The present application claims priority to Chinese patent application No. 201510614207.2 filed on Sep. 23, 2015, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
The present disclosure relates to the field of automation, in particular to a manipulator.
At present, during the manufacturing of TFT-LCD (Thin Film Transistor-Liquid Crystal Display), the vacuum reaction apparatus in use is shown in
As shown in
Specifically, in the transfer chamber, the specific positions of the arm 14 in the directions of x-axis, y-axis and z-axis can be respectively adjusted by the manipulator 10 by means of adjusting the second supporting structure 12 and the third supporting structure 13. The arm 14 can take the substrate out of the vacuum transition chamber and then rotated by the first supporting structure 11 about 180 degree in the direction of x-axis so that places the substrate in the reaction chamber.
The inventors found existing manipulators have the following problems in the course of picking and placing substrate: on one hand, there is a risk that the substrate may dropping down from the arm 14 during rotation of the first supporting structure 11, and therefore reduce the yield of product; on the other hand, considering the large length of the arm 14 and the width of the transfer chamber needs to be greater than the length of two arms, it is required that the transfer chamber must has a larger volume.
The embodiment of the present disclosure provides a manipulator, which can pick and place articles in a small space without rotation and can therefore increase the yield of product.
In order to achieve the above-described object, the embodiment of the present disclosure adopts the following technical solutions.
The embodiment of the present disclosure provides a manipulator mounted between a first chamber and a second chamber of a vacuum reaction apparatus for moving a plate material from the first chamber to the second chamber, wherein the manipulator comprises:
Preferably, the manipulator further comprising a horizontally movable mechanism on which the vertically movable mechanism is mounted, wherein the horizontally movable mechanism is capable of driving the vertically movable mechanism to move in a second direction in the horizontal plane, wherein the first direction is perpendicular to the second direction.
Preferably, the horizontally movable mechanism is further capable of driving the first supporting structure and the arm to move in the first direction in the horizontal plane.
Preferably, the rail is a groove and the arm is provided with a movable member which is movable along the groove.
Preferably, the groove dodoes not penetrate the first supporting structure.
Preferably, side faces of the groove are bent faces, and side faces of the movable member are embedded into the side faces of the groove.
Preferably, the side faces of the groove are bent inward and the side faces of the movable member are bent in the same direction as the side faces of the groove.
Preferably, the rail is a slide rail and the arm is provided with a slide wheel which is movable along the slide rail.
Preferably, the rail is a magnetic rail and the arm is a device provided for magnetic absorption.
Preferably, the arm is not in contact with an upper surface of the first supporting structure.
Preferably, the manipulator comprises two arms which are respectively provided on two first supporting structures, and the two first supporting structures are spaced apart from each other at a certain distance.
Preferably, a bearing surface of the manipulator is provided with an absorption device which absorbs the plate material onto the arm.
The arm of the manipulator provided in the embodiment of the present disclosure is slidable in the direction of x-axis, and this movement in combination with vertical movement thereof in the direction of z-axis can completing the actions of taking the display substrate out of the first chamber and placing it in the second chamber. As compared with the arm of the existing manipulator which placing the display substrate into the second chamber by rotation after taking it out of the first chamber, the present disclosure can reduce the risk of dropping the display substrate, improve the yield of product, effectively save transfer space and design cost, and also increase the activation for transferring the display substrate.
In order to illustrate the embodiment of the present disclosure or the technical solution in the prior art more clearly, the drawings used in descriptions of the embodiment or the prior art will be simply described in the following. Obviously, the drawings described below only show some of the embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that other drawings can be obtained base on these drawings without involving inventive work.
10—manipulator; 11—first supporting structure; 12—second supporting structure; 13—third supporting structure; 14—arm; 15—vertically movable mechanism; 16—horizontally movable mechanism; 20—display substrate; 111—rail; 111′—magnetic rail; 141—movable member; 142—absorption device.
The technical solution in the embodiments of the present disclosure will be described hereinafter clearly and entirely in conjunction with the drawings. Obviously, the embodiments described herein are a part of, but not all of the embodiments of the present disclosure. Based on the embodiment of the present disclosure, all other embodiment s obtained by a person skilled in the art without involving inventive work shall fall into the protection scope of the present disclosure.
An embodiment of the present disclosure provides a manipulator mounted between a first chamber and a second chamber of a vacuum reaction apparatus for moving a plate material in the first chamber to the second chamber. As shown in
It should be noted that the first supporting structure 11 is provided with the rail 111 thereon in the first direction in the horizontal plane, and the first chamber and the second chamber are respectively positioned at two opposite ends of the rail 111. In
It should be noted that the embodiment of the present disclosure is described by taking the example of display substrate as the plate material. The display substrate is supported and placed in the first chamber and the second chamber, for example, by the arm 14 of the manipulator 10. The arm 14 of the manipulator 10 is moved downward in the direction of z-axis by the vertically movable mechanism 15 so as to be located under the plate material to be taken in the first chamber, and the arm 14 is moved to the first chamber along the rail 11 and then it is moved upward along the direction of z-axis by means of the vertically movable mechanism 15, so as to hold the plate material in the first chamber on the arm 14. Next, the arm 14 is moved along the rail 11 so that the plate material thereon is located in the second transition chamber, and the arm 14 of the manipulator 10 is located above a supporting structure of the plate material in the second chamber and then it is moved downward along the direction of z-axis by means of the vertically movable mechanism 15, so as to place the plate material on the supporting structure in the second chamber. Now, the operation of moving the plate material from the first chamber to the second chamber is completed by the manipulator 10.
Now refer to
According to the manipulator in the embodiment of the present disclosure, its arm is slidable in the direction of x-axis, and can complete the actions of taking the display substrate out of the first chamber and placing it in the second chamber in combination with the vertical movement in the direction of z-axis. As compared with the arm of the existing manipulator which placing the display substrate into the second chamber by rotation after taking it out of the first chamber, he present disclosure can reduce the risk of dropping the display substrate, improve the yield of product, effectively save transfer space and design cost, and meanwhile increase the activation for the transferring the display substrate. On the other hand, it is not necessary for the manipulator in the embodiment of the present disclosure to be provided with a selection device as compared with the existing manipulator, and therefore, it has a simple structure and easy to maintain.
Preferably, as shown in
Further preferably, as shown in
Preferably, as shown in
Preferably, as shown in
Or, the rail is a slide rail and the arm is provided with a slide wheel which is movable along the slide rail. Further, the slide rail is provided on an upper surface of the first supporting structure. The arm is not in contact with the upper surface of the first supporting structure.
Because the supporting structures for fixing the plate material in the first chamber and the second chamber are often as the same as the arm, if the arm is not in contact with the upper surface of the first supporting structure, then the supporting structures for fixing the plate material in the first chamber and the second chamber can be interposed between two arms, therefore the plate material can be conveniently placed in a desired position.
It should be noted that the arm is moved along the rail, and structures of the arm and the rail are not limited to the above-described two forms. For example, the rail may further be a magnetic rail 111′, and the arm may be a device provided for magnetic absorption so as to be moved along the magnetic rail 111′.
Preferably, as shown in
Preferably, a bearing surface of the manipulator is provided with an absorption device 142, which absorbs the plate material on the arm. That is, the absorption device 142, which is provided on the bearing surface of the arm, absorbs the plate material on the arm, so as to further avoid dropping of the plate material from the arm and reduce the loss.
The above description only shows the specific embodiments of the present disclosure, but the protection scope of the present disclosure is not limited to the above. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various variations or replacements can be made within the technical scope of the present disclosure, and all these variations and replacements shall fall into the protection scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the protection scope of the present disclosure shall be determined by the terms of the claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
201510614207.2 | Sep 2015 | CN | national |