TWI875861B - Substrate picking device and substrate picking method - Google Patents

Abstract

The substrate picking device 1 is a device for picking up a unit substrate P1 from a plurality of unit substrates P arranged on a mounting table 2, and is provided with a suction hand 5 and a controller 51. The suction hand 5 is mounted on a robot arm 3, and has a pressing rod 9 for pressing a first end material Ma1 and a second end material Ma2 of the unit substrate P1 to be picked up from above, and a suction part body 7 for being able to move obliquely upward relative to the pressing rod 9 to suction the unit substrate P1 to be picked up from above. The controller 51 executes the steps of pressing the first end material Ma1 and the second end material Ma2 against the pressing rod 9 from above, adsorbing the unit substrate P1 of the picking object onto the adsorption part body 7, and picking up the unit substrate P1 of the picking object by moving the adsorption part body 7 away from the pressing rod 9 in an obliquely upward direction.

Description

Substrate picking device and substrate picking method

The present invention relates to a substrate picking device and a substrate picking method, and more particularly to a method for picking up a substrate to separate it from other substrates.

Generally, in the manufacturing process of liquid crystal panels, a large-area laminated glass substrate (mother substrate) is patterned to produce a plurality of unit display panels (unit substrates) as manufacturing units, and then it is divided into unit display panels. Specifically, both sides of the mother substrate are scribed from the top and bottom directions by using a pair of cutter wheels, and then the two sides are separated at the same time to be divided into unit display panels. There are additional parts between the unit display panels, and these parts will become end materials after being cut.

When picking up a unit substrate, the single substrate is sucked by the suction hand and pulled up to the top for picking up (for example, refer to the invention patent document 1). [Prior art document] [Invention patent document]

[Invention Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2019-107779.

〔Invent the problem you want to solve〕

However, in the above-mentioned picking method, there is a problem that the unit substrate to be picked up and other adjacent unit substrates are closely attached and pulled up together, depending on the state of the engraving.

The purpose of the present invention is to reduce the movement of other substrates when a substrate picking device picks up a substrate. [Technical means for solving the problem]

The following are multiple aspects as means for solving the problem. These aspects can be combined arbitrarily according to needs.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a substrate picking device is a device for picking up a substrate from a plurality of substrates arranged on a flat plate, and is provided with a suction hand and a control unit. The suction hand is mounted on a robot arm. The suction hand has a pressing member for pressing the end material of the substrate to be picked up from above, and a suction unit for sucking the substrate to be picked up from above by moving diagonally upward relative to the pressing member. The control unit performs the following steps: ◎ A pressing step for pressing the end material against the pressing member from above; ◎ A suction step for sucking the substrate to be picked up on the suction unit; and ◎ A picking step for picking up the substrate to be picked up by moving the suction unit away from the pressing member diagonally upward. In this device, the substrate is lifted by pulling the suction hand up diagonally while the end of the substrate is pressed by the pressing member of the suction hand. This prevents other substrates adjacent to the substrate to be picked up from being pulled up by being closely attached. As a result, defects such as friction or damage to the substrate during picking up can be prevented.

The substrate picking device may further include a driving device for moving the adsorption portion in an inclined direction relative to the pressing member.

The driving device may have a plurality of cylinders.

The pressing member may be L-shaped when viewed from above.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a substrate picking method is performed using a substrate picking device. The substrate picking device is a device for picking up a substrate from a plurality of substrates arranged on a flat plate, and comprises a pressing member having an end material for pressing a substrate of a picking-up object from above, and a suction hand having a suction part for moving obliquely upward relative to the pressing member to suction the substrate of the picking-up object from above. The substrate picking method comprises the following steps: ◎ A pressing step for pressing the end material against the pressing member from above; ◎ A suction step for suctioning the substrate of the picking-up object onto the suction part; and ◎ A picking step for picking up the substrate of the picking-up object by moving the suction part obliquely upward away from the pressing member. In this method, the suction hand is pulled up diagonally while the end of the substrate is pressed by the pressing member of the suction hand. This prevents other substrates adjacent to the substrate being picked up from being pulled up due to being closely attached to it. As a result, defects such as friction or damage to the substrate during picking up can be prevented. [Effects of the invention]

In the substrate picking device and substrate picking method of the present invention, the movement of other substrates when picking up a substrate can be reduced.

1. Implementation Example 1 (1) Structure of Pickup Device The structure of the pickup device 1 (an example of a substrate pickup device) is described using FIGS. 1 to 4. FIG. 1 is a schematic three-dimensional diagram of the pickup device of Implementation Example 1. FIG. 2 is a schematic three-dimensional diagram of a suction hand. FIG. 3 is a schematic bottom view of the suction hand. FIG. 4 is a schematic three-dimensional diagram of a substrate. In this implementation example, the object of separation is a mother substrate M. The mother substrate M is, for example, a laminated glass composed of two substrates. In the two substrates, a scribing path S is formed by the upper and lower cutting wheels of a scribing device (not shown).

As shown in FIG4 , the mother substrate M has a plurality of unit substrates P. Specifically, FIG4 shows four unit substrates P. End materials are arranged around the unit substrates P (including the boundaries with other unit substrates P). For example, around a unit substrate P1 shown in FIG4 , a first end material Ma1, a second end material Ma2, a third end material Ma3, and a fourth end material Ma4 are arranged. The first end material Ma1 and the second end material Ma2 are arranged at the boundaries with other unit substrates P. The third end material Ma3 and the fourth end material Ma4 constitute the outer edge of the mother substrate M.

The picking device 1 is a device for picking up a unit substrate P from a plurality of unit substrates P of a mother substrate M arranged on a mounting table 2 (as shown in FIG. 7 ). Specifically, it performs a substrate separation operation and a substrate adsorption and transport operation. As shown in FIG. 1 , the picking device 1 has a robot arm 3. The robot arm 3 can raise and lower an adsorption hand 5 (to be described later) and move it sideways through an arm driving device 31 (as shown in FIG. 5 ). The arm driving device 31 includes, for example, a motor.

The pickup device 1 has a suction hand 5 (an example of a suction hand). The suction hand 5 is a device for sucking and transporting the mother substrate M. The suction hand 5 is installed at the front end of the robot arm 3. The suction hand 5 has a suction part body 7 (an example of a suction part). As shown in FIG3, a suction hole 7a is provided on the lower surface of the suction part body 7. The suction hole 7a sucks the mother substrate M of the pickup object from above. The suction hole 7a is connected to a negative pressure generating device 33 (FIG. 5) such as a vacuum pump.

The suction hand 5 has a pressing rod 9 (an example of a pressing member). The pressing rod 9 is used to press the end of the mother substrate M to be picked up from above. Specifically, it is lowered from the suction part body 7 and presses the end of the mother substrate M on the mounting table 2. The pressing rod 9 is connected in a manner that can move in an inclined direction relative to the suction part body 7 (to be described later). The pressing rod 9 has a flat bottom surface. In this embodiment, the pressing rod 9 is L-shaped when viewed from above. Specifically, the pressing rod 9 is configured in a manner that is close to or abuts against the outer sides of both sides of the rectangular bottom surface of the suction part body 7.

The picking device 1 has an oblique driving device 21. The oblique driving device 21 is a device that causes the suction body 7 to be tilted and lifted relative to the pressing rod 9 relative to the vertical direction. In other words, the oblique driving device 21 causes the suction body 7 and the pressing rod 9 to move relative to each other within a predetermined range relative to the vertical direction (in a first horizontal direction parallel to a straight line connecting one corner of the rectangular bottom surface of the suction body 7 to another corner when viewed from above). The oblique driving device 21 is, for example, an air cylinder. Specifically, the oblique driving device 21 has three air cylinders. The oblique driving device 21 is respectively disposed at the corners of the suction body 7 and the edges on both sides thereof. The oblique driving device 21 comprises a cylinder body 23, a first rotatable connection part 25 rotatably connecting the upper part of the cylinder body 23 and the suction body 7, and a second rotatable connection part 27 rotatably connecting the lower part of the cylinder body 23 and the pressing rod 9. The rotation axes of the first rotatable connection part 25 and the second rotatable connection part 27 extend in a second horizontal direction (a horizontal direction orthogonal to the first horizontal direction). Thus, through the movement of the cylinder body 23, the pressing rod 9 can be moved between an upper position where the lower surface is located above the lower surface of the suction body 7 (as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8) and a lower position where the lower surface is located below the lower surface of the suction body 7 (as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11).

(2) Control structure of the pickup device The control structure of the pickup device 1 is described using FIG. 5 . FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the control structure of the pickup device. The pickup device 1 has a controller 51 (an example of a control unit). The controller 51 is a computer system having a processor (e.g., CPU (Central Processing Unit)), a memory device (e.g., ROM (Read Only Memory), RAM (Random Access Memory), HDD (Hard Disk Drive), SSD (Solid State Disk), etc.), and various interfaces (e.g., analog/digital converter (A/D converter), digital/analog converter (D/A converter), communication interface, etc.). The controller 51 performs various control operations by executing a program stored in a memory unit (corresponding to a part or all of a memory area of a memory device).

Although the controller 51 can be composed of a single processor, it can also be composed of multiple processors that are independent for each control. Some or all of the functions of each component of the controller 51 can also be implemented as a program executable in the computer system that constitutes the controller 51. In addition, part of the functions of each component of the controller 51 can also be composed of a custom integrated circuit (custom IC).

The controller 51 is connected to the arm driving device 31, the negative pressure generating device 33, and the oblique driving device 21. Although not shown, the controller 51 is connected to sensors for detecting the size, shape, and position of the substrate, sensors and switches for detecting the status of each device, and an information input device.

(3) Picking and substrate separation operation of the picking device Figures 6 to 17 are used to explain the picking and substrate separation operation of the picking device. Figure 6 is a flow chart of the picking operation of the picking device. Figures 7 to 11 are schematic diagrams showing the picking operation of the picking device. Figure 12 is a schematic three-dimensional diagram of the suction hand. Figures 13 and 14 are schematic top views of the suction hand. Figures 15 and 16 are schematic side views of the suction hand. Figure 17 is a schematic three-dimensional diagram of the substrate.

The control flow chart described below is an example, and each step can be omitted and replaced as needed. Furthermore, multiple steps can be executed simultaneously, or some or all of them can be overlapped. Furthermore, each block of the control flow chart is not limited to a single control action, but can also be replaced by multiple control actions represented by multiple blocks. In addition, the action of each device is the result of the command issued by the control unit to each device, which is represented by each step of the application software (software application).

In step S1, the preparation action of the suction hand 5 is performed. Specifically, as shown in FIG7, the suction hand 5 is moved above the mounting table 2 by the robot arm 3. At this time, the pressing rod 9 is located at the upper side. In addition, the mother substrate M is placed on the mounting table 2. In addition, in FIG7 to FIG11, only the unit substrate P1, the first end material Ma1, and the second end material Ma2 are shown for simplification. As shown in FIG8, in step S2, the suction hand 5 is lowered and its lower surface abuts against the mother substrate M. Specifically, the suction hole 7a is closely attached to the target unit substrate P1 of the mother substrate M.

As shown in Figures 2, 9, 13, and 15, in step S3, the pressing rod 9 presses the end material from above. Specifically, the pressing rod 9 is lowered relative to the adsorption part body 7 and moves to the lower side. More specifically, the pressing rod 9 presses the first end material Ma1 and the second end material Ma2 in Figure 4. As shown in Figure 9, in step S4, the adsorption hole 7a adsorbs the unit substrate P1 of the picking object of the mother substrate M. Specifically, the adsorption hole 7a adsorbs the unit substrate P1 through the negative pressure generating device 33.

As shown in Figures 10, 12, 14, and 16, in step S5, the oblique driving device 21 moves the adsorption body 7 away from the pressing rod 9 obliquely upward. At this time, the pressing rod 9 still maintains the first end material Ma1 and the second end material Ma2 pressing the mother substrate M from above. Therefore, as shown in Figure 17, the unit substrate P1 is surely cut off from the first end material Ma1 and the second end material Ma2. In this picking device 1, the first end material Ma1 and the second end material Ma2 of the mother substrate M are pressed by the pressing rod 9 of the adsorption hand 5, and the unit substrate P1 is raised by pulling the adsorption body 7 of the adsorption hand 5 to the oblique upper side. This prevents the unit substrate P1 to be picked up from being pulled up by other adjacent substrates. As a result, the unit substrate P can be prevented from being rubbed or damaged during picking up.

Step S6 is to carry out the unit substrate P1 from the picking device 1. Specifically, as shown in FIG11 , the adsorption unit body 7 is further moved upward to further raise the unit substrate P1. At this time, the pressing rod 9 is raised together with the adsorption unit body 7 and moves upward away from the first end material Ma1 and the second end material Ma2. As described above, after the end material is separated, the adsorption hand 5 can adsorb the unit substrate P of the mother substrate M and transport it to other devices. That is, the unit substrate P can be picked up from the mother substrate M without setting a dedicated driving device for removing the end material.

2. Other embodiments Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. In particular, the multiple embodiments and modifications described in this specification can be arbitrarily combined as needed. (1) Modifications of the push rod The number, shape and position of the push rod are not limited to embodiment 1.

(2) Variations of the oblique drive device The type, number, and position of the oblique drive device are not particularly limited. (3) Variations of the substrate Among the bonded brittle material substrates, two brittle material substrates are bonded together, there are flat display panels such as liquid crystal panels, plasma display panels, and organic electroluminescent display panels bonded to glass substrates, and semiconductor substrates such as silicon substrates and sapphire substrates bonded to glass substrates. The type of substrate is not particularly limited. The substrate includes a single glass plate, a semiconductor wafer, and a ceramic substrate.

(4) Variations of the Score The shape of the score is not limited. Although the score is a straight line in the above embodiment, it may be partially or entirely curved. [ Industrial Applicability ]

The present invention can be widely applied to a substrate picking device and a substrate picking method for picking up a substrate to separate it from other substrates.

1: Pickup device 2: Loading table 3: Robot arm 5: Adsorption hand 7: Adsorption body 7a: Adsorption hole 9: Press rod 21: Oblique drive device 23: Cylinder body 25: First rotary connection part 27: Second rotary connection part 31: Arm drive device 33: Negative pressure generating device 51: Controller M: Mother substrate Ma1: First end material Ma2: Second end material Ma3: Third end material Ma4: Fourth end material P, P1: Unit substrate S: Scribing track

〔Figure 1〕is a schematic three-dimensional diagram of the picking device of the embodiment 1. 〔Figure 2〕is a schematic three-dimensional diagram of the suction hand. 〔Figure 3〕is a schematic bottom view of the suction hand. 〔Figure 4〕is a schematic three-dimensional diagram of the substrate. 〔Figure 5〕is a block diagram showing the control structure of the picking device. 〔Figure 6〕is a flow chart of the picking action of the picking device. 〔Figure 7〕is a schematic diagram showing the picking action of the picking device. 〔Figure 8〕is a schematic diagram showing the picking action of the picking device. 〔Figure 9〕is a schematic diagram showing the picking action of the picking device. 〔Figure 10〕is a schematic diagram showing the picking action of the picking device. 〔Figure 11〕is a schematic diagram showing the picking action of the picking device. [Figure 12] is a schematic three-dimensional diagram of the suction hand. [Figure 13] is a schematic top view of the suction hand. [Figure 14] is a schematic top view of the suction hand. [Figure 15] is a schematic side view of the suction hand. [Figure 16] is a schematic side view of the suction hand. [Figure 17] is a schematic three-dimensional diagram of the substrate.

2: Loading table

5: Adsorb hands

7: Adsorption part body

9: Press the lever

Ma1: First end material

Ma2: Second end material

P1: Unit substrate

Claims (5)

A substrate picking device is a device for picking up a substrate from a plurality of substrates arranged on a flat plate, and comprises: a suction hand, which is mounted on a robot arm and has a pressing member for pressing an end material between a substrate to be picked up and a substrate adjacent to the substrate from above, and a suction part for sucking the substrate to be picked up from above by moving obliquely upward relative to the pressing member; and a control part, which performs a pressing step of pressing the end material against the pressing member from above, a suction step of sucking the substrate to be picked up on the suction part, and a picking step of picking up the substrate to be picked up by moving the suction part obliquely upward away from the pressing member. The substrate picking device as described in claim 1 further comprises a driving device for moving the aforementioned adsorption portion in an inclined direction relative to the aforementioned pressing member. The substrate picking device as described in claim 2, wherein the aforementioned driving device has a plurality of cylinders. A substrate picking device as described in any one of claim 1 to claim 3, wherein the pressing member is L-shaped when viewed from above. A substrate picking method is a device for picking up a substrate from a plurality of substrates arranged on a flat plate, that is, a substrate picking device having a pressing member having an end material between a substrate to be picked up and a substrate adjacent to the substrate from above, and a suction part that can move obliquely upward relative to the pressing member to suction the substrate to be picked up from above, and the method of picking up the substrate comprises: a pressing step, in which the end material is pressed against the pressing member from above; a suction step, in which the substrate to be picked up is suctioned against the suction part; and a picking step, in which the suction part is moved obliquely upward away from the pressing member to pick up the substrate to be picked up.