KR200370328Y1 - Standard mechanical interface pod - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a standard mechanical interface pod, and in a standard mechanical interface pod having a pod door on which a carrier on which a wafer is mounted is mounted and a cover covering the pod door, the pod door 12 has a hole 51 formed at the front thereof. ), Engaging grooves 53 and 55 formed on the left and right sides of the hole 51, the rotating plate 13 installed therein, and at least one pair of hooks 12b for separating and engaging with the cover 16. At least one pair of connecting members 40 connecting the rotating plate 13 and each of the hooks 12b to rotate the hook 12b by the rotational movement of the rotating plate 13, and one end thereof is connected to the rotating plate 13. The other end includes an adjustment rod 61 provided with a locking jaw 63 selectively coupled with the locking groove, so that the pod door and the cover can be easily separated and coupled.

Description

Standard Mechanical Interface Pod {STANDARD MECHANICAL INTERFACE POD}

The present invention relates to a standard mechanical interface (SMIF) system used in the wafer transfer process, and more specifically, the connection between the pod door and the cover of the SMIF pod included in the SMIF system. The present invention relates to an SMIF system that can be controlled directly by an external user.

SMIF is an abbreviation of Standard Mechanical Interface. It is used to prevent human error during atmospheric control and process processing in a clean room of a narrow space. SMIF system is a peripheral device of semiconductor equipment that performs semiconductor manufacturing process. It is used to load or withdraw a semiconductor device, and includes a SMIF pod for storing a carrier and a SMIF port for storing or withdrawing a SMIF pod.

1A, 1B, and 2 are perspective views of a conventional SMIF pod, a bottom view of a conventional SMIF pod, and a schematic perspective view of a device for separating and combining the conventional pod door and the cover.

As shown in FIG. 1A, the SMIF pod 10 includes a pod door 12 provided at a lower portion thereof, a carrier 14 and a carrier 14 in which wafers mounted on the top of the pod door 12 are aligned. It includes a cover 16 covering the. A pair of hooks 12b are provided around the outer surface of the pod door 12, and a pair of hook grooves (not shown) are formed on the inner surface of the cover 16 corresponding thereto. Handles 17 for opening and closing the cover 16 are provided on both sides of the cover 16.

In FIG. 1B, a pair of hooks 12b provided around the outer surface of the pod door 12 are not shown. However, as shown in FIGS. 1B and 2, three insertion holes 12a are provided on the bottom surface of the pod door 12. ) Is formed and the bottom surface of the rotating plate 13 in which a pair of holes 13a are formed is provided. The pod positioning pin 27, which will be described later, is inserted into the insertion hole 12a to serve to position the SMIF pod 10 in position, and the hole 13a of the rotating plate 13 will be described later. The hook 12b acts to open and close the pod door 12 by being engaged with the latch pin 28 of the SMIF port 20. Referring to the operation of the hook 12b in more detail, as shown in FIG. 2, each of the hooks 12b is connected to the rotating plate 13 by a connecting member 40 corresponding thereto, and the rotating plate 13 Is rotated in the direction of arrow "A1" by the latch pin 28, the hook 12b is rotated in the direction of the arrow "B1" to release the hook groove of the cover 16, the pod door 12 and the cover 16 are separated. In addition, when the pod door 12 and the cover 16 are engaged, the hook 12b is rotated in the direction of the arrow “B2” by the latch pin 28 to rotate the cover 16. Is coupled to the hook groove of the pod door 12 and the cover 16 is coupled.

As shown in FIG. 3, the SMIF port 20 includes a port plate 22, a "L" shaped guide rail 24 and a port door 26. The port plate 22 is for keeping the lower surface of the SMIF pod 10 horizontally when the SMIF pod 10 is positioned on the SMIF port 20, and the guide rail 24 is used to form the port plate 22. It is provided around each vertex and serves to guide the SMIF pod 10 to the desired position on the SMIF port 20. In addition, the port door 26 is in contact with the pod door 12 is transported in the vertical direction with the Z-axis arm 32 to be described later serves to transport the carrier 14 on the pod door 12, the pod position A decision pin 27 and a latch pin 28. The pod positioning pin 27 is disposed at a predetermined position of the port door 26 and inserted into the insertion hole 12a of the pod door 12, respectively, for positioning the SMIF pod 10 at a desired position. The latch pin 28 is positioned at the center of the port door 26 and engaged with the hole 13a formed in the rotating plate 13 of the pod door 12 to selectively rotate the rotating plate 13. 12b) acts to selectively open and close the pod door 12 from the cover 16.

4 is a view for explaining the operation of the SMIF arm for moving the carrier 14 up and down from the SMIF pod 10, as shown, the SMIF arm 30 is connected to the port door 26 And a Z-axis arm 32 which serves to transport the port door 26 in the up and down directions.

Hereinafter, a process of mounting the carrier 14 on a semiconductor device will be described.

First, the SMIF pod 10 containing the carrier 14 on which the wafer is aligned is seated on the port plate 22 of the SMIF port 20. At this time, the SMIF pod 10 is guided to the desired home position by the interaction between the insertion hole 12a and the pod positioning pin 27 and the guide rail 24 of the SMIF port 20. After being guided, the latch pin 28 of the port door 26 is fastened to the hole 13a of the rotating plate 13 of the pod door 12.

Subsequently, when the SMIF pod 10 is positioned at a desired home position, the latch pin 28 moves the rotating plate 13 of the pod door 12 by the driving of a motor (not shown). The pod door 12 is separated from the cover 16 of the SMIF pod 10 by rotating in the direction of A1 ". In this state, when the port plate 22 of the SMIF port 20 moves, the pod door 12 of the SMIF pod 10 can also move together.

Thereafter, the port door 26 of the SMIF port 20 and the pod door 12 of the SMIF pod 10 are simultaneously transferred downward by the lower sliding motion of the Z-axis arm 32, and then the pod door 12 The carrier 14 on top is loaded into the semiconductor equipment by a carrier hand (not shown).

On the other hand, the process of taking out the carrier from the semiconductor equipment and transport into the SMIF pod as follows.

That is, the carrier 14 is withdrawn from the semiconductor equipment and positioned on the pod door 12 by the carrier hand, and then the port door 26 of the pod door 12 and the SMIF port 20 is Z-axis arm 32. Raises up to the lower end of the cover 16 by the upward sliding motion of. Thereafter, after the pair of holes 13a of the pod door 12 and the latch pins 28 of the port door 26 are engaged, the latch pins 28 rotate to drive the motor. Thereby, the rotating plate 13 is rotated in the direction of arrow "A2" of FIG. 2, and rotates the hook 12b of the pod door 12 in the direction of the arrow "B2". Thereafter, the hook 12b is engaged with the hook groove of the corresponding cover 16 to integrate the pod door 12 with the cover 16.

In such a configuration, it is difficult for a user to selectively separate the pod door and the cover. For example, if a wafer mounted on a carrier in a SMIF pod is damaged and needs to be replaced, it must be removed using a separate tool that acts as a latch pin for the SMIF port. There is a problem that the separation process is cumbersome because it is exposed to the lower surface.

The present invention is to solve such a conventional problem, it is an object of the present invention to provide a SMIF pod having a device capable of manually operating the separation and coupling of the pod door and the cover of the SMIF pod.

The present invention for realizing the above object is a standard mechanical interface pod having a pod door on which a carrier on which a wafer is mounted and a cover covering the pod door. At least one pair of hooks each formed therein, a rotating plate installed therein, at least one pair of hooks for separating and engaging the cover, and at least one pair of connecting members connecting the rotating plate and each hook to rotate the hooks by a rotational movement of the rotating plate, One end is connected to the rotating plate and the other end is characterized in that it comprises an adjustment rod provided with a locking step that is selectively coupled with the locking groove.

The above object and various advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the preferred embodiments of the present invention described below with reference to the accompanying drawings by those skilled in the art.

1A and 1B are a perspective view and a bottom view of a conventional standard mechanical interface pod, respectively,

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the device for performing the separation and coupling of the conventional pod door and the cover,

3 is a schematic perspective view of a conventional standard mechanical interface port,

4 is a view for explaining a conventional carrier transfer process,

5 is a schematic perspective view of the pod door according to the present invention,

Figure 6 is a perspective view of the device for performing the separation and coupling of the pod door and the cover according to the present invention.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

10: Standard Mechanical Interface Pod

12: pod door

12a: insertion hole

12b: Hook

13: rotating plate

13a: hole

16: cover

17: handle

20: standard mechanical interface port

22: port plate

26: port door

27: Pod positioning pin

28: latch pin

40: connecting member

51: square hole

53, 55: left and right locking groove

61: adjustment rod

63: jamming jaw

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in detail the SMIF system according to the present invention.

5 and 6 are respectively a schematic perspective view of a pod door according to the present invention and a perspective view of a device for separating and coupling the pod door and the cover. In addition, in the following description, it demonstrates with reference to a conventional drawing, and attaches | subjects the same code | symbol about the same component as the conventional description.

As shown in FIG. 1A, the SMIF pod 10 covers the pod door 12 provided at the bottom thereof, the carrier 14 on which the wafers mounted on the pod door 12 are aligned, and the carrier 14. Cover 16. A pair of hooks 12b are provided around the outer surface of the pod door 12, and a pair of hook grooves (not shown) are formed on the inner surface of the cover 16 corresponding thereto. In addition, Figure 5 shows a pod door 12 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the left and right locking grooves 53, ( 55) is formed, and the internal structure other than this is the same structure as FIG. 1B, taken along AA line. Both sides of the cover 16 are provided with a handle 17 for opening and closing the cover 16.

Although the hook 12b of the upper limit provided around the outer surface of the pod door 12 is not shown in FIG. 1B, as shown in FIGS. 1B and 5, the lower surface of the pod door 12 has three insertion holes 12a. ) Is formed and the bottom surface of the rotating plate 13 on which the pair of holes 13a are formed is exposed. Corresponding pod positioning pins 27 are inserted into the insertion holes 12a to position the SMIF pods 10 in position, and the holes 13a of the rotating plate 13 are motors (not shown). By engaging with the latch pin 28 of the SMIF port 20 driven by the (not shown) serves to open and close the pod door 12 by operating the hook (12b). Referring to the operation of the hook 12b in more detail, as shown in FIG. 6, each of the hooks 12b is provided with a rotating plate 13 installed in the pod door 12 by a corresponding connecting member 40. When the rotary plate 13 is rotated in the direction of the arrow "A1" by the latch pin 28, the hook 12b is rotated in the direction of the arrow "B1" and released from the hook groove of the cover 16, The pod door 12 and the cover 16 are separated. In addition, when the pod door 12 and the cover 16 are coupled, the hook 12b is rotated in the direction of the arrow "B2" when the rotary plate 13 is rotated in the direction of the arrow "A2" by the latch pin 28. It is fastened to the hook groove of the cover 16, the pod door 12 and the cover 16 is coupled.

Although the above description has described the separation and coupling of the pod door 12 and the cover 16 by using the latch pin 28, the present invention is a pod by the user manually operating when the SMIF system is not used. It further comprises a device, for example an adjustment rod 61, capable of carrying out the separation and engagement of the door 12 with the cover 16. As shown in FIG. 6, one side of the adjusting rod 61 is connected to the rotating plate 13 installed in the pod door 12, and the left side of the adjusting rod 61 is connected to the left and right through the square hole 51 of the pod door 12. A locking jaw 63 that is selectively engaged with any of the right locking grooves 53 and 55 is provided.

As shown in FIG. 3, the SMIF port 20 includes a port plate 22, a "L" shaped guide rail 24 and a port door 26. The port plate 22 is for keeping the lower surface of the SMIF pod 10 horizontally when the SMIF pod 10 is positioned on the SMIF port 20, and the guide rail 24 is used to form the port plate 22. It is provided around each vertex and serves to guide the SMIF pod 10 to the desired position on the SMIF port 20. In addition, the port door 26 is brought into contact with the pod door 12 in the vertical direction along with the Z-axis arm 32 to transport the carrier 14 on the pod door 12, the pod positioning pin And a latch pin 28. The pod positioning pin 27 is disposed at a predetermined position of the port door 26 and inserted into the insertion hole 12a of the pod door 12, respectively, for positioning the SMIF pod 10 at a desired position. The latch pin 28 is located at the center of the port door 26 and engaged with the hole 13a formed in the rotating plate 13 of the pod door 12 to selectively rotate the rotating plate 13. 12b) acts to selectively open and close the pod door 12 from the cover 16.

4 is a view for explaining the operation of the SMIF arm for moving the carrier 14 up and down from the SMIF pod 10, as shown, the SMIF arm 30 is connected to the port door 26 And a Z-axis arm 32 which serves to transport the port door 26 in the up and down directions.

Hereinafter, a process of mounting the carrier 14 on a semiconductor device will be described.

First, the SMIF pod 10 containing the carrier 14 on which the wafer is aligned is seated on the port plate 22 of the SMIF port 20. At this time, the SMIF pod 10 is guided to the desired home position by the interaction between the insertion hole 12a and the pod positioning pin 27 and the guide rail 24 of the SMIF port 20. After being guided, the latch pin 28 of the port door 26 is fastened to the hole 13a of the rotating plate 13 of the pod door 12.

Subsequently, when the SMIF pod 10 is positioned at a desired home position, the latch pin 28 moves the rotating plate 13 of the pod door 12 in the direction of arrow "A1" in FIG. 2 by driving the motor. Rotate to separate pod door 12 from cover 16 of SMIF pod 10. In this state, when the port plate 22 of the SMIF port 20 moves, the pod door 12 of the SMIF pod 10 can also move together.

Thereafter, the port door 26 of the SMIF port 20 and the pod door 12 of the SMIF pod 10 are simultaneously transferred downward by the lower sliding motion of the Z-axis arm 32, and then the pod door 12 The carrier 14 on top is loaded into the semiconductor equipment by a carrier hand (not shown).

On the other hand, the process of taking out the carrier from the semiconductor equipment and transport into the SMIF pod as follows.

That is, the carrier 14 is withdrawn from the semiconductor equipment and positioned on the pod door 12 by the carrier hand, and then the port door 26 of the pod door 12 and the SMIF port 20 is Z-axis arm 32. Raises up to the lower end of the cover 16 by the upward sliding motion of. Thereafter, after the pair of holes 13a of the pod door 12 and the latch pins 28 of the port door 26 are engaged, the latch pins 28 rotate to drive the motor. Thereby, the rotating plate 13 is rotated in the direction of arrow "A2" of FIG. 2, and rotates the hook 12b of the pod door 12 in the direction of the arrow "B2". Thereafter, the hook 12b is engaged with the hook groove of the corresponding cover 16 to integrate the pod door 12 with the cover 16.

On the other hand, when separation between the pod door 12 and the cover 16 is required without using the latch pin 28 of the port plate 22, the user is left through the square hole 51 of the pod door 12. The locking jaw 63 of the adjustment rod 61 coupled with the locking groove 53 is moved along the square hole 51 toward the right locking groove 55 and then coupled to the right locking groove 55 to adjust the adjustment rod 61. Rotating plate 13 connected to one side of the rotating shaft 13 is rotated in the direction of arrow "A1" in FIG. Isolate. In the case where the pod door 12 and the cover 16 are required to be coupled, the user can engage the adjustment rod 61 coupled with the right locking groove 55 through the square hole 51 of the pod door 12. When the 63 is moved along the square hole 51 toward the left locking groove 53 and then coupled to the left locking groove 53, the rotary plate 13 connected to one side of the adjusting rod 61 is indicated by the arrow “A2 in FIG. 6. ", Whereby the hook 12b is rotated in the direction of arrow" B2 "to engage the pod door 12 and the cover 16.

As described above, the present invention has been described and illustrated with reference to a preferred example, but it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

In the above-described configuration, there is an effect that the user can easily perform separation and engagement between the pod door and the cover by only moving the adjustment rod.

Claims (2)

delete A standard mechanical interface pod having a pod door on which a carrier on which a wafer is mounted is mounted and a cover covering the pod door, The pod door 12 has a hole 51 formed at the front thereof, engaging grooves 53 and 55 formed at left and right sides of the lower portion of the hole 51, a rotating plate 13 installed therein, and the cover. At least one pair of hooks 12b for separation and engagement with the 16 and the rotating plate 13 and the respective hooks 12b to rotate the hook 12b by the rotational movement of the rotating plate 13 At least one pair of connecting members 40 to be connected, one end of which is connected to the rotating plate 13, the other end of the adjustment rod 61 is provided with a locking jaw 63 is selectively coupled with any one of the locking grooves Standard mechanical interface pod, characterized in that for rotating the rotating plate (13) by moving the locking step (63) coupled to any one of the locking groove to the other locking groove.