JPH0340006A - Product manufacturing facility having fa line - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To secure the safety of an operator by providing a safety device for both a carrier robot and a person to prevent mutual interference between them, a means which outputs the start command of an operator's operation, and a means which operates with the start command and operates the safety device for the robot. CONSTITUTION:When the interference of the robot occurs, danger is recognized with a reflection sensor 19 provided at the robot 4, then, the robot 4 is stopped by turning on a prohibition switch SW 14 by the operator 12 and outputting a reflection plate 11 to a robot travelling path even when the robot 4 travels from a leftside. The light shielding plate 11 is set at a prohibition position 17 or a cancel position 18 so as to be clearly recognized with the operator. Also, the prohibition and cancel positions 17 and 18 can be set by transmitting a signal from a control part 7 to an external part to perform the control of light shielding i.e. a motor part by turning on/off the SW of a device 6. In such a way, it is possible to secure the safety of the operator when a fault occurs or maintenance is applied.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to product manufacturing equipment having an FA line, and particularly relates to product manufacturing equipment having an FA line that requires an operator to enter the FA line and operate the equipment. It is something.

[Conventional technology]

Conventional devices, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 63-79005, allow the robot to run on its own, but when dealing with humans, the safety of humans is ensured by not allowing humans to enter the running surface, similar to trains. Ta.

Furthermore, for safety reasons, self-propelled robots have conventionally run while emitting warnings such as sounds and patrol lights.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

Regarding interference between robots and humans, for example, if the device is such that a person carries the cassette by hand, installs it correctly, and performs operations such as starting processing while looking at the device or the screen display, the robot's In terms of operations, among the actions performed by a person, the actions of bringing in a cassette, setting it up, collecting the processed cassette, and transporting it to the next process are the same and cannot be made inevitable.

However, since the FA line is operated using robots, most of the time is spent by the robots, and the time spent by humans is extremely small. However, for example, if there are dozens of devices in operation on an FA line, and even if one of them breaks down and requires human intervention, the remaining devices cannot be operated. Since robots are not operated entirely by humans but instead have robots perform other services, interference between humans and robots is unavoidable, and safety measures must be taken to prevent this.

In addition, since humans do not operate this kind of equipment frequently, if you operate it while paying attention to the passage of the robot,
On the contrary, it may cause you to make a mistake or cause you to become distracted.
This may cause secondary troubles.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a product manufacturing facility having an FA line that can ensure the safety of operators who enter the factory floor and operate the equipment.

[Means for Solving the Problem] In order to achieve the above object, when an operator operates the device, a switch is activated to start the operation. With this signal, a signal is issued from the device side that prohibits the robot from running from both the left and right sides, and a person can confirm that the barrier is down, and the robot uses the barrier to prevent the robot from passing. The robot stops and waits due to a reflective sensor that indicates an alienation factor. If the operator decides to let the robot pass at that point, he or she operates the release switch to move the person out of the path, raise the barrier, and allow the robot to pass. Confirm this and try to operate by turning on the prohibition switch again.

[For production]

A person's action turns on the passage prohibition switch. To release, release SW
Turn on. This operation is sent as a signal from the control device via the human-operated device to the shielding plate system on the transport system side that manages the robot, and the shielding plate recognizes obstacles using the reflective space sensor on the robot side. and stop,
It will be in a standby state.

Although this reflective obstacle sensor is a known technology, it is effective for fixed areas. However, it could not be used for moving objects such as people who are not necessarily standing in the same position.

Therefore, in the past, warning systems such as sounds and lights (patrlights) from robots have been frequently used, and methods for humans to take precautions and take precautions have been used, such as trains running on the rails without stopping and crossing railroad crossings. The rule was to prohibit people from passing through the gates.

In the present invention, the robot is forced to wait in the opposite manner, and humans set priority rules to ensure greater safety. Moreover, not only can prohibition and cancellation be activated by a simple signal for humans, but the operator can also confirm safety by visually checking whether the light-shielding plate is prohibited, making it a double-safety system and highly reliable. .

In addition, in order to increase the operating efficiency of the robot, for example, if the operator operates for a long time, the robot can be operated in cycles such as passing, prohibiting re-passing, and so on, at the operator's discretion, making the robot more efficient.

〔Example〕

According to this embodiment, it is possible to reduce safety and economic losses related to people and robots in the FA line, and it is also possible to improve the operational efficiency of the entire system.

Figure 1 shows the positional relationship of the safety barrier (shielding plate and robot reflection center) of the present invention, and
An example of a line is an unmanned line at a semiconductor manufacturing factory. Here, 1 is a host system, 2 is a communication line, 3 is a transfer control system, 4 is a mobile robot, 5 is a cassette, 6 is a processing device, 7 is a control device, and 8 is a loading side cassette. In the installation section, 9 is an unloading side cassette installation section, 11 is a light-shielding plate, and 18 is a releasing device for the light-shielding plate, that is, the normal position.

Originally, the purpose of the FA line is to reduce (or eliminate) dust or dust generation sources, which are the biggest enemy to IC manufacturing, and active consideration and implementation are being carried out from the viewpoint of efficiency and efficiency.

For this purpose, we have been able to transport cassettes, which previously had to be done by people.
There is a trend for 1B waste generation to be replaced by self-propelled transport systems, or robots, to keep out people, who are the biggest source of waste.

Under normal operating conditions, the robot is operated unmanned and according to the planned schedule. However, if there are dozens of machines on the same robot line, the probability that all of them will fail is low, but something will happen somewhere. of the same line! ! There is a possibility that conditions such as malfunctions or maintenance may occur in the equipment that cannot be operated automatically. Therefore, it can be operated by an operator with a degree of freedom.

Since robots are running on the same line, if even one of the devices is being operated by an operator, interference between the robot and the person will occur, resulting in the worst case scenario. If this occurs, it may lead to personal injury. However, in the conventional technology, the moving robot issues a warning with sound (alarm sound), light (patrol light), etc., and the operation is mainly done by humans avoiding the robot.
If you concentrate on the operation without being careful, it will not only be dangerous for people, but also
The robot will be damaged and the line will be out of service.

Therefore, there is one rule for robots to stop them.

Decide where to pass and ensure people's safety.

Specifically, for example, when interference between a human and a robot occurs as shown in Fig. 2, the operator acknowledges that the prohibition 8W14 shown in Fig. 3 is ONL, and the reflector 11 is brought out onto the robot travel path. As a result, even if the robot 4 were to run from the left side, the robot 4 would detect danger with its reflective sensor 19 and stop on the safe side.

However, considering the safety of the robot, this objective can be achieved if the robot and device 6 only send and receive signals to each other using a signal cable and then stop, but the operator cannot simply press a push button. You may feel anxious because you don't know whether the situation is correct or not. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, the light-shielding plate 11 is set in the prohibited position 1117 or the released position 18 so that it can be clearly seen by the operator. In addition, in order to prevent forgetting to release after the operation is completed, a light shielding plate 1 is installed as shown in Fig. 2.
1 is located in a light shielding position where it is easy to find.

Also, turn on 8W of device 6 for the prohibition and release positions.

By turning off, a signal is transmitted from the control unit 7 to the external light shielding plate control, that is, to the motor unit, and the light shielding plate is set to the position 17 or 18 in FIG. When releasing, turn release 8W15 ON and the robot 4 will fall to a position where it will not be affected by its movement.

In FIG. 3, the operator can confirm on the display 10 at the same time as the light shielding plate 11. Furthermore, the first level of the higher-level system
If a robot passage prohibition signal is also sent to the host system 1 shown in the figure, the system will become even more complete.

Figure $4 shows the flow of these operations. When a trouble occurs in the device 6 (20), a signal is sent from the device 6 to the host system 1 via the communication line 2, and an operator is called (11). When the operator arrives (22) L/ and turns ON the prohibition 5W14 (23), the signal enters the control unit 7 and activates the relay 16 to drive the motor and move the light shielding plate 11 to the prohibition position (24).
. As a result, when the robot 4 approaches, the sensor provided on the robot 4 detects the light shielding plate U and stops (25).

When letting robot 4 pass, release 8W15 ONL,
(26), and move the light shielding plate 11 to the release position 18 (
27). Maintenance and repairs are performed during these operations or while the robot 4 is stopped. This results in
The trouble in the device 6 is resolved (28).

As described above, according to this embodiment, with regard to safety (human and robot) in the entire FA line, it is possible to prevent the suspension of operation of the F-in and secondary troubles due to injury or damage, making it more efficient and economical. You can pursue sexuality.

In addition, failures and maintenance of the dozens of devices in the FA line will always occur, and it is necessary to completely complete the FA line.
Even the system cannot prevent it. Unsafe (
The reliability of the entire system can be ensured in advance because safety can be ensured in advance.

This has the effect of improving the operating rate and economic efficiency.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, in the product equipment equipment of the FA line,
This has the effect of ensuring operator safety during breakdowns and maintenance.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a plan view showing the relative positions of the robot device, the host system, the FA device, and the light shielding plate (safety mechanism) in the FA system used in the present invention, and Fig. 2 shows the interference surface between the robot and humans and the prohibited state. A plan view showing the position-motion relationship in
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of a control system section that is a robot device using a prohibition SW, and FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an operator's prohibition operation and cancellation operation. 1...Host system, 2...Communication line, 3...*Transmission control system, 4...
...Mobile robot, 5...Cassette, 6...
...Processing device section, 7...Control device section, 8...
- Load side cassette installation section, 9... Unload side cassette installation section, 10... CR'l' display section, 11... Light shielding plate, Tsuru... ...Operator, 13...PC, 14...Entry prohibited SW
, S...Remove prohibition of entry 8W, 16...
Relay, 17... Prohibited position of light shielding plate, quick...
...Light shielding plate release position II (normal), East...Hikari, 11

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A processing device installed in the FA line, an operating device for operating the processing device, a control device for controlling the processing device, a computer device having software for controlling the sequence of these devices, and the processing device In product manufacturing equipment consisting of a transport robot that transports the workpiece to
The transfer robot is provided with a mutual safety device for preventing interference between humans and the robot, and is also provided with means for issuing a start command for operator operation, and means for operating the safety device of the robot by being activated by the start command. A product manufacturing facility with an FA line characterized by: