JP4428646B2 - Gas purge method in the container - Google Patents

Description

The invention of the present application relates to a method for purging a gas in a container, and in particular, an oxidizing gas atmosphere in a container that is accommodated and transported in a sealed state such as a semiconductor wafer is simply and efficiently replaced with a non-oxidizing gas atmosphere. The present invention relates to an in-container gas purge method .

FOUP (Front Opening Unified Pod) accommodates a workpiece in a controlled space in order to prevent the workpiece from being contaminated by the external environment when the workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer is transported between processing devices. It is a forward-opening type container used for transporting. The FOUP opener communicates between the environment in the FOUP and the wafer transfer space in the processing apparatus without exposing the object to be processed to the external environment, and transfers the object to be processed by a robot or the like disposed in the processing apparatus. It is a FOUP opening and closing device that plays a role of enabling the above. These FOUPs and FOs
By using the UP opener, the object to be processed is transported between the processing apparatuses and transferred into the processing apparatus, whereby a high product yield is achieved.

By the way, in recent years, semiconductor wafers have been further miniaturized, and film thickness control on the order of angstroms has been demanded. For this reason, if the wafer is housed and transported in the FOUP held in a clean atmosphere with emphasis on particle management as in the prior art, a natural oxide film is formed on the wafer in the FOUP. There is a possibility that the film thickness control of the wafer in the subsequent process may be hindered.

Therefore, in order to avoid the formation of a natural oxide film on the wafer in the FOUP, the FOUP
It has been proposed to replace the inner atmosphere with an non-oxidizing atmosphere filled with an inert gas such as nitrogen gas from an oxidizing atmosphere, and various contrivances have been made for this purpose.

In any of these devices, the FOUP is mounted on the mounting table of the FOUP opener, and the oxidizing gas in the FOUP is inactivated by simply switching the valves on the inert gas supply path and the oxidizing gas discharge path. We propose a simple purge system that can be replaced with active gas.
Full consideration has been given to how efficiently gas can be replaced in the FOUP with a small amount of inert gas and in a short time, taking into account the state of opening and closing of the FOUP door. Not.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 08-203993 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-121602 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-307623

The invention of the present application solves the above-mentioned problems of the conventional gas purge system in a container, and opens / closes the door of the container with respect to the container mounted on the container mounting table of the container opening / closing device. To provide an in-container gas purging method that can efficiently replace an oxidizing gas atmosphere in a container with a non-oxidizing gas atmosphere in a short time with a small amount of inert gas Is an issue.

The above problems can be solved by the following invention described in each claim of the present application.
That is, the invention described in the claim 1, the oxidizing gas atmosphere of the container mounting said container placed on the table of the switchgear of the container to be conveyed accommodates in a closed state of the workpiece A method for purging a gas in a container for replacing with a non-oxidizing gas atmosphere, comprising: a supply path for supplying non-oxidizing gas into the container; a discharge path for discharging oxidizing gas in the container; the supply path; and a bypass passage for connecting the discharge channel in each of the middle, the the container side end of the supply path, the supply air nozzles are provided that will be connected to the air supply purge port provided in the container, the supply on the upstream side of the connecting portion between the a road bypass passage is provided with a first valve, the container side end of the discharge path, Ru is connected to the purge port for air supply and exhaust provided in the container supply An exhaust nozzle is provided, and the exhaust path and the bypass The downstream side of the connection portion of the road, the second valve is provided in the middle portion of the bypass passage, the third valve is provided, opening of the first valve, the third valve By opening the second valve and closing the second valve, non-oxidizing gas is supplied into the container through the supply nozzle and the supply purge port, and the supply / exhaust nozzle and the supply / exhaust purge port are supplied. A first purge pattern for supplying a non-oxidizing gas into the container via the first valve, and opening of the first valve, closing of the third valve, and opening of the second valve. And a second purge pattern for supplying non-oxidizing gas into the container through the air supply purge port and discharging the oxidizing gas in the container through the air supply / exhaust purge port and the air supply / exhaust nozzle. And is made selectable The first purge pattern is selected until the container door is opened, the container door in the opened state begins to close, and the container is closed.After the container is closed, In the container gas purging method , the second purge pattern is selected.

Since the invention described in claim 1 is configured as described above, the supply air purge port provided in the container is non-oxidized simply by placing the container on the container mounting table of the container opening / closing device. connect to air supply nozzle provided at one end of the sexual gas supply passage, also configured to connect the purge port for air supply and exhaust provided in the container supply and exhaust nozzles provided in one end of the oxidizing gas discharging passage It becomes possible to do. Thereby, the operation | work which replaces the oxidizing gas atmosphere in a container with a non-oxidizing gas atmosphere can be performed easily.

In addition, by changing the combination of the opening and closing operations of the first to third valves in various ways, it is possible to select the optimum purge pattern according to the open / closed state of the container and perform gas replacement in the container. less in a non-oxidizing gas amount in a short time, become effectively possible to replace the oxidizing gas atmosphere within the container in a non-oxidizing gas atmosphere.

Also , from the time when the container door is opened, the container door in the opened state begins to close, and until the container is closed, the two purge ports (the supply purge port and the supply / exhaust purge port) When a large amount of non-oxidizing gas is supplied to expel the oxidizing gas quickly and the container is closed, a small amount of non-oxidizing gas is supplied from one purge port (supply purge port) and the remaining one from the purge port (purge port for supply and exhaust) to discharge the oxidizing gas, to make a one-way flow of non-oxidizing gas in the container, eliminating the stagnation zone of the oxidizing gas, quickly unoxidized the vessel It can be satisfied by sex gas, as a whole, with less non-oxidizing gas amount, in a short time, become effectively possible to replace the oxidizing gas atmosphere within the container in a non-oxidizing gas atmosphere .

In particular, until the container door is opened and the container door in the opened state begins to close and until the container is closed, the oxidizing gas is easily expelled from the container. When the first purge pattern is executed and a large amount of non-oxidizing gas is supplied from the two purge ports, the process of expelling the oxidizing gas is quickly performed without wasteful consumption of the non-oxidizing gas. It is.

In the invention described in claim 2, the oxidizing gas atmosphere in the container mounted on the container mounting table of the opening / closing device of the container to be accommodated and transported in a sealed state is provided. A method for purging a gas in a container for replacing with a non-oxidizing gas atmosphere, comprising: a supply path for supplying non-oxidizing gas into the container; a discharge path for discharging oxidizing gas in the container; the supply path; A bypass passage that connects the discharge passage in the middle of each of the supply passages, and a supply nozzle connected to a supply purge port provided in the container is provided at one end of the supply passage on the container side, and the supply A first valve is provided on the upstream side of the connection portion between the passage and the bypass passage, and one end of the discharge passage on the container side is connected to a supply / exhaust purge port provided in the container. An exhaust nozzle is provided, and the exhaust path and the bypass path A second valve is provided on the downstream side of the connecting portion, and a third valve is provided in the middle portion of the bypass path to open the first valve and open the third valve. And by the closing operation of the second valve, the non-oxidizing gas is supplied into the container through the air supply nozzle and the air supply purge port, and through the air supply / exhaust nozzle and the air supply / exhaust purge port. The first purge pattern for supplying the non-oxidizing gas into the container, the opening of the first valve, the closing of the third valve, and the opening operation of the second valve, A second purge pattern for supplying non-oxidizing gas into the container through the air supply purge port and discharging the oxidizing gas in the container through the air supply / exhaust purge port and the air supply / exhaust nozzle; Has been made selectable Until the container door is opened and the container door in the opened state begins to close until the container is closed, the first purge pattern is initially selected and the oxidizing gas remaining in the container When the volume is reduced, the second purge pattern is selected even when the container door is open and opened, and after the container is closed, the second purge pattern is selected. It is the gas purge method in a container characterized by the above-mentioned.

Since the invention described in claim 2 is configured as described above, the oxidizing gas remaining in the FOUP 1 can be quickly discharged, and the invention described in claim 1 exhibits the above-described effect. It is possible to achieve substantially the same effect .

Furthermore, the invention described in claim 3 is the invention described in claim 1 or 2, wherein the supply purge port and the supply port respectively provided near the both ends of the container opening side of the bottom wall of the container. A non-oxidizing gas is supplied from the exhaust purge port toward the inner side of the container .

As a result, the non-oxidizing gas supplied into the container flows in one direction without leaving the inside of the container, and the oxidizing gas remaining there is driven out of the container. The operation of replacing the oxidizing gas atmosphere with the non-oxidizing gas atmosphere can be performed more efficiently.

As described above, according to the in-container gas purging method of the present invention, the air supply purge port provided in the container is simply placed on the container mounting table of the container opening / closing device, and the non-oxidizing gas supply path is provided. It can be configured to be joined to the air supply nozzle provided at one end of the gas supply, and the supply / exhaust purge port provided to the container can be joined to the air supply / exhaust nozzle provided at one end of the oxidizing gas discharge path. Thus, the work of replacing the oxidizing gas atmosphere in the container with a non-oxidizing gas atmosphere can be easily performed.

In addition, by changing the combination of the opening and closing operations of the first to third valves in various ways, the optimum purge pattern can be selected according to the open / closed state of the container, and the gas in the container can be replaced. It is possible to efficiently replace the oxidizing gas atmosphere in the container with the non-oxidizing gas atmosphere in a short time with a small amount of non-oxidizing gas .

In order to replace the oxidizing gas atmosphere in the container mounted on the container mounting table of the opening / closing device of the container that is accommodated and transported in a sealed state with the processing object such as a semiconductor wafer with a non-oxidizing gas atmosphere In this in-vessel gas purging method , a non-oxidizing gas supply path, an oxidizing gas discharge path in the container, and a bypass path connecting the supply path and the discharge path in the middle of each other are provided. An air supply nozzle connected to an air supply purge port provided in the container is provided at one end on the container side of the supply path, and the first side is provided upstream of the connection portion between the supply path and the bypass path. A valve is provided. In addition, at one end of the discharge path on the container side, a purge port for supply / exhaust provided in the container
An air supply / exhaust nozzle to be connected is provided, and a second valve is provided downstream of the connection portion between the discharge passage and the bypass passage. Furthermore, a third valve is provided in the bypass path.

In this way, the combination of the opening and closing operations of the first to third valves can be changed in various ways, and the optimum gas purge pattern can be selected according to the opening and closing state of the container.

In addition, the air supply purge port and the air supply / exhaust purge port are respectively provided near both ends of the container opening side of the container bottom wall, and the non-oxidizing gas is supplied into the container through these purge ports. Is configured to face the inner side of the container.

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described.
Figure 1 is a schematic side view of the container and the container switchgear vessel gas sparge method of this embodiment is applied, FIG 2 is viewed from the vessel and a schematic rear view of the container closing device (left side in FIG. 1 a diagram), figure 3 showing omitted dock plate is a schematic plan view of the container and the container closing device, FIG. 4 is a system configuration view of the container gas purge process.

The in-container gas purging method of the present embodiment will be described below as being applied to these FOUP and FOUP opener when the container is a FOUP and the container opening / closing device is a FOUP opener that opens and closes the FOUP. In this embodiment, the material to be processed that is accommodated and transported in a sealed state in the FOUP is a semiconductor wafer.

1 to 3, a FOUP 1 in which a plurality of semiconductor wafers 2 are stacked in multiple stages in the vertical direction and accommodated in a sealed state is placed on a FOUP mounting table (called a dock plate) 11 of a FOUP opener 10. It is shown that it is installed and connected to the piping system of the FOUP gas purge system 20 which will be described in detail later.

The FOUP opener 10 is disposed in a space opposite to the processing device of the port plate 40 constituting a part of the chamber wall of the processing device, and is integrally attached to the port plate 40. In FIG. 1, the space on the right side of the port plate 40 forms a room A of the processing apparatus, and this room A is filled with nitrogen N ₂ gas, and the room A is maintained in a non-oxidative clean environment. ing.

The FOUP opener 10 has a port door opening / closing device 12 on the room A side of the processing device, and the port door 13 provided in the port door opening / closing device 12 opens and closes an opening 41 formed in the port plate 40. A mechanism for holding a door (not shown) of the FOUP 1 detachably from the FOUP main body is provided inside. When the FOUP 1 moves forward in the direction of the port plate 40 while being placed on the dock plate 11 and the opening side end face is close to the port plate 40, the FOUP door attaching / detaching / holding mechanism of the port door 13 is FOUP. The door is removed from the FOUP body and held, and then the port door opening and closing device 12 is connected to the port door 1.
3 is removed from the opening 41, retracted from the port plate 40, and retracted to a lower region in the room A.

Thus, the opening 41 and the opening of the FOUP 1 are opened, the FOUP door is accommodated in the room A, and preparations for transferring the wafer 2 in the FOUP 1 into the processing apparatus are prepared. When a predetermined process is performed on the wafer 2 in the processing apparatus, the processed wafer 2 is
The data is transferred in the reverse direction and stored in the FOUP 1. Next, the FOUP door is attached to the opening of the FOUP 1 in the reverse order by the operation of the FOUP door attaching / detaching / holding mechanism of the port door opening / closing device 12 and the port door 13, and the FOUP 1 is sealed.

The drive unit of the port door opening / closing device 12 is accommodated in the FOUP opener 10 and is connected to the port door opening / closing device 12 through a vertically long opening (not shown) formed in the port plate 40.
Operate and move it back and forth and up and down.

As described above, since the room A is filled with nitrogen N ₂ gas and the room A is maintained in a non-oxidative clean environment, the FOUP 1 is opened and the internal wafer 2 is placed in the processing apparatus. Prior to the transfer, it is necessary to fill the FOUP 1 with nitrogen N ₂ gas and keep the inside in a clean environment filled with an inert gas (non-oxidizing gas). Further, before the processed wafer 2 is accommodated in the FOUP 1 and the FOUP 1 is sealed, during the standby until the processing of the wafer 2 is completed, water vapor oozes out or particles are generated inside the FOUP 1. However, since they may remain, it is necessary to refill the FOUP 1 with nitrogen N ₂ gas and keep the inside in a non-oxidative clean environment.

In order to meet these needs, the FOUP opener 10 is provided with a piping system of the gas purge system 20 in the FOUP.
As shown in FIG. 4, the piping system includes an inert gas (nitrogen N ₂ gas) supply path 21, an oxidizing gas discharge path 22 in the FOUP 1, and the supply path 21 and the discharge path 22. Are provided in the middle of each of them.

At one end of the supply path 21 on the FOUP 1 side, an air supply purge port 3 provided in the FOUP 1 is provided.
An air supply nozzle 24 that joins (connects) to the air supply nozzle 24 is provided, and a first valve 26 is provided upstream of the connection portion between the supply passage 21 and the bypass passage 23. In addition, a supply / exhaust nozzle 25 that joins (connects) to the supply / exhaust purge port 4 provided in the FOUP 1 is provided at one end of the discharge path 22 on the FOUP 1 side. Also on the downstream side, a second valve 27 is provided. Further, a third valve 28 is provided in the bypass path 23.

In addition, a first filter 29 is provided in the supply passage 21 downstream of the connection portion between the supply passage 21 and the bypass passage 23, and the first filter 29 is provided downstream of the third valve 28 in the bypass passage 23. Two filters 30 are provided. These filters 29 and 30 remove fine suspended matters in the nitrogen N ₂ gas.

The other end of the supply path 21 is connected to a nitrogen N ₂ gas supply source, and the other end of the discharge path 22 is led to a special processing device by an exhaust device, and the exhaust is finally subjected to harmless processing. And discarded outside the factory. The supply source of nitrogen N ₂ gas is the room A of the processing apparatus in this embodiment. The room A has a larger capacity than the gas purge system 20 in the FOUP of this embodiment, and is maintained at a positive pressure in a state filled with nitrogen N ₂ gas. The room A contains nitrogen N ₂ gas. Therefore, a pump is not necessarily required to supply nitrogen N ₂ gas into the FOUP 1, and the nitrogen N ₂ gas inlet 31 of the supply path 21 is located below the port plate 40. It is provided in the site | part which penetrated the wall of the part.

The purge port 3 for supply air and the purge port 4 for supply and exhaust are not shown in detail, but FOU
The bottom wall 5 of P1 (see FIG. 1) is provided at each of the portions near the both ends of the FOUP 1 on the opening side. And check valves are provided inside them, and these check valves are
It is opened by a gas flow above a predetermined pressure, allowing a one-way flow of the gas. The supply / exhaust purge port 4 is provided with a check valve for both supply and exhaust.

Therefore, the nitrogen N ₂ gas led to the supply nozzle 24 through the supply path 21 is now joined to the supply purge port 3 and the supply / exhaust nozzle 25 to the supply / exhaust purge port 4. As a result of the joining, the check valve in the purge port 3 for supplying air is opened, ejected into the FOUP 1 and supplied into the FOUP 1. At the same time, the oxidizing gas remaining in the FOUP 1 is expelled by the nitrogen N ₂ gas, opens the check valve in the purge port 4 for supply / exhaust, passes through the supply / exhaust nozzle 25 and passes through the discharge path 22. , Discharged outside FOUP1 and discarded.

When nitrogen N ₂ gas is ejected from the supply purge port 3 into the FOUP 1, the direction of the ejection is directed to the back side opposite to the opening side of the FOUP 1 (see FIG. 1). Further, as will be described later, the FOUP gas purge system 20 may be used so that nitrogen N ₂ gas is ejected from the supply / exhaust purge port 4 into the FOUP 1. Similarly, it is directed to the back side opposite to the opening side of the FOUP 1. The direction of nitrogen N ₂ gas ejection in the latter case is opposite to the direction of discharge when oxidizing gas is discharged from the FOUP 1 into the supply / exhaust purge port 4.

The FOUP 1 is placed on the FOUP mounting table (dock plate) 11 of the FOUP opener 10 for joining the air supply nozzle 24 and the air supply purge port 3 and joining the air supply / exhaust nozzle 25 and the air supply / exhaust purge port 4. Therefore, it can be configured to be performed automatically. Since the supply path 21 and the discharge path 22 are formed by elastic hoses, FOUP
When 1 is moved closer to or away from the port plate 40 due to the forward / backward movement of the dock plate 11, these two joint portions can be moved forward / backward together with this, which is convenient. .

Next, a usage pattern (FOUP gas purge method) of the FOUP gas purge system 20 of this embodiment will be described.
According to the gas purge system 20 in the FOUP of this embodiment, the following two purge patterns can be selected according to the open / close state of the FOUP 1 and the like.

In the first purge pattern, the opening of the first valve 26, the opening of the third valve 28, and the closing operation of the second valve 27 cause the FOUP 1 to enter the FOUP 1 through the supply nozzle 24 and the supply purge port 3. It supplies the nitrogen _{N 2} gas, even through the supply and exhaust nozzle 25 and the supply and exhaust purge port 4, for supplying nitrogen _{N 2} gas into the FOUP 1.

In the second purge pattern, the first valve 26 is opened, the third valve 28 is closed, and the second valve 27 is opened, so that the FOUP 1 is supplied via the supply nozzle 24 and the supply purge port 3. Nitrogen N ₂ gas is supplied to the inside, and the oxidizing gas in the FOUP 1 is discharged through the supply / exhaust purge port 4 and the supply / exhaust nozzle 25.

Then, the first purge pattern is selected until the door of FOUP1 is opened, the door of FOUP1 in the opened state begins to close, and FOUP1 is closed. After the FOUP1 is closed, The FOUP gas purge system 20 can be used to select two purge patterns to purge the FOUP gas.

According to such a form of use, the two FOUP 1 doors open, the FOUP 1 door in the opened state begins to close, and until the FOUP 1 is closed, the two purge ports (supply purge port 3 When a large amount of nitrogen N ₂ gas is supplied from the supply / exhaust purge port 4), the oxidizing gas is quickly expelled, and when the FOUP 1 is closed, a small amount of nitrogen N is supplied from one purge port (supply purge port 3). ₂ gas is supplied, and the oxidizing gas is discharged from the remaining one purge port (supply / exhaust purge port 4) to create a one-way flow of nitrogen N ₂ gas in the FOUP 1. eliminate stagnation zone, it is possible to satisfy rapidly nitrogen N ₂ gas within the FOUP 1, as a whole, with a small nitrogen N ₂ gas amount, short time, efficiently oxidized in FOUP 1 It is possible to replace the gas atmosphere in a non-oxidizing gas atmosphere.

Particularly, the FOUP 1 door is opened, the door of the opened FOUP 1 begins to close, and until the FOUP 1 is closed, the oxidizing gas is in a state that is easily expelled from the FOUP 1. Since the first purge pattern is executed and a large amount of nitrogen N ₂ gas is supplied from the two purge ports 3 and 4, the process of expelling the oxidizing gas can be performed quickly without wasteful consumption of inert gas. To be done.

Since the FOUP gas purge system (FOUP gas purge method) of the present embodiment is configured as described above, the following effects can be obtained.
An air supply nozzle provided at one end of a nitrogen N ₂ gas supply path 21 is provided with an air supply purge port 3 provided on the FOUP 1 simply by placing the FOUP 1 on the FOUP mounting table (dock plate) 11 of the FOUP opener 10. 24, and the supply / exhaust purge port 4 provided in the FOUP 1 can be joined to the supply / exhaust nozzle 25 provided at one end of the oxidizing gas discharge path 22. The operation of replacing the oxidizing gas atmosphere inside with the non-oxidizing gas atmosphere can be easily performed.

Further, by changing various combinations of opening / closing operations of the first to third valves 26, 27, and 28, an optimum purge pattern corresponding to the opening / closing state of the FOUP 1 is selected, and gas replacement in the FOUP 1 is performed. The oxidizing gas atmosphere in the FOUP 1 can be efficiently replaced with the non-oxidizing gas atmosphere in a short time with a small amount of nitrogen N ₂ gas.

An air supply purge port 3 and an air supply / exhaust purge port 4 are provided near both ends of the bottom wall 5 of the FOUP 1 on the FOUP opening side, and nitrogen N _{2 is} introduced into the FOUP 1 through these purge ports 3 and 4. Since the gas supply direction is directed to the back side of the FOUP 1, the nitrogen N ₂ gas supplied into the FOUP 1 flows in one direction without leaving the FOUP 1 and remains there. Since the oxidizing gas is driven out of the FOUP 1, the work of replacing the oxidizing gas atmosphere in the FOUP 1 with a non-oxidizing gas atmosphere can be performed more efficiently.

Further, the F of the present embodiment is performed using the gas purge system in the FOUP of the present embodiment.
According to the OUP gas purge method, the following effects can be obtained.
After the door of FOUP1 is opened and the door of FOUP1 in the opened state starts to close, a large amount of inert gas is supplied from two purge ports (supply purge port 3 and supply / exhaust purge port 4). The FOUP 1 can be quickly expelled and the FOUP 1 can be quickly filled with the inert gas. As a whole, the oxidizing gas atmosphere in the FOUP 1 can be efficiently produced in a short time with a small amount of inert gas. Can be replaced with a non-oxidizing gas atmosphere.

In particular, when the door of the FOUP 1 is opened and the door of the opened FOUP 1 starts to close, the oxidizing gas is easily expelled from the FOUP 1, and at this point, the two purge ports 3, 4 By supplying a large amount of inert gas, the process of expelling the oxidizing gas can be performed quickly without wasteful consumption of the inert gas.
In addition, various effects as described above can be achieved.

The invention of the present application is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.
For example, the FOUP 1, the FOUP opener 10, and the semiconductor wafer 2 may be a lower opening type SMIF pod, an SMIF pod opener, and a glass substrate. Further, the nitrogen N ₂ gas may be changed to another inert gas.

Further, in the usage mode of the gas purge system 20 in the FOUP, the door of the FOUP 1 is opened, the door of the opened FOUP 1 starts to be closed, and remains in the FOUP 1 even until the FOUP 1 is closed. When the amount of oxidizing gas is small, the FOUP gas purge system 20 can be used to select the second purge pattern and purge the FOUP gas. Even in this case, the oxidizing gas remaining in the FOUP 1 can be quickly discharged.

Furthermore, in some cases nitrogen N ₂ gas into the chamber A of the processing apparatus is not filled, in this case, the source of nitrogen N ₂ gas supplied into the FOUP1 typically nitrogen N ₂ which is deployed as factory equipment It will be obtained from the gas supply piping system.

Is a schematic side view of a container and the container switchgear vessel gas sparging method of the present embodiment is applied. It is a schematic rear view (figure seen from the left side of FIG. 1) of the container and the container opening / closing device, and is a view in which the dock plate is omitted. It is a schematic plan view of the container and the container opening / closing device. It is a system configuration view of the container in the gas purge method.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... FOUP (container), 2 ... Semiconductor wafer, 3 ... Supply purge port, 4 ... Supply / exhaust purge port, 5 ... Bottom wall, 10 ... FOUP opener (container opening / closing device), 11 ... FOUP mounting table (dock) Plate), 12 ... port door opening and closing device, 13 ... port door, 20 ... FOUP
Internal gas purge system, 21 ... supply path, 22 ... discharge path, 23 ... bypass path, 24 ... air supply nozzle, 25 ... air supply / exhaust nozzle, 26 ... first valve, 27 ... second valve, 28 ... third Valve, 29 ... 1st filter, 30 ... 2nd filter, 31 ... Gas inlet, 40 ... Port plate, 41 ... Opening.

Claims (3)

In- container gas purge for replacing the oxidizing gas atmosphere in the container placed on the container mounting table of the opening and closing device of the container to be accommodated and transported in a sealed state with a non-oxidizing gas atmosphere A method ,
A supply path for supplying non-oxidizing gas into the container ;
A discharge path for discharging the oxidizing gas in the container;
A bypass path connecting the supply path and the discharge path in the middle of each;
Wherein the container side end of the supply path, the supply air nozzles are provided that will be connected to the air supply purge port provided in the container,
A first valve is provided on the upstream side of the connection portion between the supply passage and the bypass passage,
Wherein the container side end of the discharge path includes a paper exhaust nozzle is provided that will be connected to the purge port for air supply and exhaust provided in the container,
A second valve is provided on the downstream side of the connection portion between the discharge passage and the bypass passage,
A third valve is provided in the middle of the bypass path ,
By opening the first valve, opening the third valve, and closing the second valve,
Supplies the non-oxidizing gas to the air supply through the nozzles and the air supply for the purge port container, supplies a non-oxidizing gas into the container through the supply and exhaust nozzle and the purge port for the supply and exhaust A first purge pattern;
By opening the first valve, closing the third valve, and opening the second valve,
A non-oxidizing gas is supplied into the container through the air supply nozzle and the air supply purge port, and an oxidizing gas in the container is discharged through the air supply / exhaust purge port and the air supply / exhaust nozzle. 2 purge patterns can be selected,
The first purge pattern is selected until the container door is opened, the container door in the opened state begins to close, and the container is closed.After the container is closed, the first purge pattern is selected. 2. A method for purging a gas in a container, wherein two purge patterns are selected. In-container gas purge for replacing the oxidizing gas atmosphere in the container placed on the container mounting table of the opening and closing device of the container to be accommodated and transported in a sealed state with a non-oxidizing gas atmosphere A method,
A supply path for supplying non-oxidizing gas into the container;
A discharge path for discharging the oxidizing gas in the container;
A bypass path connecting the supply path and the discharge path in the middle of each;
With
At one end of the supply path on the container side, an air supply nozzle connected to an air supply purge port provided in the container is provided,
A first valve is provided on the upstream side of the connection portion between the supply passage and the bypass passage,
A supply / exhaust nozzle connected to a supply / exhaust purge port provided in the container is provided at one end of the discharge path on the container side,
A second valve is provided on the downstream side of the connection portion between the discharge passage and the bypass passage,
A third valve is provided in the middle of the bypass path,
By opening the first valve, opening the third valve, and closing the second valve,
A non-oxidizing gas is supplied into the container through the supply nozzle and the supply purge port, and a non-oxidizing gas is supplied into the container through the supply / exhaust nozzle and the supply / exhaust purge port. A first purge pattern;
By opening the first valve, closing the third valve, and opening the second valve,
A non-oxidizing gas is supplied into the container through the air supply nozzle and the air supply purge port, and an oxidizing gas in the container is discharged through the air supply / exhaust purge port and the air supply / exhaust nozzle. 2 purge patterns and
Is made selectable,
The container door opens, the opened container door begins to close, and the container is closed
Until the first purge pattern is selected and when the amount of oxidizing gas remaining in the container is reduced, the container door is opened and opened. After the second purge pattern is selected and the container is closed, the second purge pattern is selected.
And a gas purging method in the container. A non-oxidizing gas is supplied from the air supply purge port and the air supply / exhaust purge port respectively provided near the both ends of the container opening side of the bottom wall of the container toward the inner side of the container.
The in-container gas purging method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein:

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