External Travel Robot Coupling for Vacuum Chamber Transfer Maintenance
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Solution Overview
Problem
The installation and maintenance of substrate transfer robots in vacuum chambers are complicated due to the need for additional structures like rails, which complicates the installation and maintenance processes, especially in cluster-type substrate processing equipment with tetragonal structures.
Innovation Solution
A travel robot system comprising a travel arm platform with coupling holes and locking members, travel and transfer arm parts with driving motors and speed reducers, and a transfer robot coupling part that allows for easy movement and rotation of the substrate transfer robot within the vacuum chamber, maintaining a sealed environment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If rails and additional structures are installed within the transfer chamber to enable substrate transfer robot movement, then the substrate transfer robot can be moved along the transport path, but the installation and maintenance of the substrate transfer robot become highly complicated
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the driving mechanism from the vacuum chamber environment and places it externally. The substrate transfer robot is moved by an external traveling robot that travels along the outer surface of the vacuum chamber, eliminating the need for internal rails and complex installation structures within the transfer chamber.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an external traveling robot as an intermediary between the control system and the substrate transfer robot. This traveling robot transmits driving forces to the substrate transfer robot through a drive shaft that penetrates the vacuum chamber wall, enabling movement without internal mechanical structures.
2Ease of operation
If rails are installed within the transfer chamber to provide a transport path, then the substrate transfer robot can be moved, but subsequent maintenance of the substrate transfer robot becomes highly complicated
Solution Approach 1:
The maintenance complexity is reduced by extracting the driving mechanism from the internal environment. The external traveling robot can be maintained and repaired outside the vacuum chamber, and the substrate transfer robot can be accessed more easily since it is moved by external forces rather than internal rail mechanisms.
3Ease of manufacture
If additional structures are installed first before installing the substrate transfer robot, then the transport path is formed, but the overall installation process becomes more complicated
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the traditional installation sequence. Instead of first installing internal rails and then mounting the substrate transfer robot, the system installs the substrate transfer robot first and then provides movement capability through an external traveling robot that approaches the already-installed robot.
Solution Approach 2:
The transport path infrastructure is extracted from the internal chamber and relocated to the external environment. The traveling robot moves along the outer surface of the vacuum chamber, eliminating the need for complex internal rail installations and simplifying the overall installation process.
Data Source
AI summary
A travel robot for moving a substrate transfer robot in a vacuum chamber, includes: a travel arm platform through which coupling holes are formed, wherein an elevating drive shaft is inserted into a lower space of one of the coupling holes; a first travel arm part including a (1_1)-st and a (1_2)-nd travel link arms; a second travel arm part including a (2_1)-st and a (2_2)-nd travel link arms, wherein travel driving motors and speed reducers are installed in the (1_1)-st and the (2_1)-st travel link arms; and a transfer robot coupling part engaged with the (1_2)-nd and the (2_2)-nd travel link arms, wherein a rotation driving motor built thereon is engaged with the substrate transfer robot by a rotation drive shaft.