JP7421991B2 - board storage container - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a substrate storage container, and more particularly to a structure for storing a substantially rectangular glass panel or other substrate in a container for storing a substantially circular substrate such as a semiconductor wafer.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, storage containers with substantially circular substrates have been known that include a front-open type container body that opens toward the front and a lid that closes the opening of the container body. In this case, when the opening is viewed from the front, shelf sections are provided on both left and right sides of the container body, respectively, for placing approximately circular substrates, and a plurality of shelf sections are arranged vertically at equal intervals. (For example, see Patent Document 1).

By the way, in manufacturing processes that handle glass panels such as substrates for liquid crystal panels, containers are used to store substantially rectangular substrates in order to transport them between processes or to temporarily store them. Additionally, in recent years, in order to further mass-produce electronic components such as IC chips, many bare chips have been formed and mounted on rectangular glass panels, etc., and for this reason, the use of approximately rectangular substrates has been increasing. It is in.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2015-162476

However, manufacturing a dedicated container solely for storing the above-mentioned substantially rectangular substrate has a large disadvantage in terms of cost. On the other hand, even if you try to store a substantially rectangular substrate as is in a storage container for substantially circular substrates, for example, substantially circular substrates such as semiconductor wafers and substantially rectangular substrates not only differ in shape and thickness, but also have different suitable storage pitches. Therefore, it is difficult to store it as is.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to enable a variety of substantially rectangular substrates to be suitably stored using a container for storing substantially circular substrates.

(1) One aspect of the present invention is a substrate storage container, which includes a container body provided with an opening at the front for loading and unloading the substrate, and a lid body that closes the opening, and the container body includes a lid that closes the opening. When viewed from above, shelf portions for placing substantially circular substrates are provided on both left and right side surfaces of the container body, respectively, and each of the left and right shelf portions includes a plurality of shelf board portions spaced apart vertically from each other. It spans between the pair of shelf board parts at the same height on both the left and right shelf parts, and a support auxiliary member for supporting a substantially rectangular board is removably attached. be.
(2) In the aspect of (1) above, the support auxiliary member includes a pair of support plate parts attached to each of the pair of shelf board parts and extending in the front-rear direction, and a rear end of the pair of support plate parts. It may also include a connecting plate portion extending in the left-right direction so as to connect the portions to each other.
(3) In the aspect of (2) above, at least one stepped portion is provided on either the upper surface or the lower surface of each of the shelf portions, and stands up to form a stepped surface, and the supporting auxiliary member First and second engaging pieces are provided on the outer surface in the width direction of each of the support plate portions at positions shifted from each other in the extension direction and the thickness direction of each of the support plate portions, and When the support plate section is attached, the second engagement piece abuts against the step surface and the one surface of the shelf section, while the first engagement section contacts the other surface of the shelf section. They may be in contact with each other.
(4) In the aspect of (2) or (3) above, each of the pair of support plate portions is configured such that each of the pair of support plate portions is in contact with both left and right end portions of the front edge portion of the substantially rectangular substrate placed on the support auxiliary member. A front wall portion may be provided at the front end portion of.
(5) In the aspect of (4) above, the side wall portions facing the left and right side edges of the substantially rectangular substrate placed on the support auxiliary member may reduce the thickness of the substantially rectangular substrate in the pair of support plate portions. A window portion may be provided in at least one of the front wall portion and the side wall portion so that the substantially rectangular substrate can be visually recognized.
(6) In any one of the above (1) to (3), the lid body is provided with a retainer for holding the substantially rectangular substrate, and the retainer is attached to a front edge of the substantially rectangular substrate. an abutting holding part that abuts and holds the abutting holding part; a connecting biasing part that connects the abutting holding part so as to be displaceable in the front-rear direction relative to the lid body and urges the abutting holding part rearward; A convex portion may be provided that protrudes forward from the front portion of the contact holding portion so as to come into contact with the rear surface of the lid body when the lid body is displaced by a predetermined amount.
(7) In the aspect of (6) above, the abutment holding portion of the retainer may have a rear end surface that abuts the front edge of the substantially rectangular substrate formed by an arcuate surface having a vertical centerline. good.

According to the substrate storage container of the present invention, the support auxiliary member for placing a substantially rectangular substrate can be attached to and detached from the shelves provided on both left and right sides of the container body for placing a substantially circular substrate. Since it can be freely attached and spans between the left and right shelves that form a pair at the same height, it is possible to store various approximately rectangular substrates using a container originally intended for storing approximately circular substrates. It can be conveniently stored.

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a substrate storage container according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. It is a perspective view which shows the support auxiliary tray attached to the shelf part by cutting the main body container. It is a perspective view which expands and shows the structure which attaches a support auxiliary tray to a shelf board part. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a substantially rectangular substrate placed on an auxiliary support tray. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing substantially rectangular substrates stored at different pitches in a container body, and shows a case where the storage pitch is narrow. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing substantially rectangular substrates stored at different pitches in a container body, and shows a case where the storage pitches are wide. FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a retainer provided on the back side of the lid in the substrate storage container of Embodiment 2. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a retainer provided on the back side of the lid in the substrate storage container of Embodiment 2.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the embodiments of this specification, the same members are given the same reference numerals throughout. In the accompanying drawings, for ease of viewing, only some of the parts with the same attribute may be labeled with reference numerals.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing Embodiment 1 of the substrate storage container of the present invention. The substrate storage container 1 is used to store substantially circular substrates (not shown) such as semiconductor wafers, and is used for transportation within a manufacturing line or for shipment to an external location, and stores a predetermined number of substantially circular substrates. The container body 20 includes a container body 20 and a lid body 40 that can open and close an opening 21 formed on the front side of the container body 20 (on the left side in the figure).

That is, the container main body 20 is of a so-called front open box type in which an opening 21 for inserting and removing substrates is provided on the front (front) of the container main body 20. Each is provided with a shelf 30 on which a substantially circular substrate is placed (only the left shelf is shown). The left and right shelves 30 have a symmetrical shape, and are provided integrally with the side wall of the container body 20 by, for example, insert molding.

As shown in FIG. 2, each shelf 30 has a plurality of shelf board parts 31 corresponding to the number of approximately circular substrates to be stored in the container body 20 (for example, 6, 12, . . . 25). are arranged vertically. The substantially circular board is inserted toward the rear from the front opening 21 of the container main body 20, and its peripheral edge is supported by the left and right shelf sections 31, and is placed substantially horizontally. They are stored side by side in the vertical direction of the main body 20.

The interval between the left and right side walls of the container body 20 on which the shelf section 30 is provided is such that the rear region near the rear end of the shelf section 30 is narrower than the front region. A sloping wall portion 22 is formed between them so that the interval narrows toward the rear. Although not shown, the inclined wall portion 22 is provided with an entry restriction portion that faces the rear region inside the container body 20 and abuts the rear edge of the substantially circular substrate to restrict rearward movement.

Note that a robotic flange 11 for transportation, which is held by a ceiling conveyance mechanism or the like during the manufacturing process, is attached to the top surface of the top plate of the illustrated container body 20, while a bottom plate 12 is attached to the bottom surface of the bottom plate of the container body 20. is installed. Furthermore, manual handles 13 are attached to the outer surfaces of the left and right side walls of the container body 20, respectively, in an inclined manner so that an operator can easily grasp the container body 20 during transportation.

The lid 40 has a generally rectangular shape and closes the opening 21 of the container body 20 via a gasket (not shown), and has a locking mechanism 41 built in at a portion on both left and right sides thereof. Although not shown in detail, the locking mechanism 41 includes a latch that moves between a locked position and an unlocked position in accordance with the operation of a key inserted into a keyhole, and when the latch is engaged with an engaging portion on the container body 20 side. The lid body 40 is locked and unlocked by being engaged or disengaged.

The lid 40 is also provided with a retainer (not shown) for holding the front edge of the substantially circular substrate housed in the container body 20 as described above. On the other hand, inside the container body 20, a substrate with a shape different from the approximately circular substrate, for example, a substantially rectangular substrate P such as a glass panel (see FIG. 4) can be stored, so that it can be attached and detached to the shelf portions 30 on both the left and right sides. A support auxiliary tray 50 (support auxiliary member) can be attached.

Note that the container body 20, the lid 40, and the supporting support tray 50 can be formed from synthetic resins such as polycarbonate, polyetheretherketone, polyetherimide, polybutylene terephthalate, polyacetal, liquid crystal polymer, and cycloolefin polymer. . Moreover, carbon powder, carbon fibers, carbon nanotubes, etc. can be added to these resins to impart electrical conductivity.

(Mounting structure of support auxiliary tray)
In this embodiment, a support auxiliary tray 50 corresponding to the shape and dimensions of the substantially rectangular substrate P to be stored is prepared, and is placed on a pair of shelf board sections at the same height on the shelf sections 30 on both the left and right sides of the container main body 20. It is installed so as to span between 31. The structure for attaching the support auxiliary tray 50 to the shelf board 31 will be described below, but for convenience, even in the explanation of the support auxiliary tray 50 alone, the front, back, left, right, top and bottom of the state attached to the shelf board 31 will be used. Sometimes.

First, the structure of the shelf section 31 will be explained in detail with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. FIG. Each of the shelf board portions 31 extends in the front-rear direction while protruding substantially horizontally toward the inside of the container body 20 (to the right in the case of the left side wall). The front end of the shelf section 31 is located at a position slightly rearward from the opening 21, and the rear end is located near the inclined wall section 22 of the side wall.

Note that the interval between the shelf board sections 31 arranged vertically may be set to a value that exceeds the normal amount of deflection of a thin, substantially circular substrate such as a semiconductor wafer, but it is preferable to It is preferable to set Silicon wafers with a diameter of 200 mm and a thickness of 725 μm and silicon wafers with a diameter of 300 mm and a thickness of 775 μm, which are currently widely used, have electronic circuits formed on their front surfaces and then ground on their back surfaces, allowing them to be used as semiconductor components. Sometimes. In this case, the normal amount of deflection is around several mm to 10 mm.

As shown in an enlarged view in FIG. 3, the shelf section 31 is integrally provided with a plate-shaped support section 31a that supports the peripheral edge of the substantially circular board, and a step section 31b that stands up from the top surface thereof. In the illustrated example, two protrusions 31c are provided on the upper surface of the support portion 31a at a distance from each other in order to minimize contact with the substantially circular substrate, but these protrusions 31c are omitted. Alternatively, a substantially circular substrate may be placed directly on the upper surface of the support portion 31a.

Further, the step portion 31b is provided on the front end portion of the support portion 31a and stands upward from the upper surface of the support portion 31a (outward in the direction of the thickness of the support portion 31a). The upper surface is higher than the upper surface of the support portion 31a, and a stepped surface 31d is formed between the two. In the illustrated example, the stepped surface 31d extends in an arc shape from the inner side in the width direction of the shelf section 31 (inner side of the container body 20) toward the outer side toward the rear.

The step surface 31d formed in this manner functions as a guide wall for guiding the substantially circular substrate when the substantially circular substrate is inserted through the opening 21 of the container body 20 and placed on the support portion 31a of the shelf board portion 31. However, after it is placed on the support portion 31a, it functions as a restriction wall that restricts the forward movement of the substantially circular substrate. Note that the rearward movement of the substantially circular substrate is restricted by the rear edge coming into contact with the entry restriction portion of the inclined wall portion 22 described above.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4 in addition to FIGS. 2 and 3, a support auxiliary tray 50 is removably attached to the shelf section 31. As shown in FIG. The support auxiliary tray 50 is formed as a frame body that is open to the front and has a U-shape in plan view, and extends approximately linearly in the front-rear direction at a predetermined interval corresponding to the width of the approximately rectangular substrate P to be placed thereon. It has a pair of left and right support plate parts 51 and a connecting plate part 52 that connects the rear ends of these support plate parts 51 to each other.

As shown in FIG. 3, the support plate portion 51 of the support auxiliary tray 50 is integrally formed with a long main body plate portion 51a extending in the front-rear direction and a side wall portion 51b extending upward from the side edge of the main body plate portion 51a. , the cross section is approximately L-shaped, and a stepped portion 51c rising from the upper surface of the main body plate portion 51a near the side wall portion 51b is provided throughout the longitudinal direction along the side wall portion 51b, thereby forming a substantially rectangular substrate P. It is designed to support the side edges of the

Further, at the rear end portion of the support plate portion 51, the side wall portion 51b is bent in a crank shape, and this bent portion constitutes a rear wall portion that abuts both left and right end portions of the rear edge portion of the substantially rectangular substrate P. are doing. In the illustrated example, a small forward bulge 51d is provided on the front surface of the rear wall, and when the substantially rectangular substrate P is placed on the support auxiliary tray 50 as shown in FIG. They come into contact and restrict further backward movement.

Further, the connecting plate part 52 that connects the rear end parts of the left and right support plate parts 51 also has an elongated main body plate part 52a like the support plate part 51, and the front edge of the main body plate part 52a extending in the left-right direction. A front side wall portion 52b is provided that extends upward from the front side wall portion 52b. In the illustrated example, the support plate portion 51 and the connection plate portion 52 are integrally formed, and both left and right ends of the front wall portion 52b are bent into a crank shape at the rear end of the support plate portion 51, respectively. Together, they contribute to ensuring rigidity.

Further, between the left and right ends of the front wall portion 52b of the connecting plate portion 52 and the rear end portion of the main body plate portion 52a of the support plate portion 51, there is also a reinforcing plate portion 51e that connects the corners in an oblique manner. This contributes to ensuring rigidity. Further, the main body plate 52a of the connecting plate 52 has a plurality of reinforcing ribs 52c (in the illustrated example, three reinforcing ribs 52c are arranged at approximately equal intervals in the left-right direction), which protrude upward from the upper surface of the main body plate 52a and extend rearward from the front wall 52b. ) provided.

In addition, at the rear end portion of the support plate portion 51, on the outside of the side wall portion 51b after being bent into a crank shape as described above, the rear end portion of the main body plate portion 51a has a trapezoidal shape whose width becomes narrower toward the rear. has been done. That is, the outer edge of this trapezoidal portion is inclined so as not to interfere with the rear end of the side wall of the container body 20 when the support auxiliary tray 50 is attached to the shelf board section 31.

On the other hand, at the front end portion of the support plate portion 51, the side wall portion 51b is bent in an L-shape in plan view along the front edge of the main body plate portion 51a, and this bent portion is as shown in FIG. When the substantially rectangular substrate P is placed on the support auxiliary tray 50, the front wall portion 51f comes into contact with both left and right end portions of the front edge thereof. A small bulge (not shown) is also provided on the rear surface of this front wall portion 51f, and the front edge of the substantially rectangular substrate P comes into contact with this bulge, thereby restricting forward displacement.

With the substantially rectangular substrate P placed on the support auxiliary tray 50 in this manner, there is a predetermined gap between the front wall portion 51f at the front end of the support plate portion 51 and the front edge (front surface) of the substantially rectangular substrate P. remains. Similarly, a predetermined gap remains between the bent portion (rear wall portion) of the side wall portion 51b at the rear end portion of the support plate portion 51 and the rear edge (rear surface) of the substantially rectangular substrate P. In other words, the substantially rectangular substrate P is positioned in the front-rear direction with an appropriate gap.

When a substantially rectangular substrate P is placed on the support auxiliary tray 50 as shown in FIG. is positioned lower than the upper ends of the side wall portion 51b and front wall portion 51f of the support plate portion 51. In other words, the side wall portion 51b and the front wall portion 51f are set such that the height from the top surface of the stepped portion 51c that supports the left and right side edges of the substantially rectangular substrate P exceeds the thickness of the substantially rectangular substrate P. There is.

However, if the substantially rectangular substrate P is partially surrounded by the side wall portion 51b and the front wall portion 51f, it is difficult to detect the presence or absence of the substantially rectangular substrate P from the side using, for example, an image processing device or a laser sensor. become. Therefore, in this embodiment, a notch 51g having a U-shaped cross section is provided near the front end of the side wall 51b and near the front wall 51f to serve as a window through which the substantially rectangular substrate P can be viewed from the side.

This makes it possible to remove the lid 40, insert a camera or a laser sensor from the front into the left or right end of the opening 21 of the container body 20, and detect the presence or absence of the substantially rectangular substrate P through the notch 51g. Become. Note that the shape of the notch 51g is not limited to the U-shape, and a hole may be provided instead of a notch. Further, any window portion that allows the substantially rectangular substrate P to be viewed can be provided on at least one of the front wall portion 51f and the side wall portion 51b.

(Structure of mounting part)
Returning to FIG. 3, the support auxiliary tray 50 includes a mounting plate that extends outward from the outer surface of the side wall portion 51b and is connected to the shelf portion 31 at the middle portion of the support plate portion 51 in the longitudinal direction. A section 53 is provided. This mounting plate part 53 is provided with first and second engaging pieces 53a to 53c at positions shifted from each other in the front-back direction and the vertical direction (thickness direction of the mounting plate part 53), and a shelf board is provided between them. The supporting portion 31a of the portion 31 is sandwiched therebetween.

Specifically, the mounting plate portion 53 has approximately the same thickness as the main body plate portion 51a of the support plate portion 51, and is located at approximately the same height. On the other hand, the first engagement piece 53a has a plate shape that is thinner than the main body plate part 51a, and with its plate surface facing in the vertical direction, it is located at a relatively lower position from the outer surface of the mounting plate part 53. It extends outward. When attached to the shelf section 31, the first engagement piece 53a comes into contact with the lower surface thereof.

The second engagement piece 53b is also formed into a thin plate like the first engagement piece 53a, and with its plate surface facing up and down, it extends outward from the outer surface of the mounting plate portion 53 at a relatively upper position. When attached to the shelf section 31, it abuts against the upper surface of the support section 31a. In the illustrated example, the second engagement piece 53b is provided rearward than the first engagement piece 53a, and comes into contact with the front side of the protrusion 31c provided on the upper surface of the shelf section 31.

In other words, the two engaging pieces 53a and 53b are shifted from each other in the vertical direction (thickness direction of the main body plate part 51a) and sandwich the support part 31a of the shelf part 31, thereby making the support plate part 51 with respect to the shelf section 31, that is, the supporting auxiliary tray 50 is positioned with respect to the shelf section 30 in the vertical direction. Furthermore, the second engagement piece 53b comes into contact with the protrusion 31c on the upper surface of the support portion 31a, thereby restricting the rearward movement of the support auxiliary tray 50.

In the illustrated example, in addition to the second engaging piece 53b, another second engaging piece 53c is provided in front of the first engaging piece 53a. This second engagement piece 53c is also made into a thin plate shape like the first engagement piece 53a and the second engagement piece 53b, and has its plate surface facing in the vertical direction and at the same height as the second engagement piece 53b. It protrudes outward from the outer surface of the mounting plate section 53, and comes into contact with the upper surface of the support section 31a when attached to the shelf section 31.

Further, the second engagement piece 53c has a narrower shape than the second engagement piece 53b, and is easily bent in the vertical direction. The tip end of the second engagement piece 53c has a curved shape that is convex outward, corresponding to the curved shape of the stepped surface 31d on the upper surface of the shelf section 31. When the second engagement piece 53c is attached to the shelf section 31, the front end surface of the second engagement piece 53c comes into contact with the step surface 31d, and forward movement is restricted, thereby preventing the support auxiliary tray 50 from moving forward. Regulated.

Note that the lower surfaces of the two second engaging pieces 53b, 53c are at the same height, and there is a gap between the lower surfaces of the second engaging pieces 53b, 53c and the upper surface of the first engaging piece 53a. A predetermined interval is provided in the vertical direction. As an example, this interval is set to be slightly larger than the thickness of the support part 31a of the shelf board part 31, but it is also possible to set this interval to be approximately the same as or slightly smaller than the thickness of the support part 31a. good.

In addition to the first and second engaging pieces 53a to 53c, the front end portion of the mounting plate portion 53 is provided with a front end step portion 53d and a receiving portion 53e that engage with the front end portion of the shelf board portion 31. . The upper surface of the receiving portion 53e is located at the same height as the upper surface of the first engaging piece 53a, and supports the front end portion of the shelf portion 31 from below. Further, the front end stepped portion 53d is formed to be relatively thick and continuous to the front side of the receiving portion 53e, and the front end portion of the shelf board portion 31 comes into contact with the rear surface thereof.

On the other hand, the rear end portion of the mounting plate portion 53 has a shape that becomes narrower toward the rear, and the shape of its outer edge is such that when a substantially circular substrate such as a semiconductor wafer is placed on the shelf portion 31, , its peripheral edge has an outwardly convex curved shape. In other words, the outer edge of the rear end of the mounting plate section 53 is arranged so as not to interfere with the inclined wall section 22 (access restriction section) of the side wall of the container main body 20 when the support auxiliary tray 50 is attached to the shelf section 31. It has a sloping shape.

The support auxiliary tray 50 as described above is generally attached to the shelf section 31 as follows. First, an operator holds the support auxiliary tray 50 in his hand and inserts it into the container body 20 through the opening 21 from the connecting plate portion 52 side (rear side). At this time, with the support auxiliary tray 50 tilted so that the rear side is slightly upward, the second engagement pieces 53b on the rear side of the mounting plate portions 53 on both left and right sides are placed on the shelf plate portion 31 to support the tray. Slide the auxiliary tray 50 backward.

When the first engaging pieces 53a of the mounting plate sections 53 on both the left and right sides of the support auxiliary tray 50 pass the front end of the shelf section 31 due to the sliding, the upper surface of the first engaging sections 53a is on the lower surface of the shelf section 31. When the support auxiliary tray 50 is further inserted rearward, the second engagement piece 53c on the front side rides on the stepped portion 31b on the upper surface of the shelf section 31. At this time, the second engaging piece 53c is bent upward, and a downward restoring force is generated.

Thereafter, when the support auxiliary tray 50 is further inserted rearward, the second engaging piece 53c that has slid on the stepped portion 31b reaches the stepped surface 31d, and is displaced downward by its restoring force. As a result, the lower surface of the second engaging piece 53c comes into contact with the upper surface of the support section 31a of the shelf section 31, and the tip end thereof comes into contact with the stepped surface 31d. At this time, substantially at the same time, the second engagement piece 53b on the rear side also comes into contact with the protrusion 31c, and furthermore, the front end step portion 53d comes into contact with the front end portion of the shelf board portion 31.

As a result, the first engagement piece 53a and the second engagement pieces 53b, 53c of the mounting plate section 53 vertically sandwich the support section 31a of the shelf section 31, and the support auxiliary tray 50 is moved in the vertical direction. It is installed in a state where movement is restricted. Further, the second engagement piece 53c on the front side contacts the step surface 31d, the second engagement piece 53b on the rear side contacts the protrusion 31c, and the front end step portion 53d and the front end of the shelf board 31. The movement of the support auxiliary tray 50 in the front-rear direction is also restricted by the contact with the support tray 50 .

On the other hand, when removing the support auxiliary tray 50 attached as described above from the shelf board section 31, the operator grasps the front ends of the left and right support plate sections 51 of the support auxiliary tray 50 and moves them closer together. Pull it forward while bending it. As a result, in each mounting plate part 53 of the left and right support plate parts 51, the tips of the second engagement pieces 53c on the front side are guided by the step surface 31d of the shelf board part 31, and move forward and approach each other. It becomes like this.

After the tip of the second engagement piece 53c on the front side that moves forward comes off the stepped surface 31d of the shelf board section 31, the support auxiliary tray 50 is further pulled out to the front, and the first engagement piece 53a is moved to the shelf. After passing the front end of the plate part 31, the supporting auxiliary tray 50 is lifted up a little while being pulled out. In this way, the second engaging piece 53b on the rear side does not interfere with the stepped surface 31d of the shelf board 31, and the support auxiliary tray 50 is removed from the shelf board 31.

As described above, the attachment and detachment of the support auxiliary tray 50 can be easily carried out without requiring much force, so the operator can adjust the number of substantially rectangular substrates P to be stored in the container body 20 and the desired storage pitch. Accordingly, the support auxiliary tray 50 may be attached to the shelf board portion 31. For example, in the case of the container body 20 that can accommodate 25 approximately circular substrates, it is preferable to use every other shelf board 31 when considering the thickness of the support auxiliary tray 50.

That is, in order to store as many approximately rectangular substrates P as possible, as shown in FIG. A rectangular substrate P can be accommodated. On the other hand, if the substrates are to be stored at a wider pitch, seven substantially rectangular substrates P can be stored by attaching support auxiliary trays 50 every third as shown in FIG. 5B.

Further, when placing the substantially rectangular substrate P on the support auxiliary tray 50, the substantially rectangular substrate P is supported by, for example, a robot arm and inserted into the container body 20 through the opening 21. At this time, the substantially rectangular substrate P is inserted at a position slightly higher than the front wall 51f of the support plate 51 of the support auxiliary tray 50 so that the peripheral edge thereof does not interfere with the front wall 51f. After passing over the front wall portion 51f, the substantially rectangular substrate P is moved downward.

As a result, the left and right edges of the substantially rectangular substrate P are respectively placed on the support plate portion 51 (its stepped portion 51c) of the support auxiliary tray 50, and the front edge (front surface) of the substantially rectangular substrate P and the A predetermined gap remains between the front wall portion 51f and the rear surface (the bulging portion thereof) of the front wall portion 51f. Further, a predetermined gap remains between the rear edge (rear surface) of the substantially rectangular substrate P and the bulging portion 51d of the rear wall portion of the support auxiliary tray 50, and the substantially rectangular substrate P is positioned in the front-rear direction with an appropriate margin. be done.

As described above, in the substrate storage container 1 of the first embodiment, the shelf sections 30 provided on the left and right inner surfaces of the container body 20 are bridged between the pair of shelf sections 31 at the same height. In this way, the support auxiliary tray 50 is attached. Therefore, if the support auxiliary tray 50 is manufactured according to the shape, size, thickness, etc. of the substantially rectangular substrates P to be accommodated, substantially rectangular substrates P of various shapes and thicknesses can be suitably accommodated.

Further, the support auxiliary tray 50 that is attached to the container body 20 is positioned vertically and longitudinally with respect to the shelf board 31 by the mounting plate parts 53 on both left and right sides, and can be easily attached and removed. By attaching and removing the support auxiliary tray 50 according to the number of substantially rectangular substrates P stored and the desired storage pitch, the number of stored substrates and the storage pitch can be easily adjusted.

(Embodiment 2)
Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 6A and 6B.
In the substrate storage container 1 of the first embodiment described above, the front wall portion 51f provided at the front end of the pair of support plate portions 51 of the support auxiliary tray 50 restricts the forward displacement of the substantially rectangular substrate P. In the second embodiment, the front edge of the substantially rectangular substrate P is elastically held by a retainer 60 provided on the lid 40.

The substrate storage container 1 of the second embodiment is similar to the embodiment except that the structure of the support auxiliary tray 50 is slightly different and that the lid body 40 is provided with a retainer 60 for a substantially rectangular substrate P. It has the same structure as 1. The auxiliary support tray 50 of the second embodiment has the same structure as the auxiliary support tray 50 of the first embodiment except that there is no front wall portion 51f, so the support plate portion 51, the connecting plate portion 52, etc. are designated by the same reference numerals. The explanation thereof will be omitted.

In the second embodiment, when the substantially rectangular substrate P is stored in the container body 20 as in the first embodiment described above, in order to hold it in the front-rear direction, the back surface of the lid body 40 is used as shown in FIG. 6A. A retainer 60 is disposed on the rear surface facing into the container body 20. In the illustrated example, a vertically elongated rectangular recess 42 is formed on the back side of the lid 40, and a pair of retainers 60 are disposed on both left and right sides of this recess 42.

Specifically, the left and right pair of retainers 60 each have a retainer support part 61 extending in the vertical direction, and the upper ends and lower ends of these retainer support parts 61 are connected to each other to form a rectangular frame, It is fitted into the recess 42 of the lid body 40. The left and right retainer support portions 61 are engaged with engagement claws 43 provided on both left and right edges of the recess 42 . Further, a plurality of elastic pieces 62 are vertically arranged and branched from each retainer support part 61 and extend to either the left or right side and extend diagonally so that the tip side faces backward, that is, into the container body 20. ing.

In the illustrated example, a plurality of elastic pieces 62 are provided at regular intervals in the vertical direction so as to correspond to the substantially rectangular substrates P housed in the container body 20, and each of the elastic pieces 62 is provided at a tip end thereof to correspond to each substantially rectangular substrate P. An abutment holding portion 63 is provided that abuts and holds the front edge. The contact holding portion 63 can be displaced in the front-back direction by the bending of the elastic piece 62, and thereby elastically holds the front edge portion (the edge portion on the lid body side) of the substantially rectangular substrate P.

As schematically shown in FIG. 6B, the contact holding portion 63 has a flat rectangular parallelepiped shape, and its rear end surface (right end surface in the figure) is formed by an arcuate surface having a center line Z in the vertical direction. As a result, the front edge of the substantially rectangular substrate P can be stably held even if the substantially rectangular substrate P has various thicknesses or is bent, warped, or undulated within an allowable range. Can be done.

Then, when the lid body 40 is closed, the contact holding portion 63 of the retainer 60 comes into contact with the front edge of the substantially rectangular substrate P. At this time, the contact holding portion 63 is displaced forward relative to the lid body 40 due to the bending of the elastic piece 62, and the reaction force thereof comes to act on the substantially rectangular substrate P. As a result, the substantially rectangular substrate P is pressed rearward, and its rear edge comes into contact with the rear bulge 51d of the support auxiliary tray 50.

In this way, the elastic piece 62 functions as a connection urging portion that connects the contact holding portion 63 to the lid body 40 so as to be able to be displaced in the front-rear direction, and urges the contact holding portion 63 rearward. By elastically pressing the front edge of the substantially rectangular substrate P with this biasing force, the substantially rectangular substrate P can be stably held regardless of the degree of bending, warping, or waviness. can. Therefore, movement or vibration due to rattling during transportation can be appropriately suppressed, and damage and contamination can be avoided.

In this embodiment, as described above, the urging force due to the bending of the elastic piece 62 for holding the substantially rectangular substrate P is set to be small. This is done considering that the rear edge of the substantially rectangular substrate P, which is urged rearward via the contact holding part 63, comes into contact with the bulge part 51d at the rear of the support auxiliary tray 50 and is pressed down from the front and back. This is to prevent damage even to a substantially rectangular substrate P such as a thin glass panel.

However, if the biasing force (elastic force that presses the substantially rectangular substrate P backward) due to the bending of the elastic piece 62 is small, in the case of a heavy substantially rectangular substrate P such as a thick glass panel, it may not be attached to the rear. There will be a shortage of forces and it will be difficult to move them. Therefore, in this embodiment, when attaching the lid body 40 to the opening of the container body 20, the force is used to displace the abutting holding part 63 of the retainer 60 rearward, thereby moving the substantially rectangular substrate P. ing.

That is, as schematically shown in FIG. 6B, the abutment holding portion 63 of the retainer 60 that is spaced backward from the rear surface of the lid body 40 (the bottom surface of the recess 42) has a contact holding portion 63 that protrudes forward from its front end. A cylindrical convex portion 64 that protrudes toward the lid body 40 is integrally formed. A predetermined distance d is formed between the tip end surface (front end surface) of the convex portion 64 and the bottom surface of the recess 42 of the lid body 40 facing therebetween.

As a result, when the lid body 40 is attached to the opening 21 of the container body 20 as described above, and the elastic piece 62 of the retainer 60 is bent and the abutment holding part 63 is displaced forward by the predetermined amount, the convex part 64 The tip end surface (front end surface) comes into contact with the rear surface (bottom surface of the recess 42) of the opposing lid body 40. Then, the abutment holding portion 63 is displaced rearward integrally with the lid 40, and the substantially rectangular substrate P that abuts the rear end surface also moves into the container body 20.

Therefore, the front edge of the substantially rectangular substrate P is positioned backward from the rear surface of the lid 40 toward the inside of the container body 20 by at least the length of the abutment holding part 63 and the convex part 64. At this time, the rear edge of the substantially rectangular substrate P has not yet come into contact with the rear bulge 51d of the support auxiliary tray 50, so there is no risk of damage. In other words, the dimensions of the contact holding portion 63 and the convex portion 64 are determined based on the longitudinal length of the substantially rectangular substrate P to be accommodated.

The retainer support portion 61, the plurality of elastic pieces 62, the contact holding portion 63, and the convex portion 64 are all integrally molded, and the material thereof is, for example, the same as that of the container body 20, the lid body 40, the support auxiliary tray 50, etc. Examples include various thermoplastic resins such as polybutylene terephthalate and polyether ether ketone, and various thermoplastic elastomers such as polyester and polyolefin. Carbon powder or the like may also be added to impart conductivity.

Note that the contact holding portion 63 and the convex portion 64 may be formed separately and attached to the elastic piece 62. In this case, it is preferable that the contact holding portion 63 and the convex portion 64 be made of an elastic member made of a thermoplastic elastomer, a rubber material, or the like. That is, the contact holding portion 63 and the convex portion 64 may be configured to include one selected from fluororubber, nitrile rubber, silicone rubber, chloroprene rubber, and ethylene propylene rubber.

Further, the abutment holding portion 63 and the convex portion 64 may be formed of foamed rubber sponge, or may be formed of fluororubber sponge, chloroprene rubber sponge, silicone rubber sponge, nitrile rubber sponge, chloroprene rubber sponge, or ethylene propylene rubber sponge. The configuration may include those selected from among them. Furthermore, carbon powder or the like may be added to impart electrical conductivity.

As described above, in the second embodiment, the retainer 60 provided on the back side of the lid body 40 elastically holds the front edge of the substantially rectangular substrate P, regardless of the degree of bending, warping, or waviness. First, it is possible to avoid damage and contamination due to vibration during transportation, and by providing the protrusion 64 on the abutting holding part 63, when attaching the lid body 40 to the container body 20, the protruding part 64 and the abutting holding part 63 can be avoided. The substantially rectangular substrate P can be moved rearward through the container body 20 and stored at an appropriate position within the container body 20.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to the first and second embodiments described above, and various modifications may be made within the scope of the gist of the present invention as described in the claims. It is possible to transform and change.

For example, in the first embodiment described above, the front wall portion 51f having a height exceeding the substantially rectangular substrate P is provided at the front end of the support plate portion 51 of the support auxiliary tray 50 on which the substantially rectangular substrate P is placed. A window such as a notch 51g is provided near the front end of the side wall 51b, but if the height of the front wall 51f is made lower than the thickness of the standard substantially rectangular substrate P, the window does not need to be provided. Good too. Further, the bulge portion of the front wall portion 51f and the bulge portion 51d of the rear portion of the support auxiliary tray 50 may not be provided.

Further, the support auxiliary tray 50 of the first and second embodiments described above both has a pair of left and right support plate parts 51 and a connecting plate part 52 that connects the rear end parts, and is open to the front in plan view. Although it is formed as a U-shaped frame, it is not limited to this shape. For example, a connecting plate portion may be provided to connect the intermediate portions of the pair of support plate portions 51 in the front-rear direction, or a connecting plate portion may be provided to connect the front end portions of the pair of support plate portions 51.

Further, in the above-described second embodiment, the retainer 60 provided on the lid body 40 includes a contact holding portion 63 that contacts the front edge of each substantially rectangular substrate P, an elastic piece 62, and a convex portion 64. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and for example, the protrusion 64 may not be provided. Moreover, instead of providing the abutting holding part 63 and the elastic piece 62 corresponding to each of the substantially rectangular substrates P, a vertically long abutting holding part is provided so as to span over and abut the plurality of substantially rectangular substrates P. You can.

1 substrate storage container 20 container body, 21 opening 30 shelf section,
31 shelf board part, 31a support part, 31b step part, 31c step surface,
40 Lid body 50 Support auxiliary tray (support auxiliary member),
51 support plate part, 51a main body plate part, 51b side wall part, 51f front wall part,
51g Notch (window)
52 Connecting plate portion 53 Mounting plate portion, 53a First engaging piece, 53b, 53c Second engaging piece
60 Retainer, 62 Elastic piece (connection urging part), 63 Contact holding part, 64 Convex part

Claims (7)

A substrate storage container,
A container body with an opening in the front for loading and unloading the substrate;
A lid body that closes the opening,
Shelf portions for placing substantially circular substrates are provided on both left and right side surfaces of the container body when looking at the opening from the front, and
Each of the left and right shelf portions has a plurality of shelf portions spaced apart from each other in the vertical direction,
A support auxiliary member for supporting a substantially rectangular substrate is removably attached, spanning between the pair of shelf board parts at the same height on the left and right shelf parts,
The support auxiliary member includes a pair of support plate parts that are attached to each of the pair of shelf board parts and extend in the front-rear direction, and a connecting plate part that connects the rear ends of the pair of support plate parts. have,
A board storage container characterized by: At least one stepped portion is provided on either the upper surface or the lower surface of each of the shelf portions, and stands up to form a stepped surface,
First and second engagement pieces are provided on the outer surface in the width direction of each support plate portion of the support auxiliary member at positions shifted from each other in the extension direction and thickness direction of each support plate portion,
When the support plate section is attached to the shelf section, the second engagement piece abuts against the step surface and the one surface of the shelf section, while the first engagement section is attached to the shelf section. comes into contact with the other side of the part,
The substrate storage container according to claim 1, characterized in that: a front wall portion is provided at the front end portion of each of the pair of support plate portions so as to abut both left and right end portions of the front edge portion of the substantially rectangular substrate placed on the support auxiliary member;
The substrate storage container according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: side wall portions opposing left and right side edges of the substantially rectangular substrate placed on the support auxiliary member are provided at a height exceeding the thickness of the substantially rectangular substrate in the pair of support plate portions;
A window portion is provided in at least one of the front wall portion and the side wall portion so that the substantially rectangular substrate can be visually recognized.
The substrate storage container according to claim 3 , characterized in that: The lid body is provided with a retainer for holding the substantially rectangular substrate,
The retainer includes a contact holding part that contacts and holds the front edge of the substantially rectangular substrate, and a contact holding part that connects the contact holding part so as to be displaceable in the front-rear direction with respect to the lid body, and biases the retainer backward. a connecting biasing portion; and a convex portion protruding forward from the front portion of the contact holding portion so as to contact the rear surface of the lid body when the contact holding portion is displaced forward by a predetermined amount. ,
The substrate storage container according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The abutment holding portion of the retainer has a rear end surface that abuts the front edge of the substantially rectangular substrate formed by an arcuate surface having a vertical centerline.
6. The substrate storage container according to claim 5 . A substrate storage container,
A container body with an opening in the front for loading and unloading the substrate;
A lid body that closes the opening,
Shelf portions for placing substantially circular substrates are provided on both left and right side surfaces of the container body when looking at the opening from the front, and
Each of the left and right shelf portions has a plurality of shelf portions spaced apart from each other in the vertical direction,
A support auxiliary member for supporting a substantially rectangular substrate is removably attached, spanning between the pair of shelf board parts at the same height on the left and right shelf parts,
The lid body is provided with a retainer for holding the substantially rectangular substrate,
The retainer includes a contact holding part that contacts and holds the front edge of the substantially rectangular substrate, and a contact holding part that connects the contact holding part so as to be displaceable in the front-rear direction with respect to the lid body, and biases the retainer backward. a connecting biasing portion; and a convex portion protruding forward from the front portion of the contact holding portion so as to contact the rear surface of the lid body when the contact holding portion is displaced forward by a predetermined amount. ,
The abutment holding portion of the retainer has a rear end surface that abuts the front edge of the substantially rectangular substrate formed by an arcuate surface having a vertical centerline.
A board storage container characterized by: