JPS597586A - Robot hand - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (1) Technical Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a robot hand, and particularly to a robot hand suitable for gripping semiconductor silicon wafers and the like.

(2) Background of the Technology In recent years, robot hands equipped with electromechanical mechanisms have been frequently used in IC and LSI manufacturing and inspection processes. This is a result of the demand for high precision and high reliability, but there are parts in the process that do not necessarily require ultra-high precision.
In addition, the extraction 1 grip 9 assembly uses pneumatic pressure, which is excellent in that it is inexpensive.
The means of transportation cannot be overlooked either.

(3) Prior Art and Problems Assembly robots are often applied to operations that are easily strained, such as inserting and fitting parts, and SCARA robots with large horizontal compliance are often used on production lines.

However, even in the case of alignment, it can be easily done in a self-aligning manner by using the chamfered part of the mating partner. Development is still insufficient.

Even with conventional gripping mechanisms using robot hands such as V-shaped forks or U-shaped forks, compliance is extremely low because most of them are purely electrically or hydraulically driven mechanical mechanisms that can be used directly. However, in this field, the handling of fragile wafers, glass masks, etc. that does not apply unexpected force and that is flexible and that increases the degree of envelopment according to the shape has not been fully realized as desired. . To prevent quality deterioration and damage to parts,
The current situation is that we are inevitably forced to introduce ultra-high precision mechanisms, resulting in a vicious cycle of rising costs.

(4) Purpose of the invention In view of the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks, the present invention is extremely simple.

Flexible, inexpensive and fragile silicon wafers for semiconductors, etc.
To provide a robot hand suitable for being attached to a hand part of a SCARA robot or the like as a handling means for sampling, grasping, assembly, transportation, etc.

(5) Structure of the Invention The present invention is characterized in that the outer peripheral part has elasticity in the outer peripheral direction, for example, has a bellows-like shape,
The inner circumferential portion is made of an elastic body (for example, hard rubber) that has a flat shape or the like with poor elasticity in the inner circumferential direction, and its cross section is circular or elliptical, for example.

Appropriately shaped end members are attached to both end surfaces of a split hollow tube formed into a rectangular shape so that parts such as silicon wafers can be grasped, and an air pressure supply pipe is attached to the inner circumference of the split hollow tube. This can be achieved by providing a robot hand that has a mounting bracket fixed thereon and is equipped with a fixture that can be appropriately installed on the arm portion of a robot body such as SCARA Robo Soto.

(6) Examples of the invention Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a structural diagram of a robot hand according to the present invention. In the figure, numeral 1 is a split hollow tube, which is composed of an extensible outer peripheral part 1a and an inner peripheral part 1b which is difficult to draw.
Due to the air pressure load from the air supply port 3, the outer circumferential portion (la) expands, which is accumulated along the entire outer circumference of the split hollow tube, and the combined expansion force causes the end face members 6 of both end face portions 5 to expand.
．． 6' respectively move toward the arrow direction 7.7,
A component to be gripped, for example, a silicon wafer 4, is guided into the perforated groove 6a of the end face member 6, and is sandwiched between the left and right perforated grooves 6a. (In this case, both holes @ 6a are arranged so that they face each other in parallel at the clamping position.) The grasping force of the robot hand is maintained under a constant pressure load due to air pressure, and the entire structure is flexible. The three-dimensional envelope of the wafer 4 is used to reduce the unit surface pressure applied to the wafer 4.In combination with the damping effect against external forces, the quality of the wafer 4 is maintained during handling without unexpected excessive stress. Ru.

In order to improve accuracy, it is also effective to appropriately line all or part of the inner peripheral portion 1b with a reinforcing metal plate or the like. Also, changes in the outer diameter of wafer 4 (and other changes in the geometrical shape)
If there is, for example, the same perforation even when changing the product type!
This can be done with the 6a shape, which has the great advantage of not requiring replacement every time the product type changes.

Furthermore, when applied as a component insertion means, it can be expected to have a large compliance in the horizontal direction as well as a rotational function, although it is itself small, so a softer insertion process can be realized under a smaller inertial force. be done.

5- FIG. 2 is a three-dimensional view, in which the entire body including the split hollow tube 1 is held by an arm fixture 2 and connected to the robot body. In order to grasp the wafer 4 more comprehensively, a depression 8 with a radius of curvature slightly larger than the radius of the wafer 4 is bored in the groove 6a as shown in FIG. 3, which is an enlarged view of part A. At the same time, it is also possible to perform self-aligning centering through a soft grasping motion.

(7) Effects of the Invention As detailed above, the robot hand of the present invention has a simple configuration and simple pneumatic operation, so it can be expected to have handling that is flexible and similar to human manual operation through various robot movements, and its maintenance and management are easy. is also easy.

The ripple effect of this method is that it can be applied not only to fragile circular thin objects such as silicon wafers, but also to handling fragile parts in general, or parts of similar shapes.

4.0, Brief explanation of the drawings Figure 1 is a 6- diagram of the configuration of the robot hand according to the present invention, Figure 2 is a three-dimensional view thereof, and Figure 3 is an enlarged view for explaining part A in Figure 2. be.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Split space, 1a... Its elastic outer periphery, 1b... Difficult to draw wire inner periphery, 2... Arm mounting fixture, 3... Pneumatic supply patent application People Fujitsu Limited 7- Figure 1/ Figure 3

Claims (1)

[Claims] Grasping end members are attached to both end faces of a split hollow tube made of an elastic material whose outer peripheral part is stretchable in the direction of its outer periphery and whose inner peripheral part has a shape that is difficult to draw in the inner peripheral direction. It is characterized in that both opposing surfaces are fitted with end face members formed into a shape suitable for holding an object to be grasped when a pneumatic pressure is applied, and an air pressure supply port is fixed to the inner periphery of the split hollow tube. A robot hand.