JPH0559844U - Wafer carrier holding mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] To enable attachment of a wafer carrier holder to a wafer carrier in a narrow space, which was conventionally impossible to insert. [Structure] A hook portion 39 of a wafer carrier holder 41 for mounting the wafer carrier 11 is provided on the wafer carrier 1.
The recess 11 near the flange 11a provided on one side surface
It is formed so small that it can be inserted into d.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to a wafer carrier holding mechanism used for holding and carrying a wafer carrier.

[0002]

[Prior Art]

 In a semiconductor manufacturing process, a wafer, which is an object to be manufactured, is housed in a wafer carrier and set in a manufacturing apparatus or an inspection apparatus. This wafer carrier is usually stored in a carrier box for storage / transportation, and is taken out of the carrier box when the wafer is processed and set in the apparatus. Then, the wafer carrier is accommodated with the wafers which have undergone the intended processing, then removed from the apparatus, and accommodated again in the carrier box. At this time, it is not preferable to directly handle the wafer carrier in order to keep the wafer dust-free. Therefore, the wafer carrier is held and transported by using a wafer carrier holder (handle) as described in the catalog (Fluoroware CAT. No. 205) of Dainichi Trading Co., Ltd.

These handles will be described with reference to FIGS. 6A, 6B and 7C and FIGS. 7A and 7B. FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing a conventional holding mechanism using a handle provided with two hook portions. As shown in FIG. 6 (a), a grip portion 3 is projectingly provided on one surface of a plate-shaped main body 1 having a vertical surface shape, and a claw-shaped first portion is provided on an upper portion of the other surface of the main body 1. A pair of hooks 5 are provided so as to project. Further, a second hooking portion 7 having a hook-like claw with an edge bent upward is provided at a lower portion of the other surface of the main body 1, and the main body 1, the gripping portion 3, the first hooking portion 5, A handle 9 is formed by the two hook portions 7. As shown in FIG. 6B, the handle 9 configured in this manner inserts the first hook portion 5 from the upper opening of the flange 11a on the front surface of the wafer carrier 11, and the first hook portion 5 is directly attached to the flange 11a. After sliding the inner side downward, the second hooking portion 7 is hooked on the lower edge 11b of the front surface of the wafer carrier, so that the wafer carrier 11 is mounted.

Further, FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing a conventional holding mechanism using a handle having a stopper at a hook portion. As shown in FIG. 7 (a), a grip portion 15 is projectingly provided on one surface of a plate-shaped main body 13 having a vertical surface shape, and edge portions face each other on both sides of the other surface of the main body 13. A hooking portion 17 that is bent into a claw shape is projected. That is, the slit 19 is formed between the hook portion 17 and the main body 13. A stopper 21 for preventing the slip-off from the slit 19 is formed in the lower portion of the hook portion 17, and a handle 23 is constituted by the main body 13, the grip portion 15, the hook portion 17, and the stopper 21. As shown in FIG. 7 (b), the handle 23 configured as described above is provided with the hook portion 17 from below the flange 11 a on the front surface of the wafer carrier 11 so as to insert the flange 11 a into the slit 19. The wafer carrier 11 is mounted by lifting and applying the lower edge of the flange 11a to the stopper 21.

[0005]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 As shown in FIG. 5, the normal wafer carrier 11 is stored in a carrier box 25 and stored or transported. Therefore, the wafer carrier 11 that has been transported to the predetermined process must first be taken out from the carrier box 25. However, with the handle 9, as shown in FIG. 6 (c), after the first hooking portion 5 is hooked on the flange 11a, the inside of the flange 11a is slid downward, and the second hooking portion 7 is moved to the front surface of the wafer carrier. In order to hook on the lower edge 11b, a margin X for rotating the second hooking portion 7 around the first hooking portion 5 is required. Therefore, a space Y equal to or larger than the margin X is required between the inner circumference 27 of the carrier box 25 and the front surface 11c of the wafer carrier. Therefore, if the space Y cannot be secured, the handle 9 could not be used.

Further, in the handle 23, when the wafer carrier 11 is stored in the carrier box 25, the lower edge of the flange 11 a is lower than the upper edge 29 of the carrier box 25 as shown in FIG. 7B. Therefore, the upper edge 29 becomes an obstacle and the hook portion 17 cannot be attached to the flange 11a.

The present invention has been made in view of the above situation, and by effectively utilizing a flange or the like, the handle can be mounted even in a narrow space that cannot be conventionally mounted, and the conventional handle cannot be inserted. An object of the present invention is to provide a wafer carrier holding mechanism in which a handle can be attached to a wafer carrier contained in a carrier box and the wafer carrier can be held horizontally and vertically.

[0008]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 In order to achieve the above object, the structure of the wafer carrier holding mechanism according to the present invention is such that one side surface of the wafer carrier is provided with a pair of flanges parallel to the one side surface, and a recess is formed in the vicinity of the flange on the one side surface. In the wafer carrier holding mechanism in which the hook portion for mounting the wafer carrier is formed on the wafer carrier holder by inserting it into the wafer carrier holder, the hook portion of the wafer carrier holder must be large enough to be inserted into the space inside the wafer carrier recess. It is characterized by being formed.

[0009]

[Action]

 When the wafer carrier is stored in the carrier box, the recessed space near the flange is used to insert one hooking part of the wafer carrier holder into the carrier box along the space and the other hooking part. The part is inserted into the carrier box along the space outside the flange, and when the hook part enters below the lower end of the flange, it is laterally displaced and lifted upward, making insertion impossible in the past. The wafer carrier can be mounted on the wafer carrier holder in the narrow space.

[0010]

【Example】

 Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of a wafer carrier holding mechanism according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 is a plan view showing a state in which a handle is inserted in a wafer carrier holding mechanism according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a handle in a wafer carrier holding mechanism according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a handle for a wafer carrier. And FIG. 4 is a plan view showing details of the A portion of FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, a handle 33 is projectingly provided on one surface of a plate-shaped main body 31 having a vertical surface, and a grip 35 is formed at the tip of the handle 33. The grip portion 35 has an optimum angle with respect to the main body 31 so that an operator can automatically operate the wafer carrier mounted on the other surface side of the main body 31 horizontally and vertically. At the lower ends on both sides of the other surface of the main body 31, there are bent plate-shaped connecting portions 37 which are in a vertical plane shape and which are orthogonal to the other surface. At the tip of each connecting portion 37, a rectangular plate-shaped hooking portion 39 is formed which is vertical and orthogonal to the other surface and extends upward. Therefore, a slit is formed between the hooking portion 39 and the main body 31, and the connecting portion 37 located at the lower end of the slit acts as a stopper. A wafer carrier holding tool (handle) 41 is configured by the main body 31, the grip portion 35, the connecting portion 37, and the hook portion 39.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, a pair of flanges 11a parallel to the front surface is formed on both front surfaces of the wafer carrier 11, and the flanges 11a are connected to the wafer carrier 11 on one side adjacent to each other. There is. The flange 11a is connected to one side on the adjacent side, and the other side is in a protruding state. By the way, as shown in FIG. 4, the vicinity of the flange 11a is a concave portion 11d extending vertically along the flange 11a. The recess 11d is recessed from the front surface 11c of the wafer carrier 11 to the inside of the wafer carrier 11. As shown in FIG. 1, when the wafer carrier 11 is housed in the carrier box 25, a space 11e is formed between the inner surface of the carrier box 25 and the recess 11d. The hook portion 39 of the handle 41 is formed to be small enough to be inserted into the space 11e.

In the wafer carrier holding mechanism thus configured, as shown in FIG. 3, when the wafer carrier 11 is outside the carrier box 25 (see FIG. 5), the handle 41 is inside the flange 11a. The hook portion 39 is inserted from the lower side to the upper side, and the connecting portion 37 is brought into contact with the lower end of the flange 11a. The hook portion 39 is inserted inside the flange 11a, and the connecting portion 37 abuts on the lower end of the flange 11a, whereby the mounting of the handle 41 on the wafer carrier 11 is completed. At this time, the slit between the main body 31 and the hooking portion 39 is set to an optimum distance according to the size of the flange 11a so that the wafer carrier 11 is securely fixed to the handle 41. In this way, after the mounting is completed, the wafer carrier 11 can be freely operated horizontally and vertically by holding the grip portion 35 of the handle 41. Then, after the wafer carrier 11 is attached to the target device, the handle 41 is removed from the wafer carrier 11 in the reverse order of the above.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5, when the wafer carrier 11 is housed in the carrier box 25, the space 11 e (see FIG. 1) near the flange 11 a is used, and one of the handles 41 of the handle 41 is used. While inserting the hook portion 39 from above the carrier box 25 along the space 11e, the other hook portion 39 is inserted into the carrier box 25 along the space outside the other flange 11a (see FIG. 1), When the upper end of the hook portion 39 is below the lower end of the flange 11a, the handles 41 are laterally moved to move both hook portions 39 to the inside of the flange 11a, and the handle 41 is pulled upward. .. After that, as described above, the attachment of the handle 41 to the wafer carrier 11 is completed by bringing the connecting portion 37 into contact with the lower end of the flange 11a. After the mounting is completed, the wafer carrier 11 is freely operated horizontally and vertically by holding the grip portion 35 of the handle 41 as described above. On the contrary, when the wafer carrier 11 fixed to the handle 41 is housed in the carrier box 25, it can be carried out in the completely reverse procedure to the above-mentioned mounting.

As described above, the wafer carrier holding mechanism according to the present invention can be used not only as a manual transfer device but also as a magic hand of a transfer robot, thereby occupying an exclusive space of the holding mechanism. It can be made compact.

[0015]

[Effect of the device]

 As described in detail above, in the wafer carrier holding mechanism according to the present invention, since the hook portion of the wafer carrier holder is formed in such a size that it can be inserted into the space inside the wafer carrier concave portion, one of the hooks is held. Part is inserted into the carrier box along the space, and the other hook part is inserted into the carrier box along the space outside the flange, so that the wafer carrier can be held even in a narrow space where it could not be inserted in the past. The tool can be mounted on the wafer carrier. Further, by using the wafer carrier holding mechanism according to the present invention, it is not necessary to secure a space for mounting the wafer carrier holder on the wafer carrier, and a compact automatic transfer system can be constructed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a state where a handle of a wafer carrier holding mechanism according to the present invention is inserted.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a handle of a wafer carrier holding mechanism according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a mounting state of a handle on a wafer carrier.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing details of a portion A in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a wafer carrier housed in a carrier box.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing a conventional holding mechanism using a handle provided with two hooks.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing a conventional holding mechanism using a handle having a stopper provided on a hook portion.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 Wafer Carrier 11a Flange 11d Recess 11e Space in Recess 39 Hook 41 41 Wafer Carrier Holder (Handle)

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A hook for mounting the wafer carrier by mounting a pair of flanges parallel to the one side surface on one side of the wafer carrier, the recess being formed in the vicinity of the flange on the one side surface, and being inserted inside the flange. A wafer carrier holding mechanism having a portion formed on a wafer carrier holder, wherein the hooking portion is formed in a size that can be inserted into a space inside the recess.