JPH1050815A - Wafer container - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a wafer container which can transport wafers having large diameters and different thicknesses without any damage. SOLUTION: The wafer container 1 is made up of a resin part 2 of an anti- static closed foamed material having recesses in its upper and lower surfaces and buffering materials 3 disposed as fitted into the recesses of the resin part 2. At each of outer positions of the buffering materials 3 of the resin part 2, a projection 4 and recess 5 are provided for transversal shift. In this way, there can be provided a wafer container 1 which is light in weight and is made of anti-static resin in handling. A wafer is placed on a recess of a lower cover, the wafer container 1 stacked thereon, another wafer is placed on the buffering plate 3, and such procedure is repeated. In this way, there can be obtained stacked wafer containers 1 in which one wafer is located on the buffering material 3 of each wafer container 1 and a necessary number of wafers in total are enclosed and kept in the wafer containers 1.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a wafer container, and more particularly, to a wafer container for storing and transporting a wafer as a semiconductor substrate.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a wafer container used for storing and transporting wafers, as shown in FIG. 11, a container 31 having a structure in which wafers 30 are stored one by one and hermetically sealed by a disk-shaped container lid 32 is used. It is known
No. 0344). Further, as shown in FIG. 12, a container 33 having a structure in which a plurality of wafers 30 are housed in parallel at a distance from each other and sealed with a container lid 34 is known. In this container 33, the wafer maker stores the wafer,
A container for shipping products, which may be used for storing or transporting wafers during the IC manufacturing process. The container 33
Is sometimes used to manufacture ICs.

[0003]

However, the above-described conventional wafer containers 31 and 33 can sufficiently withstand temporary storage of wafers, but transport large-diameter wafers having different thicknesses. In some cases, the wafer may not be able to withstand the impact during transportation and may be broken. Further, there is also a problem that the volume of the package after packing the container for transportation is large, which leads to an increase in transportation cost.

[0004] The present invention has been made in view of the above points,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a wafer container capable of transporting large-diameter wafers having different thicknesses without damage.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a wafer container which is compact even after packaging.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a resin part having a cross-sectional shape in which a concave part having a diameter larger than the diameter of a wafer to be stored is formed at the center of both upper and lower surfaces. And a cushioning material made of a closed foam having a concave cross section provided in the concave portion of the resin portion, wherein a plurality of wafers are stacked and one wafer is stored in each of the cushioning materials.

In the present invention, since the wafer is accommodated in the cushioning material having a concave cross section, the wafer container can be used even if the wafer has a large diameter as long as it is within the diameter of the concave portion of the cushioning material. It can be stored by stacking in multiple stages.

[0008] Here, a lateral displacement preventing convex portion formed at a position outside the concave portion of the resin portion and on one of the upper and lower surfaces,
By providing the other side of the upper and lower surfaces of the resin portion and the lateral deviation preventing concave portion formed at a position corresponding to the lateral deviation preventing convex portion, the wafer containers can be stably stacked even when stacked in multiple stages. .

[0009]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a front view of a first embodiment of a wafer container according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line II-II 'in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a side view of the wafer container of FIG. The figure is shown. In each figure, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a wafer container 1 of this embodiment
Is a disk-shaped front, top and bottom (front and back)
An antistatic resin portion 2 having a recess having a concave cross section;
The structure is made up of the cushioning material 3 arranged so as to fit into the above-mentioned depression of the resin portion 2. As a result, the lightweight wafer container 1 is made of an antistatic resin in handling.

Here, the buffer material 3 with which the wafer comes into contact when the wafer is stored is an antistatic independent foam having a thickness of 1 mm or less, for example, a nonwoven fabric. Independent foam is used because continuous foam such as sponge has the possibility of dust being adsorbed due to continuous bubbles inside, and air from around the adsorbed part when adsorbed with vacuum tweezers. This is to prevent wraparound from becoming impossible to adsorb. Further, when the wafer container 1 constituted by using the cushioning material 3 of the independent foam is used, automatic packaging becomes possible.

At two positions, for example, facing each other outside the cushioning material 3 of the resin portion 2, a convex portion 4 is formed outside and a concave portion 5 is formed inside. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, a control number of the wafer container 1, or a wafer identification number 6 such as a symbol or a bar code corresponding to a wafer to be stored is displayed on a side surface of the resin portion 2 by printing or the like. Thereby, the management of the wafer or the automatic packaging can be promoted.

At the time of storing or transporting a wafer using the wafer container 1 having the above structure, first, as shown in FIG. 4, a concave portion having the same diameter as the cushioning material 3 and a convex portion fitted to the concave portion 5 are first provided. The wafer 7 is placed on the lower cover 8, and then the wafer containers 1 are stacked so that the concave portion 5 is fitted with the convex portion of the lower cover 8. Next, one wafer 7 is placed in the concave portion of the buffer material 3 on the upper side of the wafer container 1. Hereinafter, the next wafer container 1 is replaced with the wafer container 1 with the concave portion 5 below.
The wafer container 1 is stacked, and finally the upper cover 9 is stacked.
In this manner, a plurality of wafers 7 can be stored in the wafer container 1 without lateral displacement.

The upper and lower wafer containers 1 or one of the wafers 7 is a cushioning material 3 between the lower cover 8 and the upper cover 9.
Therefore, if the wafer has a thickness smaller than the diameter of the buffer material 3 and less than the depth of the recess between the two contacting buffer materials 3, the wafer having a large diameter and a different thickness is also stored. can do.

After storing a plurality of wafers 7 in the plurality of wafer containers 1 in this manner, as shown in FIG. 5, the wafers 7 are stored in the case 11 with the cushion 10 placed on the upper cover 9. Then, the lid 12 is put on and sealed. Accordingly, even when a wafer having a large diameter and a different thickness is transported, it is possible to sufficiently withstand the impact during transportation, so that it is possible to prevent the wafer from being damaged.

As another example of the above storage method, a plurality of wafer containers 1 may be bundled together in a shrinkable shrinkable package 13 such as polypropylene or vinyl chloride as shown in FIG. In this case, the volume of the package after packing the wafer container 1 for transportation can be made smaller than before, and the transportation cost can be reduced.

FIG. 7 is a front view of a second embodiment of the wafer container according to the present invention, and FIG. 8 is a sectional view of FIG. In the figure, a wafer container 15 has an antistatic resin portion 16 having a square outer shape, a circular inside, and a concave section having a concave cross section on the upper and lower surfaces (front and rear surfaces);
Of the cushioning member 17 arranged so as to fit into the above-mentioned depression. As a result, a lightweight wafer container 15 is formed of an antistatic resin in handling.

Also in this embodiment, the cushioning material 17 with which the wafer comes into contact when the wafer is stored is an antistatic independent foam having a thickness of 1 mm or less. At two opposing positions, a concave portion 18 is formed on the upper surface, and a convex portion 19 is formed on the lower surface. Wafer container 15 of this embodiment
Is for storing wafers in the same manner as in the wafer container 1 of the first embodiment described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 and packing the wafers by the method shown in FIG. 5 or FIG. Since the outer shape is rectangular compared to the container 1, it is advantageous in terms of work such as packing.

The convex portions 4 and 19 and the concave portions 5 and 18 are provided to prevent a lateral displacement when a plurality of wafer containers 1 and 15 are superimposed. At least two locations are required as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 or FIGS. 7 and 8, but various shapes are conceivable because the purpose is to prevent lateral displacement of the wafer container 1.

For example, as shown in the cross-sectional view of FIG. 9, the convex portion 20 and the concave portion 21 each have a square cross-section, and as shown in the cross-sectional view of FIG. Wafer containers each having a triangular shape are conceivable. Further, the above-mentioned convex portions 4, 19, 20, 23 and concave portions 5, 18, 21, 22 may be formed on the entire periphery. The direction of the unevenness may be either up or down.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. For example, a concave portion for attaching a desiccant for absorbing moisture to a wafer container may be formed. Further, the resin parts 2, 16 and the cushioning materials 3, 17 may be integrally formed. In this case, the resin parts 2, 16 and the cushioning material 3, 17
The generation and adsorption of dust from the joint 17 can be prevented. Further, a gas layer may be formed between the resin parts 2 and 16 and the cushioning materials 3 and 17, and in this case, the shock at the time of transporting the wafer can be buffered by the gas layer.

[0022]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Large-diameter wafers of different thicknesses are accommodated in the recesses of the cushioning material of the multi-stacked wafer container, so that when transporting, they can sufficiently withstand the shock during transportation and prevent damage to the wafers be able to.

According to the present invention, the required number of wafers can be stored by stacking the number of wafer containers corresponding to the number of wafers to be stored, so that the entire container can be made compact after packaging. , Transportation costs can be reduced.

Further, according to the present invention, automatic packaging or automation at the time of unpacking can be achieved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line II-II 'of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the wafer container of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a wafer storage state.

FIG. 5 is a view showing a state in which a wafer container is stored in a case.

FIG. 6 is a view showing a shrink-wrapped state of a wafer container.

FIG. 7 is a front view of a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view of a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a sectional view of an example of a conventional wafer container.

FIG. 12 is a sectional view of another example of a conventional wafer container.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1,15 Wafer container 2,16 Resin part 3,17 Buffer material 4,19,20,23 Convex part 5,18,21,22 Concave part 6 Wafer identification number 7 Wafer 8 Lower cover 9 Upper cover 10 Cushion 11 Case 12 Lid 13 Shrink wrap

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A resin portion having a cross-sectional shape in which a concave portion having a diameter larger than the diameter of a wafer to be stored is formed at a central portion of both upper and lower surfaces, and a concave portion provided in the concave portion of the resin portion. A wafer container, comprising: a cushioning material made of a closed-cell foam; and stacking a plurality of the wafers and storing one wafer in each of the cushioning materials. 2. In a position outside the concave portion of the resin portion,
And, the lateral deviation prevention convex portion formed on one of the upper and lower surfaces, and the lateral deviation prevention concave portion formed on the other surface of the upper and lower surfaces of the resin portion, and formed at a position corresponding to the lateral deviation prevention convex portion. 2. The wafer container according to claim 1, further comprising: 3. The wafer container according to claim 2, wherein each of the resin portion, the cushioning material, the protrusion for preventing lateral displacement, and the concave portion for preventing lateral displacement are made of an antistatic material. 4. The wafer container according to claim 1, wherein a gas layer is formed between the resin portion and the cushioning material. 5. The wafer container according to claim 1, wherein the resin portion and the cushioning material are integrally formed. 6. The wafer container according to claim 1, wherein a concave portion for attaching a desiccant for absorbing moisture is formed in the resin portion. 7. The wafer container according to claim 1, further comprising a display surface for displaying information of the wafer housed on a side surface of the resin portion.