Substrate Holding Unit with Single Drive Protrusion Adjustment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing substrate conveying robots with batch conveying type end effectors require complex mechanisms to adjust the vertical pitch of substrate holding positions, making them cumbersome and inefficient.
Innovation Solution
A simplified end effector design with a substrate holding unit that uses a single drive source to change the protrusion amount from a reference surface, allowing for adjustable vertical pitch and improved substrate support through multiple supporting portions, reducing mechanical complexity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a batch conveying type end effector is used to hold multiple substrates simultaneously, then substrate conveying efficiency is improved, but the mechanism complexity increases due to the need for adjusting protrusion amount and vertical pitch
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the protrusion amount adjustment function and vertical pitch adjustment function into a single integrated substrate holding unit. The substrate holding unit includes multiple substrate holding portions arranged vertically, where the entire unit protrudes from the hand base portion as a unified structure. This consolidation eliminates the need for separate adjustment mechanisms for each function, thereby reducing overall mechanism complexity while maintaining the capability to convey multiple substrates simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The substrate holding unit is designed with dynamic adjustability through a pitch adjustment mechanism that can change the vertical pitch between substrate holding portions. The unit can dynamically adjust its protrusion amount relative to the hand base portion, allowing flexible adaptation to different substrate configurations and conveying requirements without requiring complex fixed structures.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the protrusion amount of substrate holding unit is adjusted to change vertical pitch, then adaptability to different substrate configurations is improved, but the mechanism becomes more complicated
Solution Approach 1:
The substrate holding unit serves multiple functions: it holds multiple substrates simultaneously, adjusts its protrusion amount from the hand base portion, and changes the vertical pitch between holding portions. This multi-functional design allows a single mechanism to handle various substrate configurations (different numbers of substrates, different vertical arrangements) without requiring separate specialized mechanisms for each function, thereby improving adaptability while controlling complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
An end effector has a hand base portion at least a part of which advances below a lowermost substrate or above an uppermost substrate of a plurality of substrates stored in a substrate storing portion, a substrate holding unit provided to the hand base portion so as to hold the two or more substrates including the lowermost substrate or the uppermost substrate, and a protrusion amount change unit for changing a protrusion amount of the substrate holding unit from a reference surface including the surface of the hand base portion opposed to the lowermost substrate or the uppermost substrate. The protrusion amount change unit has a single drive source applying a drive force to the whole substrate holding unit.