Patent Application
20240262611
The present invention relates to a packaging member (cover) for packaging a FOUP or a FOSB to be transported between clean rooms, a packaging method, and a transporting method.
In a semiconductor manufacturing factory, for example, in a semiconductor wafer-producing step, strict management is in place for management of dust, such as particles, and contamination by metal impurities. Thereby, a wrapping and packaging step immediately before final inspection and shipment needs to be conducted in clean rooms where the particles and the metal contamination are strictly controlled.
In these clean rooms, the particles and the metal contamination are strictly controlled, and an operator working in the clean rooms wears a dust-free suit (a clean suit) made of a special dust-free cloth, covers a mouth and a nose with a mask, puts gloves made of resin on hands, and takes measures to minimize dust generation from a human body. For the most strictly controlled working-area, the number of people who enter the clean rooms is limited and controlled, and the number of people who enter the working area is also limited, thus, the management of particles and metal contamination is conducted. In addition, items (pens and papers) brought into the clean rooms are specially designed for use in the rooms, and PCs and printers are also dust-proofed.
In a semiconductor factory, steps are not necessarily connected each other in the same clean room. Consequently, due to steps being performed in different areas, various articles are to be transported across rooms (the clean rooms), across floors (the clean rooms) in different floors, and/or across buildings (the clean rooms). For example, in the case of a semiconductor wafer, the wafer is stored in a Front Opening Unified Pod (FOUP) and transported between the steps. A size and a material of the FOUP are defined in detail according to Semiconductor Equipment and Material International (SEMI) standards. Moreover, when the semiconductor wafer as a material is shipped and conveyed from a semiconductor material manufacturer to a semiconductor device manufacturer, the wafer is stored in a Front Shipping Box (FOSB), and then transported and conveyed. Details of the FOSB are also defined in Semiconductor Equipment and Material International (SEMI) standards in details.
When the FOUP or the FOSB is transported between the clean rooms in the semiconductor factory, there is no particular problem if there is a clean tunnel or a clean elevator. However, if there is no clean tunnel or clean elevator, or if the FOUP or the FOSB is moved between buildings (the clean rooms), it is necessary to wrap the FOUP or the FOSB in resin bags.
Patent Document 1 discloses a method of packaging a carried-in object to be carried in clean rooms, specifically, an apparatus for manufacturing a semiconductor device, and a packaging material of packaging the object.
Patent Document 2 discloses dust-free clothes to be worn during work in clean rooms.
Patent Document 3 discloses a temporary dust-proof tent used when piping or cabling work is performed in clean rooms and a working method.
Patent Document 4 discloses a dual-packing clean-transporting carrier for transporting an object to be transported into a clean room.
Patent Document 5 discloses a fiber used for dust-free clothes worn in a clean room and a method to make the clothes.
In the transportation of an object to be transported, being a FOUP or a FOSB, between clean rooms in a semiconductor factory, the object to be transported has thus far been wrapped by such as bags made of resin, and then, transported and conveyed from a clean room into a clean room via a common outside air environment. These bags made of resin are products obtained by processing a resin material, which does not generate dust in the clean rooms, into a sheet shape and molding the resultant in a bag shape. The opening of the bag is hermetically sealed by a heat sealer to seal an object to be transported therein, thereby making the bag for wrapping. Even in the common outside air environment which is outside the clean room, the object to be transported, being the FOUP or the FOSB, is hermetically wrapped in the bags made of resin and thus is transported in a state of being protected from dust, such as particles (powdery dust) and metal impurities contained in outside air. Moreover, in the case of more strict management, a method has been performed in which these resin bags are used for double-wrapping, and a single layer (an outer wrapping) of the double wrapping is torn open in a room (a cushion room) adjacent to the clean room and having a lower cleanness than the clean room. Then, an inner single-wrapped object to be transported is brought into the clean room, and the object to be transported is taken out from the bag made of resin in the clean room. In this case, operation is necessary in which wrapping of one or more bags in the clean room is performed before transportation and tearing of these wrappings in the clean room is performed after the transportation to take out the object to be transported. Moreover, one or more resin bags are needed as a wrapping material, and because the material is brought into the clean room, it is necessary to use a material having a dust generation with a low amount, a material with a damp-proof property that is not affected by the humidity of the outside air and prevents both moisture permeation and moisture absorption, or a material subjected to special processing such as coating or laminating so as to exert the low dust generation property and the damp-proof property. However, these materials are extremely costly. Although the wrapping member used here is extremely costly, the material is torn when the object to be transported is taken out as described above, resulting in being discarded after use. In addition, there has been a cost increase problem due to an apparatus for heat sealing the opening of each bag after the object to be transported is put into the bag made of resin, securing a working area for sealing these bags, and the like. Moreover, although a clean tunnel or a clean elevator can be provided to connect the clean rooms, there is a problem that a larger amount of investment in plant and equipment is required.
The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem. An object of the present invention is to provide a packaging member, a method for packaging, and a method for transporting that enables to transport an object to be transported, being a FOUP or a FOSB, between the clean rooms at low cost while a cleanness of the object to be transported is maintained at a high level.
To solve the problem described above, the present invention provides a packaging member for packaging an object to be transported between clean rooms, the packaging member being used for packaging the object to be transported, being a FOUP or a FOSB, when transport thereof between the clean rooms each having a clean atmosphere of a semiconductor factory, wherein
The inventive packaging member made of the dust-free cloth having dust-proof property and damp-proof property can be provided as the packaging member (cover) for protecting the object to be transported, being the FOUP or the FOSB, from dust generation, particles (powdery dust) contained in the outside air, dust of metal contaminants, or moisture. Accordingly, by using the inventive packaging member as the packaging member for packaging the object to be transported between the clean rooms, the FOUP or the FOSB can be transported between the clean rooms while the cleanness of the object to be transported, being the FOUP or the FOSB, is maintained at a high level.
Moreover, the inventive packaging member made of the dust-free cloth is cleanable, and when the packaging member is contaminated with dust, the packaging member can be cleaned and used repeatedly. As a result, reducing the cost of the wrapping material used as a resin bag for wrapping, which has so far been discarded after use, and reducing the cost of work are enabled. In some cases, reducing facilities of a cushion room or an air shower is also enabled.
That is, the inventive packaging member enables transportation of the object to be transported, being the FOUP or the FOSB, between the clean rooms at low cost while the cleanness of the object to be transported is maintained at a high level.
Furthermore, the present invention provides a method for packaging an object to be transported between the clean rooms, the object to be transported being a FOUP or a FOSB, when transport thereof between the clean rooms each having a clean atmosphere of a semiconductor factory, wherein
In the inventive method for packaging, by packaging the object to be transported, being the FOUP or the FOSB, with the packaging member made of a dust-free cloth having dust-proof property and damp-proof property, the object to be transported, being the FOUP or the FOSB, can be protected from dust generation, the dust of metal contaminant or moisture. By transporting the object to be transported being thus packaged, the object to be transported, being the FOUP or the FOSB, can be transported between the clean rooms while the cleanness of the object to be transported, being the FOUP or the FOSB, is maintained at a high level. Moreover, the inventive packaging member made of the dust-free cloth is cleanable, and when the packaging member is contaminated with the dust, the packaging member can be cleaned and used repeatedly.
That is, when the object to be transported is packaged and transported according to the inventive packaging method, the object to be transported, being the FOUP or the FOSB, can be transported between the clean rooms at low cost while the cleanness of the object to be transported is maintained at a high level.
The present invention also provides a method for transporting an object to be transported between the clean rooms each having a clean atmosphere of a semiconductor factory, wherein
In the inventive method for transporting, by packaging the object to be transported, being the FOUP or the FOSB, according to the inventive packaging method and transporting this packaged object between the clean rooms, thus, the FOUP or the FOSB can be transported between the clean rooms at low cost while the cleanness of the object to be transported, being the FOUP or the FOSB, is maintained at a high level.
As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide the packaging member (cover), the method for packaging using such packaging member, and the method for transporting, capable of packaging the object to be transported, being the FOUP or the FOSB, and transporting the object between the clean rooms at low cost while to protecting from such as dust including particles and metal impurities, and moisture contained in the outside air to maintain high cleanness of the object to be transported, without using a disposable costly resin wrapping material and a wrapping apparatus, a worker who tear the wrapping and the wrapping bag, and a facility such as a work area or an expensive clean tunnel and clean elevators which have been used.
As described above, in the case of transporting an object to be transported, being a FOUP or a FOSB, between clean rooms, packaging the object to be transported individually, or installing a clean space such as a clean tunnel or a clean elevator is needed. However, a large amount of cost and labor of a worker, thus, it is desired to transport the object to be transported at low cost and with a simple procedure while maintaining a high cleanness of the object to be transported.
Thereupon, the present inventor has earnestly studied the problem described above and, as a result, found out that by using a material including a dust-free cloth having dust-proof property and damp-proof property as a packaging member for packaging the object to be transported, being the FOUP or the FOSB, the object to be transported can be transported between the clean rooms at low cost and with a simple procedure while maintaining the high cleanness of the object to be transported, thereby completing the present invention.
That is, the present invention is a packaging member for packaging an object to be transported between the clean rooms, the packaging member being used for packaging the object to be transported, being the FOUP or the FOSB, when transport thereof between the clean rooms each having a clean atmosphere of a semiconductor factory, wherein
In addition, the present invention is a method for packaging an object to be transported between clean rooms, the object to be transported, being a FOUP or a FOSB when transport thereof between clean rooms each having a clean atmosphere of a semiconductor factory, wherein
Moreover, the present invention is a method for transporting an object to be transported between clean rooms each having a clean atmosphere of a semiconductor factory, wherein
Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings in detail. However, the present invention is not limited thereto.
To begin with, referring to
In
The inventive packaging member 1 includes the dust-free cloth with dust-proof and damp-proof properties. The packaging member 1, shown in
When a person works in a clean room, the worker wears dust-free working clothes made of the dust-free cloth that minimize dust generation. Further, the sweat produced by the worker contains sodium chloride and magnesium chloride, and the dust-free cloth used for the dust-free work clothes is the dust-proof cloth having been subjected to damp-proof process so as to prevent both moisture permeation and moisture absorption, thus, the sweat is not released to the outside of the dust-free work clothes as water vapor. For example, in the dust-free work clothes, the damp-proof material for preventing moisture absorption and moisture permeation is coated or laminated on the inner side of the dust-proof work clothes. By these functions, even if the person works in the clean room, the dust generation of particles and metal impurities can be suppressed to a minimum degree.
When an object to be transported 3, being the FOUP or the FOSB, is transported between the clean rooms that are in clean atmospheres of a semiconductor factory, by using an inventive packaging member 1 (cover) made of the dust-free cloth used in the dust-free work clothes as the packaging member (cover) for protecting the object to be transported 3 from dust generation, metallic contaminant dust or moisture, the object to be transported 3, being the FOUP or the FOSB, can be transported between the clean rooms while maintaining high cleanness of the object to be transported 3.
As the dust-free cloth, for example, the cloth obtained by processing polyester fibers, polyamide fibers, polyolefin fibers, or polyacrylic fibers can be used. Furthermore, by mixing a fiber containing a material having an antistatic effect with these fibers, the whole packaging member 1 (cover) can be prevented from being electrostatically charged, the adhesion of dust due to electrostatic charge can be prevented.
The locking member 2 for opening and closing the packaging member 1 (cover) is not particularly limited, but a fastener can prevent adhesive strength from decreasing and is excellent in sealing performance and dust-proof property, and thus can be used more suitably than an adhesive tape and a MAGICTAPE (registered trademark). A resin-made fastener is the most suitable from the viewpoint of metal contamination in a semiconductor manufacturing process.
Then, an example of an inventive method for packaging and an example of an inventive method for transporting are described, respectively, with reference to
As shown in
Conventionally, before shipping from the clean room A, the FOSB is wrapped one by one in a resin bag (FOSB wrapping step), mounted on a transport cart, and transported to the clean room B. Then, the resin bag is torn when the FOSB is put into the clean room B, and the FOSB is taken out and put into the clean room B (FOSB-wrapping removing step). This flowchart is shown in
On the other hand, in an example of the inventive method for packaging, shown in
The means for transporting using the packaging member (cover) is not particularly limited, but the FOSB 3 can be transported between the clean rooms by using a transport cart 4 attached with the packaging member (cover), as shown in
According to the inventive method for packaging and the inventive method for transporting as described above, the FOSB 3 is packaged with the packaging member 1, including the dust-free cloth having dust-proof property and damp-proof property, and the thus-packaged FOSB 3 is transported between the clean rooms. Consequently, the FOSB 3 can be transported between the clean rooms A and B while maintaining high cleanness even without using a work area or a costly facility such as a costly clean tunnel or clean elevator.
In addition, the inventive packaging member 1 made of the dust-free cloth is cleanable and can be repeatedly used by cleaning when contaminated with dust. In other words, there is no need to throw away the packaging member 1 after a single use, and the FOSB 3 can be transported at low costs by saving the cost and labor of the worker required for conventional disposal.
Furthermore, one FOSB 3 is mounted on the transport cart 4 in
The FOSB 3 transported to the clean room B is transported to the shipping organizing step described above in this clean room and then transported to the wrapping step for shipping and the shipping step sequentially.
The wrapping step for shipping is the step in which attaching a FOSB accessory part, labeling, and wrapping are performed on the FOSB 3 organized in the previous shipping organizing step based on the customer wrapping specifications, and finally, such as the number and position of the label, and the state of wrapping, for example, single layer or dual layers, material, and the like are confirmed and inspected.
The shipping step is a step of packaging the FOSB 3 which has been wrapped and inspected in the wrapping step for shipping on the basis of a package form (such as corrugated cardboard, a container, and the number of packaged FOSB) and on the basis of a customer shipping specification, and the packaged FOSB 3 is transferred to a truck, and then the FOSB 3 is shipped with wafers therein.
Hereinafter, the present invention will be specifically described with reference to Example and Comparative Example. However, the present invention is not limited thereto.
Steps proceeded based on a flowchart in
The FOSB, which was cleaned in a FOBS cleaning step, assembled in a FOBS assembling step, and inspected in a FOBS inspecting step according to the flowchart in
The FOSB was mounted on a transport cart (like a transport cart 5 without packaging member shown in
Then, a transport cart 4 with the packaging member (cover) as shown in
After a transfer was finished, the fastener 2 of the transport cart 4 with the packaging member (cover) was closed, the transport cart 4 with the packaging member (cover) was moved away from the vicinity of the doors 21 and 22 on the cushion room side of the first air shower room 40 to around the center of the cushion room 20.
Then, the released doors 21 and 22 on the cushion room 20 side of the first air shower room 40 were closed. In the first air shower room 40, only the clean room transport cart 5 which had finished the transfer was present. On closing of the doors 21 and 22, the air shower was operated, and the air in the first air shower room 40 was replaced with the air of the same cleanness as in the clean room A 10.
After the air shower operation was finished, the doors 11 and 12 on the clean room side of the first air shower room 40 were opened, then the clean room transport cart 5 was moved from the first air shower room 40 into the clean room A 10, and then the doors 11 and 12 on the clean room side of the first air shower room 40 were closed.
Consequently, a transfer operation of the FOSB into the transport cart 4 with the packaging member (cover) was finished. In the cushion room 20, the transport cart 4 with the packaging member (cover) in which the FOSB 3 was mounted and housed was present, as shown in
Next, the transport cart 4 with the packaging member (cover), in which the FOSB 3 was mounted and housed, was moved to the second air shower room 50 and the general working room 30 in the reverse order.
Transportation was performed from the general working room 30, via a corridor, to a general working room connected with a clean room B, where the shipping organizing step was to be performed, and with a cushion room. In Example, the clean room B, the general working room and the cushion room, which are connected with the clean room B, have an identical arrangement as shown in
A clean room transport cart being empty (similar to the transport cart 5 without packaging member in
Next, in order to transport the FOSB from the clean room A, in state of doors 31 and 32 on the general working room 30 side of a second air shower room 50 on the clean room B side being opened, the transport cart 4 with the packaging member (cover), in which the FOSB 3 from the clean room A was mounted and housed, was moved through the doors 31 and 32 to the general working room side to the second air shower room 50. On closing of the door 31 and the door 32 on the general working room side were, an air shower in the second air shower room 50 was operated. On finishing of the air shower operation, doors 23 and 24 on the cushion room side of the second air shower room 50 were opened. Then, the transport cart 4 with the packaging member (cover) was moved from the second air shower room 50 to the cushion room 20. On finishing of the movement, the doors 23 and 24 on the cushion room side of the second air shower room 50 were closed.
Then, the doors 21 and 22 on the cushion room 20 side of the first air shower room 40 were opened from the cushion room 20 side. The transport cart 4 with the packaging member (cover), which have been moved to the cushion room 20, was brought alongside and in close contact with an opened part of the doors 21 and 22 on the cushion room side of the first air shower room 40 as shown
Then, the released doors 21 and 22 on the cushion room 20 side of the first air shower room 40 were closed. In the first air shower room 40, only the clean room transport cart 5, which completed the transfer, was present. On closing of the doors 21 and 22, the air shower was operated, and the air in the first air shower room 40 was replaced with an air of the same cleanness as that of the clean room B 10.
After the air shower operation was finished, the doors 11 and 12 on the clean room side of the first air shower room 40 were opened, the clean room transport cart 5 was moved from the first air shower room 40 into the clean room B 10, and then the doors 11 and 12 on the clean room side of the first air shower room 40 were closed.
Consequently, the transfer operation of the FOSB 3 to the clean room transport cart 5 had finished. In the cushion room 20, there was the transport cart 4 with the packaging member (cover) being empty after transferring the FOSB. This transport cart 4 with the packaging member (cover) was moved to the clean room A to transport a FOSB again.
The processes were progressed according to the flowchart shown in
Based on the transport methods of Example and Comparative Example described above, 25 polished wafers having 300 mmϕ were provided for transport evaluation, and then an average number of particles having 46 nm size or larger per wafer was calculated using a particle counter S2 manufactured by KLA Corporation, and then the difference in the number of particles before and after transport was normalized and compared between Example and Comparative Example.
The above results indicate that, in Example in which packaging and transporting were performed by using the inventive packaging member, the FOSB was able to be transported with the same high cleanness as in the Comparative Example that was a conventional method for packaging and transporting even if no additional high cleanness space was provided to connect the clean rooms A and B. In the Comparative Example, the FOSB was transported using a double polyethylene bag, and after the transport, the bag needed to be removed by tearing and discarded, thus more costly than Example.
Moreover, the packaging and transporting were performed in the same way as in the above Example, except that the object to be transported was the FOUP instead of the FOSB. As a result, even if the object to be transported was the FOUP, the FOUP was able to be transported with high cleanness by using the inventive packaging member for packaging and transporting.
These facts indicate that the packaging and transporting of the FOUP or the FOSB using the inventive packaging member enable the FOUP or the FOSB to be transported between the clean rooms at ease and low cost while the high cleanness of the FOUP or the FOSB is maintained.
It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments. The embodiments are just examples, and any examples that have substantially the same feature and demonstrate the same functions and effects as those in the technical concept disclosed in claims of the present invention are included in the technical scope of the present invention.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-115692 | Jul 2021 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2022/021480 | 5/26/2022 | WO |
