Transport vehicle

Abstract

This conveyance vehicle comprises a body part having: a gripping part that grips one article; a lifting drive part that raises and lowers the gripping part; a lateral protrusion mechanism that causes the lifting drive part to protrude to a lateral side of the body part; a shelf board that is provided at a lower end part of a frame and on which one or a plurality of articles can be placed; and a control part that controls the lateral protrusion amount of the lateral protrusion mechanism and the lifting amount of the gripping part. The body part can store a plurality of articles in the frame. The control part determines whether to place the article gripped by the gripping part on the shelf board or to maintain the gripped state according to the placement status of the one or plurality of articles on the shelf board.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a transport vehicle for transporting articles.

Background Art

[0002] As a document disclosing such a technology, there is known a cart that transports a reticle stocker (container) storing a pattern transfer mask (see, for example, Patent Document 1). This cart is provided with two grippers. The two grippers and the two reticle stockers gripped by them are arranged in a direction along the laying direction of the track rail (the traveling direction of the cart). The gripper has a lifting rope, and the reticle stocker is transferred (transferred) between a mounting table provided in a substrate processing apparatus or the like and the cart by the lifting of the lifting rope.

Prior Art Literature

Patent Literature

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problem to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] In the conventional cart described above, the container (article) is transferred by each of the two grippers. However, the configuration of the gripper (gripping part) is complicated, and the operation is limited to lifting and lowering the lifting rope, so there are few variations of container transfer modes.

[0005] The present disclosure describes a transport vehicle capable of increasing the degree of freedom in article transfer modes and transport modes without complicating the configuration of the gripping part.

Means for Solving the Problem

[0006] One aspect of the present disclosure is a transport vehicle comprising a running section that travels on a track and a main body connected to the running section, wherein the main body comprises a frame connected to the running section, a gripping section that moves up and down relative to the frame and grips one article, a lifting drive section that moves the gripping section up and down, a lateral extension mechanism that causes the lifting drive section to protrude to the side of the main body, a shelf provided at the lower end of the frame on which one or more articles can be placed, and a control unit that controls the amount of lateral extension of the lateral extension mechanism and the amount of lifting and lowering of the gripping section, wherein the main body can accommodate multiple articles within the frame, and the control unit determines whether to place the article gripped by the gripping section on the shelf or to maintain the gripped state, depending on the placement of one or more articles on the shelf.

[0007] With this transport vehicle, one or more items are placed on shelves provided at the lower end of the frame. Therefore, means for transporting items are provided in addition to gripping items with the gripping parts, increasing the degree of freedom in the transport method of items (in this case, meaning something close to storage). By placing items on the shelves and gripping items with the gripping parts, at least one of these means allows the main body to accommodate multiple items within the frame. Furthermore, since the main body has a lateral loading mechanism, by appropriately devising the arrangement of the shelves, the cooperation between the lifting drive unit and the lateral loading mechanism diversifies the variations in the transfer method. The control unit decides whether to place one item gripped by one gripping part on the shelf or to maintain the gripped state. Therefore, the degree of freedom in the transfer method and transport method of items can be increased without complicating the configuration of the gripping parts. For example, it is possible to travel with multiple items inside (within the range of) the main body, and further lateral transfer is also possible. This increases the efficiency of item transport.

[0008] The shelves may be positioned such that the upper end of an item placed on the shelf does not interfere with the lower end of an item held by a gripping part located at the upper end. In this case, it becomes possible to transport two or more items stacked vertically.

[0009] In the horizontal direction perpendicular to the direction of travel of the transport vehicle, the width of the shelf may be at least twice the width of the items placed on the shelf. In this case, it becomes possible to transport items with two or more items placed side by side.

[0010] The traveling section moves along a track installed on the ceiling, and the main body is located at the end of the shelf and has a sliding mechanism that moves the shelf between an initial position located inside the main body and a sliding position located to the side of the main body. The frame is connected to the bottom of the traveling section, and when the shelf moves to the sliding position, it may be permitted to transfer the items held by the gripping section to the bottom of the main body. In this case, the items can be transferred to a port located directly below the transport vehicle. Furthermore, if there is a transport vehicle with a similar lateral transfer mechanism on a parallel track, it is also possible to transfer items to the shelf at the sliding position using this transport vehicle. [Effects of the Invention]

[0011] According to this disclosure, it is possible to increase the degree of freedom in the transfer and transport methods of articles without complicating the structure of the gripping part. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0012] [Figure 1] Figure 1 is a side view showing a transport vehicle according to one embodiment. [Figure 2] Figure 2 shows the transport vehicle from Figure 1, viewed from the front. [Figure 3] Figure 3 shows the operation of transferring goods laterally in the transport vehicle shown in Figure 1. [Figure 4] Figure 4 shows the action of placing an item held by the gripping part onto a shelf. [Figure 5] Figure 5(a) shows the action of lifting an item from the shelf, and Figure 5(b) shows the subsequent action of moving the item horizontally. [Figure 6] Figure 6(a) shows the action of lifting an item from the shelf, and Figure 6(b) shows the subsequent action of moving the item downwards. [Figure 7]FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an operation of transferring an article between two transport vehicles traveling along two parallel rails. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an operation of transferring an article in a relay manner between three transport vehicles traveling along three parallel rails. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 is a plan view showing an example when the article transfer shown in FIG. 7 or FIG. 8 is performed. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a front view showing a transport vehicle according to a first modification. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a front view showing a transport vehicle according to a second modification. [Figure 12] FIG. 12 is a front view showing a transport vehicle according to a third modification. MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

[0013] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. In the description of the drawings, the same elements are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant descriptions are omitted. In the drawings, for convenience of description, each configuration according to the embodiment is illustrated with appropriately changed scales.

[0014] An XYZ orthogonal coordinate system is also shown in some drawings. In the following description, this coordinate system will be referred to as appropriate for ease of explanation. In the following description, the traveling direction of the overhead transport vehicle 1, which is a horizontal direction, is defined as the X direction, the horizontal lateral direction orthogonal to the X direction is defined as the Y direction, and the vertical direction is defined as the Z direction. The X direction corresponds to the front-rear direction of the overhead transport vehicle 1, the Y direction corresponds to the left-right direction of the overhead transport vehicle 1, and the Z direction corresponds to the up-down direction of the overhead transport vehicle 1. Note that the traveling direction of the overhead transport vehicle 1 may be slightly inclined with respect to the horizontal direction.

[0015] As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, an overhead traveling carrier (transport carrier) 1 of the present embodiment travels along a track 20 provided on a ceiling of a clean room where semiconductor devices are manufactured, for example. The track 20 forms a travel path for the overhead traveling carrier 1. The overhead traveling carrier 1 is configured to transfer a FOUP (Front Opening Unified Pod) (article) 200 accommodating a plurality of semiconductor wafers, and load / unload the FOUP 200 to / from a load port (not shown) provided in a processing apparatus that performs various processes on semiconductor wafers. The overhead traveling carrier 1 may also be referred to as a trolley, a traveling vehicle, a transport trolley, a traveling trolley, or the like.

[0016] The overhead traveling carrier 1 includes a traveling unit (traveling portion) 3 that travels on the track 20, and a main body portion 10 connected to the traveling unit 3. All or most of the traveling unit 3 is disposed inside the track 20, and all or most of the main body portion 10 is disposed below the track 20. The main body portion 10 includes a frame unit (frame) 2 connected to the traveling unit 3, a lateral unit (lateral extension mechanism) 4, a theta unit 5, a lifting drive unit (lifting drive portion) 6, a gripping unit 7, and a transport carrier controller (control portion) 8. The traveling unit 3 travels along the track 20 by receiving power supply in a non-contact manner from, for example, a high-frequency current line laid along the track 20.

[0017] The frame unit 2 is connected below the traveling unit 3. The frame unit 2 includes a center frame 15, a front frame 16, and a rear frame 17. The center frame 15 is connected to a lower side of the traveling unit 3. The front frame 16 extends downward from a front end (a front end in the traveling direction of the overhead traveling carrier 1) of the center frame 15. The rear frame 17 extends downward from a rear end (a rear end in the traveling direction of the overhead traveling carrier 1) of the center frame 15.

[0018] The lateral unit 4 is positioned below the center frame 15. The lateral unit 4 moves the theta unit 5, the lifting drive unit 6, and the gripping unit 7 to the left and right sides relative to the frame unit 2 (see Figure 3). In other words, the lateral unit 4 causes the gripping unit 7 to protrude to the side of the main body 10. In this specification, "sideways" refers to the side in the direction of travel (front-rear direction) of the overhead transport vehicle 1, and the left-right direction of the overhead transport vehicle 1.

[0019] Referring to Figure 3, the lateral unit 4 includes, for example, an upper member (not shown) attached to the center frame 15, a middle member 4b that can slide in and out along the upper member in the left-right direction, and a lower member 4c that can slide in and out along the middle member 4b in the left-right direction. The lateral unit 4 includes a drive motor, belt, gears, pulleys, etc. The configuration of the lateral unit 4 is not limited to the above, and other known configurations that enable lateral transfer of the FOUP 200 may be adopted.

[0020] The theta unit 5 is positioned below the lower member 4c (below the lateral unit 4). The theta unit 5 rotates the lifting drive unit 6 and the gripping unit 7 in the horizontal plane.

[0021] The lifting drive unit 6 is located below the theta unit 5. The lifting drive unit 6 raises and lowers the gripping unit 7 by paying out and winding up a plurality of belts (suspension members) B connected to the gripping unit 7. The gripping unit 7 is located below the lifting drive unit 6. The gripping unit 7 moves up and down relative to the frame unit 2. The gripping unit 7 has, for example, a pair of grippers 12 that can be opened and closed along the horizontal direction. The gripping unit 7 grips a flange 201 provided on the top of one FOUP 200 with the pair of grippers 12. The term "gripping" of the FOUP 200 may be rephrased as "holding".

[0022] The transport vehicle controller 8 is located on the center frame 15. The transport vehicle controller 8 is an electronic control unit composed of a CPU (Central Processing Unit), ROM (Read-only memory), RAM (Random Access Memory), etc. The transport vehicle controller 8 controls various parts of the overhead transport vehicle 1. The transport vehicle controller 8 controls the lateral extension amount of the lateral unit 4 and the lifting amount of the gripping unit 7 in the lifting drive unit 6. The transport vehicle controller 8 may be composed of multiple electronic control units. The transport vehicle controller 8 may also be located on the front frame 16, etc.

[0023] As an example, the overhead transport vehicle 1, configured as described above, operates as follows: When transferring a FOUP 200 from a load port to the overhead transport vehicle 1, the overhead transport vehicle 1, which is not gripping the FOUP 200, stops at a predetermined position above the load port. If the position of the gripping unit 7 to be lowered at the stopping position deviates from the predetermined position relative to the load port (FOUP 200 placed on the load port), the horizontal position and horizontal angle of the gripping unit 7 are adjusted by driving the lateral unit 4 and the theta unit 5. Subsequently, the lifting drive unit 6 lowers the gripping unit 7, and the gripping unit 7 grips the flange 201 of the FOUP 200 placed on the load port. Subsequently, the lifting drive unit 6 raises the gripping unit 7 to its upper limit, positioning the FOUP 200 between the front frame 16 and the rear frame 17. The upper limit position of the gripping unit 7 is the position where the gripping unit 7 is stored in a predetermined storage location within the lifting drive unit 6. Next, overhead transport vehicle 1, which is gripping the FOUP200, begins to move.

[0024] On the other hand, when transferring the FOUP200 from the overhead transport vehicle 1 to the load port, the overhead transport vehicle 1, which is gripping the FOUP200, stops at a predetermined position above the load port. If the position of the gripping unit 7 (FOUP200) to be lowered at the stopping position deviates from the predetermined position relative to the load port, the horizontal position and horizontal angle of the gripping unit are adjusted by driving the lateral unit 4 and the theta unit 5. Subsequently, the lifting drive unit 6 lowers the gripping unit 7, places the FOUP200 on the load port, and the gripping unit 7 releases its grip on the flange 201 of the FOUP200. Subsequently, the lifting drive unit 6 raises the gripping unit 7 to its upper limit. Subsequently, the overhead transport vehicle 1, which is not gripping the FOUP200, starts moving.

[0025] In the overhead transport vehicle 1 of this embodiment, the main body 10 is capable of accommodating multiple FOUPs 200 within the frame unit 2. The overhead transport vehicle 1 can, for example, accommodate two FOUPs 200 within the main body 10. The configuration of each part unique to the overhead transport vehicle 1 will be described in detail below. As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the front frame 16 and rear frame 17 of the frame unit 2 have a length in the vertical direction that is at least twice the height of the FOUP 200 (length from the upper end 200a to the lower end 200b). The rectangular front frame 16 and rear frame 17, when viewed from the front and rear directions, define the internal space of the main body 10.

[0026] The lower ends of the front frame 16 and the rear frame 17 are provided with a pair of lower end frames 2b, which are formed by extending the internal frame members of the front frame 16 and the rear frame 17. The pair of lower end frames 2b may, for example, protrude below the lower end position of the front frame 16 and the rear frame 17, but may also be positioned above the lower end position of the front frame 16 and the rear frame 17.

[0027] The main body 10 has a rectangular plate-shaped shelf 40 supported by a pair of lower end frames 2b. The shelf 40 extends horizontally, and for example, only one FOUP 200 can be placed on its central portion 40a. The shelf 40 may include a plurality of positioning pins, similar to known storage shelves provided in the ceiling transport system S. In that case, the positioning pins are positioned at predetermined locations on the path of the FOUP 200 as it moves up and down in the vertical direction within the main body 10 while being gripped by the gripping unit 7. The shelf 40 is also provided with a sensor that detects the presence or absence of the FOUP 200 on the shelf 40. The sensor outputs a signal regarding the presence or absence of the FOUP 200 to the transport vehicle controller 8.

[0028] The main body 10 further includes a sliding mechanism 50 for moving the shelf board 40 both left and right (horizontally). The sliding mechanism 50 includes, for example, a pair of base rails 51 extending in the travel direction (X direction, i.e., the front and rear direction), a pair of slide rails 52 that can move both left and right (horizontally) on the base rails 51, and a shelf board moving motor 53 for moving the slide rails 52 relative to the base rails 51. The base rails 51 are supported by the L-shaped tip of the lower end frame 2b and fixed on the tip. The slide rails 52 are slidably mounted on the base rails 51. The shelf board 40 is slidably mounted on the slide rails 52. Guides or guide mechanisms in the Y direction are provided between the base rails 51 and the slide rails 52, and between the slide rails 52 and the shelf board 40.

[0029] The distance between the base rail 51 and the slide rail 52 in the X direction is greater than the length of the FOUP 200 gripped by the gripping unit 7 in the X direction. The size of the base rail 51 and the slide rail 52 in plan view is about the same as that of the shelf board 40 and fits between a pair of lower end frames 2b. The slide mechanism 50 is positioned so as to overlap with the shelf board 40 in plan view. In other words, the slide mechanism 50 is provided at the ends 40b, 40b of the shelf board 40. The shelf board moving motor 53 is controlled by the transport controller 8. The shelf board moving motor 53 is positioned at an appropriate location within the frame unit 2 (for example, on the end 40b of the shelf board 40 in the X direction) and moves the slide rail 52 and the shelf board 40 within a predetermined range in the X direction. The shelf board moving motor 53 is installed between the FOUP 200 and the front frame 16 (or rear frame 17) so as not to interfere with the FOUP 200 on the shelf board 40. The sliding mechanism 50 includes a belt, gears, pulleys, etc., in addition to the shelf moving motor 53. For the sliding mechanism 50, a known mechanism similar to that of the lateral unit 4 may be used.

[0030] In the overhead transport vehicle 1, within the main body 10, FOUPs 200 gripped by the gripping unit 7 are housed in the upper space S1, and FOUPs 200 placed on the shelf 40 are housed in the lower space S2. The upper space S1 and the lower space S2 each have a shape and volume sufficient to accommodate one FOUP 200. Thus, the main body 10 has a two-tiered storage capacity. Specifically, the shelf 40 is positioned such that the upper end 200a of the FOUP 200 placed on the shelf 40 (specifically, the upper end of the flange 201) does not interfere with the lower end 200b of the FOUP 200 gripped by the gripping unit 7 located at the upper end. This configuration improves the transport capacity of the FOUPs 200 in the overhead transport vehicle 1.

[0031] A fall prevention member 18 is provided at an intermediate position in the Z direction of the front frame 16 and the rear frame 17 to prevent the FOUP 200 housed in the upper space S1 from falling. The height at which the fall prevention member 18 is provided corresponds to the boundary between the upper space S1 and the lower space S2. The fall prevention member 18 can be opened and closed under control by the transport vehicle controller 8. When the fall prevention member 18 is closed, it prevents the FOUP 200 from falling even if it falls from the gripper 12 of the gripping unit 7. When the fall prevention member 18 is open, it allows the FOUP 200 (and the gripping unit 7) held by the gripping unit 7 to pass through (down and up). The fall prevention member 18 is also called a cradle.

[0032] As shown in Figures 6(a) and 6(b), the sliding mechanism 50 moves the shelf 40 from an initial position Pa located inside the main body 10 to a sliding position Pb located on either the left or right side of the main body 10. The sliding position Pb is such that the flange 201 of the FOUP 200 placed on the shelf 40 at the sliding position Pb does not overlap with the main body 10 in a plan view.

[0033] Furthermore, as shown in Figure 6(b), when the shelf 40 moves to the sliding position Pb, the sliding mechanism 50 allows the gripping unit 7 and the FOUP 200 gripped by the gripping unit 7 to pass in the Z direction, i.e., vertical direction. In other words, the base rail 51 and the sliding rail 52 allow the gripping unit 7 and the FOUP 200 to pass through. At this time, there are no members that interfere with the passage path (trajectory) of the gripping unit 7 and the FOUP 200. Also at this time, the fall prevention member 18 is opened under the control of the transport controller 8. The gripping unit 7 and the FOUP 200 are outside the main body 10 when they have passed through the sliding mechanism 50 from top to bottom. In this way, when the shelf 40 moves to the sliding position Pb, the transfer of the FOUP 200 gripped by the gripping unit 7 to the main body 10 is permitted.

[0034] Next, various transfer and transport modes for the overhead transport vehicle 1 of this embodiment will be described. First, as shown in Figure 4, if the FOUP 200 is not placed on the shelf 40, the transport vehicle controller 8 can control the lifting drive unit 6 to place the FOUP 200, which is gripped by the gripping unit 7, onto the shelf 40. Also, as shown in Figure 5(a), if the FOUP 200 is placed on the shelf 40, the transport vehicle controller 8 can control the lifting drive unit 6 to grip the FOUP 200 on the shelf 40 and hold it at the upper end position. When the gripping unit 7 moves between the upper space S1 and the lower space S2, the fall prevention member 18 is controlled by the transport vehicle controller 8 and opened. Furthermore, as shown in Figure 5(b), the transport vehicle controller 8 can also control the lateral unit 4 to move the gripping unit 7 holding the FOUP 200 to either the left or right. For example, even when another FOUP200 is placed on shelf 40, the gripped FOUP200 can be moved laterally above it.

[0035] As shown in Figure 6(a), the transport vehicle controller 8 grips the FOUP 200 and holds it at the upper end position (up to this point, it is the same as the example shown in Figure 5(a)). Then, as shown in Figure 6(b), if the FOUP 200 is not placed on the shelf 40, it controls the lifting drive unit 6 to lower the FOUP 200 gripped by the gripping unit 7, and also controls the sliding mechanism 50 to move the shelf 40 to either the left or right, causing the gripping unit 7 and FOUP 200 to descend straight downwards (below the main body 10). At this time, the gripping unit 7 and FOUP 200 pass through the lower space S2 and between the base rails 51. The same applies when raising. This makes it possible to transfer items downwards even in an overhead transport vehicle 1 that has a two-tiered storage capacity.

[0036] As explained above, the transport controller 8 decides whether to place the FOUP 200, which is gripped by the gripping unit 7, onto the shelf 40, or to maintain the gripped state, depending on the position of the FOUP 200 on the shelf 40. In other words, the transport controller 8 can appropriately select whether to move the FOUP 200 up, down, left, or right, to keep it in its gripped state, or to place it on the shelf 40.

[0037] In this embodiment of the overhead transport vehicle 1, one or more FOUPs 200 are placed on a shelf 40 provided below the frame unit 2. Therefore, in addition to gripping the FOUPs 200 with the gripping unit 7, other means for transporting the FOUPs 200 are provided, increasing the degree of freedom in the transport method (in this case, meaning something close to storage) of the FOUPs 200. Furthermore, since the main body 10 has a lateral unit 4, by appropriately devising the arrangement of the shelf 40, the cooperation between the lifting drive unit and the lateral unit 4 allows for a variety of transfer methods. The control unit decides whether to place one FOUP 200 gripped by one gripping unit 7 onto the shelf 40 or to maintain the gripped state. Therefore, the degree of freedom in the transfer and transport methods of the FOUPs 200 can be increased without complicating the configuration of the gripping unit 7. For example, it is possible to travel with multiple FOUPs 200 inside (within the range of) the main body 10, and furthermore, lateral transfer is also possible. This improves the transport efficiency of the FOUP200. Furthermore, even when multiple FOUP200s are placed on the shelf 40, the position of the gripping unit 7 inside the main body 10 can be adjusted to selectively remove the FOUP200s. In addition, it is possible to accommodate and transport multiple FOUP200s within the main body 10 without requiring any major modifications to the gripping unit 7 from the conventional type, even with only one gripping unit 7.

[0038] The shelf board 40 is positioned such that the upper end 200a of the FOUP 200 placed on the shelf board 40 does not interfere with the lower end 200b of the FOUP 200 that is gripped by the gripping unit 7 located at the upper end. This configuration makes it possible to transport two or more FOUP 200s arranged vertically.

[0039] The main body 10 has a sliding mechanism 50 that moves the shelf board 40 from an initial position Pa located inside the main body 10 to a sliding position Pb located to the side of the main body 10. The sliding position Pb in the sliding mechanism 50 is the position where the FOUP 200 placed on the shelf board 40 at the sliding position Pb has escaped from the main body 10. With this configuration, the FOUP 200 can be transferred to another overhead transport vehicle 1X traveling on two parallel tracks 20, for example, as shown in Figure 7.

[0040] Furthermore, as shown in Figures 8 and 9, the FOUP 200 can also be passed sequentially in a relay format across three or more parallel tracks. As shown in Figure 9, by sequentially passing the FOUP 200 from overhead transport vehicle 1 to overhead transport vehicles 1Xa, 1Xb, 1Xc, 1Xd, and 1Xe arranged in a horizontal line, it can be transported via a shortcut route that crosses tracks 20Aa, 20Ab, 20Ba, 20Bb, 20Ca, and 20Cb. This configuration contributes to alleviating or preventing congestion in the overhead transport system S.

[0041] Furthermore, the sliding mechanism 50 is provided at the end of the shelf plate 40, and when the shelf plate 40 moves to the sliding position Pb, the sliding mechanism 50 allows the gripping unit 7 and the FOUP 200 gripped by the gripping unit 7 to pass through in the vertical direction (see Figure 6(b)). With this configuration, the FOUP 200 can be transferred to a port located directly below the overhead transport vehicle 1.

[0042] Although embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. For example, as shown in Figure 10, an overhead transport vehicle 1A may be adopted in which a frame unit 2A and a main body 10A having only one upper space S1 are used, and two articles 200A, 200A arranged in the Y direction are placed on the shelf 40 and housed within 10A. In this case, the width of the shelf 40 in the horizontal direction perpendicular to the travel direction of the overhead transport vehicle 1A is at least twice the width of the articles 200A placed on the shelf 40 in the horizontal direction. This configuration makes it possible to transport two articles 200A side by side. Depending on the size of the shelf 40 and the articles 200A, it is also possible to transport three or more articles 200A side by side.

[0043] As shown in Figure 11, the overhead transport vehicle 1B may be configured such that the FOUP 200 is housed in the upper space S1 and the thin article 200B is housed in the relatively small lower space S2, and a frame unit 2B and main body 10B can be used. Alternatively, as shown in Figure 12, the overhead transport vehicle 1C may be configured such that the thin article 200C is housed in the relatively small upper space S1 and the thin article 200C is housed in the relatively small lower space S2, and a frame unit 2C and main body 10C can be used.

[0044] For example, as shown in Figure 10, the main body 10 may house two articles in the lower space S2 and one article in the upper space S1 within the frame unit 2. In other words, the main body 10 may house three articles within the frame unit 2.

[0045] The sliding mechanism 50 does not need to allow the gripping unit 7 and FOUP 200 to pass through. In that case, the transport vehicle controller 8 raises and lowers the gripping unit 7 exclusively in the sideways position. The sliding mechanism 50 may be omitted.

[0046] The items are not limited to FOUP200. Examples of items include containers for storing multiple semiconductor wafers, containers for storing glass substrates, reticle pods, magazines, trays, containers, general components, etc. Furthermore, the items may also be SMIF (Standard Mechanical Interface) Pods or FOSB (Front Opening Shipping Boxes), etc.

[0047] The components in the above embodiments and modifications are not limited to the materials and shapes described above, and various materials and shapes can be applied to them. Each component in the above embodiments or modifications can be arbitrarily applied to each component in other embodiments or modifications. Parts of each component in the above embodiments or modifications can be omitted as appropriate without departing from the gist of one aspect of this disclosure.

[0048] In the above embodiment, an overhead transport vehicle was used as an example for explanation. However, the transport vehicle of this disclosure is not limited to an overhead transport vehicle, and may be applied to other transport vehicles, such as a tracked trolley that runs on a track installed on the ground.

[0049] One embodiment of the present invention has constituent elements described below. [1] A transport vehicle comprising a running section that travels along a track, and a main body connected to the running section, The main body is, A frame connected to the aforementioned running section, A gripping section that moves up and down relative to the frame and grips one item, A lifting drive unit for raising and lowering the gripping portion, A side-extension mechanism that causes the lifting drive unit to protrude to the side of the main body, A shelf is provided at the lower end of the frame, on which one or more items can be placed, It has a control unit that controls the amount of lateral extension of the lateral extension mechanism and the amount of lifting and lowering of the gripping portion, Multiple articles can be accommodated within the frame, The control unit determines, depending on the placement status of one or more of the articles on the shelf, whether to place the gripped article on the shelf or to maintain the gripped state. [2] The transport vehicle according to [1], wherein the shelf is positioned such that the upper end of the article placed on the shelf does not interfere with the lower end of the article held by the gripping part located at the rising end. [3] The transport vehicle according to [1] or [2], wherein the width of the shelf is at least twice the width of the article placed on the shelf in the horizontal direction perpendicular to the direction of travel of the transport vehicle. [4] The aforementioned running unit travels along the aforementioned track provided on the ceiling. The main body is, A sliding mechanism is provided at the end of the shelf board and moves the shelf board from an initial position located inside the main body to a sliding position located to the side of the main body. The frame is connected below the running section, A transport vehicle according to any one of [1] to [3], wherein when the shelf moves to the sliding position, the transfer of the main body of the article held by the gripping part is permitted. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0050] 1, 1A, 1B, 1C... Overhead transport vehicle (transport vehicle), 2... Frame unit (frame), 3... Travel unit (travel section), 4... Lateral unit (side extension mechanism), 6... Lifting drive unit (lifting drive section), 7... Gripping unit (gripping section), 8... Transport vehicle controller (control section), 40... Shelf, 50... Slide mechanism, 51... Base rail, 52... Slide rail, 200... FOUP, 200a... Upper end, 200b... Lower end, 201... Flange, Pa... Initial position, Pb... Slide position, S1... Upper space, S2... Lower space.

Claims

1. A transport vehicle comprising a running section that travels along a track, and a main body connected to the running section, The main body is, A frame connected to the aforementioned running section, A gripping section that moves up and down relative to the frame and grips one item, A lifting drive unit for raising and lowering the gripping portion, A side-extension mechanism that causes the lifting drive unit to protrude to the side of the main body, A shelf is provided at the lower end of the frame, on which one or more items can be placed, It has a control unit that controls the amount of lateral extension of the lateral extension mechanism and the amount of lifting and lowering of the gripping portion, Multiple articles can be accommodated within the frame, The control unit determines, depending on the placement status of one or more of the articles on the shelf, whether to place the gripped article on the shelf or to maintain the gripped state.

2. The transport vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the shelf is positioned such that the upper end of the article placed on the shelf does not interfere with the lower end of the article held by the gripping part located at the rising end.

3. The transport vehicle according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the width of the shelf is at least twice the width of the article placed on the shelf in the horizontal direction perpendicular to the direction of travel of the transport vehicle.

4. The aforementioned running unit travels along the aforementioned track provided on the ceiling. The main body is, A sliding mechanism is provided at the end of the shelf board and moves the shelf board from an initial position located inside the main body to a sliding position located to the side of the main body. The frame is connected below the running section, The transport vehicle according to claim 1 or 2, wherein when the shelf moves to the sliding position, the transfer of the main body of the article gripped by the gripping portion is permitted.

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