JP5459787B2 - Substrate storage container - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a substrate storage container for storing precision substrates such as semiconductor wafers, glass wafers, mask glasses, etc., and used for transportation, transportation, storage, and the like, and more particularly to improving the strength of the substrate storage container.

A substrate storage container that accommodates a large-diameter substrate such as a 300 mm wafer and is used for transportation shifts to a front open box type (see Patent Document 1), and includes a container body and a lid, and the container body A plurality of support members having a shelf shape are provided at predetermined intervals in the height direction, and a stopper for regulating the position of the back side of the substrate is provided on the back side of the shelf support member. A wall surface is formed.
The lid that closes the opening of the container body is provided with a front retainer that includes an elastic piece that individually holds the front peripheral edge of each substrate. The substrate is pushed to a predetermined position on the back side by the front retainer and needs to be firmly held so as not to be displaced and rotated even if there is a vibration or impact during transportation.

  In the conventional substrate storage container, an attempt has been made to appropriately control the holding force for holding the substrate depending on the size, shape, or material of the front retainer. In general, increasing the holding force makes it possible to hold the substrate stably, but if you try to suppress the rotation of the substrate under extreme conditions such as dropping or vibration, It must be able to be held with great force. However, it has been confirmed that when a larger force is applied in this way, the container body is deformed by the pushing force of the substrate by the front retainer. In particular, the central portion far from the ridge line portions such as the upper side and the lower side locked by the locking mechanism is swollen outward by receiving the reaction force of the front retainer.

In this way, if the container body is deformed, increasing the holding force of the front retainer will also increase the deformation amount of the container body, making adjustment difficult and ensuring that all substrates are not uneven. Maintaining it properly has been difficult in practice.
Conventionally, the holding force due to the slot at the center has been reduced to about 1/5 compared to the holding force at both ends when no rib is provided on the container body. For this reason, it is necessary to individually adjust the holding force of each slot, which requires a lot of labor and time. However, the suitability of “adjustment” cannot be finally evaluated unless the results are seen, and it is not always stable. It was hard to say that “adjustment” was always possible.
In this way, under extreme conditions, it is difficult to avoid that the substrate is not properly held at the center, so contamination of particles or the like is caused by rotation of the substrate, or it is damaged by movement due to swelling. The current situation is that there is still a fear of it.

JP 2005-353898 A

  In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a substrate storage container that can appropriately hold a substrate disposed in a central portion even under extreme conditions such as dropping or vibration.

A substrate storage container according to the present invention includes a container main body having an opening for storing a substrate, and a lid having a front retainer for closing the opening of the container main body and holding the substrate on a surface facing the container main body. A pair of opposing support members for horizontally supporting the substrate at regular intervals are provided inside the left and right side walls of the container body, and the insertion limit of the substrate is regulated on the back side of the support member. And a reinforcing rib is formed on the outer side wall of the position restricting portion.
The reinforcing ribs are preferably lattice-shaped ribs protruding outward from the side walls, elongated ribs protruding outward from the top to the bottom of the side walls, and ribs formed in a honeycomb shape on the side walls.
The reinforcing rib may be provided inside the container body. Further, when the support member is formed and attached as a separate member from the container main body, a reinforcing rib can be provided outside the support member.

  According to the present invention, the container body or the support member can be reinforced so as not to be deformed by the holding force of the substrate of the front retainer. As a result, the holding force of the substrate at each storage position can be set within an appropriate range, or easily adjusted within the appropriate range, so that the substrate can be used even under severe conditions during transportation such as vibration and impact. Rotation and damage can be prevented. Thus, since the rotation of the substrate can be reduced, the generation of particles due to the friction between the substrate and the substrate storage container can be prevented.

It is a disassembled perspective view which shows the external appearance of the board | substrate storage container which this invention makes object. It is horizontal direction sectional drawing of the board | substrate storage container which this invention makes object. It is a simple perspective view of the container main body showing the rib for reinforcement provided in the exterior of the side wall of 1st embodiment of this invention. It is a side view of the container main body showing the rib for reinforcement provided in the side wall exterior of 1st embodiment of this invention. It is a simple perspective view of the container main body showing the rib for reinforcement provided in the side wall exterior of 2nd embodiment of this invention. It is a top view showing the container main body provided with the rib for reinforcement provided in the side wall exterior of 2nd embodiment of this invention. It is a simple perspective view showing the reinforcement rib of the container main body provided with the rib for reinforcement provided in the side wall exterior of 3rd embodiment of this invention. It is a top view showing the container main body provided with the rib for reinforcement provided in the side wall exterior of 3rd embodiment of this invention. It is a disassembled perspective view showing the container main body provided with the rib for reinforcement provided in the side wall exterior of 4th embodiment of this invention. It is a virtual sectional view showing a fourth embodiment container present body provided with a reinforcing rib provided on the side wall outside of the present invention. It is the elements on larger scale showing the repeating unit of the reinforcement rib provided in the side wall exterior of the container main body of 4th embodiment of this invention. It is a virtual sectional view showing the supporting member of the container main body of the fifth embodiment of the present invention, and the reinforcing rib provided inside the side wall. It is a graph showing the relationship between the intensity | strength of the container main body of this embodiment, and the average rotation amount of a board | substrate.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing an appearance of a substrate storage container that stores a 300 mm wafer, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the substrate storage container in a state in which the wafer is stored, cut in parallel to a horizontal plane. .
1 and 2, such a substrate storage container includes a container body 1 having an opening for storing a substrate on the front surface, and a lid 2 that closes the opening of the container body 1. A pair of support members 3 that support the substrate W in a horizontal state and arranged at regular intervals are provided on the inner wall. Reinforcing ribs 5 can be formed on the outer wall of these side walls corresponding to the back surface of the position restricting portion 4 on the back side of the support member 3.

Further, a robotic flange 6 for transportation is attached to the top surface of the container body 1 and is used for transportation. On the inner peripheral surface of the opening, an engagement recess 7 for locking the lid body is provided. Is formed.
The lid 2 has a pair of locking mechanisms 8 built therein. The locking mechanism 8 includes a rotating member 9 that can be operated from the outside, a connecting bar 10 that interlocks with the cam groove of the rotating member 9, and a locking member 11 that is pivotally supported by the tip of the connecting bar 10 and the lid 2. This locking member 11 protrudes and retracts from a through hole (not shown) on the side surface of the lid, and is engaged with the engaging recess 7 of the container body 1.
The lid 2 is provided with a front retainer 12 including an elastic piece that individually contacts and holds the front peripheral portion of each substrate.
Further, a sealing gasket 13 is provided on the side wall of the lid body 2 to form a seal with the container body 1.

  FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a state in which the substrate storage container is cut in parallel to the horizontal plane. The substrate W mounted on the pair of support members 3 is placed on the container main body 1 by the front retainer 12 provided on the back surface of the lid 2. It shows a state of being pressed and held on the back side. At this time, since the position of the substrate W is regulated on the back side of the inner wall, reinforcing ribs 5 are formed on the outer wall so as to be located on the back side of the position regulating unit 4.

FIG. 3 shows a simplified perspective view of the container body 1 on which the reinforcing rib 5 of the first embodiment of the present invention is formed, and FIG. 4 shows a side view thereof.
In this case, it is shown as an example (grid-like rib 5a) in which a plurality of lattice-like ribs are formed on the outer wall portion located on the back surface of the position regulating portion 4 of the substrate of the container body 1.
In this case, a portion close to the ridge line portion with the top surface or the bottom surface can be a rib having a short width direction, and the other portion can be a rib having a uniform width.

5 and 6 show a simplified perspective view and a plan view showing the container main body 14 provided with the reinforcing ribs according to the second embodiment of the present invention.
In this case, a single rib (rod-shaped rib 5b) projecting in the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped is provided as a reinforcing rib 5 on the outer wall portion 15 located on the back surface of the position restricting portion 4 of the substrate of the container main body 14. It is formed continuously from the top surface to the bottom surface.
7 and 8 show a simplified perspective view and a plan view showing a container body 14 provided with reinforcing ribs according to a third embodiment of the present invention.
In this case, three ribs (5b) projecting in the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped are arranged on the outer wall portion 18 located on the back surface of the position restricting portion 17 of the substrate of the container main body 16 in parallel at regular intervals. It is continuously formed from the top surface to the bottom surface (5c).

9 to 11 show a perspective view of a container main body 19 of a substrate storage container for storing a 450 mm wafer, and a substrate storage container in a state of storing the wafer parallel to a horizontal plane, which represents a fourth embodiment of the present invention. It is the simplified sectional view of the state where it cut, and the enlarged drawing of reinforcing rib 20 (honeycomb shape rib 5d).
Also in this case, the substrate storage container includes a container main body 19 having an opening for storing the substrate on the front surface, and a lid body 21 for closing the opening of the container main body 19. 22 includes a pair of support members 23 that support the substrate in a horizontal state and aligned at a constant interval.

A plurality of reinforcing ribs 20 (honeycomb-shaped ribs 5d) formed in a honeycomb shape having a regular hexagonal shape when viewed from the front are formed in the position regulating portion 24 on the back side of the support member 23 on the outer wall of these side walls. Yes. In the present example, the position restricting portion 24 is depicted as being capable of being square instead of inclined.
Also in this embodiment, the strength of the container main body is remarkably improved as in the above-described embodiment, so that the wafer can be securely held and rotation of the wafer can be suppressed even when there is vibration or impact.
In addition, 25 is an engagement recessed part, 26 is the locking mechanism which has the rotating member 27 and the connection bar 28 as a component at the cover body 21 side, 29 is a front retainer, 30 is a gasket.

As a modification of the fifth embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 12, a support member 31 may be formed as a separate member and attached to the container body 32 via a bridge 33.
In this case, the supporting portion can be supported by forming a reinforcing rib on the back side (outside) of the position restricting portion of the supporting portion or by forming a reinforcing rib on the inside of the container body. In addition, reinforcing ribs may be provided on the support portion, and reinforcing ribs may also be provided on the container body.
Thus, since a deformation | transformation of a support part or a container main body can be prevented, the effect similar to the said embodiment is acquired.

The container main bodies of the first embodiment to the third embodiment were taken as Examples 1 to 3, and the strength and the rotation amount of the substrate were confirmed and summarized in FIG. In addition, in order to make a comparative study under the same conditions, the front retainer was evaluated using a holding force that was not adjusted so that the holding force was in an optimum numerical range for each substrate support position.
[Strength measurement]
Confirmation of strength of container body Load when aluminum dummy wafer is housed in container body with opening facing upwards, and 2cm is pushed in from the upper end of dummy wafer by tensile / compression tester (product name: Tensilon, manufactured by Orientec Corp.) The strength of the side wall of the container body was confirmed in the 13th slot of the support part.
For comparison, a container body without any reinforcing ribs was used as a comparative example.

[Vibration test]
Next, 25 silicon wafers were stored in these embodiments, a vibration test was performed, and the presence or absence of rotation of the stored silicon wafer was confirmed. The vibration conditions were a frequency band of 5 to 200 to 5 Hz sweep, 5 cycles at an acceleration of 1G and a cycle of 10.6 min, and the presence or absence of wafer rotation was confirmed.
These results are summarized in Table 1 and FIG.

According to FIG. 13, when the strength (about 141 N (14.38 kgf)) in the case where the reinforcing rib located on the back surface of the position restricting portion of the substrate of the container body as a comparative example is not provided is 1, When the grid rib is provided, it is 1.2 times (about 170 N (17.35 kfg)), and when one vertical rib is provided, it is 2.1 times (about 282 N (28.79 kgf)), and the vertical rib is 3 times. In this case, it can be confirmed that it is 3.1 times (about 429 N (43.78 kgf)).
From these results, if the strength of the thirteenth slot having the weakest strength is about 167 N (17 kgf) or more, the rotation of the substrate in the vibration test can be made 17 mm or less. A strength of about 265 N (27 kgf) or more is preferable because the rotation of the substrate can be made 15 mm or less. Further, if the strength is about 392 N (40 kgf) or more, it is particularly preferable because the rotation of the substrate can be 5 mm or less.

[Confirmation of variation in substrate holding force]
In Examples 1 to 3, for confirming variation in strength of the container main body at each of the first and the 25th slots, which are the lower end and the upper end of the support member, and the thirteenth slot which is the middle step. Measurements were made as before and the results are summarized in Table 2.

  From the above results and vibration test results, if the strength ratio P1 / P2 between the average strength P1 of the 1st and 25th slots and the strength P2 of the 13th slot in the center is within 2.3 times, the substrate is rotated. If the ratio of P1 / P2 is 1.5 times or less, it is more preferable because the rotation of the substrate can be 12 mm or less. It is particularly preferable that P1 / P2 is 1 or less because the rotation of the substrate can be within 3 mm.

1: Container body 2: Lid 3: Support member 4: Position restricting portion 5: Reinforcing rib 5a: Lattice rib 5b: Rod rib 5c: Plural rod rib 5d: Honeycomb rib 6: Robotic flange 7: Engagement Joint recess 8: Locking mechanism 9: Rotating member 10: Connection bar 11: Locking member 12: Front retainer 13: Gasket

14: Container body 15: Outer wall

16: Container body 17: Position restricting portion 18: Outer wall portion

19: Container body 20: Reinforcing rib 21: Lid 22: Inner side wall 23: Support member 24: Position restricting portion 25: Engaging recess 26: Locking mechanism 27: Rotating member 28: Connecting bar 29: Front retainer 30: Gasket

31: Support member 32: Container body 33: Bridge

W: Substrate

Claims (1)

A substrate storage container having a container body that has an opening and stores a substrate, and a lid body that closes the opening of the container body and has a front retainer that holds the substrate on a surface facing the container body. A pair of opposing support members that horizontally support the substrate at regular intervals are provided on the inner side of the side wall, and a position restricting portion that restricts the insertion limit of the substrate is provided on the back side of the support member, A substrate storage container, wherein reinforcing ribs are continuously formed on the left and right wall portions of the container main body from the bottom surface to the top surface of the container main body so as to be positioned on the back side of the position restricting portion.

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