JPH10242016A - Front panel of semiconductor manufacturing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a front panel wherein the turbulence of down-flow in a clean room is suppressed, occurrence of flow-stop is suppressed, and coming-in of dirt, dust, etc., into a case is suppressed. SOLUTION: A periphery part 14 of an opened carry-out opening 12 is bent toward a back side. Since the periphery part is bent and inclined, the flow of down flow 9 of a clean room 8 does not abruptly change, so the down flow 9 goes down along the periphery part 14, so that the turbulence of down flow 9 is suppressed. Thus, occurrence of flow-stop is suppressed, and the dust, dart, etc., in the clean room is suppressed from coming into a semiconductor manufacturing device.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a front panel provided on the front of a housing of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A semiconductor manufacturing apparatus is installed in a clean room in which a uniform downflow of air is formed, and a wafer on which a substrate to be processed such as a wafer is loaded via a transfer port in front of a housing of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. A cassette is loaded into the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, and a required process such as etching and thin film formation is performed on the substrate to be processed in a reactor in the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.

A front panel of a conventional semiconductor manufacturing apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 7 is an external view of a state in which a plurality of semiconductor manufacturing apparatuses 1 are connected in series, and FIG. 8 is a front perspective view of a front panel 2 provided on the front of a housing of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 1. ing. The front panel 2 has a rectangular shape, and a slit-shaped hole 3 is formed at a lower portion of the front panel 2.
Are provided in a plurality of rows and a plurality of stages, and an exhaust port 4 is provided in a plurality of stages, and a transfer port 5 which is a rectangular hole is provided in an upper portion. The transfer port 5 faces a cassette receiving table (not shown) provided in the housing of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 1.

[0005] A front shutter 6 is provided on the back of the front panel 2, and the front shutter 6 is slidable. The front shutter 6 opens and closes the transfer port 5.

The peripheral portion 7 of the transfer port 5 is bent at a right angle to the front shutter 6 side, that is, to the back side of the front panel 2.

The front panel 2 is attached to the front of the housing of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 1 by a required means, and the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus is installed in the clean room 8 as described above.

In the clean room 8, a uniform down flow 9 of clean air is formed to make the clean room 8 a clean atmosphere.

When a wafer cassette is loaded into the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 1, the transfer port 5 is opened by lowering the front shutter 6 first. Next, the wafer cassette is carried in by an external transfer device (not shown), and the wafer cassette is mounted on a cassette receiving table (not shown) in the semiconductor manufacturing device 1. After having left the transport port 5, the transport port 5 is closed by raising the front shutter 6.

[0010]

However, in the front panel 2 of the above-described conventional semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 1, the transfer port 5 is provided.
The downflow 9 in the clean room 8 descends on the upper surface of the bent portion because the peripheral portion 7 is bent at a right angle, and the downflow 9 is disturbed. In this case, since the flow path of the downflow 9 changes abruptly, there is a possibility that the blow stop 10 may occur. When the blow stop 10 occurs, the uniform flow of the down flow 9 is disturbed, and There were problems such as dust and the like sometimes entering the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 1.

In view of the above circumstances, the present invention provides a front panel of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus that suppresses disturbance of downflow in a clean room, suppresses occurrence of blow stoppage, and suppresses intrusion of dust and dirt into a housing. It is something to offer.

[0012]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a front panel of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus in which a peripheral portion of an opened transfer port is bent toward the back side, and the peripheral portion is bent and inclined. Therefore, the flow of the down flow in the clean room does not change suddenly, and the down flow descends along the peripheral edge, so that the turbulence of the down flow is suppressed, the occurrence of the blow stop is suppressed, and the down flow in the clean room is suppressed. Dust, dust, and the like are suppressed from entering the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 show an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 9 is a view corresponding to the view taken along the line DD in FIG. 8, and 11 in FIGS. Although the overall view of the front panel 11 is not shown, the front panel 11 has a rectangular shape like the above-described conventional front panel, and has an exhaust port (not shown) at a lower portion and a transfer port 12 at an upper portion. doing.

A front shutter 13 is provided on the back surface of the front panel 11, and the front shutter 13 slides to open and close the transfer port 12.

The peripheral edge 14 of the transfer port 12 of the front panel 11 is bent toward the front shutter 13 at a required angle of 0 ° to 90 ° with respect to the front panel 11.

The front panel 11 is mounted on a front surface of a housing of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus by a required means, and the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus is installed in a clean room 8.

The loading of the wafer cassette into the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus is performed in the same manner as the conventional semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 1 described above.

Since the bending angle of the peripheral edge 14 of the transfer opening 12 of the front panel 11 is a small required angle from 0 ° to 90 °, the flow of the down flow 9 in the clean room 8 does not change suddenly. Since the downflow 9 descends along the peripheral edge portion 14, turbulence of the downflow 9 is suppressed, and the occurrence of blow-off is suppressed. Therefore, dust and dirt in the clean room 8 enter the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. Is suppressed.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show another embodiment of the present invention, in which a front panel 15 is provided with a transfer opening 16 and a front shutter 17 is provided on the back of the front panel 15. The peripheral portion 18 of the transfer port 16 is curved so as to face the front shutter 17, that is, toward the back of the front panel 15. Also in the present embodiment, the peripheral portion 18 does not suddenly change the flow of the downflow 9, so that dust and the like in the clean room 8 are suppressed from entering the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show still another embodiment of the present invention, in which a front panel 20 has a transfer port 21, and a front shutter 22 is provided on the back surface of the front panel 20. The peripheral portion 23 of the opening 21 is curved in an S-shape so as to be warped toward the front shutter 22, that is, toward the back side of the front panel 20. Also in the present embodiment, the downflow 9 descends along the peripheral portion 23 as in the above-described embodiment.
Disturbance is suppressed.

[0022]

As described above, according to the present invention, the peripheral portion of the transfer port is inclined or curved, so that the flow of the downflow in the clean room does not suddenly change, and the downflow is the peripheral portion. Because of the lowering along the portion, the turbulence of the downflow is suppressed, and the occurrence of blow-off is suppressed, so that the dust and the like in the clean room are suppressed from entering the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. It is effective.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention, and is a view corresponding to an arrow DD in FIG.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a part A of FIG.

FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the present invention,
FIG.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a portion B of FIG.

FIG. 5 shows still another embodiment of the present invention,
FIG.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of a portion C in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, showing a conventional example.

FIG. 8 is a front perspective view showing the conventional example.

FIG. 9 is a view as viewed in the direction of arrows DD in FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is an enlarged view of a portion E in FIG. 9;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 2 Front panel 3 Hole 4 Exhaust port 5 Transport port 6 Front shutter 7 Peripheral edge 8 Clean room 9 Downflow 10 Blow stop 11 Front panel 12 Transport port 13 Front shutter 14 Peripheral edge

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A front panel of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, wherein a peripheral portion of an opened transfer port is bent toward a back side.