JP4334123B2 - Precision substrate storage container - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a precision substrate storage container for storing a precision substrate made of a semiconductor wafer, a glass substrate, or the like, and more particularly to a restricting tool for restricting a precision substrate from protruding from an opening surface.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, a precision substrate W made of a semiconductor wafer is formed in a large diameter in order to improve productivity, and is handled by an automatic transfer machine by a precision substrate storage container.
This type of precision substrate storage container includes a front open box type container main body that stores a plurality of precision substrates W, a bottom plate that is attached to the bottom surface of the container main body, and a detachable that closes the front of the container main body. And a lid. As shown partially in FIGS. 10 and 11, the container body is formed with shelf-like support portions 4 for arranging and storing a plurality of precision substrates W side by side on both side walls. Further, a front retainer that holds the front peripheral edge of the plurality of precision substrates W is mounted on the back surface of the lid, and this front retainer functions to hold each precision substrate W during transportation and ensure safety.
[0003]
By the way, in order to take out the precision substrate W from the container main body, when removing the lid from the front of the container main body and opening the front of the container main body to move the container main body within the process, the precision substrate W is placed on the front of the container main body opened. Because there is no front retainer etc. that holds the substrate, the precision substrate W in the container body is displaced to the front side due to the vibration of the equipment or the impact at the time of movement, the precision substrate W jumps out from the front and is damaged, or the substrate When the transport robot unloads the precision substrate W again, the precision substrate W that has been misaligned may interfere with the hand of the substrate transport robot, and the precision substrate W may be damaged.
In order to solve such a problem, conventionally, there has been proposed a method in which a stopper is integrally formed on the front side of the support portion 4 and the stopper prevents the precision substrate W from protruding.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the method of forming a stopper on the front side of the support portion 4, when the container body has a front open box structure, the stopper serves as a resistance to release from the molded mold, that is, an undercut. Therefore, it is practically difficult to form a stopper on the support portion 4 of the container body.
In order to solve the above problem, a movable assembly core, a placement core, or the like may be used for the mold, or the mold may be divided into a special structure to form a stopper. However, with this, the cost related to the mold becomes very high, and the cost cannot be reduced at all.
[0005]
In addition, if a stopper is formed on the support portion 4 of the container main body, when the container main body is cleaned by the cleaning device, the stopper may interfere with the circulation of the cleaning liquid, and the support portion 4 may not be sufficiently cleaned. As a result, water droplets accumulate around the stopper, resulting in a hindrance to drying and a delay in drying time.
[0006]
The present invention has been made in view of the above, and can reduce mold-related costs, efficiently circulate the fluid necessary for cleaning the container body, etc., and shorten the work time of drying work and the like. An object of the present invention is to provide a precision substrate storage container that can be realized.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In the first aspect of the invention, in order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a substantially shelf-like support portion for storing the precision substrate is provided on each of the inner side walls of the container body, and the container body is provided with the support from the opening surface. It is equipped with a regulator that regulates the jumping out of the precision board,
A support plate detachably attached to the opening surface side of at least one inner side wall of the container body; an elastic arm extending from the support plate in a direction opposite to the opening surface of the container body; It is characterized by comprising a contact piece provided at the free end of the elastic arm and facing the peripheral edge of the precision substrate.
[0008]
A concave portion is provided on at least one of the opening side of the inner side wall of the container body and the support plate, and a convex portion is provided on the other, and the concave portion and the convex portion can be fitted together.
Further, the back surface of the contact piece of the elastic arm can be a backlash restricting portion that protrudes from the bottom surface of each of the supporting portions facing each other.
[0009]
Here, the container body in the claims may be a front open box type, may be transparent, or not. The precision substrate includes at least one or more semiconductor wafers or glass substrates. Moreover, a support part may be integrally provided in the internal both side wall of a container main body, and may be provided as a different body. The support plate of the restricting tool can be attached to the opening surface side of at least one inner side wall of the container body. Therefore, it is also possible to attach each to the opening surface side of the inner side walls of the container body. Further, the support plate, the elastic arm, and the contact piece may be made of the same material or not. Further, the elastic arm and the abutting piece can be the same thickness or different thicknesses. Furthermore, it is also possible to use a joining technique such as regular ridges and ridges to fit the recesses and protrusions.
[0010]
According to the first aspect of the present invention, when a single or a plurality of precision substrates supported by the support portion of the container body are about to jump out of the opening surface of the container body, the precision substrate is placed on the contact piece of the restricting tool. , And the protrusion and displacement of the precision substrate are regulated. At this time, since the flexible elastic arm extending from the support plate of the restricting tool receives the precision substrate while mitigating the impact at the time of contact, damage to the precision substrate is effectively avoided.
In addition, since the restricting tool is not integral with the support portion and is removable, the restricting tool can be freely attached to or removed from the container body as necessary.
[0011]
According to the invention described in claim 2, at least one of the opening side of the inner side wall of the container body and the support plate are provided with a recess, and the other is provided with a protrusion, and these are fitted together. Since the support plates are detachably joined together, simplification of the configuration can be expected, and the restricting tool can be set on the container body relatively easily.
[0012]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, the precision substrate storage container according to the present embodiment includes a plurality of sheets (for example, 13, 25, 26 sheets). ) A precision substrate (for example, a 300 mm silicon wafer) W, a bottom plate 6 mounted on the bottom surface of the container body 1, and the front of the container body 1 through an endless seal gasket 13. And a pair of restricting tools 20 for restricting the precision substrate W from projecting outward from the front surface of the container body 1 on the front side of the inner side walls of the container body 1. Are detachably mounted.
[0013]
As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the container body 1 is formed into a transparent front open box type using various synthetic resins such as polycarbonate and polybutylene terephthalate resin having sufficient strength and rigidity. The bottom surface of the container body 1 is formed with V-grooves 9 that function as positioning means for the processing apparatus on both sides of the front part and the center of the rear part, and a plate-like bottom plate 6 is fitted into the plurality of V-grooves 9. Retained. In addition to this, the bottom plate 6 is provided with holding portions having an L-shape or the like at a plurality of locations on the peripheral end portion, and a holding groove into which the holding portion is fitted is provided at the bottom portion of the container body 1. It can also be fixed by using a screw part and a screw member.
[0014]
As shown in the figure, the front surface of the container body 1 is formed in a widened shape with a step, and a plurality of locking holes (not shown) are formed in the inner peripheral surface so as to be recessed at a predetermined interval. From the left and right side portions of the front, etc., the clamped portions 2 respectively protrude in the left and right lateral directions. Further, a rear retainer 3 that holds the rear peripheral edge of the plurality of precision substrates W is mounted on the inner back surface of the container body 1, and the rear retainer 3 functions to hold each precision substrate W during transportation to ensure safety. .
[0015]
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, shelf-like support portions 4 are respectively formed on the opposite inner side walls of the container body 1, and the support grooves of the support portions 4 allow a plurality of precision substrates W to be arranged at a predetermined pitch. And aligns and stores them vertically and supports each precision substrate W horizontally. As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 5, the fitted portions 5 protrude horizontally in the front direction from the upper and lower portions of the inner side walls of the container body 1, and each fitted portion 5 is a convex portion. Function as. The fitted portion 5 can be formed into an I-shaped or L-shaped protruding rib in addition to an elongated protruding rib, or can be formed in a recessed portion. In order to adjust the fitting force on the surfaces of these fitted portions 5, locking projections or recesses having a hemispherical shape, a triangular shape, or the like can be formed as necessary.
[0016]
As shown in FIG. 1, the bottom plate 6 is basically formed in a substantially Y-shaped plane using various synthetic resins such as polycarbonate and polybutylene terephthalate resin. The bottom plate 6 is formed with guide portions 7 that fit around the V groove 9 on both sides of the front portion and the center of the rear portion, which are divided into left and right portions, and a through-hole 8 for fixing a processing device is formed in the center portion. Perforated.
[0017]
The lid 10 includes a back plate 11 and a front plate 12 that are opposed to each other. A seal gasket 13 for sealing and closing is fitted around the lid 10, and flexible clamp plates 14 are respectively provided on the left and right sides. The notch 15 of each clamp plate 14 and its flexible partition piece 16 are fitted to the clamped portion 2 of the container body 1 and the like so that the lid 10 is firmly fitted. Hold. A front retainer 17 that holds the front peripheral edge of a plurality of precision substrates W is mounted on the back plate 11, and the front retainer 17 holds the precision substrate W during transport together with the rear retainer 3 that holds the rear peripheral edge of the precision substrate W. To ensure safety.
[0018]
The lid 10 is provided with a back plate 11 and a surface plate 12 that face each other and can be operated from the outside on the front side in a hollow portion between the substantially rectangular back plate 11 and the surface plate 12. A pair of latch mechanisms are built in, and when the lid body 10 is fitted to the container main body 1, the pair of latch mechanisms project and engage locking claws that can be projected and retracted in the respective locking holes, so that the airtightness of the substrate storage container It is also possible to ensure the state.
[0019]
Each restricting tool 20 is molded using a highly elastic material such as a thermoplastic resin such as polycarbonate, polybutylene terephthalate or polyether ether ketone, a polyolefin-based or polyester-based thermoplastic elastomer, or synthetic rubber. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, the restricting tool 20 has a substantially U-shaped cross-section that is detachably fitted and held in the fitted portion 5 in each inner side wall of the container body 1 and extends parallel to the side wall. A substantially elastic support plate 21 and an inner surface of the substantially columnar support plate 21 are integrally formed in a substantially comb-like shape and slightly bent / curved in the back direction of the container body 1 (the direction opposite to the opening surface). A plurality of elastic arms 22 extending while being substantially integrally formed at the distal end portion of each elastic arm 22, that is, the free end portion, and a substantially rectangular abutting piece 23 that is close to and opposed to the vicinity of the side edge of the precision substrate W. It consists of and.
[0020]
The width dimension and thickness of each elastic arm 22 are appropriately set between 1 and 5 mm, preferably between 2 and 3.5 mm in consideration of the rigidity of the raw material. Each contact piece 23 has a height from the upper surface of the support portion 4 defined by the SEMI standard from 0.7 mm so as not to hinder the transfer of the precision substrate W by the self-mounting machine composed of the substrate transport robot. Is set to a low height and faces the precision substrate W at an appropriate interval of about 0.2 to 0.3 mm.
[0021]
In the above configuration, when the lid body 10 is removed from the front surface of the container body 1 and opened, and the container body 1 is moved within the process or transferred to another substrate processing apparatus, a pair of restrictions are placed on the front side of the container body 1. The tool 20 exists as a stopper, and the contact piece 23 of each elastic arm 22 contacts the precision substrate W to effectively and effectively prevent the protrusion (see FIG. 3). The precision substrate W in the container body 1 is not displaced to the front side due to the impact, and the precision substrate W does not jump out from the front side and be damaged. Further, when the substrate transfer robot unloads the precision substrate W again, there is no possibility of the precision substrate W being displaced and the hand of the substrate transfer robot interfering with each other to damage the precision substrate W.
[0022]
According to the above configuration, since the restriction tool 20 that is a stopper is not integrally formed on the front side of the support portion 4, the restriction tool 20 does not become an undercut that cannot be released. Therefore, there is no need to use movable assembly cores or placement cores in the mold, or to divide the mold into complicated structures to form a special structure, thereby reducing mold-related costs. , A significant cost reduction can be achieved. Moreover, since the restricting tool 20 can be set to or removed from the container body 1 as necessary, when the container body 1 is washed by the cleaning device, the cleaning liquid can be circulated by removing the restricting tool 20 from the container body 1. The support part 4 can be sufficiently cleaned without causing an obstacle. Therefore, the remaining water droplets can be remarkably suppressed, and the efficiency of the processing operation can be greatly expected through shortening the drying time.
[0023]
Further, the removed restricting tool 20 can be cleaned separately from the container body 1. Further, the restricting tool 20 can be used as an optional part, and can be easily replaced even if it is damaged. Furthermore, since the support plate 21 has a simple concave shape having a substantially U-shaped cross section and a U-shape, in other words, a fitting groove, the restricting tool 20 is easily set in the fitted portion 5 of the container body 1. In addition, manufacturing can be facilitated. Furthermore, a locking projection or a locking recess can be provided on the inner periphery of the fitting groove as required.
[0024]
Next, FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 show a second embodiment of the present invention. In this case, a part of each contact piece 23 is extended in the back direction of the container body 1 to form the precision substrate W. The peripheral edge of the side portion and the vicinity thereof are partially overlapped via a gap so that the lower surface of each contact piece 23 serves as a backlash restricting portion 30 facing the surface direction of the adjacent lower precision substrate W.
Each rattle regulating portion 30 is formed so as to protrude from the lower surface of the support portion 4 by 0.1 to 3 mm, preferably 1 to 2 mm. The amount of protrusion below the backlash regulating portion 30 is set to a height that does not interfere with the tip arm of the substrate take-out robot. Other parts are the same as those in the above embodiment, and thus the description thereof is omitted.
[0025]
Next, FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 show a third embodiment of the present invention. In this case, a part of each contact piece 23 is extended in the back direction of the container body 1 so that the precision substrate W The lower precision substrate W adjacent to the side edge and the vicinity thereof is partially overlapped with a gap between the contact pieces 23, and the rattling regulating portion 30, which is a ratchet regulating projection having a substantially hemispherical cross section and a substantially hemispherical cross section. It is made to protrude in the surface direction.
Each backlash restricting portion 30 is shaped so as to protrude from the lower end surface of the support portion 4 by 0.5 to 3 mm, preferably 1 to 2 mm. Other parts are the same as those in the above embodiment, and thus the description thereof is omitted.
[0026]
According to this embodiment, even when the container main body 1 is placed vertically, it is possible to extremely effectively prevent the precision substrates W from coming into contact with each other and being damaged. If this point is explained in detail, when handling the precision substrate W by the self-loading machine, it is convenient to take out the horizontal precision substrate W from the horizontally placed container body 1, but in the case of inspection of the precision substrate W, etc. The vertical precision substrate W may be taken out from the vertically placed container body 1. In this way, when the precision substrate W is placed vertically with the front surface of the container body 1 facing upward, the lower portion of the precision substrate W is positioned in the support groove of the rear retainer 3. Since there is no front retainer 17 or the like that restricts movement, a plurality of precision substrates W are rattled between the support portions 4, and in a severe case, the plurality of precision substrates W may come into contact with each other and may be damaged. .
[0027]
According to the present embodiment, even when the container body 1 is placed vertically, the backlash of the plurality of precision substrates W in the support groove of the support portion 4 is reduced by the backlash control portions 30 coming into contact with each other. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the plurality of precision substrates W from being in contact with each other by being inclined and damaged very effectively.
[0028]
In addition, in the said embodiment, although the support plate 21 which is a recessed part was fitted to the to-be-fitted part 5 which is a convex part of the container main body 1, it is not limited to this at all. For example, a plurality of concave portions can be provided on the front side of the side wall of the container body 1, and a plurality of convex portions can be provided on the support plate 21. The position, number, shape, and the like of these concave portions and convex portions can be appropriately increased or decreased. It is also possible to mold the support plate 21 using a high-rigidity thermoplastic resin and mold the elastic arm 22 and the contact piece 23 with an elastic thermoplastic elastomer. Further, the lid 10 may be formed of a single plate instead of the back plate 11 and the front plate 12.
[0029]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, since there is no need to take measures for undercutting, there is an effect that costs related to the mold can be reduced. Further, since the restricting tool can be removed from the container main body, for example, a liquid such as a cleaning liquid can be circulated and distributed in the container main body, so that it is possible to shorten the working time of the drying work or the like.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view showing an embodiment of a precision substrate storage container according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a perspective explanatory view showing a container body in an embodiment of a precision substrate storage container according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a main part showing an embodiment of a precision substrate storage container according to the present invention.
4 is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV in FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional explanatory view taken along line VV in FIG. 3;
FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a principal part showing a second embodiment of a precision substrate storage container according to the present invention.
7 is a cross-sectional explanatory view taken along the line VII-VII in FIG. 6;
FIG. 8 is an explanatory cross-sectional view of a relevant part showing a third embodiment of a precision substrate storage container according to the present invention.
FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional explanatory view showing a vertically placed container body in a third embodiment of a precision substrate storage container according to the present invention.
FIG. 10 is a partial perspective explanatory view showing a support portion and a precision substrate of a conventional precision substrate storage container.
FIG. 11 is a partial cross-sectional explanatory view showing a support portion and a precision substrate of a conventional precision substrate storage container.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Container Body 3 Rear Retainer 4 Support Part 5 Part to be Fitted (Convex Part)
10 Lid 17 Front Retainer 20 Restrictor 21 Support Plate (Recess)
22 elastic arm 23 contact piece 30 rattle control part W precision substrate

Claims (3)

A precision substrate storage container in which a substantially shelf-like support portion for storing a precision substrate is provided on both side walls of the container body, and a regulation tool for restricting the protrusion of the precision substrate from the opening surface is mounted in the container body. Because
A support plate detachably attached to the opening surface side of at least one inner side wall of the container body; an elastic arm extending from the support plate in a direction opposite to the opening surface of the container body; A precision substrate storage container comprising a contact piece provided at a free end of an elastic arm and facing a peripheral edge of the precision substrate. 2. The recess according to claim 1, wherein a concave portion is provided on at least one of the opening side of the inner side wall of the container body and the support plate, and a convex portion is provided on the other, and the concave portion and the convex portion are fitted to each other. Precision substrate storage container. The precision substrate storage container according to claim 1 or 2, wherein each of the lower surfaces of the contact pieces of the elastic arm is a backlash restricting portion that protrudes from the lower surface of each of the supporting portions facing each other.

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