JP6540221B2 - Purge device and purge stocker - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a purge device and a purge stocker.

  Conventionally, in a clean room where high cleanliness is required, a purge device for supplying a purge gas such as an inert gas to the inside of a container for containing a semiconductor wafer or the like is used. As such a purge device, the purge nozzle for supplying a purge gas is moved to contact the inlet of the container while the position and height of the container in the horizontal plane are defined and supported by the plurality of positioning pins. There is known one including a drive unit (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP, 2011-187539, A

  However, in the purge apparatus as described above, the structure may be complicated because the purge nozzle for supplying the purge gas is moved to be in contact with the inlet of the container.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a purge device and a purge stocker which can realize container positioning and support and reliable supply of purge gas with a simple configuration.

  The purge device of the present invention is provided on a base portion on which the container is placed, a first concave portion which is fitted to a first concave portion provided on the bottom surface of the container to position the container, and supports the container. And a purge nozzle for supplying a purge gas to the inside of the container through the inlet and supporting the container, wherein the first convex portion corresponds to the center of the region corresponding to the bottom surface. The purge nozzle protrudes upward from the base portion on one side with respect to the first line passing through and the purge nozzle projects upward from the base portion on the other side of the first line in the region.

  In this purge device, the first convex portion protrudes upward from the base portion on one side with respect to the first line, and the purge nozzle protrudes upward from the base portion on the other side with respect to the first line. While the first convex portion is fitted in the first concave portion of the container and the container is positioned, the purge nozzle contacts the inlet of the container by its own weight, and the container is supported by the first convex portion and the purge nozzle. Therefore, according to this purge device, the positioning and support of the container and the reliable supply of the purge gas can be realized with a simple configuration.

  The purge device according to the present invention further includes a second convex portion which is fitted to a second concave portion provided on the bottom surface to position the container and support the container, and the second convex portion is a first line of the region. On the other side of the purge nozzle and on the opposite side of the first protrusion with respect to the second line passing through the center and orthogonal to the first line, the base may project upward. Thereby, positioning and support of a container can be realized more certainly.

  The purge stocker of the present invention comprises a rack provided with a plurality of the above-mentioned purge devices as storage shelves, and a transfer device for transferring a container to the storage shelves, and the transfer device is provided on the bottom surface At least three transfer projections are provided, which fit into the transfer recesses and position the container.

  In this purge stocker, since at least three transfer convex portions are provided in the transfer device, even if the container is displaced on the storage shelf, the transfer device may be used even if positional deviation occurs in the container. When the container is transferred, the displacement of the container is corrected.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a purge device and a purge stocker which can realize container positioning and support and reliable supply of purge gas with a simple configuration.

It is a perspective view of a purge device of a purge stocker of a 1st embodiment. It is a top view of the purge apparatus of FIG. 1, and a transfer equipment. It is a top view of the purge apparatus of FIG. It is a side view of the purge apparatus of FIG. It is a top view of the modification of the purge device of FIG. It is a top view of a purge device and transfer equipment of a purge stocker of a 2nd embodiment. FIG. 7 is a plan view of a modification of the purge device and the transfer device of FIG. 6; FIG. 7 is a plan view of a modification of the purge device and the transfer device of FIG. 6;

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, the same or corresponding parts are denoted by the same reference numerals and redundant description will be omitted.
First Embodiment

  As shown in FIG. 1, the purge stocker 1 includes racks 2 in which a plurality of purge devices 10A are provided as storage racks 2a. The containers 20 are transferred to each storage rack 2a by the transfer device 6 (see FIG. 2). The purge stocker 1 is installed, for example, in a clean room. The container 20 is, for example, a front opening unified pod (FOUP) that accommodates a semiconductor wafer or a glass substrate, or a reticle pod that accommodates a reticle.

  The purge device 10A includes a base portion 11 on which the container 20 is placed. The base portion 11 is a plate-like member, and includes a base portion 11 a and a pair of support portions 11 b and 11 c. The base 11 a is fixed to the support 3 of the rack 2. The pair of support portions 11 b and 11 c extend from the base portion 11 a to the front side.

  A first positioning pin (first convex portion) 12 is attached to the base portion 11 a of the base portion 11. A second positioning pin (second convex portion) 13 is attached to the support portion 11 b of the base portion 11. The first positioning pin 12 and the second positioning pin 13 protrude upward from the base portion 11.

  The support portion 11 c of the base portion 11 is provided with a purge nozzle 14 that supplies a purge gas P from the supply pipe 4 to the inside of the container 20. A discharge nozzle 15 for discharging the purge gas P from the inside of the container 20 to the discharge pipe 5 is provided in the support portion 11 b of the base portion 11. The purge nozzle 14 and the discharge nozzle 15 protrude upward from the base portion 11. The purge gas P is, for example, an inert gas or clean dry air. In the storage rack 2 a, the purge gas P is supplied to the inside of the container 20 to maintain the cleanliness of the inside of the container 20.

  As shown in FIG. 2, in the bottom surface 20a of the container 20, a first groove (first recess, transfer recess) 21 having a V-shaped cross section extending radially and a second groove (second recess, transfer A mounting recess) 22 and a third groove (transfer recess) 23 are provided. The upper end portion of the first positioning pin 12 is fitted in the outer region of the first groove 21. The upper end portion of the second positioning pin 13 is fitted in the outer region of the second groove 22. In the purge device 10A, the container 20 is roughly positioned in the horizontal plane by the first positioning pin 12 and the second positioning pin 13, and the container 20 is supported.

  The transfer device 6 accesses the transfer unit 6a to the storage rack 2a from the front side, and raises and lowers the transfer unit 6a between the support portion 11b and the support portion 11c, thereby moving the container 20 to the storage rack 2a. Transfer. Three transfer positioning pins (transfer convex parts) 7 are attached to the transfer part 6a. Each transfer positioning pin 7 protrudes upward from the transfer portion 6a. When the container 20 is transferred by the transfer device 6, each transfer positioning pin 7 is placed in the inner region of the first groove 21, the inner region of the second groove 22, and the inner region of the third groove 23. The upper end of the is fitted. In the transfer device 6, the container 20 is positioned in the horizontal plane by the three transfer positioning pins 7.

  An inlet 24 and an outlet 25 are provided on the bottom surface 20 a of the container 20. The purge nozzle 14 is in contact with the inlet 24 and supplies the purge gas P to the inside of the container 20 via the inlet 24 and supports the container 20. The discharge nozzle 15 contacts the discharge port 25, discharges the purge gas P from the inside of the container 20 via the discharge port 25, and supports the container 20.

  As shown in FIG. 3, focusing on the region R corresponding to the bottom surface 20 a of the container 20 placed on the base portion 11 in the purge device 10 A, the first positioning pin 12 is the region R of the region R. It projects upward from the base portion 11 on one side with respect to the first line L1 passing through the center C. The purge nozzle 14 protrudes upward from the base portion 11 on the other side of the first line L1 in the region R. The second positioning pin 13 is located on the opposite side of the purge nozzle 14 with respect to the first line L1 in the region R, and passes through the center C and the first positioning pin 12 for the second line L2 orthogonal to the first line L1. It projects upward from the base portion 11 on the opposite side of. The center C corresponds to the center of gravity of the region R corresponding to the bottom surface 20 a when viewed in the vertical direction (vertical direction).

  As described above, in the purge device 10A, the first positioning pin 12 protrudes upward from the base portion 11 on one side with respect to the first line L1 passing the center C of the region R, and the purge nozzle 14 is The first line L1 protrudes upward from the base 11 on the other side. Furthermore, the second positioning pin 13 passes the center C of the region R on the opposite side of the purge nozzle 14 with respect to the first line L1, and the first positioning pin 12 with respect to the second line L2 orthogonal to the first line L1. It projects upward from the base portion 11 on the opposite side of. Thereby, as shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the first positioning pin 12 and the second positioning pin 13 are respectively fitted in the outer region of the first groove 21 and the outer region of the second groove 22 of the container 20. While the position 20 is positioned, the purge nozzle 14 contacts the inlet 24 of the container 20 by its own weight, and the container 20 is supported by the first positioning pin 12, the second positioning pin 13 and the purge nozzle 14. Therefore, according to the purge device 10A, positioning and support of the container 20 and reliable supply of the purge gas P can be realized with a simple configuration.

  In addition, even if it is the same side as the purge nozzle 14 with respect to the first line L1, the container 20 is roughly positioned in the horizontal plane as long as it does not inhibit the contact of the purge nozzle 14 with the inlet 24 of the container 20. You may provide the pin etc. which carry out. Also, in order to make the contact of the inlet of the container 20 with the purge nozzle 14 more reliable, the heights of the first positioning pin 12 and the second positioning pin 13 or those corresponding to these positioning pins are increased compared to the purge nozzle 14 May be

  It is preferable that a material having high durability (specifically, a material that is hard and hard to be crushed and hard to be permanently deformed or deteriorated) is used for the contact portion in the purge nozzle 14 that contacts the injection port 24. Furthermore, it is preferable that the material is a material that does not easily adhere to the inlet 24 and that the amount of outgas generation is small. From such a viewpoint, even if a hard material (for example, stainless steel, aluminum, PEEK resin, fluorine rubber, fluorine resin, urethane rubber, urethane resin, polyethylene, polyethylene etc.) is used for the contact portion of the purge nozzle 14, According to this, the purge nozzle 14 can be reliably brought into contact with the inlet 24, and the purge gas P can be reliably supplied.

  The contact between the discharge port 25 of the container 20 and the discharge nozzle 15 does not require as high adhesion as the contact between the inlet 24 of the container 20 and the purge nozzle 14, so the height of the discharge nozzle 15 is the second groove The height is such that the contact of the second positioning pin 13 with the inner surface of 22 is not impeded. Moreover, the discharge nozzle 15 is not necessarily required.

  Further, in the purge stocker 1 including the purge device 10 A, the transfer device 6 is provided with three transfer positioning pins 7, and the three transfer positioning pins 7 are provided inside the first groove 21 of the container 20. The container 20 is positioned by being fitted into the region, the inner region of the second groove 22 and the inner region of the third groove 23 respectively. Therefore, even if positional deviation occurs in the container 20 when the container 20 is placed on the storage rack 2a, when the container 20 is transferred by the transfer device 6, the positional deviation of the container 20 is corrected. Ru.

As shown in FIG. 5, the first positioning pin 12 and the second positioning pin 13 may be attached to the support portions 11b and 11c, respectively, and two purge nozzles 14 may be provided on the base 11a. Also in such a purge device 10A, the first positioning pin 12 protrudes upward from the base portion 11 on one side with respect to the first line L1 passing through the center C of the region R, and the two purge nozzles 14 are The first line L1 protrudes upward from the base 11 on the other side. Furthermore, the second positioning pin 13 is positioned on the opposite side of the two purge nozzles 14 with respect to the first line L1, and the first positioning with respect to the second line L2 passing through the center C of the region R and orthogonal to the first line L1. On the opposite side of the pin 12, it projects upward from the base portion 11. Thereby, the first positioning pin 12 and the second positioning pin 13 are respectively fitted in the outer region of the first groove 21 and the outer region of the second groove 22 of the container 20 and the container 20 is positioned while the container 20 is self-weighted The two purge nozzles 14 respectively contact the two inlets 24 of the container 20, and the container 20 is supported by the first positioning pin 12, the second positioning pin 13 and the two purge nozzles 14.
Second Embodiment

  As shown in FIG. 6, the purge device 10B is mainly different from the above-described purge device 10A in that the base portion 11 has an extension portion 11d extending from the support portion 11b to the support portion 11c side. doing. In the purge device 10B, the first positioning pin 12 is attached to the extending portion 11d, and two purge nozzles 14 are provided in the base 11a.

  The bottom surface 20 a of the container 20 is provided with a conical first recess 26 into which the upper end portion of the first positioning pin 12 is fitted, and two inlets 24 with which two purge nozzles 14 respectively contact. Furthermore, similar to the first groove 21, the second groove 22 and the third groove 23 described above, the upper end portions of the three transfer positioning pins 7 of the transfer device 6 are fitted to the bottom surface 20a of the container 20. A loading groove (transfer recess) 27 is provided. In addition, in the transfer device 6, when the transfer portion 6a moves up and down between the support portion 11b and the support portion 11c, the notch portion 6b is not in contact with the extension portion 11d. It is provided.

  Focusing on the region R corresponding to the bottom surface 20a of the container 20 placed on the base portion 11 in the purge device 10B, the first positioning pin 12 is a first line L1 passing through the center C of the region R in the region R. It projects upward from the base portion 11 on one side with respect to the above. The two purge nozzles 14 project upward from the base portion 11 on the other side of the first line L1 in the region R.

  As described above, in the purge device 10B, the first positioning pins 12 protrude upward from the base portion 11 on one side with respect to the first line L1 passing through the center C of the region R, and two purge nozzles 14 protrudes upward from the base portion 11 on the other side with respect to the first line L1. Thereby, while the first positioning pin 12 is fitted in the first recess 26 of the container 20 and the container 20 is positioned, the two purge nozzles 14 respectively contact the two inlets 24 of the container 20 by the weight of the container 20, The container 20 is supported by the first positioning pin 12 and the two purge nozzles 14. Therefore, according to the purge device 10B, the positioning and support of the container 20 and the reliable supply of the purge gas P can be realized with a simple configuration.

  Further, in the purge stocker 1 including the purge device 10 B, the transfer device 6 is provided with three transfer positioning pins 7, and the three transfer positioning pins 7 are three transfer grooves of the container 20. Each is fitted to 27 and the container 20 is positioned. Therefore, even if positional deviation occurs in the container 20 when the container 20 is placed on the storage rack 2a, when the container 20 is transferred by the transfer device 6, the positional deviation of the container 20 is corrected. Ru.

  In addition, in order to restrict the movement of the container 20 placed on the base portion 11 in the horizontal direction, the base portion 11 has a guide frame 16 along the corner of the container 20 as shown in FIG. There may be provided a guide pin 17 that fits into the guide hole 28 of the container 20, as shown in FIG. The height of the guide pin 17 is a height which does not inhibit the contact of the purge nozzle 14 with the inlet 24 of the container 20, in other words, the height which does not contact the bottom of the container 20.

  As mentioned above, although 1st and 2nd embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to 1st and 2nd embodiment mentioned above.

  For example, in the first embodiment, the first positioning pin 12 is fitted in the outer region of the first groove 21 and the transfer positioning pin 7 is fitted in the inner region of the first groove 21. The 1st recessed part which the 1st fits, and the transfer recessed part which the positioning pin 7 for transfer fits may be provided separately. Similarly, in the first embodiment, the second positioning pin 13 is fitted in the outer region of the second groove 22 and the transfer positioning pin 7 is fitted in the inner region of the second groove 22. However, the second positioning pin The second concave portion in which the second mounting portion 13 is fitted and the transfer concave portion in which the positioning pin for transfer 7 is inserted may be separately provided.

  In the first and second embodiments, the purge devices 10A and 10B are used for the purge stocker, but the purge devices 10A and 10B may be used for a load port, a ceiling suspension buffer, and the like.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Purge stocker, 2 ... Rack, 2a ... Storage shelf, 6 ... Transfer device, 7 ... Transfer positioning pin (convex for transfer) 10A, 10B ... Purge device 11: Base part 12: The 12th 1 Positioning pin (first projection), 13 ... second positioning pin (second projection), 14 ... purge nozzle, 20 ... container, 20a ... bottom surface, 21 ... first groove (first recess, transfer recess) 22, second groove (second recess, transfer recess), 23 third groove (transfer recess), 24 injection port, 26 first recess, 27 transfer groove (for transfer) Recesses), R: area, C: center, L1: first line, L2: second line, P: purge gas.

Claims (3)

A base on which the container is placed;
A first projection fitted in a first recess provided on the bottom of the container to position the container and to support the container;
And supplying a purge gas to the interior of the container via the inlet, the purge nozzle contacting the inlet provided on the bottom surface, and supporting the container.
The first convex portion protrudes upward from the base portion on one side with respect to a first line passing through the center of the region in the region corresponding to the bottom surface,
The purge nozzle protrudes upward from the base portion on the other side of the first line in the area;
In the region, the other inlet provided on the bottom surface is in contact with the one side with respect to the first line, and a purge gas is supplied to the inside of the container through the other inlet. In addition, no other purge nozzle for supporting the container is provided.
Among the regions, on the other side with respect to the first line, another convex portion is provided which fits into the other concave portion provided on the bottom surface to position the container and supports the container. Not a purge device. It further fits in the 2nd crevice provided in the bottom, positions the container, and further has the 2nd convex part which supports the container,
The second convex portion is a portion of the region opposite to the purge nozzle with respect to the first line and passing the center of the first portion and the second line orthogonal to the first line. The purge device according to claim 1, wherein the opposite side protrudes upward from the base portion. A rack in which a plurality of purge devices according to claim 1 or 2 are provided as a storage shelf,
A transfer device for transferring the container to the storage rack;
The purge stocker is provided with at least three transfer convex parts which are fitted to the transfer concave part provided on the bottom surface and position the container in the transfer apparatus.

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