JP2002362736A - Taking-out conveying method for sheet-shaped inorganic material and storing/conveying tray - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a taking-out conveying method for sheet-shaped inorganic materials capable of positively performing conveyance to a prescribed position in a simple way by storing and taking out the sheet-shaped inorganic materials in/from a container, and storing/conveying trays used suitably therefor. SOLUTION: In a taking-out conveying method for sheet-shaped inorganic materials including processes of taking out the sheet-shaped inorganic materials 3 stored in the container 1 from the container 1 and conveying the taken-out sheet-shaped inorganic materials 3 to a prescribed position, each of the trays 4 formed with at least a placement surface made of porous resin sheet is used to store the plurality of sheet-shaped inorganic materials 3 placed on the tray 4 in the container 1. The sheet-shaped inorganic materials 3 are taken out from the container 1 together with the respective trays 4, and the sheet-shaped inorganic materials 3 taken out from the back of the placement surface while being sucked are conveyed to the prescribed position.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for taking out and transporting a sheet-like inorganic material which is thin and easily damaged due to being taken out of a container and transporting the sheet-like inorganic material to a predetermined position. The present invention relates to a transfer tray.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, sheet-like inorganic materials such as glass substrates for manufacturing liquid crystal display panels and the like, wafers for manufacturing semiconductor electronic parts, ceramic sheets for manufacturing wiring boards, and the like, despite the fact that the materials themselves are brittle. It is known that it is extremely susceptible to breakage due to the small thickness to area ratio. For example, there is a silicon wafer having a size of 8 inches or the like, and its thickness is 0.2 to 0.5 mm.

For storage and transportation of such a sheet-like inorganic material, a container made of a molded body such as an ABS resin is used, and it is general to insert a plurality of sheets into a plurality of holding grooves to store a plurality of sheets. is there. In addition, there is a problem that a wafer or a glass substrate is damaged by an impact at the time of transportation, and therefore, there has been a method in which a buffer material is interposed (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-50815).

[0004]

However, with the increase in the size of glass substrates and the reduction in thickness of semiconductor wafers, improvements in storage and transport containers are required. This is because it is difficult to hold the substrate itself, and there is a problem that the substrate is broken due to bending or the like. Further, the method of inserting the cushioning material between the layers can solve this problem, but has a drawback that the number of sheets to be stored decreases due to an increase in the overall thickness, or a large container is required.

On the other hand, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-330407 discloses a sheet-like cushioning material for supporting a semiconductor wafer on a sheet surface, the cushioning material being a porous resin sheet for transporting a semiconductor wafer. According to this cushioning material, damage to the semiconductor wafer due to vibration and impact during transportation can be prevented, and warpage of the semiconductor wafer can be prevented, which is advantageous in terms of space.

However, such a cushioning material has a problem that when the semiconductor wafers and the like stored therein are taken out of the transporting container, the semiconductor wafers and the like and the cushioning material are separately taken out of the container, and it takes time to take out and store them. there were. Further, when the taken-out semiconductor wafer or the like is transported to the next step, there is a problem that the transporting step becomes complicated, for example, it is necessary to separately transport the semiconductor wafer by a method that does not easily damage the semiconductor wafer.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to store, take out, and transport a sheet-like inorganic material to a predetermined position in a container.
An object of the present invention is to provide a sheet-like inorganic material take-out / transport method which can be reliably performed by a simple method, and a storage / transport tray suitably used for the method.

[0008]

The above object can be achieved by the present invention as described below. That is, the method for removing and transporting the sheet-like inorganic material of the present invention includes the step of removing the sheet-like inorganic material stored in the container from the container and transporting the removed sheet-like inorganic material to a predetermined position. In the take-out transport method, at least a mounting surface is formed using a tray formed of a porous resin sheet, and a plurality of the sheet-like inorganic materials are stored in the container in a state where the sheet-like inorganic material is mounted on the tray, and together with each tray, It is characterized in that the sheet-like inorganic material is taken out of the container, and the taken-out sheet-like inorganic material is conveyed to a predetermined position while being sucked from the back surface of the placing surface.

In the above, it is preferable that the tray is provided with a locking wall capable of locking the side wall of the sheet-like inorganic material on at least a part of the outer periphery of the mounting surface.

It is preferable that the porous resin sheet is made of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene and has a thickness of 0.05 to 3 mm.

On the other hand, in the tray for storing and transporting a sheet-like inorganic material according to the present invention, a surface on which the sheet-like inorganic material is placed is formed of a porous resin sheet so that the sheet-like inorganic material can be sucked from the back surface. A locking wall capable of locking the side wall of the mounting surface is provided on at least a part of the outer peripheral edge of the placing surface.

According to the take-out / transport method of the present invention, at least a plurality of mounting surfaces are housed in a container by using a tray formed of a porous resin sheet. The sheet-like inorganic material taken out of the container can be transported, and the process from storage to transport can be performed while the tray is placed on the tray. For this reason, a series of steps can be simplified, and reliable transport can be performed by suction transport. Further, since the sheet-like inorganic material and the mounting surface of the tray are kept in contact with each other, problems such as inclusion of dust and rubbing are less likely to occur.

When the tray is provided with a locking wall capable of locking the side wall of the sheet-like inorganic material on at least a part of the outer peripheral edge of the mounting surface, when the tray is pulled out from the container, The placed sheet-like inorganic material can be reliably pulled out, or conversely, it can be prevented that the sheet-like inorganic material in contact with the back side surface of the tray is pulled out by mistake.

When the porous resin sheet is made of ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene and has a thickness of 0.05 to 3 mm, the porous resin sheet made of ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene is
The tray is excellent in abrasion resistance and chemical resistance, generates less dust, and has excellent durability. In addition, by setting the thickness as described above, it becomes easy to realize appropriate strength, cushioning property, air permeability, and the like.

On the other hand, according to the storage / transport tray of the present invention, the mounting surface is formed of a porous resin sheet so that it can be sucked from the back surface, and the locking wall is formed at least partially outside the peripheral edge of the mounting surface. Therefore, it can be particularly suitably used in the method of taking out and transporting the sheet-like inorganic material of the present invention having the above-described effects.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1A is a cross-sectional view showing an example in which a plurality of sheet-like inorganic materials are stored in a container using the tray of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a diagram in which the sheet-like inorganic materials are placed on the tray. FIG. 6 is a plan view showing an example of the arrangement.

In the method for taking out and transporting a sheet-like inorganic material according to the present invention, the sheet-like inorganic material 3 housed in a container 1 as shown in FIG. This includes the step of transporting the product to Examples of the sheet-like inorganic material include glass substrates for manufacturing liquid crystal display panels and the like, wafers for manufacturing semiconductor electronic components,
Examples include a ceramic sheet for manufacturing a wiring board.

In the present invention, a tray 4 having at least the mounting surface 4b formed of a porous resin sheet is used. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the tray 4 is provided with a locking wall 4 a capable of locking the side wall 3 a of the sheet-like inorganic material 3 and a mounting surface 4 b.
Are provided on the entire outside of the peripheral edge. In the present invention, the locking wall 4a may not be provided, or the locking wall 4a may be provided on a part of the outer periphery of the mounting surface 4b. Locking wall 4
When a is provided on a part of the outer peripheral edge of the mounting surface 4b, when the tray 4 is pulled out from the container 1, it is provided on the inner side of the tray 4 from the viewpoint of reliably pulling out the mounted sheet-like inorganic material 3. In order to prevent the sheet-like inorganic material 3 coming into contact with the back side surface of the tray 4 from being drawn out by mistake, it is preferable to provide the sheet-like inorganic material 3 on the near side of the tray 4.

Side wall 3a of sheet-like inorganic material 3 and locking wall 4
Although there is no need to have a gap with a,
It is preferable that it exists about 1 to 3 mm.

The edge 4c for forming the locking wall 4a of the tray 4 does not need to be formed of a porous resin sheet, but in order to prevent contamination of the sheet-like inorganic material 3,
It is preferable that the entire tray 4 is integrally formed of a porous resin sheet. The molded body tray having such a shape can be molded using a mold having the shape. Further, from the viewpoint of cost, the edge portion 4c formed of a porous resin or non-porous resin sheet may be formed on a flat porous resin sheet by heat fusion or the like.

In the example shown in the figure, the locking wall 4a is formed in a square shape with respect to the circular sheet-like inorganic material 3, but the locking wall 4a may be formed in a circular or other shape. Further, the locking wall 4a of the tray 4 is formed continuously outside the peripheral edge of the mounting surface 4b, but may be divided, and a plurality of locking walls 4a may be formed at intervals. . These locking walls 4
The arrangement of “a” can be appropriately determined according to the shape of the sheet-like inorganic material 3. The height of the locking wall 4a may be lower or higher than the thickness of the sheet-like inorganic material 3; The height is preferably equal to or less than the thickness of the sheet-like inorganic material 3.

As the material for forming the porous resin sheet in the present invention, for example, polyethylene, polypropylene,
Resins such as polystyrene are exemplified. Preferably, it is ultra high molecular weight polyethylene. The above resins may be used alone or in combination of two or more.

Such a porous resin can be produced by, for example, a method of sandwiching the above resin powder by a hot press and sintering, or a method of filling the above resin powder into a mold and sintering the same. Then, the porous resin sheet of the present invention can be obtained by forming the porous resin thus obtained into a sheet shape by cutting or the like. This thickness is preferably 0.05 to 3 mm, more preferably 0.1 to 3 mm.
1.0 mm.

As the porous resin sheet used in the present invention, it is preferable to use a porous resin sheet made of ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 5-66855. The ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene has a molecular weight of about 100,000 while the general polyethylene has a molecular weight of about 100,000.
It has an extremely high molecular weight of 10,000 (measured by the viscosity method) or more. The ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene porous resin sheet has a uniform porous structure and is of high quality in which continuous pores described later are also uniformly distributed.

Since the porous resin sheet used in the present invention is in direct contact with a semiconductor wafer or the like, it is required that the content of alkali metal ions and halide ions that adversely affect the semiconductor be low. Is preferably 10 ppm or less. Usually, most of the foam used for the cushioning material is foamed with a foaming agent or the like. Such a foam contains impurities, and in the use of semiconductors in particular, residual gas and the like are regarded as a problem, but the porous sheet of the present invention does not have such a problem. This is due to the manufacturing method (Japanese Patent Publication No. 7-555).
No. 41) because it is made porous without using a foaming agent.

The porous resin sheet used in the present invention has excellent cushioning properties as compared with non-porous ones due to its porous structure, and absorbs or buffers shocks and vibrations during transportation. This porous structure is usually specified by a porosity, and preferably 10 to 65%, particularly preferably 20 to 40% from the viewpoints of air permeability, cushioning property and strength.

The air permeability is 1 to 50 cm ³ / cm ² · se
c is effective, and preferably 2 to 10 cm ³ /
cm ² · sec. In addition, when a porous resin sheet is used, the shape of the container can be processed without impairing the air permeability, and the shape can be adjusted to the size of the substrate to be held or the shape of the storage case.

The surface aperture ratio of the porous resin sheet used in the present invention is preferably 10% or more, particularly preferably 20% or more. This is because if the surface aperture ratio is equal to or more than a certain value, there is an advantage that the contact area is reduced. The surface aperture ratio can be measured by observation with a surface microscope.

It is preferable that the porous resin sheet used in the present invention has a continuous hole from one side of the sheet to the other side. It can be formed by manufacturing. This continuous hole may be a through hole that penetrates linearly in the sheet thickness direction, or may be a hole in which a bubble-like void in the sheet communicates. By providing the continuous holes, the static electricity generated on the sheet surface due to friction is diffused in the sheet thickness direction, and the charging of the porous resin sheet is suppressed. The continuous holes may be provided in a part of the sheet, but are preferably uniformly distributed throughout the sheet.

The porous resin sheet used in the present invention may be used as it is, but is preferably subjected to an antistatic treatment according to its use. The antistatic treatment is not particularly limited, but includes a method of applying an antistatic agent for a semiconductor. Commercially available antistatic agents for semiconductors include, for example, Rheosol Super TW-L12
0, Emazole Super L-10F (trade names, both manufactured by Kao Corporation), electrostrippers and the like. Further, when an antistatic agent is applied to the porous resin sheet of the present invention, the antistatic agent enters into the pores and is carried, so that the antistatic effect is maintained for a long time. In addition, because of the porous structure, there is an advantage that the contact area with the semiconductor wafer is smaller than that of the non-porous one, and the transfer of the antistatic agent to the semiconductor wafer is small. For the antistatic treatment, in addition to a surfactant, a kneading type, impregnation with a conductive paint, or a coating of a conductive polymer can be used. The antistatic treatment has a surface resistivity of 10 ⁴ to
It can be adjusted within the range of 10 ⁹ Ω / □.

In the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, the container 1 is placed in a state where the sheet-like inorganic material 3 is placed on the tray 4 described above.
Store multiple items inside. At that time, breakage of the sheet-like inorganic material 3 during transportation or the like can be effectively prevented by the cushioning property of the porous resin sheet. In addition, the container 1
As shown in FIG. 2, the front faces of the upper lid 1a and the box 1b are open. Another cushioning material 2 is arranged in the space above the uppermost tray 4. The cushion material 2 may be made of the same porous resin sheet as the tray 4.

In the present invention, as shown in FIG. 2, the sheet-like inorganic material 3 is taken out of the container 1 together with each tray 4 and
It is characterized in that the sheet-like inorganic material 3 taken out while being sucked from the back surface of the mounting surface 4b is transported to a predetermined position.

More specifically, for example, the suction surface of the suction / conveying means 10 is arranged slightly below the front surface of the tray 4 to be taken out of the container 1, and the tray 4 to be taken out is moved to the near side by a driving roller, a piston mechanism or the like. Then, the tray 4 is placed on the suction surface of the suction conveyance unit 10. This suction surface is formed of a perforated plate or the like, and can suck the sheet-like inorganic material 3 through the tray 4.

Thus, the tray 4
The sheet-like inorganic material 3 is transported to a predetermined position while being sucked from the back surface of the mounting surface 4b. The transport mechanism may be any of a robot hand and various conveyors.

The wafer is usually conveyed by the suction conveyance means 10 to or near the position of the next step. The sheet-like inorganic material 3 conveyed to the vicinity of the position of the next step may be moved to a position where the next step is performed by another suction means or the like. 10
Since the suction is performed in this manner, it may be set to the position of the next step by releasing (or pressurizing) after moving to or near the position of the next step while turning over as it is. This makes it possible to easily carry the container 1 from the removal to the position of the next process.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a stored state of a sheet-like inorganic material according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a process chart showing an example of a method for taking out and transporting a sheet-like inorganic material of the present invention.

[Description of Signs] 1 container 3 sheet-like inorganic material 3a side wall 4 tray 4a locking wall 4b mounting surface 10 suction conveyance means

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat II (Reference) B65G 49/08 B65G 49/08 H01L 21/68 H01L 21/68 AB T (72) Inventor Junichi Moriyama Ibaraki, Osaka 1-2 1-2 Shimohozumi, Nitto Denko Corporation (72) Inventor Jiro Noka 1-2-1, Shimohozumi, Ibaraki-shi, Osaka F-term in Nitto Denko Corporation 3F022 AA08 BB01 EE01 MM51 5F031 CA02 DA05 DA15 EA02 EA19

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A method for taking out and transporting a sheet-like inorganic material, comprising the steps of taking out a sheet-like inorganic material contained in a container from a container and carrying the taken-out sheet-like inorganic material to a predetermined position. Using a tray formed of a porous resin sheet, a plurality of the sheet-like inorganic materials are placed in the container in a state where the sheet-like inorganic material is placed on the tray, and the sheet-like inorganic material is taken out of the container together with each tray. A method for taking out and transporting a sheet-like inorganic material, comprising transporting a sheet-like inorganic material taken out while being sucked from a back surface of the placing surface to a predetermined position. 2. The sheet-like inorganic material according to claim 1, wherein the tray is provided with a locking wall capable of locking a side wall of the sheet-like inorganic material on at least a part of the outer periphery of the mounting surface. Take out and transport method. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the porous resin sheet is made of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene and has a thickness of 0.05 to 3 mm. 4. The mounting surface of the sheet-like inorganic material is formed of a porous resin sheet so that it can be sucked from the back surface, and the locking wall capable of locking the side wall of the sheet-like inorganic material is a mounting surface. And a tray for storing and transporting a sheet-like inorganic material provided on at least a part of the outer periphery of the sheet.