JP2003158164A - Method of transferring carriers and carry-in-and-out section of carriers in clean room - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To transfer carriers housing objects and carried by a carrying cart and the like between clean rooms provided with a general environment between the inside and the clean rooms while keeping the environment in the carriers clean in a simple constitution. SOLUTION: A carrier carrying container 24 provided with a door 28 which is able to seal a take-in-and-out opening 14a of the carriers 14 is used. A slide door 16 which is able to seal an opening end of the clean room side of openings 15a, 15b installed on a wall 12 of the clean room 11 is provided so as to be able to open and close from the clean room side. An opening end of the general environment side of the openings 15a, 15b is blocked at the door 28 side of the carrier carrying container 24 in a state that the door 28 is closed. Clean air is sprayed from a spray nozzle 18 in a prescribed time in a state that the slide door 16 is closed. After that, the slide door 16 and the door 28 are opened from the clean room side. The carriers 14 are brought out from the inside of the carrier carrying container 24, or the carriers 14 are housed inside the carrier carrying container 24.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a carrier delivery method and a carrier loading / unloading section of a clean room. For details, for example, when transferring a carrier containing a glass substrate for liquid crystal between a plurality of clean rooms provided across a general environment with low cleanliness, to transfer the carrier between the clean room and the general environment. The present invention relates to a suitable carrier delivery method and a carrier loading / unloading unit in a clean room.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, when manufacturing a liquid crystal device or a semiconductor device, all operations are performed in a clean room. However, when increasing the number of manufacturing processes in a factory, there are cases where the manufacturing processes have to be divided into a plurality of separate rooms. At that time, there is no problem if each room is connected by a passage having the same cleanliness as the clean room. However, if the distance between the two rooms is large, the cost of expansion increases in order to keep the entire passage at the same cleanliness as the clean room. Therefore, it is required to carry the object to be handled in a clean environment from one clean room to another clean room through the general environment.

At this time, the object to be transported is mounted in a transport vehicle in a sealed state in a transport container and transported in a general environment. Therefore, when transferring the object to be transferred between the general environment and the clean room, it is necessary to transfer it while preventing dust and the like adhering to the transfer vehicle and the transfer container that have passed through the general environment from entering the clean room as much as possible. There is.

Conventionally, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2001-144158 discloses that a case in which an object to be transferred is stored is transferred using a transfer vehicle (container) having a door that can be opened and closed simultaneously with a door on the clean room side. Has been done. In this case, the case is transported while being placed on the shelves provided in the transportation vehicle, and the transportation vehicle is introduced from the general environment into the shower room provided in the clean room, and the air shower cleaning is performed for a predetermined time in the air shower room. Receive. afterwards,
After moving to the position where the door of the clean room and the door of the carrier are connected, both doors are opened to the clean room side and the case is taken out.

[0005]

[Patent Document 1] Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 200
In the apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-144158, it is necessary to perform an air shower cleaning on the entire transportation vehicle that transports the case in the air shower room for a predetermined time. Therefore, there is a problem that the amount of air consumption required for the air shower increases and the air shower takes a long time. Particularly in recent years, glass substrates used for manufacturing liquid crystal substrates have become large in size, and one side of a square glass substrate has a length of 1 m. Therefore, a cassette for storing glass substrates and a transportation vehicle used for transporting the cassettes have also become large. Therefore, the above problem becomes more prominent.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and a first object thereof is to accommodate an object to be transported between a plurality of clean rooms provided across a general environment with low cleanliness. A carrier delivery method that allows a carrier (for example, a cassette) to be transported by a transport vehicle between a clean room and a clean room while keeping the environment of the carrier clean with a simple configuration. To provide. A second object is to provide a carrier loading / unloading section of a clean room suitable for carrying out the delivery method.

[0007]

In order to achieve the first object, the invention according to claim 1 uses a carrier carrier container having a sealable door to store a carrier. Is a method of transferring a carrier between the general environment and the clean room when the carrier is transported between the clean rooms through the general environment. An opening door that can seal the opening end on the clean room side of the carrier loading / unloading opening provided on the wall of the clean room is provided so as to be openable and closable from the clean room side, and the carrier transfer container door can be opened and closed from the clean room side. In this state, the carrier loading / unloading opening is opposed. In that state, the general environment side opening end of the carrier loading / unloading opening is closed by a part of the carrier transport container, and the carrier corresponding to the carrier loading / unloading opening in the state where the opening door is closed. A gas is sprayed on the part of the carrier container for a predetermined time. Then, the opening door and the carrier transfer container door are opened from the clean room side to take out the carrier from the carrier transfer container or store the carrier in the carrier transfer container.

Therefore, in the method of the present invention, the object to be conveyed (object to be conveyed) is accommodated in the carrier and conveyed in the general environment without being exposed to the general environment by the carrier conveying container. Then, prior to opening the door of the carrier transport container, the portion corresponding to the clean room through the carrier loading / unloading opening is subjected to gas injection for a predetermined time, and dust or the like attached to the surface thereof under a general environment. To be washed. Therefore, even when the door for the opening of the clean room and the door of the carrier transfer container are opened to take out the carrier from the carrier transfer container or store the carrier in the carrier transfer container, the carrier is kept in a clean environment. Moving. As a result, the carrier can be transferred between the inside of the clean room and the outside of the clean room while keeping the environment of the carrier clean with a simple configuration.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, one surface of the carrier carrying container provided with the door receives the gas injection. Therefore, in the method of the present invention, the area receiving the jet of gas is reduced,
The consumption of the cleaning gas is reduced and the injection time can be shortened.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to the first or second aspect, the opening door is a general environment side opening end of the carrier carrying-in / carrying-out opening of the carrier carrying container. It is configured so that it cannot be opened after the gas is closed until the injection of the gas is completed. Therefore, according to the method of the present invention, it is possible to prevent dust and the like from entering the clean room by opening the door before the cleaning of the carrier transfer container with gas is completed.

In order to achieve the second object, the invention according to claim 4 allows a carrier capable of accommodating an object to be transferred into and out of a clean room from a general environment. An opening and a door capable of sealing the opening end of the carrier loading / unloading opening on the clean room side and opening / closing from the clean room side are provided. Further, an injection nozzle capable of injecting gas toward the general environment side opening end of the carrier loading / unloading opening is provided.

According to the present invention, the method of the invention according to claim 1 can be carried out by using the carrier transport container provided with the door capable of sealing the loading / unloading port of the carrier for storing the transported object.

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION (First Embodiment) The first embodiment of the present invention is embodied in the delivery of a carrier used for carrying a glass substrate for liquid crystal as an article to be conveyed (object to be conveyed).
An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a wall portion that divides the clean room from the general environment, FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view seen from the general environment side, and FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view seen from the clean room side. 4 is a plan view of the lifting device, FIG. 5 is a view of the carrier loading / unloading opening viewed from the general environment side, and FIG. 6 is a side view of the lifting device.

As shown in FIG. 1, the clean room 11 is separated from the general environment 13 by a wall 12. Wall 12
The glass substrate carrier 14 (hereinafter, simply referred to as a carrier) is formed with openings 15a and 15b as carrier loading / unloading openings that allow the glass substrate carrier 14 to be taken into and out of the clean room 11 from the general environment 13.

Two openings 15a and 15b are provided close to each other. As shown in FIG. 3, on the clean room 11 side of the wall 12, a slide door as an opening door that can seal the opening ends of the openings 15a and 15b on the clean room 11 side and that can be opened and closed from the clean room 11 side. Two 16 are provided. Each slide door 16 is configured to be independently slidable along the rail 17, and at the closed position facing the openings 15a and 15b, the packing 16a (shown in FIG. 1) is pressed against the wall surface so that the opening end can be sealed. It is configured.

An injection nozzle 18 capable of injecting clean air as a gas to the peripheral edges of the openings 15a and 15b toward the open ends of the openings 15a and 15b on the side of the general environment 13.
Is provided. The injection nozzle 18 is arranged so as to inject the clean air obliquely downward. Wall 12
A space 19 is provided below the openings 15a and 15b of the space 19 and a window 21 (shown in FIG. 5) provided with a filter 20 is provided in the space 19 so that the space 19 communicates with the general environment 13 side. There is. In addition, the space 19 has a space 19
A fan device 22 is provided for discharging the internal air from the window 21. The fan device 22 is driven when clean air is jetted from the jet nozzle 18, and exhausts the jetted air from the window 21.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, an elevating device (scissor lift) 23 is arranged on the side of the general environment 13 of the wall 12 at a position corresponding to each opening 15a, 15b. In FIG. 2, only one of the lifting devices 23 is shown. As shown in FIG. 6, the elevating device 23 includes a mounting portion 25 on which a carrier transport container 24 used for transporting the carrier 14 to / from another clean room (not shown) is mounted, and the mounting portion 25 is a pantograph mechanism. It is configured such that it can be raised and lowered by 26. A large number of rollers 25a (see FIG.
2) is disposed so as to extend parallel to the wall 12. As shown in FIG. 5, guide portions 25b for guiding the carrier transport container 24 so as to face the predetermined positions of the openings 15a and 15b are provided on both left and right sides of the mounting portion 25.

The loading section 25 is an unmanned transport vehicle 27 (AGV) for transporting the carrier transport container 24 between the clean room 11 and another clean room and a position where the carrier transport container 24 faces the openings 15a and 15b. ) Loading platform 2
It is possible to move up and down between 7a and the corresponding position. A large number of rollers 27b are arranged on the bed 27a of the automatic guided vehicle 27 in parallel with the front-back direction of the automatic guided vehicle 27 (the direction perpendicular to the plane of FIG. 1). The automated guided vehicle 27 travels along a guide line (not shown) between the clean room 11 and another clean room, and at the loading / unloading position of the carrier transport container 24 corresponding to the elevating device 23, the side surface is changed as shown in FIG. It stops at a position corresponding to the lifting device 23. In this state, the carrier transport container 24 can be moved via the rollers 25a and 27b between the placing section 25 and the loading platform 27a arranged in the lowered position.

The carrier transfer container 24 is formed in a rectangular box shape, has an opening / closing port 24a for the carrier 14 on one surface, and a door 28 capable of sealing the loading / unloading port 24a. The door 28 is in a state where the door 28 side of the carrier transport container 24 closes the openings 15a and 15b, and the clean room 1
It can be opened and closed from the 1 side.

The carrier carrying container 24 is provided with a flange portion (flange) 29a capable of facing the peripheral edge portions of the openings 15a and 15b on the outer peripheral portion on the side where the door 28 is arranged, and the inner peripheral portion. A flange portion 29b is provided so as to project from the inner surface of the door 28. A square ring-shaped packing 30 is provided on the collar portions 29a and 29b.
It is equipped with a and 30b. And packing 30a
Is pressed against the wall 12 via the collar portion 29a, the carrier transport container 24 and the collar portion 29a cause the openings 15a, 1
The open end of 5b on the general environment side is hermetically sealed. Further, the packing 30b is pressed against the inner surface of the door 28 in a state where the door 28 is closed, and is sandwiched between the collar portion 29b and the door 28, so that the door 28 can seal the inlet / outlet port 24a.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, on the side of the general environment 13 of the wall 12, the flange portion 29a of the carrier carrying container 24 is engaged with the flange portion 29a on both the left and right sides of the openings 15a and 15b. A biasing device 31 is provided as a biasing means for biasing the to the wall 12 side. The urging device 31 includes a rotating shaft 32 extending in the vertical direction, hooks 33 fixed to the upper side and the lower side of the rotating shaft 32, and an air cylinder 34.
(Hereinafter, simply referred to as the cylinder 34). The upper end of the rotary shaft 32 is operatively connected to the piston rod of the cylinder 34, and can be rotated forward and backward by driving the cylinder 34. The cylinder 34 is not shown in FIG.

The hook 33 is driven by the cylinder 34 so as to be at a right angle to the wall 12 and the collar portion 29a of the carrier transport container 24 placed on the placing portion 25.
And is rotated via the rotary shaft 32 into an operating position in which the collar portion 29a is pressed and biased toward the wall 12 side. The cylinder 34 is a switch 35 provided on the wall 12.
Forward rotation or reverse rotation can be performed by operating a and 35b (shown only in FIG. 5). Where cylinder 3
The forward rotation drive of 4 means a drive for rotating the rotary shaft 32 in a direction in which the hook 33 presses and urges the collar portion 29a toward the wall 12 side, and the reverse rotation drive means that the hook 33 engages with the collar portion 29a. It means a drive for rotating the rotary shaft 32 in the direction of releasing.
The cylinder 34 is driven in the forward direction by pressing the switch 35a to rotate the hook 33 to the working position side, and is driven in the reverse direction by pressing the switch 35b to rotate the hook 33 in the reverse direction.
Rotate to the standby position.

In the injection nozzle 18, the slide door 16 of the openings 15a and 15b in which the injection nozzle 18 is arranged is closed, and the flange portion 29a of the carrier transport container 24 is pressed against the wall 12 by a pressing force within a predetermined range. It is configured to be operable in the state. Further, the slide door 16 is configured so as not to be opened after the carrier transport container 24 closes the open ends of the openings 15a and 15b on the side of the general environment 13 until the injection of clean air from the injection nozzle 18 is completed. .

On the wall 12, lamps 36a and 3 are provided above the openings 15a and 15b on the clean room 11 side, respectively.
6b is provided, and the openings 15a, 1 on the side of the general environment 13 are provided.
Lamps 37a and 37b are arranged above 5b, respectively. One of the lamps 36a and 37a lights in red, and the other lamps 36b and 37b lights in green. Lamp 36a
Is configured to be turned on in a state where the slide door 16 of the clean room 11 is prohibited from being opened, for example, during injection of clean air from the injection nozzle 18 or when the hook 33 of the biasing device 31 is in the standby position. . Lamp 37a
Is an anomaly indicator light, and is configured to be turned on when something is wrong. Further, the lamp 36b is turned on when the slide door 16 can be opened, and the lamp 3b
7b is configured to be turned on when the carrier transport container 24 arranged at a position for sealing the open ends of the openings 15a and 15b on the general environment side can be moved.

Next, a method of delivering the carrier 14 between the inside of the clean room 11 having the carrier loading / unloading section configured as described above and the general environment 13 will be described. First, an explanation will be given by taking as an example the loading into the clean room 11.

The carrier 14 is mounted on the carrier 27a of the unmanned transport vehicle 27 while being housed in the carrier transport container 24, and is transported in the general environment 13 by the unmanned transport vehicle 27. Since the door 28 of the carrier transfer container 24 is closed during the transfer, the carrier 14 is transferred in the general environment without being exposed to the general environment. Then, as shown in FIG. 1, when the automated guided vehicle 27 stops at a position corresponding to the lifting device 23, the worker W1 causes the carrier transport container 2 on the carrier 27a.
4 to the mounting portion 25 of the lifting device 23 arranged in the lowered position.
Move it up. At this time, the carrier transport container 24 includes the rollers 27b on the loading platform 27a and the rollers 2 on the mounting portion 25.
Since it moves on the carrier 5a, it is easily transferred from the carrier 27a to the mounting unit 25.

Next, the elevating device 23 is driven to place the placing portion 25.
Is moved to the raised position, and the carrier transport container 24 is closed by the door 28.
Is in a state of facing the opening 15a. In this state,
Since the carrier transport container 24 is separated from the wall 12, the collar portion 29 a of the carrier transport container 24 is in a position where it cannot engage with the hook 33. Next, the worker W1 moves the carrier transport container 24 to the wall 12 side to a position where the collar portion 29a can engage with the hook 33. Then, in that state, the switch 35
a is pressed.

The cylinder 3 is operated by operating the switch 35a.
4 is driven to rotate the hook 33 from the standby position to the working position. Then, from the middle of the rotation of the hook 33, the collar portion 29
a engages with the hook 33, and at the end of rotation of the hook 33, the collar portion 29a is held in a state of being urged toward the wall 12 by a predetermined pressing force, and the packing 30a is provided between the wall 12 and the collar portion 29a. And the opening end of the opening 15a on the general environment side is sealed by the carrier transport container 24.

When the normal rotation drive of the cylinder 34 is completed, the injection nozzle 18 is operated next and the clean air is discharged into the opening 1.
It is jetted for a predetermined time toward the open end of 5a on the general environment side. Further, at the same time as the operation of the injection nozzle 18, the fan device 2
2 is driven, and after the operation of the injection nozzle 18 is stopped, the fan device 22 is also stopped. The clean air jetted from the jet nozzle 18 cleans the surface of the carrier transport container 24 arranged in the opening 15a from dust and the like adhering to the surface under a general environment. The air after cleaning is exhausted from the window 21 to the general environment 13 by the action of the fan device 22. When the operation of the injection nozzle 18 is completed, the lamp 36b is turned on.

When the lamp 36b is turned on, the worker W2 in the clean room 11 receives the carrier 1 from the opening 15a.
When the lamp 37b is turned on, it is recognized that the carrier 14 needs to be transferred (carried out) from the opening 15b. When the receiving work (carrying-in work) is required, as shown in FIG. 3, after sequentially opening the slide door 16 and the door 28, the worker W2 opens the manual carriage 38 (MGV) in the opening portion 15.
Move to near a. Then, the carrier transport container 24
The carrier 14 is pulled out from the inside and placed on the placing portion 38a of the manual carriage 38. Next, after sequentially closing the door 28 and the slide door 16, a closing confirmation switch (not shown) is operated. Then, the carrier 14 is carried to a predetermined position in the clean room 11 by the manual carriage 38.

When the closing confirmation switch is operated on the clean room 11 side, the lamp 3 corresponding to the opening 15a.
7b lights up. When confirming that the lamp 37b is turned on, the worker W1 on the side of the general environment 13 operates the switch 35b corresponding to the opening 15a. By operating the switch 35b, the cylinder 34 is driven in the reverse direction, the hook 33 is rotated to the standby position, and the carrier transport container 24 becomes movable. When the worker W1 immediately uses the carrier transfer container 24 to transfer the carrier 14 from another clean room to the clean room 11, the worker W1 moves the carrier transfer container 24 to a position where it does not hinder the lowering of the mounting portion 25. It is moved to a position away from the wall 12. Then, the elevating device 23 is driven to move the placing portion 25 to the lowered position, and then the carrier transport container 24 is moved from above the placing portion 25 to the loading platform 27.
After moving to a, the start switch of the automatic guided vehicle 27 is operated. The automated guided vehicle 27 transports the carrier transport container 24 to another clean room.

Next, the carrier 1 from the clean room 11
The carry-out of No. 4 will be described. When the carrier 14 is carried out from the clean room 11 by using the carrier transport container 24 that has been transferred to the clean room 11, the lift device 23 corresponding to the opening 15b is lifted from the lift device 23 corresponding to the opening 15a. The carrier transport container 24 is moved upward. In this movement, the carrier transport container 24 is moved onto the loading platform 27a of the unmanned transport vehicle 27 in the same manner as described above, and then the unmanned transport vehicle 27 is moved to a position facing the elevating device 23 corresponding to the opening 15b. Then, the empty carrier transport container 24 is processed in the same manner as described above, and the opening 1
After arranging in the position close to the general environment side open end of 5b,
The switch 35a is operated. As a result, in the same manner as described above, the collar portion 29a of the carrier transport container 24 is attached to the hook 33.
By this, the wall 12 is pressed and urged to seal the open end, and clean air is jetted. Then, the carrier transport container 24 stands by in a state where the slide door 16 and the door 28 can be opened from the clean room 11 side.

When the transfer work (carry-out work) is required, the slide door 16 and the door 28 are sequentially opened in the same manner as described above, and then the worker W2 places the carrier 14 on the mounting portion 38a. Is moved to the vicinity of the opening 15b. Then, the carrier 14 on the placing portion 38a of the manual cart 38 is pushed into the carrier transport container 24 through the opening 15b. Next, after sequentially closing the door 28 and the slide door 16, a closing confirmation switch (not shown) is operated. When the closing confirmation switch is operated on the clean room 11 side,
The lamp 37b corresponding to the opening 15b is turned on. Upon confirming that the lamp 37b is turned on, the worker W1 on the side of the general environment 13 mounts the carrier transport container 24 on the carrier 27a of the automated guided vehicle 27 and then starts the automated guided vehicle 27 in the same manner as described above.

This embodiment has the following effects. (1) Opening portions 15a, 15 for carrying in and carrying out a carrier are provided in a wall 12 that divides the general environment 13 and the clean room 11.
b is provided, and a slide door 16 is provided which can seal the open ends of the openings 15a and 15b on the clean room side and can be opened and closed from the clean room 11 side. And the opening 15
An injection nozzle 18 for injecting clean air toward the general environment side of a and 15b is provided. Therefore, unlike the prior art, the entire unmanned transport vehicle 27 and the carrier transport container 24 are not cleaned with clean air, and only the portions of the carrier transport container 24 facing the openings 15a and 15b in which the carrier 14 moves are cleaned with clean air. Only by washing, the carrier 14 can be transferred between the inside of the clean room 11 and the outside of the clean room 11 while keeping the environment of the carrier 14 clean. As a result, compared to the prior art,
The structure is simple and the cost can be reduced.

(2) One surface of the carrier transport container 24, on which the door 28 is provided, receives a jet of clean air. Therefore, the area where the clean air is injected is reduced, the consumption of the clean air is reduced, and the injection time required for cleaning can be shortened. As a result, the running cost (clean air use cost) can be reduced, and the time required for delivery can be shortened.

(3) The slide door 16 is constructed so that it cannot be opened until the injection of clean air is completed after the carrier transport container 24 closes the open ends of the openings 15a and 15b on the general environment side. Therefore, the carrier transport container 2
It is possible to prevent dust and the like from entering the clean room 11 by opening the slide door 16 before the cleaning with the clean air of 4 is completed.

(4) A collar portion 29a is provided on the door 28 side of the carrier transport container 24, and the collar portion 29a and the wall 1 are provided.
The carrier transport container 24 is pressed and urged toward the wall 12 with the packing 30a interposed therebetween. Therefore, the open ends on the general environment side of the openings 15a and 15b can be reliably sealed.

(5) The carrier transport container 24 has the opening 1
When closing 5a and 15b, the wall 12 is pressed by the biasing device 31.
It is pushed to the side, and the collar portion 29a is held in a state in which the packing 30a is pressed against the wall 12. Therefore, the openings 15a,
It becomes easy to reliably seal the open end of the general environment side of 15b.

(6) Since the urging device 31 is constructed such that the rotary shaft 32 having the hook 33 engageable with the collar portion 29a is rotated by the cylinder 34, the carrier transfer container 24 is easily pressed against the wall by a predetermined pressing force. It can be urged to the 12 side.

(7) Lamps 36a, 3 for informing the workers W1, W2 whether the opening of the slide door 16 or the movement of the carrier transport container 24 is prohibited or allowed.
6b, 37a, 37b are provided. Therefore, the workers W1 and W2 can easily determine whether or not work is possible.

(8) Since the carrier transport container 24 is transported in the general environment 13 by the unmanned transport vehicle 27, it is not necessary for the worker W1 to transport the carrier transport container 24 by a manual cart.

(9) Since the two openings 15a and 15b are provided, the workers W1 and W2 can easily perform the work. (10) Since the lifting device 23 is provided at a position corresponding to the openings 15a and 15b, it becomes easy for the workers W1 and W2 to handle the carrier transport container 24 at a height that is easy to handle.

(Second Embodiment) Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. This embodiment differs greatly from the previous embodiment in that the carrier transport container 24 is transported by a manual trolley instead of the unmanned transport vehicle 27 in the general environment 13 and that the lifting device 23 is not provided. The same parts as those in the above embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The hand lift 39 as a manual cart is provided with a fork 40 that can be raised and lowered while the carrier transport container 24 is placed. The fork 40 is configured to be capable of raising the carrier transport container 24 to a height facing the openings 15a and 15b.

In this embodiment, the carrier 1
4 is placed on the fork 40 of the handlift 39 in a state of being housed in the carrier transport container 24, and the handlift 39 is pushed by the worker W1 to be transported in the general environment 13. For example, when carrying the carrier 14 into the clean room 11, as shown in FIG. 6, with the fork 40 of the handlift 39 placed in the raised position and the carrier carrying container 24 facing the opening 15a, the carrier carrying container is placed. Opening 1 in which the collar portion 29a of 24 can be engaged with the hook 33
It is arranged at a position near 5a. Further, when carrying out the carrier 14, the carrier 14 is arranged near the opening 15b. In this case, it is preferable to provide a guide portion for guiding the hand lift 39 to a predetermined position corresponding to the openings 15a and 15b.

In this state, the worker W1 operates the switch 35a.
Press to operate. By operating the switch 35a, the cylinder 34 is driven to operate the hook 3 as in the above-described embodiment.
3 is rotated from the standby position to the working position, and the packing 30a
Is sandwiched between the wall 12 and the collar portion 29a, and the opening 15a
The open end on the general environment side is closed by the carrier transfer container 24. Then, after the clean air is sprayed as in the above-described embodiment, the slide door 16 and the door 28 are opened, and the carrier 14 is carried into the clean room 11.

This embodiment has the following effects in addition to the effects (1) to (7) and (9) of the above embodiment. (11) Since the carrier transport container 24 is transported by the hand lift 39 instead of the unmanned transport vehicle 27, the opening 15a,
It is not necessary to install the lifting device 23 at a position corresponding to 15b. As a result, the openings 15a, 15b of the general environment 13
The space at the position corresponding to can be effectively used. In addition, the cost is low and the degree of freedom of the transportation route is increased as compared with the case where the transportation is performed by the automatic guided vehicle 27.

The embodiment is not limited to the above, but may be embodied as follows, for example. The biasing device 31 is not limited to the configuration in which the rotary shaft 32 is rotated by the cylinder 34, but may be configured in such a manner that the rotary shaft 32 is manually rotated to move the hook 33 to the standby position and the working position.

It is not limited to the structure in which the hook 33 engaging with the collar portion 29a is rotated to urge the collar portion 29a toward the wall 12 side, but the carrier transfer container 24 is pressed toward the wall 12 side by an actuator such as an air cylinder. It may be configured to be biased.

By operating the switch 35a, the cylinder 34 is driven in the normal direction, and then the injection nozzle 18
The drive switch for the cylinder 34 and the operation switch for the injection nozzle 18 may be separately provided instead of the configuration in which the above is operated.

The openings 15a and 15b are classified into carry-in and carry-out, and, for example, one opening 15a is used for carry-in and the other opening 15b is used for carry-out, and the carrier 1
4 may be carried in and out.

The number of openings may be one, or three or more may be provided. When the carrier transport container 24 is transported by a manual cart without providing the unmanned transport vehicle 27, instead of the hand lift 39,
Using a manual trolley equipped with a mount that cannot be lifted up and down, the carrier transport container 24 is opened and closed by using the lifting device 23.
You may make it arrange | position in the raising position which opposes 15b.

It is also possible to provide either one of the lamps 36a as the abnormality indication lamp of the clean room 11 and the lamp 36b that is turned on when the slide door 16 can be opened, without providing both.

Both the lamp 37b that is turned on when the carrier transport container 24 arranged at the position where the opening end on the general environment side is closed and the state in which the movement of the carrier transport container 24 is allowed and the lamp 37a as an abnormality indicator lamp are not provided. Alternatively, either one may be provided.

The carrier 14 may be used for carrying objects other than glass substrates. The technical idea (invention) understood from the above embodiment will be described below.

(1) In the invention described in claim 4,
The opening end on the general environment side of the carrier loading / unloading opening is
In a state where the carrier transfer container provided with a door capable of sealing the inlet / outlet of the carrier is configured to be capable of being sealed at the side where the door is provided, and the opening end on the general environment side is sealed with the carrier transport container. Gas can be ejected from the ejection nozzle.

(2) In the invention according to claim 4 or (1), the carrier carrying container is provided with a flange portion on the side where the door is provided so as to face the peripheral portion of the carrier loading / unloading opening. An annular packing is provided on either one of the peripheral edge of the opening on the general environment side of the wall provided with the carrier loading / unloading opening and the flange.

(3) In the invention described in (2), the wall is provided with an urging means that engages with the flange portion of the carrier transport container and urges the flange portion toward the wall. (4) In the invention according to claim 4 or (1), on the general environment side corresponding to the carrier loading / unloading opening,
A mounting unit for mounting the carrier transfer container is provided with an elevating device capable of raising and lowering the carrier transfer container at a delivery position where a door of the carrier transfer container faces the carrier loading / unloading opening and a position below the transfer position. There is.

[0060]

As described in detail above, according to the inventions of claims 1 to 3, the objects to be transported are accommodated between a plurality of clean rooms provided across a general environment of low cleanliness. Then, the carrier conveyed by the carrier vehicle or the like can be transferred between the inside of the clean room and the outside of the clean room with a simple structure while keeping the environment of the carrier clean. According to the invention described in claim 4, it is suitable to carry out the method of the invention described in claims 1 to 3.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the vicinity of a carrier loading / unloading unit according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of the general environment side.

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of the clean room side as well.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the lifting device.

FIG. 5 is a schematic front view of a carrier loading / unloading unit.

FIG. 6 is a schematic side view of a lifting device and a biasing device.

FIG. 7 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the vicinity of a carrier loading / unloading unit according to the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 ... Clean room, 12 ... Wall, 13 ... General environment, 1
4 ... Carrier, 15a, 15b ... Opening part, 16 ... Sliding door as door for opening part, 18 ... Injection nozzle, 24 ...
Carrier transport container, 24a ... inlet / out port, 28 ... door.

Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) H01L 21/02 H01L 21/02 D

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A carrier transfer container having a sealable door is used to transfer a carrier for storing an object to be transferred between a clean environment and a clean room after passing through the general environment. A method, wherein an opening door capable of sealing an opening end on the clean room side of a carrier loading / unloading opening provided on the wall of the clean room is provided so as to be openable and closable from the clean room side, and the door of the carrier transport container is a clean room. From the side in a state of being openable and closable so as to face the carrier loading / unloading opening and the general environment side opening end of the carrier loading / unloading opening is closed by a part of the carrier transport container, and the opening door is closed. In this state, after injecting gas for a predetermined time to the portion of the carrier transport container corresponding to the carrier loading / unloading opening, the opening door and It opens the door carrier transport container from the clean room side, carrier delivery method for accommodating the carriers taken out of the carrier transport vessel carrier, or the carrier transport container. 2. The carrier delivery method according to claim 1, wherein one surface of the carrier transport container provided with the door receives the gas jet. 3. The opening door is configured such that it cannot be opened until the injection of the gas is completed after the carrier transfer container closes the opening end of the carrier loading / unloading opening on the general environment side. The carrier delivery method according to claim 1 or 2. 4. A carrier carrying-in / carrying-out opening provided on a wall of the clean room and a clean room side of the carrier carrying-in / carrying-out opening in order to allow a carrier capable of accommodating an object to be carried into and out of a clean room from a general environment. The carrier loading / unloading part of the clean room, which includes a door capable of sealing the opening end of the carrier and opening / closing from the clean room side, and an injection nozzle capable of injecting gas toward the general environment side opening end of the carrier loading / unloading opening.