KR101886414B1 - Apparatus and system for cleaning wafer container - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a wafer container cleaning apparatus and system. According to one embodiment of the invention, a rotatable rotor; A holder unit that horizontally rotates in accordance with the rotation of the rotor and supports the wafer containers in the horizontal direction; And a jetting unit including a female jetting part inserted into the interior of a part of the wafer container supported in at least one direction of the holder unit to jet the rinse solution inside the container, and a fixed jetting part jetting the rinse solution from the outside of the wafer containers, Wherein the arm jetting portion is inserted into the inside of a part of the wafer container, swings in the horizontal direction, moves in the vertical direction, and ejects the cleaning liquid. Further, a wafer container cleaning system including the same is proposed.

Description

[0001] APPARATUS AND SYSTEM FOR CLEANING WAFER CONTAINER [0002]

The present invention relates to a wafer container cleaning apparatus and system. More particularly, to a wafer container cleaning apparatus and system capable of more effectively cleaning the interior of a wafer container.

In order to manufacture a semiconductor device, various fabrication processes such as deposition, etching, cleaning, and / or drying should be performed on a substrate, that is, a wafer. The transferred substrates, that is, the wafers, enter the process chamber on a sheet-by-wafer basis to perform the fabrication processes.

At this time, since the wafer is a high-precision article for manufacturing a semiconductor device, it must not be contaminated or damaged from external contaminants and impacts during storage or transportation in the manufacturing process. At this time, the wafers are housed in a separate storage container, such as a FOUP, and stored or transported. The wafer container, which is a storage container, usually comprises a storage portion for storing wafers and a cover for covering the storage portion. If repeatedly used in an actual process, particles or chemical contaminants may adhere to the cover or the storage portion. If these contaminants adhere to the wafer housed in the housing portion, there arises a serious problem that the element in the semiconductor manufacturing process is contaminated.

Therefore, the wafer storage container needs to maintain high cleanliness. In order to maintain high cleanliness, the wafer container needs to be periodically cleaned and maintained in a clean state.

Cleaning of such a wafer container is carried out through a separate cleaning device.

Korean Registered Patent No. 10-1022014 (registered on March 07, 2011) Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2012-0131785 (published on December 05, 2012)

In cleaning the wafer container in the above-described cleaning apparatus, it is necessary to effectively clean the inside of the wafer container in which the wafer is housed.

To this end, according to the present invention, there is provided a wafer container cleaning apparatus and system capable of more effectively cleaning the interior of the wafer container by inserting a part of the injection unit into the interior of the wafer container, swinging in the horizontal direction, .

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a rotor comprising: a rotatable rotor; A holder unit that horizontally rotates in accordance with the rotation of the rotor and supports the wafer containers in the horizontal direction; And a jetting unit including a female jetting part inserted into the inside of a part of the wafer container supported by the holder unit and jetting the cleaning liquid from inside the container and a fixed jetting part jetting the cleaning liquid from the outside of the wafer containers, A wafer container cleaning apparatus is proposed, which is inserted into the inside of the wafer container, swings in the horizontal direction, moves in the vertical direction, and ejects the cleaning liquid.

In this case, in one example, the arm injection unit may include a guide shaft vertically formed on the outer side of a part of the wafer container, a guide shaft provided on the guide shaft, one side of which is inserted into the wafer container and swinging in the horizontal direction, And a female spray nozzle formed at one end of the horizontal arm and for spraying the cleaning liquid.

In another example, the swing motion in the horizontal direction of the horizontal arm may be performed by performing a swing motion in accordance with the rotation of the axis of the guide shaft, or the swing motion may be performed by using the guide axis as the fixed axis. In addition, the up-and-down movement operation of the horizontal arm in the vertical direction may be performed in accordance with the up-and-down movement in the vertical direction of the guide axis or in the vertical direction on the guide axis.

Further, in one example, as the inlet direction of some of the wafer containers approaches the center line of the horizontal swing of the horizontal arm as the holder unit rotates, the horizontal arm outside the wafer container rotates in the direction of the center line, Is inserted into the interior of the container. Further, as the holder unit is rotated such that the entrance direction of some of the wafer containers deviates away from the center line of the horizontal swing of the horizontal arm with the horizontal arms inserted into some of the wafer containers, The horizontal arm is rotated away from the center line direction of the horizontal direction swing and is released to the inside of some wafer containers and escapes to the outside.

In another example, the holder unit is formed in a multi-layer structure to support wafer containers arranged in at least two-layer structure, and the horizontal arm is provided in at least two of the at least two- And the fixed jetting portion ejects the cleaning liquid in a multi-layer structure at the periphery of the wafer containers supported in at least two-layer structure.

Further, according to one example, the arm injection nozzle has at least two or more nozzle holes for spraying the cleaning liquid in at least two mutually opposite directions, and the fixed jetting portion is provided around the inlet and the inlet of the wafer containers at the periphery of the wafer containers, And at least one or more center spray nozzles for spraying the cleaning liquid around the rear side opposite to the inlet side of the wafer containers in the vicinity of the rotation center of the holder unit and around the rear side periphery of the wafer containers.

In another example, the holder unit includes a container holder portion for supporting wafer containers and a cover holder portion for supporting the covers of the wafer containers in a horizontal plane and inclined, and the ejection unit ejects a cleaning liquid to the covers together with the wafer containers .

At this time, in another example, the container holder portion may include a front holder for supporting the inlet side of the wafer container, a rear holder for supporting the reverse side of the inlet side of the wafer container, a side holder for supporting the left and right sides of the wafer container, And the cover holder portion may include a lower holder and an upper holder for supporting the upper and lower sides of the cover in an oblique direction and a pair of upper and lower holders for supporting the left and right sides of the cover, A lower surface support for supporting the lower surface of the cover, and an excursion limiting protrusion for limiting lifting of the cover due to rotation.

Further, in one example, the wafer container cleaning apparatus further includes a heater unit disposed near the outer periphery of the rotating wafer containers and the rotation center of the holder unit, the heater unit having at least two heaters for drying the cleaned wafer containers, The unit injects a gas for a drying atmosphere during drying by the heater unit.

Next, in order to achieve the above-mentioned object, according to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for manufacturing a wafer container, comprising: a first stock part for preheating wafer containers before cleaning; and a second stock part for post- A stocker unit including a stock portion; A cover opening / closing unit which opens the cover of the wafer container before cleaning conveyed from the first stock portion and closes the cleaned cover to the cleaned wafer container before being transferred to the second stock portion; A wafer container cleaning apparatus according to any of the embodiments of the above-described invention for cleaning and receiving wafer containers and covers; And a robot arm for pivotally rotating the wafer container and the cover opened in the cover opening / closing unit to supply the wafer container and the cover to the holder unit of the container cleaning device, to take out the cleaned wafer container and the cover from the holder unit and to provide the wafer container and the cover as a cover opening / closing unit. System is proposed.

At this time, in one example, the holder unit of the wafer container cleaning apparatus has a multi-layer structure to support the wafer containers and covers in separate layers, the covers being supported in an inclined relation with the horizontal plane, So as to spray the cleaning liquid to the wafer containers and covers.

In another example, the wafer container is provided with a gripper mounting portion on the upper surface of the periphery of the inlet side, and the robot arm is provided with a gripper at a distal end portion. The gripper is mounted on the lower side of the cylinder and the distal end portion, A container grip block for fixing the gripper mounting portion of the wafer container when advancing, and a cover grip block mounted on the upper side of the distal end portion and fixed to support the circumferential side of the cover when moving forward or backward according to the driving of the cylinder.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, a part of the injection unit is inserted into the interior of the wafer container, swinging in the horizontal direction, moving in the vertical direction, and spraying the cleaning liquid, thereby more effectively cleaning the interior of the wafer container.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that various other changes and modifications within the scope of the present invention may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. It is obvious that it can be derived.

1 is a schematic view showing a planar structure of a wafer container cleaning apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a view schematically showing a configuration of a rocking part of a wafer container cleaning apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG.
FIG. 3 is a view schematically showing a process of inserting the arm injection portion of the wafer container cleaning apparatus into the wafer container according to another embodiment of the present invention.
4A is a view schematically showing a part of a side structure of a wafer container cleaning apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.
4B to 4C are views schematically showing a structure of a holder unit of a wafer container cleaning apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, respectively.
5A to 5C are views schematically showing a part of a structure of a holder unit of a wafer container cleaning apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, respectively.
6 is a schematic diagram illustrating a planar structure of a wafer container cleaning system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
7 is a schematic view showing a side structure of a wafer container cleaning system according to another example of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a schematic view showing a frontal structure of a wafer container cleaning system according to another example of the present invention. FIG.
9A to 9B are diagrams schematically showing a robot arm of a wafer container cleaning system according to one example of the present invention, respectively.
Figure 9c is a schematic illustration of a gripping structure of a robot arm of a wafer container cleaning system according to one example of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a first embodiment of the present invention; Fig. In the description, the same reference numerals denote the same components, and a detailed description may be omitted for the sake of understanding of the present invention to those skilled in the art.

In this specification, unless an element is described as being connected or coupled with another element, it is understood that there is no direct connection or merge relationship as well as another element between them Or may be in the form of a connection or combination. In addition, when the term is described in terms of a direction or a location in the present specification, such a term is a relative concept determined from the reference, and the reference is not limited to a configuration indicating a direction or a position, etc., Can be fully understood from the relationship of the related configurations.

It should be noted that, although a singular expression is used in this specification, it can be used as a concept representing a plurality of constitutions as long as it is contrary to the concept of the invention or is not interpreted as being obviously different or contradictory. It is to be understood that the phrases "including", "having", "having", "comprising", etc. in this specification are intended to be additionally or interchangeable with one or more other elements or combinations thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The above and other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by describing in detail exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawings in which: FIG. It is to be understood that the description of the plane, side, front, section and the like schematically in the drawings of the present invention is for the purpose of helping understanding of the features of the present invention, It should be noted that

[Wafer container cleaning device]

First, a wafer container cleaning apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a view schematically showing a planar structure of a wafer container cleaning apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a wafer container cleaning apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a view schematically showing a process of inserting the arm injection portion of the wafer container cleaning apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention into the wafer container, and FIG. 4A is a cross- 4A to 4C are views schematically showing a structure of a holder unit of a wafer container cleaning apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention, , And Figs. 5A to 5C are views showing a part of the holder unit of the wafer container cleaning apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention A figure indicating the combination As shown in Fig. Here, the planar structure of FIG. 1 and the side structure of FIG. 4C are provided for the purpose of understanding the concept of the invention and do not necessarily correspond to the plan view and the side view by the ortho projection.

1, 4A, 4B, and 4C, a wafer container cleaning apparatus 100 according to one example includes a rotor 10, a holder unit 30, and a spray unit 50. Further, in one example, referring to FIG. 1, the wafer container cleaning apparatus 100 may further include a heater unit 70.

The rotor 10 is rotatable. The holder unit 30 rotates in accordance with the rotation of the rotor 10. The holder unit (30) rotates horizontally in accordance with the rotation of the rotor (10). At this time, the holder unit 30 supports the wafer containers 1 in the horizontal direction. Next, the injection unit 50 includes a female injection part 51 and a fixed injection part 53. [ The female injection part 51 is inserted into a part of the wafer container 1 'supported by the holder unit 30 and injects the cleaning liquid into the container. At this time, the arm spraying unit 51 is inserted into some of the wafer containers 1 ', swings in the horizontal direction, moves in the vertical direction, and injects the cleaning liquid. Further, the fixed jetting section (53) ejects the cleaning liquid from the outside of the wafer containers (1).

In one example, the heater unit 70 of the wafer container cleaning apparatus dries the cleaned wafer containers 1.

Hereinafter, each configuration of the wafer container cleaning apparatus will be described in the order of the rotor 10, the holder unit 30, the injection unit 50, and the heater unit 70. It is noted that various embodiments may be implemented by combining the respective structures described below.

Rotor (10)

The rotor 10 is rotatable. At this time, the holder unit 30 rotates as the rotor 10 rotates. For example, referring to Figs. 4A to 4B, the rotor 10 may be formed on the upper side of the wafer container cleaning apparatus, but is not necessarily limited thereto. For example, a rotating plate that rotates in accordance with the rotation of the rotor 10 supports the holder unit 30 at the upper portion of the holder unit 30, and rotates the holder unit 30 according to the rotation of the rotor 10.

For example, the rotor 10 may perform low speed and / or high speed rotation. For example, low-speed rotation can be performed at the time of cleaning, and low-speed and high-speed rotation can be performed at the time of drying.

The holder unit (30)

Referring to Figs. 1, 4A, 4B and 4C, the holder unit 30 is horizontally rotated in accordance with the rotation of the rotor 10, and supports the wafer containers 1 in the horizontal direction. For example, the wafer container 1 is used for receiving and transporting the wafer, and is also referred to as a wafer carrier, a wafer transfer container, or a wafer storage container. For example, a so-called FOUP (Front Opening Unified Pod or Front Opening Universal Pod) corresponds to the wafer container 1. Also, a so-called FOSB (Front Opening Shipping Box), an O / C (Open Cassette), or the like may be applied to the wafer container 1. The holder unit 30 fixes and holds these wafer containers 1 to rotate together with the rotation of the rotor 10. [ At this time, the rotation of the holder unit 30 is performed by rotating the wafer containers 1 supported by the holder unit 30 and rotating the wafer containers 1 by the cleaning liquid injected from various directions by the injection unit 50 ) Can be cleaned. In addition, in one example, in accordance with the rotation of the holder unit 30 according to the rotation of the rotor 10, one side of the arm injection portion 51 of the injection unit 50 is inserted into the wafer container 1 .

Referring to Figs. 4A to 4C, in one example, the holder unit 30 may have a multi-layer structure. For example, the holder unit 30 may be formed in a multi-layer structure to support the wafer containers 1 arranged in at least a two-layer structure. Thus, for example, when supporting the wafer containers 1 in four horizontal directions in one layer, eight wafer containers 1 can be cleaned into one set through a two-layer structure. At this time, the number of wafer containers 1 included in one set that can be cleaned can be changed to a different number according to the modification of the embodiment.

4A to 4B, in one example, the holder unit 30 includes a container holder portion 30a for holding the wafer containers 1 and a cover holder 2 for holding the covers 2 of the wafer containers 1 And a cover holder portion 30b that supports the magnetic head slantingly with respect to the horizontal plane. For example, referring to Figs. 4A to 4C, the holder unit 30 can support the covers 2 of the wafer containers 1 separately from the wafer containers 1 in a horizontal plane. The holder 2 can be appropriately cleaned by both the upper and lower portions of the cover 2 by the fixed jetting portion 53 of the jetting unit 50 described later by holding the covers 2 in an inclined manner.

For example, when the holder unit 30 separately supports the wafer containers 1 and the covers 2, the holder unit 30 has a multi-layer structure and a layer for supporting the wafer containers 1 and a cover Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > (2). ≪ / RTI >

For example, the holder unit 30 may include flat support plates 31a and 31b and holders 33a and 33b formed on the support plates 31a and 31b. 4A, 4B, 5A and 5B, for example, the holders 33a forming the container holder portion 30a are formed on the support plate 31a, and holders (not shown) for forming the cover holder portions 30b 33b may be formed on the horizontal frame and / or horizontally protruded frame branches rather than on the support plate. Meanwhile, referring to FIG. 4C, the holders 33b forming the cover holder 30b may be formed on the support plate 31b. Referring to FIG. 4C, the support plate 31b for supporting the holders 33b forming the cover holder 30b may include through holes 311a. Although not shown in FIG. 4C, the support plate of the reference numeral 31b may have a frame structure for supporting the lower holder 331b, the upper holder 332b, the side holder 333b and the lower support 334b in FIG. 5c. On the other hand, the support plates 31a and 31b can be supported by the frame 30c rotated by the rotor 10. For example, the holder unit 30 may have a multi-layer structure, in which a plurality of vertical frames are connected to the outer periphery of the support plates 31a and 31b of each layer to form a multi-layer structure. For example, the holders 33a and 33b are arranged in multiple directions on the support plates 31a and 31b. For example, the holders 33a and 33b may be arranged in four directions, but are not limited thereto. 4A, 4B and 5B, the holders 33a forming the container holder portion 30a include a front holder 331a, a rear holder 332a, a side holder 333a, a bottom support 334a and / Or an excursion limiting protrusion 335a. 4A, 4B, and 5C, the holders 33b forming the cover holder portion 30b may include a lower holder 331b, an upper holder 332b, a side holder 333b, a lower pedestal 334b, and / Or an excursion limiting protrusion 335b. For example, the lower surface of the lower container 334a supports the bottom of the wafer container 1 with the inlet facing the outside of the horizontal phase, and the front holder 331a, the rear holder 332a and the side holder 333a, The container 1 can be supported. Further, the lifting restriction protrusion 335a can limit or prevent lifting of the wafer container 1 due to rotation. The same holds true for the holders 33b forming the cover holder portion 30b. 5B, the support plate 31a is provided with a plurality of through holes 311a to allow the cleaning liquid injected from the lower side to flow through the through holes 311a so that the holder 33a on the support plate 31, The lower portion of the wafer container 1 supported by the wafer W can be cleaned. At this time, the lower base 334a can support the lower portion of the wafer container 1 in a floating state on the support plate 31a.

Another example will be described with reference to Figs. 4A, 4B, 5A, 5B, and 5C. The holder unit 30 may include a container holder portion 30a and a cover holder portion 30b. 4A shows the structure of the holder unit 30 as seen from the outside, and FIG. 4B shows the structure of the holder unit 30 as viewed from the rotation center side. 5A shows the structure of the holder unit 30 as viewed from the outside as in FIG. 4A. For example, in one example, referring to FIG. 5A, the holder unit 30 may be formed by arranging a plurality of, e.g., four, holder unit frames shown in FIG. 5A, but is not limited thereto. 5B shows the container holder 30a of the holder unit 30 in detail, and FIG. 5C shows the cover holder 30b in detail.

The container holder portion 30a supports the wafer containers 1. The cover holder portion 30b supports the covers 2 of the wafer containers 1 in an inclined manner with respect to the horizontal plane. That is, the cover holder portion 30b supports the covers 2 of the wafer containers 1 separately from the wafer containers 1 in a horizontal plane. For example, the cover holder portion 30b may be inclined so that the outward direction, that is, the direction toward the inlet side of the wafer container 1 is upward. At this time, the injection unit 50 can clean the cover 2 with the wafer containers 1 by spraying the cleaning liquid. For example, in the layer in which the covers 2 are disposed, the horizontal arm 51b of the female spray portion 51 need not be arranged, and the cleaning liquid can be sprayed to the covers 2 only by the fixed spray portion 53 have. The cover 2 is slantingly supported by the holder unit 30 so that the cleaning liquid sprayed from the fixed spraying part 53 can adequately clean both the upper and lower portions of the covers 2. [

4A, 4B and 5B, in one example, the container holder portion 30a includes a front holder 331a for supporting the inlet side of the wafer container 1, A side holder 333a for supporting left and right side surfaces of the wafer container 1, a lower surface support 334a for supporting the lower surface of the wafer container 1, and a wafer container 1 And an excitation restricting projection 335a for restricting lifting of the lifting restricting projection 335a. For example, the lifting restricting projection 335a of the container holder portion 30a may be formed on the upper side of the inlet side of the wafer container 1. In addition, the holder unit 30, i.e., the container holder unit 30a, which supports the wafer containers 1, includes a plurality of holders 33a supported by the support plate 31a and the support plate 31a, A holder 331a, a rear holder 332a, a side holder 333a, and a bottom plate 334a. The support plate 31a is provided with a plurality of through holes 311a so that the cleaning liquid injected from the lower nozzle is introduced through the through holes 311a and the lower side of the wafer containers 1 can be cleaned have.

The cover holder portion 30b includes a lower holder 331b and an upper holder 332b that support the lower side and the upper side of the cover 2 in an oblique direction, a side holder 333b that supports the left and right sides of the cover 2, A lower pedestal 334b for supporting the lower surface of the cover 2 and an excursion limiting protrusion 335b for restricting lifting of the cover 2 due to rotation. For example, the lift limit restricting projection 335b of the cover holder portion 30b may be formed on the upper side of the upper side inclined side of the wafer container cover 2. [ 5C, the holder unit 30, that is, the cover holder portion 30b, which supports the covers 2, is formed with a lower base 334b on a horizontally projecting frame of the opened space, 4C, it is possible to inject the cleaning liquid to the lower surface of the cover 2 through the lower portion of the support plate 31b and the holder 33b on the inclined support plate 31b and the support plate 31b, The support plate 31b may have a plurality of through holes 311a so that the washer fluid may be sprayed onto the lower surface of the covers 2 through the through holes 311a.

The injection unit (50)

The injection unit 50 will be described with reference to Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4c. The injection unit 50 injects the cleaning liquid so that the wafer container 1 supported by the holder unit 30 can be cleaned. As an example of the cleaning liquid, DI water (DIW) may be used. In addition, DI water may be sprayed after spraying the surfactant. In the present invention, the cleaning liquid need not be particularly limited. The injection unit (50) includes a female injection part (51) and a fixed injection part (53). The female injection part 51 is inserted into a part of the wafer container 1 'supported by the holder unit 30, that is, a part of the wafer container 1' supported in at least one direction of the holder unit 30, And the cleaning liquid is sprayed from the inside. Hereinafter, some wafer containers 1 'are referred to as wafer containers 1 in which cleaning is performed inside the containers by a female sprayer 51, and a plurality of wafer containers 1' (For example, one of them is arranged so that the inlet faces in the direction of arrangement of the female spray portion 51). At this time, the arm spraying unit 51 is inserted into some of the wafer containers 1 ', swings in the horizontal direction, moves in the vertical direction, and injects the cleaning liquid. On the other hand, the fixed jetting section (53) ejects the cleaning liquid from the outside of the wafer containers (1). For example, when the wafer containers 1 in which the holder units 30 are arranged in a structure of at least two or more layers are supported in a multi-layer structure, the female injection holes may be provided one by one or at least one for each layer. 1, when the holder unit 30 fixedly supports the wafer containers 1 in the horizontal four directions, an arm jet opening is arranged in one of the directions, and in accordance with the rotation of the holder unit 30, The wafer container 1 may be a wafer container 1 'in which the arm injection port is inserted in succession. On the other hand, the fixed jetting section 53 can be arranged in a multi-layered structure such that the upper and lower portions of the plurality of wafer containers 1 arranged on one horizontal plane can be cleaned as a whole. Further, the fixed jetting section 53 is provided with jet nozzles (not shown) in a plurality of horizontal directions outside the wafer containers 1 so as to entirely clean both the right and left sides of the plurality of wafer containers 1 arranged on one horizontal plane .

Referring to Figs. 2 to 3, the arm spraying unit 51 will be described in detail. In one example, the female injection section 51 includes a guide shaft 51a, a horizontal arm 51b, and a female injection nozzle 51c. The guide shaft 51a is formed vertically to the outside of some wafer containers 1 '. At this time, some of the wafer containers 1 'are positioned in the direction of arrangement of the arm split portions 51 so that the wafer containers 1 arranged in multiple directions in accordance with the rotation of the holder unit 30 are positioned in the wafer container 1, to be. The horizontal arm 51b is provided on the guide shaft 51a. At this time, one side of the horizontal arm 51b may be inserted into a part of the wafer container 1 '. Accordingly, the cleaning liquid can be sprayed from inside the wafer container 1 'through the arm spray nozzle 51c formed at the distal end of the horizontal arm 51b. In addition, the horizontal arm 51b performs the swing motion in the horizontal direction and the vertical motion in the vertical direction. Accordingly, the arm spraying unit 51 swings in the horizontal direction inside the wafer container 1 ', moves in the vertical direction, and can spray the cleaning liquid. Next, the arm injection nozzle 51c is formed at one end of the horizontal arm 51b, and injects the cleaning liquid into the wafer container 1 '. For example, in one example, the arm injection nozzle 51c may have at least two or more nozzle holes that inject a cleaning liquid in at least two opposite directions. For example, the arm spray nozzle 51c may have two or more nozzle holes 151c for spraying the cleaning liquid in both directions in which the swing is performed. Although not shown, an additional nozzle hole may be provided in the end extension direction of the horizontal arm 51b.

In this case, in the horizontal swing operation of the horizontal arm 51b, a swing operation may be performed according to the rotation of the axis of the guide shaft 51a, or a swing operation may be performed with the guide shaft 51a as a fixed axis . That is, when the guide shaft 51a itself rotates, the swing motion of the horizontal arm 51b in the horizontal direction can be swung according to the rotation of the axis of the guide shaft 51a. When the guide shaft 51a is the fixed shaft, The horizontal arm 51b rotates horizontally similar to the hinge rotation with respect to the guide shaft 51a and can perform a swing motion on the guide shaft 51a.

The upward and downward movement of the horizontal arm 51b in the vertical direction is performed by vertically moving the guide shaft 51a in the vertical direction or by moving the horizontal arm 51b in the vertical direction on the guide shaft 51a, A movement operation can be performed. 2 shows that the horizontal arm 51b is moved up and down in the vertical direction in accordance with vertical movement of the guide shaft 51a.

Referring to FIG. 3, a process of inserting the arm injection portion 51 into a part of the wafer container 1 'according to one example will be described. Referring to FIG. 3, as the holder unit 30 rotates, the entrance direction of some wafer containers 1 'becomes closer to the center line CL of the horizontal swing of the horizontal arm 51b. Some wafer containers 1 'are wafer containers 1 in which insertion of the horizontal arms 51b is scheduled. At this time, as the entrance direction of some of the wafer containers 1 'approaches the center line CL of the horizontal swing, the horizontal arm 51b located outside the wafer container 1' rotates in the direction of the center line CL And inserted into the interior of some wafer containers 1 '. For example, when some of the wafer containers 1 'on the right side of the swing center line CL rotate in the counterclockwise direction and the container inlet direction approaches the swing center line CL, The horizontal arm 51b on the right side of the horizontal arm 51b is rotated in the clockwise direction CL, for example, in the clockwise direction so that one end of the horizontal arm 51b can be inserted into the wafer container 1 ' have.

In the process of extracting the arm injection part 51 inserted into the wafer container 1 ', the entrance direction of some wafer containers 1' is aligned with the center line CL The holder unit 30 supporting the wafer containers 1 is inserted into some of the wafer containers 1 'as the entrance direction of some of the wafer containers 1' rotates away from the center line CL The horizontal arm 51b is rotated away from the center line CL in the same manner as the entrance direction of some of the wafer containers 1 'and is separated from the inside of some of the wafer containers 1' . For example, as the entrance direction of some of the wafer containers 1 'is rotated counterclockwise to the left of the swing center line CL and deviates from the swing center line CL, The horizontal arm 51b is rotated to the left of the swing center line CL, for example, clockwise, so that one end portion of the horizontal arm 51b can escape from the inside of the wafer container 1 '.

Referring to FIG. 2, another example will be described. 2, in one example, the holder unit 30 is formed in a multi-layered structure to support the wafer containers 1 arranged in at least two-layer structure, wherein the horizontal arm 51b is connected to the guide shaft 51a, respectively, and inserted into the interior of a part of the wafer container 1 'arranged in at least two-layer structure. Referring to FIG. 4C, the fixed sprayer 53 may spray the cleaning liquid in a multi-layered structure at the outer periphery of the wafer containers 1 supported at least in a two-layer structure. The fixed jetting section 53 may be misunderstood as being installed in the holder unit 30. Since the holder unit 30 rotates in accordance with the rotation of the rotor 10, The holder unit 30 and the fixed jetting unit 53 may be formed on the center and / or the outer periphery of the holder unit 30 other than the holder unit 30, and FIG. 4C shows the holder unit 30 and the fixed jetting unit 53 appear to overlap each other.

Next, the fixed jetting section 53 is further examined. Referring to FIG. 1, in one example, the fixed jetting section 53 may include at least one outer jetting nozzle 53a and at least one center jetting nozzle 53b. At this time, the outer injection nozzle 53a injects the cleaning liquid around the inlet and the inlet of the wafer containers 1 at the outer periphery of the wafer containers 1. [ For example, at least one of the outer jet nozzles 53a injects the cleaning liquid toward the wafer containers 1 rotated on the outside of the wafer containers 1 supported by the holder unit 30. [ At least one or more of the center injection nozzles 53b injects the cleaning liquid around the rear side opposite to the inlet side of the wafer containers 1 in the vicinity of the rotational center of the holder unit 30 and around the rear- do. For example, referring to FIG. 1, a set of outer jet nozzles 53a may be provided in four horizontal directions, and a set of center jet nozzles 53b may be provided in the vicinity of the rotational center of the holder unit 30, And the number of the injection nozzle sets can be changed according to the embodiment. The term " spray nozzle set " means a plurality of spray nozzles arranged in a vertical direction in each set so that spraying of a cleaning liquid or the like as a whole can be performed in the upper and lower directions. For example, referring to FIG. 1, a set of outer jetting nozzles 53a or outer jetting nozzles 53a may be formed in the vicinity of the entrance direction of the wafer containers 1 arranged in multiple directions. At this time, the respective directions do not need to be matched with the entrance direction, but rather are arranged slightly shifted, so that the cleaning liquid or the like can be uniformly sprayed on the entire left and right sides of the wafer containers 1 in accordance with the rotation of the holder unit 30. For example, when one outline injection nozzle 53a or its set is disposed on the left side in the entrance direction of the wafer container 1, the other outline injection nozzle 53a or its sets are arranged in the center of the entrance direction, Depending on the rotation of the wafer containers 1, cleaning liquid or the like can be evenly sprayed on the entire left and right sides of the containers.

By providing the outer jetting nozzle 53a and the center jetting nozzle 53b, the fixed jetting part 53 can clean the entire outer surface of the wafer containers 1. [ At this time, the upper and lower portions of the wafer containers 1 can be entirely cleaned by disposing the injection nozzles in a vertically multi-layered structure in the sets of the outer jet nozzles 53a and the center jet nozzles 53b.

Further, in one example, the jetting unit 50 can jet a gas for a drying atmosphere during drying by the heater unit 70, which will be described later. That is, the spraying unit 50 can spray the cleaning liquid at the time of cleaning and spray the drying atmosphere gas at the time of drying. As the gas for the drying atmosphere, an inert gas such as N ₂ gas may be used, or air may be injected into the gas for the drying atmosphere.

The heater unit (70)

Referring to FIG. 1, the wafer container cleaning apparatus 100 according to one example may further include a heater unit 70. The heater unit 70 may have at least two heaters 70a and 70b for drying the cleaned wafer containers 1. [ For example, the heaters 70a and 70b may be infrared heaters. At least two heaters 70a and 70b are disposed near the outer periphery of the rotating wafer containers 1 and the rotation center of the holder unit 30 to dry the cleaned wafer containers 1. [

1, at least one of the heaters 70a and 70b is disposed on the outer periphery of the wafer containers 1 and the other 70b is disposed near the center of rotation of the holder unit 30 . For example, when the holder unit 30 is formed in a multi-layer structure and the wafer containers 1, or the wafer containers 1 and the covers 2 are supported on the respective layers, the heaters 70a and 70b are also vertically And a plurality of units may be installed.

housing

1, in one example, the wafer container cleaning apparatus 100 may include a housing 20, and a holder unit 30 and a jetting unit 50 may be installed in the housing 20 . Also, the heater unit 70 may be installed in the housing 20 as well. The rotor 10 may be installed in the housing 20 or under the housing 20.

At this time, the housing 20 may have a loading / unloading port 20a for loading / unloading the wafer container 1 on one side. The robot arm 500 of the inventive wafer container cleaning system described later through the loading and unloading port 20a carries the wafer container 1 into the holder unit 30, (500) can be taken out and discharged to the holder unit (30).

For example, referring to FIG. 4A, the housing 20 according to one example is provided with a discharge port 80 for discharging the cleaning liquid. In addition, although not shown, in one example, the housing 20 is also provided with an exhaust portion where the cleaning liquid is vaporized and discharged during drying.

[Wafer container cleaning system]

Next, a wafer container cleaning system according to another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Since the wafer container cleaning system includes the wafer container cleaning apparatus 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention as described above, the embodiments of the wafer container cleaning apparatus 100 described above in the detailed description of the embodiments, 5c may be referred to, and redundant description may be omitted.

Figure 6 schematically shows a planar structure of a wafer container cleaning system according to one embodiment of the present invention and Figure 7 schematically shows a side view of a wafer container cleaning system according to another example of the present invention And FIG. 8 is a view schematically showing a frontal structure of a wafer container cleaning system according to another example of the present invention. Here, the planar structure of Fig. 6, the side structure of Fig. 7, and the front structure of Fig. 8 are not necessarily in line with the plan view, side view and front view by orthographic projection in order to facilitate understanding of the inventive concept. 9A to 9B are schematic views of a robot arm of a wafer container cleaning system according to one example of the present invention, and Fig. 9C is a schematic view showing a gripping structure of a robot arm of a wafer container cleaning system according to one example of the present invention Fig.

6 to 8, a wafer container cleaning system according to one example comprises a stocker unit 300, a cover opening / closing unit 400, a wafer container cleaning apparatus 100, and a robot arm 500. Let's look at each configuration in detail.

The stocker unit 300 holds the wafer containers 1 in a waiting state and includes a first stock portion 300a and a second stock portion 300b. The first stock portion 300a holds the wafer containers 1 before cleaning and the second stock portion 300b holds the wafer containers 1 after cleaning for waiting to be discharged to the outside. For example, the first stock portion 300a and the second stock portion 300b stack a plurality of wafer containers 1 and store them. For example, in one example, the history of the wafer containers 1 being stored in the stocker unit 300, e.g., the first stock portion 300a and the second stock portion 300b, can be managed. Although not shown, it is possible to manage the cleaning history of the wafer containers 1, for example, by optically recognizing an identifier formed outside the wafer container 1. For example, the first stock portion 300a and the second stock portion 300b may be disposed on opposite sides of the robot arm 500, which will be described later.

The cover opening and closing unit 400 opens the cover 2 of the pre-cleaning wafer container 1 conveyed from the first stock portion 300a and opens the cover 2 of the wafer container 1 cleaned before transfer to the second stock portion 300b. The cover 2 that has been cleaned is closed. The cover opening and closing unit 400 can open the cover 2 for internal cleaning of the wafer container 1 and close the cover 2 to the cleaned wafer container 1. [

For example, in one example, the transfer of the wafer container 1 from the first stock portion 300a to the cover opening / closing unit 400 may be performed by a robot arm 500 described later. The transfer of the wafer container 1 from the cover opening / closing unit 400 to the second stock portion 300b can also be performed by the robot arm 500. [

Next, the wafer container cleaning apparatus 100 will be described. The wafer container cleaning apparatus 100 is provided with wafer containers 1 and covers 2 to clean. At this time, the wafer container cleaning apparatus 100 is a wafer container cleaning apparatus 100 according to any one of the embodiments of the present invention described above. At this time, the wafer container cleaning apparatus 100 may include a rotor 10, a holder unit 30, and a jetting unit 50. The injection unit 50 includes a female injection part 51 inserted into the wafer container 1 and injecting a cleaning liquid into the inside of the wafer container 1 and a fixed jet part 51 for jetting the cleaning liquid from the outside of the wafer container 1 53). A detailed description of the detailed configurations of the wafer container cleaning apparatus 100 will be given above.

For example, in one example, the holder unit 30 of the wafer container cleaning apparatus 100 may have a multi-layer structure to support the wafer containers 1 and the covers 2 in separate layers. At this time, the covers 2 can be supported in an inclined manner with the horizontal plane. The fixed jetting section 53 of the jetting unit 50 can be formed in a multi-layer structure to jet the cleaning liquid to the wafer containers 1 and the covers 2. [

Since the wafer container cleaning apparatus 100 is in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention described above, more detailed descriptions will be understood with reference to the above description.

Next, the robot arm 500 will be described. The robot arm 500 pivots. The robot arm 500 pivots and feeds the wafer container 1 and the cover 2 opened in the cover opening and closing unit 400 to the holder unit 30 of the container cleaning apparatus. For example, the robot arm 500 includes a gripper 510 having a multi-joint structure and formed at the end of the multi-joint structure. 9A shows a state in which the robot arm 500 wraps the wafer container 1. Fig. 9B shows the robot arm 500 wrapping the cover 2 separated from the cover opening / closing unit 400. FIG. The robot arm 500 also removes the cleaned wafer container 1 and the cover 2 from the holder unit 30 and provides it to the cover opening and closing unit 400.

For example, in one example, the robot arm 500 transfers the wafer container 1 from the first stock portion 300a to the cover opening / closing unit 400. [ The robot arm 500 may also transfer the wafer container 1 with the cover 2 closed in the cover opening / closing unit 400 to the second stock portion 300b.

For example, the wafer container 1 may have a gripper mounting portion 1a on the upper surface of the periphery of the entrance side. The gripper mounting portion 1a is a portion to be wrapped by the gripper 510 of the robot arm 500. [ FIG. 9C illustrates the gripper 510 of the robot arm 500 in detail.

9A to 9C, the robot arm 500 has a gripper 510 at a distal end thereof. The gripper 510 of the robot arm 500 may include a cylinder 511, a container grip block 513, and a cover grip block 515. Further, in one example, the gripper 510 further includes a support portion 517 for wrapping the wafer container 1 and the cover 2 on the opposite side with the container grip block 513 and the cover grip block 515 . The cylinder 511 drives the container grip block 513 and the cover grip block 515 to move. Referring to Fig. 9A, the container grip block 513 is mounted on the lower side of the distal end of the robot arm 500. Fig. At this time, the container grip block 513 is moved forward and backward according to the driving of the cylinder 511, and fixes and supports the gripper mounting portion 1a of the wafer container 1 at the time of advancing. 9B, the cover grip block 515 is mounted on the upper side of the distal end portion of the robot arm 500 and is fixed to support the circumferential side of the cover 2 in the forward and backward directions according to the driving of the cylinder 511 have. 9A to 9C, the gripper 510 is provided with a container grip block 513 on the lower side and a cover grip block 515 on the upper side so that both the wafer container 1 and the cover 2 You can move it.

6 to 8, another example will be described. In one example, the wafer container cleaning system may further include a port unit 200. The port unit 200 may have a supply port 200a and an exhaust port 200b. The supply port 200a is supplied with the wafer container 1 from the outside and the discharge port 200b is responsible for discharging the cleaned wafer container 1 to the outside. For example, the wafer container 1 supplied to the supply port 200a is transferred to and stored in the first stock portion 300a by the robot arm 500, and the wafer container 1 stored in the second stock portion 300b May be provided to the discharge port 200b by the robot arm 500 and may be discharged to the outside.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments, but, on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the invention. At this time, various modifications may be obviously implemented according to various combinations of the above-described components by those skilled in the art. That is, various embodiments of the present invention may be embodied in various modified forms according to various combinations of the above-described elements without departing from the essential characteristics of the present invention. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention should be construed in accordance with the invention as set forth in the appended claims, along with various modifications, alternatives, and equivalents by those skilled in the art, as well as the embodiments described above.

1, 1 ': Wafer container 2: Cover
10: rotor 20: housing
30: holder unit 30a: container holder part
30b: Cover holder part 31a, 31b: Support plate
311a: Through hole 33a, 33b:
50: injection unit 51:
51a: guide shaft 51b: horizontal arm
51c: arm injection nozzle 53: fixed injection part
53a: Outside jetting nozzle 53b: Center jetting nozzle
70: heater unit 70a, 70b: heater
100: Wafer container cleaning device 200: Port unit
300: Stocker unit 300a: First stock part
300b: second stock portion 400: cover opening / closing unit
500: Robot arm 510: Gripper

Claims (12)

A rotatable rotor;
A holder unit that horizontally rotates in accordance with the rotation of the rotor and supports the wafer containers in horizontal and vertical directions; And
And a jetting unit including a female jetting part inserted into the inside of a part of the wafer container supported by the holder unit and jetting the cleaning liquid from inside the container, and a fixed jetting part jetting the cleaning liquid from the outside of the wafer containers,
Wherein the arm ejection portion is inserted into the inside of the part of the wafer container, swings in the horizontal direction, moves in the vertical direction and ejects the cleaning liquid,
The arm injection unit is installed on the guide shaft and is vertically formed on the outer side of the wafer container. One side of the guide shaft is inserted into the wafer container, and the swinging operation in the horizontal direction and the vertical movement operation in the vertical direction are performed And a rocking nozzle formed at one end of the horizontal arm for spraying the cleaning liquid,
The horizontal swing motion of the horizontal arm is performed by swinging in accordance with the rotation of the axis of the guide shaft or by performing the swing motion with the guide axis as a fixed axis,
Wherein the horizontal arm is moved up and down in the vertical direction according to vertical movement of the guide shaft, or vertically moved on the guide axis,
As the inlet direction of the part of the wafer container approaches the center line of the horizontal swing of the horizontal arm as the holder unit rotates, the horizontal arm outside the part of the wafer container rotates in the direction of the center line, Inserted into the interior of the container,
The holder unit is inserted into the inside of the part of the wafer container as the entrance direction of the part of the wafer container rotates away from the center line of the horizontal direction swing with the horizontal arm inserted into the inside of the part of the wafer container Wherein the horizontal arm is rotated away from the center line direction of the horizontal swing, and is released to the outside of the wafer container.
delete delete delete In claim 1,
Wherein the holder unit is formed in a multi-layer structure to support the wafer containers arranged in at least two-layer structure,
Wherein the horizontal arm is inserted into at least two or more of the plurality of wafer containers arranged in at least two-layer structure on the guide shaft,
Wherein the fixed jet portion ejects the cleaning liquid in a multi-layered structure at the outer periphery of the wafer containers supported in at least two-layer structure.
In claim 5,
Wherein the arm spray nozzle has at least two or more nozzle holes for spraying the cleaning liquid in at least two mutually opposite directions,
Wherein the fixed jetting portion comprises at least one or more outer jetting nozzles for jetting the cleaning liquid around an inlet and an inlet of the wafer containers at an outer periphery of the wafer containers, And at least one or more center spray nozzles for spraying the cleaning liquid around the rear side of the wafer containers.
The method according to any one of claims 1, 5 and 6,
Wherein the holder unit includes a container holder portion for supporting the wafer containers and a cover holder portion for supporting the covers of the wafer containers in a horizontal plane and inclined,
Wherein the ejection unit ejects the cleaning liquid to the covers together with the wafer containers to clean the wafer containers.
In claim 7,
Wherein the container holder portion includes a front holder for supporting an inlet side of the wafer container, a rear holder for supporting a backside opposite the inlet of the wafer container, a side holder for supporting left and right side surfaces of the wafer container, And a lifting restricting projection for restricting lifting of the wafer container in accordance with the rotation,
The cover holder portion includes a lower holder and an upper holder for supporting the lower side and the upper side of the cover in the oblique direction, a side holder for supporting the left and right side surfaces of the cover, a lower pedestal for supporting the lower surface of the cover, Wherein the wafer container cleaning device includes an excursion restriction protrusion that restricts the movement of the wafer container.
The method according to any one of claims 1, 5 and 6,
The wafer container cleaning apparatus further comprises a heater unit disposed at an outer periphery of the rotating wafer containers and a rotation center of the holder unit and having at least two heaters for drying the cleaned wafer containers,
Wherein the jetting unit ejects a gas for a drying atmosphere during drying by the heater unit.
A stocker unit including a first stock unit for holding the wafer containers before cleaning and a second stock unit for holding the wafer containers after cleaning for discharging to the outside;
A cover opening / closing unit for opening the cover of the wafer container before cleaning conveyed from the first stock portion and closing the cleaned wafer to the wafer container cleaned before being transferred to the second stocker;
A wafer container cleaning apparatus according to any one of claims 1, 5 and 6, wherein the wafer container cleaning apparatus is provided to clean and receive wafer containers and covers. And
A robot for pivotally rotating the wafer container and the cover opened in the cover opening / closing unit and supplying the wafer container and the cover to the holder unit of the container cleaning device, taking out the wafer container and the cover cleaned from the holder unit, A wafer container cleaning system comprising an arm.
delete In claim 10,
Wherein the wafer container has a gripper mounting portion on an upper surface of a periphery of an inlet side,
Wherein the robot arm has a gripper at a distal end thereof,
The gripper includes a cylinder, a container grip block which is mounted on a lower side of the distal end and moves forward and backward according to the driving of the cylinder and fixes and supports the gripper mounting portion of the wafer container when moving forward, And a cover grip block fixedly supporting the periphery of the cover at the time of advancing.

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