JPH0533900A - Gas supply device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enhance availability factor and safety by disposing a main gas supply cylinder and an auxiliary gas supply cylinder in parallel as a gap supply source and thus changing over to the auxiliary gas supply cylinder at the time of cylinder replenishment in a gas supply device for a semiconductor apparatus. CONSTITUTION:In a gas supply source 13 wherein a main gas supply cylinder 13a and an auxiliary gas supply cylinder 13b of smaller capacity are juxtaposed, both cylinders 13a, 13b are mutually connected in parallel through a main branch pipe 20, a main valve 19, a branch pipe 18, an auxiliary valve 21, etc. The other end of the branch pipe 18 is connected to a production apparatus 15 through a main pipe 16. The capacity of the auxiliary gas supply cylinder 13b is such a quantity as can operate the production apparatus 15 when the empty main gas supply cylinder 13a is being replenished. When the main gas supply cylinder 13a becomes empty, the main valve 19 is closed and the auxiliary valve 21 is opened, so that gas from the auxiliary gas supply cylinder 13b is supplied and by opening an entry valve 23a, the main gas supply cylinder is replenished. replenishment of the auxiliary gas supply cylinder 13b is made by opening an inlet valve 23b while the main gas supply cylinder 13a is being used.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a gas supply device suitable for supplying high-pressure gas used in a semiconductor device manufacturing process, for example.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As is well known, various gases are used in the manufacturing process of semiconductor devices, and the type and amount of use of special material gases are increasing due to higher integration of semiconductor devices and increase in demand. Is in a situation to do. Further, from the viewpoint of rationalization of manufacturing, in order to increase the amount of production per manufacturing facility, the scale of the manufacturing facility, for example, a clean room and a manufacturing apparatus installed in the clean room, and the manufacturing capacity are increasing. In order to respond to the increase in the amount of gas used under such circumstances and to stably supply the gas for a long time, the amount of gas stored in one gas supply device including the special material gas is also increasing.

On the other hand, the special material gas is stored in the gas supply device in a state of being filled in a high-pressure gas cylinder, and is fed to a gas consuming manufacturing device through a pipe, and an empty cylinder is emptied depending on the usage condition. It is always replaced with a fully filled cylinder. The operation of the manufacturing apparatus must be stopped every time the cylinder is replaced, and the production amount of the semiconductor device is restricted by the gas storage amount even if the manufacturing capacity of the manufacturing apparatus is increased. For this reason, there is a gas supply device in which two high-pressure gas cylinders are exchanged alternately and gas is supplied without stopping the operation of the manufacturing device.

A conventional example will be described below with reference to FIG.
FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram. In the figure, a gas supply device 1 is composed of a gas supply source 3 of a required material gas housed in a cabinet 2 and a pipe 4 having one end connected to the gas supply source 3. A manufacturing device 5 serving as a load is connected to the other end of the pipe 4, and the supplied gas is consumed by manufacturing. Further, the gas supply source 3 is composed of two gas supply cylinders 3a and 3b having a relatively large capacity and the same capacity, and these two gas supply cylinders 3a and 3b are high pressure cylinders, respectively, which are connected to the pipe 4. The first valves 6a and 6b are connected to one end in parallel with each other. In addition, 7 is a pipe 3
Is a main valve inserted in series in the middle part of
b is the gas supply cylinders 3a, 3b and the first valves 6a, 6
The second valve has one side connected to the connecting portion with b, and the other side of the second valve 8a, 8b is connected with introducing pipes 9a, 9b for introducing gas from the outside.

Gas is supplied from the gas supply source 3 from, for example, one gas supply cylinder 3a to the first valve 6a.
The material gas is sent to the pipe 4 through the main valve 7, and further supplied to the manufacturing apparatus 5 as a load through the main valve 7 and consumed. At this time, the first valve 6b and the second valve 8a,
8b is closed. When the material gas is consumed and the pressure of the gas supply cylinder 3a drops and becomes empty, the gas supply cylinder 3b filled with the material gas is connected while the second valves 8a and 8b remain closed. The first valve 6b is opened and the first valve 6a is closed. As a result, the supply of the material gas flows through the pipe 4 without being cut off, and the manufacturing apparatuses 5 are continuously operated without stopping the operation. Further, the gas supply cylinder 3a which was emptied immediately while the gas supply cylinder 3b was supplying the gas was replaced with a material gas that was completely filled with the material gas, which was unexpected in the supply by the gas supply cylinder 3b. Be prepared to be prepared in case something goes wrong. For the cylinder replacement, the empty gas supply cylinder 3a is removed from the connecting portion between the first valve 6a and the second valve 8a, and a new gas supply cylinder filled with a material gas (not shown) is replaced with a new one. By connecting to. When replacing the cylinder, connect a nitrogen gas source (not shown) to the introduction pipe 9a, and
Open the second valve 8a with the valve 6a of
The cylinder is replaced while flowing nitrogen gas so that air does not enter the gas passage. After that, the gas supply cylinder is sequentially replaced and replaced by the same procedure, and the operation of the manufacturing apparatus 5 for a long time is realized.

However, in the above prior art,
Although the production apparatus 5 can be operated over a long period of time, the amount of stored gas needs to be approximately twice the amount that is normally used. On the other hand, the amount of gas used has increased along with the increase in production equipment and the increase in production volume.
Along with this, the amount of stored gas will also increase, and the storage of special material gas contained in the high-pressure cylinder will also increase. Since the special material gas is stored in an amount that is approximately twice as much as the amount that is normally used in a state where it is filled in the high-pressure gas cylinder, the storage amount of the high-pressure gas increases, which may cause a safety problem.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the conventional situation in which the safety problem may occur due to the increase of the amount of stored gas as described above. An object of the present invention is to provide a gas supply device with improved safety while maintaining a high operating rate and production amount of equipment.

[0008]

A gas supply device of the present invention has a gas supply source and a pipe whose one end is connected to the gas supply source, and loads a required gas from the gas supply source through the pipe. In this case, the gas supply source is a main gas supply cylinder that has a valve at one end of the pipe and constantly supplies the loads connected in parallel with each other, and a sub gas of a smaller capacity than the main gas supply cylinder. Has a supply cylinder,
When replacing the main gas supply cylinder, the sub gas supply cylinder is switched to be connected to the pipe to supply the required gas to the load.

[0009]

In the gas supply device configured as described above, the main gas supply cylinder for performing steady supply of the gas supply source and the sub gas supply cylinder having a smaller capacity than this are connected in parallel to the pipe by providing a valve. With this configuration, the gas required for the load is constantly supplied from the main gas supply cylinder. Then, when the main gas supply cylinder is almost empty, the valve is operated to switch the supply of the required gas to the load from the small-capacity sub-gas supply cylinder, and supply from the sub-gas supply cylinder. During this period, replace the empty main gas supply cylinder with a fully charged one. Subsequently, the supply of the required gas to the load is performed from the replaced main gas supply cylinder so that the supply of the required gas to the load is not stopped. In addition, the sub gas supply cylinder, which has become nearly empty during the replacement time of the main gas supply cylinder, is replaced with a fully filled one. By doing so, the total amount of gas to be stored can be reduced, and the safety can be improved while maintaining a high operating rate of the manufacturing equipment.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram. In the figure, a gas supply device 11 is a cabinet 12 installed near a manufacturing facility.
And a gas supply source 13 composed of a high-pressure cylinder of a material gas such as a special material gas housed in the cabinet 12, and a pipe 14 connected to the gas supply source 13. Then, a plurality of manufacturing apparatuses 15 serving as loads are connected to the pipe 14, and the supplied material gas is consumed by manufacturing the semiconductor device.

The pipe 14 is a main pipe 16 arranged from the cabinet 12 to the vicinity of the manufacturing device 15, a distribution pipe 17 connected between one end of the main pipe 16 and each manufacturing device 15, and a main pipe. A branch pipe 18 having one end connected to the other end of 16 and branching in three directions; and a main branch pipe 20 having one end connected to one of the other ends of the branch pipes 18 and branching in three directions, One end is a sub valve 21 at the remaining end of the branch pipe 18.
And a sub-branch pipe 22 that branches in three directions. Introducing pipes 24a and 24b for introducing gas from the outside are connected to one of the other ends of the main branch pipe 20 and one of the other ends of the sub branch pipes 22, respectively, via introducing valves 23a and 23b. There is.

Meanwhile, the gas supply source 13 is relatively large, for example, a main gas supply cylinder 13a of 7m ^3, smaller capacity than the main gas supply cylinder 13a, for example constituted by a secondary gas supply cylinder 13b of 0.5 m ³ Has been done. The main gas supply cylinder 13a has a gas outlet provided with a pressure gauge and a pressure reducing valve (not shown) connected to the remaining end of the main branch pipe 20, and the auxiliary gas supply cylinder 13b also has a pressure gauge and a pressure gauge (not shown). The gas outlet provided with the pressure reducing valve is connected to the remaining end of the auxiliary branch pipe 22. The gas capacity of the main gas supply cylinder 13a is an amount corresponding to the gas quantity that is constantly supplied to the manufacturing apparatus 15 in order to perform normal manufacturing for a long time, and the gas capacity of the sub gas supply cylinder 13b is
At least during the short time required to replace the empty main gas supply cylinder 13a with a fully charged one.
This is an amount corresponding to the amount of gas that allows the manufacturing apparatus 15 to continue operating.

With the above structure, the normal supply of the material gas to the manufacturing apparatus 15 from the gas supply source 13 through the pipe 14 is performed as follows. That is, with the sub valve 21 and the introduction valves 23a and 23b closed and the main valve 19 opened, the main gas supply cylinder 13 is opened.
The material gas whose pressure is reduced to a predetermined pressure by a pressure reducing valve is fed from the gas outlet of a to the main branch pipe 20, flows through the branch pipe 18 and the main pipe 16, and is supplied to each manufacturing apparatus 15 through the distribution pipe 17. Then, the material gas supplied to the manufacturing apparatus 15 is consumed by manufacturing the semiconductor device. Main gas supply cylinder 13 due to consumption of material gas
The main gas supply cylinder 13a is replaced when the internal gas pressure of a decreases to a preset pressure.

To replace the main cylinder, first, by opening the sub valve 21, the sub gas supply cylinder 13b is sent out from the gas outlet, and the material gas whose pressure is reduced to a predetermined pressure by the pressure reducing valve is passed through the sub branch pipe 22. It is fed to the branch pipe 18. Then, by closing the main valve 19, the supply of the material gas from the main gas supply cylinder 13a is stopped. As a result, the material gas from the sub gas supply cylinder 13b is supplied to each manufacturing apparatus 15 through the main pipe 16 and the distribution pipe 17. Then, while the material gas is being supplied from the sub gas supply cylinder 13b, a nitrogen gas source (not shown) is connected to the introduction pipe 24a, and the main valve 1
With the valve 9 closed, the introduction valve 23a is opened, and the main branch pipe 2
The main gas supply cylinder 13a whose pressure has dropped is removed from the main branch pipe 20 while flowing nitrogen gas so that air does not enter the gas flow path such as 0, and in place of this, a material gas (not shown) is fully filled. Another main gas supply cylinder having the same capacity as the main gas supply cylinder 13a is newly connected. Thus, the replacement of the main cylinder is completed.

After the replacement of the main cylinder is completed, the introduction pipe 2
The supply of nitrogen gas from 4a is stopped by closing the introduction valve 23a and disconnecting the nitrogen gas source. Subsequently, while introducing a mixed gas of nitrogen gas and material gas from the gas outlet of another replaced main gas supply cylinder, the introduction valve 2
3a is opened, the nitrogen gas in the main branch pipe 20 is discharged and replaced with the material gas, and the introduction valve 23a is closed. And
The main valve 19 is opened so that the material gas is fed to the branch pipe 18 through the main branch pipe 20 from the gas outlet of another replaced main gas supply cylinder. Next, the sub valve 21 is closed so that the supply of the material gas from the sub gas supply cylinder 13b is stopped.

After the supply of the material gas from another replaced main gas supply cylinder is started, the sub gas supply cylinder 13b that has consumed the material gas is replaced. To replace the sub cylinder, first connect a nitrogen gas source (not shown) to the introduction pipe 24b, and then introduce the introduction valve 23b with the sub valve 21 closed.
Open, and while the nitrogen gas is flowing so that air does not enter the gas flow path of the sub-branch pipe 22 or the like, the sub-gas supply cylinder 13b whose pressure has dropped is removed from the sub-branch pipe 22 and replaced with a material gas not shown. Is newly connected to another auxiliary gas supply cylinder 13b having the same capacity as the auxiliary gas supply cylinder 13b that is fully filled. Subsequently, the supply of nitrogen gas from the introduction pipe 24b is stopped by closing the introduction valve 23b and disconnecting the nitrogen gas source. Further, while introducing a mixed gas of nitrogen gas and material gas from the gas outlet of another replaced auxiliary gas supply cylinder, the introduction valve 23b is opened, and the nitrogen gas in the auxiliary branch pipe 22 is discharged and replaced with the material gas. Two
Close 3b. In this way, the replacement of the auxiliary cylinder is completed.

After that, by sequentially switching and replacing the main and sub gas supply cylinders by the same procedure as described above, the manufacturing apparatus 15 can be operated for a long time.

According to the present embodiment configured as described above, the amount of gas stored in the gas supply device 11 may be approximately half, and especially for the gas supplied by the high pressure cylinder such as the special material gas. , The amount of high-pressure gas stored in the gas supply device 11 is approximately halved. That is, for example, one kind of gas volume may be steady supply a single cylinder of 7m ³ / cylinder, and 7m ³ Conventional min steady supply, then a total of 14m ³ which supplies worth 7m ³ is stored However, in the case of this embodiment, it is 7 m as a constant supply amount.
³ and 0.5m ³ used for cylinder replacement 7.
5m ³ will be stored, and the storage amount will be halved. For this reason, the manufacturing apparatus 15 can be continuously operated, and the high-pressure gas can be stored in a good condition for safety while maintaining the operating rate and the production amount of the manufacturing equipment at a high level. Also, in the case where the types of gas used in manufacturing are diverse, the total amount of gas stored in one gas supply device increases as the number of gas types increases, and the storage amount of high-pressure gas amount should be halved. Is very useful for safety and because it reduces the stock of material that is not used immediately.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but can be implemented with appropriate modifications within the scope of the invention.

[0020]

As is apparent from the above description, the present invention is configured such that a main gas supply cylinder that performs steady supply and a sub gas supply cylinder that has a smaller capacity than that are connected in parallel and switchably. By doing so, it is possible to improve the safety while maintaining the operating rate and the production amount of the manufacturing equipment at a high level.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 ... Gas supply device 13 ... Gas supply source 13a ... Main gas supply cylinder 13b ... Sub gas supply cylinder 14 ... Piping 15 ... Manufacturing device (load) 16 ... Main pipe 17 ... Distribution pipe 18 ... Branch pipe 19 ... Main valve 20 ... Main Branch pipe 21 ... Sub valve 22 ... Sub branch pipe

Claims (1)

Claim: What is claimed is: 1. A gas supply source and a pipe, one end of which is connected to the gas supply source, for supplying a required gas from the gas supply source to a load through the pipe. In the above, the gas supply source has a valve at one end of the pipe and performs a steady supply to the loads connected in parallel with each other, and a sub gas supply having a smaller capacity than the main gas supply cylinder. A gas supply device, comprising: a cylinder, wherein the sub gas supply cylinder is switched to be connected to the pipe when the main gas supply cylinder is replaced to supply a required gas to the load.