JPH0626262U - Buffer support for wafer carrier - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] In a container for transporting and transporting wafers, the purpose is to develop a buffer holder for preventing damage due to vibration of the wafer and generation of wear debris due to vibration friction. According to the present invention, the upper outer diameters of aligned wafers are pressed and held by elastic pieces 23a and 23b so that the wafers stored in the wafer carrier do not vibrate in the container. Adjacent elastic pieces 23a and 23b are rectangular parallelepiped formed with a vertical step, and a V-shaped holding portion 24 is formed at the lower end of the rectangular piece. Since there are no slits between the elastic pieces, accidents such as sandwiching the wafer are eliminated.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to a wafer buffer support for a wafer carrier for safe transportation of semiconductor wafers without damage or contamination.

[0002]

[Prior art]

 Containers for transporting and transporting semiconductor wafers include a wafer carrier for storing the wafer, a container (main body and lid) for storing the wafer, and a semiconductor wafer buffer support for protecting the wafer from damage due to vibration during transportation. It is composed of a combination of.

The wafer carrier is required to match the dimensions of the carrier made of a fluororesin for wafer processing, in particular, the alignment pitch of the wafer for the convenience of semiconductor manufacturers, but this pitch is internationally recognized. It is unified to 4.76 mm (3/16 inch). Wafer cushion supports are typically attached to the lid of a container and serve to protect the wafer during transport from damage due to vibration and shavings generated by rubbing of the carrier material. For this purpose, in order to securely support each wafer, the shock-absorbing support is composed of a rectangular elastic member corresponding to each wafer and a wafer holding member provided at the tip of the elastic member. It is common to take the structure to arrange according to.

[0004]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 By thus separating the holders so as to hold each of the wafers that can be accommodated in the wafer carrier, each holder has its own elasticity, and therefore even if there is some variation in the diameter of the wafer. Although the wafers can be held at almost the same pressure, the pitch between the aligned wafers is as small as 4.76 mm, and therefore the width of each comb-teeth supporting tool corresponding thereto is the same as the above-mentioned wafer alignment pitch. The size is obtained by subtracting the width of the slit for separately forming each comb tooth from (4.76). Therefore, not only is it thin and weak, but this slit also causes contamination of the wafer.

In a mold for molding such a comb tooth-shaped indicator with plastic, it is not possible to reduce the width of the slit between the comb teeth to 0.5 to 1 mm or less because of the strength and structural restrictions. It is impossible. For example, in order to manufacture this slit with a size of 0.5 mm or less, a razor-shaped flat plate with a size of 0.5 mm or less is incorporated in the mold in the molding mold, and the inside of the mold is used to form each comb tooth type support. However, the plastic filling pressure for molding causes distortion in the partition plate, resulting in an error in the size of the molded product, or molten resin in the part where the partition plate is installed. Burrs that infiltrate and cause contamination of the wafer may be generated, and even the mold may be damaged.

Therefore, it is customary that the width of the slit in the comb-teeth type holder is abnormally 0.5 to 1 mm. When a container loaded with a wafer is covered with a lid, the comb-shaped support attached to the inner surface of the lid comes in contact with each wafer to hold the wafer, but a misalignment often occurs in the alignment of the wafer. The wafer may be sandwiched in the slit of 0.5 to 1 mm or more, and during transportation, the wafer causes sliding friction between the side surface of the support and the wafer carrier due to vibration. The friction causes abrasion debris of the plastic, and the abrasion debris contaminates the wafer, making it unusable as a wafer. In addition, a wafer is often sandwiched in the slit, and the wafer is often distorted or deformed, resulting in a damage accident.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 In order to solve the above problems of the prior art, the inventors of the present invention have earnestly studied the structure of the wafer cushioning support, and as described in detail below, a gap for separating each comb-teeth type support elastic piece. In order to eliminate the (slit) and prevent the wafer from being caught, each of the supporting elastic pieces is formed with a step.

[0008]

【Example】

 A buffer support for a wafer container according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, in the container for transporting the wafer, the wafer loaded in the wafer carrier is stored in the container body, and the wafer is prevented from sliding or being damaged in the carrier by vibration during transportation. Pressing with a cushioning support and capping it from above is similar to a conventional wafer container, and the feature of the present invention lies in the support for pressing the wafer.

The wafer cushion support 20 has an outer frame 21 housed and held inside the lid 10 of the container. Walls 22 and 22 are provided so as to be opposed to each other on the inner sides of two opposite sides of the outer frame 21, and long and short rectangular elastic pieces 23a and 23b are alternately arranged at the lower ends thereof to form a step having substantially the same size as its thickness. Is attached and projected in the opposite direction. The width of the long and short rectangular elastic pieces 23a, 23b is the same as the wafer alignment interval (4.71 mm), and the length of the elastic pieces when placed on the container 2 in which the wafer W is housed. The V-shaped holding portion 24 engraved on the lower surfaces of 23a and 23b has a size required to sufficiently press and hold the outer diameter of the upper portion of the wafer W. Therefore, the elastic piece 23a located in the lower stage is shorter than the elastic piece 23b located in the upper stage.

The lid 1 having the wafer cushioning support 20 of the present invention having the above-mentioned configuration sandwiched and held on the inner surface thereof is fitted to the upper portion of the container 2 containing the wafer carrier 3 containing the wafer W, and the lid 1 and the engaging convex portion 6 provided so as to be connected to the strip-shaped step portion 4 on the peripheral edge of the opening of the container 2 and the engaging concave portion 7 provided on the strip-shaped step portion 5 by fitting the lid 1 and the container 2 A tight bond is made. In such a state, the rectangular elastic pieces 23a and 23b of the wafer buffer support 20 of the present invention press and hold the upper outer diameter portion of the wafer W housed in the V-shaped holding portion 24.

[0011]

【The invention's effect】

 As described above, the wafer cushioning support of the present invention has the rectangular elastic pieces 23a and 23b alternately having steps and different lengths, so that the slits separating the elastic pieces are separated from each other. Therefore, when the wafer W stored in the wafer cartridge is pressed from above, the wafer W is not accidentally pinched in this slit, and is reliably pressed and fixed to the wafer holding portion 24. It was As a result, the wafer is prevented from coming into contact with the side surface of the elastic piece 23 due to vibration during transportation, causing scratches or abrasion debris to be contaminated or damaged.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment and structure of a wafer container equipped with a wafer buffer support of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the wafer buffer support of the present invention.

3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 lid 2 container 3 wafer carrier 4 band-shaped step 5 band-shaped step 6 engaging convex part 7 engaging concave part 20 wafer buffer support 21 outer frame 22 vertical wall 23a rectangular elastic piece 23b rectangular elastic piece 24 wafer holding Department

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A shock absorber support equipped with a large number of parallel rectangular elastic bodies for pressing and holding a wafer placed on a wafer carrier, wherein an inverted V-shaped wafer holding portion is provided on the lower surface of the tip. A buffer carrier for a wafer carrier, characterized in that the elastic pieces 23a, 23b are alternately arranged with a step in the vertical direction to minimize the gap on the plane between the adjacent elastic pieces 23a, 23b.