JPH0982791A - Cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cassette which makes it possible to prevent wafers from cracking and particles from adhering wafers at the time of transferring the wafers by facilitating insertion and removal of the wafers. SOLUTION: A box-shaped cassette contains a plurality of wafers, and the cassette 1 comprises an upper body 3, a lower body 4, a post 5 stood between the body 3 and the body 4, sandwiching means A inserted to the post 5 and having a plurality of spacers 6 and a coiled spring 7 for supporting the sides of the wafers 2, and a moving mechanism B having a threaded part 9 and a nut 10 for moving the means A.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to cassettes.
More specifically, the present invention relates to a cassette for transporting or storing a thin glass substrate such as a liquid crystal glass substrate or a semiconductor wafer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional cassette, as shown in FIG. 7, a frame 53 having a predetermined number of vertical grooves 52 is fixed to an inner surface of a box-shaped main body 51, and a substrate 54 is grooved along the groove. There is one that is inserted by the number of 10 and then sealed by the lid 55 of the box. In addition, as shown in FIG.
There is one in which four corner pads 62 each containing 1 are used to fix four corners of a predetermined number of aligned substrates 63.

[0003]

However, in these cassettes, the substrate repeatedly moves violently in the groove due to vibrations in transportation, dropping, digging, etc., so that chips, cracks or cracks are formed around the substrate. There is a problem that the dust is generated or the wall surface of the groove is rubbed to generate fine dust and adhere to the substrate to stain the surface. Further, since the pitch of the grooves of these cassettes is narrow, there is a problem that they cannot be inserted or taken out by an automatic machine.

In view of the above circumstances, the present invention makes it possible to easily insert and remove a board, and
An object of the present invention is to provide a cassette that can eliminate the occurrence of cracks and the attachment of dust during the transfer of substrates.

[0005]

A cassette according to the present invention is a box type cassette for accommodating a plurality of substrates, the cassette including an upper body, a lower body, and the upper body and the lower body. It is characterized in that it comprises a pillar vertically installed, a plurality of holding means inserted through the pillar to support the side portion of the substrate, and a moving mechanism for moving the holding means.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The 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 cassette of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a notch of a main portion showing a holding means in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the moving mechanism in FIG. 3 is a perspective view, FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing the operation of the moving mechanism in FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the cassette of the present invention, and FIG. Is.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the cassette 1 has a box shape for accommodating a plurality of substrates 2. The cassette 1
Is an upper body 3, a lower body 4, the upper body 3 and the lower body 4
Between the columns 5, which are erected between the columns 5 and 5,
A plurality of clamping means A for supporting the side portions of the substrate 2
And a moving mechanism B for moving the holding means A. The lower body 4 is composed of a pair of holding pieces 4a and 4b, but may be a single lower lid.

The holding means A is composed of a rectangular spacer 6 and an elastic body 7, and the spacer 6 and the elastic body 7 are provided.
And are alternately inserted into the column 5. In this embodiment, a coil spring is used as the elastic body 7,
The present invention is not limited to this, and rubber, disc springs, polyurethane rubber, etc. may be used. Further, on the lower surface of the spacer 6, a receiving seat 8 having an annular concave portion 8a for fitting an end portion of a coil spring, for example, is attached. This seat 8 can prevent the substrate 2 and the coil spring from coming into contact with each other. The materials for the upper body, the lower body, the columns, the spacers, and the seats are fluororesins such as polytetrafluoroethylene, nylon or plastic materials with low dust generation, such as PEI (polyetherimide) and conductive fillers ( For example, PEI containing ceramic whiskers) can be used.

The moving mechanism B has a threaded portion 9 formed on the upper end portion 5a of the column 5 inserted into the upper body 3 and the threaded portion 9.
It is composed of a nut 10 screwed to. Since the spacer 6 and the elastic body 7 are pushed down by tightening the nut portion 10, the side portion 2a of the housed substrate 2 can be sandwiched (fixed) between the pair of spacers 6. On the contrary, when the nut portion 10 is loosened, the elastic body 7 extends and the interval between the pair of spacers 6 increases. For this reason, it becomes easy to insert and remove the substrate, and automatic insertion and removal by an automatic machine becomes possible. In addition, as the moving mechanism B in the present invention, as shown in FIGS.
It is composed of a cam member 11 provided on the upper end portion 5a. The cam member 11 is composed of cams 12a and 12b having a pair of curved surfaces 12, one end of which is designated by the indicator pin 13 to the upper end 5a of the column 5, and the other end of which is the holding pin 14.
Are held so that they can be simultaneously rotated. When the cam member 11 is in the free state, the distance h1 from the center of the indicator pin 13 to the upper body 3 is smaller than the distance h2 between the support pin 13 and the holding pin 14. When the cam member 11 is pushed down, the cams 12a, 12
b sequentially pushes down the spacer 6 and the elastic body 7 along the curved surface 12 through the upper body 3. Then the cams 12a, 12
The other end of b is pressed against the surface of the upper body 3 to sandwich the substrate 2 between the pair of spacers 6 and the spacer 6 and the lower body (see FIG. 1) in a so-called wedge state. In order to ensure the wedge state, it is preferable to provide a surface hole 15 on the upper surface of the substrate 3. In this case, it is preferable that the depth of the surface hole 15 is such that the clamping force of the substrate 3 is not loosened.

Next, another embodiment of the cassette of the present invention will be described. This embodiment is different from the above embodiment in that the spacer 16 has a wedge shape as shown in FIGS.

A side surface 16a of the spacer 16 is formed into a tapered surface, and a seat 18 for a coil spring, which is an elastic body 17, is formed on the side surface 16a. In this embodiment,
Since the spacer 16 and the elastic body 17 are pushed down by tightening the nut 20, the side edge portion (ridge) of the inserted substrate 2
Only 2b is sandwiched between a pair of spacers 16 (fixed)
can do. On the contrary, if the nut 20 is loosened, the elastic body 1
7 extends to increase the distance between the pair of spacers 16. Therefore, in the present embodiment, while the peripheral portion of the substrate is clamped in the above-described embodiment, only the side edge portion is clamped, so that the contact surface of the substrate is not easily scratched and dust due to contact is not generated. Adhesion is less likely to occur.

[0013]

As described above, in the cassette of the present invention, the substrate holding means composed of the spacer and the elastic body is
Since the storage unit for the substrate can be freely expanded or narrowed by the moving mechanism, the work of inserting and removing the substrate can be easily performed and automation can be achieved.

Further, when the substrate is transported, a constant force is applied to the peripheral portion or the peripheral portion (ridge) of the substrate, so that the substrate does not move during the transportation, so that chipping, chips and cracks of the substrate are eliminated. Further, since the generation of dust due to the movement of the substrate in the cassette is eliminated, dust is not attached to the surface of the substrate, and the substrate can be cleaned in a short time.

Further, since the dust attached to the cassette is reduced, the cleaning of the cassette can be completed in a short time.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a cutaway enlarged view of a main part showing a holding means in FIG.

3 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the moving mechanism in FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing the operation of the moving mechanism in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the cassette of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of a notch of a main part showing a holding means in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing an example of a conventional cassette.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing another example of a conventional cassette.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Cassette 2 Substrate 2a Side Side 2b Side Edge 3 Upper Body 4 Lower Body 5 Posts 6, 16 Spacers 7, 17 Elastic Body 8, 18 Seat 16a Side A A Clamping Means B Moving Mechanism

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A box-type cassette for accommodating a plurality of substrates, wherein the cassette comprises an upper body, a lower body, a support erected between the upper body and the lower body, and the support. A cassette characterized by comprising a plurality of clamping means for supporting the side portions of the substrate and a moving mechanism for moving the clamping means. 2. The cassette according to claim 1, wherein the holding means comprises a spacer and an elastic body. 3. The cassette according to claim 1, wherein the moving mechanism includes a screw portion formed on an upper end portion of the column and a nut screwed to the screw portion. 4. The cassette according to claim 1, wherein the moving mechanism includes a cam member provided at an upper end portion of the support column. 5. The cassette according to claim 2, wherein the elastic body is a coil spring. 6. The cassette according to claim 5, wherein a receiving seat is attached to an end of the coil spring. 7. The cassette according to claim 2, wherein the side surface of the spacer is tapered.