JP6376383B2 - Substrate storage container - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a substrate storage container that stores a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer or mask glass and is used for storage and transportation of the substrate, and more particularly to a substrate storage container that can replace a gas inside the substrate storage container.

  A substrate storage container for storing a semiconductor wafer, mask glass, etc. is composed of a container body having an opening and a lid for sealing the opening, and a plurality of substrates are formed on a support member formed on the opposing inner wall of the container body. Storing. The substrate storage container is hermetically sealed and is used for storing and transporting the substrate. Conventionally, in such a substrate storage container, a gas introduction port and an exhaust port are provided in the container body so that the substrate is not oxidized or contaminated by the gas inside the container, and the inside of the container is nitrogen, inert gas, Replacement with a replacement gas such as dry air is performed.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a substrate storage container in which a gas introduction valve and a gas exhaust valve are provided on the bottom surface of a container to introduce a replacement gas into the container and exhaust the inside of the container. Further, in Patent Document 2, a columnar nozzle member having a replacement gas blowing hole is attached to the inside of the container, and the replacement gas is blown from the columnar nozzle member to both surfaces of the accommodated substrate, whereby the flow of airflow in the container is increased. A smooth substrate storage container is disclosed.

  However, in the conventional substrate storage container, since the interior of the container is partitioned into fine spaces by the stored substrate, it takes a long time to completely replace the gas inside the container. In addition, there is a problem that the surface of the substrate is oxidized or contaminated by the gas remaining without being replaced by the gas starch portion.

  A structure in which a columnar nozzle member is provided in a container and a replacement gas is allowed to flow from the nozzle member between substrates as in Patent Document 2 facilitates the flow of airflow in the container, but increases the number of parts of the substrate storage container. In addition, it is necessary to dispose the nozzle member in consideration of the interference with the substrate, and the structure of the container main body becomes complicated and it is difficult to reduce the size.

Patent No. 4201583 Japanese Patent No. 3960787

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a substrate storage container that can efficiently and uniformly replace the gas in the container, has a simple structure, and can be downsized.

In order to solve the above problems, a substrate storage container of the present invention includes a container main body having an opening, a lid that closes the opening, a pair of support members that are provided on the inner wall of the container main body and support the substrate, A substrate storage container comprising a gas introduction on / off valve and a gas exhaust on / off valve, wherein the support member is hollow inside and connected to the gas introduction on / off valve, and A foam member that constitutes at least a part of the outer surface portion of the support member, and the gas injected from the gas introduction opening / closing valve passes through the ventilation portion of the support member and the foam member to form the substrate. The gas inside the storage container is replaced.
Further, the support member is provided with a connection port connected to the opening / closing valve for introducing gas at a lower portion.
Furthermore, the whole support member is formed of the foam member.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the board | substrate storage container which can replace the gas in a container efficiently and uniformly, has a simple structure, and can be reduced in size can be provided.

It is a perspective view of the substrate storage container concerning the embodiment of the present invention. It is a bottom view of the substrate storage container concerning the embodiment of the present invention. 3 is a front view of a support member of Example 1. FIG. 3 is a top view of the support member of Example 1. FIG. It is II sectional drawing of the supporting member shown by FIG. 6 is a front view of a support member of Example 2. FIG. 6 is a top view of a support member of Example 2. FIG.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a substrate storage container according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a view showing the arrangement of on-off valves provided on the bottom surface of the container body.

  A substrate storage container 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 1 is a container having an opening 4 on the front surface of a container body 2 and storing a plurality of substrates in a horizontal and vertical direction. It comprises a lid 11 that closes the opening 4. The container body 2 is provided with a pair of support members 3 on the inner walls facing each other, and the support member 3 has a support portion for holding a peripheral portion of a substrate (not shown in FIG. 1) horizontally in a vertical direction. It is formed at regular intervals. A pressing member 12 that presses and holds the edge of the substrate is attached to the inner surface of the lid 11.

A robotic handle 7 is detachably mounted on the ceiling of the container body 2, and the handle 7 is held by an automatic ceiling transport machine, and the substrate storage container is transported within and between processes. Furthermore, the container body 2 can be provided with a positioning member for positioning the substrate storage container on the substrate processing apparatus, a grip for gripping, and the like.
A ring-shaped sealing member that seals between the container body 2 and the container body 2 is attached to the peripheral wall of the lid body 11. The container body 2 and the lid body 11 are fitted and closed by a locking mechanism, thereby opening the opening 4. Is sealed.

  A plurality of through holes 6 are formed on the bottom surface of the container body 2, and an on / off valve 5 is provided in each through hole (only one on / off valve 5 is shown in FIG. 1). As shown in FIG. 2, a gas introduction opening / closing valve 5 a is provided in the through hole 6 on the back side of the container body, and a gas exhaust opening / closing valve 5 b is provided in the opening side through hole 6. The gas inside the substrate storage container can be replaced by injecting a replacement gas from the open / close valve 5a and exhausting the internal gas from the gas exhaust open / close valve 5b. After the replacement is completed, the gas introduction and gas exhaust on / off valves are closed, and the stored substrate is stored in a replacement gas atmosphere. On-off valves for gas introduction and gas exhaust can be provided with dust removal filters, various chemical filters (activated carbon, anions, cations) and the like.

  The container body 2 and the lid body 11 can be formed from a synthetic resin such as polycarbonate, polyether ether ketone, polyether imide, polybutylene terephthalate, polyacetal, liquid crystal polymer, or cycloolefin polymer. In addition, conductivity can be imparted to these resins by adding carbon powder, carbon fibers, carbon nanotubes, or the like.

  3 to 5 show the structure of the support member 3 in Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a front view of one of the pair of support members 3 provided on the opposing inner side walls of the container body as viewed from the inside of the container. In FIG. 3, the left side is the opening 4 of the container body 2. FIG. 4 is a view of a pair of support members 3 arranged facing each other as viewed from above, and FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II of the support member 3 shown in FIG.

  The support member 3 includes a base portion 3a, and a plurality of opening side support portions 3b and a back side support portion 3c protruding from the base portion 3a to the inside of the container. The opening side support part 3b and the back side support part 3c are provided at regular intervals in the vertical direction of the base part 3a, and the substrate is placed on the opening side support part 3b and the back side support part 3c and supported horizontally.

  In Example 1, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a portion along the direction in which the back side support portion 3 c of the base portion 3 a is disposed is formed by the foamed member 8. The surface 8a of the foamed member is exposed on the surface of the base portion 3a and becomes a part of the outer surface portion of the base portion 3a. Inside the base portion 3a, a hollow ventilation portion 9 is formed as shown in FIG. The ventilation part 9 is connected to the opening / closing valve 5a for gas introduction through a connection port 10 provided on the lower side of the support member 3. The inside of the foam member 8 that is in contact with the ventilation portion is a reamed mesh-like space, and gas can flow from the ventilation portion 9 through the foam member 8 into the substrate storage container. Note that the foam member may be formed so as to be continuously bubbled at the time of molding, or may be used after being subjected to perforation treatment, pressing treatment, heat treatment or the like so that the foamed portion communicates after molding.

The foamed member 8 in the present invention is a porous member in which a mesh-like space serving as a gas flow path is formed inside, and can be produced by foaming a thermoplastic resin, for example. As the thermoplastic resin, polyurethane, polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, polycarbonate, ethylene α-olefin copolymer, ethylene-cyclic olefin copolymer, and the like can be used.
The support member 3 provided with the foam member 8 can be manufactured by insert molding in which the foam member 8 that has been foam-molded in advance is placed in a mold and the support member 3 is molded.
The support member 3 can be detachably attached to the container main body 2 by a locking structure, but can also be integrated with the container main body 2 by insert molding or the like.

  Next, replacement of gas inside the substrate storage container of the present invention will be described. For gas replacement, a gas inlet connected to a supply source of an inert replacement gas such as dry clean air or nitrogen is connected to a gas introduction opening / closing valve 5a provided in the container body 2, and the replacement gas is stored in the substrate. It is performed by supplying the inside of the container. The replacement gas injected from the gas introduction opening / closing valve 5a flows from the hollow ventilation portion 9 through the inside of the foaming member 8, reaches the surface 8a of the foaming member, and is discharged into the container.

  In the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the replacement gas is released from the surface 8a of the foam member above and below the back support portion 3c, and the replacement gas is placed between the substrates placed in alignment on the support portion. It spreads in the direction of the opening 4 while filling. On the other hand, the gas inside the container is exhausted from the opening / closing valve 5b for gas exhaust provided on the opening 4 side of the container main body 2 to perform replacement. When the gas inside the container is replaced, the on-off valves 5a and 5b are closed.

In the substrate storage container of Example 1, the replacement gas released from the surface 8a of the foaming member diffuses from both the upper and lower surfaces of the stored substrate, and therefore, the stagnation occurs in every corner of the container finely divided by a large number of substrates. The flow can be replaced efficiently.
In addition, since it is not necessary to separately arrange a nozzle member or the like in the container, the substrate storage container can be reduced in size.

  Furthermore, if an inert gas is always supplied from the gas introducing on-off valve 5a and the exhaust inside the container is continued from the gas exhausting on-off valve 5b, the surface 8a of the foaming member adjacent to the upper and lower sides of the back support portion 3c is used. Inert gas can be continuously sprayed onto the surface of the substrate stored in the container. The surface 8a of the foam member from which the inert gas blows out is close to the substrate surface and is sprayed onto the substrate without degrading the purity of the inert gas, so that it is possible to prevent substrate contamination due to volatile gas generated during storage. .

6 and 7 show a support member 3 in Embodiment 2 of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 6, the second embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that the surface 8a of the foam member that forms the outer surface of the support member 3 is also provided on the opening side of the base 3a. In Example 2, since the replacement gas is released from the surface 8a of the foaming member adjacent to the opening side support portion 3b and the back side support portion 3c to the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate, the gas replacement is performed in a shorter time.
Furthermore, as a third embodiment, the entire support member may be formed of a foam material, and the replacement gas may be released from the entire support member. In Example 3, since the replacement gas is released from the entire surface of the support member, a large amount of replacement gas can be supplied, and the replacement efficiency is improved. Further, since the support member is formed only of the foam material, it is not necessary to insert-mold the foam member with the support member, and the manufacturing process of the support member can be simplified.

As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated based on embodiment, this invention is not limited to embodiment, A various change is possible in the range which does not deviate from the summary.
For example, although the opening side support portion 3b and the back side support portion 3c are provided in the support member 3 in the embodiment, an intermediate support portion is provided according to the shape and weight of the substrate, or an integrated support portion is used. The shape can be changed. Moreover, although the example which foam-molds a thermoplastic resin as a material of a foaming member was shown, if the porous body can be formed, the material of a foaming member and a manufacturing method will not be specifically limited.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Board | substrate storage container 2 Container main body 3 Support member 3a Base 3b Opening side support part 3c Back side support part 5a Opening / closing valve for gas introduction 5b Opening / closing valve for gas exhaust 8 Foaming member 8a Surface of foaming member
9 Ventilation part 10 Connection port 11 Cover

Claims (3)

A container body having an opening; a lid for closing the opening; a pair of support members provided on an inner wall of the container body to support a substrate; a gas introduction on-off valve; and a gas exhaust on-off valve. A substrate storage container comprising:
Each of the pair of support members includes a ventilation portion that is hollow inside and connected to the on-off valve for gas introduction, and a foam member that forms at least a part of an outer surface portion of the support member,
The substrate storage container, wherein the gas injected from the gas introduction opening / closing valve is replaced with the gas inside the substrate storage container through the ventilation portion and the foaming member of the support member.   The substrate storage container according to claim 1, wherein the support member includes a connection port connected to the gas introduction opening / closing valve at a lower portion.   The substrate storage container according to claim 1, wherein the entire support member is formed of the foam member.

Images