阅读说明：本技术 示教数据生成系统及示教数据生成方法 (Teaching data generation system and teaching data generation method ) 是由 田中宏治 矢泽隆之 泷泽典彦 于 2019-04-29 设计创作，主要内容包括：一种示教数据生成系统及示教数据生成方法,即使简化机器人的示教作业,当装载于手上的玻璃基板在盒内移动时,也能够防止手上的玻璃基板和盒内部的构造物的干涉。在生成相对于盒搬运玻璃基板的机器人(3)的示教数据的示教数据生成系统(23)中,形成为与盒同形状并用于示教作业的虚拟盒(7)具备探测机构(28),其测定装载于手上并且配置于虚拟盒(7)的基板放置部的上侧的玻璃基板的水平方向的位置及高度。生成示教数据的机器人控制部(4)基于探测机构(28)的测定结果,生成机器人(3)相对于虚拟盒(7)的基准示教数据,并且,基于盒相对于虚拟盒(7)的相对位置的数据和基准示教数据,生成机器人(3)相对于盒的示教数据。(A teaching data generation system and a teaching data generation method are provided, which can prevent the interference between a glass substrate on a hand and a structure in a cassette when the glass substrate is moved in the cassette even though the teaching operation of a robot is simplified. In a teaching data generation system (23) for generating teaching data of a robot (3) for conveying glass substrates relative to a box, a virtual box (7) which is formed into the same shape as the box and is used for teaching operation is provided with a detection mechanism (28) for measuring the position and height of the glass substrate in the horizontal direction, wherein the position and height of the glass substrate are arranged on the upper side of a substrate placing part of the virtual box (7) and are loaded on hands. A robot control unit (4) for generating teaching data generates reference teaching data of the robot (3) with respect to the virtual box (7) based on the measurement result of the detection means (28), and generates teaching data of the robot (3) with respect to the box based on the reference teaching data and data of the relative position of the box with respect to the virtual box (7).)

1. A teaching data generating system for generating teaching data of a horizontal articulated robot for carrying a plurality of glass substrates in a plurality of cassettes of the same shape capable of accommodating the glass substrates arranged at intervals in the vertical direction,

the teaching data generation system includes: a virtual box having a plurality of substrate placing sections on which the glass substrates are placed, formed in the same shape as the box, and used for teaching work of the horizontal articulated robot; and a teaching data generation unit that generates teaching data of the horizontal articulated robot,

the virtual box is provided with a detection mechanism for measuring the position and height of at least one of the glass substrate which is carried into the virtual box by the hand of the horizontal articulated robot and is arranged on the upper side of the substrate placing part before being placed on the substrate placing part and the glass substrate which is lifted by the hand from the substrate placing part and is arranged on the upper side of the substrate placing part in the horizontal direction of the glass substrate,

the teaching data generating section stores position data, which is data of relative positions of the plurality of cassettes with respect to the virtual cassette,

the teaching data generation unit generates reference teaching data, which is teaching data of the horizontal articulated robot with respect to the virtual box, based on a measurement result of the detection means, and generates teaching data of the horizontal articulated robot with respect to each of the plurality of boxes based on the reference teaching data and the position data.

2. The teaching data generation system according to claim 1,

the detection means includes first detection means for measuring a position of the glass substrate in a horizontal direction,

when the carrying-in and carrying-out direction of the glass substrate relative to the virtual box is set as a front-back direction, and a direction orthogonal to the up-down direction and the front-back direction is set as a left-right direction,

the first detection mechanism includes a first sensor for measuring a position of the glass substrate in a left-right direction and a second sensor for measuring a position of the glass substrate in a front-back direction.

3. The teaching data generation system according to claim 2,

the first detection mechanism includes two first sensors arranged at a distance in the front-rear direction.

4. The teaching data generation system according to any one of claims 1 to 3,

the detection means includes second detection means for measuring the height of the glass substrate,

the second detection means includes four third sensors arranged at positions corresponding to four corners of the rectangular glass substrate.

5. The teaching data generation system according to any one of claims 1 to 4,

the detection mechanism is provided at two positions, i.e., an upper end side and a lower end side of the dummy cartridge.

6. A teaching data generating method for generating teaching data of a horizontal articulated robot for carrying a plurality of glass substrates in a plurality of cassettes of the same shape capable of accommodating the glass substrates arranged at intervals in the vertical direction,

using a virtual box, generating reference teaching data, which is teaching data of the horizontal articulated robot with respect to the virtual box, based on a measurement result of a detection mechanism, and generating teaching data of the horizontal articulated robot with respect to each of a plurality of boxes based on position data, which is data of a relative position of each of the plurality of boxes with respect to the virtual box, and the reference teaching data,

the virtual box has a plurality of substrate placing parts for placing the glass substrates, is formed in the same shape as the box, and is provided with the detection mechanism for measuring the position and height in the horizontal direction of at least one of the glass substrates which are carried into the virtual box by the hand of the horizontal articulated robot and are arranged on the upper side of the substrate placing part before being placed on the substrate placing part, and the glass substrates which are lifted up by the hand from the substrate placing part and are arranged on the upper side of the substrate placing part.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a teaching data generation system and a teaching data generation method for generating teaching data of a horizontal articulated robot.

Background

Conventionally, there is known a robot teaching system including a robot that conveys glass substrates to a cassette that can accommodate a plurality of glass substrates, a robot controller that controls the robot, an information processing terminal connected to the robot controller, and a teaching operation terminal (see, for example, patent document 1). In the robot teaching system described in patent document 1, a robot carries a glass substrate with respect to four cassettes of the same shape arranged in two rows so as to be superimposed on each other, for example. When one of the four boxes is set as a reference box and the remaining three boxes are set as developed boxes, the robot teaching system performs a teaching task of a robot using the reference box.

In the robot teaching system described in patent document 1, when a robot is taught with respect to a reference box, an operator sequentially moves the robot to a predetermined position with respect to the reference box through a teaching operation terminal, specifies each teaching position, and acquires data of each teaching position. Specifically, in the robot teaching system, the operator operates the robot through the teaching operation terminal in order to a pre-storage preparation position before the hand of the robot having the glass substrate mounted thereon moves to the reference box, a storage preparation position where the hand is inserted into the reference box and enters a posture in which the glass substrate is placed on the side member inside the reference box, a storage lowering position where the hand is lowered to place the glass substrate on the side member, and a retraction position where the hand is retracted outside the reference box, specifies each teaching position, and acquires data of each teaching position. At this time, the operator visually recognizes the robot and sequentially operates the robot to a predetermined position.

In the robot teaching system described in patent document 1, reference teaching data, which is teaching data of the robot with respect to a reference box, is generated from data of each acquired teaching position. In addition, in the robot teaching system, the development teaching data, which is teaching data of the robot with respect to each of the three development boxes, is automatically generated based on the data of the relative position of each of the three development boxes with respect to the reference box and the reference teaching data. That is, in this robot teaching system, even if the teaching task of the robot is performed without using the deployment box, the deployment teaching data can be automatically generated for each of the three deployment boxes.

Disclosure of Invention

Technical problem to be solved by the invention

In the robot teaching system described in patent document 1, for example, when a hand is inserted into the cassette, it is preferable to generate reference teaching data in which an optimum storage preparation position is set as a teaching position in order to prevent interference between a glass substrate mounted on the hand and a structure such as a side member inside the cassette.

On the other hand, in the robot teaching system described in patent document 1, since the operator visually confirms the robot and moves the robot to the storage preparation position, in order to generate the reference teaching data in which the optimum storage preparation position is set as the teaching position, it is necessary to visually confirm the robot and finely adjust the position of the robot to move the robot to the optimum storage preparation position. Therefore, in the case of this robot teaching system, in order to prevent the glass substrate on the hand from interfering with the structure inside the cassette when the glass substrate loaded on the hand moves inside the cassette, the teaching task of the robot may become cumbersome.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a teaching data generation system and a teaching data generation method that can prevent interference between a glass substrate on a hand and a structure inside a cassette when the glass substrate loaded on the hand of a horizontal articulated robot moves inside the cassette, even if a teaching task of the horizontal articulated robot for carrying the glass substrate with respect to the cassette is simplified.

Technical scheme for solving technical problem

In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides a teaching data generation system for generating teaching data of a horizontal articulated robot for carrying a glass substrate with respect to a plurality of cassettes of the same shape capable of accommodating a plurality of glass substrates arranged at intervals in the vertical direction, the teaching data generation system comprising: a virtual box having a plurality of substrate placing sections on which glass substrates are placed, formed in the same shape as the box, and used for teaching work of the horizontal articulated robot; and a teaching data generation unit for generating teaching data of the horizontal articulated robot, the virtual box having a detection mechanism, which is used for measuring the position and height of at least one of the glass substrate which is carried into the virtual box by the hand of the horizontal articulated robot and is arranged on the upper side of the substrate placing part before the virtual box is placed on the substrate placing part and the glass substrate which is lifted by the hand from the substrate placing part and is arranged on the upper side of the substrate placing part in the horizontal direction, the teaching data generating section stores position data, which is data of relative positions of each of the plurality of cartridges with respect to the virtual cartridge, generates reference teaching data, which is teaching data of the horizontal articulated robot with respect to the virtual cartridge, based on a measurement result of the detecting means, and generating teaching data of the horizontal articulated robot with respect to each of the plurality of cartridges based on the reference teaching data and the position data.

Further, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a teaching data generating method for generating teaching data of a horizontal articulated robot for carrying a glass substrate with respect to a plurality of cassettes of the same shape capable of accommodating a plurality of glass substrates arranged at intervals in the vertical direction, wherein a virtual cassette having a plurality of substrate placing sections for placing glass substrates and formed in the same shape as the cassettes is used to generate reference teaching data as teaching data of the horizontal articulated robot with respect to the virtual cassette based on a measurement result of a detecting means, and teaching data of the horizontal articulated robot with respect to each of the plurality of cassettes is generated based on position data as data of relative positions of each of the plurality of cassettes with respect to the virtual cassette and the reference teaching data, and a detection mechanism for measuring the horizontal position and height of at least one of the glass substrate that is carried into the virtual box by the hand of the horizontal articulated robot and is disposed above the substrate placement unit before being placed on the substrate placement unit, and the glass substrate that is lifted up by the hand from the substrate placement unit and is disposed above the substrate placement unit.

In the present invention, the virtual box, which is formed in the same shape as the box and is used for teaching work of the horizontal articulated robot, includes a detection mechanism for measuring the horizontal position and height of at least one of a glass substrate that is carried into the virtual box by the hand of the horizontal articulated robot and is disposed on the upper side of the substrate placing section before being placed on the substrate placing section, and a glass substrate that is lifted up by the hand from the substrate placing section and is disposed on the upper side of the substrate placing section. In the present invention, reference teaching data, which is teaching data of the horizontal articulated robot with respect to the virtual box, is generated based on the measurement result of the detection means.

Therefore, in the present invention, even if the position of the robot is not finely adjusted when the teaching task of the horizontal articulated robot is performed with respect to the virtual box, the reference teaching data can be generated in which the optimum position of the positions where the hand on which the glass substrate is placed is disposed above the substrate placing section is set as the teaching position based on the detection result of the detection means. That is, in the present invention, even if the position of the horizontal articulated robot is not finely adjusted when the teaching task of the horizontal articulated robot is performed, it is possible to generate the reference teaching data in which the optimum position where the glass substrate on the hand and the structure inside the cassette do not interfere with each other when the glass substrate loaded on the hand of the horizontal articulated robot moves inside the cassette is the teaching position.

Further, in the present invention, the teaching data of the horizontal articulated robot with respect to each of the plurality of cassettes is generated based on the reference teaching data and the position data which is the data of the relative position of each of the plurality of cassettes with respect to the virtual cassette, and therefore, even if the position of the robot is not finely adjusted when the teaching task of the horizontal articulated robot is performed, the teaching data can be generated based on the reference teaching data in which the optimum position where the glass substrate on the hand and the structure inside the cassette do not interfere when the glass substrate loaded on the hand is moved inside the cassette is set as the teaching position. Therefore, in the present invention, even if the teaching task of the horizontal articulated robot is simplified and the glass substrate mounted on the hand of the horizontal articulated robot is moved in the cassette, the interference between the glass substrate on the hand and the structure inside the cassette can be prevented.

Further, in the present invention, the teaching data of the horizontal articulated robot with respect to each of the plurality of cassettes is generated based on the position data, which is the data of the relative position of each of the plurality of cassettes with respect to the virtual cassette, and the reference teaching data, and therefore, the teaching data of the horizontal articulated robot with respect to each of the plurality of cassettes can be generated without performing the teaching task of the horizontal articulated robot with respect to each of the plurality of cassettes. Therefore, in the present invention, the teaching task of the horizontal articulated robot can be further simplified.

In the present invention, for example, the detection means includes first detection means for measuring a position of the glass substrate in a horizontal direction, and when a direction in which the glass substrate is carried into and out of the dummy cassette is defined as a front-rear direction and a direction orthogonal to the up-down direction and the front-rear direction is defined as a left-right direction, the first detection means includes a first sensor for measuring a position of the glass substrate in the left-right direction and a second sensor for measuring a position of the glass substrate in the front-rear direction.

In this case, it is preferable that the first detection mechanism includes two first sensors disposed at a distance in the front-rear direction. With this configuration, the inclination of the glass substrate with respect to the front-rear direction can be measured using the two first sensors. Therefore, based on the detection result of the detection means, it is possible to generate the reference teaching data in which the teaching position is an optimal position at which the glass substrate on the hand and the structure inside the cassette do not interfere with each other when the glass substrate loaded on the hand moves inside the cassette.

In the present invention, it is preferable that the detection means includes second detection means for measuring the height of the glass substrate, and the second detection means includes four third sensors disposed at positions corresponding to the four corners of the rectangular glass substrate. In the case of such a configuration, even if the glass substrate is large in size, the glass substrate mounted on the hand is bent or twisted, or the hand is bent, and as a result, a difference occurs between the height of the glass substrate on the hand at one end side and the height of the glass substrate on the other end side, the height of the glass substrate can be accurately measured by the four third sensors. Therefore, based on the detection result of the detection means, it is possible to generate the reference teaching data in which the teaching position is an optimal position at which the glass substrate on the hand and the structure inside the cassette do not interfere with each other when the glass substrate loaded on the hand moves inside the cassette.

In the present invention, the detection means is provided at two locations, for example, the upper end side and the lower end side of the dummy cartridge. In this case, teaching work of the horizontal articulated robot is performed with respect to the virtual box at two positions, i.e., the upper end side and the lower end side of the virtual box.

(effect of the invention)

As described above, in the present invention, even if the teaching task of the horizontal articulated robot for carrying the glass substrate with respect to the cassette is simplified, when the glass substrate loaded on the hand of the horizontal articulated robot moves in the cassette, it is possible to prevent the glass substrate on the hand from interfering with the structure inside the cassette.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a block diagram for explaining the configuration of a robot system including a teaching data generating system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view showing the horizontal articulated robot, the cassette, and the virtual cassette shown in fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a top view of the virtual box shown in fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a front view of the virtual box shown in fig. 3.

Fig. 5 (a) is a diagram for explaining the structure and arrangement of the first sensor shown in fig. 3, and fig. 5 (B) is a diagram for explaining the structure and arrangement of the second sensor shown in fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a diagram for explaining the structure of the third sensor shown in fig. 3.

Fig. 7 is a diagram for explaining a state of the glass substrate when the position and the height in the horizontal direction are measured by the detection means shown in fig. 3.

Description of the reference numerals

2 substrate (glass substrate)

3 robot (horizontal multi-joint robot)

4 robot control part (teaching data generation part)

6 boxes

7 virtual box

11 hand

23 teaching data generating system

24 substrate placing part

28 detection mechanism

29 first detection mechanism

30 second detection mechanism

31 sensor (first sensor)

32 sensor (second sensor)

33 sensor (third sensor)

X left and right directions

Y front-back direction

Detailed Description

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(construction of robot System)

Fig. 1 is a block diagram for explaining the configuration of a robot system 1 including a teaching data generating system 23 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view showing the horizontal articulated robot 3, the cassette 6, and the virtual cassette 7 shown in fig. 1.

The robot system 1 of the present embodiment includes a horizontal articulated robot 3 (hereinafter, referred to as "robot 3") that conveys a glass substrate 2 (hereinafter, referred to as "substrate 2") of a liquid crystal display, a robot control unit 4 that controls the robot 3, a teaching operation terminal (teaching box) 5 electrically connected to the robot control unit 4, a plurality of boxes 6 of the same shape that can accommodate a plurality of substrates 2 arranged at intervals in the vertical direction, and a dummy box 7 used for teaching work of the robot 3.

The substrate 2 is formed in a rectangular shape. The substrate 2 of this embodiment is a large substrate, and for example, the lateral width of the substrate 2 is about 2900(mm), and the vertical width of the substrate 2 is about 3300 (mm). The thickness of the substrate 2 is, for example, about 0.4(mm) to about 0.7 (mm).

The robot 3 carries the substrate 2 to the plurality of cassettes 6. As shown in fig. 2, the robot 3 includes two hands 11 on which the substrate 2 is mounted, two arms 12 having distal ends connected to the two hands 11, a main body 13 supporting the two arms 12, and a base member 14 supporting the main body 13 so as to be movable in a horizontal direction. In the following description, the moving direction of the main body 13 with respect to the base member 14 (X direction in fig. 2 and the like) is defined as the left-right direction, and the Y direction in fig. 2 and the like orthogonal to the up-down direction and the left-right direction is defined as the front-back direction.

The main body 13 includes an arm holder 15 which holds the base end side of the arm 12 and can be raised and lowered, a support frame 16 which holds the arm holder 15 so as to be raised and lowered, a base 17 which constitutes a lower end portion of the main body 13 and which is horizontally movable with respect to the base member 14, and a revolving frame 18 which fixes a lower end of the support frame 16 and which is rotatable with respect to the base 17.

The arm 12 is constituted by two arm portions, a first arm portion and a second arm portion. The base end side of the arm 12 is rotatably connected to the body portion 13. A hand 11 is rotatably connected to the tip end side of the arm 12. The arm 12 can be extended and contracted in the horizontal direction so that the hand 11 can move substantially linearly in a state of being oriented in a certain direction. Specifically, the arm 12 can be extended and contracted in the horizontal direction so that the hand 11 is oriented in a certain direction and the connecting portion between the hand 11 and the arm 12 moves substantially linearly.

The support frame 16 includes a columnar first support frame 20 that elevatably holds the arm holder 15, and a columnar second support frame 21 that elevatably holds the first support frame 20. The lower end of the second support frame 21 is fixed to the front end side of the revolving frame 18. The base end side of revolving frame 18 is supported by base 17 so as to be rotatable in the axial direction in which the vertical direction is rotatable. The robot 3 transports the substrate 2 by a combination of the expansion and contraction operation of the arm 12, the lifting operation, the turning operation, and the horizontal movement operation of the arm 12 and the like.

The robot control unit 4 is constituted by, for example, a robot controller, an information processing device such as a personal computer, or the like. The robot controller includes a servo control unit that controls various motors of the robot 1. The robot control unit 4 includes an arithmetic unit such as a CPU, a storage unit such as a ROM and a RAM, and an input/output unit for inputting and outputting data. As will be described later, the robot control unit 4 generates teaching data of the robot 3. The robot control unit 4 of the present embodiment is a teaching data generation unit that generates teaching data of the robot 3. In the present embodiment, the teaching data generation system 23 for generating teaching data of the robot 3 is configured by the robot control unit 4, the dummy box 7, and the like.

The case 6 is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped box shape with one end side open in the front-rear direction. The plurality of cartridges 6 are disposed adjacent to each other in the left-right direction. The plurality of cassettes 6 are arranged on one side of the robot 3 in the front-rear direction. The opening of the cartridge 6 faces the robot 3 side. As described above, the substrate 2 is formed in a rectangular shape. The longitudinal direction of the substrate 2 stored in the cassette 6 coincides with the front-rear direction, and the short-side direction of the substrate 2 stored in the cassette 6 coincides with the left-right direction.

When the substrate 2 is loaded into the cassette 6 and when the substrate 2 stored in the cassette 6 is unloaded, the hand 11 is linearly moved in the front-rear direction and inserted into the cassette 6. In the following description, the side where the robot 3 is arranged in the front-rear direction (Y1 direction side in fig. 2 and the like) is referred to as the "front" side, and the side where the cartridge 6 is arranged (Y2 direction side in fig. 2 and the like) is referred to as the "rear" side.

As described above, the cassette 6 can accommodate a plurality of substrates 2 arranged at intervals in the vertical direction. The cassette 6 includes a plurality of substrate placement units 24 for placing the substrates 2. The plurality of substrate placement sections 24 are arranged at a constant pitch in the vertical direction. The substrate mounting section 24 includes a plurality of support members 25 for supporting both left and right end portions of the substrate 2 from below, and a plurality of support members 26 for supporting the substrate 2 from below at predetermined positions in the left-right direction.

The support member 25 is formed in a bar shape having a longitudinal direction in the left-right direction. The support members 25 extend inward in the left-right direction from both left and right end portions of the frame of the cartridge 6. The plurality of support members 25 are arranged at a constant interval in the front-rear direction. The support member 26 is formed in a rod shape having a longitudinal direction in the front-rear direction. The support member 26 extends from the rear end of the frame of the cartridge 6 toward the front side. The plurality of support members 25 are arranged at a constant interval in the left-right direction. Further, the cartridge 6 does not have a detection mechanism 28 which will be described later.

The dummy box 7 is formed in the same shape as the box 6. The structure of the dummy box 7 will be described below. As described above, the virtual box 7 is used for teaching work of the robot 3. When teaching operation of the robot 3 is performed, one cassette 6 of the plurality of cassettes 6 is replaced with a dummy cassette 7. The dummy cartridge 7 is provided at the same position as the position where one cartridge 6 to be replaced is provided. Fig. 2 illustrates a state when the teaching task of the robot 3 is performed.

(Structure of virtual Box)

Fig. 3 is a top view of the dummy box 7 shown in fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a front view of the virtual box 7 shown in fig. 3. Fig. 5 (a) is a diagram for explaining the structure and arrangement of the sensor 31 shown in fig. 3, and fig. 5 (B) is a diagram for explaining the structure and arrangement of the sensor 32 shown in fig. 3. Fig. 6 is a diagram for explaining the structure of the sensor 33 shown in fig. 3. Fig. 7 is a diagram for explaining a state of the substrate 2 when the position and the height in the horizontal direction are measured by the detection mechanism 28 shown in fig. 3.

As described above, the dummy cassette 7 has the same shape as the cassette 6 and can accommodate a plurality of substrates 2 arranged with an interval in the vertical direction. The dummy cassette 7 includes a plurality of substrate placement units 24 for placing the substrates 2. The substrate mounting unit 24 includes support members 25 and 26. As described above, when the teaching task of the robot 3 is performed, the dummy cartridge 7 is set at the same position as the position where the single cartridge 6 to be replaced is set.

When the teaching task of the robot 3 is performed, the hand 11 is inserted into the dummy cassette 7, and at least one of the loading operation of the substrate 2 into the dummy cassette 7 and the unloading operation of the substrate 2 from the dummy cassette 7 is performed. When carrying in and carrying out the substrate 2, the hand 11 moves linearly in the front-rear direction. That is, the front-back direction (Y direction) is a direction in which the substrate 2 is carried in and out with respect to the dummy cassette 7.

The dummy cassette 7 includes a detection mechanism 28 for measuring the horizontal position and height of at least one substrate 2 (see fig. 7) among the substrate 2 disposed on the substrate placement unit 24 before the substrate 2 is carried into the dummy cassette 7 by the hand 11 and placed on the substrate placement unit 24 and the substrate 2 lifted by the hand 11 from the substrate placement unit 24 and disposed on the substrate placement unit 24. The detection mechanism 28 includes a first detection mechanism 29 for measuring the horizontal position of the substrate 2 and a second detection mechanism 30 for measuring the height of the substrate 2.

In addition, the detection mechanism 28 is provided at both the upper end side and the lower end side of the dummy cartridge 7. That is, the dummy cartridge 7 includes two detection mechanisms 28. The detection mechanism 28 disposed on the upper end side of the dummy cassette 7 measures the position and height in the horizontal direction of the substrate 2 disposed on the upper side of the substrate placement unit 24 disposed on the uppermost layer. The detection mechanism 28 disposed on the lower end side of the dummy cassette 7 measures the position and height in the horizontal direction of the substrate 2 disposed on the upper side of the substrate placement unit 24 in the lowermost layer.

The first detection mechanism 29 includes a sensor 31 for measuring the position of the substrate 2 in the left-right direction and a sensor 32 for measuring the position of the substrate 2 in the front-rear direction. The sensors 31 and 32 are transmissive optical sensors having a light emitting element and a light receiving element. The light emitting elements and the light receiving elements of the sensors 31 and 32 are arranged to face each other with a predetermined gap therebetween in the vertical direction. The sensors 31 and 32 are linear sensors each including a plurality of light receiving elements arranged in a straight line. The first detection mechanism 29 of the present embodiment includes two sensors 31 and one sensor 32. The sensors 31 and 32 are electrically connected to the robot control unit 4. The sensor 31 of the present embodiment is a first sensor, and the sensor 32 is a second sensor.

The two sensors 31 are disposed at one end in the left-right direction of the dummy cartridge 7. The two sensors 31 are disposed at intervals in the front-rear direction. Specifically, the two sensors 31 are disposed at both ends of the dummy cartridge 7 in the front-rear direction. As shown in fig. 5 a, the sensor 31 as a linear sensor is arranged such that the longitudinal direction (the arrangement direction of the light receiving elements) of the sensor 31 coincides with the left-right direction. The sensor 31 detects the position of one end surface of the substrate 2 in the left-right direction by the light receiving element, and measures the position of the substrate 2 in the left-right direction.

The sensor 32 is disposed at the rear end of the dummy cartridge 7. The sensor 32 is disposed at a substantially central position of the dummy cartridge 7 in the left-right direction. As shown in fig. 5 (B), the sensor 32 as a linear sensor is arranged such that the longitudinal direction of the sensor 32 coincides with the front-rear direction. The sensor 32 detects the position of the rear end surface of the substrate 2 by the light receiving element to measure the position of the substrate 2 in the front-rear direction.

The second detection mechanism 30 includes four sensors 33. The four sensors 33 are electrically connected to the robot control unit 4. The four sensors 33 are disposed at positions corresponding to the four corners of the rectangular substrate 2. That is, the four sensors 33 are disposed at the four corners of the virtual box 7, respectively. The sensor 33 of the present embodiment is a third sensor.

The sensor 33 is a reflective optical sensor having a light emitting element and a light receiving element. The sensor 33 is a so-called distance sensor (displacement sensor). The light emitting element of the sensor 33 emits light toward the lower surface or the upper surface of the substrate 2. For example, the light emitting element of the sensor 33 emits laser light. The sensor 33 measures the height of the substrate 2 based on, for example, the position at which light reflected by the lower surface or the upper surface of the substrate 2 enters the light receiving element of the sensor 33.

(teaching operation of robot and method for generating teaching data)

The virtual box 7 is used when teaching work of the robot 3 is performed and teaching data of the robot 3 is generated. That is, when teaching operation of the robot 3 is performed and teaching data of the robot 3 is generated, one cassette 6 is replaced with the dummy cassette 7 as described above. The dummy cartridge 7 is provided at the same position as the position where one cartridge 6 to be replaced is provided.

When teaching the robot 3, the operator of the robot 3 visually checks the robot 3 and operates the robot 3 through the teaching operation terminal 5. Further, when performing a teaching task of the robot 3, the operator sequentially moves the robot 3 to a predetermined position with respect to the dummy box 7 in order to specify a predetermined teaching position with respect to the dummy box 7. In this embodiment, teaching work of the robot 3 is performed at two positions, i.e., the upper end side and the lower end side of the dummy box 7.

In this embodiment, at least one of the position where the substrate 2 before being carried into the dummy box 7 by the hand 11 and placed on the substrate placement unit 24 is placed on the upper side of the substrate placement unit 24 and the position where the substrate 2 lifted up from the substrate placement unit 24 by the hand 11 is placed on the upper side of the substrate placement unit 24 (see fig. 7) (that is, the position where the substrate 2 loaded on the hand 11 is placed on the upper side of the substrate placement unit 24) also serves as the teaching position of the robot 3.

Specifically, the teaching position of the robot 3 is set at a position where the substrate 2 mounted on the hand 11 is disposed above the uppermost substrate placement unit 24 and at a position where the substrate 2 mounted on the hand 11 is disposed above the lowermost substrate placement unit 24. To specify the teaching position, the operator visually confirms the robot 3 and operates the robot 3 up to the teaching position through the teaching operation terminal 5. When the robot 3 operates to this position and the substrate 2 mounted on the hand 11 is placed on the upper side of the substrate placement unit 24, the horizontal position and height of the substrate 2 are measured by the detection mechanism 28.

The measurement result of the detection means 28 is input to the robot control unit 4. The robot control unit 4 specifies the teaching position based on the measurement result of the probe mechanism 28. Further, data of other teaching positions specified by the operator by visually observing the positions of the substrate 2 and the robot 3 is input to the robot control unit 4. The robot control section 4 generates reference teaching data, which is teaching data of the robot 3 with respect to the virtual box 7, based on the teaching position specified based on the measurement result of the detection means 28 and data of other teaching positions input to the robot control section 4. That is, the robot control unit 4 generates reference teaching data based on the measurement result of the detection means 28.

In this embodiment, position data, which is data of relative positions of the plurality of cartridges 6 with respect to the virtual cartridge 7, is stored in the robot control unit 4. That is, the robot control unit 4 stores position data, which is data of the relative position of each of the remaining plurality of cartridges 6 with respect to one cartridge 6 replaced at the time of the teaching task of the robot 3. The robot control unit 4 generates reference teaching data, and then generates teaching data of the robot 3 for each of the plurality of cartridges 6 based on the reference teaching data and the position data.

That is, in this embodiment, teaching data of the robot 3 for each of the plurality of cartridges 6 is automatically generated, and it is not necessary to perform teaching work of the robot 3 using the cartridges 6. The reference teaching data is directly used as teaching data of the robot 3 with respect to one of the cartridges 6 replaced at the time of teaching operation of the robot 3.

(main effect of the present embodiment)

As described above, in this embodiment, the dummy cassette 7 includes the detection means 28 for measuring the position and height in the horizontal direction of the substrate 2 placed on the hand 11 and above the substrate placement unit 24. In this embodiment, the robot control unit 4 generates reference teaching data, which is teaching data of the robot 3 with respect to the virtual box 7, based on the measurement result of the detection means 28.

Therefore, in this embodiment, even if the operator does not finely adjust the position of the robot 3 when performing the teaching operation of the robot 3 with respect to the dummy cassette 7, it is possible to generate reference teaching data in which the optimum position among the positions where the hand 11 on which the substrate 2 is placed is disposed above the substrate placing section 24 is set as the teaching position based on the detection result of the detection mechanism 28. That is, in this embodiment, even if the position of the robot 3 is not finely adjusted when the teaching task of the robot 3 is performed, it is possible to generate the reference teaching data as the teaching position, which is the optimum position where the substrate 2 on the hand 11 and the structure inside the cassette 6 do not interfere with each other when the substrate 2 loaded on the hand 11 moves in the cassette 6.

In the present embodiment, the teaching data of the robot 3 with respect to each of the plurality of cassettes 6 is generated based on the reference teaching data and the position data, which is the data of the relative position of each of the plurality of cassettes 6 with respect to the virtual cassette 7. Therefore, in this embodiment, even if the position of the robot 3 is not finely adjusted when the teaching task of the robot 3 is performed, the teaching data can be generated based on the reference teaching data in which the optimum position where the substrate 2 on the hand 11 and the structure inside the cassette 6 do not interfere with each other when the substrate 2 loaded on the hand 11 is moved in the cassette 6 is the teaching position. Therefore, in this embodiment, even if the teaching task of the robot 3 is simplified, when the substrate 2 loaded on the hand 11 moves in the cassette 6, the substrate 2 on the hand 11 and the structure inside the cassette 6 can be prevented from interfering with each other.

In this embodiment, the first detection mechanism 29 includes two sensors 31 arranged at a distance in the front-rear direction. Therefore, in this embodiment, the inclination of the substrate 2 with respect to the front-rear direction can be measured using the two sensors 31. Therefore, in this embodiment, based on the detection result of the detection means 28, it is possible to generate, as the reference teaching data of the teaching position, an optimal position at which the substrate 2 on the hand 11 and the structure inside the cassette 6 do not interfere with each other when the substrate 2 mounted on the hand 11 is moved in the cassette 6.

In this embodiment, the four sensors 33 are disposed at positions corresponding to the four corners of the substrate 2 formed in a rectangular shape. Therefore, in this embodiment, even if the substrate 2 is large, the substrate 2 mounted on the hand 11 is bent or twisted, or the hand 11 is bent, and as a result, the height of the substrate 2 on the hand 11 on the front end side and the height of the substrate on the rear end side are different, or the height of the substrate 2 on the hand 11 on the left and right one end sides and the height of the substrate on the other end side are different, the height of the substrate 2 can be accurately measured by the four sensors 33. Therefore, in this embodiment, based on the detection result of the detection means 28, it is possible to generate, as the reference teaching data of the teaching position, an optimal position at which the substrate 2 on the hand 11 and the structure inside the cassette 6 do not interfere with each other when the substrate 2 mounted on the hand 11 is moved in the cassette 6.

(other embodiments)

The above-described embodiment is an example of the best mode of the present invention, but is not limited thereto, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

In the above-described embodiment, the number of the sensors 31 provided in the first detection mechanism 29 may be one. In this case, for example, one sensor 31 is disposed at a substantially central position of the dummy cartridge 7 in the front-rear direction. In addition, when the number of the sensors 31 provided in the first detection means 29 is one, the first detection means 29 may include two sensors 32 arranged with a space therebetween in the left-right direction. In this case, the inclination of the substrate 2 with respect to the left-right direction can be measured using the two sensors 32. That is, in this case, the inclination of the substrate 2 with respect to the front-rear direction can also be measured using the two sensors 32.

In the above-described embodiment, the number of the sensors 33 provided in the second detection means 30 may be three or less. In the above-described embodiment, the detection means 28 may be disposed only on the upper end side of the dummy cartridge 7, or may be disposed only on the lower end side of the dummy cartridge 7. The detection means 28 may be provided at one or more positions other than the upper end side and the lower end side of the dummy cartridge 7.

In the above-described embodiment, when the teaching task of the robot 3 is performed, the dummy cartridge 7 may be provided at a position different from the position where the single cartridge 6 to be replaced is provided. In the above-described aspect, two or more cassettes 6 may be arranged so as to overlap in the vertical direction. In the above-described embodiment, the robot 3 may be a robot for conveying the glass substrate 2 used for applications other than liquid crystal displays.