TW202035246A - Container for keeping fragile sheets - Google Patents

Abstract

A container for keeping fragile sheets comprises a housing, a cover, and a positioning buffer unit. The housing has an opening. The cover is detachablely assembled with the housing, covers the opening, and cooperates with the housing to define a receiving space. The positioning buffer unit is located in the receiving space, at least part thereof is injection molded from a foam material, and includes a cover holder which is mounted on the cover and has a plurality of flexible buffer portions. Because at least part of the positioning buffer unit is made from a foam material, the weight of the positioning buffer unit is reduced , the structural strength and the buffer effect of the positioning buffer unit is improved, and the positioning buffer unit has an advantage of being environmentally-friendly.

Description

Container for fragile materials

The present invention relates to a container, in particular to a storage and transportation container for fragile materials that can be used in the optoelectronic and semiconductor industries.

At present, in the optoelectronics and semiconductor industries, various sheet substrates, such as wafers used in the semiconductor industry, play a very important role. However, these flakes are usually extremely easy to break, and they also have extremely high requirements for cleanliness. In order to reduce the risk of contamination or damage to these flakes during transportation and storage, a storage and transportation container for holding these flakes is very important.

Existing storage and transportation containers usually include a shell and a cover to jointly form a sealed accommodating space, and a holder is provided in the accommodating space to limit the wafer position. The materials currently used for the holders are usually high-strength engineering plastics, such as polycarbonate (PC) and polyetheretherketone (PEEK). In order to avoid damage caused by the Electro Static Discharge (ESD) effect, the industry often adds static dissipative materials, such as carbon fiber or carbon nanotubes, to the aforementioned materials. However, the density of these materials used for holding parts is usually higher, so the weight is heavier, which virtually increases the cost of transportation; and because of their higher strength, they need to be cushioned if they are used in containers. Functional parts, such as retainers, can provide poor cushioning effects and must be matched with a special structural design or with other materials with better cushioning performance, which increases the difficulty and complexity of structural design. In addition, engineering plastic products are not easy to dispose of after being discarded. In this era of rising environmental awareness, it is another issue that needs to be addressed and needs to be resolved.

Therefore, one of the objectives of the present invention is to provide a fragile storage and transportation container that can reduce the weight of the holder, has better structural strength and cushioning effect, and has the advantages of being environmentally friendly.

Therefore, in some embodiments, the storage and transportation container for fragile objects of the present invention includes a shell, a cover, and a limit buffer unit. The shell has an opening. The cover detachably covers the opening and defines an accommodating space with the casing. The limit buffer unit is located in the accommodating space, and at least part of the limit buffer unit is formed of foamed material by injection molding, and the limit buffer unit includes a cover holder provided on the cover And the cover holder has a plurality of flexible buffer parts.

In some embodiments, the flexible buffer portions are formed by injection molding of the foam material.

In some embodiments, each of the flexible buffer portions has a sheet-like limiting portion.

In some embodiments, each of the limiting portions of the sheet-like object is formed by injection molding of the foam material.

In some embodiments, the limit buffer unit further includes a housing holder provided in the housing, and at least part of the housing holder is formed by injection molding of the foam material.

In some embodiments, the housing holder includes a plurality of flexible buffer portions.

In some embodiments, each of the flexible buffer portions has a sheet-like limiting portion.

In some embodiments, each of the limiting portions of the sheet-like object is formed by injection molding of the foam material.

In some embodiments, it further includes a carrier between the cover holder and the housing holder.

In some embodiments, at least part of the carrier is formed by injection molding of the foam material.

In some embodiments, the foamed material is a foamed linear polymer.

In some embodiments, the foamed material is foamed linear polypropylene.

The present invention has at least the following effects: the limit buffer unit is formed of foamed material by injection molding, which is not only light in weight, but also can reduce the overall weight of the fragile storage and transportation container to save transportation costs; Better structural strength and cushioning effect to provide better protection for the fragile objects inside; it also has the advantage of being environmentally friendly.

Before the present invention is described in detail, it should be noted that in the following description, similar elements are represented by the same numbers.

1 to 3, a first embodiment of the storage and transportation container for fragile objects of the present invention. The storage and transportation container 100 includes a shell 1, a cover 2, a limit buffer unit 3, and a carrier 4 .

The housing 1 has an upward opening 11. The cover 2 detachably covers the opening 11 and defines an accommodation space S together with the casing 1. The limit buffer unit 3 is located in the accommodating space S and includes a cover holder 31 provided on the cover 2 and a housing holder 32 provided on the casing 1.

The carrier 4 is located between the cover holder 31 and the housing holder 32 to carry and support a plurality of fragile objects 5. In this embodiment, the fragile object 5 is a semiconductor wafer, and the carrier 4 is a one-piece wafer cassette as an example.

The cover holder 31, the housing holder 32, and the carrier 4 are each formed with a plurality of matching grooves to jointly limit a plurality of fragile objects 5, and make the fragile objects 5 The objects 5 will not collide with each other in the accommodating space S.

At least part of the limit buffer unit 3 is formed of foamed material by injection molding. The cover holder 31 and the housing holder 32 are respectively located on the upper and lower sides of the fragile object 5. In addition, the cover holder 31 and the housing holder 32 respectively have a plurality of flexible buffer portions 311 and 321 for the fragile objects 5 to abut and provide buffering.

More specifically, each of the flexible buffer portions 311 and 321 has a sheet limiting portion 311a and 321a. The flake limiting portions 311a and 321a are used for abutting and limiting the fragile object 5 to avoid excessive shaking or vibration of the fragile object 5 during the conveying process.

At least part of the limit buffer unit 3 is formed of foamed material by injection molding. In a preferred embodiment, the flexible buffer portions 311 and 321 of the limit buffer unit 3 and the sheet-like object limit portions 311a and 321a on the flexible buffer portions 311 and 321 are all made of foam The material is formed by injection molding.

Suitable foaming materials are preferably foamed linear high molecular polymers, such as foamed linear polypropylene. The foamed material contains a large number of pores formed by bubbles and forms a honeycomb-like structure.

Therefore, at least part of the limiting buffer unit 3 is made of foamed material, especially the flexible buffering parts 311, 321 and the sheet limiting parts 311a, 321a are made of foamed material, which can not only reduce the limiting buffer unit 3 and the overall weight of the storage and transportation container 100, and can improve the structural strength of the limit buffer unit 3, and can also improve the buffer effect to reduce the impact force received by the fragile object 5.

In addition, foamed linear high molecular polymers such as foamed linear polypropylene can be easily decomposed in the natural environment because of their simple chemical structure. Therefore, the use of such materials to make the limit buffer unit 3 or some of its components can greatly reduce the burden on the natural environment after the product's service life expires, thus having the advantage of being environmentally friendly.

4-6, the second embodiment of the storage and transportation container for fragile objects of the present invention is a front-opening wafer transfer box, in which the fragile objects 5 contained therein are exemplified by square silicon substrates. .

The storage and transportation container 200 includes a shell 1, a cover 2, a limit buffer unit 3 and a carrier 4. The housing 1 has an opening 11 facing forward and two opposite side walls 12. The cover 2 detachably covers the opening 11 and defines an accommodating space S together with the casing 1.

The limit buffer unit 3 is located in the accommodating space S, and at least part of it is formed of foamed material by injection molding, and includes a cover holder 31 provided on the inner side of the cover 2 and a cover The housing holder 32 in the housing 1. The carrier 4 is located between the cover holder 31 and the housing holder 32.

7 and 8 in conjunction, in the second embodiment, the supporting member 4 is a two-piece type, and is respectively provided on the inner side surfaces of the two side walls 12 of the housing 1. The carrier 4 has a plurality of support bars 41 arranged at intervals to support the fragile objects 5. The housing holder 32 is located at an end of the carrier 4 away from the opening 11, that is, the rear end of the carrier 4, and is arranged corresponding to the carrier 4.

The cover holder 31 on the inner side of the cover 2 is provided with a flexible buffer portion 311 at the front end of each support bar 41, and each flexible buffer portion 311 has a piece limiting portion 311a. Each housing holder 32 includes a plurality of flexible buffer portions 321 respectively located at the rear end of each support bar 41, and each flexible buffer portion 321 has a piece limiting portion 321a.

When the fragile objects 5 are put into the accommodating space S of the storage and transportation container 200 and the cover 2 is closed on the opening 11 of the housing 1, the plates at the front and rear ends of each support bar 41 are restricted The portions 311a, 321a abut the front and rear edges of the fragile object 5, respectively, and the flexible buffer portions 311, 321 are respectively pushed and flexed by the fragile object 5, and thus generate a restoring force to drive the piece The object limiting parts 311a and 321a press against and limit the fragile object 5.

In this embodiment, a square silicon substrate is taken as an example. However, it can also be used to support round fragile objects, such as wafers, in a modified embodiment. The materials of the limiting buffer unit 3, the flexible buffer portions 311, 321, and the sheet limiting portions 311a, 321a of the second embodiment are the same as those of the first embodiment, and their functions and advantages will not be repeated.

Another difference between this embodiment and the first embodiment is that in addition to the limiting buffer unit 3, the flexible buffer portions 311, 321, and the sheet limiting portions 311a, 321a, the carrier 4 in this embodiment At least part of, such as the support bars 41 of the carrier 4, can also be formed by injection molding of the foam material. Therefore, the overall weight of the storage and transportation container 200 can be greatly reduced.

In addition, in addition to the carrier box shown in the first embodiment and the front-opening wafer transfer box shown in the second embodiment, the storage and transportation container for fragile objects can also be, for example, a standard mechanical interface wafer box (SMIF). Pod) and Front Opening Shipping Box (FOSB) and other types of storage and transportation containers. In response to the different requirements of storage and transportation containers for different types of fragile objects, the carrier 4 or/and the housing holder 32 can be omitted and can be implemented, and is not limited to this embodiment.

In summary, the limit buffer unit 3 is at least partially formed of foamed material by injection molding, which is not only light in weight, but also has better structural strength and buffering effect, and can reduce the overall storage and transportation container for fragile objects. Weight, and can provide better protection of the fragile inside. The use of foamed linear high-molecular polymers such as foamed linear polypropylene can make at least part of the limit buffer unit 3 or the supporting member 4 easily decomposed after being discarded, which greatly reduces the environmental impact. Burden, which has the advantage of being environmentally friendly.

However, the above are only examples of the present invention. When the scope of implementation of the present invention cannot be limited by this, all simple equivalent changes and modifications made in accordance with the scope of the patent application of the present invention and the content of the patent specification still belong to This invention patent covers the scope.

100, 200: storage and transportation container 1: shell 11: opening 12: side wall 2: cover body 3: Limit buffer unit 31: Lid holder 32: Housing holder 311, 321: Flexible buffer 311a, 321a: sheet limiting part 4: Carrier 41: Support bar 5: Fragile objects S: housing space

Other features and effects of the present invention will be clearly presented in the embodiments with reference to the drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of a storage and transportation container for fragile objects of the present invention; Figure 2 is a perspective exploded view of the first embodiment; Figure 3 is another perspective exploded view of the first embodiment; 4 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the storage and transportation container for fragile objects of the present invention; Figure 5 is a perspective view illustrating the cover and cover holder of the second embodiment; Figure 6 is a perspective view of the second embodiment with the cover removed; Figure 7 is a perspective view illustrating the carrier and housing holder of the second embodiment; and Fig. 8 is a plan view illustrating the carrier and the housing holder of the second embodiment.

1: shell

2: cover body

3: Limit buffer unit

31: Lid holder

311, 321: Flexible buffer

311a, 321a: sheet limiting part

32: Housing holder

4: Carrier

5: Fragile objects

S: housing space

Claims (12)

A storage and transportation container for fragile materials, including: A shell with an opening; A cover detachably covering the opening and defining an accommodating space together with the casing; and A limit buffer unit is located in the accommodating space, and at least part of the limit buffer unit is formed by injection molding of foamed material, and the limit buffer unit includes a cover holder provided on the cover body The cover holder has a plurality of flexible buffer parts. According to claim 1, the storage and transportation container for fragile objects, wherein the flexible buffer portions are formed by injection molding of the foam material. According to claim 1, the fragile material storage and transportation container, wherein each of the flexible buffer portions has a piece limiting portion. According to claim 3, the fragile material storage and transportation container, wherein each of the sheet-like object limiting portions is formed by injection molding of the foam material. The storage and transportation container for fragile objects according to claim 1, wherein the limit buffer unit further includes a housing holder provided in the housing, and at least part of the housing holder is made of the foam The material is formed by injection molding. The fragile material storage and transportation container according to claim 5, wherein the housing holder includes a plurality of flexible buffer portions. According to claim 6, the storage and transportation container for fragile objects, wherein each of the flexible buffer portions has a piece limiting portion. According to claim 7, the storage and transportation container for fragile objects, wherein each of the limiting portions of the sheet objects is formed by injection molding of the foam material. According to claim 5, the storage and transportation container for fragile objects further includes a carrier between the cover holder and the housing holder. The storage and transportation container for fragile objects according to claim 9, wherein at least part of the carrier is formed by injection molding of the foam material. The fragile storage and transportation container according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the foamed material is a foamed linear polymer. The fragile storage and transportation container according to claim 11, wherein the foamed material is foamed linear polypropylene.

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