JP6652232B2 - Substrate storage container - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a substrate storage container for storing, storing, storing, and transporting a precision substrate such as a semiconductor wafer, which can use an automatic positioning system for various devices in a semiconductor manufacturing process.

  Semiconductor wafers need to prevent contamination by metal ions and the like and adherence of dust and the like throughout the manufacturing process. For storage and transportation, it is necessary to store the semiconductor wafers in a sealable container that maintains cleanliness. . As such a container for accommodating a semiconductor wafer, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a substrate accommodating container having a container body having an opening for aligning and accommodating substrates and a lid capable of sealing the opening. It has been disclosed.

  By the way, in the field of semiconductor manufacturing, for the purpose of improving productivity, various technologies for unmanned and automated various devices in the semiconductor manufacturing process have been developed, and the above-mentioned substrate storage container has also been automated. The substrates are transported between the apparatuses in each process by the transporter, and the substrates are taken out and stored. For this reason, in order to use the substrate storage container in such an automated semiconductor manufacturing process, the substrate storage container must be placed at an appropriate position of various devices arranged in the semiconductor manufacturing process. Therefore, it is common to provide a container positioning portion at the bottom of the substrate storage container, which serves as a guide when placing the substrate storage container on an appropriate position on various devices. Since the entire weight of the substrate storage container and the stored substrate is increased, there is a possibility that the container positioning portion may be damaged when the substrate storage container is used in the semiconductor manufacturing process.

  However, in order to prevent contamination of semiconductor wafers, etc., the substrate storage container is manufactured using a special material that minimizes the contamination of various metal ions. When the whole container is replaced, there is a problem that the cost caused by the replacement increases. For this reason, in the substrate storage container of Patent Document 1, a guide member is detachably mounted on the bottom surface of the container body, and a container positioning portion is provided on the guide member. Only the replacement was made, and the cost caused by the replacement could be reduced.

JP 2008-010574 A

  However, in the invention of Patent Literature 1, when the above-described guide member is attached to the container main body, a boss portion protrudingly formed on the bottom surface of the container main body is fitted with a boss hole for external fitting formed on the guide member. It is necessary to apply a corresponding stress to the attachment and detachment of the guide member, and there is a problem that it cannot be easily attached and detached. The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and by providing a container positioning portion on a detachable bottom plate on the bottom surface of a container body, an appropriate and accurate position on various devices used in a semiconductor manufacturing process. It is an object of the present invention to provide a substrate storage container placed on a substrate storage container, wherein the substrate storage container can be easily attached to and detached from the container body.

  The inventors of the present invention have made intensive studies to solve the above-mentioned problems. As a result, the above problem can be solved by providing a predetermined slide fitting portion and a locking portion on one of the container body and the bottom plate, and a predetermined sliding fitted portion and a locked portion on the other. And completed the present invention. Specifically, the present invention provides the following.

  (1) A first aspect of the present invention is a substrate storage container that stores one or more substrates, in which a storage shelf that can store the substrates is provided, and an opening that can take out and store the substrates is provided. Container body, a lid body capable of sealing the opening, and a bottom plate provided on the bottom surface of the container body and having at least a container positioning portion, and one of the container body and the bottom plate is provided. Is provided with a slide fitting portion and a locking portion, and the other is provided with a sliding fitted portion and a locked portion, and the bottom plate is provided with the locking portion and the locked portion at the end position of the slide fitting. A substrate storage container which is locked and locked in a state where the locking portion is fitted.

  (2) A second aspect of the present invention is the substrate storage container according to (1), wherein the slide fitting portion and the slide fitted portion are configured such that the bottom plate and the bottom surface of the container body are connected to each other. It is characterized in that the container is positioned so as to slide, and the container positioning portion is positioned in the length direction, the width direction, and the height direction.

  (3) A third aspect of the present invention is the substrate storage container according to (1) or (2), wherein a locking claw serving as the locked part and / or a locking claw is provided on a bottom surface of the container body. At least one locking hole is provided, and the bottom plate is provided with at least one hook serving as the locking portion that fits into the locking claw and / or the locking hole. The bottom plate is fixed by slidingly fitting the bottom plate to a terminal position and fitting the hook with the locking claw and / or the locking hole.

  (4) A fourth aspect of the present invention is the substrate storage container according to any one of (1) to (3), wherein the bottom plate has a container fixing part and a container in addition to the container positioning part. It is characterized by having at least one selected from the group consisting of the identification units.

  (5) A fifth aspect of the present invention is the substrate storage container according to any one of (1) to (4), wherein the bottom plate includes a container identification unit, an RF-ID holding unit, and a label. It is characterized by having a connecting portion capable of connecting an identification member holding member having at least one selected from the group consisting of attaching portions.

  (6) A sixth aspect of the present invention is the substrate storage container according to any one of (1) to (5), wherein the material forming the bottom plate is more than the material forming the container body. It is a material having a low coefficient of friction.

  (7) A seventh aspect of the present invention is the substrate storage container according to (6), wherein the material constituting the bottom plate is 1) a composite material in which a fluororesin is dispersed in a polycarbonate resin, 2) Polybutylene terephthalate, and 3) a composite material in which fine particles having a core portion composed of a resin component having a lower coefficient of friction than the thermoplastic resin and a shell portion covering the same are dispersed in a thermoplastic resin. It is characterized by being at least one selected.

  (8) An eighth aspect of the present invention is the substrate storage container according to any one of (1) to (7), wherein the container positioning portion of the bottom plate is detachably attached to another portion of the bottom plate. It is characterized by being configured as a possible member.

  The substrate storage container of the present invention provides a slide fitting portion and a locking portion on one of the container body and the bottom plate, and a slide fitted portion and a locked portion on the other, so that the bottom plate is At the end position of the slide fitting, the locking and locking portions lock and lock. Therefore, the slide fitting portion and the slide fitted portion, and the locking portion and the locked portion form a pair and regulate the movement of the bottom plate in the length direction, the width direction, and the height direction. The substrate storage container can be placed at an appropriate and accurate position on various devices used in the semiconductor manufacturing process. Further, in the present invention, since the container body and the bottom plate are engaged by the slide fitting mechanism and the locking mechanism, when the container positioning portion is damaged, it is easy to remove the bottom plate from the container body.

3 is a view showing a bottom plate used for the substrate storage container of the present invention. 5 is a view showing a container body used for the substrate storage container of the present invention. It is a figure showing signs that a bottom plate slide fits in a container main part. It is the figure which looked at the container main body from the side. It is a figure showing the state where the bottom plate was slid into the container body. It is a drawing showing an aspect in which an identification member holding member is connected to the substrate storage container of the present invention. It is a drawing showing a substrate storage container to which a detachable container positioning member can be attached. It is a figure showing signs that a removable container positioning member is attached to and detached from a substrate storage container. It is a figure which shows the aspect in which a bottom plate is supported by the support part of the bottom face of a container main body.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the embodiments of the present specification, the same members are denoted by the same reference numerals throughout. In the present embodiment, the X direction refers to the width direction of the substrate storage container 1, refers to a direction parallel to the bottom surface 2b and the opening of the container main body 2, and the Y direction refers to the length direction of the substrate storage container 1. Refers to a direction parallel to the bottom surface 2b and both side surfaces of the container body 2, and the Z direction refers to a height direction of the substrate storage container 1, and is perpendicular to the bottom surface 2b from the bottom surface 2b of the container body 2 to the ceiling surface. Direction.

<Substrate storage container>
The substrate storage container 1 of the present invention stores one or more substrates, a container main body 2 having an opening 21 from which the substrate can be taken out and stored, a lid body capable of sealing the opening 21, A bottom plate 3 provided on the bottom surface 2 b of the container body 2 and having at least a container positioning portion 31. Hereinafter, for convenience of description of the embodiment of the present invention, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings in which the bottom surface 2b of the container main body 2 is disposed above. In a normal use state, the container is turned upside down in FIG. 4, and the bottom plate 3 is located below the bottom surface 2 b of the container body 2.

[Container body and lid]
FIG. 2 is a view showing a container main body 2 used for the substrate storage container 1 of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a view showing a state in which a bottom plate 3 described later slide-fits into the container main body 2. The container main body 2 is provided with a pair of support members on its inner surfaces facing each other. The support members are formed at regular intervals in the Z direction with substrate support portions for holding the peripheral portion of the substrate horizontally to accommodate the substrate. It forms a possible storage shelf. A support member for holding the peripheral portion of the substrate is also attached to the back surface of the lid, and also forms a part of the storage shelf integrally with the support member on the inner surface of the container body 2. A robotic flange may be detachably attached to the ceiling surface of the container body 2. When the robotic flange is mounted on the ceiling surface of the container body 2, the substrate storage container 1 is transported in a process and between processes by holding the robotic flange on an automatic ceiling transport device.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a slide fitting portion 25 is provided on both sides and the opening 21 side of the bottom surface 2 b of the container body 2, which functions as a fitting guide, The contact surfaces on both sides and the opening 21 side of the bottom plate 3, which will be described later, are supported so as to be sandwiched therebetween as a slide fitting portion 35, so that slide fitting can be performed. Hooks 32, which are locking portions provided on the bottom plate 3, which will be described later, are fitted to contact surfaces with the bottom plate 3, which are located on both side surfaces of the bottom surface 2 b of the container body 2 and the opening 21 side. A locking claw 22a and a locking hole 22b are provided so that the hook 32, the locking claw 22a and the locking hole 22b (when the bottom plate 3 reaches the end position of the slide fitting). 4 (see also FIG. 4), and the bottom plate 3 is locked (fixed).

  Here, in the configuration of the present embodiment, the bottom plate 3 and the bottom surface 2b of the container main body 2 are slid and fitted with a certain gap therebetween, whereby an excessive stress is applied to the sliding of the bottom plate 3. It is not necessary. However, in such a configuration, since the bottom plate 3 is supported only by the slide fitting portion 35, the substrate storage container 1 is placed on an apparatus arranged in a semiconductor manufacturing process, and When the weight of the container 1 and the stored substrate is applied to the container positioning portion 31 described later, the bottom plate 3 may be bent, and the substrate storage container 1 may not be accurately positioned in the Z direction. For this reason, in the present invention, even if a support portion for supporting the bottom plate 3 is provided in the vicinity of a portion on the bottom surface 2b of the container body 2 where the container positioning portion 31 is arranged at the end position of the slide fitting. Good. FIG. 9 is a drawing showing a mode in which the bottom plate 3 is supported by the bottom surface 2b of the container body 2. As shown in FIG. 9, the above-described support portion is formed by an engagement rib that engages with the engagement portion 37 of the bottom plate when the bottom plate 3 shown in FIG. 27. By employing such a configuration, the substrate storage container 1 can be accurately positioned in the Z direction.

  The lid has, for example, a lid main body and a cover member that covers the container main body 2 side of the lid main body, and fixes the lid to the container main body 2 in a state where the lid is engaged with the container main body 2. A locking mechanism may be provided. By providing the locking mechanism, when it is necessary to take out the semiconductor wafer from the container body 2 in the semiconductor manufacturing process, the lid is removed to open the opening 21 of the container body 2 and the substrate storage container 1 is removed. When the substrate storage container 1 needs to be hermetically sealed, such as during transportation, the lid is fixed to the opening 21 of the container main body 2 to prevent contamination of the semiconductor wafer.

[Bottom plate]
FIG. 1 is a drawing showing a bottom plate 3 used for the substrate storage container 1 of the present invention, FIG. 4 is a drawing of the container main body 2 viewed from the side, and FIG. 3 is a drawing showing a state where the slide fitting is performed. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the substrate storage container 1 of the present invention has a bottom plate 3 provided on the bottom surface 2 b of the container main body 2 and having at least a container positioning part 31. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the bottom plate 3 is provided with a slide fitting portion 35 capable of fitting with the slide fitted portion 25 provided on the bottom surface 2 b of the container body 2. The slide fitting portion 25 and the slide fitting portion 35 restrict the bottom plate 3 so as to slide on the bottom surface 2b of the container body 2 and slide on the bottom plate 3 at the end position of the slide fitting. The provided container positioning portion 31 is positioned in the X, Y, and Z directions. Here, as described above, the bottom plate 3 has the hooks 32 on both side surfaces of the bottom surface 2b of the container body 2 and the contact surfaces on the opening 21 side (FIG. 1), and this serves as a locking portion. Acting, it is fitted and locked into the locking claw 22a or the locking hole 22b, which is the locked portion on the bottom surface 2b side of the container body 2 that comes into contact with it (FIGS. 2, 3, and 4). It has been stopped. Thereby, the container body 2 and the bottom plate 3 slid to the end position can be fixed, and together with the functions of the slide fitting portion 35 and the slide fitted portion 25, the container positioning portion 31 Especially in the Y direction.

  In the present embodiment, the hook 32 and the locking claw 22a and / or the locking hole 22b are described as the locking portion and the locked portion, but the locking portion and the locked portion are The invention is not limited to these embodiments, and any means that can lock the container body 2 and the bottom plate 3 to be slid and fitted can be used. Also, the number of hooks 32, locking claws 22a and / or locking holes 22b is not particularly limited, and may be increased or decreased as needed by a pair or more. In the present embodiment, the mode in which the slide fitting portion 25 and the locking portion are provided on the bottom surface 2b of the container main body 2 and the slide fitting portion 35 and the locking portion are provided on the bottom plate 3 has been described. The present invention is not limited to such an embodiment. A slide fitting portion and a locking portion are provided on the bottom surface 2 b of the container body 2, and a sliding fitted portion and a locked portion are provided on the bottom plate 3. It may be.

(Container positioning section)
In the present invention, the bottom plate 3 has a container positioning part 31. As shown in FIG. 1, in the present embodiment, the container positioning portion 31 has a rectangular parallelepiped shape having a V-groove opened toward the contact surface with the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, and this is the center of gravity of the bottom plate 3. Are provided radially at the vertices of a substantially equilateral triangle having a substantially center of gravity. When the substrate storage container 1 is placed on the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, the opposite inclined surfaces 311 of the V-groove are engaged by sandwiching the positioning guides arranged on the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus from both sides. Then, the substrate storage container 1 is positioned on the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.

  The specific configuration of the container positioning means is not limited to a configuration in which a V-groove is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped, but may be cylindrical, cylindrical, or elliptical depending on the specifications of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus to be used. May be a prismatic shape other than a rectangular parallelepiped, and the concave portion of the container positioning means may also have an inclined surface such as a V-groove as long as it gradually narrows from the opening front end side toward the inner bottom end side. Even if it does not have, it may have a curved surface, a coronal spherical surface, or a hyperboloid. In addition, the number of the container positioning portions is not limited to three, and may be four or more. In this case, the container positioning portions are arranged on the vertices of a substantially regular polygon having the center of gravity of the bottom plate 3 as the center of gravity. Is preferred.

  FIG. 7 is a view showing the substrate storage container 1 to which the detachable container positioning member 31a can be attached. FIG. 8 is a view showing a state in which the detachable container positioning member 31a is attached to and detached from the substrate storage container 1. It is. In the above description of the present embodiment, the case where the container positioning portion 31 is integrally formed with another portion of the bottom plate has been described, but the container positioning portion 31 is a member detachable from the other portion of the bottom plate 3. It may be configured. As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, in this case, the container positioning member 31 a projects in the lateral direction, preferably in the width direction, engaging with the engagement groove 36 a 1 provided in the fitting hole 36 a of the bottom plate 3. An engaging piece 31a1 configured to have a displaceable elastic portion is provided, and a protrusion 26 that can be fitted to the fitting concave portion 36a2 of the container positioning member 31a is formed in the container positioning member mounting portion of the container body 2. Then, the container positioning member 31a may be fixed by the protrusion 26 and the engagement groove 36a1 of the bottom plate.

(Container fixing part and container identification part)
The bottom plate 3 may further be provided with a container fixing portion 34 and a container identification portion (not shown). The container fixing portion 34 is for fixing the substrate storage container 1 on the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, and is, for example, a through hole provided in the center of the bottom plate 3 and is provided on the container mounting portion of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. One that removably engages with the convex portion of the above. Further, the bottom plate 3 may have a container identification unit for detecting the type of the substrate storage container, the number of stored substrates, and the like when the substrate storage container is mounted on the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. As a specific example of such a container identification unit, an infopad can be given. Here, the infopad is used to detect the type of the substrate storage container, the number of stored substrates, and the like when the substrate storage container is mounted on the substrate processing apparatus. Are there through-holes or recesses that are placed and that do not detect plugs in the sensor placed at a predetermined position in the substrate processing device, or whether the through-holes and recesses are closed by infopad plugs? The ON / OFF result is returned depending on whether the sensor is used for plug detection and the specification of the substrate storage container can be confirmed by the combination of the ON / OFF result.

(Identification member holding member)
FIG. 6 is a drawing showing an aspect in which the identification member holding member 5 is connected to the substrate storage container 1 of the present invention. In the present invention, the bottom plate 3 has a connection part 33 having at least one selected from the group consisting of a container identification part, an RF-ID holding part, and a label sticking part and capable of connecting the identification member holding member 5. May be connected to the connecting portion 53 of the identification member holding member 5. Since the bottom plate 3 holds the identification member via the identification member holding member 5, the process management in the semiconductor manufacturing process can be facilitated. Here, RF-ID is an abbreviation for Radio Frequency IDentification, and is an electronic device for reading and writing data using radio waves. In a system using RF-ID, an RF-ID tag is individually attached to a substrate storage container to form a transponder, and a host computer, a workstation, an interrogator (reader / writer), etc. are arranged in a semiconductor manufacturing process. It is constituted by doing.

(Plastic materials that make up the bottom plate)
As described above, the bottom plate 3 is used by being slide-fitted to the container main body 2 via the slide fitting portion 35 and the slide fitted portion 25, whereby the container positioning portion on the bottom plate 3 is used. 31 can be fixed to a predetermined position of the container body 2. For this reason, in order for the bottom plate 3 to be able to slide on the bottom surface 2 b of the container body 2, the material forming the bottom plate 3 has a lower coefficient of friction than the material forming the container body 2. It is preferred to use Here, as a plastic material that can be used as a material having a lower coefficient of friction than a general plastic material constituting the container main body 2 of the substrate storage container 1, specifically, 1) a fluorocarbon resin dispersed in a polycarbonate resin; 2) polybutylene terephthalate, and 3) a thermoplastic resin in which fine particles having a core portion composed of a resin component having a lower coefficient of friction than the thermoplastic resin and a shell portion covering the same are dispersed. And at least one selected from the group consisting of materials. Such a plastic material having a low coefficient of friction may constitute the entire bottom plate 3, but it is sufficient that at least the container positioning portion 31 is made of the above-mentioned material. Only the container positioning member 31a shown in FIG. 8 may be made of the above material.

<Method of manufacturing substrate storage container>
The container body 2, the lid, the bottom plate 3 and the like can be manufactured by using an injection molding technique using a mold. Among these, the container body 2 and the lid can be formed from a conventionally known synthetic resin such as polycarbonate, polyetheretherketone, polyetherimide, polybutyleneterephthalate, polyacetal, liquid crystal polymer, and cycloolefin polymer. Further, carbon powder, carbon fiber, carbon nanotube, or the like may be added to these resins to impart conductivity.

  In the substrate storage container 1 of the present invention, one of the container body 2 and the bottom plate 3 is provided with the slide fitting portion 35 and the locking portion, and the other is provided with the slide fitting portion 25 and the locked portion. Then, the bottom plate 3 is locked and locked by the locking portion and the locked portion at the end position of the slide fitting. For this reason, the slide fitting portion 35, the slide fitted portion 25, and the locking portion and the locked portion form a pair and regulate the movement of the bottom plate 3 in the length direction, the width direction, and the height direction. Therefore, the substrate storage container 1 can be placed at an appropriate and accurate position on various devices used in the semiconductor manufacturing process. Further, in the present invention, since the container body 2 and the bottom plate 3 are engaged by the slide fitting mechanism and the locking mechanism, when the container positioning portion is damaged, the bottom plate 3 is easily removed from the container body 2. be able to.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Substrate storage container 2 Container main body 2b Bottom surface 21 Opening 22a Locking claw 22b Locking hole 25 Slide fitting part 26 Projection 27 Engaging rib 3 Bottom plate 31 Container positioning part 31a Container positioning member 31a1 Engaging piece 32 Hook 33 Bottom plate connecting part 34 Container fixing part 35 Slide fitting part 36a Fitting hole 36a1 Engaging groove 36a2 Fitting concave part 37 Bottom plate engaging part 5 Identification member holding member 51 Container identification part 53 Identification member holding member connection part

Claims (8)

A substrate storage container that stores one or more substrates,
A container body provided with a storage shelf capable of storing the substrate, and an opening capable of taking out and storing the substrate;
A lid that can seal the opening,
A bottom plate provided on the bottom surface of the container main body and having at least a container positioning portion,
A slide fitting portion and a locking portion are provided on one of the container body and the bottom plate,
On the other side, a slide fitted portion and a locked portion are provided,
The bottom plate, at the end position of the slide fitting, is locked the said locking portion is locked in a state in which the engaged portion is fitted,
The slide fitting portion and the slide fitted portion regulate the bottom plate so as to slide by sliding on the bottom surface of the container body, and adjust the container positioning portion in the length direction, the width direction, and the height. A substrate storage container that is positioned in the vertical direction . The bottom surface of the container body is provided with at least one locking claw and / or locking hole serving as the locked portion, and the bottom plate is fitted with the locking claw and / or the locking hole. At least one hook that is the locking portion is provided,
2. The bottom plate is fixed by slidingly fitting the container body and the bottom plate to a terminal position, and fitting the hook with the locking claw and / or the locking hole. 3. The substrate storage container according to item 1. The bottom plate, in addition to the container positioning portion has at least one selected from the group consisting of container fixing portion and the container identification unit, the substrate storage container according to claim 1 or 2. The bottom plate, container identification unit, RF-ID retaining unit, and any one of claims 1 to 3 having a coupling portion connectable identification member holding member having at least one member selected from the group consisting of a label sticking section The substrate storage container according to item 1. The substrate storage container according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , wherein a material forming the bottom plate is a material having a lower coefficient of friction than a material forming the container main body. The material constituting the bottom plate,
1) a composite material in which a fluororesin is dispersed in a polycarbonate resin,
2) polybutylene terephthalate, and 3) a composite material in which fine particles having a core portion composed of a resin component having a lower coefficient of friction than the thermoplastic resin and a shell portion covering the same are dispersed in a thermoplastic resin.
The substrate storage container according to claim 5 , wherein the substrate storage container is at least one selected from the group consisting of: The substrate storage container according to any one of claims 1 to 6 , wherein the container positioning portion of the bottom plate is configured as a member detachable from another portion of the bottom plate.   A substrate storage container that stores one or more substrates,
  A container body provided with a storage shelf capable of storing the substrate, and an opening capable of taking out and storing the substrate;
  A lid that can seal the opening,
  A bottom plate provided on the bottom surface of the container main body and having at least a container positioning portion,
  A slide fitting portion and a locking portion are provided on one of the container body and the bottom plate,
  On the other side, a slide fitted portion and a locked portion are provided,
  The bottom plate is locked and locked in a state where the locking portion and the locked portion are fitted at the end position of the slide fitting,
  A substrate storage container, wherein the container positioning portion of the bottom plate is configured as a member detachable from another portion of the bottom plate.

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