Side Track Buffer Alignment Jig for Precise Rail Positioning
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Solution Overview
Problem
The challenge of accurately aligning a side track buffer with a transfer rail in semiconductor manufacturing facilities, leading to potential damage from impact between the buffer port and the FOUP, is unresolved due to difficulties in detecting the precise installation position of the side track buffer relative to the conveyance vehicle.
Innovation Solution
An alignment jig comprising a horizontal and vertical jig system is used to measure and adjust the buffer separation distance between the side track buffer and the transfer rail, ensuring accurate installation by using a detection needle to align the intersection point and a scale for precise positioning.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If the side track buffer is arranged without using an alignment jig, then the arrangement process is simpler, but the installation position accuracy deteriorates leading to potential FOUP damage
Solution Approach 1:
An alignment jig is introduced as an intermediary tool between the side track buffer and the transfer rail. The jig includes a horizontal component attached to the buffer and a vertical component attached to the transfer rail, with a detection needle that reads scale values to determine the buffer separation distance. This intermediary device enables accurate positioning without requiring complex direct measurement methods.
2Measurement precision
If the conveyance vehicle is driven to measure the distance, then the measurement accuracy may be improved, but the operation complexity and time consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The alignment jig is installed on the side track buffer before the actual arrangement operation. The horizontal jig is fastened to the bottom plate of the buffer, and the vertical jig is positioned on the transfer rail in advance. This preliminary setup allows for accurate measurement without requiring the conveyance vehicle to be driven during the measurement process, thereby reducing operational complexity and time consumption.
3Ease of operation
If the side track buffer is spaced apart from the transfer rail, then the installation is easier, but the detection of accurate installation position becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The alignment jig concentrates the measurement function at a specific local point - the intersection between the horizontal jig attached to the buffer and the vertical jig on the transfer rail. The detection needle reads the scale value at this precise intersection point, providing accurate measurement of the buffer separation distance even when the buffer is spaced apart from the rail, thus maintaining both installation ease and measurement accuracy.
Data Source
AI summary
Provided are an alignment jig, a side track buffer system including the same, and an alignment method using the same. The alignment jig includes a horizontal jig fixed to a bottom plate of a side track buffer to extend in a horizontal direction to a lower portion of the transfer rail, and a vertical jig fixed to the transfer rail to extend downward in a vertical direction so as to be adjacent to a top surface in the horizontal direction. A separation distance between an intersection point of the vertical jig and the horizontal jig and a central portion of the bottom plate is detected as a buffer separation distance, and a buffer frame is horizontally moved automatically or manually to allow the buffer separation distance to match a reference separation distance, so that the side track buffer is installed in an accurate position.