Transport system, carriage, positioning apparatus, processing system, and positioning method
AssigneeCanon Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsRyota Okazaki, Kichinosuke Hirokawa
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A carriage on which a workpiece is supplied and which is transported by a transport path has a reference member that is a reference for positioning of the workpiece. The carriage also has a fixing unit, whose motion is controlled by a control unit provided outside the carriage, that fixes the workpiece. The workpiece, which has been positioned in a first direction on the carriage and has not yet been fixed by the fixing unit, is pressed in a second direction against the reference member by a positioning unit, in which the second direction intersects with the first direction, and the workpiece is positioned on the carriage in the second direction.
Claims18
A transport system comprising:
- a carriage having a first face, the carriage being supplied with a workpiece at a side of the first face, the carriage including a reference member with which the workpiece is contacted and a fixing unit that fixes the workpiece at the side of the first face, the workpiece being positioned in two or more directions with respect to the reference member;
- a transport path that transports the carriage;
- and
- a positioning apparatus that positions the workpiece on the carriage, the positioning apparatus including a first positioning unit,
- wherein, in a state where the workpiece is positioned at the side of the first face in a first direction and is not fixed by the fixing unit, the first positioning unit presses the workpiece in a second direction to make the workpiece come into contact with the reference member and position the workpiece at the side of the first face in the second direction, the second direction intersecting the first direction.
A carriage having a first face, being supplied with a workpiece at a side of the first face, and being transported on a transport path, the carriage comprising:
- a reference member with which the workpiece is contacted;
- and
- a fixing unit that fixes the workpiece at the side of the first face, the workpiece being positioned in two or more directions with respect to the reference member,
- wherein, in a state where the workpiece is positioned at the side of the first face in a first direction and is not fixed by the fixing unit, the workpiece is pressed by a first positioning unit in a second direction to come into contact with the reference member and be positioned at the side of the first face in the second direction, the second direction intersecting with the first direction.
A positioning apparatus used in a transport system , the transport system including a carriage having a first face and a transport path that transports the carriage, the carriage having a reference member with which a workpiece is contacted and a fixing unit that fixes the workpiece at a side of the first face, the workpiece being positioned in two or more directions with respect to the reference member, the positioning apparatus comprising:
- a first positioning unit that presses the workpiece, in a state where the workpiece is positioned at the side of the first face in a first direction and is not fixed by the fixing unit, the first positioning unit pressing the workpiece in a second direction to make the workpiece come into contact with the reference member and position the workpiece at the side of the first face in the second direction, the second direction intersecting with the first direction;
- and
- a drive unit that drives the first positioning unit.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.