JPH0649523B2 - Load storage facility in the clean room - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a load storage facility in a clean room, which is installed in a clean room and is used for storing dust (such as semiconductors) or an article (load) that is extremely sensitive to temperature changes. .

Generally, for example, as shown in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 57-156903, a load storage facility includes a storage shelf having a plurality of compartment storage spaces in a vertical direction and a horizontal direction, a door provided on the front surface thereof, and a door. The transport means is disposed between the storage shelf and the door, and has a handler that has a handler that can travel on a fixed path along the storage shelf and that can be moved up and down and moved laterally. Then, in the storage rack, a filter is attached to the back surface thereof, and a duct for supplying clean air to the storage rack through the filter is arranged so as to blow the air downward.

According to this conventional type, the air blown down in the duct becomes clean air by passing through the filter, and the clean air is supplied from the back side of the storage shelf to the traveling area of the transport means, thereby improving the product quality. It is said that can be stored without foreign matter adhering.

However, in this conventional type of load storage facility, the clean air supplied from the back side of the storage rack toward the traveling area of the transport means collides with the door provided on the front surface of the main body and becomes a whirlpool state. For this reason, dust generated from the transportation means arranged between the storage shelf and the door or dust adhering to the transportation means rises up and adheres to the product stored in the storage shelf. In the case of semiconductors, their properties are impaired.

Further, it is considered that the clean air flowing out from the back side of the storage shelf in the direction of the traveling area of the transport means is discharged from the opening of the product transfer part, but in that case, dust generated from the transport means is in the middle of the floor. It falls on the surface and collects. The accumulated dust rises up due to the swirling air and traveling of the transportation means and adheres to the products in the storage shelf, and the air flow flows toward the opening, so that the storage shelf near the opening can Dust may adhere to the product stored near the product transfer part.

Further, although not explicitly disclosed in JP-A-57-156903, if all of the air discharged from the storage rack enters the air supply device again, the air will be in a circulating state and the temperature of the air will be To rise.

Further, since the air supply duct is arranged at the upper part of the shelf, the air stays at the upper part of the shelf due to the rising temperature, so that the temperature of the entire clean room gradually rises.

If the product stored on the shelf is a semiconductor such as a wafer, it is sensitive to a minute temperature change, and the yield is extremely adversely affected.

As described above, the conventional type of load storage facility does not consider the temperature rise of the air.

The object of the present invention is to generate a clean air flow from the rear surface side toward the front side facing the loading / unloading device in each compartment storage space of the shelf, and the dust generated in this loading / unloading device part It is an object of the present invention to provide a load storage facility in a clean room that can prevent the transfer to the side and can replace at least a part of the clean air used in the clean room with the air outside the clean room.

In order to achieve the above object, the load storage facility in the clean room according to the present invention is capable of traveling on a shelf having a plurality of compartment storage spaces in the vertical and horizontal directions in the clean room, and on a fixed path along the front surface of the shelf. In the above, a loading / unloading device having a loading / unloading mechanism for loading / unloading a load to / from the plurality of compartment storage spaces in the vertical direction and the lateral direction is provided, and the shelf opens the front surface facing the loading / unloading device. , While arranging a filter on the entire rear surface side, sucking the air in the clean room into the main body of the shelf and passing through the filter from the rear surface side of the filter to each compartment storage space, on the front surface side facing the loading / unloading device. An air supply device for discharging clean air toward the lower part of the shelf is provided, and a floor for discharging at least a part of the air flowing out from each compartment storage space is provided. It is.

According to the configuration of the present invention, at least a part of the clean air whose temperature has risen minutely on the front side of the shelf can be discharged to the outside of the clean room through the floor by the operation of the air supply device. The temperature rise can be suppressed. Then, the clean air generated through the filter flows out from the rear side toward the front side facing the loading / unloading device in each compartment storage space of the shelf, and therefore the dust generated in the loading / unloading device moves to the shelf side. Can be prevented. This enables mechanization and automation of load storage in a clean room.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1
Is a clean room configured so that clean air 4 is blown downward from the ceiling 2 side through a filter 3 and the descending air is sucked under the floor through a mesh type floor 5. Reference numeral 6 denotes a shelf, which is arranged in parallel with a predetermined passage 7.
These shelves 6 are provided with a box-shaped main body 8 that is open at a portion extending from the middle portion to the upper portion of the front surface, a plurality of vertical partition plates 9 that are arranged side by side in the opening portion, and a large number of shelves that are arranged vertically. A horizontal partition plate 10 is formed, and the partition plates 9 and 10 form a plurality of compartment storage spaces 11 in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction, respectively. A pair of left and right arms 12 is arranged in each compartment storage space 11, and a load 13 made of a semiconductor or the like is provided by these arms 12.
Support. Reference numeral 14 denotes a loading / unloading device arranged in the passage 7, which can travel on a fixed path 15 along the shelf 6.

That is, a pair of rails are provided under the passage 7 via the machine frame 16.
17, the main body 18 of the loading / unloading device 14 has a plurality of wheels 19
It is mounted on the rail 17 via. Further, the main body 18 is provided with a traveling drive device 20 which is interlocked with the wheels 19. The traveling drive device 20 is composed of a DC servo motor or the like which is less likely to generate an impact, and is located below the lowermost compartment storage space 11. It is arranged to be positioned. A quadrangular rectangular tubular body 21 is erected from the center of the main body 18, the upper end of the rectangular tubular body 21 is closed by a top plate 22, the lower end is formed in a lower end open portion 23, and the A vertical slit 24 is formed in the center. A vertical penetrating portion 25 communicating with the lower end open portion 23 is formed in the main body 18, and a suction device 26 such as an intake fan facing the penetrating portion 25 from below is arranged.

A movable member 27 is located inside and outside the rectangular tubular body 21 through the slit 24, and is arranged to be movable up and down along the rectangular tubular body 21. That is, an up-and-down guide device 28 of the LM guide type is arranged in the rectangular tube body 21, and this up-and-down guide device 28 has a guide rail 29 vertically attached to the inner surface of the rear portion of the rectangular tube body 21.
And a guided body 30 guided by the guide rail 29 and attached to the rear portion of the movable body 27.

Further, an elevating / lowering drive device 31 is arranged in the rectangular tube body 21. That is, the lifting drive device 31 includes an upper wheel 32 arranged near the top plate 22 and a lower wheel 33 arranged near the lower end open portion 23.
And a cord 34 hung between the two wheels 32 and 33 and fixed to the movable body 27, and an inverter control motor 35 which is interlocked with the lower wheel 33 and mounted on the main body 18. .
The rear side path of the cord body 34 is located inside the protective body 36 attached to the rear outer surface side of the rectangular tubular body 21, and the protective body 36 is also open only at the lower end. The inverter control motor 35 and the traveling drive unit 20
A protective cover 37 is provided above.

Drums 38 and 39, which are biased by springs or the like, are arranged at the upper end and the lower end of the rectangular tubular body 21, respectively, and a sheet curtain (made of nylon or the like) wound on these drums 38 and 39 is used. Four
The lower and upper ends of 0 and 41 are fixed to the movable body 27. An elevating table 42 is integrated with the front part of the movable body 27, and a fork 43, which is an example of a loading / unloading mechanism that can be retracted in the lateral direction, is disposed on the upper part of the elevating table 42. The lifting table 42 is provided with a load / unload mechanism driving device 44 including an inverter control motor.

In the main body 8 of the shelf 6, a filter (chemical filter) 45 is arranged on the rear surface side of the all-compartment storage space 11, and an air supply device 46 including a fan for supplying air to the rear surface side of the filter 45 from below. Is disposed in the main body 8 at the lower part of the shelf. 47 indicates an earth leakage breaker.

The operation will be described below. The loading / unloading of the load 13 into / from the intended compartment storage space 11 of the shelf 6 using the loading / unloading device 14 includes a traveling operation of the loading / unloading device 14 on a fixed path, and an elevating / lowering operation of the lift 42. This can be performed by a combination operation of the fork 43 with the lateral withdrawal operation. At this time, when dust is generated and falls from the load 13 supported by the arms 12 or the fork 43 for loading and unloading the load 13, the dust is received by the horizontal partition plate 10 located therebelow. Will be
Therefore, it is prevented from falling and accumulating on the load 13 storing the lower compartment storage space 11.

During such work, in the clean room 1,
The clean air 4 that is blown downward through the filter 3 descends, and the descending air is sucked under the floor 5, so that its cleanness is ensured. Again fork
When the movable body 42 that supports 43 or the like is raised or lowered, one of the sheet curtains 40 and 41 is automatically fed out and the other is wound, so that the slit 24 through which the movable body 27 passes is always inside. It is in a sealed state from. Therefore, it is possible to prevent dust generated from the elevating guide device 28 and the elevating drive device 31 arranged in the rectangular tube body 21 from remaining in the rectangular tube body 21 and moving to the shelf 6 side.

The lower end opening by the suction device 26 operated at that time
Since the suction force acts on 23, as described above, the dust remaining in the rectangular tubular body 21 is discharged to the floor 5 from the lower end open portion 23 through the through portion 25 along with the suction flow. , All will be sucked and removed under the floor 5. Further, during such an action, the inside of the rectangular tube body 21 tends to have a negative pressure, which can be eliminated by the inflow of the clean air 4 through the slit 24. Further, the inflow of clean air 4 from the outside to the inside can surely prevent the outflow of dust through the slit 24. At that time, the inflow of the clean air 14 is substantially evenly performed in the length direction of the slit 24 by the regulation by the sheet curtains 40 and 41, so that dust generated at any position in the up-down direction in the rectangular tubular body 21 is surely performed. Can be removed.

In the shelf 6, the air in the clean room 1 is sucked into the main body 8 by the operation of the air supply device 46 and is supplied to the filter 45 from the rear surface side. As a result, the air passes through the filter 45 to become the clean air 48, and can flow out from the rear surface side toward the front surface side facing the loading / unloading device 14 in each partitioned storage space 11.

When the air in the clean room 1 is sucked into the main body 8, for example, when the suction port is provided only in the lower front portion of the shelf 6, the clean air 48 flowing out from the compartment storage space 11 flows downward between the passages 7. Since it is sucked into the suction port at the lower part of the front surface of the shelf, the air descending between the passages 7 is a strong descending air flow without overflowing. However, the air sucked from the suction port provided at the lower front of the shelf 6 is sent to the shelf again by the fan that is the air supply device 46, so that the air passing through the fan is in a circulating state, and it is necessary to consider the heat generation of the fan. If not, the temperature of the air will rise gradually. For this reason, when the load 13 stored on the shelf 6 is a semiconductor, it is very sensitive to minute temperature changes, and this temperature rise has a great influence on the yield.

In addition, if the fan inlets are provided on the lower front of the shelf and the lower rear of the shelf, clean air that flows out from the compartment storage space 11
Part of the above will be sucked into the lower inlet of the front of the shelf, and the rest will be sucked into the lower inlet of the rear of the shelf. For this reason, a part of the air that descends through the passage 7 and is sucked into the intake port at the lower part of the front of the shelf becomes a descending air flow without spilling out, but since it is sent to the shelf 6 again by the fan, the air passing through the fan is in a circulating state. The temperature of the air gradually rises due to the heat generated by the fan. On the other hand, the temperature of the air passing through the fan gradually rises because the remaining air sucked into the suction port at the lower rear surface of the shelf also becomes circulating air. Therefore, the yield of semiconductors stored on the shelf 6 is greatly affected.

Even if the fan inlet is provided at the lower rear surface of the shelf 6, the clean air 48 flowing out from the compartment storage space 11 is sucked into the inlet at the lower rear surface of the shelf and becomes circulating air, so that the temperature of the air passing through the fan is reduced. Gradually rises. Therefore, even in this case, the yield of the semiconductors stored on the shelf 6 is greatly affected.

According to the configuration of the present invention described above, the following effects can be expected. That is, since at least a part of the clean air whose temperature has risen minutely on the front side of the shelf due to the operation of the air supply device is discharged to the outside of the clean room through the floor, the temperature rise of the entire device can be suppressed. Further, since the air flowing out from each compartment storage space is configured to be sucked downward, the air flowing out from each compartment storage space is not swirled in the passage, and dust generated from the loading / unloading device rises up, No dust is attached to the products stored in the storage shelves. Further, since dust does not collect on the floor of the passage, dust flowing from the floor due to air flowing out from each compartment storage space does not adhere to the products stored in the storage rack.

Therefore, the load storage facility of the present invention can prevent the adverse effect on the temperature change and dust extremely damaging articles such as semiconductors, and can perform the load storage suitable for the yield.

[Brief description of drawings]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1 is a side view and FIG.
The drawing is a plan view, FIG. 3 is a partial cutaway front view, FIG. 4 is a partial cutaway side view of the loading / unloading device, FIG. 5 is a cutaway plan view of the same portion, and FIG. 6 is a side view of a shelf. 1 ... Clean room, 2 ... Ceiling, 3 ... Filter, 4 ... Clean air, 5 ... Floor, 6 ... Shelf, 8 ...
… Main body, 9 …… vertical partition, 10 …… horizontal partition, 11 …… compartment storage space, 12 …… arms, 13 …… load, 14 …… loading / unloading device,
15: fixed path, 43: fork (an example of loading / unloading mechanism), 45: filter, 46: air supply device, 48 ...
… Clean air.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A shelf having a plurality of compartment storage spaces in a vertical direction and a lateral direction in a clean room, and can travel on a fixed path along the front surface of the shelf, and a plurality of compartment storages in the vertical direction and the lateral direction. A loading / unloading device having a loading / unloading mechanism for loading / unloading a load to / from the space is provided, the shelf opens the front surface facing the loading / unloading device, and a filter is disposed on the entire rear surface side, The air supply device that sucks the air in the clean room into the main body of the shelf and lets the clean air flow out from the rear side of the filter through the filter to each compartment storage space toward the front side facing the loading / unloading device A load storage facility in a clean room, characterized in that it is provided with a floor for discharging at least a part of the air flowing out from each compartment storage space.