TW201603977A - Movement correction method for handling system and handling robot - Google Patents

Abstract

Improve the accuracy of the hand's motion trajectory. A handling system in which the embodiment is the same includes a handling robot having a horizontal arm unit and a foot unit; and a control device. The horizontal arm unit has a horizontal arm portion that is stretched and contracted in a predetermined telescopic direction, and a hand that is provided at an end of the horizontal arm portion. The foot unit has a foot link mechanism that moves the horizontal arm unit in a vertical plane perpendicular to the telescopic direction. The control device corrects the offset from the direction of expansion and contraction of the hand by operating the foot link mechanism during the expansion and contraction operation of the horizontal arm unit.

Description

Movement correction method for handling system and handling robot

The disclosed embodiment relates to a method of correcting the movement of a transport system and a transport robot.

Conventionally, a transfer robot for transporting a thin plate-shaped workpiece such as a glass substrate for liquid crystal or a semiconductor wafer has been known.

For example, there is a transport robot that includes a hand that moves forward and backward on a straight line in a certain direction by a telescopic arm having a link mechanism that connects a plurality of arms, and transports the object to be transported while being accessed from the storage rack (for example, See patent document 1).

Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2013-000839

However, in the above-described conventional transport robot, there is room for further improvement in the accuracy of the motion trajectory of the opponent.

For example, the above-described handling robot moves the hand by means of a link mechanism For the sake of motion, there is a possibility that the moving hand is shifted from a straight line as an ideal trajectory, for example, an S-shaped trajectory.

In view of the above, the object of the present embodiment is to provide a transport robot and a transport system capable of improving the accuracy of the motion trajectory of the hand.

A transport system related to the same state of the present embodiment includes a transport robot including a horizontal arm unit and a foot unit, and a control device. The horizontal arm unit has a horizontal arm portion that is stretched and contracted in a predetermined telescopic direction, and a hand that is provided at an end of the horizontal arm portion. The foot unit has a foot link mechanism that moves the horizontal arm unit in a vertical plane perpendicular to the telescopic direction. The control device corrects the offset from the direction of expansion and contraction of the hand by operating the foot link mechanism during the expansion and contraction operation of the horizontal arm unit.

1‧‧‧Handling system

10, 10a‧‧‧Handling robot

11‧‧‧Horizontal arm unit

12, 12a‧‧‧ foot unit

13, 131, 132‧‧‧ horizontal arm

13a‧‧‧1st arm

13b‧‧‧2nd arm

13aa‧‧‧Proactive pulley

13ab‧‧‧ fixed shaft

13ba‧‧‧driven pulley

13bc‧‧‧fixed pulley

Maa‧‧ output pulley

14‧‧‧Hand

14a‧‧‧Framework

14b‧‧‧fork

14aa, 14ac‧‧‧ Pulley

14ab‧‧‧Rotary axis

15‧‧‧ Arm base

16‧‧‧ Lifting Department

16a‧‧‧1st lifting arm

16b‧‧‧2nd lifting arm

16c‧‧‧Base Department

17‧‧‧ Walking Desk

20‧‧‧Control device

R1, R2, R3‧‧‧ reducer

R1a, R2a, R3a‧‧‧ input shaft

R1b, R2b, R3b‧‧‧ housing

R1c, R2c, R3c‧‧‧ output shaft

T0, T1, T2, T3‧‧‧ belt

201, 202, 203, 205, 206, 207, 210‧‧‧ arrows

204, 209‧‧‧ dotted line

208‧‧‧solid line

Fig. 1 is a schematic view showing a method of correcting a track of a hand realized by a transfer robot according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing a schematic configuration of a transfer robot.

Fig. 3 is a schematic plan view showing the operation of the horizontal arm portion.

4A to 4C are explanatory views for explaining a method of correcting a track of a hand realized by a transfer robot.

Fig. 5A is a schematic plan view showing an example of an internal configuration of an arm.

Fig. 5B is a schematic plan view showing another example of the internal configuration of the arm.

Figure 6 is a block diagram of the handling system.

Fig. 7A is a view showing an example of roll correction information.

Fig. 7B is a view showing another example of the roll correction information.

Fig. 8 is a flow chart showing the processing procedure executed by the transport system.

FIG. 9 is a schematic plan view showing a schematic configuration of a transport robot according to a modification.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the transport robot and the transport system disclosed in the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Furthermore, the invention is not limited thereto by the embodiments shown below.

First, a method of correcting a track of a hand realized by a transfer robot according to an embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 1 .

As shown in Fig. 1, a conveyance system according to an embodiment is a straight line of a hand provided on an end of a horizontal arm portion that expands and contracts in a predetermined direction (for example, the X-axis direction shown in Fig. 1) by the operation of the leg unit. The offset of the trajectory of the forward motion is corrected.

As shown in FIG. 1, the handling robot of the embodiment has a horizontal arm unit and a foot unit. The horizontal arm unit has a horizontal arm and a hand. The horizontal arm portion is a link mechanism having a plurality of arms that are rotatably coupled to each other, and moves the hand provided at the distal end in the telescopic direction (X-axis direction shown in FIG. 1).

The foot unit has the ability to enable a plurality of link members to be connected via the foot A foot link mechanism that is rotatably coupled to each other and a horizontal link unit that moves up and down along the Z-axis direction shown in FIG. 1 through the foot link mechanism.

Further, the leg unit can move the horizontal arm unit in the Y-axis direction by, for example, making the direction of the rotation axis of each leg joint of the leg link mechanism parallel to the moving direction of the hand.

Here, there is a case where the hand is shifted from a straight line which is an ideal trajectory, for example, an S-shaped trajectory, due to a hysteresis of the driving force between the arms in the link mechanism of the horizontal arm portion, a machining error of the arm, or the like. .

In Fig. 1, the S-shaped trajectory is indicated by a broken line S. Further, the distance from the trajectory S to the Y-axis direction of the ideal trajectory of the hand is set as "offset". Further, the foot unit moves the horizontal arm unit in parallel in the Y-axis direction during the movement of the hand, thereby performing an operation of canceling the deviation of the trajectory of the hand.

In the following, a correction method of the trajectory of the hand realized by the transport robot according to the embodiment will be further specifically described. As shown in FIG. 1, in the transfer robot according to the embodiment, the hand starts moving in the positive direction of the X-axis (step S1).

Next, the foot unit moves the horizontal arm unit in parallel in the Y-axis direction during the movement of the hand, thereby causing the opponent to perform an action of eliminating the offset from the ideal trajectory (step S2).

Thereby, the hand moves on the straight line which is an ideal trajectory and reaches the destination position (step S3). In addition, here, the case where the hand moves in the positive direction of the X-axis (that is, the case where the horizontal arm is elongated) is taken as an example. However, when the hand moves in the negative direction of the X-axis (that is, when the horizontal arm is contracted), the track can be corrected in the same manner.

As described above, the transport robot according to the embodiment corrects the offset of the opponent from the ideal trajectory by the elevating mechanism that raises and lowers the horizontal arm unit. Therefore, it is possible to avoid an increase in equipment cost and at the same time, it is possible to improve the accuracy of the trajectory of the straight forward movement of the hand.

In FIG. 1, the case where the leg joint is a so-called rotary joint in which a plurality of link members are connected to each other is described as an example. However, not limited thereto, the foot joint may be any type of joint such as a straight joint or a spherical joint, or a combination thereof.

Next, a transfer robot according to an embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 2 . FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing a schematic configuration of a transfer robot. In the following, a substrate transfer robot that transports a glass substrate as a conveyed object will be described as an example. In addition, the substrate transfer robot is simply referred to as a "transport robot." The robot hand as the end effector is simply referred to as "hand". The glass substrate is referred to as a "workpiece."

In addition, from the viewpoint of easy understanding and explanation, in FIG. 2, a three-dimensional orthogonal coordinate system including a Z-axis in which a vertical direction is a positive direction and a vertical direction is a negative direction is illustrated. Therefore, the direction along the XY plane direction means "horizontal direction". The orthogonal coordinate system is sometimes also shown in other drawings used in the following description. Further, in a state where the object is located at the origin, it is assumed that the positive direction of the Z-axis is the upper side, the negative direction is the lower side, the positive direction of the X-axis is "forward", and the positive direction of the Y-axis is "left".

Further, hereinafter, in the case of constituent elements composed of a plurality of members, only a part of the plurality of members is attached with the component symbols, and the other components are omitted. In such a case, a part of the attached component symbol has the same configuration as the other parts.

In addition, in the component elements which are similarly composed of a plurality of members, component symbols in the form of "-number" may be attached to the component symbols to identify the components. In such a case, when these components are collectively referred to, the above-mentioned "-number" component symbols are not used, and only component symbols are used.

In the following, the setting arm base 15 is rotated about the rotation axis RT with respect to the first lifting arm 16a. However, the direction of the rotation axis of each joint of the lifting platform portion 16 is set to be parallel to the expansion and contraction direction of the hand 14 . It is also possible not to provide such a rotating mechanism.

As shown in FIG. 2, the transport robot 10 has a horizontal arm unit 11 and a foot unit 12. The horizontal arm unit 11 has a pair of horizontal arm portions 13 that extend and contract in the X-axis direction as the "stretching direction", a pair of hands 14, and an arm base 15. Further, the horizontal arm portion 13 has a first arm 13a and a second arm 13b.

The hand 14 is an end effector for holding the workpiece, and is provided at the end portion of the horizontal arm portion 13. The horizontal arm portion 13 and the hand 14 will be described in detail later using the drawings subsequent to Fig. 3 . The arm base 15 is a base of the horizontal arm portion 13, and supports the horizontal arm portion 13 so as to be horizontally rotatable.

The leg unit 12 has a lifting platform portion 16 and a traveling table portion 17. The lifting table portion 16 has a first lifting arm 16a, a second lifting arm 16b, and a base portion 16c.

The first lifting arm 16a supports the arm base 15 at a distal end portion so as to be rotatable about a rotation axis RT parallel to the vertical direction and rotatable about the axis U1. In the following, the rotation operation around the rotation axis RT may be referred to as "arm base rotation axis operation" of the transfer robot 10.

The second lifting arm 16b supports the base end portion of the first lifting arm 16a so as to be rotatable about the axis U2 at the distal end portion.

The base portion 16c supports the base end portion of the second lifting arm 16b so as to be rotatable about the axis L while being supported on the traveling table portion 17 so as to be rotatable about a rotation axis S parallel to the vertical direction. In the following, the rotation operation around the rotation axis S may be referred to as the "base portion rotation axis operation" of the transfer robot 10.

Thereby, the lift base unit 16 rotates the arm base 15 around the axis U1, the first lift arm 16a about the axis U2, and the second lift arm 16b about the axis L, thereby causing the horizontal arm unit 11 to be parallel to the vertical direction. "Lifting and lowering action" in the "lifting direction".

The traveling table portion 17 is a traveling mechanism that constitutes a traveling vehicle or the like, and travels, for example, along the traveling axis SL parallel to the X-axis of FIG. 2 . Further, the traveling axis SL is not limited to a straight line. In addition, in the following, the traveling operation along the traveling axis SL may be referred to as the "traveling axis operation" of the transport robot 10.

Further, the conveyance robot 10 is connected to the control device 20 so as to be able to communicate with the transfer robot 10 . The control device 20 performs the following operation control on the transport robot 10, that is, the transport robot 10 performs the above-described arm base rotation axis operation or the base portion rotation axis operation, and rises. Various operations such as a descending motion, a traveling axis motion, and a telescopic motion of the horizontal arm portion 13 which will be described later. Further, the configuration of the transport system 1 includes at least the control device 20 and the transport robot 10. Further, the control device 20 will be described in detail later with reference to Fig. 6 .

Next, the expansion and contraction operation of the horizontal arm portion 13 including the hand 14 will be described with reference to FIG. 3 in a plan view of the transport robot 10.

In addition, from the viewpoint of easy understanding and explanation, in the following description, only one of the pair of arms of the horizontal arm portion 13 corresponding to one of the right arms will be described.

As shown in FIG. 3, the base end portion of the first arm 13a is coupled to the arm base 15 so as to be rotatable about the axis P1. The proximal end portion of the second arm 13b is coupled to the distal end portion of the first arm 13a so as to be rotatable about the axis P2.

The proximal end portion of the hand 14 is coupled to the distal end portion of the second arm 13b so as to be rotatable about the axis P3. The first arm 13a and the second arm 13b are hollow and have a transmission mechanism inside (see FIGS. 5A and 5B).

Such a transmission mechanism transmits power from a drive source to a shaft of a shaft P1 to P3 in which a drive source is not provided via a belt, a gear, a shaft, or the like.

Further, a drive source (see FIGS. 5A and 5B) is provided in the arm base 15, and is provided, for example, to be rotatable by any one of the axes P1 to P3. 5A and 5B, a configuration example of the horizontal arm portion 13 in the case where the driving force is transmitted from the axis P1 to the axis P2 and the axis P3 by sequentially transmitting the driving force to the transmission mechanism through the pulley mechanism will be described later. .

The hand 14 has a frame 14a and a plurality of forks 14b, and the second arm 13b is coupled to the frame 14a. In addition, the frame 14a supports the plurality of forks 14b side by side.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the yoke 14b is a member for holding the workpiece W, for example, by holding it on the main surface to hold the workpiece W. Further, the method of holding the workpiece W is not limited to being placed, and for example, the workpiece W may be adsorbed from above.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, when the transport arm 10 extends the horizontal arm portion 13, the moving direction and orientation of the hand 14 are restricted to a predetermined direction and orientation (the positive direction of the X-axis in FIG. 3).

Specifically, when the transport arm 10 extends the horizontal arm portion 13, the first arm 13a is rotated about the axis P1 in the counterclockwise direction by the amount of rotation θ (see an arrow 201 in Fig. 3). Further, at this time, the second arm 13b is rotated about the axis P2 in the clockwise direction by twice the amount of rotation 2θ with respect to the first arm 13a (see an arrow 202 in Fig. 3).

Further, the hand 14 is rotated about the axis P3 in the counterclockwise direction by the amount of rotation θ with respect to the second arm 13b (see an arrow 203 in Fig. 3). Thus, the transport robot 10 linearly moves the hand 14 along the X-axis while restricting the orientation of the fork 14b to the front.

However, in such a horizontal arm portion 13, due to the hysteresis of the driving force between the arms or the machining error of the arm, etc., the "crossing" shown as an example in Fig. 3 is likely to occur (see the broken line 204 of Fig. 3). .

In the present embodiment, the horizontal arm unit 11 is moved in parallel in the Y-axis direction by using the lifting table portion 16 (see an arrow 205 of FIG. 3 and 206), the roll of the opponent 14 is eliminated. By doing so, the hand 14 can be moved on a straight line (see arrow 207 of FIG. 3) which is an ideal trajectory.

In the following, a method of correcting the trajectory of the opponent 14 of the transport robot 10 according to the embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 4A to 4C. 4A to 4C are explanatory views for explaining a method of correcting a track of a hand realized by a transfer robot.

4A to 4C correspond to the case of the transfer robot 10 viewed from the positive direction of the X-axis shown in Fig. 2 . In the following, a case where the operation shown in FIG. 3 is performed by the hand 14 will be described as an example. Therefore, the same component symbols as those of the arrows (205, 206) shown in FIG. 3 are attached to the corresponding portions.

FIG. 4A shows the transfer robot 10 before moving the hand 14 as viewed from the positive direction of the X-axis. As shown in FIG. 4A, the conveyance robot 10 adjusts the orientation of the opponent 14 and the lifting table portion 16.

Specifically, the arm base rotation axis operation (refer to the rotation axis RT of FIG. 4A) or the base portion rotation axis operation (refer to the rotation axis S of FIG. 4A) is performed such that the end of the hand 14 faces the positive direction of the X-axis. The axis U1, the axis U2, and the axis L are made parallel to the direction of expansion and contraction (X-axis) of the hand 14. Further, in FIG. 4A, the distance in the Z-axis direction between the base portion 16c and the arm base 15 is expressed as the distance H.

In FIG. 4B, the conveyance robot 10 in which the hand 14 starts moving and the hand 14 is separated from the ideal track to the left side (the positive side of the Y-axis) is indicated by a broken line. At this time, the joints of the lifting platform portion 16 are around the axis U1 and the axis U2. And each axis of the axis L rotates in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG. 4B.

Thus, the elevating table portion 16 maintains the distance H while simultaneously moving the horizontal arm unit 11 in the negative direction of the Y-axis (see arrow 205 of FIG. 4B), thereby correcting the orbit of the opponent 14. In FIG. 4B, the rotation axis RT when the hand 14 is detached from the track is taken as RT0, and the corrected rotation axis RT of the track of the hand 14 is represented as RT1.

In FIG. 4C, the conveyance robot 10 in which the hand 14 starts moving and the hand 14 is separated from the ideal track to the right side (the negative side of the Y-axis) is indicated by a broken line. At this time, the respective joints of the lifting and lowering portion 16 are rotated in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG. 4C around the respective axes of the axis U1, the axis U2, and the axis L.

Thus, the elevating table portion 16 maintains the distance H while simultaneously moving the horizontal arm unit 11 in the positive direction of the Y-axis (see arrow 206 of FIG. 4C), thereby correcting the orbit of the opponent 14. In FIG. 4C, the rotation axis RT when the hand 14 is detached from the track is taken as RT0, and the corrected rotation axis RT of the track of the hand 14 is represented as RT2.

As described above, in the transfer robot 10 according to the present embodiment, the direction of the rotation axis of each joint of the lifter unit 16 is made parallel to the moving direction of the hand 14 and the opponent 14 corrects the track. Therefore, the horizontal arm unit 11 moves in a vertical plane perpendicular to the moving direction of the hand 14 in accordance with the rotation of the joint of the lifting platform portion 16. Therefore, it is possible to easily correct the track of the opponent 14.

Here, in the present embodiment, the workpiece W (see FIG. 3) is stored in a plurality of layers at a predetermined interval in a "reservoir" (not shown), and the transfer robot 10 is opposed to such a hopper side. Access Handle the workpiece W. Further, in the related art, the trajectory of the movement opponent 14 of the transport robot 10 including the travel axis operation is often corrected.

On the other hand, in the transport robot 10 according to the present embodiment, the trajectory of the motion opponent 14 is transmitted through the foot link mechanism (elevator unit 16), and the travel axis operation is not included in such correction operation. Therefore, the transfer robot 10 according to the present embodiment can correct the track of the opponent 14 regardless of the position on the traveling axis SL or the orientation of the hand 14.

As described above, according to the transfer robot 10 according to the present embodiment, it is possible to correct the track of the opponent 14 with respect to the stocker disposed at an arbitrary position that the hand 14 can reach, and simultaneously access the workpiece W. For example, when the hopper is disposed in the extending direction of the traveling shaft, it is difficult to correct the trajectory of the opponent 14 by the conventional correcting operation including the traveling shaft operation, but the transport robot 10 according to the present embodiment can be realized.

Further, in the horizontal arm portion 13 of the present embodiment, a drive source is provided in the arm base 15, and power from such a drive source is transmitted to the hand 14 via the pulley mechanism. Thus, the horizontal arm portion 13 can be made lighter and the operation of the hand 14 can be speeded up. In addition, the horizontal arm unit 11 can also be made lighter. In the following, a configuration example of the horizontal arm portion 13 will be described.

Fig. 5A is a schematic plan view showing an example of an internal configuration of an arm. In addition, in FIG. 5A, from the viewpoint of easy understanding of explanation, the first The case where the longitudinal direction of the arm 13a and the 2nd arm 13b is parallel with the Y-axis is demonstrated as an example.

As shown in FIG. 5A, the horizontal arm portion 131 has a motor M in the interior of the arm base 15. An output pulley Maa is provided on the output shaft of the motor M. Further, as shown in FIG. 5A, the first arm 13a is attached to the arm base 15 via the speed reducer R1.

The speed reducer R1 has an input shaft R1a disposed coaxially with the shaft P1, a housing R1b, and an output shaft R1c disposed coaxially with the input shaft R1a. The input shaft R1a is penetrated through the casing R1b and the output shaft R1c, and both end portions are located inside the arm base 15 and the first arm 13a, respectively.

Further, a drive pulley 13aa that rotates together with the input shaft R1a is provided at both end portions of the input shaft R1a. The casing R1b is attached to the arm base 15, and the base end portion of the first arm 13a is attached to the output shaft R1c.

The output pulley Maa and the primary pulley 13aa are coupled to each other in the arm base 15 via the belt T0. Therefore, the first arm 13a rotates around the axis P1 together with the output shaft R1c in conjunction with the rotation of the output pulley Maa.

The second arm 13b is attached to the distal end portion of the first arm 13a via the speed reducer R2. The speed reducer R2 has an input shaft R2a disposed coaxially with the shaft P2, a housing R2b, and an output shaft R2c disposed coaxially with the input shaft R2a.

The input shaft R2a is penetrated through the casing R2b and the output shaft R2c, and both end portions are located inside the first arm 13a and the second arm 13b, respectively. Further, a driven pulley 13ba that rotates together with the input shaft R2a is provided at both end portions of the input shaft R2a. The housing R2b is mounted on the first arm 13a At the distal end portion, the proximal end portion of the second arm 13b is attached to the output shaft R2c.

The primary pulley 13aa and the driven pulley 13ba are coupled to each other in the first arm 13a via the belt T1. Therefore, the second arm 13b rotates around the axis P2 together with the output shaft R2c in conjunction with the rotation of the primary pulley 13aa.

The hand 14 is attached to the distal end portion of the second arm 13b via the speed reducer R3. The speed reducer R3 has an input shaft R3a coaxially provided with the shaft P3, a casing R3b, and an output shaft R3c coaxially provided with the input shaft R3a.

The input shaft R3a has a pulley 14aa that is located inside the second arm 13b and that rotates together with the input shaft R3a. The casing R3b is attached to the end portion of the second arm 13b, and the hand 14 is attached to the output shaft R3c.

The driven pulley 13ba and the pulley 14aa are coupled to each other in the second arm 13b via the belt T2. Therefore, the hand 14 rotates around the axis P3 together with the output shaft R3c in conjunction with the rotation of the driven pulley 13ba.

Further, the respective rotational speeds of the first arm 13a, the second arm 13b, and the hand 14 are appropriately set to be larger than the diameter of each pulley or the reduction ratio of each speed reducer. For example, when the diameters of the driving pulley 13aa, the driven pulley 13ba, and the pulley 14aa are equal, the reduction ratio of the speed reducer R1 and the speed reducer R3 can be set to be twice the reduction ratio of the speed reducer R2. By setting in this way, the first arm 13a and the hand 14 can be rotated at half the number of revolutions of the second arm 13b.

Thus, in the horizontal arm portion 131 shown in FIG. 5A, the arm base 15 is provided with a driving source (motor M) as a weight, and the input shaft R1a is replaced by a lightweight pulley mechanism such as a gear or a shaft. Between the axes of R3a link. Therefore, the horizontal arm portion 131 can be made lighter and the operation of the hand 14 can be speeded up.

Further, according to the horizontal arm portion 131 shown in FIG. 5A, the horizontal arm unit 11 (see FIG. 2) can be made lighter. Therefore, the foot unit 12 (refer to FIG. 2) enables the horizontal arm unit 11 to move at a high speed. Therefore, the accuracy of the correction operation of the trajectory of the opponent 14 can be improved.

For the belt T3 having the belts T0 to T2 and described later with reference to Fig. 5B, a belt of any shape such as a flat belt, a V belt, or a timing belt can be used. Further, the pulley that is wound may be appropriately set in combination with the shape of such a belt.

In the example shown in FIG. 5A, the hand 14 is attached to the second arm 13b via the speed reducer R3. However, the speed reducer R3 may not be provided, and the configuration of the mounting portion of the opponent 14 may be simplified.

In the following, the horizontal arm portion 132 when the configuration of the attachment portion of the opponent 14 is simplified will be described with reference to FIG. 5B. Fig. 5B is a schematic plan view showing another example of the internal configuration of the arm. This example is a modification of the horizontal arm portion 131 shown in FIG. 5A, and the same components as those of the horizontal arm portion 131 shown in FIG. 5A are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will not be repeated.

As shown in FIG. 5B, in the horizontal arm portion 132, the input shaft R2a of the speed reducer R2 is a hollow shaft, and the fixed shaft 13ab is disposed coaxially with the input shaft R2a (shaft P2) in such a hollow portion.

One end portion of the fixed shaft 13ab is fixed to the first arm 13a. Further, the other end portion is located in the second arm 13b, and the fixed pulley 13bc is supported to be coaxial with the fixed shaft 13ab (shaft P2).

The hand 14 is supported by a rotating shaft 14ab disposed coaxially with the shaft P3. The rotating shaft 14ab is attached to the second arm 13b so as to be rotatable about the axis P3 by a bearing or the like (not shown).

Further, the rotating shaft 14ab has a pulley 14ac having an end portion in the second arm 13b and a double diameter of the fixed pulley 13bc. Further, the fixed pulley 13bc and the pulley 14ac are coupled to each other in the second arm 13b via the belt T3.

Therefore, the hand 14 and the second arm 13b rotate about the axis P3 at half the rotation speed of the second arm 13b in conjunction with the rotation of the axis P2. In the following, the power transmission mechanism realized by such a fixed pulley 13bc may be referred to as a "fixed shaft structure" of the horizontal arm portion 132.

Thus, according to the horizontal arm portion 132 shown in FIG. 5B, the hand 14 can be attached to the second arm 13b without passing through the speed reducer. Therefore, the horizontal arm portion 132 can be further reduced in weight. Further, it is also possible to achieve miniaturization in the Z-axis direction of the horizontal arm unit 11 (see FIG. 2).

In FIG. 5B, the case where the fixed shaft configuration is provided on the shaft P2 is exemplified. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the fixed shaft may be formed on any one of the shaft P1 or the shaft P2. At this time, the ratio of the diameters of the pulleys that transmit the power from the motor M can be appropriately set.

In the present embodiment, the drive control of the horizontal arm unit 11 and the leg unit 12 of the transfer robot 10 is performed through the control device 20 independent of the transfer robot 10. In the following, a configuration example of the conveyance system 1 including the control device 20 will be described with reference to Fig. 6 .

In Fig. 2, a control device 20 is shown, but the control device 20 For example, a plurality of control devices may be separately provided for each of the control objects such as the horizontal arm unit 11 or the leg unit 12, or may be provided inside the transfer robot 10.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the handling system 1. In addition, in FIG. 6, only the components required for description of the features of the control apparatus 20 are shown, and the description of a general component is abbreviate|omitted.

As shown in FIG. 6, the control device 20 has a control unit 21 and a storage unit 22. Further, the control unit 21 includes a horizontal arm unit drive control unit 21a, a leg unit drive control unit 21b, and an adjustment unit 21c. The memory unit 22 is used to memorize the roll correction information 22a.

The control unit 21 performs overall control of the control device 20. The horizontal arm unit drive control unit 21a performs drive control of the horizontal arm unit 13. The leg unit drive control unit 21b performs drive control of the lift table unit 16.

The adjustment unit 21c adjusts the drive control of the horizontal arm unit drive control unit 21a and the leg unit drive control unit 21b so that the leg unit 12 performs an operation synchronized with the expansion and contraction operation of the horizontal arm unit 11.

Further, the adjustment unit 21c adjusts the drive control of the elevation unit 16 by the foot unit drive control unit 21b based on the correction value set in advance on the roll correction information 22a. The memory unit 22 is a storage device such as a hard disk device or a non-volatile memory, and stores the roll correction information 22a.

Here, the roll correction information 22a will be described using FIG. 7A. Fig. 7A is a view showing an example of roll correction information. In addition, in Figure 7A, the horizontal The axis represents the amount of roll of the hand 14, and the vertical axis represents the amount of movement of the hand 14.

For the amount of movement of the hand 14, the position at which the hand 14 starts moving is indicated by "0", and the position at which the hand 14 reaches the destination position is indicated by "1". Therefore, with respect to the amount of rotation of the hand 14 shown in FIG. 3, the position "0" corresponds to the amount of rotation "0" before the hand 14 starts moving, and the position "1" and the amount of rotation as the total amount of rotation of the hand 14 "θ" corresponds. Further, the broken line 204 and the arrows 205 to 207 shown in FIG. 7A correspond to the contents shown in FIG.

The roll correction information 22a (see FIG. 6) is information of the correction value of each roll amount corresponding to the amount of movement or the amount of rotation of the hand 14. Such a correction value is set in advance based on, for example, information extracted in a measurement test of a manufacturing process of the transfer robot 10 (see FIG. 2). In the following, a case where the roll correction information 22a corresponds to the amount of movement of the hand 14 will be described as an example.

In FIG. 7A, it is exemplified that when the amount of movement of the hand 14 (see FIG. 3) is one-fourth, the hand 14 swings largely in the negative direction. At this time, in the roll correction information 22a, a correction value for correcting the position of the horizontal arm unit 11 (see FIG. 2) in the positive direction at the time when the hand 14 is disengaged in the negative direction is set.

Then, when the actual amount of movement of the hand 14 is one-fourth, the lifting and lowering unit 16 is driven and controlled so as to adjust the position of the horizontal arm unit 11 by such a correction value.

In addition, in FIG. 7A, when the amount of movement of the hand 14 is 3/3, the hand 14 is swung in the positive direction. At this time, in the roll correction The information 22a (see FIG. 6) is provided with a correction value for correcting the position of the horizontal arm unit 11 in the negative direction at the time when the hand 14 is disengaged in the positive direction.

Then, when the amount of movement of the actual hand 14 is 3/3, the lifting and lowering unit 16 is driven and controlled so as to adjust the position of the horizontal arm unit 11 by such a correction value.

The example shown in FIG. 7A is merely an example, and the roll correction information 22a may be, for example, learning information based on the amount of roll in the actual application of the transport robot 10 (see FIG. 2). At this time, for example, a sensor for measuring the amount of roll can be provided at the end portion of the hand 14 or the like, and the correction value can be updated at any time based on the detected value of the roll amount corresponding to the amount of movement or the amount of rotation of the hand 14.

However, in the horizontal arm portion 13 (see FIG. 3) according to the present embodiment, the amount of roll of the hand 14 can be reduced by moderately accelerating or decelerating the movement of the hand 14. In the following, this point will be described using FIG. 7B. Fig. 7B is a view showing another example of the roll correction information.

In Fig. 7B, the horizontal axis represents the amount of movement of the hand 14 (see Fig. 3), and the vertical axis represents the moving speed of the hand 14 and the amount of roll. In addition, the broken line 204 and the arrows 205 to 207 shown in FIG. 7B correspond to the contents shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 7B, in the horizontal arm portion 13 of the present embodiment, after the hand 14 is accelerated to a speed V1 with a constant acceleration, it is moved at a constant speed and decelerated at a certain deceleration to stop (refer to FIG. 7B). Dotted line 209). At this time, the amount of roll of the hand 14 is a broken line 204.

At this time, if the acceleration or deceleration of the hand 14 is slowed down (see the figure) The arrow 210) of 7B reduces the amount of roll of the hand 14 to the solid line 208. Therefore, the amount of correction of the trajectory of the hand 14 is also reduced. Therefore, the trajectory of the opponent 14 can be easily corrected.

In addition, when the hand 14 moves to a position equal to or greater than a predetermined amount of movement (rotation amount) or when the hand 14 moves from a position equal to or greater than a predetermined amount of movement (rotation amount), the roll accompanying the movement of the hand 14 is conspicuous.

Therefore, the horizontal arm unit drive control unit 21a may appropriately set the acceleration or deceleration of the hand 14 in accordance with the amount of movement or the amount of rotation of the hand 14.

Specifically, for example, when at least one of the amount of movement and the amount of rotation of the hand 14 is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, at least one of the acceleration and the deceleration of the hand 14 and the amount of movement and the amount of rotation of the hand 14 are made. It is sufficient that at least one of them is smaller than such a predetermined threshold.

Next, the processing procedure executed by the transport system 1 according to the embodiment will be described using FIG. As shown in FIG. 8, when the operation is started, the control device 20 adjusts the orientation of the opponent 14 using the arm base rotation axis operation of the transfer robot 10 or the base portion rotation axis operation (step S101).

Next, the control device 20 adjusts the rotation axis of each joint of the lifting platform unit 16 in parallel with the moving direction of the hand 14 by using the arm base rotation axis operation of the conveyance robot 10 or the base portion rotation axis operation (step S102). Here, steps S101 and S102 may be reversed, or may be performed simultaneously.

Further, in the transport robot 10, the joints of the lift table portion 16 The direction of the rotation axis is previously set to be parallel to the moving direction of the hand 14, and when the rotation mechanism about the rotation axis RT is not provided, step S102 can be omitted.

Next, the adjustment unit 21c of the control device 20 acquires the roll correction information 22a (step S103). The roll correction information 22a includes not only the amount of roll of the hand 14, but also information of at least one of the acceleration and the deceleration of the hand 14 corresponding to the amount of movement or the amount of rotation of the hand 14.

Next, when the horizontal arm portion 13 starts the movement of the hand 14 (step S104), the control device 20 moves the horizontal arm unit 11 of the elevating table portion 16 to correct the trajectory of the opponent 14 (step S105). Then, when the hand 14 reaches the destination position and ends the movement (step S106), the control device 20 ends the processing.

Next, a modification of the transport robot 10 will be described with reference to Fig. 9 . FIG. 9 is a schematic plan view showing a schematic configuration of a transport robot according to a modification. In addition, this modification is a modification of the conveyance robot 10 shown in FIG. 2, and the same components as those of the conveyance robot 10 shown in FIG. 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will not be repeated.

As shown in FIG. 9, in the conveyance robot 10a according to the modification, the leg unit 12a has a pair of lifting platform portions 16 (elevating table portions 16-1 and 16-2), and the pair of lifting platform portions 16 (lifting table) The portions 16-1 and 16-2) are arranged such that the direction of the rotation axis of each joint is parallel to the moving direction of the hand 14.

According to the transport robot 10a, since the horizontal arm unit 11 is provided at the end of the pair of lift table portions 16-1 and 16-2, the weight caused by the weight of the horizontal arm unit 11 received by each of the lift table portions 16 is reduced. Loaded. Further, the pair of lifting platform portions 16 form a link mechanism that is coupled via the arm base 15.

Therefore, the load due to the moment of the horizontal arm unit 11 can be reduced as compared with the case where the horizontal arm unit 11 is held by only one of the lifting and lowering portions 16. Therefore, the horizontal arm unit 11 can be moved on a highly accurate trajectory.

Further, the power source of the lifting platform portion 16 may be provided on, for example, a joint having the shaft U1-2, the shaft U2-1, and the shaft L-1, and need not be provided on all the joints. Therefore, the weight of the movable portion of the lifting platform portion 16 can be reduced, and the lifting platform portion 16 can be operated at a high speed. Therefore, the horizontal arm unit 11 can be moved at a high speed.

As described above, according to the transport robot 10a according to the modification, the horizontal arm unit 11 can be moved with high precision and high speed. Therefore, the accuracy of the correction operation of the trajectory of the opponent 14 can be improved.

Further, in the lifting table portions 16-1 and 16-2, the direction of the rotation axis of the joint may be parallel to the moving direction of the hand 14, and the number of joints of the lifting table portions 16-1 and 16-2 may be different. Further, the lengths or diameters of the arms forming the lifting table portions 16-1 and 16-2 may be different.

As described above, the transport system in the same state of the embodiment has a transport robot and a control device having a horizontal arm unit and a foot unit. The horizontal arm unit has a horizontal arm portion that is stretched and contracted in a predetermined telescopic direction, and a hand that is provided at an end of the horizontal arm portion. The foot unit has a foot link mechanism that moves the horizontal arm unit in a vertical plane perpendicular to the telescopic direction. The control device moves the foot link mechanism by the telescopic movement of the horizontal arm unit, thereby offsetting the deviation of the hand from the telescopic direction The way to make corrections.

As described above, in the transport system according to the present embodiment, the control device uses the foot link mechanism that raises and lowers the horizontal arm unit to correct the offset of the opponent from the ideal track. Therefore, according to the handling system of the related embodiment, it is possible to avoid an increase in equipment cost and to improve the accuracy of the trajectory of the straight forward movement of the hand.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the transport robot is movable by the traveling mechanism has been described as an example. However, the transport robot may be fixed without providing the traveling mechanism. Further, in any case, the installation surface of the transport robot is not limited to the horizontal plane, and may be provided, for example, on a surface having an arbitrary orientation such as a side wall.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the lifting table portion corrects the track by the opponent in the horizontal plane has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the lifting table portion may perform the track correction in combination with the hand in the vertical direction.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the dual-arm robot has been described as an example. However, the number of arms of the robot is not limited, and a one-arm robot or a multi-arm robot with more arms may be applied.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the configuration in which the horizontal arm portion is coupled by the two arms has been described as an example, but the number of the connected arms is not limited.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the two link members are connected by one link link mechanism included in the lift table portion has been described as an example. However, the link members to be connected are not limited. number.

In addition, in the above embodiment, the transport robot is set to walk The traveling axis is operated on the trolley, but it can be moved along a certain determined track regardless of the type of the traveling mechanism.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the workpiece as the object to be conveyed is a glass substrate has been described as an example, but it is not related to the type of the workpiece.

Further effects and modifications of the present invention can be easily derived by those having ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains. Therefore, the broader aspects of the invention are not limited to the specific details and typical embodiments shown and described. Therefore, various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the inventions.

Claims (9)

A transport system includes a transport arm including a horizontal arm unit and a leg unit, wherein the horizontal arm unit has a horizontal arm portion that expands and contracts in a predetermined telescopic direction, and a hand that is provided at an end of the horizontal arm portion, the foot unit a foot link mechanism that moves the horizontal arm unit in a vertical plane perpendicular to the expansion and contraction direction; and a control device that operates the foot link mechanism during the expansion and contraction operation of the horizontal arm unit to correct the The offset of the aforementioned hand from the aforementioned telescopic direction is offset. The transport system of claim 1, wherein the foot link mechanism has one or a plurality of joints that connect the plurality of link members so as to be rotatable, and the control device causes the one or more joints at the time of the correction The orientation of the rotating shaft is parallel to the aforementioned expansion and contraction direction. The transport system of claim 1, wherein the leg unit is provided with a pair of the aforementioned foot link mechanisms. The transport system of claim 2, wherein the leg unit is provided with a pair of the aforementioned foot link mechanisms. The transport system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the horizontal arm unit further includes: an arm base portion; a drive source provided in the arm base portion; and a transmission portion that is derived from the foregoing The driving force of the driving source passes through the foregoing a horizontal arm portion is sequentially disposed in the horizontal arm portion and transmitted to the horizontal arm portion, and has a rotating pulley that rotates together with the horizontal arm portion and each of the rotating shafts of the hand, and is wound and mounted between the rotating pulleys. Belt. The transport system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the horizontal arm unit further includes: an arm base portion; a drive source provided in the arm base portion; and a transmission portion to be derived from the foregoing The driving force of the driving source is provided inside the horizontal arm portion through the horizontal arm portion being sequentially transmitted to the hand, and has a shaft for fixing the hand and a second one fixed to the end of the horizontal arm portion. a fixed pulley of the shaft at the end of the arm, a rotating pulley that rotates together with the other shaft of the horizontal arm, and a winding pulley mounted between the rotating pulley and the rotating pulley and the fixed pulley respectively Belt between. The transport system of claim 5, wherein the control device controls the drive source such that when at least one of the amount of movement and the amount of rotation of the hand is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, the acceleration of the horizontal arm is reduced At least one of the speeds is reduced as compared with the acceleration or deceleration of the horizontal arm portion in a state smaller than the predetermined threshold value. The transport system of claim 6, wherein the control device controls the drive source such that when at least one of the amount of movement and the amount of rotation of the hand is above a predetermined threshold, At least one of the acceleration and the deceleration of the horizontal arm portion is reduced in comparison with the acceleration or deceleration of the horizontal arm portion in a state of being smaller than the predetermined threshold value. A motion correction method of a transport robot includes a horizontal arm unit and a leg unit, wherein the horizontal arm unit has a horizontal arm portion that expands and contracts in a predetermined telescopic direction, and a hand that is provided at an end of the horizontal arm portion. The unit unit has a foot link mechanism that moves the horizontal arm unit along a vertical plane perpendicular to the expansion and contraction direction; and the method for correcting the movement of the transport robot includes the following steps: using the arm base to rotate the shaft or the abutment The rotation axis of the part is adjusted to adjust the orientation of the hand to a predetermined orientation; and the rotation of the arm base or the rotation axis of the base is used to make the rotation axis of each joint of the foot link mechanism parallel to the movement direction of the hand Obtaining the offset correction information of the hand; and correcting the foot link mechanism during the expansion and contraction operation of the horizontal arm unit, thereby correcting the offset of the hand from the telescopic direction.