JPH10310158A - Seal structure of container - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a seal structure of a container, which can obtain a sufficient sealing effect in a simple structure and which is capable of being opened and closed by a machine. SOLUTION: An annular elastic seal member 4 is mounted in an annular groove 3 formed at a lower edge of a circumferential side portion of a base 1 of a container which is covered and sealed with a dome-shaped lid 2. This elastic seal member 4 is deformed by pressing with a pressing sheet 5 and, by filling up a gap between the circumferential side face of the base 1 and an inner circumferential face of the lid 2 with the elastic seal member 4 swollen from the circumferential side face of the base 1, the interior of the container is put into a sealed condition.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sealed container for transporting and transporting precision parts which are not liable to be contaminated by dust, dust and the like, and more particularly to a container for transporting and transporting semiconductor silicon wafers while preventing the silicon wafer from being contaminated. It relates to a sealing structure.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Semiconductor silicon wafers are transported in a dedicated container from a wafer maker to a device maker that manufactures electronic components such as integrated circuits. Also, in a device maker, the wafer is stored in a dedicated container at the time of transportation and storage between the respective manufacturing steps.

Since a semiconductor wafer is a high-purity product that extremely dislikes impurities due to its properties and is processed by ultra-fine processing, sufficient care must be taken to protect it from particle contamination such as dust and dust. Required. Conventionally, wafers are stored in a dedicated container by sealing the outer periphery of the fitting edge of the lid of the container with the base with adhesive tape, or by sealing an elastic gasket between the lid and the opening of the base. The wafer is protected from minute particle contamination by methods such as gaining properties.

[0004]

However, the sealing method using an adhesive tape has a problem that "wrinkles" are formed in a tape bonding portion,
The sealing effect cannot be obtained if there are places where the adhesion is insufficient, so that there is a large variation in the sealing performance due to the taping condition, and it takes time and effort to obtain a good taping condition. Is difficult to automate. Further, in a hermetically sealed container that uses a gasket sandwiched between the lid and the gasket, a separate clamp mechanism is required to lock the lid and the base in a compressed state, and automation is difficult.

[0005] However, with the rapid progress of automation of the production process, a sealed container which emphasizes the openability by a machine is required in the future, but it is difficult to cope with the above conventional method. An object of the present invention is to obtain a sufficient sealing effect with a simple structure,
An object of the present invention is to provide a container sealing structure that can be opened and closed by a machine.

[0006]

According to the container sealing structure of the present invention, an annular elastic seal member is mounted in an annular groove formed in the peripheral edge of the base, and the elastic seal member is pressed by a pressing plate. An elastic sealing member squeezed and pressed between the base and the base and swelling from the peripheral side of the base closes the gap between the peripheral side of the base and the inner peripheral surface of the dome-shaped lid, thereby sealing the inside of the container. .

A container to which the sealing structure of the present invention can be applied is a container in which a lid is placed on a base to seal between a peripheral side surface of the base and an inner peripheral surface of a dome-shaped lid to obtain a sealed state inside. Target. Here, the dome-shaped lid is not limited to a hemispherical shape, but refers to a hollow lid having various shapes such as a cylinder and a prism.

In the sealing structure of the present invention, there is no obstacle between opening and closing of the lid between the base and the lid, and an optimal seal between the peripheral side surface of the base and the inner peripheral surface of the lid described later can be sealed. It is necessary to provide a proper gap. This gap is practically sufficient if it is 0.01 mm or more. However, the material, shape, squeezing amount and swelling amount of the elastic seal member to be used and the base of the lid when the gap is closed are used. The distance is determined in consideration of the locking force to the head, and is set to an appropriate interval selected from the range of 0.003 mm to 5 mm. Further, the groove formed in the base is formed in an annular shape at an edge on the pressing plate side of the peripheral side of the base. The elastic seal member to be mounted in this groove is preferably a ring-shaped solid or hollow tube-shaped member. Particularly, the tube-shaped member reduces the compressive force in shape even if the material itself has a relatively high hardness. This is particularly effective in that it can be performed.

The elastic seal member needs to have such a thickness that it can be in close contact with the inner peripheral surface of the lid by a portion bulging from the side surface of the base when pressed and sandwiched between the pressing plate and the base in a state of being mounted in the groove. . It is important that the elastic seal member is a material that is elastic and flexible in terms of hermeticity and compressibility in the container. As such a member, a thermoplastic elastomer or various rubber materials is used. Although silicone rubber having a rubber hardness of 40 degrees or less can be used, it can be said that silicone rubber having a small compression set is a preferable material.

When a groove for receiving the elastic sealing member bulging from the groove portion is provided on the inner peripheral surface of the lid, the sealing effect in the container and the locking effect of the lid can be obtained. That is, the elastic seal member swelling from the side surface of the base fits into the groove of the lid and closely adheres thereto. In addition to the sealing effect, the lid is less likely to come off from the base, and more secure locking and fixing can be obtained. . Incidentally, in the container sealing structure of the present invention, a method of placing an article on a substrate and covering the lid with the lid is common, but placing the article on the bottom surface of the lid, The base may be disposed in the opening of the body, and the gap between the inner peripheral surface of the opening of the lid and the peripheral side surface of the base may be sealed and sealed.

In the container sealing structure of the present invention, the annular elastic sealing member mounted in the groove swells from the peripheral side surface of the base by being pressed and sandwiched between the pressing plate and the base, and the pressing is released. And fit into the groove. In a state where the lid is simply covered on the base, the container can be easily opened and closed by the gap between the side peripheral surface of the base and the inner surface of the lid.

The container is sealed by placing a lid on the base and pressing the elastic seal member in the groove with the pressing plate and the base, whereby the elastic seal member swelling from the peripheral side surface of the base is formed inside the lid. This is performed by closing the gap between the peripheral surfaces. In this state, the base and the lid are in close contact with each other via the elastic sealing member, and thus both are locked and fixed. The release of the sealing can be easily performed by stopping the pressing of the pressing plate and the base against the elastic seal member and storing the expanded elastic seal member in the groove. By using a cam or a screw mechanism to press the elastic seal member by the pressing plate, automation of the opening and closing operation of the lid can be easily realized.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIGS. 1A and 1B are diagrams showing an example of a cylindrical container using a sealing structure of the present invention in a closed state, in which FIG. 1A is a cross-sectional view before sealing, and FIG. 1B is a state after sealing. It is sectional drawing. 2A and 2B show another example of a cylindrical container using the sealing structure of the present invention, wherein FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view in an open state, and FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view in a closed state and sealed. . FIG. 3 is a diagram showing another example of a cylindrical container using the sealing structure of the present invention, showing a positional relationship between a base and a pressing plate, and (a) is a cross-sectional view showing a state before sealing. FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view of a state after sealing.

The container shown in FIG. 1 comprises a disc-shaped base 1 on which the stored items are placed and a cylindrical lid 2, and an annular groove 3 is formed at the lower end of the peripheral side of the base 1. An annular solid elastic seal member 4 is mounted in the groove 3. Further, a pressing plate 5 is disposed on the lower surface of the base 1, and a cam shaft 6 attached to project downward from the bottom surface of the base 1 is mounted so as to penetrate the pressing plate 5, and the pressing plate 5 is The elastic seal member 4 is pressed up and down.

[0015] In this container, as shown in Fig. 1 (a), after the cover 2 is put on the base 1, the handle 8 formed on the cam 7 is rotated in the direction of the arrow to thereby obtain the container shown in Fig. 1 (b). As shown, the pressing plate 5 presses and deforms the rubber elastic seal member 4, and the rubber elastic seal member 4 swelled from the peripheral side surface of the base 1 by the deformation seals the gap with the inner peripheral surface of the lid 2. And the inside of the container is sealed. In the container shown in FIG.
The container has substantially the same configuration as the container shown in FIG. 1, but a groove 9 is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical lid 2 ′ to receive the elastic seal member 4 bulging from the peripheral side surface of the base 1, and a cam mechanism is provided. As a result, the pressing plate 5 presses and deforms the rubber elastic seal member 4. As shown in FIG. 2B, the rubber elastic seal member 4 swelling from the peripheral side surface of the base 1 due to deformation fits into and adheres to the groove 9 to seal the inside of the container and to attach the lid 2 ′ to the base 1. Since it is difficult for the lid to come off, the locking and fixing of the lid body becomes more reliable.

FIG. 3 shows a case where a hollow elastic seal member 4 is used, and a screw mechanism is used to vertically move the pressing plate 5. Screw 1
0 is attached through the pressing plate 5 and the nut 1
By pressing 1, the pressing plate 5 rises, and presses the elastic sealing member 4. In the above-described example shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, a mechanism in which the base 1 is fixed and the pressing plate 5 is moved up and down to press the elastic seal member 4 is shown.
As shown in FIG. 4, the lid 2 may be received by the pressing plate 5, and the elastic seal member 4 may be pressed by moving the base 1 up and down.

Further, in each of the above-described examples, an example of the container in which the storage object is placed on the base 1 is shown.
The container is placed on the bottom of the base, and the base 1
The example in which the peripheral side surface is disposed and sealed is shown. In this example, a pressing plate 5 is arranged on the upper surface of the base 1, an elastic seal member 4 is mounted in a groove 3 formed on an upper end edge of a peripheral side portion of the base 1, and a shaft 6 from the upper surface of the base 1. Is pressing plate 5
And the base 1 is moved up and down by a cam mechanism attached to the tip of the base, and the elastic seal member is pressed and held between the base 1 and the pressing plate 5.

[0018]

According to the container sealing structure of the present invention, reliable sealing performance and locking and fixing can be obtained, and automatic opening and closing of the sealed container can be easily performed. Therefore, it can be widely applied and developed especially for containers that are frequently opened and closed by a machine and that require hermeticity.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an example of a cylindrical container using a sealing structure of the present invention in a closed state, in which (a) is a cross-sectional view before sealing,
(B) is a sectional view after sealing.

FIG. 2 is another example of a cylindrical container using the sealing structure of the present invention, wherein (a) is a cross-sectional view in an open state, and (b) is a cross-sectional view in a closed and sealed state. is there.

FIG. 3 is a view showing another example of a cylindrical container using the sealing structure of the present invention, showing a positional relationship between a base and a pressing plate;
(A) is a sectional view of a state before sealing, and (b) is a sectional view of a state after sealing.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing still another example of a cylindrical container using the sealing structure of the present invention, showing a positional relationship between a base and a pressing plate.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of still another cylindrical container using the sealing structure of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 base 6 camshaft 1
0 Screw 2, 2 'Lid 7 Cam 1
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Nut 3 Groove part 8 Handle 4 Elastic seal member 9 Groove 5 Press plate

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A container for sealing by covering a base with a dome-shaped lid, wherein the base has an annular groove formed on a peripheral side edge, an annular elastic seal member mounted in the groove, A pressure plate for pressing and deforming the elastic sealing member,
An elastic sealing member which is pressed and held between the pressing plate and the base and swells from the peripheral side of the base, thereby closing a gap between the peripheral side of the base and the inner peripheral surface of the dome-shaped lid. Construction. 2. The container sealing structure according to claim 1, wherein the elastic sealing member is solid or hollow. 3. The container sealing structure according to claim 1, wherein the pressing plate or the base is moved up and down by a cam mechanism attached to a tip of a shaft protruding from the bottom or top surface of the base. 4. The container sealing structure according to claim 1, wherein the pressing plate or the base is moved up and down by a screw mechanism provided on a shaft protruding from the bottom or top surface of the base.