Shared Overhead Track Conveying System for Semiconductor Factories
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing transport systems in semiconductor manufacturing factories require separate tracks for overhead transport vehicles and cranes, leading to increased installation costs and limited layout flexibility due to the need for multiple track installations.
Innovation Solution
A transport system that uses shared intrabay overhead tracks for cranes and an overhead transport vehicle, with interbay tracks connecting them, allowing for efficient article transport between processing tools, storage, and delivery ports, while reducing the need for separate overhead track installations by allocating different roles to the cranes and the transport vehicle.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If multiple conveyors are arranged in parallel to increase throughput, then productivity increases, but device complexity and space requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The conveying system is divided into multiple independent conveying units (first conveying unit, second conveying unit, etc.), each capable of conveying packages independently. These units are arranged in parallel between the same input and output positions, allowing the system to handle multiple packages simultaneously without requiring a completely separate conveyor for each stream, thus increasing productivity while controlling complexity through modular design
Solution Approach 2:
Each conveying unit is designed with universal functionality to convey packages of different sizes and weights. The units use standardized components such as universal joints, common drive mechanisms, and interchangeable conveying elements (rollers, belts, or chains), allowing the same basic design to be replicated multiple times without proportionally increasing system complexity
2Adaptability or versatility
If conveying elements are made larger to accommodate bigger packages, then adaptability improves, but the system occupies more space
Solution Approach 1:
The conveying elements are designed to be dynamically adjustable rather than fixed. Rollers can change rotation directions, belt speeds can be varied, and spacing between conveying elements can be modified to accommodate different package dimensions. This dynamic adaptability allows smaller conveying elements to handle larger packages by adjusting their configuration, avoiding the need for permanently oversized conveying components that would waste space
Solution Approach 2:
The system utilizes vertical space and three-dimensional arrangement of conveying elements rather than only horizontal expansion. Conveying units are stacked or arranged in multiple levels, allowing packages of various sizes to be conveyed simultaneously in different spatial dimensions. This approach increases adaptability to different package sizes without proportionally increasing the horizontal footprint of the conveyor system
Data Source
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AI summary
Articles are efficiently transported by allocating different roles to an overhead transport vehicle and a crane while reducing installation cost of tracks by using tracks on which the overhead transport vehicle and the crane run in common. A transport system includes: a first intrabay overhead track 11 and a second intrabay overhead track 12; a first interbay overhead track 13 and a second interbay overhead track 14; first and second storages 20A and 20B; first and second delivery ports 30A and 30B; first and second cranes 40A and 40B including first and second runners 41A and 41B that run along the first intrabay overhead track 11 and the second intrabay overhead track 12, first and second masts 42A and 42B, and first and second transferers 44A and 44B; and an overhead transport vehicle 50 including a runner 51 that runs along the first intrabay overhead track 11 and the second intrabay overhead track 12, a holder 53, a lifting driver 54, and a lateral extender 55.