Ceiling Travel Guide Member With Intersecting Diverging Paths
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing article transport facilities face complexity in facility design and inefficiencies in transporting articles between substrate processing devices due to the need for multiple diverging paths, which complicates route planning and reduces transport efficiency.
Innovation Solution
The article transport facility features a travel guide member on the ceiling that defines travel paths with slanted diverging paths intersecting each other, allowing for efficient routing by enabling diverging paths to be installed at the same location, reducing the need for multiple diverging paths and lowering transport vehicle speeds.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the first diverging path and the second diverging path are provided at different locations in the longitudinal direction of a pair of adjacent travel paths, then it is possible to allow article transport vehicles to switch between travel paths, but the facility designing work becomes complicated and article transporting efficiency is difficult to improve
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the first diverging path and second diverging path at the same longitudinal location, allowing both paths to intersect and connect the first and second travel paths at a single position. This consolidation reduces the number of diverging sections from multiple locations to one, simplifying facility design while maintaining full path switching capability between adjacent travel paths.
Solution Approach 2:
The intersecting diverging paths at a single location serve multiple functions simultaneously: the first diverging path enables switching from the first travel path to the second, the second diverging path enables switching from the second travel path to the first, and both paths together create efficient route options for article transport between processing devices, reducing the need for separate diverging sections.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple diverging and converging paths are provided to enable article transport between substrate processing devices, then transport routes can be established, but the number of low-speed sections increases and transport efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
By providing both the first and second diverging paths at the same longitudinal location rather than distributing them across multiple locations, the patent reduces the total number of diverging and converging sections. This minimizes the number of low-speed zones where vehicles must slow down to navigate path intersections, thereby improving overall article transport efficiency while maintaining multiple route options.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the first diverging path and second diverging path are provided at different locations, then path switching is possible, but the facility designing work becomes time-consuming and painstaking
Solution Approach 1:
The patent consolidates the first and second diverging paths at the same longitudinal location, creating a unified intersecting path structure. This merging approach simplifies the facility design process by reducing the number of locations that need to be independently planned and coordinated, thereby significantly reducing the time and effort required for facility design while preserving full route flexibility for article transport.
Data Source
AI summary
A travel guide member which forms travel paths for an article transport vehicle is provided on a ceiling side. The travel guide member defines a plurality of travel paths along which the article transport vehicle travels in the same direction such that the travel paths are spaced apart from each other in a path lateral direction and defines a first diverging path and a second diverging path for connecting with each other a first travel path that is one of a pair of adjacent travel paths among the plurality of the travel paths and a second travel path that is the other of the pair of the adjacent travel paths. The first diverging path and the second diverging path are formed such that both extend in directions that are slanted with respect to the travel path in plan view and such that they intersect each other in plan view.