KR20050083296A - Pass box with a rotational disk - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention discloses a pass box which does not need to change the position of the cassette even after unloading the cassette. The pass box according to the present invention is divided into a washing portion of the upper portion and a lower portion of the apparatus portion on which the related device is installed. Doors for loading and unloading objects are installed on the front and rear members by hinges, and upper members are provided with injection means for injecting clean air into the loaded objects, and the apparatus section contains foreign substances in the cleaning unit. A suction means for suctioning the air is provided, the disk is located in a rotatable state on the bottom member of the cleaning unit, and the apparatus unit further includes a driving means for rotating the disk to rotate the conveyed object 180 degrees Can be unloaded to allow the object to be transferred directly to the next process equipment without additional means of transport. . In the present invention, the upper end of the rotating shaft exposed to the lower portion of the disk is fixed to the lower portion of the center portion of the disk, the drive means is a drive motor having a drive shaft connected by the rotating shaft and the connecting means of the disk.

Description

Pass box with a rotational disk

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pass box, and more particularly, to a pass box configured so that it is not necessary to change the position even after the mounted object is rotated inside and drawn out.

The substrate, which is the main member necessary in the process of manufacturing a semiconductor device, an organic electroluminescent device (hereinafter referred to as an "organic EL device"), requires much attention in handling. That is, the substrate (or wafer) is mainly made of glass, and thus may be broken even when a slight external impact is applied. In particular, since the surface of the substrate has many structures constituting the device, it must be maintained in a uniform state. do. If even a small scratch is present on the surface of the substrate, it is regarded as defective and the substrate is disposed of.

Due to the material and structural characteristics of the substrate, more attention is required in the process of transferring the substrate, and therefore, a separate means of a cassette is used instead of transferring the substrate individually. The cassette has a structure capable of accommodating a plurality of substrates spaced apart from each other, and by moving the cassette, the cassette can be transported without generating an impact or a scratch on the surface. On the other hand, since the cassette that performs this function is a general thing, a description of the structure is omitted.

Substrates with fine elements formed on the surface should always maintain a high level of cleanliness. For the cleanliness of the substrates, the cassettes used for storing and transporting the substrates should not be contaminated with foreign materials. Therefore, the first cleaning operation should be performed before transferring the cassette loaded with the substrate to the clean room where the contaminants are removed.

A pass box is a device for performing primary cleaning on a cassette transferred to a clean room, and is installed adjacent to an entrance of a cleaning space. The washing process of the cassette is performed inside the pass box, and the washed cassette is withdrawn from the pass box and introduced into the clean room, and then a predetermined process is performed.

1 and 2 are a front view and a plan view of a general pass box in which the primary cleaning of the cassette is performed as described above, in which the pass box 1 is an upper cleaning portion 10 and related devices in which the cassette is cleaned. It is divided into the lower device unit 20 is installed, the cleaning unit 10 and the device unit 20 is separated by the bottom member of the cleaning unit 10.

The cleaning unit 10 is an enclosed space, and doors 11 and 12 for loading and unloading cassettes are installed in the front and rear members so as to be opened and closed by hinges, and the cassette loaded in the upper member. Injection means 13 for injecting the clean air is provided.

Moreover, the apparatus part 20 is equipped with the suction means for suctioning the air which contained the foreign material in the washing | cleaning part 10. As shown in FIG. The suction means penetrates through the lower member of the cleaning unit 10 to remove foreign substances contained in the air passing through the suction line 21 and the suction line 21 having one end corresponding to the internal space of the cleaning unit 10. A blower 23 for discharging the air of the assembly 22 and the suction line 22 to the outside.

The air injected from the injection means 13 separates the foreign matter from the cassette and is filtered by the filter assembly 22 in the course of passing the foreign matter-containing air through the suction line 21. In addition, the air from which the foreign matter is removed is discharged to the outside through the blower (23).

In the pass box 1 having the above structure, the external cassette is loaded into the cleaning unit 10 internal space through the open front door 11, and clean air is injected in the sealed state to clean the cassette. The process proceeds. After the cleaning is finished, the cleaned cassette is transferred into the clean room through the open rear door 12.

On the other hand, the cassette can only be transferred into the clean room as it is loaded into the internal space of the cleaning unit 10 by the transfer means installed in the clean room, and thus, the transferred cassette is placed in a separate place in a new state. The transfer means transfers the cassette to the process position.

That is, the cassette is divided into a front end which is first introduced into the process equipment and a rear end that is directed to the transport means, the cassette must always maintain a constant direction during loading and unloading. Therefore, in the process of transferring the cassette to the outside of the pass box 1 as it is loaded into the cleaning part 10 of the pass box 1 by the transfer means, the position of the front end and the rear end may be reversed. In order to compensate for the change in the position of the cassette, the cassette transferred into the clean room should be put down and aligned with the leading end and the rear end using other transfer means, and then transferred into the process equipment.

Due to the structure in the pass box and the location of the cassettes, the unloading and loading steps of the cassettes in the clean room proceed unnecessarily, and in particular, a problem arises in that new transfer means or cassette position changing means must be installed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems that occur during the withdrawal of cassettes from a pass box, and an object thereof is to provide a pass box which does not need to change the position of the cassette even after unloading the cassette.

The pass box according to the present invention for realizing the above object is divided into a lower portion of the cleaning unit and the associated device is installed, the front and rear members of the cleaning unit by the door hinge for loading and unloading the object Each of the upper members is provided with injection means for injecting clean air into the loaded object, and the device portion is provided with suction means for sucking air containing foreign substances in the cleaning portion, and the bottom member of the cleaning portion. The disk is located in a rotatable state, and the apparatus unit further includes a driving means for rotating the disk, which can rotate the conveying object 180 degrees and then unload it to the outside, so that the object can be immediately transferred to the next process equipment without a separate conveying means. Can be transferred.

In the present invention, the upper end of the rotating shaft exposed to the lower portion of the disk is fixed to the lower portion of the center portion of the disk, the drive means is a drive motor having a drive shaft connected by the rotating shaft and the connecting means of the disk.

The invention will be more fully understood by the detailed description of the preferred embodiment with reference to the attached drawings.

3 and 4 are a front view and a plan view of a pass box according to the present invention, wherein the pass box 30 according to the present invention is also provided with an upper cleaning unit 40 and a lower device unit in which a cassette is cleaned. The cleaning unit 30 and the device unit 40 are separated by the bottom member of the cleaning unit 30.

The cleaning unit 30 is an enclosed space, and the front and rear members are rotatably provided with doors 41 and 42 for hinge loading and unloading of the cassette, respectively. Injection means 43 for injecting the furnace clean air is provided.

Moreover, the apparatus part 50 is equipped with the suction means for suctioning the air which contained the foreign material in the washing | cleaning part 30. The function and configuration of the suction means is shown in Figures 1 and 2, the suction line 51, the filter assembly 52 and the suction line 52 for removing foreign matter contained in the air passing through the suction line 51. Blower 53 for forcibly discharging the air of the). Since the function of each member is the same as the function description of the corresponding member described in the description regarding FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, duplication description is abbreviate | omitted.

The biggest feature of the pass box 30 according to the present invention is that it includes a disk 61 located on the bottom member of the cleaning part 40 and drive means for rotating the disk 61. Meanwhile, in FIG. 3, only the disk and its rotating shaft are cross-sectioned to show more clearly.

A plate-shaped disk 61 is positioned on the bottom member of the cleaning portion 40, and the rotating shaft 62 fixed to the lower portion of the center portion of the cleaning portion 40 passes downward through the bottom member of the cleaning portion 40. Exposed. On the other hand, in order to smoothly rotate the disk 61, it is preferable to maintain the minimum distance between the bottom surface of the disk 61 and the bottom member of the cleaning portion 40.

The rotating shaft 62 of the disk 61 is connected to the drive shaft 63 of the drive unit (not shown) installed in the apparatus unit 50 via the connecting means 64 (for example, a belt), and thus the disk 61. ) May rotate on the cleaning member 40 bottom member in accordance with the operation of the drive. On the other hand, the drive unit is connected to a control unit (not shown) so that the rotation of the disk 61 is controlled by this control unit.

Referring to the operation and function of the pass box 30 according to the present invention as follows.

An external cassette is loaded onto the disc 61 on the bottom member of the cleaning part 40 via the open front door 41, with the front part of the cassette facing the rear door 42. Subsequently, clean air is injected into the cassette through the spray nozzle 43 while the front door 41 is closed. The air containing the foreign matter is exhausted to the outside through the suction means, and the rear door 42 is opened after the cleaning process is performed for a predetermined time.

The control unit that detects the opening of the rear door 42 transmits a driving signal to the driving unit, so that the disk 61 rotates according to the operation of the driving unit. On the other hand, according to the object of the present invention, the disk 61 should be rotated only 180 degrees, and the driving conditions of the drive unit must be set in the control unit in accordance with these conditions.

As the disk 61 is rotated 180 degrees, the cassette placed thereon is reversed in the positions of the front and rear portions. In other words, the rear part of the cassette faces the rear door 42 of the cleaning part 40. Thereafter, the transfer means installed on the clean room transfers the cassette to the outside of the pass box 30. When the cassette whose position is changed by 180 degrees by the rotation of the disk 61 is transferred to the outside of the pass box by the conveying means, the rear portion of the cassette faces the conveying means and the front portion faces the process equipment to which the cassette is to be loaded, respectively.

Thus, the conveying means can load the cassette directly into the next process equipment without changing the position of the cassette transferred from within the pass box.

The pass box according to the present invention as described above can be loaded into the process equipment without having to change its position even after being drawn out by rotating the cassette which has been processed by 180 degrees inside thereof, thereby simplifying the transfer step. An excellent effect can be obtained without the need for a separate means for changing the position of the cassette.

The illustrative embodiments described above are intended to be illustrative within all aspects of the invention rather than limiting. Accordingly, the present invention is capable of many modifications and implementations that can be made by those skilled in the art from the description contained herein. All such modifications and variations are considered to be within the scope and spirit of the invention as defined by the following claims.

1 and 2 are a front view and a plan view of a typical pass box.

3 and 4 are a front view and a plan view of a pass box according to the present invention.

Claims (2)

It is divided into the upper part of the cleaning unit and the lower device unit is installed, the front and rear members of the cleaning unit for loading and unloading the object is installed by the hinge, respectively, the upper member is loaded with clean air to the loaded object In the pass box provided with the injection means for injecting, the device portion is provided with suction means for sucking air containing foreign matter in the cleaning unit, The disk is located on the bottom member of the cleaning unit in a rotatable state, and is installed in the device unit. The apparatus further includes a driving means for rotating the disk. The object can be rotated 180 degrees and then unloaded to the outside. Pass box that transfers directly to the next process equipment without any means. The pass box according to claim 1, wherein an upper end of the rotating shaft exposed to the lower part of the disk is fixed to the lower part of the center of the disk, and the driving means is a driving part having a driving shaft connected by the rotating shaft of the disk and the connecting means.