JP2014110309A - Opening and closing device of conveyance container - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To open and close a lid of a container more easily, reduce the time in which a wafer is exposed to the atmosphere outside the container, and reduce the possibility that the wafer is contaminated due to fine dust when opening and closing the lid.SOLUTION: An opening and closing device of a conveyance container for opening and closing a conveyance container door of a conveyance container which is constituted by a conveyance container body and the conveyance container door includes such a configuration that a placement part consisting of a recess for accommodating the conveyance container body is provided on the upper part of the opening and closing device, the interior of the recess has a shape corresponding to the outer surface shape of the conveyance container body, the bottom surface of the placement part has a protrusion fit into a recess formed on the conveyance container door, a hole for accommodating a magnet is formed at a position on the bottom surface of the placement part corresponding to the magnet provided on the conveyance container door, and the magnet can move vertically with driving force so as to cross the bottom surface of the placement part.

Description

  The present invention relates to an opening / closing device for opening / closing a sealable transport container.

Use semiconductor containers or semiconductor devices in the semiconductor industry, manufacture compounds in the pharmaceutical or chemical industry without contact with outside air, or manage and culture organisms in sealed containers or in sealed equipment The method of adopting the method to be processed is widely performed.
At this time, when handling each product, reagent, sample, etc. in these industries, take out each product, reagent, sample, etc. from the container in a sealed device such as a vacuum device or an environment equipped with an air conditioner. Have been testing, manufacturing, processing and so on.
Of course, there is also a method of taking out the container with a mechanized facility and automatically processing its contents with a processing device, but when handling the sample as a sample or handling the sample in a small lot, a resin box It was difficult to quickly take out the contents from individual containers such as bottles and bottles, and to take out the necessary amount from the contents and use them for manufacturing and testing.
In the background art shown below, the lid of the container is directly held and opened by hand, but there is a possibility that unpredictable force may be applied to the entire container and the inside, and the container may be damaged or more There is concern about the generation of many fine particles.

In particular, in industries with huge factories such as the semiconductor industry, the amount of capital investment and equipment operation costs will increase as the size of the factory grows. Getting serious.
Most of the industrial factories listed above are clean rooms, except for chemical plants where it is not optimal to use clean rooms as a means of cleaning because of the huge progress made in comparison to other industries. It has a manufacturing process using. Therefore, the idea of reducing capital investment by downgrading the clean room using techniques such as the local clean production method has begun to be recognized as an effective means. In some industries, it has been put into practical use and is spreading. Local cleansing also has the effect of reducing the environmental control costs of the factory.

  As a manufacturing example in which the local clean production method is applied to the entire process of a factory, as described in Non-Patent Document 1, a pre-process for manufacturing a semiconductor integrated circuit can be given as the only example. In this manufacturing system, a wafer, which is a product, is stored in a container and transported between independent manufacturing apparatuses. Each device is equipped with an anterior chamber. There are two doors in the front room. One is between the apparatus main body and the front chamber, and the other is between the front chamber and the outside. By operating so that one of the doors is always closed, the inside of the apparatus main body and the outside can be shut off at all times. The wafer container is connected to the front chamber. In the connected state, the wafer can be exchanged between the container and the manufacturing apparatus with the performance of blocking the wafer atmosphere from the outside with a certain level of performance.

  Containers are required to be light and small, and simple in order to ensure ease of transport. In order to fulfill this requirement, some ideas are required for the container opening and closing method, particularly the door storage method when opening the container door. Specifically, it should be noted that the method of storing the container door in the wafer container at the time of connection with the front chamber is contrary to this requirement because a storage space for the door is required. From this, the door of the wafer container has an appropriate connection structure that is housed in the front chamber. HP has obtained one patent (Patent Document 1) for a connection method that takes this point into consideration.

  In this patent, there are three subsystems: (1) the front chamber, (2) the wafer transfer container, (3) the wafer transfer mechanism in the front chamber, and “clean interior space by combining two doors The main feature is “to move to”. The name of this method, “Standard Mechanical InterFace: SMIF”, later became the standard name for this method. The reason for combining the two doors is as follows. Fine particles adhere to the outer surfaces of the two doors that are in contact with the outside including the fine particles. By combining them, the fine particles can be confined between the doors and stored in the front chamber, preventing the fine particles from diffusing into the local clean environment.

  As shown in FIG. 1 (a), the container 1 is composed of a container body 3 and a container door 4, and the front chamber 2 is composed of a front chamber body 5 and a front chamber door 6. (a) Container body 3-container door 4, b) Front chamber main body 5-front chamber door 6, (c) Container main body 3-front chamber main body 5 are provided with seals at three locations, and the three subsystems are necessary for transporting while blocking the inside and outside. Because of the two axioms, the patentability of the SMIF patent lies in the sandwich trapping of fine particles on the door surface by the two doors. However, sandwiched microparticles are not excluded from the site. In addition, no measures are taken against the danger of particulates spilling from the end face of the sandwiched door and contaminating the wafer. Furthermore, since the structure of the front chamber and the wafer transfer container is not hermetically sealed, this patent structure has a function to completely prevent the entry of externally contaminated wafers into the front chamber and the wafer transfer container. Not done.

  Next, Asyst put the SMIF method into practical use as a 200 mm wafer system. Asyst has made a patent in connection with this practical system as an improved mechanism for adding sealing to the SMIF concept (Patent Document 2). In this patent, the connecting part consists of four structures: a box, a box door, a front chamber, and a front door. And as shown in FIG.1 (b), among these four structures contact, (a) Container main body 3-Container door 4, (b) Front chamber main body 5-Front chamber door 6, (c) A seal for sealing is provided between the four structures of the container main body 3-the front chamber main body 5 and (d) the container door 4-the front chamber door 6.

  Since then, since this sealing method is not perfect, several improved patents for this patent have been registered. Specifically, a mechanism for changing the gas in the container, that is, a purging mechanism (Patent Document 3), a method for suppressing the generation of fine particles from a mechanical structure that latches the door (Patent Document 4), and the container door itself is a door. Fine particles generated by having a complicated mechanical structure inside are obtained by generating an airflow that flows out from the inside of the device and the container to the outside at every moving stage for opening and closing the container door and the device door. This is a method of suppressing using a non-contact seal (Patent Document 5). However, such a series of improved patents itself has caused the following adverse effects that complicate the mechanism. The adverse effects include an increase in manufacturing cost, an increase in weight, generation of a new fine particle generation source, an increase in difficulty in cleaning the container, and the like. Even with these improved patents, not only was gas shut-off not at a practical level, but also particulate shut-off was incomplete. Furthermore, the need for improvements to control and eliminate the generation of fine particles found in the improved patents is that the SMIF method and the first four Asyst sealing methods themselves have incomplete particle blocking performance. This means that it is not the best hermetic connection system.

  Later, around 2000, the latest wafer size became 300 mm, and at the same time, the SMIF method different from the Asist seal system was proposed, which became the world standard for a 300 mm wafer transfer system. This standard method is usually called a FIMS (Front-opening Interface Mechanical Standard) system. Although this is a SEMI standard (mainly SEMI Std. E57, E47.1, E62, E63) that is a global standard, it has been patented (Patent Document 6). FIMS adopts a horizontal connection method with the horizontal opening of the container door.

  This is in contrast to the vertical connection in the Asyst system. In the Asist system, the wafers are stored in a cassette inside the container because they are vertically connected. After the two doors combined after the connection are stored in the interior, the cassette moves to the front chamber. On the other hand, in FIMS, the cassette is omitted, and after the two doors combined in the horizontal direction move into the front chamber and then move down in the vertical direction, the wafer in the container It is taken out directly into the front room using a wafer transfer robot in the room.

  Further, in this FIMS patent, unlike the Asist patent, there is no specific structural definition for the seal structure of the contact portion of each structure. Further, in an actual practical FIMS system, a structure in which a gap of about 1 to 2 mm is intentionally provided between each structure is adopted. Specifically, gaps are provided between the container and the front chamber, and between the front chamber and the front chamber door. One of the reasons is that when a seal structure by physical contact is provided, mechanical rubbing occurs at the seal portion, which causes generation of a large amount of fine particles. Further, by not providing a seal, the patent is different from the claims of the Asist patent. However, due to these gaps, there is a drawback that in principle, gas molecules do not have hermeticity.

  In addition, in the Asist system for 200 mm wafers, in order to reduce the pressure fluctuations that occur in the local environment when opening and closing the connected container door and front chamber door, and the problem of particulate generation caused by the generation of airflow, and sealing The container is provided with a pressure relief hole that leads to the outside world for two reasons to prevent the container door from becoming negative pressure and difficult to open. As a result, in practice, the gas molecules have a structure that cannot have a blocking performance. For the same reason, a pressure relief hole is also provided in the FMS system container FOUP (Front Opening Unified Pod) for 300 mm wafers. Thus, in practice, the conventional SMIF type system has not been able to realize complete sealing.

  As can be understood from the above-mentioned conventional patents and well-known practical examples, a closed-type production system that has an effective internal / external separation performance even for small molecules such as gas is constructed in a sealed mechanism that seals each part. Although it is possible, on the other hand, a side effect of generating a large amount of fine particles is caused by mechanical rubbing of the seal portion. On the other hand, if a structure with a gap is taken, the generation of fine particles can be suppressed, but the inner and outer separation performance cannot be secured for gas molecules. This is a defect as a self-contradiction that the SMIF method has. As a result, the practical system has a problem in that it has an incompletely sealed structure.

  In fact, the FIMS system introduced as a global standard in all the latest 300mm wafer compatible semiconductor integrated circuit manufacturing factories has a gap, so that not only gas molecules but also fine particles can be completely blocked. do not have. As a detrimental effect, a clean room would be unnecessary if it was originally a completely local production system in terms of shut-off performance, but in all actual factories, the SMIF system is still installed in the clean room. In other words, at present, it is necessary to double clean a clean room and a local clean. This increases the amount of capital investment, requires advanced management, and greatly increases manufacturing costs.

Finally, in addition to the difficulty of simultaneous elimination of gas molecules and fine particles as described above, more importantly, a space called an anterior chamber was required to separate the device space and the human space. This necessitates a total of three doors: two doors in the front chamber and one door in the transport container, which is an essential cause of the complexity of the connection system.
Patent Documents 7 to 9 describe devices that open a pod by bringing the pod and the device into close contact with each other so that the pod door and the port door of the device face each other, and then moving the pod door and the port door. The space formed by the pod door and the device port door is merely replaced with nitrogen, and does not clean the surface of the member that defines the space. If it is a vacuum, it indicates that it does not function because of the pressure difference.
Patent Document 10 describes a means for holding the cap in order to open the cap of the storage box by means of magnetism or vacuum force, but this is only a holding means, and the cap surface faces the cap. It does not clean the door surface of the device.
The invention described in Patent Document 11 describes that a shutter combined lid of a vacuum clean box and a shutter of a clean device are joined in an airtight manner, and after the sealed space is evacuated, the shutter lid and the shutter are opened separately. All such methods must be performed under vacuum, and it is assumed that the outer surfaces of all members are cleaned.
In the invention described in Patent Document 12, the space formed by the lid of the exposure mask container and the lid of the apparatus is evacuated and then these lids are opened, but this method is used only for the vacuum apparatus, Moreover, it is merely a vacuum, not a cleaning.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,532,970 US Pat. No. 4,674,939 U.S. Pat. No. 4,724,874 US Pat. No. 4,995,430 US Pat. No. 5,169,272 US Pat. No. 5,772,386 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 05-082623 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 06-084738 JP 05-109863 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 06-037175 JP 07-235580 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-039986

“The World of Local Cleanup” (Shiro Hara, Industrial Research Committee, ISBN 4-7693-1260-1 (2006))

In the wafer processing process, when the wafer is first stored in a sealable container, or when it is necessary to remove the wafer from the production line, such as confirmation of the intermediate stage processing, testing, etc. If the sealed lid of the container can be opened and closed simply and reliably, it is necessary to reduce the time during which the wafer is exposed to the atmosphere outside the container, and it is contaminated by the fine dust etc. that accompanies the opening and closing of the lid. It is required to reduce the possibility. It is also necessary to prevent the generation of fine particles due to the direct opening and closing operation.
The same applies to samples of compounds, microorganisms, etc., and it is desired that the time for which these compounds and samples exist outside the container is small, and that the container is smoothly stored and taken out.

(1) An opening / closing device for a transport container having the following configuration for opening and closing the transport container door of the transport container including the transport container main body and the transport container door.
Provided a mounting portion consisting of a recess that can accommodate the transport container main body on the opening and closing device,
The inner surface of the recess is a shape corresponding to the outer surface shape of the transport container body,
The mounting portion bottom surface is a convex portion that fits into a concave portion formed in the transport container door,
In the position corresponding to the magnet provided on the container door for conveyance on the bottom surface of the placement section, a hole for accommodating the magnet is formed,
A mechanism in which the magnet can be moved up and down by a driving force so as to cross the bottom surface of the mounting portion.
(2) The opening / closing device of the transport container according to 1, wherein the mechanism has a lever provided on a side portion, and the magnet is moved up and down by moving the lever up and down.
(3) When the magnet is positioned above, the transfer container door is not fixed to the transfer container body, and when the magnet is positioned below, the transfer container door is fixed to the transfer container body. 3. The opening / closing device for a transport container according to 1 or 2, wherein the opening / closing device is a closed state.
(4) The transport container door is fixed to the transport container body by a magnetic circuit formed between a magnet positioned therein and a magnetic body positioned in the transport container body,
When the magnet provided on the transport container body is positioned above, the magnet located on the transport container door is provided on the transport container body to form a magnetic circuit with the magnet located on the transport container door. 4. The opening / closing device for a transport container according to any one of 1 to 3, wherein a magnetic circuit cannot be formed with the magnetic body and the transport container door is not fixed to the transport container body.

  According to the present invention, unlike a conventional container, the container lid can be reliably opened from the sealed state without directly touching the container, and can be reliably sealed from the opened state. Storage and removal can be performed quickly and arbitrarily. Moreover, since the amount of dust and dust generated when the lid is opened and closed is small, the contents are not contaminated more than necessary.

Schematic diagram of connection between conventional transport container and front chamber of apparatus (a) (b) Schematic diagram of connection system of transport container and apparatus of the present invention (c) Process for forming a connection system between a transport container and an apparatus of the present invention Process for forming a connection system between a transport container and an apparatus of the present invention Process for forming a connection system between a transport container and an apparatus of the present invention Device for opening and closing the transfer container door by forming a closed circuit of magnetic force FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing a state where a closed circuit of magnetic force is formed on the transport container side in the apparatus described in FIG. 5. FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing a state in which a closed circuit of magnetic force is formed across the transfer container door and the apparatus in the apparatus described in FIG. 5. Schematic diagram of the inside of the transport container door in the present invention Transport container inside schematic diagram in the present invention Relationship diagram between opening / closing device of the present invention, container main body and door The figure of the use procedure (preparation before mounting a conveyance container) of the switchgear of the present invention The figure which shows the step which puts a conveyance container in the switchgear of this invention The figure which shows the step before opening a conveyance container to the opening / closing apparatus of this invention Illustration of opening the main body of the transport container The figure which shows the step which puts the article conveyed by the conveyance container door Diagram of the stage where the container body is placed Diagram of the stage before removing the transport container from the switchgear Diagram of the stage to remove the transport container from the switchgear Sectional view of the switchgear of the present invention

For example, in a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, both the transfer container and the apparatus can be separated from the outside when the contents as a transfer object are taken in and out between the transfer container and the apparatus, so that the inside of the transfer container and the inside of the apparatus can be individually blocked from the outside world. It is clear that a door needs to be provided.
The apparatus of the present invention is an open / close device that opens and closes a container used in such a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.
In such a transport container, the apparatus main body is hermetically connected, and only two doors are required to move the contents between them. One is the door of the container, and the other is the door of the apparatus main body. These two doors have such a shape that a connection chamber can be formed only when the transfer container and the apparatus are connected in an airtight manner. Since the inner surface of the connecting chamber is originally the outer surface of the two doors, it is a surface that may have been contaminated by exposure to the external space. Therefore, when a connection chamber is formed and a cleaning mechanism for the inside of the connection chamber is provided, further cleanliness can be secured, and separation between the inside of the transfer container, the inside of the apparatus, and the internal space consisting of the connection chamber and the outside can be realized. .

  When the transfer container is used, there is no need for a fixed front chamber when connected to the apparatus, so there is no need to provide a door provided between the front chamber and the processing chamber in the apparatus, only for the door. Not only can the number of doors needed be reduced by one, but at the same time it solves the incomplete internal / external shut-off performance of conventional local clean production systems. A connection chamber that is hermetically sealed from the outside is formed when the apparatus and the transport container are connected. For this purpose, the following three seal structures are provided.

First, the transport container has a first seal structure (seal 1) that can be sealed by tightly connecting the transport container body and the transport container door. A known means such as a latch can be adopted as the mechanism used for the close connection.
Next, the apparatus has a second seal structure (seal 2) that can be sealed by tightly connecting the apparatus main body and the apparatus door. Finally, the transport container main body and the apparatus main body have a third seal structure (seal 3) that can be hermetically sealed by the hermetic connection between them. When the transfer container and the apparatus are connected, in addition to the first two seals, the third seal is established, so that these three seals form one sealed connection chamber that is not divided. .
Here, these sealing structures can employ known sealing means such as O-rings and gaskets.

  Since the connection chamber generated at the time of connection forms a sealed chamber, the environment of the connection chamber, such as pressure, fine particle concentration, and gas concentration, can be controlled. In order to control the environment, the connection chamber is equipped with an input port and an output port for the purpose of gas input / output or pressure control. In this structure, the container door and the front chamber door need not be combined to capture and store the fine particles. In this structure, both the fine particles and the gas molecules have the function of completely blocking the outside and the product space from each other, so this structure is called a clean-airtight (Particle-Lock Airtight Docking: PLAD) structure. To do.

  An inner wall that forms a connection chamber formed when the apparatus and the transport container are combined is configured by a part of each of the transport container main body, the transport container door, the apparatus main body, and the apparatus door. In a state where the apparatus and the transport container are not combined, the surface of the portion that becomes the inner wall is in contact with the outer space, and the contaminants and gas molecules in the outer space are adhered and contaminated. The surfaces exposed to these external spaces are still contaminated, even when they form the internal walls of the connecting chamber when combined. The adhesion contamination of the inner wall of the connection chamber is caused by discharging the clean gas from the clean gas introduction port provided in the connection chamber so that the fine particles adhering to the wall are desorbed from the surface by the wind of the gas, and exhausted. Can be discharged from the port. In addition, by introducing clean gas, gas molecules chemically adsorbed on the surface can also be desorbed from the surface by substituting with clean gas.

The important thing is that fixed substances that cannot be excluded by introducing clean gas and molecules that remain on the surface with a strong binding force are integrated into the transport container and the device. Since you never leave, you can ignore it. Furthermore, since the transport container and the apparatus are in physical contact with each other at the time of coalescence, fine particles and gas molecules generated due to friction or the like can be removed from the connection chamber by introducing clean gas before opening the two doors. In this way, contamination in the connecting chamber caused by the formation of the seal 3 can be eliminated by this method.
Further, when the atmosphere in the connection chamber is controlled to the same atmosphere as the atmosphere inside the apparatus, the composition of the atmosphere in the apparatus does not change before and after the transfer apparatus door and the apparatus door are opened.

After the connection chamber is cleaned with clean gas, the seal 1 and the seal 2 are released, that is, the transfer container door and the apparatus door are opened toward the inside of the apparatus, so that the space in the transfer container and the apparatus is integrated. Can be conveyed between the two. When physically separating the seal 1 and the seal 2 from each other, there is a possibility that some fine particles and gas molecules are generated from the portions where the seal portion and the two doors face the conveyance container and the member of the apparatus. There is. When these generated contaminants enter the transfer container and the apparatus, they cause contamination of the object to be transferred. Therefore, it is necessary to devise a way for the contaminants generated in the seal portion to move to the connection chamber side. The movement of the pollutant into the connection chamber can be performed by setting the pressure in the connection chamber to be lower than the pressure in both the transfer container and the apparatus. This is because the substance flows toward the lower atmospheric pressure. The contaminant sucked into the connection chamber is discharged to the outside through the exhaust hole. The elimination of contaminants generated in such a connecting portion is possible only when the inside of the container is airtight and a connecting chamber is provided.
However, when the pressure in the connection chamber has a certain pressure difference with respect to the pressure inside the transfer container or inside the apparatus, it may be difficult to open the transfer container door or the apparatus door against the pressure difference. There is sex.

  As apparent from the structure and operation described above, the connection chamber formed temporarily can be evacuated. Therefore, even when the apparatus main body and the inside of the transport container are at a vacuum pressure, the door can be opened with almost no pressure difference between both sides of the door by evacuating the connection chamber. In general, in a vacuum device, the vacuum device body is often kept in a vacuum at all times in order to avoid the time for returning the vacuum of the vacuum device body to the atmosphere and the resulting contamination. For this reason, a vacuum chamber is usually provided with a front chamber. This anterior chamber goes back and forth between atmosphere and vacuum. For this reason, this front room may be called an air-lock room. In the present invention, since the connecting chamber plays the role of this air-lock, that is, between the atmosphere and the vacuum, the conventional fixed front chamber is not required. Usually, since the front chamber itself has a door and a transport mechanism, the volume of the front chamber is relatively large. For this reason, it takes a considerable time to exhaust the front chamber. On the other hand, in the present invention, since the connecting chamber needs only a small space that can be formed when the container and the apparatus are united, it does not take much time to clean the connecting chamber itself when it is connected. Just do things. However, even in the present invention, provision of the anterior chamber is not excluded.

  In the case where contamination of the product with fine particles becomes a problem, in particular, the operation of cleaning the connection chamber is necessary. On the other hand, if particulate contamination is not a problem and gas molecular contamination is a problem, the gas introduction and gas exhaust ports in the connection chamber may be omitted if the influence of the contamination is relatively insignificant. . Since the volume of the connection chamber is extremely small compared to the conventional front chamber, the absolute amount of pollutants inside it is also small, and if it diffuses into the volume of the transfer container and the manufacturing equipment, it is diluted For example, the density decreases by 4 digits or more. In applications where there is no problem with this dilute contamination concentration, it is not necessary to evacuate the connection chambers or install ports to introduce clean gas.

Next, how to use the transport container will be described.
The door of the transport container has a structure that opens to the inside of the apparatus after combining with the apparatus. If the container door is opened to the outside of the container before uniting, another door is required to prevent the inside of the container from being exposed to the outside, which is disadvantageous in terms of space saving and mechanism efficiency. . In the method in which the door of the transport container is stored inside the container, the volume used for moving the door of the transport container increases as it is pulled in the back direction, which is not desirable because the container to be transported becomes larger. Therefore, the door of the transport container is stored inside the apparatus.

  In the internal storage structure of the door of the transport container, there is a possibility of adopting a method adopted for a residential door that opens and closes with a hinge attached to the door. However, since a large amount of fine particles are generated from the sliding part of the hinge, this is not an appropriate method. In the present invention, the transport container door is separately stored in the apparatus main body. The seal 1 that seals the transport container door and the transport container body is located between the transport container door and the transport container body. When the transfer container door is vertically retracted to the apparatus main body, there is no lateral shift with respect to the seal, so that the friction between the door and the main body is kept to a minimum.

  The container door is opened and closed by a hook mechanism of the door provided in the apparatus door. In the present invention, a magnetic hook mechanism is used as a mechanism for suppressing the generation of both fine particles and gas molecules. In a mechanical key mechanism that has many sliding parts that are generally used, a large amount of fine particles are generated by sliding that occurs during opening and closing. Therefore, it should not be used when a high degree of cleaning is required. Since the opening / closing mechanism using magnetism does not involve such a mechanical operation and does not slide, the amount of generated fine particles is remarkably small, and is suitable for advanced cleaning.

A magnetic body (at least one of which is a magnet) is provided on the transport container main body and the transport container door, and the transport container door and the transport container are closed by the attractive force between the magnetic bodies. Moreover, a magnet is built into the apparatus door, and the conveyance container door is opened by attracting the conveyance container door to the apparatus door by the magnetic force. At this time, in order to adjust the acting magnetic force, it is necessary to prevent the electromagnet, the magnetic body, and the like from being in close contact with each other.
Such a magnetic opening / closing mechanism is superior to the mechanical opening / closing mechanism in terms of cleaning, but the magnetic opening / closing mechanism is insufficient as an actual opening / closing mechanism of the transport container. The magnetic force strongly depends on the distance between the magnetic materials, and the strength increases rapidly when the attractive force is 1mm or less. On the other hand, it rapidly weakens when the distance exceeds that, so high accuracy is required for the product structure. This is one of the reasons. In particular, when the magnetic materials are brought into contact with each other, when viewed on a micron scale, the surface of the magnetic material is uneven, and if the accuracy does not reach the micron order, the magnetic attractive force is not intended. In addition, when there are a lot of the same items such as transport containers, the individual magnetic containers have slightly different dimensions, so that the magnetic attractive force may be different among the individual containers.

  In order to avoid the above problems, in the present invention, a structure capable of controlling the distance between the magnetic bodies can be employed. Since the change in attractive force at a micron-scale distance where two magnetic bodies are in contact with each other is drastic, it is an object to avoid such a proximity distance from being used practically. If the distance is designed to be several tens of microns apart, the difference in suction force with an accuracy error of 10 μm is relatively small. Furthermore, in order to compensate for this reduced difference in attractive force, the magnetic force of the opening mechanism on the apparatus side is determined based on the magnetic force expected to be the weakest attractive force.

[Transport container]
The transport container opened and closed by the opening / closing device of the present invention is a sealed container for transporting an object that causes some troubles such as contamination and reaction by directly touching the outside air. This "thing" includes semiconductor substrates, sensor substrates, microorganisms, culture media, genes, unstable compounds, metals that are easily oxidized, toxic substances, etc. Substances to be used in various applications such as substances that should be treated and substances that are highly reactive, and those that should be handled in devices such as clean rooms and glove boxes are now widely covered. Among them, widely used applications are semiconductor wafers with various diameters ranging from half-inch during processing to large diameters such as 450 mm, and transportation of semiconductor chips.

  Depending on the characteristics of the material being transported, the material and characteristics of the main body and door of the transport container can be selected. For example, moisture resistance of poly (meth) acrylate, polycarbonate, polyethylene terephthalate, quartz, glass, etc. It is preferable to use a material excellent in dimensional stability. In order to open and close the transfer container door by magnetic force as described above, a magnetic body and a magnet are arranged at least at a location sealed with the door of the transfer container body made of these materials.

  Of course, the size of the transfer container is determined in relation to the size of the object to be transferred, and it is also possible to provide a plurality of chambers for storing a plurality of objects in one transfer container. For example, one door is provided on each of the front and back surfaces of one transport container, and an independent chamber is provided therein, or a plurality of doors are provided adjacent to each other on the surface of the disk-shaped transport container, The door can be provided with a corresponding chamber.

  Provided with a mechanism for locking the door so that the door does not open carelessly when the transport container is used alone as a container, such as during the transport of the transport container, and the lock is a transport container It is preferable from the viewpoint of usability to provide a mechanism that is automatically released when the apparatus is closely connected.

  If the item stored in the transport container moves carelessly, it becomes difficult to open the door of the transport container and introduce it into the device, or the stored item itself is likely to be damaged. In the transport container, it is necessary to provide some means such as a pressing member for fixing the stored item.

[Transport container and equipment interface]
Although the door side surface of the transfer container is connected to the apparatus door, the transfer container door needs to be positioned with high accuracy without being displaced with respect to the apparatus door. This point is the same whether the transport container is connected to the apparatus door by hand or when it is connected by the transport apparatus.
Moreover, if there is a part that rubs between the transport container and the apparatus door, particles will be generated from that part, and then the inside of the apparatus or the articles in the transport container will be contaminated. It might be. For this reason, it is necessary to give a specific structure to the door side of the transport container.
First, the door of the transport container is installed so as to be embedded in the transport container body. In addition, an inclined portion extending to the side surface of the transport container is provided at the peripheral edge of the door side surface of the transport container body. This inclined portion is provided at the peripheral edge portion of the port of the apparatus main body, and coincides with the inclined portion provided toward the center of the port.
Further, the transport container main body around the transport container door is provided with a plurality of protrusions, and the protrusions are fitted into recesses provided in the port of the apparatus main body.
Furthermore, three tips are provided as hemispherical protrusions on the outer surface of the door of the transport container, and three V-shaped grooves are provided radially on the surface of the apparatus door corresponding to the protrusions.

Using the transport container main body, the transport container door, the apparatus main body, and the apparatus door having such a structure, the transport container is connected to the apparatus door with high accuracy as follows.
First, the transport container approaching the apparatus main body is inserted so that the inclined portion provided at the peripheral edge portion of the door-side surface of the above-described transport container main body is aligned with the inclined portion provided at the peripheral edge portion of the port of the apparatus main body. start. Inserted halfway, the transport container is positioned to some extent with respect to the apparatus body.
Next, the plurality of protrusions provided on the transfer container main body around the door of the transfer container are fitted into the corresponding recesses provided in the port of the apparatus main body. At this time, the above-mentioned slight play is considerably reduced, and the rotation of the transport container with respect to the vertical axis is suppressed to some extent.
In this state, when the transport container body further approaches the apparatus door, the three hemispherical projections provided at the front end of the transport container enter the above three V-shaped grooves provided on the door of the apparatus body. Become. At this time, each of the two opposed slopes constituting one V-shaped groove is in contact with the hemispherical projection, and the hemispherical projection is in contact with the two opposed slopes at two locations.
As a result, the transport container is free from shaking in the rotation direction with respect to the vertical axis, and the shaking in the horizontal direction is also eliminated by the three radial V-shaped grooves.
With such a mechanism, the transfer container is fixed and cannot be moved except in the vertical direction with respect to the apparatus main body.

[apparatus]
The device closely connected to the transport container may be various devices that handle the “object” transported as described above. If the “object” is a semiconductor substrate, it may be a semiconductor manufacturing device or a sensor substrate. For example, a device for sensor production, a culture device or an analysis device for microorganisms, culture media, or genes, a reaction device or an analysis device for unstable compounds or oxidizable metals, and an analysis device for harmful substances. Various known devices that need to be operated with the outside air shut off, such as devices to be handled, can be selected.
Among these, as the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, a series of various apparatuses used in the semiconductor manufacturing process can be adopted.

The transport container opening and closing device of the present invention has a transport container mounting portion having the same structure as that of the device closely connected to the transport container. Therefore, it is necessary to provide an unevenness that can be fitted to the uneven portion on the surface of the transfer container on the transfer door side.
In addition, it is necessary to adopt a magnet that has a sufficient magnetic force for the magnetic material provided on the transport container door, and the magnet is moved up and down by an appropriate driving force and configuration such as manual, electric, or mechanical mechanism. It can be made to.
Then, by moving the magnet, the magnet is sufficiently in close contact with the magnetic body provided on the transport container door, and when the magnetic circuit is formed with the magnetic body, the transport container door is separated from the transport container body. While the magnetic circuit is not formed, the transfer container door is in close contact with and fixed to the transfer container body.
In this way, the transfer container can be opened and closed using the transfer container opening and closing device of the present invention, and the transfer container opening and closing means is used for supplying a wafer to each processing apparatus for semiconductor manufacturing, for example. It can also be provided in the anterior chamber.

Embodiments will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1C is a view in which the transport container 7 and the device 8 that are opened and closed by the opening and closing device of the present invention are closely connected, and although not shown, the transport container 7 is fixed to the device 8 and is closely contacted. The transport container 7 and the device 8 are in close contact with each other based on known means. Here, the transport container 7 is not in close contact with the front chamber of the apparatus 8 but can be in close contact with the apparatus 8 itself. However, this does not exclude that the transport container 7 is in close contact with the front chamber of the apparatus.
As described above, as a result of the transfer container 7 and the apparatus 8 being tightly connected, the connection chamber 10 defined by the container door 12 of the transfer container 7 and the apparatus door 9 of the apparatus 8 serves as a front chamber in the conventional connection system. Formed as a thing.

  The front chamber in the prior art functions to connect the inside of the apparatus and the outside air having different environments, such as the atmosphere and a reduced pressure, or the atmosphere and a specific atmosphere, in order to carry the articles stored in the transport container into the apparatus. Is. On the other hand, the connection chamber 10 to which the container opened and closed by the opening and closing device of the present invention is connected is as if it were the front chamber. From the environment, the container door 12 and the apparatus door 9 move together into the apparatus and the gas supply port 15 and the gas discharge port connected to the connection chamber are opened until the two doors are opened. 16 can be adjusted so as to have an atmosphere similar to the atmosphere in the apparatus.

The thing attached to the process processed like a semiconductor like a semiconductor especially needs supply and discharge | emission of such cleaning gas. In this case, in a manufacturing facility that uses different devices for each of a plurality of steps, the connection system of the present invention is required for each device used in each step.
If the atmosphere in the apparatus is vacuum, the gas in the connection chamber 10 is discharged from the gas discharge port 16 by a vacuum pump or the like. If necessary, an inert gas is subsequently discharged from the gas supply port 15 in the connection chamber. After the introduction, the environment in the connection chamber 10 containing fine particles and the like is made to be similar to the environment in the apparatus by performing an operation of discharging the gas from the gas discharge port 16 an arbitrary number of times. It is possible.

Of course, according to the cleanliness and atmosphere in the target apparatus, if necessary, the environment in the connection chamber 10 can be brought close to the environment in the apparatus.
As described above, the present invention can directly connect the transport container to the apparatus 8 instead of the front chamber. For this purpose, the connection chamber 10 formed by the close connection includes a gas introduction port 15 and a gas discharge port. The device 8 can be provided with these ports so that 16 can be connected.
In order to clean the gas through the connection chamber 10 through these ports, it is necessary for the gas to flow through the entire connection chamber 10, and the container door 12 and the apparatus door 9 are in close contact with each other. It is also necessary for gas to circulate so that particles and the like attached to the opening 7 and the opening of the apparatus main body 8 can be removed.

The details of the close connection between the transfer container 7 and the apparatus 8 will be described below with an example of introducing a wafer inside the transfer container into the apparatus. In addition to this example, it is also possible to introduce, for example, a microorganism culture medium or an unstable compound.
In FIG. 2, the transport container 7 includes a transport container main body 11 and a container door 12, and the transport container main body 11 and the container door are hermetically sealed by a known sealing means. The transfer container main body 11 is provided with a member that supports the wafer 17 provided from the container door toward the inside of the transfer container main body 11.

  Considering after the container 7 and the apparatus 8 are tightly connected, the transport container 7 is provided with a magnet 18 on the wall portion of the transport container main body 11, and at a location where the container door 12 contacts the wall portion of the transport container main body 11. A magnetic material 19 such as iron can be provided. In that case, the wall portion of the transport container body 11 and the location where the magnetic body 19 of the container door 12 is provided are extended, and the location of the apparatus door 9 which contacts the location where the magnetic body 19 of the container door 12 is provided. Is provided with an electromagnet 14.

  In the state of FIG. 2, the transport container body 11 of the transport container 7 is in close contact with the container door 12 by magnetic force, and the inside of the transport container body 11 is reliably shut off from the outside air. Further, the device door 9 of the device 8 is in close contact with the device main body 13 by some means, and the device main body 13 is also in a state of being surely blocked from the outside air.

  From the state shown in FIG. 2, next, as shown in FIG. 3, the transport container 7 has the device door 9 on the upper surface with the container door 12 facing downward, and the device door of the device 8. 9 is placed so as to be superimposed. At this time, a positioning pin is provided in one of the transport container 7 and the apparatus 8 and a hole for fitting the positioning pin is provided in the other so that the transport container 7 and the apparatus 8 are accurately overlapped. It is important to. The positioning mechanism is not limited to the pin, and a known positioning means can be employed.

The apparatus main body 13 and the apparatus door 9 are also hermetically sealed by known sealing means.
After placing the transport container 7 on the apparatus 8 at an accurate position, an operation for tightly connecting the two is performed. When the tight connection is not performed, the transport container 7 and the device 8 are not hermetically sealed, and a gap is formed between them. When the door is opened in this state, outside air is transferred into the transport container 7 and the device. 8 enters and is contaminated with outside air and fine particles.
As a means for the close connection, a known means such as a latch mechanism may be used. As the close contact strength, sealing by a known sealing means such as a gasket interposed between the transport container main body 11 and the apparatus main body 13 is effective. It should be strong enough to function.

After the transport container 7 is brought into close contact with the apparatus 8, an airtight seal structure is formed between the transport container main body 11 and the apparatus main body 13 by known sealing means provided on either one or both. And in order to make the connection chamber 10 formed between the container door 12 and the device door 9 partitioned by the sealing means the same environment as the environment in the device, a gas supply port 15 provided in the device in advance and The environment in the connection chamber 10 is adjusted using the port 16 for gas discharge.
As a specific adjustment method, initially, the air in the connection chamber 10 having the same environment as the outside air is exhausted from the gas discharge port 16 to reduce the pressure. Next, for example, a method including a step of introducing dry nitrogen gas from the gas supply port 15 and exhausting the gas from the gas discharge port 16 to reduce the pressure, or a method of repeating this method can be employed.

  According to such a method, the connection chamber 10 which is initially in the same environment as the outside air and contains contaminants such as fine particles in addition to the reactive gas such as oxygen is removed by the air flow due to the exhaust and supply of the gas. The fine particles that can be removed are removed, and the reactive gas such as oxygen is exhausted. Thereafter, if the inside of the apparatus 8 is the same environment, that is, if the inside of the apparatus 8 is under reduced pressure, the connecting chamber 10 is also under reduced pressure, and if the inside of the apparatus 8 is under an inert gas atmosphere, the connecting chamber 10 is also inactive. The gas atmosphere is adjusted. Of course, the environment of the connection chamber 10 may be adjusted by other processes.

  Although the adjustment of the environment of the connection chamber 10 is not particularly different from the adjustment made in the front chamber in the conventional apparatus, the connection chamber defined by the doors of both the transfer container 7 and the apparatus 8 is conventionally used. Since it is overwhelmingly small compared to the front chamber, a smaller apparatus is sufficient for supplying and exhausting gas, and the required time is much shorter.

Next, a method for moving the wafer stored in the transfer container 7 into the apparatus 8 will be described.
Although not shown in any figure, an apparatus such as an elevator for opening and closing the apparatus door 9 is provided in the apparatus 8, and the wafer fixed to the container door of the transfer container 7 is transferred to the container door 12 and the apparatus door. 9 is transferred into the apparatus 8 and subjected to processing by the processing means in the apparatus.
When both the integrated container door 12 and the apparatus door 9 are moved into the apparatus 8, the close contact between the container door 12 and the transport container main body 7 is released.

As an example of the means for canceling, the following means can be cited.
The magnetic body 19 provided on the container door 12 receives the magnetic force of the magnet 18 provided on the wall of the transport container body 7 and is magnetically attached to the magnet 18.
For this reason, in order to separate the container door 12 from the transport container body 11, a force is exerted in a direction in which the container door 12 is separated from the magnetic body 19 against the magnetic force from the magnet 18 acting on the magnetic body 19. It is necessary to add.

In FIG. 3, when a magnetic force is applied to the magnetic body 19 by passing an electric current through the electromagnet 14 provided on the apparatus door 9, the magnetic force applied to the magnetic body 19 is due to the electromagnet 14 rather than that due to the magnet 18. By strengthening, a closed circuit of magnetic force is formed, and the container door 12 is magnetically attached to the apparatus door 9.
Thus, by moving the apparatus door 9 downward with the container door 12 magnetically attached to the apparatus door 9, both the apparatus door 9 and the container door 12 are introduced into the apparatus as shown in FIG. The The energization of the electromagnet may be stopped when the magnetic force from the magnet 18 to the container door 12 becomes weak to some extent.
In this state, the connection chamber 10 composed of the device door 9 and the container door 12 communicates with the space in the device 8, but since the connection chamber 10 is already in the same environment as the environment in the device 8, it is derived from the connection chamber 10. There is no contamination inside the device.

  This example is an example in which the apparatus 8 is provided with the gas supply port 15 and the gas discharge port 16, but these ports may not be provided. That is, when the volume of the device 8 and the volume of the connection chamber 10 are compared, the internal volume of the connection chamber 10 is overwhelmingly small, so even if fine particles or gas present in the connection chamber 10 are mixed into the atmosphere in the device, This is the case where the degree of contamination is extremely small and can be ignored.

At this time, in order to make the environment such as the atmospheric pressure in the connection chamber 10 and the device 8 formed the same, for example, an openable / closable pipe line that communicates the inside of the device 8 and the connection chamber 10 is provided in the device door 9 and transported. After the container 7 and the apparatus 8 are brought into close contact with each other and the connection chamber 10 is formed, the connection chamber 10 and the apparatus 8 may be communicated with each other by opening the pipe line.
Furthermore, the direction of the apparatus door of the apparatus 8 of the above embodiment can be set sideways or downward, and the container door 12 of the transfer container 7 can also be set sideways or upward.

Another mechanism for opening and closing the container door and the apparatus door by magnetic force will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a state in which the transport container 21 is in close contact with the apparatus 20. The container door 23 faces the upper surface of the apparatus door 22, and the portion around the container door 23 of the transport container body 25 faces the apparatus body 24. ing.
An electromagnet 26 is embedded in the device door, and its tip is exposed on the upper surface of the device door.
A magnetic body 27 is embedded so as to penetrate the opposite surface from the surface of the container door 23 so as to face the position of the tip of the electromagnet 26. A plurality of the magnetic bodies 27 are embedded, and the plurality of magnetic bodies 27 are connected to both ends of the magnet 36 by a magnetic force. One or more pairs of such two magnetic bodies 27 and magnets 36 are embedded.

In addition, the magnetic body 28 embedded in the transport container body 25 exerts a magnetic force on the inside of the container door 23, that is, the location where the magnetic body 27 is exposed on the transport container body side, and the container door 23 is embedded inside. The magnetic body 27 is fixed to the transport container body 25 by an attractive force generated by a magnetic force generated between the magnetic body 27 and the magnetic body 28 embedded in the transport container body 25. Is sealed.
The plurality of magnetic bodies 28 embedded in the transport container body 25 are connected by a magnetic body 29 at a location away from the portion facing the container door 23. In this state, the transport container body and the container door are magnetically coupled. Are connected to form a closed circuit.

An object to be processed 30 fixed to the container door 23 so as to be movable with the container door 23 between the apparatus 20 and the inside of the apparatus 20 is housed inside the transfer container body 25. In order to prevent the intrusion of outside air and fine particles into the main body 25 while allowing the object to be processed to move into the apparatus or the container, the transfer container 21 and the apparatus 20 are in close contact to form a connection chamber, The connecting chamber needs to be airtight against the outside air.
For this reason, in FIG. 5, a seal member 31 such as an O-ring is provided to hermetically seal between the transfer container body 25 and the container door 23, and between the apparatus body 24 and the apparatus door 22. A sealing member 33 such as an O-ring for sealing is provided, and a sealing member 32 such as an O-ring for sealing the transfer container main body 25 and the apparatus main body 24 in an airtight manner is provided. The inside of the container 21 and the inside of the apparatus 20 can be kept in a state of being shielded from the outside air not only when the container 21 is connected to the apparatus 20 but also when it is not.

Further, in order to allow the container 21 to be accurately connected to the apparatus 20 and the workpiece 30 in the transport container main body 21 to move back and forth inside the apparatus main body 24 to be accurately processed, the transport container main body 25 is provided. In addition, it is necessary to accurately fit the plurality of positioning pins 34 to the plurality of holes and grooves provided in the apparatus main body 24. Of course, a positioning pin may be provided on the apparatus side and a hole or groove may be provided on the container side. However, in consideration of operability, a positioning pin is provided on the container side and the hole or groove is fitted to the positioning pin on the apparatus side. Is preferably formed.
The tip shape of the positioning pin 34 may be spherical, conical, or pyramidal, as long as it has a clear tip as a pin. Further, the hole or groove 35 may have an inner surface shape reflecting the shape of the tip of the positioning pin so as to be fitted to the positioning pin 34, but in particular, it is a V-shaped groove or a U-shaped groove. It is preferable. At this time, two points near the tip of the positioning pin 34 may be in contact with two points near the bottom of the hole or groove 35. At this time, the spherical portion at the tip of the positioning pin may be positioned at the center of the V-shaped groove 35, for example, when the tip of the positioning pin 34 is spherical and the hole or groove is a V-shaped groove. . According to such positioning means, the container 21 can be connected to the device 20 at a predetermined position accurately and reliably.

Although not shown in FIG. 5, the apparatus 20 is provided with a gas supply port and a gas discharge port as shown in FIG. 2, and the space between the transfer container body 25 and the apparatus body 24 is hermetically sealed by a seal member 32. Therefore, it is possible to fill the connecting chamber formed between the device door 22 and the container door 23 with an arbitrary gas so as to match the atmosphere in the device 20 or the container 21, or to be under an arbitrary atmospheric pressure. It is also possible.
In FIG. 5, the shape of the container, the device and their doors, the shape of the electromagnet, the shape of the magnetic body, the pin, hole, and groove are not limited to those shown in the figure, and any shape can be used as long as the same function can be exhibited. Can be used. Further, a magnet can be used instead of the electromagnet 26.
2 to 4, the apparatus shown in FIG. 5 also has a container door that moves into the apparatus together with the apparatus door, and a predetermined process or the like is performed in the apparatus.

FIG. 6 shows the relationship between each magnetic body and the electromagnet in the state shown in FIG. 5 and the state in which the transport container is positioned away from the apparatus.
In FIG. 6, the transport container is located away from the electromagnet, and the electromagnet has no magnetic force. On the other hand, in the transport container, there are two magnetic bodies 27 connected by a magnet 36 embedded in the container door. Each of the magnetic bodies 27 is connected to a magnetic body 28 provided on the main body of the transport container, and these magnetic bodies 28 are further connected by a magnetic body 29. As a result of this connection, a circuit using magnetic force is formed in the direction of the arrow by each magnetic material as shown in FIG.

Similarly, FIG. 7 shows the relationship between the magnetic body and the electromagnet when the magnetic force is generated by the electromagnet 26 after the transport container is connected to the apparatus and the container door is not yet opened.
First, when an electric current is passed through the electromagnet 26 to generate an electromagnetic force, the lines of magnetic force that have been directed to the magnetic body 28 inside the magnetic body 27 before the generation of the electromagnetic force stop moving to the magnetic body 28 due to the magnetic force of the electromagnet. The magnetic field lines are rearranged in the direction of the electromagnet. As a result, a magnetic circuit of magnet 36 -magnetic body 27 -electromagnet 26 -electromagnet 26 -magnetic body 27 is formed. Thus, the magnetic body 27 and the electromagnet 26 have a strong attractive force. As a result, the magnetic circuit constituted by the transfer container body 25 and the container door 23 has a considerably weak magnetic field line between the magnetic body 27 and the magnetic body 28 and is practically cut as a magnetic circuit. That is, the attractive force of the magnetic body 27 and the magnetic body 28 becomes extremely weak, and the magnetic lock of the transport container body 25 and the container door 23 is released.
As described above, when a magnetic force is generated by the electromagnet, the magnetic lock between the transfer container body and the container door is released and the electromagnet and the container door are magnetically locked, so that the container door can be opened.
As described above, the opening and closing of the container door and the opening and closing of the apparatus door can be performed simultaneously by the action of the electromagnet, so that outside air and external fine particles can be prevented from flowing into the container and the inside of the apparatus. Since a closed circuit of magnetic force is formed both before and after opening and closing, magnetic force does not leak to the outside.

A schematic diagram of the structure seen from the inside of the transport container door is shown in FIG. The transport container door is closed so as to be embedded in the opening of the transport container, and has a disk shape having an inclined surface 37 that is not perpendicular to the upper and lower surfaces of the transport container door. Three claws 38 for holding the object to be conveyed are provided on the inner side. For example, a disk-shaped object to be conveyed is placed on these claws 38 or held by fitting. A groove 35 is provided on the outer surface of the transfer container door.
A magnetic body 39 and a magnet 40 are embedded in the transport container door.

A process of closing the transport container body 25 with the transport container door 23 will be described with reference to FIGS.
After the object to be transported is held on the claw 38 of the transport container door 23, the transport container door 23 is fitted into a transport container body 25 provided with a positioning pin for the apparatus, and the transported object is placed in the transport container. Put in. At this time, the transfer container door shown in FIG. 8 is inverted, and the inclined surface 37 of the transfer container door 23 is fitted to the inclined surface 43 inside the transfer container 25. At this time, the notch 41 provided around the transfer container door 23 is engaged with the protrusion 44 provided in the transfer container. At the same time, an inclined surface 37 provided around the transfer container door and so as to coincide with the inclined surface 43 approaches the inclined surface 43 forming the inner surface of the transfer container body so as to gradually come into contact with the transferred container container. At the same time that the transfer container door is fitted to the main body, the inclined surfaces 37 and 43 come into contact with each other.
Further, as described above, the magnetic body 39 of the transport container door 23 is disposed opposite to the magnetic body 42 provided in the transport container main body 25. At this time, the magnetic lines of the magnet 40 are directed to the magnetic body 42 via the magnetic body 39, so that the magnetic body 42 on the transport container body 25 side is attracted by the magnetic force to the magnetic body 39 on the transport container door side. Thereby, the transport container door 23 is fixed to the transport container body 25.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of a method of using the opening / closing device for a transport container according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 10 shows a corresponding relationship among the opening / closing device 50 for the transport container, the transport container main body 25 and the transport container door 24. The transport container composed of the transport container body 25 and the transport container door 24 is placed so that the transport container door 23 faces downward and is fitted into the mounting portion 51 formed of a recess provided in the opening / closing device 50 of the transport container. .

The convex part 34 provided in the transport container body 25 is fitted with the concave part 52 provided in the mounting part, and at the same time, the convex part 45 provided in the transport container main body 25 is fitted with the concave part 53 provided in the edge part of the mounting part. By matching, the position and orientation of the transport container can be accurately matched to the opening / closing device 50 of the transport container.
At this time, a groove (not shown) provided on the outer surface of the transport container door is fitted with the convex portion 54 provided in the mounting portion, so that positioning when the transport container door is opened is accurately performed. Moreover, the hole which has the magnet 55 provided in the mounting part inside is provided corresponding to the position of the magnet (not shown) located in the inside of a conveyance container door.

  The magnet 55 is moved up and down at the same time by moving the lever 56 up and down, and the relative distance between the magnet 55 and the magnet located inside the transfer container door 24 varies due to such up and down movement. When the magnet 55 is positioned on the upper side, the magnet 55 forms a magnetic circuit with the magnet positioned inside the transport container door 24, so that the transport container door 24 is connected to the transport container body 25 with the magnetic circuit. Therefore, the transport container door 24 is not fixed to the transport container body 35. About this magnet, it is preferable that it is the same number as the magnet which a conveyance container door has, and in order to adjust the front-end | tip part of this magnet when it goes up and down, the mechanism for positioning a magnet up and down may also be provided. it can. For example, when the outer surface of the magnet is cut and fixed to the member holding the magnet with the outer surface of the screw, the position of the upper end of the magnet can be adjusted by rotating the magnet.

On the other hand, when the magnet 55 is positioned below, the magnet positioned inside the transport container door 24 does not form a magnetic circuit with the transport container body 25, so the magnet positioned inside the transport container door 24 is A magnetic circuit is formed together with a magnetic body located inside the transport container body 25. Therefore, the transport container door 24 is securely fixed to the transport container body 25, and the transport container is in a sealed state.
When opening the transport container, first, as shown in FIG. 11, the lever 56 of the transport container opening / closing device 50 is lowered, and at the same time, the magnet 55 is also lowered.
In this state, as shown in FIG. 12, the transport container is directed so that the transport container door faces the bottom of the mounting portion 51, and the protrusions of the transport container are fitted into the recesses provided in the mounting portion 51 as described above. Install.

  Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 13, the lever 56 held by the finger is lifted up, for example, and at the same time, the magnet 55 that has been lowered is raised. As a result, a magnetic circuit is not substantially formed between the transfer container door 24 and the transfer container main body 25 by the magnetic force between the transfer container door 24 and the magnet 55, and therefore, as shown in FIG. Can be separated from the transfer container door 24, and a wafer or the like stored therein can be taken out, or a wafer or the like can be placed in the transfer container door 24 as shown in FIG.

The method of bringing the transfer container door into close contact with the transfer container body and taking out the transfer container from the opening / closing device of the transfer container can be performed by a method opposite to the method of separating the transfer container body 25 from the transfer container door 24. The transport container main body 25 is placed as shown in FIG. 16 with respect to the transport container door 24 in the state shown in FIG. 15, and the lever 56 is pushed down as shown in FIG. As a result, since a magnetic circuit is formed between the magnet located inside the transport container door 24 and the magnetic body inside the transport container body 25, the transport container body 25 and the transport container door 24 can be in close contact with each other.
In this state, when the transport container main body is picked and taken up from the opening / closing device of the transport container, the transport container can be taken out while being sealed by the transport container door 24 as shown in FIG.

FIG. 19 shows a cross-sectional view of a state where only the transport container door 24 is placed on the transport container opening and closing device and the transport container body is removed.
In this figure, the lever 56 and the magnet 55 are integrated and are urged upward by a spring 57.
In the state of FIG. 19, the transport container door 24 is fixed in contact with the magnet 55. In this fixed state, a transport container body (not shown) can be freely attached to and detached from the transport container door 24.
The above is an example of a method for opening and closing a transport container performed using the transport container opening and closing device of the present invention. However, the present invention is not limited to this example, and can be changed as appropriate within the scope of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Conventional conveyance container 2 ... Front chamber of conventional apparatus 3 ... Main body of conventional conveyance container 4 ... Container door of conventional conveyance container 5 ... Main body of conventional apparatus 6. ····································································································································································・ Main body 14 ・ ・ Electromagnet 15 ・ ・ Gas supply port 16 ・ ・ Gas discharge port 17 ・ ・ Wafer 18 ・ ・ Permanent magnet 19 ・ ・ Magnetic material 20 ・ ・ Device 21 ・ ・ Container 22 ・ ・ Device door 23 ・· Container door 24 · · Device body 25 · · Transport container body 26 · · Electromagnet 27 · · Magnetic material 28 · · Magnetic material 29 · · Magnetic material 30 · · Material 31 · · Sealing member 32 · · Sealing member 33・ ・ Seal member 34 ・ ・ Positioning pin 35 ・ ・ Groove 6. ・ Magnet 37 ・ ・ Slope 38 ・ ・ Nail 39 ・ ・ Magnetic body 40 ・ ・ Magnet 41 ・ ・ Notch 42 ・ ・ Magnetic body 43 ・ ・ Slope 44 ・ ・ Protrusion 50 ・ ・ Opening and closing device for transport container 51 ・・ Place 52 ・ ・ Concave 53 ・ ・ Concave 54 ・ ・ Convex 55 ・ ・ Magnet 56 ・ ・ Lever 57 ・ ・ Spring

Claims (4)

An opening / closing device for a transport container having the following configuration for opening and closing the transport container door of the transport container, which is configured by a transport container body and a transport container door and is sealed by magnetic force.
An upper part of the opening / closing device is provided with a mounting portion including a recess that can store the transport container main body,
The inner surface of the recess is a shape corresponding to the outer surface shape of the transport container body,
The mounting portion bottom surface is a convex portion that fits into a concave portion formed in the transport container door,
In the position corresponding to the magnet provided on the container door for conveyance on the bottom surface of the mounting portion, a hole for accommodating the magnet is formed,
A mechanism in which the magnet can be moved up and down by a driving force so as to cross the bottom surface of the mounting portion.   2. The opening / closing device for a transport container according to claim 1, wherein the mechanism includes a lever provided on a side portion, and the magnet is moved up and down by moving the lever up and down.   When the magnet is positioned above, the transfer container door is not fixed to the transfer container body, and when the magnet is positioned below, the transfer container door is fixed to the transfer container body. The opening / closing device of the transport container according to claim 1, wherein The transport container door is fixed to the transport container body by a magnetic circuit formed between a magnet positioned therein and a magnetic body positioned in the transport container body,
When the magnet provided on the transport container body is positioned above, the magnet located on the transport container door is provided on the transport container body to form a magnetic circuit with the magnet located on the transport container door. The opening / closing device of the transport container according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a magnetic circuit cannot be formed with the magnetic body, and the transport container door is not fixed to the transport container body.