Industrial robot hands and industrial robots

Abstract

To provide a hand of an industrial robot which can prevent a wall surface of a housing part from being damaged in a direction orthogonal to a moving direction of the hand and a conveyed object held in a fixed position of the hand by a holding mechanism when the conveyed object is carried in and out from the housing part even when a width of the housing part for housing the conveyed object is narrowed in a direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the hand.SOLUTION: A hand 11 includes: a loading part 20 on which a conveyed object 2 is loaded; and a hand base part 21 which structures a one end side part of the hand 11 in a V-direction and to which the loading part 20 is connected. The loading part 20 includes a holding mechanism 26 which holds the conveyed object 2 loaded on the loading part 20 in a fixed position in a horizontal direction, and can slide in a W-direction orthogonal to the V-direction with respect to the hand base part 21.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention relates to an industrial robot hand for use in an industrial robot that conveys a conveyance target. The present invention also relates to an industrial robot provided with such a hand. BACKGROUND ART

[0002] Conventionally, horizontal articulated industrial robots for conveying semiconductor wafers are known (see, for example, Patent Document 1). The industrial robot described in Patent Document 1 includes a hand on which a semiconductor wafer is mounted, an arm to which the hand is rotatably connected on the distal end side, and a main body portion to which the proximal end side of the arm is rotatably connected. The hand includes a holding mechanism that holds a semiconductor wafer mounted on the hand at a fixed position in the horizontal direction. The holding mechanism includes an end surface abutting member having an abutting surface against which an end surface of the semiconductor wafer abuts, and a pressing mechanism that presses the semiconductor wafer such that the end surface of the semiconductor wafer is pressed against the abutting surface of the end surface abutting member.

[0003] The industrial robot described in Patent Document 1 is used by being incorporated into a semiconductor manufacturing system. This industrial robot conveys semiconductor wafers between a FOUP (Front Opening Unify Pod) that accommodates semiconductor wafers and a wafer processing apparatus that performs predetermined processing on the semiconductor wafers. In the industrial robot described in Patent Document 1, when loading a semiconductor wafer into the FOUP and the wafer processing apparatus, or when unloading a semiconductor wafer from the FOUP and the wafer processing apparatus, the hand moves linearly while facing a fixed direction (specifically, the hand moves linearly when viewed from above and below), the hand rotates relative to the arm, and the arm expands and contracts relative to the main body portion. PRIOR ART DOCUMENTS PATENT DOCUMENTS

[0004] Patent Document 1 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2015-36186 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [Problems that the invention aims to solve]

[0005] In the industrial robot described in Patent Document 1, when loading or unloading semiconductor wafers, the hand rotates relative to the arm and extends and retracts relative to the main body so that the trajectory of the hand, when viewed from above, is a straight line. However, when viewed from above, the trajectory of the hand during loading and unloading semiconductor wafers is not a perfect straight line, but rather a trajectory that includes vibrations and undulations in a direction perpendicular to the direction of hand movement.

[0006] Therefore, in the case of the industrial robot described in Patent Document 1, if the width of the housing section of the FOUP or wafer processing device, etc., in the direction perpendicular to the direction of hand movement becomes narrower, and the difference between the width of the housing section in the direction perpendicular to the direction of hand movement and the diameter of the semiconductor wafer becomes smaller, there is a risk that when loading or unloading the semiconductor wafer into or out of the housing section, the wall surface of the housing section in the direction perpendicular to the direction of hand movement and the semiconductor wafer held at a fixed position on the hand by the holding mechanism will come into contact with excessive contact pressure, potentially damaging the semiconductor wafer or the wall surface of the housing section.

[0007] Therefore, an object to be addressed by the present invention is to provide an industrial robot hand that can prevent damage to the object being transported, which is held at a fixed position by the hand, and to the wall surface of the housing in a direction perpendicular to the direction of movement of the hand, when loading or unloading the object being transported into or out of the housing, even if the width of the housing in a direction perpendicular to the direction of movement of the hand is narrow. Another object to be addressed by the present invention is to provide an industrial robot equipped with such a hand. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] To solve the above problems, the hand of the industrial robot of the present invention, in which an industrial robot hand transports an object to be transported, has a first direction in which a predetermined direction perpendicular to the vertical direction is defined as the first direction, and a second direction in which the vertical direction and the first direction are defined as the second direction, and comprises a mounting section on which the object to be transported is mounted, and a hand base which constitutes one end of the hand in the first direction and to which the mounting section is connected. a first biasing member that biases the mounting portion to one side in the second direction relative to the hand base, and a second biasing member that biases the mounting portion to the other side in the second direction relative to the hand base The mounting section is equipped with a holding mechanism that holds the object to be transported mounted on the mounting section at a fixed position in the horizontal direction, and is characterized by being slidable in a second direction relative to the hand base.

[0009] In the hand of the industrial robot of the present invention, the mounting section on which the object to be transported is placed is slidable in a second direction relative to the hand base, which constitutes one end of the hand in a first direction. Therefore, in the present invention, when the object to be transported is loaded into or unloaded from the storage section in which the object to be transported is contained, even if the object to be transported, which is held at a fixed position in the mounting section by the holding mechanism, comes into contact with the wall surface of the storage section in a second direction, the mounting section can be slid in a second direction relative to the hand base so that the wall surface of the storage section and the object to be transported do not come into contact with excessive contact pressure. Therefore, in the present invention, if the direction of movement of the hand coincides with the first direction, and the direction perpendicular to the direction of movement of the hand coincides with the second direction, even if the width of the storage section is narrowed in the direction perpendicular to the direction of movement of the hand, it becomes possible to prevent damage to the object being transported, which is held at a certain position on the hand by the holding mechanism, and to the wall surface of the storage section in the direction perpendicular to the direction of movement of the hand, when loading or unloading the object being transported into or out of the storage section. Furthermore, in the present invention, the hand includes a first biasing member that biases the mounting portion to one side in the second direction relative to the hand base, and a second biasing member that biases the mounting portion to the other side in the second direction relative to the hand base. Therefore, when no external force other than the biasing force of the first biasing member and the second biasing member is acting on the mounting portion, the biasing force of the first biasing member and the second biasing member makes it possible to automatically return the mounting portion to a predetermined reference position relative to the hand base.

[0010] Furthermore, in order to solve the above problems, the hand of the industrial robot of the present invention is an industrial robot hand for transporting an object, and when a predetermined direction perpendicular to the vertical direction is defined as the first direction, and a direction perpendicular to the vertical direction and the first direction is defined as the second direction, it comprises a mounting section on which the object to be transported is mounted, a hand base which constitutes one end of the hand in the first direction and to which the mounting section is connected, and a mounting section holding mechanism for holding the mounting section at a predetermined position in the second direction, wherein the mounting section is equipped with a holding mechanism for holding the object to be transported mounted on the mounting section at a fixed position in the horizontal direction, and is slidable in the second direction relative to the hand base. In the hand of the industrial robot of the present invention, the mounting section on which the object to be transported is placed is slidable in a second direction relative to the hand base, which constitutes one end of the hand in a first direction. Therefore, in the present invention, when the object to be transported is loaded into or unloaded from the storage section in which the object to be transported is contained, even if the object to be transported, which is held at a fixed position in the mounting section by the holding mechanism, comes into contact with the wall surface of the storage section in a second direction, the mounting section can be slid in a second direction relative to the hand base so that the wall surface of the storage section and the object to be transported do not come into contact with excessive contact pressure. Therefore, in the present invention, if the direction of movement of the hand coincides with the first direction, and the direction perpendicular to the direction of movement of the hand coincides with the second direction, even if the width of the storage section is narrowed in the direction perpendicular to the direction of movement of the hand, it becomes possible to prevent damage to the object being transported, which is held at a certain position on the hand by the holding mechanism, and to the wall surface of the storage section in the direction perpendicular to the direction of movement of the hand, when loading or unloading the object being transported into or out of the storage section. Furthermore, in this invention, the hand is equipped with a mounting part holding mechanism for holding the mounting part at a predetermined position in a second direction. Therefore, even if the mounting part is slidable in the second direction relative to the hand base, the mounting part holding mechanism prevents the mounting part from shaking in the second direction relative to the hand base. Consequently, for example, it becomes possible to stabilize the state of the mounting part relative to the hand base when inserting the mounting part into the housing. As a result, even if the mounting part is slidable in the second direction relative to the hand base, it becomes possible to prevent interference between the mounting part and the housing when inserting the mounting part into the housing.

[0011] In the present invention, the hand includes, for example, a guide mechanism for guiding the mounting portion in a second direction, the guide mechanism comprising a guide rail formed in a straight line with the second direction as its longitudinal direction and fixed to the hand base, and a guide block that engages with the guide rail and is fixed to the mounting portion, and the mounting portion is slidable in the second direction relative to the hand base along the guide rail.

[0014] The hand of the present invention can be used in an industrial robot comprising an arm to which the hand is connected and a main body to which the arm is connected. In this industrial robot, even if the width of the storage area is narrow in a direction perpendicular to the direction of movement of the hand, it becomes possible to prevent damage to the object being transported, which is held at a fixed position by the hand by the holding mechanism, and to the wall surface of the storage area in a direction perpendicular to the direction of movement of the hand, when loading or unloading the object to be transported into or out of the storage area. [Effects of the Invention]

[0015] As described above, in the present invention, even if the width of the storage section in which the transported object is housed is narrowed in the direction perpendicular to the direction of movement of the hand, it is possible to prevent damage to the transported object, which is held at a fixed position on the hand by the holding mechanism, and to the wall surface of the storage section in the direction perpendicular to the direction of movement of the hand, when the transported object is loaded into or unloaded from the storage section. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0016] [Figure 1] This is a plan view illustrating the schematic configuration of an industrial robot according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] Figure 1 is a plan view of the hand shown. [Figure 3] This diagram shows the guide mechanism from the EE direction in Figure 2. [Figure 4] Figure 2 is a plan view illustrating the operation of the mounting part holding mechanism shown in Figure 2. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0017] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0018] (Schematic Configuration of Industrial Robot) Figure 1 is a plan view for explaining the schematic configuration of an industrial robot 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0019] The industrial robot 1 of the present embodiment (hereinafter referred to as "robot 1") is a horizontal articulated robot for conveying a semiconductor wafer 2 as a conveyance object (hereinafter referred to as "wafer 2"). The wafer 2 is formed in a thin disk shape. The robot 1 is used by being incorporated into a semiconductor manufacturing system 3. In the following description, the X direction in Figure 1, which is orthogonal to the vertical direction, is defined as the "left-right direction", and the Y direction in Figure 1, which is orthogonal to both the vertical direction and the left-right direction, is defined as the "front-rear direction".

[0020] The semiconductor manufacturing system 3 includes, for example, an EFEM (Equipment Front End Module) 4 and a wafer processing apparatus 5 that performs predetermined processing on the wafer 2. The robot 1 constitutes a part of the EFEM 4. Further, the EFEM 4 includes, for example, a plurality of load ports 7 that open and close a FOUP 6 accommodating the wafer 2, and a housing 8 that accommodates the robot 1. The wafer processing apparatus 5 is arranged, for example, on one side of the housing 8 in the front-rear direction. Further, the plurality of load ports 7 are arranged, for example, on the other side of the housing 8 in the front-rear direction. The plurality of load ports 7 are arranged at regular intervals in the left-right direction.

[0021] The FOUP 6 can accommodate a plurality of wafers 2 in a state where they are spaced at regular intervals in the vertical direction and overlapping each other in the vertical direction. The robot 1 conveys the wafer 2 between the FOUP 6 and the wafer processing apparatus 5. For example, the robot 1 unloads the wafer 2 from the FOUP 6 and carries the unloaded wafer 2 into the wafer processing apparatus 5. Further, the robot 1 unloads the wafer 2 from the wafer processing apparatus 5 and carries the unloaded wafer 2 into the FOUP 6.

[0022] Robot 1 comprises a hand 11 on which a wafer 2 is mounted, an arm 12 to which the hand 11 is rotatably connected at its tip and which moves horizontally, and a main body 13 to which the base end of the arm 12 is rotatably connected. The arm 12 consists of an arm portion 15 to which the base end is rotatably connected to the main body 13, an arm portion 16 to which the base end is rotatably connected at the tip of the arm portion 15, and an arm portion 17 to which the base end is rotatably connected at the tip of the arm portion 16.

[0023] Arms 15-17 rotate with the vertical direction as the axis of rotation. The main body 13 includes a columnar member to which the base end of arm 15 is rotatably connected, and a lifting mechanism that raises and lowers the columnar member together with arm 12. The base end of arm 15 is rotatably connected to the upper end of the columnar member. The main body 13, arm 15, arm 16, and arm 17 are arranged in this order from bottom to top in the vertical direction. The robot 1 also includes an arm drive mechanism that rotates arm 15 and 16 to extend and retract a part of arm 12, which is made up of arm 15 and arm 16, an arm drive mechanism that rotates arm 17, and a hand drive mechanism that rotates hand 11.

[0024] (Hand composition) Figure 2 is a plan view of the hand 11 shown in Figure 1. Figure 3 is a view of the guide mechanism 22, etc., from the EE direction in Figure 2. Figure 4 is a plan view illustrating the operation of the mounting part holding mechanism 25 shown in Figure 2.

[0025] The hand 11 is formed to have a roughly Y shape when viewed from above. The hand 11 is rotatably connected to the tip of the arm portion 17. The hand 11 is positioned above the arm portion 17. The hand 11 rotates with the vertical direction as the axis of rotation. The hand 11 includes a mounting portion 20 on which the wafer 2 is mounted, and a hand base portion 21 which constitutes the base end portion of the hand 11.

[0026] When viewed from above, the hand 11 forms a roughly Y shape. If the longitudinal direction of the hand 11 (direction V in Figure 2) is defined as the longitudinal direction of the hand, and the direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the hand (direction W in Figure 2) is defined as the short direction of the hand, then when loading the wafer 2 into the FOUP 6, loading the wafer 2 into the wafer processing device 5, unloading the wafer 2 from the FOUP 6, and unloading the wafer 2 from the wafer processing device 5, the longitudinal direction of the hand coincides with the front-to-back direction (i.e., the short direction of the hand coincides with the left-to-right direction), and the hand 11 rotates relative to the arm 12 and the arm 12 extends and retracts relative to the main body 13 so that the hand 11 moves linearly in the front-to-back direction while facing a constant direction (specifically, so that the hand 11 moves linearly in the front-to-back direction when viewed from above). However, when viewed from above, the trajectory of the hand 11 when loading and unloading the wafer 2 into and from the wafer processing device 5 and FOUP 6 is not necessarily a perfect straight line.

[0027] In this embodiment, the longitudinal direction of the hand (V direction) is a first direction which is a predetermined direction perpendicular to the vertical direction (i.e., a predetermined direction within the horizontal direction), and the short direction of the hand (W direction) is a second direction which is perpendicular to both the vertical direction and the first direction. The hand base 21 constitutes one end portion of the hand 11 in the first direction and is rotatably connected to the tip side of the arm portion 17.

[0028] The mounting section 20 is connected to the hand base 21. The mounting section 20 is also slidable relative to the hand base 21 in the short-hand direction. The hand 11 includes a guide mechanism 22 for guiding the mounting section 20 in the short-hand direction, a tension coil spring 23 as a first biasing member for biasing the mounting section 20 to one side in the short-hand direction relative to the hand base 21, a tension coil spring 24 as a second biasing member for biasing the mounting section 20 to the other side in the short-hand direction relative to the hand base 21, and a mounting section holding mechanism 25 for holding the mounting section 20 at a predetermined position in the short-hand direction.

[0029] The mounting portion 20 has a projection 20a that protrudes toward the base end of the hand 11. That is, the mounting portion 20 has a projection 20a that protrudes toward the hand base 21. The projection 20a is formed, for example, in the shape of an elongated rectangular parallelepiped in the longitudinal direction of the hand. The majority of the projection 20a is located inside the hand base 21. The tip surface of the projection 20a (the end surface of the projection 20a on the base end side of the hand 11) has a conical recess 20b that is recessed toward the tip side of the hand 11.

[0030] The mounting section 20 includes a holding mechanism 26 that holds the wafer 2 mounted on the mounting section 20 at a fixed position in the horizontal direction. The holding mechanism 26 in this embodiment is an edge-grip type holding mechanism that contacts the end face (outer peripheral surface) of the wafer 2 mounted on the mounting section 20 from three directions to hold the wafer 2 mounted on the mounting section 20 at a fixed position in the horizontal direction. The holding mechanism 26 includes an end face contact member 27 having a contact surface that the end face of the wafer 2 abuts against, and a wafer pressing mechanism 28 that pushes the wafer 2 so that the end face of the wafer 2 is pressed against the contact surface of the end face contact member 27.

[0031] The end-face contact members 27 are positioned at two locations on the tip of the hand 11, which has a roughly Y shape. The wafer pressing mechanism 28 includes a pressing section that presses the end face of the wafer 2 toward the tip of the hand 11, and an air cylinder that drives the pressing section. The pressing section is equipped with a roller that contacts the end face of the wafer 2. Two wafer mounting members 29 on which the wafer 2 is placed are fixed to the upper surface of the mounting section 20, and the wafer 2 is mounted on the end-face contact members 27 and the wafer mounting members 29.

[0032] The guide mechanism 22 includes a guide rail 32 fixed to the hand base 21 and a guide block 33 that engages with the guide rail 32. The guide rail 32 is formed in a straight line with the hand's short direction as its longitudinal direction. The guide rail 32 is located inside the hand base 21. The guide block 33 is fixed to the mounting section 20. Specifically, the guide block 33 is fixed to the projection 20a. The guide block 33 is also fixed, for example, to the lower surface of the projection 20a and engages with the guide rail 32 from above. The guide block 33 is located inside the hand base 21. The mounting section 20 is slidable along the guide rail 32 relative to the hand base 21 in the hand's short direction.

[0033] The tension coil springs 23 and 24 are located inside the hand base 21. One end of each tension coil spring 23 and 24 engages with the mounting portion 20. Specifically, one end of each tension coil spring 23 and 24 engages with the protruding portion 20a. The other end of each tension coil spring 23 and 24 engages with the hand base 21. In this embodiment, the biasing force of the tension coil spring 23, which biases the mounting portion 20 to one side in the hand's short-arm direction, and the biasing force of the tension coil spring 24, which biases the mounting portion 20 to the other side in the hand's short-arm direction, make it possible to automatically return the mounting portion 20 to a predetermined reference position in the hand's short-arm direction. When the mounting portion 20 is positioned at the reference position in the hand's short-arm direction, for example, as shown in Figure 2, the center of the mounting portion 20 in the hand's short-arm direction coincides with the center of the hand base 21 in the hand's short-arm direction.

[0034] The mounting part holding mechanism 25 includes, for example, an engaging member 34 having a conical engaging portion 34a that engages with a recess 20b of a protruding portion 20a, and an air cylinder 35 that drives the engaging member 34. The air cylinder 35 moves the engaging member 34 linearly in the longitudinal direction of the hand. The air cylinder 35 also moves the engaging member 34 between a holding position 34A (see Figure 4(B)) in which the engaging portion 34a engages with the recess 20b, and a retracted position 34B (see Figure 4(A)) in which the engaging member 34 retracts so that the engaging portion 34a disengages from the recess 20b.

[0035] When the engaging member 34 is positioned in the retracted position 34B, the mounting portion 20 becomes slidable relative to the hand base 21 in the hand-short direction. In this embodiment, the sliding resistance of the guide block 33 relative to the guide rail 32 is small, and the mounting portion 20 slides relatively smoothly relative to the hand base 21 in the hand-short direction. On the other hand, when the engaging member 34 is positioned in the holding position 34A, the movement of the mounting portion 20 in the hand-short direction relative to the hand base 21 is restricted, and the mounting portion 20 is held at a predetermined position in the hand-short direction. In this embodiment, the mounting portion holding mechanism 25 holds the mounting portion 20 at a reference position in the hand-short direction. Also, in this embodiment, when inserting the mounting portion 20 into the wafer processing apparatus 5 or FOUP 6, the engaging member 34 moves to the holding position 34A, and the mounting portion 20 is held at a reference position in the hand-short direction.

[0036] (Main effects of this form) As described above, in this embodiment, the mounting section 20 is slidable in the short-hand direction relative to the hand base 21, which is rotatably connected to the arm 12. Furthermore, in this embodiment, when loading wafers 2 into the wafer processing apparatus 5 or FOUP 6, and when unloading wafers 2 from the wafer processing apparatus 5 or FOUP 6, the hand 11 moves linearly so that the short-hand direction and the left-right direction coincide.

[0037] Therefore, in this embodiment, when loading or unloading wafers 2 into or out of the wafer processing apparatus 5 or FOUP 6, even if the wafer 2 held in a fixed position on the mounting section 20 by the holding mechanism 26 comes into contact with the left-right walls of the wafer processing apparatus 5 or FOUP 6, it is possible to slide the mounting section 20 in the left-right direction (short-side direction of the hand) relative to the hand base 21 so that the left-right walls of the wafer processing apparatus 5 or FOUP 6 and the wafer 2 do not come into contact with excessive contact pressure. Consequently, in this embodiment, even if the left-right width of the wafer processing apparatus 5 or FOUP 6 is narrowed, it is possible to prevent damage to the wafer 2 held in a fixed position on the hand 11 by the holding mechanism 26, and to the left-right walls of the wafer processing apparatus 5 or FOUP 6, when loading or unloading wafers 2 into or out of the wafer processing apparatus 5 or FOUP 6.

[0038] In this embodiment, the hand 11 is equipped with a mounting part holding mechanism 25 for holding the mounting part 20 at a reference position in the short-hand direction. Therefore, in this embodiment, even if the mounting part 20 is slidable in the short-hand direction relative to the hand base 21, the mounting part holding mechanism 25 makes it possible to prevent the mounting part 20 from shaking in the short-hand direction relative to the hand base 21. Furthermore, in this embodiment, when inserting the mounting part 20 into the wafer processing apparatus 5 or FOUP 6, the mounting part holding mechanism 25 holds the mounting part 20 at a reference position in the short-hand direction.

[0039] Therefore, in this embodiment, it becomes possible to stabilize the state of the mounting portion 20 relative to the hand base 21 when inserting the mounting portion 20 into the wafer processing apparatus 5 or FOUP 6. As a result, in this embodiment, even if the mounting portion 20 is slidable in the short-side direction of the hand relative to the hand base 21, it becomes possible to prevent interference between the wafer processing apparatus 5 or FOUP 6 and the mounting portion 20 when inserting the mounting portion 20 into the wafer processing apparatus 5 or FOUP 6.

[0040] (Other embodiments) The above-described embodiment is merely one example of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and is not limited thereto. Various modifications can be made without altering the essence of the present invention.

[0041] In the above-described configuration, the guide rail 32 may be fixed to the protruding portion 20a of the mounting portion 20, and the guide block 33 may be fixed to the hand base 21. Alternatively, in the above-described configuration, the guide mechanism 22 may, instead of the guide rail 32 and the guide block 33, include, for example, a guide shaft fixed to the hand base 21 and a cylindrical guide bush through which the guide shaft is inserted and which is fixed to the protruding portion 20a of the mounting portion 20.

[0042] In the above-described embodiment, the holding mechanism 26 may be a suction-type holding mechanism that holds the wafer 2 mounted on the mounting section 20 in a fixed position by vacuum suction. Also, in the above-described embodiment, the biasing member that biases the mounting section 20 relative to the hand base 21 in the direction of the hand's short side may be a spring member other than the tension coil springs 23 and 24. Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the hand 11 does not need to be equipped with the mounting section holding mechanism 25.

[0043] In the above-described embodiment, the robot 1 may be equipped with two hands 11 that are rotatably connected to the tip of the arm 12. Also, in the above-described embodiment, the arm 12 may be composed of two arm sections or four or more arm sections. Also, in the above-described embodiment, the object to be transported by the robot 1 may be something other than the wafer 2. In this case, for example, the object to be transported may be formed in the shape of a square or rectangular flat plate.

[0044] The industrial robot to which the present invention applies may be a robot other than a horizontally articulated industrial robot. For example, the industrial robot to which the present invention applies may be an industrial robot comprising an arm to which the hand 11 is connected so as to enable linear reciprocating movement of the hand 11, a main body to which the arm is rotatably connected, and a linear drive unit that moves the hand 11 linearly back and forth relative to the arm. [Explanation of symbols]

[0045] 1. Robots (Industrial Robots) 2. Wafer (semiconductor wafer, object to be transported) 11 Hand 12 Arms 13 Main body 20 Mounting section 21 Hand base 22 Guide mechanism 23. Tension coil spring (first biasing member) 24. Tension coil spring (second biasing member) 25 Mounting part holding mechanism 26 Retention mechanism 32 Guide Rails 33 Guide Blocks V 1st direction W Second direction

Claims

1. In the hand of an industrial robot that transports objects, If we define a predetermined direction perpendicular to the vertical direction as the first direction, and a direction perpendicular to both the vertical direction and the first direction as the second direction, The hand comprises a mounting section on which the object to be transported is mounted, a hand base that constitutes one end of the hand in the first direction and to which the mounting section is connected, a first biasing member that biases the mounting section toward one side in the second direction relative to the hand base, and a second biasing member that biases the mounting section toward the other side in the second direction relative to the hand base. The hand is characterized in that the mounting section is equipped with a holding mechanism for holding the object to be transported mounted on the mounting section at a fixed position in the horizontal direction, and is slidable in the second direction relative to the hand base.

2. In a hand of an industrial robot for transporting an object, If we define a predetermined direction perpendicular to the vertical direction as the first direction, and a direction perpendicular to both the vertical direction and the first direction as the second direction, The system comprises a mounting section on which the object to be transported is mounted, a hand base that constitutes one end of the hand in the first direction and to which the mounting section is connected, and a mounting section holding mechanism for holding the mounting section at a predetermined position in the second direction. The hand is characterized in that the mounting section is equipped with a holding mechanism for holding the object to be transported mounted on the mounting section at a fixed position in the horizontal direction, and is slidable in the second direction relative to the hand base.

3. The mounting portion is provided with a guide mechanism for guiding it in the second direction, The guide mechanism comprises a guide rail formed in a straight line with the second direction as the longitudinal direction and fixed to the hand base, and a guide block that engages with the guide rail and is fixed to the mounting portion. The hand according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the mounting portion is slidable in the second direction relative to the hand base along the guide rail.

4. An industrial robot comprising a hand according to any one of claims 1 to 3, an arm to which the hand is connected, and a main body to which the arm is connected.

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