JPS63274420A - Equipment for maintaining cleanliness in vessel - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION "Field of Industrial Application" The present invention relates to a device used to protect and transport the product being manufactured in the process of manufacturing semiconductor elements, liquid crystals, optical disks, etc. The present invention relates to a container interior cleanliness maintenance device for always maintaining the interior at a predetermined cleanliness level.

``Prior Art'' Conventionally, this type of device for maintaining TNN variation has been used to prevent products from being contaminated from the working atmosphere when processing or transporting them. Second
A container for storing a product as shown in the figure is known.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a container, and this container 1 is formed by a container main body 1a and an underflow tb that is detachably fitted to the bottom of the container main body 1a. The wafer cassette 2 is placed in a predetermined position above the bottom Mlb and is stored in the container main body la, and the bottom lid 1b is fitted and fixed to the container main body 1a, so that the container The inside of the tank is kept in a sealed state.

Then, the container l is transported in the above-mentioned sealed state, and when the wafer cassette 2 inside the container l is processed using the manufacturing equipment, the wafer cassette 2 is transferred to the container as shown in FIG. An attachment/detachment device 4 is used to transfer the material between the device 1 and the manufacturing device 3. Note that 3a is a cover (enclosure) that covers the upper part of the manufacturing apparatus 3. The attachment/detachment device 4 includes a pedestal 5 on which the container 1 is placed, a boat door 6 that forms a part of the pedestal 5, a boat door 6 detachably fitted to the pedestal 5, and a boat door 6 that supports the boat door 6. The main components are an arm part 7 that lifts the arm part 7, and a lifting device 8 that raises and lowers the arm part 7 in the vertical direction. Then, the lock between the bottom M lb of the container and the container body 1a is released. Then, the wafer cassette 2 placed on the 11b is taken out from the container body Ia by the lifting device 8, and the wafer cassette 2, which has been processed in the manufacturing bags 7j and 3, is lifted again by the lifting device 8. It is stored in the container body la together with the bottom lid tb.

"Problems to be Solved by the Invention" However, in the conventional device (container), the bottom lid 1
The wafer cassette 2 is taken out from the container body 1a by opening and closing the boat door 6 and moving the boat door 6 up and down. However, when the boat door 6 is raised, air containing dust particles is forced into the apparatus. When the boat door 6 is lowered, there is a risk that surrounding contaminated air may be drawn in.Also, although the device has a highly airtight structure, if a leak occurs in the device,
There have been problems such as a breathing phenomenon occurring in the device due to the difference in temperature between the inside and outside, which may contaminate the inside of the device.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and prevents dust particles from being drawn into the apparatus when taking out a wafer cassette from the apparatus, and also prevents the apparatus from causing breathing phenomenon and contaminating the inside. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a device for maintaining the cleanliness inside a container, which does not cause water leakage.

"Means for Solving the Problems" The present invention provides a container body and a bottom part which is removably disposed at the bottom of the container body, and on which a product to be stored in the container body is placed. a lid, a filter detachably attached to the ceiling of the container body, and a fan detachably disposed above the filter to form an airflow into the container body through the filter. By providing this, the above problem is solved.

"Function" Since the container cleanliness maintenance device of the present invention has a filter attached to the ceiling of the container body, air can freely flow in and out of the container body, and the pressure inside the container body can be maintained at all times. The temperature is maintained at the same level as the environment outside the container, and dust from the environment outside the container is prevented from entering the container body by the filter. Furthermore, when a product is attached to or removed from the container body, the inside of the container body is covered with a downward current of clean air by driving a fan.

“Embodiment” An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows the device of the present invention applied to a part of the conventional technique shown in FIG. 2, and the same elements as those shown in FIG. Therefore, the explanation will be omitted.

In FIG. 1, a container internal cleanliness maintaining device (hereinafter simply referred to as "device") A of the present invention includes a container main body 10, a bottom lid part 20 attached to the bottom of the container body 10, and a bottom lid part 20 attached to the bottom of the container main body 10. and a cleaning section 30 for cleaning.

The container main body IO consists of a side plate 11 formed in a rectangular cylindrical shape, a bottom flannon 12 formed at the bottom of the side plate 11, and an upper flange 13 formed at the top. The bottom cover part 20 is fixed. The underflow section 20 is composed of a frame 21 and a bottom lid 22 that is removably fitted to the frame 21. The bottom lid 22 has an upper part where the products (
In this embodiment, a wafer cassette (2) is placed. When the wafer cassette 2 is normally stored in the container body 10, the bottom cover 22 and the frame 21 are in a locked state.

The cleaning section 30 also includes a filter 31 that covers the top of the container body 11, a mounting bracket 32 for removably fixing the filter 31 to the container body 11, and a fan 33 installed on the top of the filter 31. It is configured. The filter 31 is provided with a thin HEPA inside a frame 31a formed to match the shape of the upper part of the container body 11.
(or ULPA) filter 31b, etc., and is a filter 3! The frame 31a is the mounting bracket 3
2 is fixed to the upper part of the container body 11.

The mounting bracket 32 is composed of a lower frame 34 disposed on the upper surface of the upper flan 13, and an upper frame 35 that is vertically slidable on the lower frame 34. is inserted through a screw 36 that reaches the upper flange 13 with the filter 31 being held between them, and a nut 37 disposed on the lower side of the upper flange 13 is screwed onto the tip of the screw 36. As a result, the mounting fittings 32 are fixed to the container body 11. A protrusion member 35a formed on the lower surface of the upper frame 35 and a slidable groove member 34a are fixed to the upper surface of the lower frame 34, and the fan 33 is fixed to the upper surface of the upper frame 35. A recess 38 for attachment is fixed. A paragin 39 is disposed between the filter 31 and the fixing member 32 to bring them into close contact. Further, the mounting fitting 32 may be provided with a handle for use in carrying the device.

The fan 33 consists of a fan body 40 and a fan housing part 41 that houses the fan body 40 and is attached to the upper part of the filter 31 by fitting the lower end into the recess 38. Part 4I
A driving means 41a for driving the fan main body 40 is fixed to the upper part of the fan body 40a via a shaft body 40a. The fan 33 is attached to the attachment/detachment device 4 by a support portion 42. That is, the fan 33
The vertical member 42a is further supported by a horizontal member 42b, and the horizontal member 42b is supported by a rotating rod 42c for horizontally rotating it. stick 4
The base end of 2c is a support rod 4 fixed to the upper part of the attachment/detachment device 4.
2d so that it can be expanded and contracted in the vertical direction.

Next, the operation of the container cleanliness maintaining device A according to the present invention having the above-mentioned configuration will be explained along with an example of its use.

Normally, in the apparatus A of the present invention, a filter 31 is fixed to the ceiling of a container body 10, and a bottom cover 22 is fitted to the bottom to form a container P. The wafer cassette 2 is stored in this container P with it placed at a predetermined position on the bottom M22, and the frame 21 and the bottom lid 22 are locked. It is designed to be moved within the manufacturing process.

Therefore, in the device A of the present invention, air can freely flow in and out of the container P, and the pressure and temperature inside the container P are always maintained at the same state as the environment outside the container, so that breathing phenomena are not caused. In addition, dust in the environment outside the container is prevented from entering into the container P by the filter 31.

Next, when setting the wafer cassette 2 in the container P in a predetermined manufacturing device 3 for processing, etc., first, as shown in FIG. It is placed on the top of the boat door 6 which is removably fitted to the pedestal 5, while the top of the filter 31 has a recess 38 at the top of the mounting bracket 32 and a bottom 1M of the fan housing 41. Install the fan 33 so that they fit together. Note that when setting the container P in the attachment/detachment device 4, the fan 3
3, rotate the horizontal member 421) to the side so that it does not get in the way.

In this manner, when the container P is placed at a predetermined position on the boat door 6, the lock between the frame 21 and the bottom cover 22 of the container P is released. By driving the fan 33, a descending airflow of clean air is formed into the container body 10 through the filter 31, and by lowering the arm portion 7 using the lifting device 8, the bottom cover moves together with the boat door 6. The wafer cassette 2 placed on the wafer cassette 22 is taken out from the container body If to the manufacturing apparatus 3 side.

Note that the driving of the fan 33 and the lowering of the lifting device 8 are as follows:
It is controlled so that it works in conjunction with the other.

Further, the wafer cassette 2 that has been processed in the manufacturing device 3 is raised again together with the bottom lid 22 by the lifting device 8 and stored in the container body IO, and the frame body 21 and the bottom lid 22 are in a locked state. becomes.

Then, the wafer cassette 2 rises and the container body lO
While the wafer cassette 2 is being stored inside and the bottom cover 22 is being fitted into the frame 21, the fan 33 is driven to form a downward airflow of clean air into the container body 10 through the filter 31. When the container body 1 is stored,
Note that when the bottom cover 22 is fitted to the frame 21 and there is no longer any possibility of dust entering from the outside, the fan 33 is controlled to stop immediately, thereby creating a positive pressure inside the container body IO so as not to apply unnecessary wind pressure to the container body 10.

Therefore, according to the apparatus A of the present invention, when the lifting device 8 is driven to take the wafer cassette 2 into and out of the container body 10, the fan 33 is driven so that the inside of the container body 10 is lowered with clean air. Since the boat door 6 is covered by the air current, air containing dust particles may be forced into the container body IO when the boat door 6 rises.
Conversely, when the boat door 6 is lowered, there is no risk of drawing in surrounding contaminated air.

Note that other embodiments or technical matters other than those described above will be described below.

(i) In the above embodiments, the apparatus of the present invention was applied to a container for storing wafer cassettes, but the present invention is not limited to this, and is applicable to liquid crystals, optical discs, etc. that need to maintain a predetermined cleanliness level. It can be applied to any container used to store products.

(ii) In the example M, the container body II was formed into a rectangular shape. However, the shape of the product stored inside the container, the device for installing the container, etc. is not limited to this. Of course, the design can be changed appropriately depending on the situation.

(iii) The mounting bracket 32 of the filter is not limited to the one shown in the above embodiment, but can be attached to the container body I.
Any type of material may be used as long as the filter 31 can be detachably fixed to O.

"Effects of the Invention" As explained above, the container internal cleanliness maintaining device according to the present invention is removably fitted to the container main body and the bottom of the container main body, and has an upper part inside the container main body. A bottom lid on which the product to be stored is placed, a filter that is detachably attached to the ceiling of the container body, and a filter that is detachably attached to the top of the filter. Since it is equipped with a fan for forming airflow into the main body, dust particles are not drawn into the main body of the container when the wafer cassette is put in and taken out of the main body of the container, and the main body of the container is It has the excellent effect of not causing a breathing phenomenon and contaminating the products stored inside.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 2 shows a front sectional view of a container cleanliness maintenance device installed on the upper part of a lifting device, and Fig. 2 shows a conventional technique. FIG. 2 is a front cross-sectional view of a wafer cassette storage container installed in the lifting device. A...Container cleanliness maintenance device, 2...
Product (wafer cassette), 10...container body,
20...Bottom cover part, 22...Bottom cover, 30
... Ceiling section, 31 ... Filter, 33
······fan.

Claims (1)

[Claims] a container body, a bottom lid that is removably disposed on the bottom of the container body and on which a product to be stored in the container body is placed; and a bottom lid that is removably attached to the ceiling of the container body. An apparatus for maintaining cleanliness inside a container, comprising: an attached filter; and a fan, which is detachably disposed above the filter and forms an airflow into the container main body through the filter.