JPH11163116A - Sealed container - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sealed container which is capable of accurately positioning a wafer receiving and delivering position of a working device. SOLUTION: In a sealed container, a conveyor plate 16 is attached on the bottom face of a cover case 1, and columns 20 are provided on both sides in the case 1 so that the columns 20 faced opposite to each other. Then a plurality of kinematic couplings 17 and 17A for positioning port plate are provided to the conveyor plate 16 at a prescribed interval, and the bottom plates 23 of the columns 20 are fixed to the couplings 17 and 17A. In addition, a front retainer 30 and a rear retainer 33 which face opposite to each other are respectively set on the internal surface of a box door 7 and the inside of the case 1. Since the columns 20 are attached freely detachably to the case 1 and the cylindrical bosses 27 and 27a of the bottom plates 23 are directly fixed to the kinematic couplings 17 and 17A, errors are not accumulated at positioning of the sealed container.

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 storing, transferring, or transporting a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter abbreviated as "wafer"), and more particularly to a sealed container for storing and transporting a wafer. The present invention relates to a sealed container that can be directly connected to a standardized mechanical interface (SMIF) device for processing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As shown in FIG. 11, a conventional transport container has a bottomed cylindrical outer box 35, a security packing 36,
A storage cassette 37 for aligning wafers, a holding plate 38 for wafers, and an upper lid 39 are provided. Then, a plurality of wafers are stored and transported from a semiconductor maker to an IC maker by various transport means as appropriate.

[0003] When transferring or storing wafers between various processes in which wafer processing is performed, a method of temporarily transferring wafers from a transport container to a storage container shown in FIG. 12 and using the same is adopted. As shown in the figure, the storage container includes a box door 40, a cassette 41 for transferring between processes having a pair of wafer spacing regulating grooves,
Is provided with an inverted cup-shaped case 42 for fitting and covering. And U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,532,970 and 4,53
As disclosed in US Pat. No. 4,389,389, it is used in connection with a wafer processing apparatus having a standard mechanical interface device.

The storage container having the above-described structure is connected to and used in a wafer processing apparatus as described below (for this point, see FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 of Japanese Patent Publication No. 7-46694). First, a storage container is mounted on a predetermined position of a port plate in a canopy of a wafer processing apparatus. Then, the box door 40 of the storage container is engaged with the port plate (not shown), and the connection between the case 42 of the storage container and the box door 40 is released.

Then, the box door 40 is lowered together with the port door (not shown) by supplementing the atmosphere contaminated on the outer surface of the box door 40 with the port plate so as not to impair the clean environment. The cassette 41 stored in 42 is set at a predetermined position in the clean environment of the wafer processing apparatus. In this way, the wafers are taken out from the cassette 41, for example, one by one (loading), and are subjected to predetermined processing.

[0006] When the processing of the wafer processing apparatus is completed, the cassette 41 is stored (unloaded) inside the storage container in a procedure reverse to the above operation, and the case 42 of the storage container is loaded.
The box door 40 is latched. Then, the storage container is disconnected from the port plate, taken out of the wafer processing apparatus, and transported to the next process. By repeating such a series of operations, various processes are performed on the wafer.

[0007] As prior art documents using a storage container, Japanese Patent Publication No. Sho 61-502994 and Japanese Patent Publication No. Sho 63-5
03259 and JP-T-63-500691. In addition, Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei 6-3
No. 8443, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-279546 and the like correspond.

[0008]

The conventional sealed container requires the operation of taking out the storage cassette 39 from the transport container and transferring the wafer to the cassette 41 of the storage container as described above. there were. First, when a wafer is transferred or stored, a very large space is required as the diameter of the wafer is increased (8 ″ or more). On the other hand, circuits formed on the wafer are becoming finer and finer. Therefore, the degree of cleanliness is gradually becoming more demanding, for example, by controlling the generation of particle contamination having a particle diameter of 0.04 μm or less.

However, in the conventional clean room space, there are contaminants generated from a transport container housed in the clean room and equipment such as a robot for opening and closing the transport container, and friction generated during a wafer transfer operation. There is a pollution problem. Therefore, it is very difficult to maintain a large space in a clean environment and requires advanced technology. Furthermore, there is a problem that equipment becomes very expensive with the advancement of technology. In view of the above, in recent years, contamination sources and contamination generation work have been eliminated as much as possible from the clean environment, and each processing step of the wafer has been made a closed space that is higher than the cleanliness of the entire factory, and the transfer of wafers between processes has been considered. There has been a movement to use a closed container as it is and to maintain the cleanness inside the closed space.

In particular, the size of the wafer is between 8 "and 12"
As described above, especially when the size is 16 ″ or more, the area of the wafer becomes about 2 to 3 times, and the weight of the wafer storage container also becomes 2 to 3 times or more. Since the specific gravity of the fluororesin is large due to the fact that the specific gravity of the fluororesin is large, the load on the equipment increases, and the load on the semiconductor processing equipment increases. There is a problem that the cost increases due to an increase in size and rigidity.

When a wafer is supplied to a wafer processing apparatus, the storage container is first positioned and connected to a port plate of the wafer processing apparatus. Then, the cassette 41 housed in the case 42 is lowered by the elevator mechanism of the wafer processing apparatus together with the port plate integrated with the box door 40 to a position below the inside of the wafer processing apparatus to be set on a platform for taking out the wafer.

However, during such an operation, since the wafer is in a state where the pressing member of the storage container is removed, there is a problem that the wafer is shifted back and forth in the groove of the cassette 41 due to vibration during movement. Further, in the conventional example, the cassette 41 is positioned in the apparatus for each cassette 41. However, a large molded product having a partially thick wall, such as the storage cassette 39, is likely to have dimensional variations such as deformation and warpage. ,
As a result, there is a problem that the cassette 41 cannot be correctly positioned.

Further, dimensional errors are accumulated in order to transfer the cassette 41 to several stages in the processing apparatus,
There is a problem that the attachment of the wafer take-out robot rubs the cassette 41 or the wafer rubs against the cassette, thereby causing contamination. Further, in the worst case, when the wafer taken out of the cassette 41 is set in the processing apparatus, there is a problem that the wafer comes into contact with a jig or the like of the processing apparatus due to a positional shift of the wafer, thereby causing breakage.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and has as its object to provide a sealed container which can be accurately positioned at a precise substrate transfer position of a processing apparatus and can be reduced in weight. . It is another object of the present invention to effectively prevent the precision substrate from jumping out of the container and accurately take out, process, or store the precision substrate.

[0015]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, a precision board is stored in a cover case, and one end face of the opening of the cover case is covered with a box door. The cover case is made of synthetic resin, a conveyor plate is attached to the bottom of the cover case, and columns for supporting precision substrates are attached to both inner sides of the cover case, and a coupling for positioning is attached to the conveyor plate at a predetermined interval. And a plurality of columns are provided.
A side wall member for supporting the precision substrate in a substantially horizontal state with a support groove, and a bottom plate provided below the side wall member, wherein the bottom plate is fixed to the coupling via a sealing member. And In addition,
The precision substrate holding retainers may be respectively attached to the other inner end surface of the cover case and the inner surface of the box door, and the compressive strength of one of the pair of retainers may be smaller than the compressive strength of the other retainer. preferable.

Here, the "precision substrate" in the claims includes at least one or more liquid crystal cells, quartz glass, semiconductor wafers (such as silicon wafers) used in the field of manufacturing electric, electronic, or semiconductor products. Alternatively, a mask substrate or the like is included. In addition, the `` column '' does not contaminate the precision substrate, and is excellent in moldability and abrasion resistance, and has a synthetic resin having sufficient strength, for example, a polycarbonate resin, a polyetheretherketone, a polyethylene terephthalate resin, and / or Polybutylene terephthalate resin or their combination (including blends and laminates)
It is preferable to mold using such as. It is preferable that the side wall member of the column is configured so as to have a uniform thickness as much as possible. Further, the "coupling" may be a structure attached to the conveyor plate, or may be an integrated structure. Further, whether the bottom plate is fixed or not is not particularly limited.

The "retainer" is a synthetic resin having elasticity so as not to contaminate the precision substrate. In particular, the retainer is formed using a synthetic resin subjected to antistatic treatment or a synthetic resin having conductivity. Is preferred. Further, it is desirable that the retainer be detachable. The pair of retainers have a compression strength set to be greater than the compression strength of the retainer on the box door side in order to prevent displacement during removal and reduce the effects of vibration during transportation, etc. Is desirable. This difference in compressive strength can be achieved by making the physical properties of the materials used different, or by using the same synthetic resin to make a difference in the reinforcing material and the wall thickness. The difference in the compressive strength is preferably at least 20%, more preferably at least 50%.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the cover case is formed by using a synthetic resin and the coupling is replaced with a conventional one having a pair of wafer spacing regulating grooves, a reduction in weight can be expected. . In addition, since the cassette is not used, weight reduction can be expected. In addition, the bottom plate of each column is fixed to the back side of the coupling, and these are integrated from the viewpoint of positional accuracy. In this state, one end face of the cover case opening is directly connected to the processing equipment, The substrate can be loaded and unloaded with high precision.

Further, between the side wall member (support groove) which is originally important for positional accuracy and a coupling such as a kinematic coupling, the side wall member is fixed to the cover case, and the cover case is fixed on the conveyor plate. When the conveyor plate is fixed to the coupling, there is an advantage that the positioning can be performed directly without being positioned by a plurality of combinations. Further, the sealing member prevents dust and the like from entering the inside of the cover case from the outside.

Further, according to the second aspect of the present invention, the precision board is urged in the direction of the box door due to the difference in the compressive strength, so that the vibration and the like during transportation can be reduced. When the compressive strength of the retainer on the cover case side is higher than the compressive strength of the retainer on the box door side, every time the box door is removed, no repulsive force acts on the precision board and the precision The board pops out of position,
It is possible to prevent the occurrence of an ejection error.

[0021]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings, taking a wafer as an example. As shown in FIG. 1, the sealed container according to the present embodiment has a conveyor plate 16 provided at the bottom of the cover case 1, and opposed columns 20 provided on both inner sides of the cover case 1. A plurality (three in this embodiment) of kinematic couplings 17 / 17A for plate positioning are arranged at predetermined intervals, and the bottom plate 23 of the column 20 is fixed to the kinematic couplings 17 / 17A. In addition, a front retainer 30 and a rear retainer 33 facing each other are set on the inner surface of the box door 7 and the inside of the cover case 1, respectively.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 8, the cover case 1 has a light-weight and excellent moldability, is subjected to an antistatic treatment, and is preferably a front open box structure having an open front using a transparent polycarbonate resin or the like. A grip handle 2 is screwed to the center of the ceiling via a fastener, and the grip handle 2 is gripped by the ceiling conveyor. A plurality of cylindrical mounting bosses 3 are formed on the bottom surface of the cover case 1 at a predetermined interval.

The front side of the opening of the cover case 1 is formed by forming a rim portion 4 by bending the outer peripheral portion outward and forming a rim portion 4, and a step surface inside the rim portion 4 forms a sealing surface 5. In addition, a plurality of locking recesses 6 are provided at predetermined intervals above and below the inner peripheral surface of the rim portion 4 (a total of 4 in the present embodiment).
Dents). The rim portion 4 configured as described above is detachably fitted and covered with the box door 7.

The box door 7 has an outer plate 8 and an inner plate 9 facing each other.
As shown in FIG. 8, a latch mechanism 10 is built in the gap between the holes 9. The latch mechanism 10 includes an outer plate 8
A plurality of rotatable disks 11 arranged side by side so as to be accessible to the user, and a plurality of (four in the present embodiment) latch plates 13 connected to the respective disks 11 via connection pins 12; A slide claw 14 protrudes from the tip of each latch plate 13.
Functions so as to be fitted into and removed from the locking concave portion 6 of the rim portion 4. As shown in FIG. 1, a frame-shaped gasket 15 made of a thermoplastic elastomer is detachably fitted to the inner surface plate 9, and this gasket 15 is used to seal the rim portion 4 when the box door 7 is fitted and covered. 5 and sealed.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 4, and 8, the conveyor plate 16 is formed into a plate shape having curved rear sides (upper side in FIG. 4), and a plurality of mounting bosses on the bottom surface of the cover case 1. 3 is screwed through a fastener. Each kinematic coupling 17 ・ 17A is SE
It is determined based on the MI standard. In the present embodiment,
It is formed into a substantially V-shaped cross section, and is screwed to both left and right sides near the front of the conveyor plate 16 and the center of the rear on the center line via fasteners. Each of the kinematic couplings 17 and 17A has a recess 18 as shown in FIG.
Is formed, and a screw hole 19 is formed in the concave hole 18.

As shown in FIG. 2 and the like, each column 20 has a side wall member 21 for supporting the wafer W in a horizontal state, and a top plate 22 is provided above the side wall member 21 and a bottom plate is provided below the side wall member 21. Plates 23 are provided, respectively. A plurality of support grooves 24 (for example, 25) having a V-shaped cross section are formed on the wall surface of the side wall member 21 so as to be arranged in the vertical direction, and the peripheral edges of the wafer W are respectively supported by the plurality of support grooves 24. In addition, the top plate 22
A plurality of mounting holes 25 which are slightly semi-circular in arc shape, are formed in a substantially inverted hat shape in cross section, and are fitted in the central concave portion with the uppermost convex portion of the side wall member 21 are provided at both free ends. Are provided with through holes 26 for mounting a cover case, respectively, and the through holes 26 and projections (not shown) on the inner surface of the ceiling of the cover case 1 are fitted to each other. It is more preferable that the side wall member 21 and the top plate 22 are integrally formed as a single body.

The bottom plate 23 is formed in a substantially semicircular arc shape, has both free ends formed in a circular shape, and is formed integrally with the lowermost portion of the side wall member 21. From both free ends of the bottom plate 23, a cylindrical boss 27 is formed.
27A protrudes downward in FIG. 2, and a female screw is screwed into the inner peripheral surface of each cylindrical boss 27.
And acts to fit. In the bottom plate 23 thus configured, the cylindrical boss 27 on the front side is positioned directly above the screw hole 19 of the kinematic coupling 17 on the front side of the conveyor plate 16 and the cylindrical boss 2 on the rear side.
7A is detachably screwed and fixed via screws 28 directly above the screw holes 19 of the kinematic coupling 17A on the rear side. As shown in FIG. 4, the rear cylindrical bosses 27A of the pair of bottom plates 23 are arranged side by side in the front-rear direction on the center line of the rear kinematic coupling 17A so as not to cause interference. I have.

At the time of this fixing, a plurality of ring-shaped sealing gaskets 29 are provided between the through-holes at the bottom of the cover case 1 and the cylindrical bosses 27 and 27A as shown in FIG. It is interposed and inserted. The top plate 22 is provided with a finely adjustable width (not shown) so that the position of the column 20 matches the position selected by the bottom plate 23.

As shown in FIG. 5 and the like, the front retainer 30 is basically formed in a plate shape using a polyester elastomer having a compression cleave amount of 1% at 23 ° C. as a molding material, and is detachably attached to the inner plate 9. It is fixedly attached to.
A plurality of (for example, 25) holding grooves 31 each having a V-shaped cross section for holding a peripheral portion of the wafer W are vertically arranged at a central portion of the front retainer 30, and inner plates are attached to both sides of the front retainer 30. Recess 32 for
Are integrally formed. The holding groove 31 is
It has spring properties and is formed at the same pitch as the support grooves 24. Further, the rear retainer 33 is formed into a structure similar to that of the front retainer 30 using a polyester-based elastomer having a compression cleave amount of 0.5% at 23 ° C. as a molding material, and is removably mounted and fixed to the inner rear surface of the cover case 1. ing.

In the above configuration, in order to store the wafers W, first, the sliced wafers W are arranged and stored in a vertically stacked state through the pair of columns 20 inside the cover case 1 and The door 7 is fitted and covered via the gasket 15, and thereafter, each disk 11 of the latch mechanism 10 rotates in the locking direction based on manual operation or automatic operation of a robot. Then, with the rotation of the disk 11, the plurality of latch plates 13 respectively advance in the vertical direction, the slide claws 14 are respectively fitted into the plurality of locking recesses 6 of the rim portion 4, and the box door 7 is securely locked. .

After the work of storing the wafer W is completed, the sealed container is transported from the semiconductor maker to the IC maker. At this time, the front retainer 30 and the rear retainer 3
3 means that the peripheral edge of the front and rear portions of the wafer W is held, the adverse effect of vibration on the wafer W is prevented, and the wafer W
Very effectively prevents breakage.

On the other hand, when the wafer W is supplied to the wafer processing apparatus, the rim portion 4 of the sealed container is directly connected to the wafer processing apparatus, and each disk of the latch mechanism 10 is manually or automatically operated by a robot. 11 rotates in the unlocking direction. Then, with the rotation of the disk 11, the plurality of latch plates 13 retreat in the vertical direction, respectively,
The slide claws 14 are respectively disengaged from the plurality of locking recesses 6 of the rim portion 4, and the box door 7 is unlocked. When the box door 7 is removed from the rim portion 4 in this manner, the column 20
The wafer W is directly loaded from the support groove 24. Note that the sealed container is also used when moving a wafer between wafer processing apparatuses.

According to the above configuration, since the cover case 1 is integrally formed using the polycarbonate resin, the weight can be reduced and the moldability can be significantly improved. Also, each column 20 is detachably attached to the cover case 1,
Moreover, the cylindrical bosses 27 and 27A of the bottom plate 23
Are directly fixed to the kinematic couplings 17 and 17A, respectively, so that errors are not accumulated during positioning. Therefore, the wafer W is loaded and unloaded at a predetermined position with high precision. In addition, the rear retainer 33 is less than the compressive strength of the front retainer 30.
Is higher, the repulsive force does not act on the wafer W every time the box door 7 is opened and the front retainer 30 is removed. Shift,
It is possible to effectively prevent the wafer W from being damaged.

Further, since the wafer W is constantly urged in the direction of the box door 7 due to the difference in the compressive strength, the adverse effect due to the resonance during transportation can be greatly suppressed. Therefore, it is possible to effectively prevent the generation of particles due to severe vibration, and to prevent the wafer W from being damaged. In addition, since a pair of columns 20 which are separate parts are used instead of the conventional cassette, and each column 20 is formed into a simple and small shape using a resin having excellent moldability, dimensional variations due to warpage and the like are reduced. Generation can be prevented. Further, simplification of the structure can be expected, which can greatly contribute to cost reduction of equipment.

Further, since the cover case 1, the front retainer 30, the rear retainer 33, and the like are provided with antistatic treatment and conductivity, dust attached due to static electricity can be prevented, the contamination of the wafer W can be prevented, and the production yield can be reduced. It can be greatly improved. Furthermore, since the conveyor plate 16, the small column 20, the front retainer 30, and the rear retainer 33 are replaceable, if there is a concern about contamination or wear of the parts, the target parts may be replaced and cleaned. Thereby, the cover case 1 can be used any number of times.

In the above embodiment, a plurality of locking recesses 6 are formed above and below the inner peripheral surface of the rim 4 of the cover case 1, but the present invention is not limited to this. A plurality of locking recesses 6 may be formed on both left and right sides of the inner peripheral surface in FIG. Also,
The latch mechanism 10 can be modified to correspond to this. Further, the number of columns 20 can be appropriately increased. Further, the bottom plate 23 and the plurality of kinematic couplings 17 and 17A can be integrally formed.

Further, if applicable to the present invention,
It is possible to use one or more of various packings 29 such as cylindrical. Further, the front retainer 30 and the rear retainer 33 have the same structure, but as shown in FIG.
A reinforcing member 34 made of a metal component may be vertically inserted into the rear retainer 33 to reinforce it. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the compressive strength of the front retainer 30 and the compressive strength of the rear retainer 33 are made different as described above, but the difference in the compressive strength is caused by a filler such as glass fiber using the same molding material. You can put it on. Furthermore, cover case 1, conveyor plate 16, kinematic coupling 17, 17A, bottom plate 23, screw 2
8 and the configuration of the plurality of packings 29 can be appropriately changed to a configuration as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 or the like.

[0038]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the cassette-less container can be accurately positioned at the precise substrate transfer position of the processing apparatus, and the weight can be reduced. . Further, according to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to effectively prevent the precision substrate from jumping out of the container, and to accurately take out, process, or store the precision substrate.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional side view showing an embodiment of a sealed container according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing a column in the embodiment of the sealed container according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a fixed state of a column in the embodiment of the sealed container according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a bottom view showing a conveyor plate in the embodiment of the sealed container according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a retainer in the embodiment of the sealed container according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a partial sectional view showing a holding groove of the retainer of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an explanatory sectional view showing another embodiment of the retainer.

FIG. 8 is an overall perspective view showing an embodiment of the sealed container according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view showing another embodiment of the sealed container according to the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view showing another embodiment of the sealed container according to the present invention.

FIG. 11 is an exploded perspective view showing a conventional transport container.

FIG. 12 is an exploded perspective view showing a conventional storage container.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Cover Case 7 Box Door 15 Gasket 16 Conveyor Plate 17 Kinematic Coupling (Coupling) 17A Kinematic Coupling (Coupling) 20 Column 21 Sidewall Member 23 Bottom Plate 24 Support Groove 27 Cylindrical Boss 27A Cylindrical Boss 28 Screw 29 packing (sealing member) 30 front retainer (retainer) 31 holding groove 33 rear retainer (retainer) W wafer (precision substrate)

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A sealed container for accommodating a precision substrate in a cover case and covering one end surface of an opening of the cover case with a box door, wherein the cover case is made of synthetic resin, and a conveyor plate is provided at the bottom of the cover case. Columns for supporting a precision substrate are attached to both sides of the inside of the case, and a plurality of couplings for positioning are provided on the conveyor plate at predetermined intervals, and the column makes the precision substrate in a substantially horizontal state with a support groove. A sealed container comprising a supporting side wall member and a bottom plate provided below the side wall member, wherein the bottom plate is fixed to the coupling via a sealing member. 2. The retainer for holding the precision substrate is attached to the other inner end surface of the cover case and the inner surface of the box door, respectively, and the compressive strength of one of the pair of retainers is made smaller than the compressive strength of the other retainer. 2. The sealed container according to claim 1, wherein the size is also reduced.