JPH1124239A - Pellicle housing case - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a case having an air hole for making the inside and the outside of the case in a ventilating state and a closing means for closing the air hole. SOLUTION: The air hole 8 communicating with the inside and the outside of the case is formed at the prescribed position of the tray 5 of the case housing a pellicle. Besides, the closing body 9 closing the hole 8 is projectingly formed at the prescribed position of the inside surface of a clip 7 which can fix the corner part of the case. When the case is fixed by the clip 7, the hole 8 formed at the tray 5 is closed by the closing body 9.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a storage case capable of storing a pellicle used for preventing a foreign matter from adhering to a photomask or a reticle used in a lithography process in manufacturing an LSI or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in the production of semiconductor circuit patterns and the like, dust-proof means generally called a pellicle is used.
It has been practiced to prevent foreign matter from adhering to a photomask or a reticle (for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 54-28718). The pellicle is a transparent polymer film (hereinafter referred to as pellicle) such as nitrocellulose or cellulose derivative having a thickness of about 10 μm or less, which is formed on the upper edge surface of a frame having a thickness conforming to the shape of a photomask or a reticle and having a thickness of about several millimeters. A film is stretched and adhered, an adhesive is applied to the lower edge surface of the frame, and a protective film is adhered on the adhesive with a predetermined adhesive force.

[0003] The adhesive is used to fix the pellicle to a photomask or a reticle, and the protective film is used to maintain the adhesive force of the adhesive until the adhesive is used. It protects the adhesive surface of the adhesive. In transporting this pellicle from the manufacturer to the user, in order to prevent foreign substances from adhering to the pellicle film or the like, or to prevent the pellicle from being damaged, the pellicle is stored in a case composed of a tray and a lid, Further, it is common to carry and store in a dustproof bag or the like.

[0004]

The user unpacks the pellicle, removes the case, opens the case lid, and finally removes the pellicle. At this time, the lid is difficult to open. There is a problem that the phenomenon often occurs.

As described above, the case has a crucial role in preventing foreign substances such as dust from adhering to the pellicle when the pellicle is moved from the manufacturer to the user, and this is ensured. For this reason, the fitting or engagement between the tray and the lid is made quite high in airtightness, and has a substantially airtight structure so as to minimize the flow of air inside and outside the case.

As described above, since the case has a substantially airtight structure, when the lid of the case is opened, the inside of the case is depressurized and the lid and the tray are separated from each other. The phenomenon that it became difficult occurred. When the pellicle removal operation is performed manually, the decompression state is gradually eliminated by spending a little time, so that the lid can be gradually lifted over time, but it has been increasing in recent years. When an attempt is made to open the lid with a certain automatic sticking machine, an operation error may occur, and there is a problem that the stability of the automatic operation is seriously hindered.

[0007] In order to solve the above inconvenience, it is necessary that the inside and outside of the case are in a sufficiently ventilated state when the case is opened, that is, when the lid is detached from the tray. However, when the pellicle is housed in the case and the inside of the case is in a ventilated state during transportation from the manufacturer to the user, the essential function of the case of completely blocking intrusion of foreign matter from outside the case is essential. There was a problem that could not be fulfilled enough.

Therefore, the present invention is a completely new technique developed in view of the above-mentioned many problems, and can keep the case substantially airtight when necessary and provide air permeability when opening the case. It is a structure.
That is, the basic structure of the present invention is to provide a ventilation hole that allows the inside and outside of the case to be in a ventilation state in one or both of the lid and the tray of the case, and further closes and opens the ventilation hole. The present invention provides a technique of a structure provided with a closing means that can perform the closing operation.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A pellicle storage case according to the present invention is a technique for fundamentally improving many of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and the gist of the first invention is to store a pellicle. In a case comprising a tray and a lid, the tray and / or the lid are provided with a ventilation hole communicating with the inside and outside of the case, and a closing means capable of closing and releasing the ventilation hole. Is a storage case for a pellicle, characterized in that a pellicle is provided.

In the first aspect of the present invention, one or both of the tray and the lid constituting the case are provided with ventilation holes communicating with the inside and outside of the case. The case can be easily and smoothly detached without receiving resistance by putting the case into a ventilation state and releasing the substantially airtight state.

Further, since the closing means is provided in the ventilation hole provided in the tray or the lid of the case as described above, the inside of the case is made airtight by closing the ventilation hole using the closing means. Therefore, foreign matter can be prevented from entering the case. Also,
By opening the closing means, the inside of the case can be ventilated and the lid can be easily removed.

The gist of the second invention of the present application is the pellicle storage case according to the first invention, wherein the means for closing the ventilation hole is a clip for fixing the tray and the lid to each other.

When the clip for fixing the tray and the lid of the case has a function of closing the ventilation hole as in the second invention, when the clip is used to fix the tray and the lid. In addition, the vent can be automatically closed to keep the inside of the case airtight. In addition, by removing the clip from the case to open the case, the ventilation hole can be automatically opened and the air can be ventilated.

The gist of the third invention of the present application is the pellicle storage case of the first invention, wherein the means for closing the vent hole is an adhesive having an adhesive force.

In the case where the means for closing the air hole is an adhesive body having an adhesive force as in the third invention, attachment and detachment from the air hole are extremely easy, and the operation is simple. Further, unlike the case where the closing means is a mechanical closing means such as a screw or a snap fit, the surroundings of the ventilation holes are not strongly rubbed to generate dust, which is effective in this respect.

The gist of a fourth invention of the present application is the pellicle storage case of the third invention, wherein the adhesive is connected to a clip for fixing the tray and the lid to each other. .

In the case where the adhesive capable of closing the ventilation hole of the case is connected to the clip for fixing the case, the tray and the lid to each other as in the fourth invention, the adhesive is fixed to the ventilation hole. The stuck adhesive can be stabilized. Further, when the clip is removed from the case, the adhesive that has adhered to the ventilation hole can be removed at the same time.

[0018]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of a pellicle storage case according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a pellicle stored in a storage case according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional explanatory view taken along the line AA of FIG.
FIG. 3 is an enlarged explanatory view in which main parts of FIG. 2 are enlarged.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a main part of a storage case according to a second embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 5 is an explanatory longitudinal sectional view showing an enlarged main part of FIG. 4, and FIG. 6 is a third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view of FIG. 6 showing a main part of the storage case.

A basic embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 as follows. That is, a pellicle film 2 is spread on an upper edge surface of a frame 1 constituting a pellicle, and an adhesive 3 having an appropriate thickness is provided on a lower edge of the frame 1. The protective film 4 on the lower surface is adhered so as to be peelable.

As described above, the pellicle constituted by the combination of the frame 1, the pellicle film 2, the adhesive 3 and the protective film 4 is housed in a case formed by the tray 5 and the lid 6. The case composed of the tray 5 and the lid 6 has a flat sealing surface 5 a provided on the entire upper surface of the outer peripheral edge of the tray 5 and a sealing surface 6 a provided on the entire lower surface of the outer peripheral edge of the lid 6. The inside of the case is maintained in a substantially airtight state by being in contact with and closely contacting each other. 7
Is a clip for fixing a corner portion between the tray 5 and the lid 6 of the case.

Reference numeral 8 denotes a ventilation hole, which is formed at a predetermined position of the lid 6 so that the inside and the outside of the case communicate with each other through the ventilation hole 8. This ventilation hole 8
Is provided inside the sealing surface 6 a of the lid 6, and a closing member 9 is attached to the outside of the ventilation hole 8 with an adhesive. Accordingly, when the ventilation hole 8 is closed by the closing body 9, the inside of the case is kept substantially airtight, and when the closing body 9 is removed, the inside of the case can be made to be in the ventilation state. .

In the present invention, as described above, the ventilation hole 8 communicating with the inside and outside is provided in a part of the case, and the ventilation hole 8 can be closed by the closing member 9 if necessary. When storing and transporting the pellicle in the case, the vent hole 8 is closed to keep the inside of the case substantially airtight, and foreign matter enters the case from the outside and adheres to the pellicle. This can be completely prevented. Also, when taking out the pellicle from inside the case,
By removing the closing member 9 from the outside of the ventilation hole 8, the inside of the case is ventilated, whereby the lid 6 of the case can be easily removed from the tray 5 that has been in close contact.

The pellicle storage case according to the present invention has the above-described basic structure and operation and effect. The structure and operation of the case will be described in detail in the following embodiments. .

Example 1 A pellicle composed of a frame 1, a pellicle film 2, an adhesive 3 and a protective film 4 as described above is placed on a flat surface of a tray 5 as shown in FIGS. Is placed so that the protective film 4 is in contact with it. Then, the lid 6 is covered from above, and the lid 6 and the tray 5 are fixed by the clip 7. In the state where the pellicle is stored, the flat sealing surface 5a provided on the entire periphery of the upper surface of the tray 5 and the flat sealing surface 6a provided on the entire periphery of the lower surface of the lid 6 abut and adhere to each other. The inside of this case, which is composed of the tray 5 and the lid 6, is kept substantially airtight.

Further, a ventilation hole 8 communicating with the inside and outside of the case is provided inside the sealing surface 6a of the lid 6.
A closing member 9 is attached to the outside of the ventilation hole 8 with an adhesive. In such a configuration, the case is substantially airtight, and foreign matter from outside is blocked, thereby preventing the pellicle from being contaminated.
The user removes the closing member 9 from the lid 6 before opening the lid 6 of the case, whereby the ventilation hole 8 is opened, and the inside and the outside of the case are ventilated. Then, the lid 6 can be brought into a state where it can be removed from the tray 5.

In this embodiment, the ventilation hole 8 is provided at one position in the lid 6, but the ventilation hole 8 may of course be provided in the tray 5 or in both. Also, the number of the ventilation holes 8 may be provided at a plurality of locations in order to obtain necessary ventilation. Further, the closing body 9 may be made of a hard material or a soft material. For example, a flexible vinyl adhesive tape can be used for this purpose. The method of fixing the closing body 9 to the lid 6 may be fixing with an adhesive material or mechanical joining such as a screw or a snap fit. Considering the difficulty of dust generation,
It is convenient to use an adhesive having a moderate adhesive strength.

Now, in this embodiment, when the size of the vent hole 8 is 8 mm in a case having the pellicle and the configuration having a size of 6 inches, the closing member 9 is removed. When the tray 5 was placed on a horizontal surface and the lid 6 was lifted, the tray 5 hardly adhered to the lid 6 and was lifted, and the lid 6 could be easily removed.

[Comparative Example] An experiment was performed using a case having exactly the same structure as that of the first embodiment, and no vent hole 8 was provided in the case. The state in which the tray 5 was attached to the lid 6 and lifted up continued for several seconds to 10 seconds.

[Second Embodiment] In the structure of the first embodiment, when the pellicle is removed from the case, an extra operation of removing the closing body 9 is required as compared with the conventional structure. However, it has been clarified in the present embodiment that the case can be opened by an operation that is almost the same as the conventional case by devising the closing body 9.

That is, in this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, only the position of the ventilation hole 8 and the form of the closing body 9 in the first embodiment are changed. In this figure, an air hole 8 is provided in a lid 6 near a clip 7, and one end of a closing body 9 made of a flexible vinyl adhesive tape is so formed as to close the air hole 8 with an adhesive material. It is attached to the upper surface of the lid 6. The other end of the closing body 9 is joined to the clip 7. In such a configuration, the closing body 9 can be removed by the operation itself of removing the clip 7 which has been conventionally required when opening the case. Therefore, it is apparent that the present embodiment is an embodiment in which an increase in the number of operations is not required as compared with the related art.

[Embodiment 3] Although the closing member 9 is integrally joined to the clip 7 in Embodiment 2, the clip 7 itself may be provided with a closing means in this embodiment. It turned out to be possible.

That is, in this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, only the form of the ventilation hole 8 and the closing body 9 in the first embodiment is changed. In the figure, a vent hole 8 which is a circular hole is provided in the tray 5, and a closing member 9 of a spherical projection is provided at a predetermined position on the inner surface of the clip 7 in a state of integrally projecting therefrom. When the clip 7 is attached to a predetermined position for fixing the lid 6 and the tray 5, each of the clips 7 is arranged so that the closing body 9 just covers the ventilation hole 8.

Therefore, when the corner portion of the case is fixed by the clip 7, the closing member 9 can automatically close the ventilation hole 8 with an appropriate pressure. The clip 7 is made of a relatively flexible material such as a polyethylene or polypropylene synthetic resin so that the clip 7 can be easily attached and detached. In addition, when the clip 7 is attached and detached, the clip 7 and the tray 5 rub against each other to generate foreign matter, and to prevent the foreign matter from entering the inside of the case from the ventilation hole 8, It is effective to apply an adhesive to the surface, the periphery of the ventilation hole 8, or both.

[0035]

The pellicle storage case according to the present invention is
Since it has the above-described structure and operation, it has the following great effects.

Since a vent hole is provided at a predetermined position of the case for accommodating the pellicle and which is capable of closing and releasing the vent hole, the pellicle is accommodated in the case for storing or transporting the pellicle. In this case, the inside of the case can be kept substantially airtight by closing the ventilation hole. Therefore, it is possible to prevent foreign matter from entering the case from the outside and to adhere to the pellicle stored in the case. Further, when the ventilation holes are released, the inside of the case can be kept in a ventilation state, whereby the case lid can be easily removed from the tray.

If the clip for fixing the tray and the lid of the case has a function of closing the air hole, the air hole may be closed when the clip is attached to or detached from the case. It can be released automatically, making the work extremely easy.

When the means for closing the air hole is implemented by an adhesive, it is easy to attach and detach the air hole from the air hole, and the operation is simple. Further, in this case, there is no danger that fine dust will enter the case due to strong friction around the ventilation hole to generate dust.

When an adhesive that can close or open the ventilation hole is connected to a clip that can fix the case, the adhesive can be stabilized and the adhesive can be removed when the clip is removed from the case. It can be removed at the same time to open the vent.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a state in which a pellicle is stored in a storage case according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged explanatory view in which a main part of FIG. 2 is enlarged.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a main part of a storage case according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged vertical cross-sectional explanatory view of a main part of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a main part of a storage case according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory longitudinal sectional view of FIG. 6;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Frame 2 Pellicle film 3 Adhesive material 4 Protective film 5 Tray 6 Lid 7 Clip 8 Vent hole 9 Closure

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A case comprising a tray and a lid for accommodating a pellicle, wherein one or both of the tray and the lid are provided with a vent hole communicating with the inside and outside of the case. A pellicle storage case provided with a closing means capable of closing and releasing the pellicle. 2. The pellicle storage case according to claim 1, wherein said means for closing said vent hole is a clip for fixing said tray and said lid to each other. 3. A pellicle storage case according to claim 1, wherein said air hole closing means is an adhesive having an adhesive force. 4. The pellicle storage case according to claim 3, wherein the adhesive is connected to a clip for fixing the tray and the lid to each other.