JPH09115997A - Accommodation cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an accommodation cassette which can reduce adhesion of such foreign matter as dust or adhesion of such mist as organic gas onto a substrate in transportation and storage steps and which also can automate substrate extracting and accommodating works. SOLUTION: The accommodation cassette is of a box shape and is made up of an upper member 1, a lower member 2, and a support 3 provided as erected on the lower member 2 for supporting the upper member 1. The support 3 is formed therein with an opening 6 through which a user can horizontally or vertically extract a plurality of substrates 7 and also can accommodate them in the cassette. In this case, a pivotable mechanism A is attached to both sides of the upper member 1 located on the opening 6 side, and a door 4 is openably connected to the upper member by means of the pivotable mechanism A to open and sealingly close the opening 6.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a storage cassette. More specifically, the present invention relates to a storage cassette for transporting and storing glass substrates used in liquid crystal display devices.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional storage cassette, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, comprises a flat plate-shaped upper body 50, a lower body 51, and a plurality of supporting members 52, and a groove 53 formed on the inner wall surface of the supporting member 52. Are formed. The substrate 54 can be inserted into the groove 53 through the opening 55 and housed. The storage cassette in which the substrate 54 is stored is transported from the mounting portion of the substrate manufacturing apparatus to the mounting portion of another substrate manufacturing apparatus in the manufacturing process in the clean room, or is stored in the mounting portion of the substrate manufacturing apparatus and the cassette storage. Transport and storage are repeated between departments. Although the atmosphere in the clean room has a sufficient air cleanliness, foreign matter such as dust scattered from the operator or the floor surface during the transportation and storage of the storage cassette adheres to the substrate surface, or when the substrate is processed. Mist such as organic gas may float in the clean room and adhere to the substrate surface. If the substrate is processed while the foreign matter or mist remains attached, the quality of the liquid crystal display device may deteriorate. Therefore, conventionally, a storage cassette is stored in a container, or a storage cover having an upper plate and four side plates is covered from above the storage cassette,
It is designed to be transported and stored.

[0003]

However, in the method of accommodating the accommodating cassette in the container or covering the accommodating cover, since the container and the accommodating cover are separate from the accommodating cassette, the operation of accommodating them in the container and There is a problem that handling such as covering the storage cover is troublesome, and automation is difficult when the substrate is taken out of the storage cassette or stored in the storage cassette.

In view of the above circumstances, the present invention can reduce the adhesion of foreign matters such as dust and the adhesion of mist such as organic gas to the substrate in the steps of carrying and storing.
An object of the present invention is to provide a storage cassette that can automate the work of taking out and storing the substrate.

[0005]

A storage cassette according to the present invention comprises an upper body, a lower body, and a support body which stands on the lower body and supports the upper body. A box-type storage cassette having an opening through which a substrate can be taken out and stored horizontally and vertically, for opening and closing the opening by an opening / closing mechanism attached to both sides of the upper body on the opening side. It is characterized in that it is provided with a door that is openably and closably supported.

[0006]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The storage cassette of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the storage cassette of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the opening / closing mechanism in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is an enlarged view showing another embodiment of the opening / closing mechanism, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway plan view of the opening / closing mechanism in FIG. 3.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the storage cassette is
A box-shaped body including an upper body 1, a lower body 2, a support body 3 standing upright on the lower body 2 to support the upper body 1, and a door 4 supported by an opening / closing mechanism A so as to be openable and closable. Presents.
A storage groove 5 is formed on the inner wall surface of the support body 3,
The door 4 is opened so that a plurality of substrates 7 can be taken out and stored in the storage groove 5 of the support 3 horizontally and vertically from the opening 6. In the present embodiment, the support body 3 is composed of a plurality of support members 3a, and in order to prevent the intrusion of foreign matters and the like, a dustproof seat cover 8 is detachably attached to the side peripheral portion of each support member 3a. And holds the inside of the storage cassette in a sealed state. Reference numeral 9 is a reinforcing band. Since the seat cover 8 can be removed when cleaning the storage cassette, cleaning of foreign matters such as dust adhering to the cassette itself can be performed relatively easily. The present invention is not limited to a plurality of support members,
It is also possible to use a flat plate support on three sides.

The opening / closing mechanism A is attached to both sides of the upper body 1 on the side of the opening 6 and is composed of a flange 10 and a rotary support shaft 11 inserted into the flange 10. The door 4 is fixed to the peripheral surface of the rotation support shaft 11. Further, since a rectangular rotary knob 13 having four cut surfaces 12 is attached to the shaft end of the rotary support shaft 11, the door 4 can be opened and closed by rotating the rotary knob 13. . And the cut surface 1
2 is easy to grasp, so the door 4
Can be opened and closed automatically. A dustproof cover is preferably attached to the bearing portion of the rotary support shaft 11 in order to prevent dust such as abrasion powder that tends to be generated when the door 4 is opened and closed by the rotary motion of the rotary support shaft 11.

The door 4 is provided with a fixing mechanism for fixing the door 4 when the door 4 is fully opened and closed. The fixing mechanism includes a first suction member 14 attached to the door 4 and a second suction member 15 attached to the upper body 1 and the support body 3. In the present embodiment, the first attraction member 14 and the second attraction member 15 use the first attraction member 14 as a magnet and the second attraction member 15 as a magnetic body. However, the first attraction member may be a magnetic body and the second attraction member may be a magnet, or the first attraction member and the second attraction member may be concave and convex. You can also Although the second suction member 15 is attached to the support body 3, it may be attached to the lower body 2 in the present invention. The fixing mechanism can hold the closed position of the door 4 during transportation and storage of the storage cassette, so that the substrate 7 does not pop out due to vibration or shock. Further, when the substrate 7 is taken out from the storage cassette or stored in the cassette, the open position of the door 4 can be held, so that the door 4 may be suddenly closed due to vibration or shock, and the substrate 7 may be damaged. Absent. Reference numeral 16 denotes a carrying handle, which is rotatably supported so that it can be laid down sideways when the door 4 is fully opened.

Next, another embodiment of the opening / closing mechanism will be described.
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, in the opening / closing mechanism B, a bearing 22 is attached to the bearing portion of the rotary support shaft 21 of the door 4 to reduce wear due to the rotational movement of the rotary support shaft 21. The bearing 22 is composed of a cylindrical portion 23 that receives the radial of the rotary support shaft 21 and a flange portion 24 that receives the thrust. As the bearing 22, for example, a sintered bearing, a resin bearing, a ball bearing, a roller bearing or the like can be used. Further, in this embodiment, a dustproof cover 25 is attached in order to reduce dust generated from the bearing 22 when the door 4 is opened and closed. Since the mounting gap 27 between the lower end flange 26 of the dustproof cover 25 and the rotary support shaft 21 is small, the dust is unlikely to scatter into the clean room.

The storage cassette of the present invention may be equipped with an ID card 30 so that the cassette main body can manage the storage state such as the processing state and storage location of the substrate 7 stored as shown in FIG.

[0013]

As described above, in the storage cassette of the present invention, adhesion of foreign matter such as dust and mist such as organic gas to the surface of the accommodated substrate is reduced during transportation and storage. Further, since the opening and closing of the door can be automated, it can be applied to an automatic transfer device that takes out and stores a substrate.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a storage cassette of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the opening / closing mechanism in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view showing another embodiment of the opening / closing mechanism.

4 is a partially cutaway plan view of the opening / closing mechanism in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an example of a conventional storage cassette.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Upper Body 2 Lower Body 3 Support 3a Support Member 4 Door 6 Opening 7 Substrate 8 Seat Cover 10 Flange 11, 21 Rotation Support Shaft 13 Rotation Knob 14 First Adsorption Member 15 Second Adsorption Member 22 Bearing 25 Dust Cover A, B opening / closing mechanism

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. An opening which comprises an upper body, a lower body, and a support body which stands on the lower body and supports the upper body, and through which a plurality of substrates can be taken out and stored horizontally and vertically. A box-type storage cassette having a portion, wherein an opening / closing supported door is provided to open and close the opening by an opening / closing mechanism attached to both sides of the upper body on the opening side. A storage cassette characterized by being. 2. The storage cassette according to claim 1, wherein the opening / closing mechanism includes a flange and a rotation support shaft that is inserted into the flange. 3. The storage cassette according to claim 2, wherein a rotation knob is attached to an end portion of the rotation support shaft. 4. The storage cassette according to claim 3, wherein a bearing is attached to a bearing portion of the rotary support shaft. 5. The storage cassette according to claim 3, wherein a dustproof cover is attached to a bearing portion of the rotary support shaft. 6. The storage cassette according to claim 4, wherein a dustproof cover is attached to the bearing. 7. A fixing mechanism for fixing the door when the door is fully opened and closed.
Storage cassette according to 3, 4, 5 or 6. 8. The first fixing mechanism is attached to a door.
Second attached to the suction member of the upper body and the support body
8. The storage cassette according to claim 7, which comprises the suction member. 9. The first fixing mechanism is attached to a door.
Second attached to the suction member and upper body and lower body
8. The storage cassette according to claim 7, which comprises the suction member. 10. The support according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, wherein a seat cover is detachably mounted on a side peripheral portion of the support member. Storage cassette according to 8 or 9. 11. The ID card capable of managing the processing state of the stored substrates and the storage state of the storage location is provided. Storage cassette.