KR20160109373A - Sealed cart and method for transferring wafers using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

A sealed cart is docked in a stocker in which a storage tool storing a plurality of wafers is stored in a place where a process of manufacturing or inspecting semiconductor chips from the wafers is performed. Moreover, the sealed cart comprises: a sealed box having a sealed accommodating space in which the storage tool is accommodated; and a moving unit mounted in a lower portion of the sealed box to move the sealed box.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to a closed type bogie, and a wafer transfer method using the same.

The present invention relates to a closed type bogie and a wafer transfer method using the same, which is a closed type bogie capable of safely transferring wafers, which are precision electronic component materials sensitive to the surrounding environment, and a method of substantially transferring the wafers .

In general, a semiconductor chip includes a fab (FAB) process in which a plurality of circuit patterns are patterned on a wafer made of a thin monocrystalline substrate made of silicon, and an inspection (EDS) process for checking the electrical performance of the patterned semiconductor chips .

Here, since the semiconductor chip is substantially one of precision electronic parts, it can be very sensitive to ambient temperature and humidity, so that the location where the fab (FAB) process is performed and the inspection (EDS) Each place that needs to be structurally completely blocked from the outside.

The FAB process and the inspection (EDS) process may include a FOUP (Front Open Unified Box) or a FOSB (Front Open Shipping Box) in which a large number of wafers are accommodated for efficiently transferring the wafers The same accommodating mechanism is generally used.

Thus, the wafers are transferred to a place where the inspection (EDS) process is performed or another place where the fab (FAB) process is performed in a place where the fab (FAB) The fab (FAB) process and the inspection (EDS) process can be efficiently performed.

In this case, if the place to be transported is located in the same building and is not exposed to the external environment, the storage mechanism may be transferred as it is, but the place to be transported may be disposed in another building , It is necessary to completely seal and pack the storage mechanism using vinyl or the like so as not to expose the wafers accommodated in the storage mechanism to the outside, and then transfer the wafer.

In this case, the worker has to further carry out the process of packing and removing the storage mechanism, so that the efficiency of the work is inferior.

Korean Patent Laid-Open No. 10-2011-0003610 (Published Date; Jan. 13, 2011, Multiple Wafer Transfer Apparatus and Method)

It is an object of the present invention to provide a closed carriage capable of safely transporting wafers even outside a building where a fab (FAB) process or an inspection (EDS) process is in progress.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for transporting the wafers using the above-described closed lorry.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a closed type bogie, which is docked to a stocker in which a plurality of wafers are housed, in a place where a process of manufacturing or inspecting semiconductor chips from a wafer proceeds, And a moving part mounted on a lower part of the airtight box and moving the airtight space.

The hermetic box according to one embodiment may include a heat insulating material.

The moving part according to an embodiment may include a caster having a buffer part.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a wafer transfer method for transferring a semiconductor wafer from a first wafer to a first wafer, 1. A method of manufacturing a stoker, comprising the steps of: docking a bogie including a hermetically sealed box having a hermetically sealed receiving space in which the storing mechanism is accommodated and a moving part mounted on a lower portion of the hermetically sealed box, The method comprising the steps of: receiving a stored receiving mechanism; conveying a bogie accommodated in the receiving space to a second place where the process of manufacturing or inspecting the second semiconductor chips from the second wafer proceeds, Docking a second stocker to be stored with the mechanism and storing the docked second stocker in a receiving space of the bogie And loading the storage mechanism.

The step of accommodating the accommodation mechanism stored in the first stocker in the accommodating space of the bogie according to an embodiment may include outputting information about the second place and attaching the information to the bogie.

According to the closed type bogie and the wafer transfer method using the same, semiconductor chips are manufactured from the wafer by using a closed box composed of a closed box having a closed accommodation space for accommodating a receiving mechanism in which a large number of wafers are accommodated and a moving part for moving the closed box It is possible to safely transport the object to another place where the manufacturing process or the inspecting process is performed in another building which is distant from the first location where the inspection process is proceeding. Therefore, there is no need to separately package the same as in the background art, The transfer operation can be carried out more efficiently and very conveniently.

1 is a conceptual view illustrating a process of transferring wafers using a closed cart according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a view showing the closed type bogie shown in FIG. 1 in detail.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, a closed carriage according to an embodiment of the present invention and a wafer transfer method using the same will be described in detail. The present invention is capable of various modifications and various forms, and specific embodiments are illustrated in the drawings and described in detail in the text. It should be understood, however, that the invention is not intended to be limited to the particular forms disclosed, but includes all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention. Like reference numerals are used for like elements in describing each drawing. In the accompanying drawings, the dimensions of the structures are enlarged to illustrate the present invention in order to clarify the present invention.

The terms first, second, etc. may be used to describe various components, but the components should not be limited by the terms. The terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another. For example, without departing from the scope of the present invention, the first component may be referred to as a second component, and similarly, the second component may also be referred to as a first component.

The terminology used in this application is used only to describe a specific embodiment and is not intended to limit the invention. The singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In this application, the terms "comprises", "having", and the like are used to specify that a feature, a number, a step, an operation, an element, a part or a combination thereof is described in the specification, But do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof.

On the other hand, unless otherwise defined, all terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. Terms such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries are to be interpreted as having a meaning consistent with the contextual meaning of the related art and are to be interpreted as either ideal or overly formal in the sense of the present application Do not.

FIG. 1 is a conceptual view illustrating a process of transferring wafers using a closed type bogie according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a view illustrating the closed type bogie shown in FIG.

1 and 2, a process of manufacturing or inspecting first semiconductor chips (not shown) from a first wafer 10 using a closed carriage 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention, The process of manufacturing or inspecting the second semiconductor chips (not shown) is performed from the second wafer 30 at one location 20 and transferred to the second location 40 structurally separated from the first location 20 The bogie 100 is first docked to the first stocker 22 in which the plurality of first wafers 10 are housed in the first place 20. Here, the storing mechanism 24 may include any one of a FOUP used in the manufacturing process and a FOSB used in the inspection process.

The bogie 100 includes a hermetically sealed box 200 having a hermetically sealed receiving space 210 in which the receiving mechanism 24 is received and a hermetically sealed box 200 mounted on a lower portion of the hermetic box 200, And a moving unit 300 for moving the moving unit 300. Here, the sealing box 200 may be made of aluminum, which is light and strong in order to facilitate transportation. The moving unit 300 may include a caster for stable movement. have.

Then, the receiving mechanism 24 stored in the first stocker 22 is received in the receiving space 210 of the sealed box 200. At this time, the process of storing the accommodating mechanism 24 in the accommodating space 210 can be automatically performed by a transfer robot (not shown) installed at the position of the first stocker 22.

In the process of housing the storage mechanism 24 stored in the first stocker 22 in the storage space 210 of the closed box 200, the storage mechanism 24 is moved to the second location 40 to be transported It is possible to prevent the possibility that the storing mechanism 24 is transferred to the wrong place by installing the information on the carriage 100. [

The carriage 100 in which the accommodating mechanism 24 is housed is accommodated in the accommodating space 210 of the enclosure box 200 on the conveying vehicle 50. At this time, the process of loading the carriage 100 on the conveyance vehicle 50 may be automatically performed through an elevating device (not shown) or a rail device (not shown) installed on the conveyance vehicle 50. A driving device (not shown) for driving the moving part 300 of the carriage 100 can be installed and positioned automatically when the carriage 100 is positioned close to the conveying vehicle 50 have.

Then, the conveying vehicle 50 is transferred to the second place 40. At this time, since the bogie 100 can be exposed to the external environment for a long time, it is possible to prevent foreign matter from being basically infiltrated from the outside through the hermetically sealed structure as described above, The first wafers 10 can be transferred safely by providing a heat insulating material 220 to minimize changes in temperature and humidity. Here, the heat insulating material 220 may be attached to the inner wall of the enclosure 200 for efficient thermal insulation. Alternatively, the heat insulating material 220 may be inserted between the wall surfaces of the enclosure 200. In this case, an air layer may be formed between the walls of the enclosure 200 for efficient thermal insulation .

In addition, since defects may be generated in the first wafers 10 due to vibrations that may be generated during the movement of the transfer vehicle 50, in order to absorb the vibration, (Not shown).

Then, the conveying vehicle 50 is transferred to the second place 40 to unload the car 100. This process can be automatically carried out through the elevating device (not shown) or the rail device (not shown) in the same manner as the loading of the bogie 100 on the conveying vehicle 50.

Next, the unloading truck 100 is docked to the second stocker 42 in which the receiving mechanism 24 is accommodated in the second place 40. This process can also be automatically docked to the second stocker 42 through a drive device (not shown) installed to drive the moving part 300 of the bogie 100 described above.

Then, the storage mechanism 24 accommodated in the docked truck 100 is stored in the second stocker 42. [ This process can also be automatically carried out by the transfer robot (not shown) as in the first stocker 22.

The first wafers 10 transferred to the second stocker 42 and housed in the receiving mechanism 24 are then processed in the second location 40 for manufacturing the semiconductor chips (not shown) . Accordingly, the first wafer 10 to be processed in the first place 20 and the second wafer 30 to be processed in the second place 40 may be of substantially the same kind.

As described above, the closed box 200 having the sealed accommodation space 210 in which the accommodating mechanism 24 in which the first wafers 10 are accommodated is accommodated, and the moving unit 300 for moving the closed box 200 100) is used to manufacture or inspect the first semiconductor chip (not shown) from another building distant from the first location 20 where the process of manufacturing or inspecting the first semiconductor chip (not shown) Can be transported safely to the second location 40 where the process proceeds, so that there is no need to package them separately as in the background art, and such a transfer operation can be performed more efficiently and more conveniently.

While the present invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be practical and exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, It will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

10: first wafer 20: second place
22: first stocker 24: storage mechanism
30: second wafer 40: second place
42: second stocker 50: transport vehicle
100: Truck 200: Closed box
210: accommodation space 220: insulation
300: moving part 310: buffer part

Claims (6)

A storage mechanism in which a plurality of wafers are accommodated is docked in a stocker where a process of manufacturing or inspecting semiconductor chips from the wafer proceeds,
A sealed box having an enclosed accommodation space in which the accommodating mechanism is accommodated; And
And a moving part mounted on a lower portion of the hermetically sealed box and moving the hermetic truck. The sealed cart according to claim 1, wherein the sealed box includes a heat insulating material. 2. The sealed cart according to claim 1, wherein the moving part includes a caster having a buffer part. A sealing box having a sealed accommodation space in which the accommodating mechanism is accommodated in a first stocker in which a plurality of wafers are stored in a first place where a process of manufacturing or inspecting first semiconductor chips from a first wafer is carried out, Docking a truck mounted on a lower portion of the hermetic box and including a moving portion for moving the hermetic truck;
Receiving a storing mechanism stored in the first stocker in a receiving space of the bogie;
The storage mechanism transfers a bogie accommodated in the accommodating space to a second place where the process of manufacturing or inspecting the second semiconductor chips from the second wafer is performed to transfer the bogie stored in the accommodating space to the second stocker Docking; And
And loading the accommodating mechanism accommodated in the accommodating space of the bogie into the docked second stocker. 5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the step of accommodating the storing mechanism stored in the first stocker in the accommodating space of the truck includes a step of outputting information about the second place and attaching the information to the truck . 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the first and second wafers are of the same kind.

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