JPH062273Y2 - Plate-shaped storage cassette - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention A. The present invention relates to a cassette for stacking and accommodating rectangular plate-like bodies, and particularly to damage a delicate plate-like body such as a film-forming substrate in a plasma CVD apparatus. The present invention relates to a cassette that is suitable to be stored without a key.

2 Conventional Technology Plasma CV for depositing amorphous silicon on a substrate
In the device D, square substrates stored in a stacked state inside the cassette are sequentially taken out by the transfer mechanism, subjected to predetermined processing such as film formation, and then again transferred to another cassette by the transfer mechanism. The so-called cassette-to-cassette method, in which the sheets are sequentially stored, is used.

FIG. 5 shows a conventional cassette used in a plasma CVD apparatus or the like. This cassette C is provided with a large number of guides 02 projecting from the inner surface of a box body 01 whose one side is open. The three sides of the outer periphery of the square substrate B are placed on the substrate 02 and supported.

However, in the conventional cassette C, the width of the opening of the box body 01 needs to be larger than the width of the substrate B in order to insert the substrate B smoothly. There was a problem that the positioning accuracy of the substrate B inside was poor. Moreover, since the area of the contact portion between the guide 02 of the box 01 and the substrate B becomes large, not only the amorphous silicon film formed on the surface of the substrate B is easily damaged, but dust generated by friction of the contact portion is generated. There was a problem that the quality was adversely affected.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has a high positioning accuracy of the plate-shaped body to be housed, and can house a plate-shaped body that can reduce the area of the contact portion on the outer periphery of the plate-shaped body. It is an object to provide a cassette.

B. Configuration of the Invention 1 Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, the present invention comprises a plurality of plate-shaped body supporting devices (U) arranged in multiple stages in the vertical direction, and each plate-shaped body supporting device. A storage cassette for a plate-shaped body (B), wherein a rectangular plate-shaped body (B) is inserted in a diagonal direction with respect to (U), and the plate-shaped body support device (U) is plate-shaped. Horizontal support plates for supporting left and right diagonal lines located on both sides of the diagonal line of the body (B)
(3a, 3b), and provided on the upper surface of this horizontal support plate (3a, 3b),
Frusto-conical positioning spacers (4a, 4b) respectively contacting the two inner sides of the plate-like body (B) in the insertion direction, and the horizontal support plates (3a, 3b) provided on the upper surface, The plate-shaped body (B) is provided with positioning protrusions (5a, 5b) that come into contact with two sides on the front side in the insertion direction, and each plate-shaped body supporting device (U) is connected via the positioning spacers (4a, 4b). The positioning protrusions are connected vertically
It is characterized in that a gap (δ) for inserting and ejecting the plate-shaped body (B) is formed between the upper end of (5a, 5b) and the plate-shaped body supporting device (U) above.

According to the present invention having the above-mentioned configuration, the plate-like body (B) placed on the transport mechanism is moved in the diagonal direction thereof to move the positioning protrusion of the plate-like body supporting device (U) on the lower side. Insert into the gap (δ) formed between the upper and upper plate-shaped body supporting devices (U),
The transport mechanism is lowered at the position where the two inner sides of the plate-like body (B) in the insertion direction come into contact with the positioning spacers (4a, 4b). Then, the plate-like body (B) descends while being guided by the side surfaces of the frustoconical positioning spacers (4a, 4b) on the inner two sides, and the horizontal support plates (3a, 3b) are provided on both sides of the diagonal line. The left and right diagonal portions located are supported. At this time, the plate-shaped body
Positioning spacers (4a, 4b) on the two sides behind (B) in the insertion direction
Abutting against the positioning protrusions (5a, 5a
By making contact with b), the plate-like body (B) is positioned with respect to the horizontal support plates (3a, 3b).

Third Embodiment Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

1 and 2 show a plasma C which is a square plate-shaped body.
1 shows a cassette C for accommodating a film-forming substrate B to be used in a VD apparatus. The cassette C is provided with a bottom plate 1 at a lower part and a top plate 2 at an upper part, and between the bottom plate 1 and the top plate 2. The plate-shaped body supporting devices U are stacked in five layers.

As shown in FIG. 3, each plate-shaped body supporting device U includes a pair of left and right horizontal support plates 3a, 3 arranged to face each other.
board B of these horizontal support plates 3a, 3b.
The two sides on the inner side in the insertion direction are provided with two frustoconical positioning spacers 4a and 4b each having a side surface that is tapered upward and a through hole formed in the center. Also, the substrate B of the horizontal support plates 3a and 3b
On the two sides on the front side in the insertion direction, small-sized truncated cone-shaped positioning projections 5a and 5b, which are also tapered upward, are provided one each on the left and right sides.

The right and left two spacers 6 fixed to the upper surface of the bottom plate 1 (see FIGS. 1 and 2) are provided with columns 7, respectively, and through-holes formed in the positioning spacers 4a and 4b. The cassette C is assembled by inserting the top plate 2 into the upper part of the top plate 2 and tightening the top plate 2 with the screws 8.

As is apparent from FIG. 2, the substrate B is inserted into the cassette C from the direction of the diagonal line L, and the left and right diagonal portions P located on both sides of the diagonal line L are the inner edges of the V-shaped horizontal support plates 3a and 3b. It is supported in a state of being placed along the. The large diameter portions at the lower ends of the positioning spacers 4a and 4b and the positioning protrusions 5a and 5b are brought into contact with each side of the substrate B placed on the horizontal support plates 3a and 3b to perform the positioning. . Further, a gap δ is formed between the upper ends of the positioning protrusions 5a, 5b provided on the front side of the horizontal support plates 3a, 3b and the lower surfaces of the horizontal support plates 3a, 3b arranged above _S. The substrate B is inserted and ejected through this gap δ.

A transport mechanism T (see FIGS. 1 and 2) for inserting and ejecting the substrate B into and from the cassette C is provided with a support plate 10 having four frustoconical positioning projections 9 provided on its upper surface. A large-diameter portion 9a for supporting a substrate for supporting the substrate B is provided around the lower portion of the positioning protrusion 9. Further, the support plate 10 moves forward / backward in the direction of arrow ab by a driving device (not shown) using a step motor while the substrate B is placed between the four positioning protrusions 9. , Ascending / descending movements in the directions of arrows cd.

Next, the operation of the embodiment of the present invention having the above configuration will be described.

The substrate B to be inserted into the cassette C is supported by the support plate 10 of the transport mechanism T.
The substrate B is positioned by the tapered side surfaces of the four positioning protrusions 9. The support plate 10 on which the substrate B is placed has an arrow a between the gap δ and the upper and lower plate-shaped body supporting devices U.
Is inserted in the direction and is stopped at a position where the two back sides of the substrate B come into contact with the four positioning spacers 4a and 4b.
Next, the support plate 10 descends in the direction of arrow d to transfer the substrate B onto the left and right horizontal support plates 3a and 3b, and the vacant support plate 10 retracts in the direction of arrow b. In the process of transferring the substrate B, the two sides of the substrate B are positioned by the positioning spacers 4a and 4b.
Along the tapered side surfaces of the positioning protrusions 5a and 5b, and the other two sides of the substrate B further descend along the tapered side surfaces of the positioning protrusions 5a and 5b. As a result, the substrate B is positioned at the correct position on the horizontal support plates 3a and 3b,
It is supported by its diagonal portion P.

In order to take out the substrate B inserted into the cassette C as described above, the support plate 10 of the transfer mechanism T is reversely changed from a →
The board B is moved between the positioning projections 9 by moving in the c → b direction.
It is carried out by transferring to.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the present invention is not premised on the above-mentioned embodiments, and various small designs can be made without departing from the present invention described in the scope of claims for utility model registration. It is possible to make changes.

For example, as shown in FIGS. 4 (A) and 4 (B), a collar is formed below the positioning spacers 4a and 4b and the positioning protrusions 5a and 5b, and the collar (substrate) B is formed by this collar. It is possible to support That is, the horizontal support plate 3a,
When the substrate (plate-shaped body) B is supported by 3b, it is possible to indirectly support it through a member such as the brim, instead of directly supporting it. In this case, the left and right horizontal support plates 3
It is not always necessary to form a and 3b in a V shape. In this case, the contact area between the plate-shaped body B and the member (the brim) that supports the plate-shaped body B is reduced, and the occurrence of damage on the surface of the plate-shaped body B can be reduced. Further, the substrate (plate-shaped body) B is not limited to the substrate of the plasma CVD apparatus, and the shape thereof is not limited to a square and may be a rectangular plate-shaped body such as a rectangle.

C. Effect of the Invention According to the plate-shaped storage cassette of the present invention described above, when the plate-shaped body is moved in and out of the storage cassette, the plate-shaped body is moved along the diagonal direction of the plate-shaped body and the plate-shaped body is horizontally supported. When it is placed (directly or indirectly) on the plate, it is held between the positioning spacer and the positioning projection while being guided by the frustoconical side surface of the positioning spacer, so that the positioning can be performed extremely precisely. it can. Furthermore, when a plurality of plate-shaped body supporting devices are arranged vertically in multiple stages, the plate-shaped body supporting devices are connected by using the positioning spacers, so that the structure can be simplified.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view showing a plate-shaped storage cassette according to an embodiment of the present invention, taken along the line 1-1 of FIG. 2, and FIG.
2 is a perspective view, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a plate-shaped body supporting device, FIG. 4 is a view showing another embodiment of a positioning spacer and a positioning protrusion, and FIG. 5 is a conventional plate-shaped storage cassette. FIG. δ ... Gap, B ... Substrate (plate), L ... Diagonal line, P ... Diagonal part, U ... Plate support device 3a, 3b ... Horizontal support plates 4a, 4b ... Positioning spacers 5a, 5b ... Positioning Protrusion

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification code Office reference number FI technical display location H01L 21/205

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A plate-shaped body comprising a plurality of plate-shaped body supporting devices arranged in multiple stages in the vertical direction, wherein a rectangular plate-shaped body is inserted into each plate-shaped body supporting device in a diagonal direction thereof and is housed therein. And a horizontal support plate for supporting the left and right diagonal portions located on both sides of the diagonal line of the plate body, and the plate-shaped body supporting device provided on the upper surface of the horizontal support plate, A frusto-conical positioning spacer that abuts on two inner sides of the plate member in the insertion direction, and two side faces that are provided on the upper surface of the horizontal support plate and that are on the front side of the plate member in the insertion direction. The plate-shaped body supporting device is vertically connected via the positioning spacers, and the plate-shaped body is inserted / discharged between the upper end of the positioning protrusion and the plate-shaped body supporting device above. Of a plate-shaped body characterized by the formation of a gap Cassette.