JPH11255332A - Substrate storing case - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To stably transport a substrate by an automatic transporter by providing a case fixing means on the outer periphery of a lower cover of a storing case for a substrate of a semiconductor photomask or the like, and providing three or more stepped substrate supporting means on right and left of the inside of the lower cover and two or more substrate restrain means in front and rear thereof. SOLUTION: A semiconductor photomask 1 is regulated in its lateral movement by cylindrical stepped substrate support means 3a-3d provided on right and left sides in the interior of a lower cover 2, and also inhibited in its longitudinal movement by substrate restraining means 6a-6d provided in front and in rear thereof. While an upper cover 7 is disposed on the upper part of the lower cover 2, the end face 1b of the photomask 1 is pressed by an elastic silicone rubber 30 fitted to conical substrate pressers 8a, 8b provided on the inner surface side of the upper cover 7 to restrain the vertical vibration. The upper cover 7 is installed on the lower cover in such a manner as to be freely opened and closed by fitting guide pins 11a, 11b of the lower cover 2 to guide hole 12a, 12b of the upper cover 7.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a semiconductor photomask,
The present invention relates to a storage case for a single-wafer substrate such as a semiconductor wafer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A semiconductor photomask will be described as an example. The semiconductor photomask is 152mm square and 6.3mm thick.
Chromium film of about 0.1μm is sputtered on a quartz plate of
The substrate on which a resist is applied thereon is subjected to processing such as pattern drawing, development, etching, and resist stripping, thereby completing the process.

In the photomask manufacturing process, conventionally,
5 to 10 photomasks are stored in a multi-stage cassette and set in the apparatus for processing. However, when transported using an automatic transport vehicle, the photomask moves and is not stable and is not suitable for automation. There is a defect that.

There is also a single-wafer type substrate storage case,
Since the lid is a hinge, when used in a processing apparatus, there is a defect that a complicated mechanism is required for opening and closing the lid.

[0005] Furthermore, the conventional single-wafer-type substrate storage case is
Since the upper surface of the photomask is pressed to ensure the stability of the photomask, there is a defect that the photomask is damaged or dust is generated.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a substrate storage case that can be stably transferred by an automatic transfer machine.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a substrate storage case in which the upper cover can be easily opened and closed in the processing apparatus.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a substrate storage case which does not damage the upper and lower surfaces of the photomask and does not generate dust.

[0009]

The present invention comprises a case fixing means on the outer periphery of a lower cover, three or more stepped substrate supports on the left and right inside, and two or more board restrainers on the front and rear inside. ,
A case opening / closing means is provided on the outer periphery of the upper cover.

[0010] Further, the invention is characterized in that the upper cover is provided with a substrate presser for obliquely pressing the substrate end surface.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG.
Is a perspective view of the substrate storage case of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a detailed longitudinal sectional view when the substrate storage case of the present invention is closed.

The photomask 1 is supported by the inclined surfaces 4a of the cylindrical stepped substrate supports 3a to 3d of the lower cover 2, and the leftward movement is suppressed by the cylindrical surface 5a. FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view of the present board storage case. The joint surface of the cylinder is slope 4
Since the contact area with the photomask 1 is minimized by inclining as shown in a, the generation of dust is reduced.

Further, the photomask 1 is prevented from moving in the front-rear direction by the board restrainers 6a to 6d.

In the above description, there are four stepped substrate supports 3,
Although the description has been given of the case where the number of the substrate restrainers 6 is four, the photomask 1 can be supported even if the number of the stepped substrate supports is three,
Even if there are two board stoppers, the movement in the front-rear direction can be suppressed, so that the present invention can be realized similarly.

The conical substrate holders 8a, 8 of the upper cover 7
b is covered with an elastic silicone rubber 30, and the slope 9 b presses the end face 1 b of the photomask 1, thereby suppressing vertical swing.

The present invention is not limited to two substrate holding members 8a and 8b as described in the present invention, but may be two in each case on the left and right, or a total of four by adding one in each of the front and rear. realizable.

[0017] Covering the photomask 1 with the elastic silicon rubber 30 makes the pressing of the photomask 1 more reliable, and the photomask 1 is not rubbed so that the generation of dust is suppressed. When the vertical movement is small, the present invention can be realized even if the silicone rubber 30 is omitted.

In the above description, an example in which silicon rubber is used as the elastic cover has been described.
For example, the present invention can be realized by using a fluorine rubber or the like.

The stepped substrate supports 3a to 3 in the above description
d, The material of the substrate restrainers 6a to 6d and the substrate holders 8a and 8b is a resin such as trifluoride resin or polyethylene in order to prevent the photomask 1 from being damaged.

When the substrate storage case is always moved horizontally, the present invention can be carried out without the substrate holders 8a and 8b.

Since the end face of the photomask 1 is chamfered at 45 degrees of about 1 mm, it is effective to hold the photomask 1 at an angle 10 of 30 to 60 degrees.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a second embodiment of the substrate support. The end surface of the photomask 1 is supported by the inclined surface 33 of the plate-shaped stepped support 32 of the lower cover 2, and the vertical surface 34 suppresses lateral movement.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a second embodiment of the substrate presser. The end surface 1b of the photomask 1 is pressed by the inclined surface 36 of the plate-shaped substrate holder 35 of the upper cover 7, and the vertical movement of the photomask 1 is suppressed.

Next, the opening and closing of the upper cover will be described.
The guide pins 11a and 11b of the lower cover 2 are engaged with the guide holes 12a and 12b of the upper cover 7 and are opened and closed. 13a
Reference numerals 13d to 13d denote fixing flanges of the lower cover 2, and 14a and 14b denote opening and closing flanges of the upper cover 7.

FIG. 5 is a front view when the substrate storage case is placed on the processing apparatus, and FIG. 6 is a front view when the upper cover is opened.

First, the air cylinders 16a to 16b are driven to lower the connected levers 17a to 17d downward, and press the fixing flanges 13a to 13d to fix the lower cover 2 of the case.

Next, the air cylinders 18a, 18b are driven to raise the connected pushers 19a, 19b upward.
The upper cover 7 is opened by pushing up the opening / closing collars 14a and 14b.

When closing the upper cover, the operation is performed in the reverse order of opening. The photomask 1 is a robot (not shown), which picks up and removes the photomask 1 from below.

Further, the automatic carrier has fixed flanges 13a to 13a-1.
3d is gripped and the substrate storage case is transported.

By connecting the four levers 17a to 17d,
It may be operated by one cylinder. Also, lever 17
The present invention can also be realized by moving a to 17d right and left and fixing the lower cover 2 so as to sandwich it.

As described above, the stepped substrate support 3a
3d, the substrate restrainers 6a to 6d only come into contact with the end face of the photomask 1, so there is no danger of scratching or adhering dust on the front and back surfaces of the photomask 1.

Further, the board holding members 8a, 8b of the upper cover 7 are provided.
And press down the photomask 1 to fix the lower cover 2 to the fixing flange 13a.
13d can be stably conveyed by gripping and moving 13d with an automatic conveyance vehicle.

Further, in the processing apparatus, the lower cover 2
By pressing the fixing flanges 13a to 13d of the upper cover 7 and pushing up the opening / closing flanges 14a, 14b of the upper cover 7, the substrate storage case can be opened / closed by a simple mechanism.

In the above description, the case where the substrate is a photomask has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention can be realized in exactly the same manner in a storage case that performs clean processing one by one.

[0035]

As described above, the present invention has the following effects. It is possible to realize a substrate storage case that can be stably transported and easily opened and closed without damaging or attaching dust to a clean substrate such as a semiconductor.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a substrate storage case of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a detailed vertical sectional view when the substrate storage case of the present invention is closed.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a second embodiment of the substrate support of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a second embodiment of the substrate presser of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a front view when a substrate storage case is placed on the processing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a front view when the upper cover of the present invention is opened.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Photomask, 1b ... End face, 2 ... Lower cover, 3a-3
d: stepped substrate support, 4a: slope, 5a: cylindrical surface, 6a
... 6d ... board restrainer, 7 ... upper cover, 8a, 8b ... board holder, 9b ... slope, 10 ... angle, 11a, 11b ... guide pin, 12a, 12b ... guide hole, 13a-13d ... fixed collar, 14a , 14b ... opening and closing brim, 16a-16b ...
Air cylinders, 17a to 17d ... Lever, 18a, 18
b ... air cylinder, 19a, 19b ... pusher, 30 ...
Silicon rubber, 31 ... guide pin, 32 ... stepped support, 3
Reference numeral 3 denotes a slope, 34 denotes a vertical surface, 35 denotes a substrate holder, and 36 denotes a slope.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code FI H05K 5/00 H01L 21/30 503E

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A single-wafer type substrate storage case comprising an upper cover and a lower cover, a case fixing means on an outer periphery of the lower cover, three or more stepped substrate supports on the left and right inside, and a front and rear inside of the substrate storage case. A board storage case, comprising: two or more board stoppers; and a case opening / closing means on an outer periphery of the upper cover. 2. The substrate storage case according to claim 1, wherein the upper cover is provided with a substrate presser for obliquely pressing an end surface of the substrate. 3. The substrate storage case according to claim 1, wherein a step portion of the stepped substrate support is inclined. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the inclination of the substrate holder is 30 degrees to 60 degrees. The substrate storage case according to claim 2. 5. The substrate storage case according to claim 2, wherein said substrate holder is covered with an elastic body.