JP2022077079A - Mounting method for seal gasket - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a mounting method for a seal gasket capable of speedily inserting the seal gasket into a fitting groove of a container main body.SOLUTION: The present invention relates to a mounting method for a seal gasket for preparing a wafer storage container including a container main body in which a wafer is stored, a lid body fitted to an opening of the container main body, a removable seal gasket sealing a gap between the opening of the container main body and the lid body, and a fitting groove formed at an edge where the opening of the container main body is formed, in a vertical direction to a virtual plane formed by the opening, and mounting the seal gasket into the fitting groove. The mounting method for the seal gasket includes: a fitting support member inserting step of inserting a fitting support member into the fitting groove; a bridging step of bridging the seal gasket over the fitting support member inserted in the fitting support member inserting step; and a fitting step of fitting the seal gasket which is bridged in the bridging step, into the fitting groove along the fitting support member.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a method of attaching a seal gasket, and more particularly to a method of attaching a seal gasket used in a wafer storage container for accommodating a semiconductor wafer such as a silicon single crystal.

A wafer storage container for storing a semiconductor wafer such as a silicon single crystal (hereinafter, may be simply referred to as a wafer) is composed of a container body for storing a plurality of wafers and a lid fitted in an opening of the container body. It is roughly composed.

There are two types of container body, one is a type in which a wafer holding groove for aligning and storing wafers is formed in the container body, and the other is a type in which a cassette having a wafer holding groove is formed so as to be removable from the container body.
Further, there are two types of the lid body, one is a type in which a holding body for pressing and fixing the wafer edge portion is formed on the lid body, and the other is a type in which the holding body is detachably configured inside the lid body.

Further, there is a wafer storage container having a seal gasket for sealing between the opening of the container body and the lid body, but the type in which the seal gasket is fixed to the container body and the container body or the lid body can be attached and detached. There are configured types.

In a wafer storage container of a type in which the seal gasket is removable from the container body or the lid, the work of fitting the seal gasket into the fitting groove of the container body or the lid is conventionally performed manually by a worker. Therefore, there is a problem that the fitting condition of the seal gasket varies depending on the skill of the worker.

A method for attaching a seal gasket for solving such a problem is disclosed in, for example, Patent Document 1. Patent Document 1 describes a substrate storage container and its seal that can suppress a decrease in the holding force of the seal gasket, eliminate the possibility that a part of the seal gasket will come off together with the lid, and suppress the occurrence of variation in the fitting condition of the seal gasket. Provides a method of mounting a gasket.

In Patent Document 1, as a means for suppressing a decrease in the holding force of the seal gasket, the seal gasket is formed with a fitting protrusion located parallel to the fitting direction of the lid with respect to the upper portion of the opening of the container body. Specifically, the seal gasket of Patent Document 1 is formed of a frame body that is fitted into the fitting groove and a seal forming portion that extends from the frame body and comes into contact with the lid body, and the fitting protrusion portion is a frame. It is formed from a first fitting protrusion formed on a plurality of straight portions of the body and a second fitting protrusion formed on a corner portion of the frame body.

Further, in Patent Document 1, as a means for preventing variation in the fitting condition of the seal gasket, first, an elastic seal gasket frame is placed in the fitting groove formed in either the container body or the lid. It is inserted by work, the pressure welding flat surface of the pressing jig is brought into contact with the flat surface of the frame body so as not to contact the seal forming portion, and the pressing jig is strongly pressed to fit the frame body of the seal gasket into the fitting groove. As a result, the fitting groove and the first and second fitting protrusions of the fitting protrusions are in close contact with each other, and the seal gasket can be properly fitted into the fitting groove without variation.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2009-170591

If the method uses a pressing jig as disclosed in Patent Document 1, the seal gasket can be appropriately pushed into the fitting groove of the container body without variation. But before that, it is necessary to manually insert the frame of the elastic seal gasket into the fitting groove.

Examples of the molding material for the seal gasket include polyester-based, polyolefin-based, fluorine-based, and urethane-based elastomers (polymers having elasticity), fluororubber, EPDM (ethylene propylene diene rubber), and silicone rubber.
Since the seal gasket having such elasticity is soft, its shape is easily distorted, and it often takes time to manually insert it into the fitting groove.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a method for attaching a seal gasket so that the seal gasket can be quickly fitted into the fitting groove of the container body.

In order to solve the above problems, in the present invention, the container body for accommodating the wafer, the lid fitted to the opening of the container body, and the attachment / detachment that seals between the opening of the container body and the lid. A wafer storage container having a possible seal gasket and a fitting groove formed in a direction perpendicular to the virtual plane formed by the opening at the edge forming the opening of the container body is prepared. It is a method of attaching the seal gasket to attach the seal gasket to the fitting groove.
The fitting assisting member inserting step of inserting the fitting assisting member into the fitting groove, and the fitting assisting member inserting step.
A bridging step of mounting the seal gasket on the fitting assisting member inserted in the fitting assisting member inserting step, and a bridging step.
Provided is a method for attaching a seal gasket, which comprises a fitting step of fitting the seal gasket hung in the connecting step into the fitting groove along the fitting assisting member.

According to the method of attaching the seal gasket of the present invention, by mounting the seal gasket on the fitting auxiliary member inserted in advance, the shape of the seal gasket before fitting can be adjusted and maintained, and further along the auxiliary member. The seal gasket can be quickly fitted into the fitting groove while maintaining its shape.

Further, in the fitting assisting member inserting step, the fitting assisting member is inserted into the fitting groove and tilted diagonally.
In the bridging step, the seal gasket is hung from the outside on the inserted fitting assist member.
In the fitting step, by rebuilding the tilted fitting assisting member in the direction perpendicular to the virtual plane, the seal gasket can be slid down along the fitting assisting member and fitted into the fitting groove.

With such a method, the seal gasket slides down along the fitting auxiliary member by its own weight and is fitted into the fitting groove, so that the mounting method is simpler.

Further, as the wafer storage container, a container in which the fitting groove is rectangular in a plan view and the seal gasket is rectangular is prepared.
In the fitting assisting member inserting step, the fitting assisting member can be inserted into the corner portion of the rectangular fitting groove.

Such a method is particularly suitable for a wafer storage container in which the shape of the container body is rectangular in a plan view.

As described above, according to the method for attaching the seal gasket of the present invention, the shape of the seal gasket is adjusted by the fitting assist member, and the seal gasket is fitted into the fitting groove along the fitting assist member, so that the shape is maintained. The seal gasket can be quickly fitted into the fitting groove.

It is a flow diagram which shows the outline of the process of the attachment method of the seal gasket of this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of the wafer storage container to which the attachment method of the seal gasket of this invention can be applied. It is a partial cross-sectional view which shows an example of a seal gasket. It is a partial cross-sectional view which shows an example of a container body. It is a schematic explanatory drawing which shows the insertion auxiliary member insertion process of this invention. It is a schematic explanatory drawing which shows the bridging process of this invention. It is a partial cross-sectional view which shows the fitting process of this invention. In the embodiment, it is a partial cross-sectional view which shows the state which the upper end of the fitting auxiliary member tilted diagonally toward the inside of a container.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings as an example of an embodiment, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

First, an example of a wafer storage container to which the method of attaching the seal gasket of the present invention can be applied will be briefly described with reference to FIG. The wafer storage container 1 is configured to be detachably attached to and detachable from the container body 2 for storing one or more wafers, the lid 3 fitted to the opening 2a of the container body 2, and the container body 2. It has a seal gasket 4 for sealing between the opening 2a and the lid 3. Further, the edge portion 2b forming the opening 2a of the container body 2 is formed with an fitting groove 5 into which the seal gasket 4 is fitted in the direction perpendicular to the virtual plane A formed by the opening 2a.
The wafer storage container 1 is further configured to be removable from the container body 2 to form a wafer holding groove, and a retainer 7 to be detachably configured inside the lid 3 to press and fix the wafer edge portion. And have. Here, as shown in FIG. 2, the cassette 6 in which the wafer holding groove is formed is of a type configured to be removable from the container body 2, and the holding body 7 is configured to be removable inside the lid 3. The type will be described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the wafer holding groove may be formed in the container body 2 or the holding body 7 may be formed in the lid 3. ..

The container body 2, the lid 3, the cassette 6, and the holding body 7 contain, for example, a thermoplastic resin made of polycarbonate, cycloolefin polymer, polyetherimide, polyether sulfone, polyether ether ketone, polypropylene, polybutylene terephthalate, or the like. It can be molded using a molding material.
The seal gasket 4 can be formed by using, for example, polyester-based, polyolefin-based, fluorine-based, urethane-based elastomer, fluorine rubber, EPDM, silicone rubber, or the like.

FIG. 3 shows a partial cross-sectional view of the seal gasket 4, and FIG. 4 shows a partial cross-sectional view of the container body 2. The left side of the drawing shows the inside (inner circumference) of the container. The seal gasket 4 is fitted into the fitting groove 5 of the container body 2, and includes a frame body 4a, a seal forming portion 4b extending from the inner peripheral portion of the frame body 4a and coming into contact with the lid body 3, and the container body. It has a fitting portion 4c having a substantially inverted U-shaped cross section that is deformed and tightly fitted in the fitting groove 5 of 2, and is held in the fitting groove 5 by an elastic repulsive force when the fitting portion 4c is deformed. The shape of the seal gasket 4 and the fitting groove 5 is not particularly limited in a plan view, and may be, for example, a rectangular shape as shown in FIG.

Further, the fitting assisting member used in the method for attaching the seal gasket of the present invention, which will be described later, will be described. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the fitting assisting member 8 is inserted into the fitting groove 5 in advance and is used for hanging when fitting the seal gasket 4. The thickness of the fitting auxiliary member 8 can be, for example, a thickness that allows the fitting auxiliary member 8 and the seal gasket 4 to be inserted into the fitting groove 5 at the same time, depending on the thickness of the seal gasket 4 and the width of the fitting groove 5. It can be decided as appropriate. Further, the number and shape of the fitting auxiliary members 8 are not particularly limited, and can be appropriately determined according to the shape and the like of the fitting groove 5, and can be L-shaped as shown in FIG. 5, for example. .. The material of the fitting auxiliary member 8 is not particularly limited, but may be, for example, a polyethylene hard film.

Hereinafter, the process of the method of attaching the seal gasket of the present invention will be specifically described. FIG. 1 is a flow chart showing an outline of a process of a method for attaching a seal gasket of the present invention.

First, a wafer storage container 1 as shown in FIG. 2 is prepared (step 1 in FIG. 1). Here, the case where the fitting groove 5 is rectangular in a plan view and the seal gasket 4 is a rectangular annular shape will be described as an example, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

Next, as in step 2 of FIG. 1, the fitting assisting member 8 is inserted into the fitting groove 5 of the container body 2 (fitting assisting member inserting step).
FIG. 5 shows a state in which the fitting assisting member 8 is inserted in the fitting assisting member inserting step. The L-shaped fitting auxiliary member 8 is inserted into the four corners 5a of the fitting groove 5. In the method of inserting the fitting assisting member 8 into the corner portion 5a in this way, the shape of the container body 2 is rectangular in a plan view, that is, the fitting groove 5 is rectangular in a plan view, and the seal gasket 4 is a rectangular annular shape. It is particularly suitable for those having horns such as those having horns.

Next, as in step 3 of FIG. 1, the seal gasket 4 is hung on the fitting assisting member 8 inserted in the fitting assisting member inserting step (crossing step).
FIG. 6 shows a state in which the seal gasket 4 is hung from the outside on the fitting auxiliary member 8 in the laying process. By hanging the seal gasket 4 on the fitting auxiliary member 8 in this way, the shape of the seal gasket 4 before fitting can be maintained as it is.

Finally, as in step 4 of FIG. 1, the seal gasket 4 built in the bridging step is fitted into the fitting groove 5 along the fitting auxiliary member 8 (fitting step).
FIG. 7 shows a partial cross-sectional view of a state in which the seal gasket 4 is fitted into the fitting groove 5 in the fitting step. The fitting portion 4c of the seal gasket 4 is fitted into the fitting groove 5 along the fitting auxiliary member 8. By removing the fitting auxiliary member 8 in this state, the attachment of the seal gasket 4 is completed. By such an attachment method, the seal gasket 4 can be attached more quickly than the conventional method.

In the present invention, each step of the above mounting method may be carried out, but the seal gasket 4 can be mounted more smoothly, for example, as follows. First, in the fitting assisting member inserting step, the fitting assisting member 8 is inserted into the fitting groove 5 and tilted diagonally. It can be tilted either inward or outward, but especially with the top edge towards the inside of the container. Next, in the bridging step, the seal gasket 4 is hung on the fitting auxiliary member 8 from the outside. Then, in the fitting step, the inclined fitting assist member 8 is rebuilt in the direction perpendicular to the virtual plane A formed by the opening 2a of the container body 2, so that the seal gasket 4 is slid off along the fitting assist member 8. , Fit into the fitting groove 5. With such a method, since the seal gasket 4 is fitted into the fitting groove 5 by its own weight along the fitting auxiliary member 8, it becomes a simpler mounting method.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to Examples and Comparative Examples, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

First, as the wafer storage container 1 as shown in FIG. 2, a container having a container body 2 capable of storing 25 wafers having a diameter of 200 mm is prepared. A fitting groove 5 having a depth of about 10 mm is formed in a rectangular shape in the edge portion 2b forming the opening portion 2a of the container main body 2.

(Example)
The fitting assisting member 8 was inserted into each of the four corners 5a in the fitting groove 5 (fitting assisting member insertion step). As each fitting auxiliary member 8, a polyethylene hard film having a vertical width of 57 mm, a horizontal width of 82 mm, and a thickness of 100 μm was used, the horizontal width was folded in half along the corner portion 5a, and the film was inserted into the corner portion 5a. At this time, the lower end of the fitting auxiliary member 8 is in contact with the bottom surface of the fitting groove 5, the inner side surface of the film is in contact with the inner wall surface of the fitting groove 5 (the inner side of the container), and the upper end is toward the inside of the container. It is held in a slanted state. This state is shown in FIG.
Next, a rectangular annular seal gasket 4 was hung from the outside on the fitting auxiliary member 8 (crossing step). Finally, by rebuilding the fitting auxiliary member 8 perpendicular to the virtual plane A in the fitting groove 5, the seal gasket 4 slides down along the fitting auxiliary member 8 by its own weight and is fitted into the fitting groove 5 (. Fitting process). The time required from the time when the four fitting auxiliary members 8 were inserted into the corner portion 5a of the fitting groove 5 until the seal gasket 4 was fitted into the fitting groove 5 was approximately 10 seconds.

(Comparative example)
A wafer storage container 1 similar to that of the embodiment was prepared, and the seal gasket 4 was manually fitted into the fitting groove 5 in the same manner as in the conventional method without using the fitting auxiliary member 8. As a result, the time required for fitting was approximately 30 seconds.

As described above, according to the method for mounting the seal gasket of the present invention, the seal gasket can be fitted into the fitting groove in about 1/3 of the time as compared with the conventional manual mounting method. In fitting the seal gasket into the fitting groove, the present invention inserts the fitting auxiliary member or hangs the seal gasket on the fitting auxiliary member, but even so, the time required for the entire mounting can be significantly reduced.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. The above embodiment is an example, and any one having substantially the same structure as the technical idea described in the claims of the present invention and having the same effect and effect is the present invention. It is included in the technical scope of the invention.

1 ... Wafer storage container, 2 ... Container body, 2a ... Opening, 2b ... Edge,
3 ... lid body, 4 ... seal gasket, 4a ... frame body, 4b ... seal forming part,
4c ... fitting part, 5 ... fitting groove, 5a ... corner part, 6 ... cassette, 7 ... holding body,
8 ... Fitting auxiliary member, A ... Virtual plane.

Claims (3)

A container body for accommodating a wafer, a lid fitted to the opening of the container body, a removable seal gasket for sealing between the opening of the container body and the lid body, and the container body. A wafer storage container having a fitting groove formed in a direction perpendicular to the virtual plane formed by the opening at the edge forming the opening is prepared, and the seal gasket is attached to the fitting groove. How to install
The fitting assisting member inserting step of inserting the fitting assisting member into the fitting groove, and the fitting assisting member inserting step.
A bridging step of mounting the seal gasket on the fitting assisting member inserted in the fitting assisting member inserting step, and a bridging step.
A method for attaching a seal gasket, which comprises a fitting step of fitting the seal gasket hung in the bridging step into the fitting groove along the fitting assisting member. In the fitting assisting member inserting step, the fitting assisting member is inserted into the fitting groove and tilted at an angle.
In the bridging step, the seal gasket is hung from the outside on the inserted fitting assist member.
In the fitting step, the tilted fitting assist member is rebuilt in a direction perpendicular to the virtual plane, so that the seal gasket is slid down along the fitting assist member and fitted into the fitting groove. The method for attaching a seal gasket according to claim 1. As the wafer storage container, a container in which the fitting groove is rectangular in a plan view and the seal gasket is rectangular is prepared.
The method for attaching a seal gasket according to claim 1 or 2, wherein in the fitting assisting member inserting step, the fitting assisting member is inserted into a corner portion of the rectangular fitting groove.

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