Nested Shaft Industrial Robot for Semiconductor Throughput
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Solution Overview
Problem
Industrial robots used in semiconductor production face limitations in arm turning quantity, leading to decreased throughput due to the need for chambers to return to normal pressure after each wafer operation, and existing solutions either increase costs or restrict arm movement.
Innovation Solution
An industrial robot design featuring a main body with a hollow and solid turnable shaft, along with sensor mechanisms and a rotary joint, allows for unlimited arm turning with high positional accuracy, reducing the number of shafts required and eliminating the need for reverse turning, thus improving throughput and reducing costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the arm turning quantity is limited by conventional shaft mechanisms, then the device complexity is reduced, but the productivity decreases due to reverse turning operations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a nested shaft structure where a solid turnable shaft is positioned inside a hollow turnable shaft. The solid shaft rotates within the hollow shaft, allowing independent rotation of each shaft. This nested configuration enables unlimited arm turning in one direction without requiring the arm to reverse direction, thereby improving throughput while maintaining manageable device complexity through the integrated design.
2Manufacturing precision
If stepping motors are used for each drive shaft to enhance turning accuracy, then the manufacturing precision is improved, but the device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the functions of multiple drive shafts into a unified mechanism. By using a nested shaft structure where the solid shaft rotates within the hollow shaft, the system achieves precise arm positioning without requiring separate stepping motors for each shaft. The integrated design reduces the number of motors and gear structures while maintaining turning accuracy through the coordinated rotation of the nested shafts.
3Loss of time
If the arm must reverse turning once per several times due to limited turning range, then the device complexity is reduced, but the loss of time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The nested shaft structure enables the arm to rotate continuously in one direction without reversal. The solid turnable shaft rotates within the hollow turnable shaft, allowing the arm to achieve multiple full rotations (e.g., 720 degrees or more) without needing to reverse direction. This eliminates the time loss associated with reverse turning operations while the integrated nested design keeps the shaft structure complexity manageable.
Data Source
AI summary
An industrial robot may include a main body part and an arm part including a first arm, a second arm and a hand arm. The main body part is provided with a first turnable shaft for performing an expansion-contraction operation of the arm part, a second turnable shaft which is disposed within the first turnable shaft for changing an expansion-contraction direction of the hand arm together with the first arm, a first sensor mechanism including a first sensor for detecting a home position of the second turnable shaft, a second sensor mechanism provided in the second turnable shaft and which includes a second sensor for detecting a relative home position between the second turnable shaft and the first turnable shaft, and a rotary joint which is connected with the second turnable shaft and is electrically connected with the second sensor.