least one locking tab, usually two locking tabs.

[0014] Wafer transport containers have been widely used in practice for a long time. Originally, they were intended exclusively for manual transport, i.e., these wafer transport containers are designed in such a way that the locking tabs can be operated, i.e., locked and unlocked, with the fingers of a person's hand. The container's upper part is also designed in such a way that it can be opened and closed with the hands of a person. These wafer transport containers are largely standardized and are used in many existing wafer

[0015] production facilities. However, automation technology is increasingly finding its way into wafer production facilities and the task is increasingly being faced with the task of automating not only the actual "wafer handling" of individual wafers in the clean rooms, but also the transport of wafer transport containers, in particular wafer transport containers that are loaded with wafers to be transported. Wafers are usually transported from one workstation to another within the wafer production facility, preferably in groups, i.e. several individual wafers stored together in a magazine. The wafer transport container is intended to protect the wafers from damage and contamination during transport.

[0016] Solutions have already been proposed, such as in US Pat. No. 5,123,681, in which wafer transport containers are specially designed for automated handling, particularly for handling by robots. However, such solutions have the disadvantage that they no longer correspond to the previously used standard, but represent special solutions. Such special solutions are being adopted only hesitantly in wafer production. On the one hand, the existing wafer transport containers should continue to be used, primarily because the existing workstations are tailored to them, and on the other hand, these should not be modified, primarily for cost reasons.

[0017] The robot system according to the invention solves the problem by creating a robot system with which conventional containers designed solely for manual handling can also be reused at a workstation automated by a robot arm. With the robot system according to the invention, not only can the at least one locking tab be automatically locked and unlocked, but the container upper part can also be automatically moved by the robot arm from its closed position to its open position and / or from its open position to its closed position.

[0018] The container to be automatically handled by the robot system has at least one locking tab that can be adjusted between a locking position and an unlocking position. The locking tab is designed to lock the container upper part in its closed position to the container lower part when it is in the locking position. This reliably prevents unintentional or undesired, independent opening of the container upper part.

[0019] The locking tab releases the upper part of the container for opening when it is in the unlocked position. Thus, when the locking tab is unlocked, the upper part of the container can be opened automatically by means of the robot arm. The upper part of the container can then be closed automatically again at a later time by means of the robot arm. The container can have a single locking tab. However, the container can also, as usual, have several locking tabs, for example two locking tabs. Each locking tab can, for example, be pivotally mounted on the lower part of the container so that the locking tab can be pivoted back and forth between its locking position and its unlocked position. A locking hook of the respective locking tab can be located behind a locking projection on the

[0020] Lock the upper part of the container into place. The respective

[0021] The locking tab may have an actuating portion configured to be actuated by the fingers of a person's hand.

[0022] The robot arm has several links and several joints, with the joints connecting the links in an adjustable manner. Each joint has an automatically controllable drive designed to move the associated joint. By automatically controlling the joints using the drives, the links of the robot arm can be set to a desired joint configuration. The joint configuration of the robot arm is defined by the set of joint angle position values ​​of all joints of the robot arm. This joint configuration of the robot arm can also be referred to as the pose of the robot arm.

[0023] The robot controller is designed to automatically control the drives in order to adjust the robot arm to a specific joint configuration. For this purpose, a robot program can be stored in the robot controller, which contains positions for the position and orientation of a working point of the robot arm, i.e., a tool reference point (TCP, "tool center point"), and / or associated travel commands. When the robot program is executed, the robot arm moves accordingly and guides the gripper along a desired path.

[0024] The gripper is attached to a tool flange of the robot arm so that the gripper can be moved automatically along a programmed movement path by the robot controller, on which the programmed movement path is stored in a robot program, setting the respective intended joint configuration or of several predetermined joint configurations, one joint configuration after the other, on the robot arm, in a continuous movement or point-to-point.

[0025] The gripper has at least a first gripping tool designed to automatically move the container upper part between its closed position and its open position. The gripper is designed to grip the container upper part without the container upper part having separate, special gripping sections specifically designed to be grasped by an automated gripper. The gripper can therefore preferably be designed as a clamping gripper.

[0026] The robot system also includes a second gripping tool for automatically moving the locking tab between its locking position and its unlocking position. The second gripping tool can be provided on the gripper, like the first gripping tool. Alternatively, the second gripping tool can also be installed separately from the gripper within the robot system, i.e., within a workstation that includes the robot system.The second gripping tool can in particular be arranged in a stationary manner, wherein an automatic handling of the at least one locking tab can be carried out by a movement carried out by means of the robot arm, in that the gripper of the robot arm grips the container and brings it towards the stationary second gripping tool, so that the second gripping tool can interact with the at least one locking tab and an automatic movement of the container releases the at least one locking tab in order to unlock the container upper part. Locking can also take place in an analogous manner. The feature according to which the robot control is designed accordingly means that the robot control is constructed in this specific way.The feature that the robot controller is set up accordingly means that the robot controller is programmed in this specific way by means of a program or software.

[0027] The robot controller can accordingly be designed and configured to detect the forces and / or moments occurring in the respective joints during an automatic movement of the robot arm and the gripper attached to the tool flange of the robot arm and, on the basis of the detected forces and / or moments, to control the drives of the joints of the robot arm in such a way that, during gripping and moving of the upper part of the container by means of the first gripper tool from its closed position into its open position, the lower part of the container maintains its rest position.

[0028] The special feature here is that the single robot arm simulates a one-arm operation of the container. This means that there is no second arm that could hold the lower part of the container in place if necessary. The robot controller must therefore control the robot arm with sufficient sensitivity so that the upper part of the container can be opened automatically without the lower part of the container moving along with it. Movement of the lower part of the container, which must be avoided, can be recognized by the fact that more force and / or more torque than would be required to carry out the opening movement for the upper part of the container than would be necessary for moving the upper part of the container alone. The process forces actually occurring can be recorded using sensors in the robot system.The sensors can, in particular, be formed by the joint sensors that are already present at the joints of a force / torque-controlled robot arm. The robot arm can thus be controlled by the robot controller in a force / torque-controlled mode, particularly with compliance control.

[0029] The robot controller can also be designed and configured to control the drives of the joints of the robot arm to move the upper part of the container from its closed position to its open position on the basis of the detected forces and / or moments only if, due to the detected forces and / or moments, the process force required to move the upper part of the container is less than a multiple of a weight force of the upper part of the container determined from the mass of the upper part of the container.

[0030] For example, when opening the upper part of the container, a process force must be applied which is at least large enough to compensate for the weight of the upper part of the container and, for example, to overcome the friction and other energy losses that occur. However, these additional forces are less than twice the weight of the upper part of the container. For example, process forces that are 1.5 times, 1.7 times or 1.9 times the weight of the upper part of the container may be permissible. A process force that is then larger, i.e. more than the

[0031] A force twice the weight of the container's upper part indicates that the container's upper part is not moving properly. The current automatic movement of the robot arm is then stopped, and a different automatic movement is performed by the robot arm. Due to the specific design of the container, particularly a wafer transport container, it can be assumed that the container's lower part weighs at least as much as, or even more than, the container's upper part.

[0032] The first gripper tool can be designed as a two-jaw gripper having two automatically mutually adjustable gripper jaws, each of which is designed and configured to non-positively and / or positively, in particular clampingly, grip a lateral side wall of the container upper part of two opposite lateral side walls of the container upper part.

[0033] The feature that the gripper jaws are designed accordingly means that the gripper jaws are constructed in this specific way. The feature that the gripper jaws are configured accordingly means that the gripper jaws are controlled accordingly by the robot controller, and the robot controller is programmed in this specific way using a program or software.

[0034] The front of the container, in particular of a wafer transport container, is formed by the side which is open for removal or insertion when the upper container part is open, but is not the upper side. The upper container part can therefore have a downwardly extending flap section which closes a front access opening in the lower container part when the upper container part is in the closed position. Markings, notes, stickers or the like are usually attached to this front flap section of the upper container part, which contain information, for example about the type of content being transported. This makes it difficult for the first gripping tool to use the front flap section of the upper container part.Therefore, in the special embodiment, it is provided that the two-jaw gripper acts on opposite lateral sides of the container, i.e. the left side and the right side relative to the front of the container, and not in the area of ​​the front flap section.

[0035] A two-jaw gripper is understood to be a clamping gripper or a suction gripper, which has at least one gripper finger on opposite sides of the container. However, not only a single gripper finger can be provided on each side, but also two or more individual gripper fingers or gripper fingers in groups can be provided on each side.

[0036] The opposing gripper jaws or gripper fingers are mounted so that they can be adjusted relative to each other, allowing them to be automatically moved toward or away from each other. For this purpose, the first gripping tool can comprise a drive, such as an electric motor or a pneumatic cylinder, which can be automatically controlled, for example, by the robot controller.

[0037] Each gripper jaw can have a clamping piece which has a contact surface for contact with the respective lateral side wall of the container upper part, wherein the clamping piece is rotatably mounted by means of a ball joint on a gripper jaw base body of the gripper jaw, in particular is rotatably mounted about an axis of rotation running through the two clamping points of the two gripper jaws on the opposite lateral side walls of the container upper part.

[0038] Each gripper jaw forms a gripper finger, at the fingertip of which the clamping piece is arranged. The clamping piece forms a connecting body which is positioned between the actual gripper jaw or the actual gripper finger and the associated side wall of the container when the two-jaw gripper grips the container. The clamping piece is arranged on the respective gripper jaw, in particular mounted or fastened thereto. The clamping piece has a contact surface facing the container. The contact surface can have a surface structure, in particular a surface roughness, which improves contact with the container, in particular has a high coefficient of friction when the clamping piece is in contact with the associated side wall of the container.

[0039] Because the clamping piece is rotatably mounted on the gripper jaw base body by means of the ball joint, the robot arm and thus the gripper can pivot the upper part of the container through a required pivot angle without the gripper or the robot arm having to fully execute this pivot angle. Because of the opposing ball joints, the gripper can be rotated relative to the clamped container, specifically about an axis of rotation that runs parallel to the pivot axis about which the upper part of the container pivots. In this embodiment, the upper part of the container is mounted on the lower part of the container so that it can pivot about the pivot axis, for example by means of at least one hinge. As a result, the upper part of the container can be pivoted about the pivot angle with the gripping gripper, whereby the gripper only needs to be rotated through a smaller angle of rotation or not at all.This allows the gripper to be guided along a movement path that can be executed much more easily by the robot arm than a movement path in which the gripper must be rotated by the same swivel angle as the upper part of the container.

[0040] The robot controller can accordingly be designed and configured to hold the gripper and / or the tool flange of the robot arm at least substantially in its initial orientation during a movement of the gripper carried out to open the upper part of the container, while the gripper clamps the upper part of the container by means of the gripper jaws of the first gripping tool, or to merely carry out a pivoting movement with a smaller pivoting angle than the pivoting angle for completely opening the upper part of the container.

[0041] The second gripping tool can be attached to the gripper for automatically moving the locking tab between its locking position and its unlocking position, and the automatic movement of the locking tab between its locking position and its unlocking position can be carried out by the robot controller automatically controlling the drives of the joints of the robot arm so that the second gripping tool is moved accordingly for automatically actuating the locking tab.

[0042] Because the second gripping tool is attached to the gripper, the unlocking or locking of at least one locking tab can be carried out by an automatic movement of the robot arm controlled by the robot controller, without the container having to be moved. There is also no need to change the tool, since both the first gripping tool and the second gripping tool are attached together to the tool flange of the robot arm. In this embodiment, however, after the locking tabs have been unlocked, the gripper must be repositioned using the second gripping tool so that the first gripping tool can engage the upper part of the container in order to open the upper part of the container.

[0043] The second gripping tool can be fixedly attached to a fixed holder of a workstation of the robot system for automatically moving the locking tab between its locking position and its unlocking position, and the automatic movement of the locking tab between its locking position and its unlocking position can be carried out by the robot controller automatically controlling the drives of the joints of the robot arm, so that the first gripping tool moves the entire container in such a way that the closed locking tab is brought towards the fixedly attached second gripping tool and is brought into engagement with it, so that by means of an automatically carried out further movement of the container by controlled adjustment of the joints of the robot arm, at least one locking tab is opened.

[0044] In this embodiment, the gripper does not have to be repositioned after unlocking the locking tabs using the second gripping tool, but the first gripping tool, which already holds the container during the unlocking of the locking tabs, can move the container upper part without re-gripping in order to move the container upper part in a continuous

[0045] Movement to open. The robot controller can be designed and configured to automatically guide the gripper for automatically moving the locking tab between its locking position and its unlocking position in such a way that only one locking tab is opened or closed at a time.

[0046] If only one locking tab is actuated at a time, the risk of the container base tipping or shifting accidentally is reduced, as only lower process forces are required than with process alternatives in which two or more locking tabs are actuated simultaneously.

[0047] The lower part of the container can be held in a fixed position in the robot system in a form-fitting manner at least during the automatic opening or closing of the upper part of the container, at least against slipping in its standing plane.

[0048] The receptacle can be formed, for example, by a frame-like, circumferential ledge or a U-shaped three-sided ledge arranged on a work surface. The ledge or three-sided ledge forms a positive-locking limit to the base of the container, preventing it from slipping.

[0049] Specific embodiments of the invention are explained in more detail in the following description with reference to the accompanying figures. Regardless of the specific context in which they are mentioned, specific features of these exemplary embodiments may, if appropriate, also represent general features of the invention when considered individually or in further combinations. an exemplary robot system with a robot arm, a robot controller and a gripper, a perspective view of an exemplary container in the design of a wafer transport container in its open position, a perspective view of the exemplary container in the design of a wafer transport container according to Fig. 2 in its closed position, a perspective view of the exemplary first gripping tool of a gripper of the robot arm, a perspective view of an exemplary second gripping tool in an attachment variant on the gripper of the robot arm, and a perspective view of an exemplary second gripping tool in an arrangement separate from the gripper of the robot arm, which is stationary. shows a robot 1 in an exemplary

[0050] Designed as a so-called lightweight robot, which has a robot arm 2 and a robot controller 3. In the present embodiment, the robot arm 2 comprises eight successively arranged links L1-L8, which are connected to one another by means of joints J1-J7 so as to be rotatable. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 1, the link L8 is designed as a tool flange.

[0051] 4, for attaching a gripper 5. The gripper 5 has at least a first gripping tool 5.1. The gripper

[0052] 5 can optionally also have a second gripping tool 5.2, as shown.

[0053] The robot system 6 shown as an example is used for the automatic opening and closing of a container 7 (Fig. 2 and Fig. 3) with at least one container lower part 7.1, a container upper part 7.2 which is adjustably mounted on the container lower part 7.1 between a closed position (Fig. 3) and an open position (Fig. 2) and at least one, in the case of the exemplary embodiment shown two, adjustable locking tabs 8.1 and 8.2 which are designed to lock the container upper part 7.2 in its closed position with the container lower part 7.1 when it is in the locked position and to release the container upper part 7.2 for opening when it is in the unlocked position.

[0054] The robot system 6 has a robot arm 2 with a plurality of links L1-L8 and a plurality of joints J1-J7, wherein the joints J1-J7 connect the links L1-L8 in a mutually adjustable manner, with automatically controllable drives (inside the robot arm 2, not visible), of which a drive is designed to move a respective joint J1-J7 of the joints J1-J7, so that by automatically controlled movement of the joints J1-J7 by means of the drives, the links L1-L8 of the robot arm 2 can be adjusted to a desired joint configuration.

[0055] The robot system 6 additionally has a robot controller 3 which is designed to automatically control the drives in order to adjust the robot arm 2 into a respectively provided joint configuration.

[0056] The robot system 6 also has a gripper 5 which is attached to a tool flange 4 of the robot arm 2, so that the gripper 5 can be moved automatically along a programmed movement path by the robot controller 3, on which the programmed movement path is stored in a robot program, setting the respective intended joint configuration on the robot arm 2.

[0057] The gripper 5 has at least a first gripping tool 5.1 for automatically moving the container upper part 7.2 between its closed position (Fig. 3) and its open position (Fig. 2).

[0058] The robot system 6 also has at least one second gripping tool 5.2 for automatically moving the locking tabs 8.1, 8.2 between their locking position and their unlocking position.

[0059] As shown in Fig. 2, the locking tabs 8.1, 8.2 release the container upper part 7.2 for opening when it is in the unlocked position. Thus, with the locking tabs 8.1, 8.2 unlocked, the container upper part 7.2 can be automatically opened by the robot arm 2. The container upper part 7.2 can then be automatically closed again at a later time by the robot arm 2. The container 7 can have a single locking tab 8.1. However, the container 7 can also have several locking tabs 8.1, 8.2, for example, two locking tabs 8.1, 8.2 as shown in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3. Each locking tab 8.1, 8.2 can, for example, be pivotally mounted on the container base 7.1 so that the locking tabs 8.1, 8.2 can be pivoted back and forth between their locking and unlocking positions. A respective locking hook 9.1, 9.2 of the respective locking tab 8.1, 8.2 can engage positively behind a locking projection 10.1, 10.2 on the container upper part 7.2 in the locked position. The respective locking tab 8.1, 8.2 can have an actuating section 11.1, 11.2 designed for actuation with the fingers of a person's hand.

[0060] The front side of the container 7, in particular of a wafer transport container 7a, is formed by the side which, when the container upper part 7.2 is open, is open for removal or insertion, but is not the upper side. The container upper part 7.2 can therefore have a downwardly extending flap section 12 which, when the container upper part 7.2 is in the closed position, closes a front access opening 13 of the container lower part 7.1. Markings, notes, stickers, or the like, which contain information, for example, about the type of transported contents, are usually attached to this front flap section 12 of the container upper part 7.2, for example in a pocket 14 designed for this purpose. This makes the use of the front flap section 12 of the container upper part 7.2 by the first gripping tool 5.1 difficult.Therefore, in the special embodiment shown, it is provided that the gripper 5 in the form of a two-jaw gripper engages on opposite lateral sides of the container 7, i.e. the left side and the right side relative to the front of the container 7, and not in the area of ​​the front flap section 12.

[0061] The robot controller 3 is designed and configured to detect the forces and / or moments occurring in the respective joints J1-J7 during an automatic movement of the robot arm 2 and of the gripper 5 fastened to the tool flange 4 of the robot arm 2 and, on the basis of the detected forces and / or moments, to control the drives of the joints J1-J7 of the robot arm 2 in such a way that, during gripping and moving of the container upper part 7.2 by means of the first gripper tool 5.1 from its closed position (Fig. 3) into its open position (Fig. 2), the container lower part 7.1 maintains its rest position.

[0062] The container lower part 7.1 can be held in a fixed receptacle 15 of the robot system 6 in a form-fitting manner at least during the automatic opening or closing of the container upper part 7.2, at least against slipping in its standing plane.

[0063] In the case of the present exemplary embodiment, the robot controller 3 is designed and configured to control the drives of the joints J1-J7 of the robot arm 2 to move the container upper part 7.2 from its closed position to its open position on the basis of the detected forces and / or moments only if, due to the detected forces and / or moments, the process force required to move the container upper part 7.2 is smaller than a multiple of a weight force of the container upper part 7.2 determined from the mass of the container upper part 7.2.

[0064] For example, when opening the container upper part 7.2, a process force must be applied that is at least large enough to compensate for the weight of the container upper part 7.2 and, for example, to also overcome any friction and other energy losses that occur. However, these additional forces are less than twice the weight of the container upper part 7.2. For example, process forces that are 1.5 times, 1.7 times, or 1.9 times the weight of the container upper part 7.2 may be permissible. A process force that is then greater, i.e. more than twice the weight of the container upper part 7.2, indicates that the container upper part 7.2 is not moving properly. The current automatic movement of the robot arm 2 is then stopped, and a different automatic movement is performed by the robot arm 2.Due to the specific structure of the container 7, in particular a wafer transport container 7a, it can be assumed that the container lower part 7.1 weighs at least as much as the container upper part 7.2, or even has a greater weight than the container upper part 7.2.

[0065] As shown in more detail in Fig. 4, the first gripper tool 5.1 can be designed as a two-jaw gripper 16, which has two automatically mutually adjustable gripper jaws 16.1 and 16.2, of which each gripper jaw 16.1, 16.2 is designed and configured for the force-fitting and / or form-fitting, in particular clamping, gripping of a lateral side wall 17 (Fig. 2) of the container upper part 7.2 by two opposite lateral

[0066] Side walls 17 of the container upper part 7.2.

[0067] Each gripper jaw 16.1, 16.2 can have a clamping piece 18 which has a contact surface for contact with the respective lateral side wall 17 of the container upper part 7.2, wherein the clamping piece 18 is rotatably mounted by means of a ball joint 19 on a gripper jaw base body 20 of the gripper jaw 16.1, 16.2, in particular is rotatably mounted about a rotation axis running through the two clamping points of the two gripper jaws 16.1, 16.2 on the opposite lateral side walls 17 of the container upper part 7.2.

[0068] The robot controller can be designed and configured to hold the gripper 5 and / or the tool flange 4 of the robot arm 2 at least substantially in its initial orientation during a movement of the gripper 5 carried out to open the container upper part 7.2, while the gripper 5 clamps the container upper part 7.2 by means of the gripper jaws 16.1, 16.2 of the first gripping tool 5.1, or to merely execute a pivoting movement with a smaller pivoting angle than the pivoting angle for completely opening the container upper part 7.2.

[0069] The second gripping tool 5.2 can be attached to the gripper 5 for automatically moving the locking tabs 8.1, 8.2 between their locking positions and their unlocking positions, as shown in Fig. 5. The automatic movement of the locking tabs 8.1, 8.2 is carried out individually between their locking positions and their unlocking positions by the robot controller 3 automatically controlling the drives of the joints J1-J7 of the robot arm 2, so that the second gripping tool 5.2 for automatically actuating the locking tabs

[0070] 8.1, 8.2, either individually or both simultaneously, can be moved accordingly.

[0071] Fig. 6 shows how the second gripping tool

[0072] 5.2 for automatically moving the locking tabs 8.1, 8.2 between their locking positions and their unlocking positions can be fixedly attached to a fixed holder 21 of a workstation 22 of the robot system 6 and the automatic movement of the locking tabs 8.1,

[0073] 8.2 between their locking positions and their unlocking positions is carried out by the robot controller 3 automatically controlling the drives of the joints J1-J7 of the robot arm 2, so that the first gripping tool 5.1 moves the entire container 7 in such a way that the closed locking tabs 8.1, 8.2 are brought towards the stationary second gripping tool 5.2 and brought into engagement with it, so that by means of an automatically executed further movement of the container 7 by controlled adjustment of the joints J1-J7 of the robot arm 2, the locking tabs 8.1, 8.2 are opened.

[0074] In this case, it can be provided that during the automatic pivoting of the container 7 by means of the robot arm 2, a lower edge 23 of the container 7 rolls on a working surface 24 around a pivot point 25 in order to unlock the locking tab 8.1, 8.2 located on the second gripping tool 5.2 on the fixed holder 21. In continuation of such a rotary movement of the container 7, the lower part of the container 7.1 comes to rest flat on the working surface 24 and, due to the released locking tabs 8.1, 8.2, the upper part of the container 7.1 can be pivoted open on its own. The robot controller 3 can, however, also be designed and configured to automatically guide the gripper 5 for automatically moving the locking tabs 8.1, 8.2 between their locking positions and their unlocking positions in such a way that only a single

[0075] Locking tab 8.1, 8.2 is opened or closed simultaneously.

Claims

Patent claims 1. Robot system for automatically opening and closing a container (7) with at least one container lower part (7.1), a container upper part (7.2) mounted on the container lower part (7.2) so as to be adjustable between a closed position and an open position, and at least one locking position and an unlocking position adjustable locking tab (8.1, 8.2), which is designed to lock the container upper part (7.2) in its closed position with the container lower part (7.1) when it is in the locking position and to release the container upper part (7.2) for opening when it is in the unlocking position, comprising: - a robot arm (2) with several links (L1-L8) and several joints (J1-J7), wherein the joints (J1 - J7) connect the links (L1-L8) in a mutually adjustable manner, with automatically controllable drives, of which one drive is designed to move a joint (J1-J7) of the joints (J1-J7), so that by automatically controlled movement of the joints (J1-J7) by means of the drives, the links (L1-L8) of the robot arm (2) can be adjusted to a desired joint configuration, - a robot controller (3) which is designed to automatically control the drives in order to move the robot arm (2) to be adjusted to a specific joint configuration, - a gripper (5) which is attached to a tool flange (4) of the robot arm (2), so that the gripper (5) can be moved automatically along a programmed movement path by the robot controller (3), on which the programmed movement path is stored in a robot program, setting the respective intended joint configuration on the robot arm (2), and which has a first gripping tool (5.1) for automatically moving the container upper part (7.2) between its closed position and its open position, and - comprising at least one second gripping tool (5.2) for automatically moving the locking tab (8.1, 8.2) between its locking position and its Unlocking position.

2. Robot system according to claim 1, characterized in that the robot controller (3) is designed and configured to detect the forces and / or moments occurring in the respective joints (J1-J7) during an automatic movement of the robot arm (2) and of the gripper (5) fastened to the tool flange (4) of the robot arm (2) and, on the basis of the detected forces and / or moments, to control the drives of the joints (J1-J7) of the robot arm (2) in such a way that, during gripping and moving of the upper container part (7.2) by means of the first gripper tool (5.1) from its closed position to its open position, the lower container part (7.1) maintains its rest position.

3. Robot system according to claim 2, characterized in that the robot control (3) is designed and is set up, on the basis of the detected forces and / or moments, to control the drives of the joints (J1-J7) of the robot arm (2) to move the container upper part (7.2) from its closed position to its open position only if, due to the detected forces and / or moments, the process force required to move the container upper part (7.2) is smaller than a multiple of a weight force of the container upper part (7.2) determined from the mass of the container upper part (7.2).

4. Robot system according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the first gripper tool (5.1) is designed as a two-jaw gripper (16) which has two automatically mutually adjustable gripper jaws (16.1, 16.2), of which each gripper jaw (16.1, 16.2) is designed and configured for non-positive and / or positive, in particular clamping, gripping of a lateral side wall (17) of the container upper part (7.2) of two opposite lateral side walls (17) of the container upper part (7.2).

5. Robot system according to claim 4, characterized in that each gripper jaw (16.1, 16.2) has a clamping piece (18) which has a contact surface for contact with the respective lateral side wall (17) of the container upper part (7.2), wherein the clamping piece (18) is rotatably mounted by means of a ball joint (19) on a gripper jaw base body (20) of the gripper jaw (16.1, 16.2), in particular about an angle formed by the two clamping points of the two gripper jaws (16.1, 16.2) on the opposite lateral side walls (17) of the The axis of rotation extending through the upper part of the container (7.2) is rotatably mounted.

6. Robot system according to claim 5, characterized in that the robot controller (3) is designed and configured to hold the gripper (5) and / or the tool flange (4) of the robot arm (2) at least substantially in its initial orientation or to merely execute a pivoting movement with a smaller pivot angle than the pivot angle for fully opening the container upper part (7.2) during a movement of the gripper (5) carried out to open the container upper part (7.2), while the gripper clamps the container upper part (7.2) by means of the gripper jaws (16.1, 16.2) of the first gripping tool (5.1).

7. Robot system according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the second gripping tool (5.2) for automatically moving the locking tab (8.1, 8.2) between its locking position and its unlocking position is attached to the gripper (5) and the automatic movement of the locking tab (8.1, 8.2) between its locking position and its unlocking position is carried out by the robot controller (3) automatically controlling the drives of the joints (J1-J7) of the robot arm (2) so that the second gripping tool (5.2) for automatically actuating the locking tab (8.1, 8.2) is moved accordingly.

8. Robot system according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the second gripping tool (5.2) for automatically moving the locking tab (8.1, 8.2) between its locking position and its unlocking position is fixedly fastened to a fixed holder (21) of a workstation (22) of the robot system (6) and the automatic movement of the locking tab (8.1, 8.2) between its locking position and its unlocking position is carried out by the robot controller (3) automatically controlling the drives of the joints (J1-J7) of the robot arm (2) so that the first gripping tool (5.1) moves the entire container (7) in such a way that the closed locking tab (8.1, 8.2) is brought towards the stationary second gripping tool (5.2) and engaged therewith, so that by means of an automatically executed further movement of the container (7) by controlled adjustment of the joints (J1-J7) of the robot arm (2), the at least one locking tab (8.1, 8.2) is opened.

9. Robot system according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the robot controller (3) is designed and configured to automatically guide the gripper (5) for automatically moving the locking tab (8.1, 8.2) between its locking position and its unlocking position in such a way that only a single locking tab (8.1, 8.2) is opened or closed at a time.

10. Robot system according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the container lower part (7.1) is held in a stationary receptacle (15) of the robot system (6) at least during the automatic opening or closing of the container upper part (7.2). at least is held in place in a form-fitting manner to prevent it from slipping in its standing plane.

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