CN110641841B

CN110641841B - Wafer frame carrier

Info

Publication number: CN110641841B
Application number: CN201810919997.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 潘咏晋; 林志铭; 邱铭乾
Original assignee: Gudeng Precision Industrial Co Ltd
Current assignee: Gudeng Precision Industrial Co Ltd
Priority date: 2018-06-27
Filing date: 2018-08-14
Publication date: 2021-04-20
Anticipated expiration: 2038-08-14
Also published as: CN110641841A; TW202002139A; SG10201808577QA; TWI674644B

Abstract

The invention discloses a wafer frame carrier, which comprises a box body. The box body is composed of an opening, a top plate, a bottom plate, a back plate and two side plates. Wherein each side plate includes a cassette structure. And a metal anti-collision part is arranged at the rear of each cassette structure to prevent the cassette body from being damaged due to collision when micro particles are generated or the cassette body is placed into the wafer frame.

Description

Wafer frame carrier

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a wafer frame carrier, and more particularly to a wafer frame carrier having a metal bump stopper at the rear of a cassette structure.

Background

In the semiconductor transportation industry, the storage or transportation of various semiconductor devices or semiconductor semi-finished products has become a very important issue. In the case of the automated machines that are commonly used, it is necessary to test the properties of the carrier, such as the reduction of particle generation, the anti-static property, and the air-tightness, in order to transport the desired material or semiconductor device to the desired location.

Semiconductor devices that are often required to be stored or transported include wafers, substrates, masks or Wafer frames (Wafer frames), and the like. And the dimensions used in different semiconductor processes are different, carriers of different sizes are derived.

The Wafer Frame (Wafer Frame) may also be called a Tape Frame (Tape Frame), and its main function is to be used as a semiconductor device for fixing during Wafer dicing. And the wafer frame is most likely transported by a special carrier.

However, most of the conventional wafer frame carriers are made of a polymeric box body by integral molding, and when the wafer frame is inserted into the box body, the wafer frame often collides with the stopper. The hardness of metals is generally high upon impact of the metal with the polymer. Therefore, even if the polymer material has high hardness and is wear-resistant, the polymer material is likely to be damaged or fine particles are likely to be generated over time.

Further, the wafer frame itself is a heavy metal. Therefore, when the wafer frame carrier is transported by the overhead traveling crane, the wafer frame carrier is easily deformed due to stress caused by the weight. Once the box body is deformed, the original required air tightness of the box body may disappear.

However, if the supporting member is protruded from the door plate too much, the opening of the wafer frame carrier may be scratched when the robot arm moves the door plate up and down during the door opening operation. Therefore, the conventional wafer frame carrier has many inconveniences in use, and improvement is urgently needed.

Disclosure of Invention

To solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a wafer frame carrier. The wafer frame carrier mainly comprises a box body, two cassette structures, two metal anti-collision parts and a door plate.

The box body comprises an opening, a top plate, a bottom plate, a rear plate and a containing space formed by the two side plates. The two clamping box structures are arranged on the two side plates in the accommodating space, and the two metal anti-collision parts are sequentially arranged on one side, close to the rear plate, of the rear part of the clamping box structures. And the door plate is covered with the opening. The two metal anti-collision parts are fixed on the two side plates sequentially through a plurality of locking components.

The foregoing summary of the invention is provided to introduce a basic description of several aspects and features of the present invention. This summary is not an extensive overview of the invention, and is intended to neither identify key or critical elements of the invention nor delineate the scope of the invention, but to present some concepts of the invention in a simplified form.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly described below, it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention, and for those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained according to the structures shown in the drawings without creative efforts.

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the opened and internal structure of the embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a sustaining structure according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a partial schematic view of a sustaining structure according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a retaining structure and a door panel with a relatively protruding area according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a cartridge according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of an embedded structure of a locking assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The reference numbers illustrate:

wafer frame carrier 10

Box 100

Opening 101

Top plate 102

The bottom plate 103

Rear plate 104

Side plate 105

Air-tight rib 1051

Cassette structure 106

Metal bumper 107

Locking assembly 108

Buried assembly 109

Door panel 200

Abutting part 201

Main board 2011

Through hole 2012

Support 2013

Clamping assembly 2014

Door latch 202

Deformation prevention member 300

Securing assembly 301

Transparent window 400

Carrying handle 500

The implementation, functional features and advantages of the objects of the present invention will be further explained with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, and not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

In the present invention, unless otherwise expressly stated or limited, the terms "connected," "secured," and the like are to be construed broadly, and for example, "secured" may be a fixed connection, a removable connection, or an integral part; can be mechanically or electrically connected; either directly or indirectly through intervening media, or through internal communication or interaction of two components, unless expressly stated otherwise. The specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood by those skilled in the art according to specific situations.

First, referring to fig. 1 and fig. 2, fig. 1 is an appearance structure diagram of an embodiment of the present invention; fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of the opened and internal structure of the embodiment of the invention. As shown in fig. 1 and 2, the wafer frame carrier 10 mainly includes a box 100, two cassette structures 106 (another cassette structure 106 not shown in fig. 2 is disposed on the inner side of the side plate 105 opposite to the side plate 106 in fig. 2), two metal anti-collision portions 107 (another metal anti-collision portion 107 not shown in fig. 2 is disposed on the inner side of the side plate 105 opposite to the side plate 106 in fig. 2), and a door panel 200.

The box 100 includes an opening 101, a top plate 102, a bottom plate 103, a back plate 104 and two side plates 105, which together form an accommodating space. And the cassette structure 106 is arranged on the two side plates 105 in the accommodating space. More specifically, the accommodating space is formed on the two side plates 105. The metal anti-collision parts 107 are sequentially arranged on one side of the rear part of the cassette structure 106 close to the rear plate 104. The door panel 200 can cover the opening 101. And the metal anti-collision parts 107 on the left and right sides are sequentially fixed on the two side plates 105 through a plurality of locking assemblies 108.

By the design of the embodiment shown in fig. 1 and 2, the metal bumper portions 107 on the left and right sides can replace the side plates 105 of the entire cassette 100 to withstand the impact of the wafer frame when the cassette structure 106 is placed in the wafer frame. Since the metal bump 107 can be made of high hardness metal such as stainless steel, high speed steel or aluminum alloy, it is further prevented that the wafer frame made of metal collides with the case 100, which may cause damage and further cause poor air tightness or generation of fine particles. For the convenience of the technician to carry, the top plate 102 of the box 100 of the wafer frame carrier 10 of the present embodiment further has at least one handle 500.

In addition, as shown in fig. 2, in the present embodiment, a deformation preventing member 300 is further disposed on a side of the top plate 102 close to the opening. In this embodiment, the deformation preventing member 300 is a metal strip, and a plurality of fixing holes (not shown, passed through by the plurality of fixing elements 301) are formed on the metal strip, and the plurality of fixing elements 301 pass through the plurality of fixing holes to fix the metal strip to the side of the top plate 102 close to the opening 101. The anti-deformation member 300 is mainly designed because the wafer frame carried by the wafer frame carrier 10 is mostly made of heavy metal. Therefore, when the wafer frame carrier 10 is fully loaded, the overhead traveling crane lifts the wafer frame carrier 10, which easily causes deformation of the opening 101.

Once the opening 101 is deformed, the sealing between the box 100 and the door 200 of the wafer frame carrier 10 is not good, and the air-tight effect cannot be achieved. This phenomenon can be effectively minimized by the provision of the deformation preventing member 300. In addition, when the fixing elements 301 pass through the fixing holes to fix the metal strip on the side of the top plate 102 close to the opening 101, the fixing elements 301 do not pass through the top plate 102; but is instead fixed to the top plate 102 in a manner similar to embedding, further ensuring that the airtightness of the box 100 is not compromised.

Due to the different container sizes required by the wafer frames with different sizes, the weight of the wafer frames loaded on the wafer frames is also different. Therefore, in other possible embodiments, the deformation preventing member 300 disposed on the box 100 may be further designed in the form of a metal cage, which surrounds and reinforces the opening 101, the top plate 102, the bottom plate 103, the rear plate 104 or the two side plates 105 on the box 100, so that the box 100 is less prone to deformation, and the invention is not limited thereto. On the other hand, the case 100 may also be designed with a plurality of deformation-preventing ribs in an integrally formed design, so as to further stabilize the structure.

Of course, the door 200 of the present embodiment is provided with a pair of latches 202, which can fix the door 200 on the opening 101 by rotating and locking, so that the box 100 of the wafer frame carrier 10 is airtight.

Referring to fig. 3, fig. 4 and fig. 5, fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a supporting structure according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 4 is a partial schematic view of a sustaining structure according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a supporting structure and a door panel with a relatively protruding area according to an embodiment of the invention.

As shown in fig. 3, the inner side of the door panel 200 of the present embodiment is further provided with a supporting portion 201, and the supporting portion 201 includes a main plate 2011. For better understanding of the structure of the abutting portion 201, please refer to the portion of the circular broken line in fig. 3, and the detailed structure of the portion is enlarged with reference to fig. 4. As shown in fig. 4, the supporting portion 201 of the present embodiment includes a main plate 2011, a plurality of through holes 2012, a plurality of supporting members 2013, and a plurality of engaging elements 2014.

The plurality of through holes 2012 are disposed on the main board 2011, and the plurality of through holes 2012 are gourd-shaped. Therefore, the clamping assembly 2014 can slide along the direction shown by the arrow in fig. 4 after passing through the larger hole of the gourd-shaped through hole 2012, so as to clamp the main board 2011 with the smaller hole of the gourd-shaped through hole 2012, and further fix the main board 2011 on the inner surface of the door panel 200, and fix the whole abutting portion 201 on the door panel 200.

The above structure has the advantages of convenient installation, and can allow technicians to replace the supporting part 201 with different configurations according to different requirements. In addition, the engaging element 2014 is not extended out of the door panel 200 and is embedded in the door panel 200, so as to further ensure the air tightness of the box 100 of the wafer frame carrier 10. In a preferred embodiment, the engaging element 2014 may be an integral part of the inner surface of the door panel 200, reducing the cost of the embedding operation.

The plurality of supporters 2013 are disposed on the motherboard 2011 and are mainly responsible for supporting the wafer frame when the door 200 covers the opening 101, so as to prevent the door 200 from being unable to be closed or even damaged due to shaking or vibration impacting the door 200. In the embodiment, the supporting member 2013 is designed to be a racket-shaped structure, and the racket-shaped structure has a concave structure, so as to further bear and reduce the swing amplitude of the wafer frame when the wafer frame swings up and down along the box 100.

The door 200 is often opened by a robot arm before the wafer frame carrier 10 is taken out of or put into the wafer frame. After the door 200 is opened, the door is moved in the vertical direction to expose the opening 101, and then the subsequent wafer frame pick-and-place operation is performed. Therefore, the plurality of supporters 2013 are prevented from scraping the opening 101 when the door panel moves, and further damage is avoided. The plurality of supporters 2013 in this embodiment are designed to protrude from the door 200 by no more than 0.5 cm, as shown in fig. 5. The damage to the plurality of supporters 2013 or the structure near the opening 101 of the box 100 caused by the movement of the door 200 by the robot arm is avoided, so as to avoid the generation of a large amount of micro particles.

Referring to fig. 6 and 7, fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a case according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 7 is a schematic view of an embedded structure of a locking assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 6, fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the embodiment shown in fig. 1 and 2, taken along a plane in which a pair of metal bumper portions 107 are formed. The transparent window 400 provided on the back plate 104 of the present embodiment can be clearly seen from the illustration of fig. 6.

In this embodiment, the transparent window 400 may be selected from glass or plastic doped with metal ions. And the color can be made transparent colorless or orange according to the requirement, and the invention is not limited. And the partial structure shown by the circular broken line in fig. 6 is explained in an enlarged manner in fig. 7.

As shown in fig. 7, in the present embodiment, a plurality of locking assemblies 108 fix the metal bumper 107 through a plurality of embedding assemblies 109 embedded in the two side plates 105. And the metal bumper 107 is further provided with a plurality of airtight ribs 1051 corresponding to the outer surface of the side plate 105. With such a structural design, the metal bumper 107 can be attached while maintaining airtightness and structural stability. The provision of the airtight ribs 1051 can further prevent the risk of the metal bumper 107 falling off due to the deformation of the side plate 105.

The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention, and all modifications and equivalents of the present invention, which are made by the contents of the present specification and the accompanying drawings, or directly/indirectly applied to other related technical fields, are included in the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A wafer frame carrier, comprising:

the box body comprises an opening, a top plate, a bottom plate, a rear plate and an accommodating space formed by the two side plates;

the two cassette structures are arranged on the two side plates in the accommodating space;

the two metal anti-collision parts are sequentially arranged on one side, close to the rear plate, of the rear part of the cassette structure; and

the door plate is covered with the opening;

the two metal anti-collision parts are fixed on the two side plates sequentially through a plurality of locking components.

2. The wafer frame carrier of claim 1, wherein the door further comprises a retaining portion.

3. The wafer frame carrier of claim 2, wherein the retaining portion comprises:

a main board;

the plurality of through holes are arranged on the main board and are gourd-shaped;

the plurality of supporting pieces are arranged on the main board; and

and the clamping components penetrate through the through holes and then are clamped in a sliding mode, so that the abutting portion is fixed on the door panel.

4. The wafer frame carrier of claim 1, wherein a side of the top plate adjacent to the opening is further provided with a deformation prevention member.

5. The wafer frame carrier as claimed in claim 4, wherein the deformation preventing member is a metal strip, and a plurality of fixing holes are formed on the metal strip, and a plurality of fixing components pass through the fixing holes to fix the metal strip to a side of the top plate close to the opening.

6. The wafer frame carrier of claim 1, wherein the back plate further comprises at least one transparent window.

7. The wafer frame carrier of claim 1, wherein the top plate further comprises at least one handle.

8. The wafer frame carrier of claim 1, wherein the door further comprises at least one latch.

9. The wafer frame carrier of claim 1, wherein the plurality of locking elements secure the two metal bump stops via a plurality of embedded elements embedded in the two side plates.

10. The wafer frame carrier as claimed in claim 9, wherein the two metal bump guards have a plurality of air-tight ribs corresponding to the outer surfaces of the two side plates.