JP2022099076A - Substrate housing container - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a substrate housing container that can stably hold substrates even when the thicknesses of the substrates are different.SOLUTION: A substrate housing container includes: a substrate housing cassette that can houses a plurality of substrate W; a lower box that houses the substrate housing cassette; a lid that closes the opening of the lower box; and a holding member 50 provided on the lid and supporting the substrate W. The holding member 50 includes: a frame that can be attached to the lid; a beam portion 52 extended from the frame; a pair of contact guide portions 53 provided on the beam portion 52 and capable of coming into contact with the front surface and the back surface of the substrate W; and a deformation support portion 54 that is provided on the beam portion 52 and elastically deforms when coming into contact with the side surface of the substrate W, in which the pair of contact guide portions 53 are connected via a deformation support portion 54.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3B

Description

The present invention relates to a substrate storage container provided with a holding member for holding the substrate.

As seen in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, for example, the substrate storage container for accommodating a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer includes a substrate storage cassette capable of accommodating a plurality of substrates and a container body (lower) for accommodating the substrate storage cassette. It is provided with a box) and a lid (upper box) that closes the opening of the container body.

A pressing member for holding the substrate is attached to the lid, and the substrate storage container supports the substrate by sandwiching the substrate between the pressing member and a support provided on the substrate storage cassette.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2007-153414 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 08-107141

However, in recent years, the types and thicknesses of boards have diversified, and unless a board equipped with a holding member corresponding to the type of board is used, the board cannot be held properly, the holding property of the board deteriorates, and vibration occurs. It may be rubbed, scratched, or cracked by such means. In addition, since it is necessary to replace the holding member, the versatility of the substrate storage container is also decreasing.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a substrate storage container that can stably hold a substrate even if the thickness of the substrate is different.

(1) One aspect of the present invention is a substrate storage cassette capable of accommodating a plurality of substrates, a lower box accommodating the substrate storage cassette, a lid for closing the opening of the lower box, and the lid. A substrate storage container provided with a holding member for supporting the substrate, wherein the holding member includes a frame body that can be attached to the lid body, a beam portion extending from the frame body, and a beam portion. It has a pair of contact guide portions provided on the beam portion and capable of contacting the front surface and the back surface of the substrate, and a deformation support portion provided on the beam portion and elastically deformed by contacting with the side surface of the substrate. However, the pair of contact guide portions are connected via the deformation support portion.
(2) Another aspect of the present invention is a container body capable of accommodating a plurality of substrates, a lid for closing the opening of the container body, and a presser provided on the lid to support the substrate. A substrate storage container including a member, wherein the holding member is provided on a frame body that can be attached to the lid body, a beam portion extending from the frame body, and the beam portion, and is provided on the beam portion. The pair of contact guide portions has a pair of contact guide portions that can be contacted on the front surface and the back surface, and a deformation support portion that is provided on the beam portion and elastically deforms when it comes into contact with the side surface of the substrate. It is connected via the deformation support portion.
(3) In the aspect of (1) or (2) above, the beam portion may have a pair of flat plate shapes.
(4) In any one of the above (1) to (3), the beam portion may have an opening.
(5) In any one of the above (1) to (4), the deformation support portion may have a flat plate shape.
(6) In any one of the above (1) to (5), the deformation support portion may be thinner than the thickness of the contact guide portion.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a substrate storage container that can be stably held even if the thickness of the substrate is different.

It is a perspective view which shows the substrate storage container of the embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is a front view which shows the substrate storage container of the embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is a side view which shows the substrate storage container of the embodiment which concerns on this invention. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 1C showing a substrate storage container according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view from the substrate side which shows the holding member. It is a perspective view from the lid side which shows the holding member. It is a top view which shows the holding member. It is an enlarged front view which shows the state which pressed and supported the substrate by the holding member. It is an enlarged side view which shows the state which pressed and supported the substrate by the holding member. It is a schematic diagram which shows the load deformation simulation result of a holding member.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the embodiments of the present specification, the same members are designated by the same reference numerals throughout.

1A and 1B show a substrate storage container 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1A is a perspective view, FIG. 1B is a front view, FIG. 1C is a side view, and FIG. 1D is FIG. 1C. It is sectional drawing which cut at the line AA.
As shown in FIG. 1, the substrate storage container 1 can store the substrate storage cassette 30, and includes a lower box 10 and a lid 20.

The lower box 10 is a substantially cubic container body having a front surface 111, a rear surface 112, a left side surface 113, a right side surface 114, and a bottom surface 115, and is a bottomed square tubular box having an open upper surface as an opening. It is formed in a shape. An annular gasket 40 is detachably fitted around the front surface 111, the rear surface 112, and the upper portions of the left and right side surfaces 113, 114, that is, around the upper surface opening (see FIG. 1D).

On the other hand, the lid 20 is an upper box that covers the opening of the lower box 10, and is a substantially cube having a front surface 211, a rear surface 212, a left side surface 213, a right side surface 214, and a top surface 215. , The lower part is formed in the shape of a box with a bottomed square tube that is open as an opening.

The lid 20 has a locking portion and a positioning protrusion (not shown) formed on the inner surface of the top surface 215, respectively. The locking portion locks the pressing member 50, which will be described later, to prevent the pressing member 50 from falling off, and the positioning projection prevents the pressing member 50 from being displaced.

Further, the substrate storage container 1 has a fitting claw as a locking means for locking and fixing the lower box 10 and the lid 20 so that the lid 20 does not open when the lid 20 is not intended for transportation or storage. It has a portion 12 and a hook portion 22. In the present embodiment, the fitting claws 12 are provided at two positions on the left and right side surfaces 113 and 114 of the lower box 10, and the hook portions 22 are provided on the left and right side surfaces 213 and 214 of the lid 20.

The fitting claw portion 12 is integrally molded with the lower box 10 in a state where the end portion on the bottom surface 115 side is most protruding, but is integrally formed of a different material having better wear resistance than the lower box 10. Alternatively, it may be formed as a separate member and integrated by heat welding.

On the other hand, the hook portion 22 is a substantially rectangular plate body and has fitting holes 22a at two positions. Although the hook portion 22 is also integrally molded with the lid 20, it may be integrally formed of a different material having better wear resistance than the lid 20, or it is formed as a separate member and integrated by heat welding. You may. The fitting hole 22a of the hook portion 22 may be formed in a rectangular shape or a circular shape.

The lid 20 is locked and fixed to the lower box 10 by fitting the fitting claw portion 12 and the fitting hole 22a of the hook portion 22 to each other.

Here, the lower box 10 and the lid 20 described above are injection-molded using, for example, polycarbonate, cycloolefin polymer, polypropylene, polyetherimide, polyether sulfone, polyether ether ketone, liquid crystal polymer or the like as molding materials. If necessary, an antistatic agent, a conductive additive, an ultraviolet absorber, an antioxidant, or the like may be added to the molding material.

Subsequently, the substrate storage cassette 30 accommodates a plurality of substrates W, has an opening at the upper side, and is formed as a U-shaped case in a cross-sectional view. The substrate storage cassette 30 is injection-molded using, for example, polypropylene, polycarbonate, or the like as a molding material.

As shown in FIG. 1D, the substrate storage cassette 30 has a plurality of supports 31 formed in a comb-teeth shape at a predetermined pitch from the left and right inner wall surfaces to the bottom thereof, and is formed between the plurality of supports 31. The substrate W is configured to be able to be stored in each groove in a vertically aligned state.

Here, the substrate W to be housed is, for example, a wafer for semiconductors having a diameter of 200 mm (8 inches) or 300 mm (12 inches) made of silicon, quartz, gallium / arsenide, or other materials, and has various thicknesses. have. A notch or an orientation flat may be formed on the peripheral edge of the substrate W.

The gasket 40 enhances the sealing property when the lower box 10 is covered with the lid 20. The material of the gasket 40 includes a thermoplastic elastomer composed of a polyester-based elastomer, a polyolefin-based elastomer, a fluorine-based elastomer, a urethane-based elastomer, and an elastic material such as fluorine rubber, ethylene propylene rubber, and silicone-based rubber. Can be used.

Next, the holding member 50 of the present embodiment will be described.
2A and 2B show a holding member 50, FIG. 2A is a perspective view from the substrate W side, FIG. 2B is a perspective view from the lid body 20 side, and FIG. 2C is a plan view. FIG. 3 shows a state in which the substrate W is pressed and supported by the pressing member 50, FIG. 3A is an enlarged front view, and FIG. 3B is an enlarged side view. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the load deformation simulation result of the holding member 50. In FIGS. 3A and 3B, the support 31 of the lower substrate storage cassette 30 is not shown.

As shown in FIGS. 2A to 2C, the holding member 50 supports the substrate W by sandwiching it in the vertical direction together with the support 31 of the substrate storage cassette 30 when the lower box 10 is closed by the lid 20. It has a rectangular frame body 51 that can be attached to the body 20.

The frame 51 has a front side 511 and a rear side 512 facing the front surface 211 and the rear surface 212 of the lid 20, a left side 513 and a right side 514 connecting between the front side 511 and the rear side 512, and the front side 511 and the front side 511. It has a frame shape composed of two intermediate sides 515 and 516 connecting the vicinity of the middle of the rear side 512, and is formed symmetrically. The front side 511, the rear side 512, the left side 513, and the right side 514 of the frame body 51 of the present embodiment have an L-shaped cross section, but may have other shapes.

Further, the frame body 51 includes locking claws 57 at four locations, the left side 513 and the right side 514. The locking claw 57 is locked to a locking portion (not shown) formed on the lid 20 to make the pressing member 50 detachable.

Further, the frame 51 includes a beam portion 52 extending from the left side 513 and the left intermediate side 515 and connecting so as to cross between them. The beam portion 52 is also formed between the right side 514 and the right intermediate side 516. Therefore, for example, when accommodating 25 substrates W, the beam portions 52 are formed at predetermined pitches in the left 25 rows and the right 25 rows. Since the beam portion 52 is also symmetrical between the left column and the right column, the following description will be given for one beam portion 52.

As shown in FIG. 3A, the beam portion 52 has a U-shape (or a quartic function curve shape) when viewed from the front, and is formed as a pair of flat plate shapes (flat bar shapes).

Further, the beam portions 52 are connected to each other via a deformation support portion 54 described later. Further, the beam portions 52 are connected to each other via the reinforcing portion 56 in the vicinity of the left side 513 and the intermediate side 515.

Since the pair of flat plates are connected to each other in the beam portion 52 in this way, openings 55 are formed on both the left and right sides of the deformation support portion 54. The opening 55 allows the beam portion 52 to be elastically deformed (bent) as a whole.

Further, the beam portion 52 includes a pair of contact guide portions 53 to which the front surface and the back surface of the substrate W can come into contact with each other. As shown in FIG. 3B, the pair of contact guide portions 53 are chamfered on the substrate W side together with the beam portion 52, and the deformation support portion 54 is connected to the innermost side. The thickness of the contact guide portion 53 is equal to or slightly thicker than that of the beam portion 52.

As described above, the pair of contact guide portions 53, together with the deformation support portion 54, form an inverted Y-shaped groove when viewed from the left and right directions, and are between the pair of beam portions 52 (hereinafter, “slots””. The board W inserted into the slot is guided to the deformation support portion 54 on the back side of the slot. Then, in the U-shaped beam portion 52, the pair of contact guide portions 53 and the deformation support portion 54 are located at the most protruding positions on the substrate W side.

On the other hand, the deformation support portion 54 is formed in, for example, a flat plate shape so that it can be elastically deformed by being in contact with the side surface (end face) of the substrate W and being pressed. The thickness of the flat plate-shaped deformation support portion 54 is formed to be thinner than the thickness of the contact guide portion 53, so that the plate-shaped deformation support portion 54 is easily deformed. The deformation support portion 54 may be formed by connecting a pair of beam portions 52 with a plurality of (for example, two) flat plates (flat bars) to form a flat plate shape.

The holding member 50 having these configurations includes polycarbonate, cycloolefin polymer, polypropylene, polybutylene terephthalate, polyetherimide, polyethersulphon, polyetheretherketone, liquid crystal polymer, alloy material of the exemplified material, thermoplastic elastomer, and the like. It is molded as a molding material.

Finally, a state in which the substrate W is sandwiched and supported by the holding member 50 of the lid 20 and the support 31 of the substrate storage cassette 30 will be described.

When the lower box 10 is started to be closed by the lid 20, the holding member 50 mounted on the lid 20 deforms and supports the substrate W by the contact guide 53 of the beam 52 as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B. The deformation support portion 54 comes into contact with the side surface of the substrate W from above by guiding the guide to the 54.

Further, when the lid 20 is pushed toward the lower box 10, the deformation support portion 54 of the pressing member 50 is pressed by the reaction force from the substrate W and is deformed as shown by an arrow. When the deformation support portion 54 is deformed and displaced upward, the pair of contact guide portions 53 connected via the deformation support portion 54 are displaced from each other in the front-back direction (thickness direction) of the substrate W as shown by arrows. I can guess. Further, it can be inferred that the pair of beam portions 52 in the vicinity of the deformation support portion 54 are displaced so that the opening 55 is widened.

Therefore, when the lower box 10 containing the board storage cassette 30 containing the board W is closed by the lid 20, the beam portion 52, the contact guide portion 53, and the deformation support portion 54 of the holding member 50 are deformed by a load ( The state of displacement) was simulated by finite element analysis.
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the load deformation simulation result of the holding member 50.

As a result of the simulation, as shown in FIG. 4, it was confirmed that the pair of contact guide portions 53 were displaced in the front and back directions of the substrate W so as to approach each other. It was also confirmed that the pair of beam portions 52 were displaced so that the opening 55 was widened.

As described above, in the substrate storage container 1, when the lower box 10 is closed by the lid 20, the deformation support portion 54 of the pressing member 50 is elastically deformed by the pressing of the substrate W, so that the pair of contact guide portions 53 is the substrate. It is also possible to displace the substrate W in the front and back directions to sandwich and support the substrate W.

As described above, the substrate storage container 1 of the embodiment according to the present invention has a substrate storage cassette 30 capable of accommodating a plurality of substrates W, a lower box 10 accommodating the substrate storage cassette 30, and an opening of the lower box 10. It includes a lid 20 that is closed and a holding member 50 that is provided on the lid 20 and supports the substrate W. The holding member 50 includes a frame 51 that can be attached to the lid 20 and a frame. A pair of contact guide portions 53 provided on the beam portion 52 extending from 51 and having contact with the front surface and the back surface of the substrate W, and a pair of contact guide portions 53 provided on the beam portion 52 and in contact with the side surface of the substrate W. It has a deformation support portion 54 that is elastically deformed, and the pair of contact guide portions 53 are connected via the deformation support portion 54.

As a result, when the lower box 10 is closed by the lid 20, the deformation support portion 54 is elastically deformed by the pressing of the substrate W, so that the pair of contact guide portions 53 are displaced toward the substrate W side (front and back directions of the substrate W). Then, the substrate W can be sandwiched. Therefore, even if the thickness of the substrate W is different, it can be stably held.

The beam portion 52 of the embodiment has a pair of flat plate shapes and has an opening 55. As a result, the entire beam portion 52 can be elastically deformed, and the amount of displacement can be increased.

The deformation support portion 54 of the embodiment has a flat plate shape and is thinner than the thickness of the contact guide portion 53. As a result, the deformation support portion 54 is easily deformed, and the pair of contact guide portions 53 can be displaced in the front and back directions of the substrate W.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications and variations are made within the scope of the gist of the present invention described in the claims. It can be changed.

(Modification example)
In the above embodiment, the substrate storage container 1 is a so-called top open box type that accommodates the substrate storage cassette 30 that stores the substrate W in a vertical state, but is a front open box type that directly stores the substrate W in a horizontal state. May be. In this case, the substrate storage container 1 is provided on the container body 10 capable of storing a plurality of substrates W, the lid body 20 capable of opening and closing the opening provided on one surface of the container body 10, and the substrate 20. It is provided with a holding member 50 that supports W. At this time, the pressing member 50 holds the substrate W between the support members provided on the back side or the back surface of the left and right side surfaces of the container body 10. The front open box type container body 10 corresponds to a top open box type container body 10 rotated by tilting the front side 111 downward so that the opening on the upper surface comes to the front side. The top surface, bottom surface, left side surface, right side surface, and back surface of the open box type container body 10 are on the rear surface 112, front surface 111, left side surface 113, right side surface 114, and bottom surface 115 of the top open box type container body 10, respectively. It will correspond.

1 Board storage container 10 Lower box (container body), 111 front, 112 rear, 113 left side, 114 right side, 115 bottom, 12 fitting claw 20 lid, 211 front, 212 rear, 213 left, 214 right Surface, 215 Top surface, 22 Hook part, 22a Fitting hole 30 Board storage cassette, 31 Support 40 Gasket 50 Holding member 51 Frame body, 511 Front side, 512 Rear side, 513 Left side, 514 Right side, 515 Middle side, 516 Intermediate side 52 Beam part 53 Contact guide part 54 Deformation support part 55 Opening part 56 Reinforcing part 57 Locking claw W board

Claims (6)

A board storage cassette that can store multiple boards,
The lower box that houses the board storage cassette and
A lid that closes the opening of the lower box and
A substrate storage container provided on the lid and including a holding member for supporting the substrate.
The holding member is
A frame body that can be attached to the lid body and
The beam portion extending from the frame body and
A pair of contact guide portions provided on the beam portion and capable of contacting the front surface and the back surface of the substrate.
It has a deformation support portion that is provided on the beam portion and elastically deforms when it comes into contact with the side surface of the substrate.
The pair of contact guide portions are connected via the deformation support portion.
A board storage container characterized by this. A container body that can store multiple boards and
A lid that closes the opening of the container body and
A substrate storage container provided on the lid and including a holding member for supporting the substrate.
The holding member is
A frame body that can be attached to the lid body and
The beam portion extending from the frame body and
A pair of contact guide portions provided on the beam portion and capable of contacting the front surface and the back surface of the substrate.
It has a deformation support portion that is provided on the beam portion and elastically deforms when it comes into contact with the side surface of the substrate.
The pair of contact guide portions are connected via the deformation support portion.
A board storage container characterized by this. The beam portion has a pair of flat plate shapes.
The substrate storage container according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the substrate storage container is characterized by the above. The beam portion has an opening.
The substrate storage container according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the substrate storage container is characterized by the above. The deformation support portion has a flat plate shape.
The substrate storage container according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the substrate storage container is characterized by the above. The deformation support portion is thinner than the thickness of the contact guide portion.
The substrate storage container according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the substrate storage container is characterized by the above.

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