JPH10184915A - Sealed container for precision part transportation and its manufacture - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a reduction in sealing so as to quickly and easily open a sealing container even if a pressure difference occurs between the inside and the outside of the sealing container by providing an opening/closing valve in at least one selected from a container main body and a cap body in one where a gap formed at the time of fitting between the container main body and the cap body is sealed by a gasket. SOLUTION: A sealing container 1 is composed of a container main body 2, a cap body 3 and a gasket 4, the gasket 4 is inserted into a gap formed at the time of fitting between the cap body 3 and the container main body 2 and thereby the sealing container 1 is sealed. In this case, an opening/closing valve 5 is provided in at least one selected from the container main body 2 of the sealing container 1 and the cap body 3. For the material for the valve body 7 of this opening/closing valve 5, a thermoplastic resin or the like is used. But considering the formation of a gap between the opening/closing valve 5 and a main body 6 caused by a temperature change, the same material as that for the main body 6 of the opening/closing valve 5 is preferred. For using the sealing container, the atmospheric pressure in the sealing container 1 is set higher than that of the outside and thus the flow of dust from the outside into the container 1 is prevented even if a slight reduction occurs in sealing during transportation.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention accommodates precision parts such as semiconductor silicon wafers (hereinafter simply referred to as "wafers"), photomasks, mask original plates, etc., and protects them from contamination by external dust and dust. The present invention relates to a sealed container for transporting precision parts (hereinafter, simply referred to as a “sealed container”) used for transportation and a method of using the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in the case of transporting precision parts, a container storing the precision parts has been sealed with an adhesive tape and transported. However, according to this method, the adhesive tape
In many cases, sealing was insufficient due to wrinkles and the like. Inadequate sealing increases the risk of exposing precision components to atmospheric dust and dust. This is a fatal problem for precision parts that extremely dislike contamination by impurities. Therefore, in order to complete the sealing property, a sealed container has been developed in which a gap between the container body and the lid formed when the container body and the lid are fitted is closed with packing, instead of sticking an adhesive tape.

[0003]

The precision parts subjected to ultra-fine processing or the like are generally stored in the above-mentioned sealed container in a clean room and transported. Cleanrooms maintain a constant temperature throughout the year. Therefore, depending on the season, the temperature difference between the inside and the outside of the clean room may be 20 ° C. or more. When the temperature in the sealed container becomes lower than the temperature in the clean room when storing precision components, the air in the container contracts and the internal pressure decreases. As a result, a pressure difference occurs between the inside and outside of the sealed container, making it difficult to open the sealed container. Also,
As the sealing structure of the container has been improved, it will take time to reduce the pressure difference between the inside and outside of the container. May be required. That is, as the tightness of the sealed container is improved, it takes time to open the sealed container, which causes an extreme decrease in workability. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a sealed container that can be quickly and easily opened even if a pressure difference occurs between the inside and outside of the sealed container without lowering the sealing performance.

[0004]

Means for Solving the Problems The inventors of the present invention have made intensive studies to solve the above-mentioned problems, and as a result, completed the present invention by focusing on providing an on-off valve in a sealed container. In other words, the present invention is a sealed container for transporting precision parts, comprising a container body, a lid, and a packing, wherein a gap formed when the container body and the lid are fitted to each other is filled with the packing, wherein the container body or the lid is provided. A sealed container for transporting precision parts, characterized in that an opening / closing valve is provided on at least one of the body, and transporting the inside with a gauge pressure of more than 1 atmosphere and 1.5 atmosphere or less as a gauge pressure, and opening and closing This is a method of using the container in which the valve is opened, the internal pressure is returned to normal pressure, and then the container is opened.

[0005]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2 are cross-sectional explanatory views showing one embodiment of a sealed container according to the present invention. FIG. 1 shows a case where an on-off valve is attached to a container body, and FIG. 2 shows a case where an on-off valve is attached to a lid. Show. In the drawings, 1 is a sealed container, 2 is a container body, 3 is a lid, 4 is packing, 5 is an on-off valve, 6 is an on-off valve main body, 7 is a valve body, and 8 is a wafer as an example of precision parts. It is.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a feature of the present invention resides in that an on-off valve 5 is provided in a conventional sealed container including a container body 2, a lid 3, and a packing 4. On-off valve 5
Is provided on at least one of the container body 2 and the lid 3 of the sealed container 1. The position where the on-off valve 5 is provided is on the side surface of the container body or the top surface of the lid. Also, the valve element 7 of the on-off valve
As a material of the valve, a thermoplastic resin, a thermosetting resin, glass, stainless steel, or the like can be used. Considering the occurrence of a gap between the valve and the valve body 6 due to a temperature change, the material of the valve body 6 Should be the same as Types of the on-off valve 5 include a butterfly valve, a ball valve, a needle valve,
A cock, a globe valve, a gate valve and the like can be mentioned, and among them, a ball valve which can be installed compactly in a conspicuous place of a sealed container is preferable. The size of the on-off valve 5 is
In consideration of the exclusive space, make it as small as possible.

The portion of the sealed container 1 excluding the on-off valve 5, that is, the container main body 2, the lid 3, and the packing 4 are manufactured by an injection molding method. In addition, as these materials, for example, a thermoplastic resin can be used. However, in terms of cost, transparency, rigidity, and the like, it is particularly preferable to use polycarbonate. A groove is provided in one or both of the peripheral portions where the container body 2 and the lid 3 are in contact with each other, and the packing 4 is shown in FIG. 1 in a gap formed when the lid 3 is fitted to the container body 2. As described above, and by combining the above components so that the container body 2 and the lid 3 can be sealed via the packing 4,
The sealed container 1 of the present invention is obtained.

The use of the sealed container 1 of the present invention is as follows. That is, the pressure inside the sealed container 1 is set higher than the outside pressure, desirably higher than 1.0 atm and 1.5 atm or less in gauge pressure. As described above, if the pressure in the container is set higher than the external pressure, even if the sealing property is slightly reduced during transportation of the container, the flow of gas flows out of the container to the outside, and dust and the like outside the container. Does not flow into the container. Therefore, contamination of precision parts during transportation can be prevented. In order to make the pressure higher than the external pressure, nitrogen gas may be filled. When the pressure in the sealed container 1 is higher than 1.5 atm, the container is required to have a high pressure resistance, and the cost is increased. From the viewpoint of the function of the container, the inflow of dust and the like can be prevented if the pressure is slightly higher than the outside pressure. The air pressure in the sealed container 1 can be arbitrarily adjusted by adjusting the degree to which the on-off valve 5 is opened.

[0009]

Next, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to examples. Note that the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments.

A sealed container 1 of the present invention was prepared in which a ball valve was attached to the container body as an open / close valve (see FIG. 1).
The sealed container 1 is a container for transporting a silicon wafer having a diameter of 6 inches, and has a rectangular projection shape from the top, bottom, left, right, front, and rear directions. Further, since the container accommodates a disk-shaped silicon wafer, the side surface is curved and has a concave portion, and a ball valve is formed as a part of the container main body at the most concave portion. The ball valve had a length of 35 mm when the cock of the ball valve was opened so as not to exceed the maximum outer dimension of the sealed container 1. Then, the internal pressure was set to 1.0 atm as a gauge pressure. As a result of using the container, even when the temperature difference between the clean room and the outside air reached 30 ° C., the container could be quickly and easily opened in the clean room.

[0011]

According to the present invention, the provision of the on-off valve enables quick and easy opening even when a pressure difference occurs between the inside and outside of the sealed container.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional explanatory view of a sealed container showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory sectional view of a sealed container showing another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Sealed container 2 Container main body 3 Lid 4 Packing 5 On-off valve 6 On-off valve main body 7 Valve body 8 Wafer

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A sealed container for transporting precision parts, comprising a container body, a lid, and a packing, wherein a gap between the container body and the lid formed when the lid is fitted is closed with a packing.
A sealed container for transporting precision parts, wherein an open / close valve is provided on at least one of the container body and the lid. 2. The container is transported with the internal pressure set to a gauge pressure greater than 1 atm and 1.5 atm or less, and the opening and closing valve is opened to return the internal pressure to normal pressure before opening. Use of the sealed container for transporting precision parts as described.