Transport mechanism for wafers of different sizes and types

A transport mechanism for wafers of different sizes and types comprising:

• a carrier device having
• a mounting rack;
• multiple supporting units mounted on the mounting rack at spaced intervals, and each one of the multiple supporting units having
• two supporting bases, and each one of the two supporting bases having
• a magnet disposed within the supporting base;
• a space formed on a top surface of the supporting base and being above the magnet;
• and
• a sensor set disposed on the top surface of the supporting base;
• and
• multiple carrier units respectively mounted to the multiple supporting units, and each one of the multiple carrier units having
• two carrier plates respectively disposed on the two supporting bases of a corresponding one of the supporting units, and each one of the two carrier plates having
• a connecting rod mounted through an end of the carrier plate, being above the space of a corresponding one of the two supporting bases and having
• an annular groove formed on an outer surface of the connecting rod;
• and
• two positioning rods mounted through the same end of the carrier plate as the connecting rod, and the two positioning rods being respectively located on two sides of the connecting rod;
• and
• a manipulator device being spaced apart from the carrier device and having
• a driving unit;
• and
• a manipulator unit mounted on the driving unit, controlled by the driving unit, selectively connected to one of the multiple carrier units of the carrier device automatically, and having
• two arms, and each one of the two arms having
• a connecting socket extending into an end of the arm and having
• two abutted grooves respectively formed on two sides of the connecting socket;
• two beads disposed in the two abutted grooves of the connecting socket respectively;
• two positioning sockets extending into the same end of the arm as the connecting socket and being respectively located beside the connecting socket;
• a locking element movably mounted to the arm, abutting against the two beads, and having
• two protruding portions respectively formed on two inner side surfaces of the locking element;
• and
• at least one restoring element connected to the arm and the locking element;
• wherein
• when each one of the two arms of the manipulator unit is driven by the driving unit and moves to the carrier device, each one of the two arms is then connected to a respective one of the two carrier plates of one of the multiple carrier units;
• the sensor set senses the connection between each one of the two arms and the corresponding carrier plate;
• the two positioning rods of each one of the two carrier plates extend into the two positioning sockets of the corresponding arm, and the connecting rod of each one of the two carrier plates extends into the connecting socket of the corresponding arm;
• the locking element of each one of the two arms is attracted by the magnet and moves downwardly into the space of the corresponding supporting base to form an unlocked state;
• when each one of the two arms is driven by the driving unit and moves upwardly, the attraction of the magnet to the locking element gradually decreases to zero and the locking element gradually moves back to its original position relative to the arm;
• and
• the two protruding portions of the manipulator unit respectively push the two beads to move toward each other and the two beads move into the annular groove of the connecting rod to position the connecting rod to form a locked state.