Patent Application
20070295638
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to the drawings.
Each of back sides of right and left side plates 4, 5 in the container body 2 is formed with a plurality of wafer supporting grooves 6, which retains the semiconductor wafer 33. Each of the wafer supporting grooves 6 extends parallel to each other from the opening portion 2a of the container body 2 to a back plate 35 positioned in the back side of the container body 2.
A lower plane 6a, which locates on the downside in a pair of side planes facing each other in the width direction of each of the wafer supporting grooves 6, is formed with a protrusion portion 36, which projects in each of the wafer supporting grooves 6 from the lower plane as shown in
The back plate 35 of the container body 2 is provided with a retaining member 37 which supports each of the wafers 33 contained in the container body 2. The retaining member 37 is integrally formed with the back plate 35 of the container body 2 in the example shown in the figures, and sandwiches the wafer 33 in combination with the after-mentioned wafer retainer 7. As just described, if the wafer 33 is horizontally retained by the protrusion portions 36, the contact area with the wafer 33 is reduced. Therefore, the wafer 33 is not caught in the container body when storing and removing the wafer 33.
A plurality of retaining grooves 38, which receives each of the wafers 33, is formed in the inner surface of the internal side of the container body 2 of the retaining member 37. Each of the retaining grooves 38 extends parallel to each other in the light and left direction of the container body 2, and is formed such that each of the wafer supporting grooves 6 corresponding to each of the retaining grooves 38 is located in the extended line of each of the retaining grooves 38. Therefore, when the edge portions of both sides of each of the wafers 33 is guided toward the back plate 35 in each of the wafer supporting grooves 6, the back edge portion of each of the wafers 33 is received in each of the retaining grooves 38 of the retaining member 37.
A pair of side planes 38a, 38a facing each other in the width direction of each of the retaining grooves 38 are formed such that an each other's interval is gradually reduced toward the bottom plane 38b of each of the retaining grooves 38. Each of the side planes comprises an inclined surface which inclines toward the central portion of the bottom plane 38b of each of the retaining grooves 38. Each of the bottom planes 38b is positioned lower than the central portion such that each of the wafers 33 easily falls in each of the retaining grooves without being caught, when the position of the container body is changed from longitudinal to lateral, and the container body is opened.
The above mentioned wafer retainer 7 is attached to the underside of the door body 3. Moreover, a gasket 9, which maintains air leakage efficiency of the waver transportable container 1, is attached to the underside of the door body 3.
The wafer retainer 7 comprises a rectangular supporting frame 30 as shown in
The elastic members 31a, 31b, which extend toward one side of the supporting frame 30, are formed in a pair of inner sides 30c, 30c and a pair of long sides 30b, 30b located outside thereof, i.e., the outer sides 30b, 30b, respectively. Each of the elastic members 31a, 31b is integrally formed with the supporting frame 30. Each of the outer sides 30b is provided with a plurality of elastic members 31a in line in the longitudinal direction of each of the outer sides 30b, and each of the inner sides 30c is provided with a plurality of elastic members 31b in line in the longitudinal direction of each of the inner side 30c corresponding to the elastic members 31a of the outer side 30b.
As shown in
In the no-load state of the supporting frame 30 that the upper edge of the semiconductor wafer 33 shown by the virtual line in
The inclined angle θ2 of the rising portion 32d is set to 20-45° in the above no-load state. When the rising portion 32d engages with the semiconductor wafer 33 to apply the downward elastic suppress strength in the figure to the semiconductor wafer 33 by the elastic member 31a by setting the inclined angle θ2 to 20-45°, overall expanse deformation in the direction that a pair of elastic members 31a, 31a get away each other is controlled. Therefore, the elastic force of each of the elastic members 31a, 31a can be effectively used as the downward pushing force in the figure.
Moreover, the horizontal straight portion 32c formed between the rising portion 32d of the leading end portion and the circular arc-shaped curved portion 32b of each of the elastic members 31a includes measurement of 5-20 mm, when the diameter of the semiconductor wafer 33 is about 300 mm. Since the horizontal straight portion 32c is formed between the circular arc-shaped curved portion 32b and the rising portion 32d of the leading end portion, the measurement from the circular arc-shaped curved portion 32b to the leading end portion of the contact portion to the semiconductor wafer 33, i.e., the rising portion 32d is set larger than the conventional measurement. Accordingly, the outer elastic member 31a can be sufficiently elastically deformed by the circular arc-shaped curved portion 32b and the horizontal straight portion 32c. Therefore, a creep phenomenon in the outer elastic member 31a caused by the concentration of stress can be prevented, and appropriate holding power can be maintained.
Furthermore, a plurality of holding grooves 39, which receives the front edge portion of each of the wafers 33 positioned in the opening portion 2a side in a state that the door body 3 is fitted to the opening portion 2a of the container body 2, is formed in the rising portion 32d of the contact portion to the front edge portion of each of the wafers 33. Each of the holding grooves 39 is formed to extend along the front edge portion of each of the wafers 33 and to locate each of the wafer supporting grooves 6 corresponding to each of the holding grooves 39 on each of the extended lines thereof.
A pair of side planes 39a, 39a facing each other in the width direction of each of the holding grooves 39 is formed such that the each other's interval is gradually reduced toward the bottom plane 39b of each of the holding grooves 39. Each of the side planes 39acomprises an inclined plane, which inclines toward the central portion of the bottom plane 39b of each of the holding grooves 39 in the example shown in the figures.
The inner elastic member 31b formed in each of the inner sides 30c, similar to the outer elastic member 31a, includes an inclined portion 34a, which extends from the inner side 30c to one side of the supporting frame 30 at an angle θ1, a circular arc-shaped curved portion 34b, which continues to the inclined portion 34a and curves to the direction approaching each other, and a horizontal straight portion 34c, which extends along the straight line in the direction approaching each other from the leading end of the circular arc-shaped curved portion 34b. The inner elastic member 31b is formed of a substantially J-shape in its entirety. The lower surface of leading end of the horizontal straight portion 34c is provided with a contact portion 34d, which engages with the semiconductor wafer 33. Since the circular arc-shaped curved portion 34b and the horizontal straight portion 34c are formed between the inclined portion 34a and the contact portion 34d of the inner elastic member 31b, each of the inner elastic portions 31b can be sufficiently elastically deformed by the circular arc-shaped curved portion 34b and the horizontal straight portion 34c. Therefore, a creep phenomenon in the inner elastic member 31b caused by the concentration of stress can be prevented, and appropriate holding power can be maintained.
Moreover, a holding groove (not shown) similar to the holding groove formed in the rising portion 32d of each of the outer elastic members 31a is formed in the contact portion 34d of each of the inner elastic members 31b. Each of the side planes of the holding groove comprises an inclined surface similar to each of the outer elastic members 31a.
Furthermore, in the example shown in the figure, the wafer holding strength of each of the outer elastic members 31a is set larger than the wafer holding strength of each of the inner elastic members 31b. More particularly, the ratio of holding strength of the inner elastic member and the outer elastic member is 2:8-1:9.
The wafer retainer 7 is disposed in the lower surface of the door body 3, such that the supporting frame 30 cuts across the opening portion 2a of the container body 2, as shown in
The semiconductor wafer 33 contained in the waver transportable container 1 is provided with an orientation flat or notch for showing a crystal orientation of the wafer 33. The notch or orientation flat is engagable with the contact portion 34d provided in the inner elastic member 31b. The rotation in the circumferential direction of the semiconductor wafer 33 can be prevented by the engagement of the contact portion 34d.
In the waver transportable container 1 according to the present invention, each of the outer elastic members 31a and each of the inner elastic members 31b of the supporting frame 30 to be disposed in the opening portion 2a of the container body 2 engage with the upper edge portion of the semiconductor wafer 33, and the elastic suppress strength toward the back plate 35 of the container body 1 is applied to the semiconductor wafer 33. Therefore, each of the semiconductor wafers 33 is absolutely held in the wafer supporting grooves 6 formed in the inner walls of the container body 1.
In the outer elastic member 31a of the supporting frame 30, which applies the elastic suppress strength to the semiconductor wafer 33, the horizontal straight portion 32c is formed between the circular arc-shaped curved portion 32b continuing to the inclined portion 32a and the rising portion 32d of the leading end portion, and the measurement from the circular arc-shaped curved portion 32b to the leading end portion of the contact portion to the semiconductor wafer 33, i.e., the rising portion 32d is set larger than the conventional measurement. Therefore, conventional large stress is not regionally applied to the circular arc-shaped curved portion 32b even in the pressed state. Accordingly, the outer elastic member 31a does not loose the elasticity by the creep phenomenon even in the long storage within the waver transportable container 1.
In addition, since in the inner elastic member 31b, the circular arc-shaped curved portion 34b and the horizontal straight portion 34c are formed between the inclined portion 34a and the contact portion 34d, and the measurement from the circular arc-shaped curved portion 34b to the leading end portion of the contact portion to the semiconductor wafer 33, i.e., the contact portion 34d is set larger than the conventional measurement, conventional large stress is not regionally applied to the inner elastic portion 31b even in the pressed state of the semiconductor wafer 33. Therefore, even in long storage within the waver transportable container 1, the inner elastic member 31b does not loose the elasticity by the creep phenomenon.
Therefore, according to the waver transportable container 1 of the present invention, the deterioration in the holding power associated with the generation of creep phenomenon of the outer elastic member 31a and the inner elastic member 31b can be prevented, and also the contamination of semiconductor wafer during transport after the long storage caused by the deterioration in the holding power, the miss-catching by the falling of waver transportable container 1 and the damage of semiconductor wafer 33 by the miss-catching can be prevented.
An underside of a bottom plate 11 of the container body 2 is provided with an installation portion (not shown). The container body 2 is absolutely fastened to a predetermined position by mounting the installation portion on a plurality of positioning pins 12 provided in a bottom plate 10. By fastening the container body 2 with the laterally-facing (open front) opening portion 2a of the container body 2, the opening operation of the door body 3, the storage operation of the semiconductor wafer 33 to the container body 2 and the closing operation of the door body 3 can be automatically conducted by means of an automatic machine (not shown).
In
The outside of the side plate 15 is provided with two guide ribs 17, 17 for the positioning of the door body 3 relative to the container body 2, and the other left side plate 14 is also provided with guide ribs (not shown). The guide ribs 17, 17 are disposed to extend such that the leading end portions face the backside, and the both side edges 18, 18 facing each other are formed parallel to each other.
In
A pair of clamp mounting portions 24, each having a channel shape (U-shape) in the front vision, is disposed in the vicinity of the backside of the positioning ribs 22. The opening portions of the clamp mounting portions 24 are disposed to face each other. Those clamp mounting portions 24 are also provided in the outside portion 20 of the left side plate 4.
The clamp mounting portions 24 are for mounting each of clamps 25 shown in
More particularly, the clamp 25 includes the contact portions 27, and the claim 25 and contact portions 27 may be integrally formed as long as they can rotate together without fastening to the supporting shaft 26 as shown in the embodiment.
In addition, as a material such as the container body 2, door body 3 and clamp 25, PC (polycarbonate) is used, but PBT (polybutylene terephthalate) and PEEK (polyether ether ketone) may be used.
The supporting shaft 26 is rotatably mounted on the clamp mounting portions 24 as described in
More particularly, the guide ribs 17 have contact with the contact portions 27 to press and rotate the contact portions 27. Thereby, the clamp 25 integrated with the contact portions 27 rotates in the locking direction.
The supporting shaft 26 is rotatably supported by fitting the clamp supporting shaft 26 to the holding concave portion 28. In order to mount the supporting shaft 26 to the clamp mounting portions 24, the supporting shaft 26 can be easily detachably mounted by simply dropping and pushing the supporting shaft 26 from the front sides of the up and down clamp mounting portions 24.
The clamping operation of the door body 3 to the container body 2 can be easily conducted as described later by the rotatable clamp 25.
Next, it will be explained about the operation of opening and closing mechanism of the door body of the waver transportable container as constructed above. At first, the installation (closing) operation of the door body 3 to the container body 2 will be described.
In
More particularly, the movement in the lateral direction (X direction) and the movement in the longitudinal direction (Z direction) with respect to the opening portion 2a of the container body 2 is previously controlled by the positioning ribs 22 and the outside portions 20, 21, so the door body 3 can be easily installed to the container body 2 in a prescribed position without specifically considering the position of the door body 3.
Since the door body 3 can be easily installed to the container body 2 in an appropriate position, the wafer retainer 7 of the door body 3 can be absolutely and easily attached to the semiconductor wafer 33 of prescribed position within the container body 2. The miss-operation in the matching of the wafer retainer 7 and the semiconductor wafer 33, which has been conventionally dependent on sense of a worker, the miss-catching relative to the semiconductor wafer 33 caused by the miss-operation can be certainly prevented.
In other word, the clamp 25 integrated with the contact portions 27 is automatically rotated in the locking direction of the state shown in
If the door body 3 is completely closed to the container body 2 as shown in
Since the clamping and clamp releasing operation to the locking portions 16 is performed by the rotating operation of the clamp 25, and a component, which causes elastic deformation to a locking tool of the container body 2 and the door body 3 as used in the conventional waver transportable container, is not used, the clamping of the door body 3 can be easily conducted by the clamp 25.
Moreover, when fitting the door body 3 to the opening portion 2a of the container body 2, as shown in
The above described closing method of the door body opening and closing mechanism has three advantages.
The first advantage is that the positioning of the door body 3 and the container body 2 and the rotation operation in the locking direction of the clamp 25 can be simultaneously conducted when closing the door body 3 to the container body 2. The second advantage is that the contact position of the wafer retainer 7 and the semiconductor wafer 33 is automatically decided. The third advantage is that the clamp 25 is installed to the case body 2 without deforming, so the installation operation of the door body 3 can be easily performed.
Next, it will be explained about the operation for removing (opening) the door body 3 from the container body 2.
When the door body 3 is removed from the container body 2, the clamp 25 is rotated to the outside of the container body 2 (in the releasing direction) while removing the clamp 25 from the locking portions 16 by hand operation. In this case, if the clamp 25 starts rotating, the guide ribs 17, which have contact with the contact portions 27 of the clamp 25, is pushed forward, and the door body 3 uniformly comes up (separate) from the container body 2. Therefore, the door body 3 can be easily removed from the container body 2.
In the state that the door body 3 is removed from the container body 2, each of the wafers 33 is moved downward by the front edge portion dislodged from each of the retaining grooves 39 of the wafer retainer 7. In this case, since the lower plane 6a of each of the wafer supporting grooves 6 is provided with the protrusion portion 36, as described above, each of the both side edge portions of each of the wafers 33 has contact with the protrusion portion 36, and supported by the protrusion portion. Thereby, each of the wafers 33 is supported by the protrusion portions 36 and the retaining member 37 in the both side edge portions and the back edge portion, in the opened state of the container body 2. Accordingly, the major part of each of the wafers 33 is housed in the container body without having contact with the constructional elements of the waver transportable container.
The above opening method of the lid opening and closing mechanism has two advantages. The first advantage is that the holding of the door body 3 is not required because the relative position of the door body 3 and the container body 2 is decided by the guide ribs 17 of the door body 3 and the positioning ribs 22 of the container body 2, when each of the clamps 25 is removed from the locking portions 16 of the container body 2. The second advantage is that the excessive contact of the semiconductor wafer 33 and the wafer retainer 7 and the negative effect by the excessive contact can be avoidable because the door body 3 uniformly comes up from the container body 2.
In addition, the locking and releasing operation of each of the clamps 25 relative to the locking members 16 can be conducted with small operation force, so the door body opening and closing mechanism can be easily applied to an automatic machine which automatically conducts the attachment and removal of the door body 3 to the container body 2. Each of the clamps 25 rotatably provided in the container body 2 can be easily mounted on the clamp mounting portions 24 without separately disposing a special shaft bearing and the like.
According to the present invention, as described above, the waver transportable container 1 comprises the container body 2, which is capable of storing a plurality of wafers 33 and has one end the opening portion 2a, and the door body 3 capable of fitting to the opening portion 2a of the container body 2 in a detachable manner. In the waver transportable container 1, the guide ribs 17 for positioning are provided in the outside portion 14, 15 of the door body 3, and the positioning ribs 22, which engage with the guide ribs 17 to position the door body 3, are provided in the outside portions 20, 21 of the container body 2, so if the door body 3 is fitted to the container body 2 so as to install the door body 3 to the container body 2, the movement of the guide ribs 17 of the door body 3 is controlled by the positioning ribs 22 of the side planes of the container body 2 to be fitted while being positioned.
Accordingly, the door body 3 can be easily closed in a state that the relative position of the longitudinal direction and lateral direction with respect to the opening portion 2a of the container body 2 is decided. Therefore, the wafer retainer 7 can be easily attached to the wafer 33 of prescribed position in the container body 2 after the door body 3 is closed, and the working efficiency of the opening and closing of the door body can be improved.
Moreover, as described above, since the clamp mounting portions are provided in the outside portions 20, 21 of the container body 2, and the rotatable clamps 25, which are locked and are released to the locking portions 16 provided in the door body 3, are attached to the clamp mounting portions 24 in a detachable manner and a rotatable manner, the clamps 25 can be easily attached to the container body 2 in a rotatable manner and also the elastic deformation of the clamps 25 is not required when clamping the door body 3 to the container body 2 by means of the rotatable clamps 25. Accordingly, the camping of the door body 3 can be easily conducted.
Furthermore, as described above, the clamp 25 includes the contact portions 27, which the guide ribs 17 are contactable and rotate together with the clamp, and the clamp is provided such that the clamp is locked to the locking portions 16 by pressing and rotating the contact portions 27 with the guide ribs 17 in conjunction with the operation for closing the door body 3 to the container body 2, and the door body 3 is uniformly separated from the container body 2 by pushing out the guide ribs 17 with the contact portions 27, in conjunction with the operation for removing the clamp from the locking portions 16 for opening the door body 3, so if the door body is fitted to the container body 2 to install the door body 3 to the container body 2, the guide ribs 17 push and rotate the contact portions 27 of the clamp 25. Therefore, the clamp 25 integrated with the contact portions 27 can automatically clamp the door body 3 by rotating in the direction clamping the door body 3 in conjugation with the closing operation of the door body 3, and also the door body 3 can be easily removed.
More particularly, by closing the door body 3, the clamping operation, which clamps the door body, can be conducted in conjugation with the closing operation without being conducted by a worker, and also since each of the clamps 25 is rotatable, the clamping of the door body 3 by the clamps 25 can be performed with a small operation force without elastically deforming the clamp.
In addition, the outer elastic member 31a is formed of a substantially J-shape in its entire, having the curved portion 32b, the horizontal straight portion 32c continued to the curved portion and the leading end portion 32d, which extends inward and upward from the leading end of the straight portion, so the distance from the curved portion 32b of the elastic member 31a to the leading end portion of the contact portion 32d to the semiconductor wafer 33 can be set larger than the conventional distance. Thereby, the outer elastic member 31a can easily bend, so the conventional large stress applied to the outer elastic member can be prevented. Accordingly, the generation of creep phenomenon caused by the large stress of the outer elastic member 31a can be prevented, and the deterioration in the holding power by the creep phenomenon of the outer elastic member 31a can be prevented. Therefore, the contamination of semiconductor wafer by the deterioration in the holding power, the miss-catching of the semiconductor wafer and the damage of the semiconductor wafer by the miss-catching can be prevented.
Further, since the inner elastic member 31b is formed of J-shape including the horizontal straight portion 34c, similar to the elastic member 31a disposed outside, the distance from the base portion to the wafer contact portion 34d can be set larger than the conventional distance. Accordingly, the inner elastic member 31b can easily bend, so the generation of creep phenomenon by the large stress of the inner elastic member 31b can be prevented. Therefore, the deterioration in the holding power by the creep phenomenon of the inner elastic member 31b can be prevented. Consequently, the miss-catching and the damage of the semiconductor wafer 33 by the miss-catching can be absolutely prevented.
A plurality of wafer supporting grooves 6, which holds each of the wafers, is formed in the inner plane of each of the right and left side plates of the container body 2, and a plurality of retaining grooves 38, which receives the back edge portion of the wafer is formed in the retaining member 37 provided in the back plate 35 of the container body 2 corresponding to each of the wafer supporting grooves 6, and the protrusion portion 36 which projects in each of the wafer supporting grooves 6 is formed in the side plane of at least the lower side of each of the wafer supporting grooves 6, so in the state that the opening portion 2a is opened without fitting the door body 3 to the opening portion 2a of the container body 2, the wafer contained in the container body 2 is supported by the retaining groove 38 of the retaining member 37 in the back end portion thereof, and the both end portions of the wafer are supported by the protrusion portions 36 of the wafer supporting grooves 6. Therefore, in the container body 2 opened state, each of the wafers can be stored in the container body 2 such that the major portion of each of the wafers 33 does not have contact with the constructional element of the waver transportable container 1.
Furthermore, since a plurality of holding grooves, which receives the front edge portion of the wafer 33 in the state that the door body 3 is fitted to the opening portion 2a of the container body 2, is formed in the wafer retainer 7 provided in the door body 3, and a pair of side planes facing each other in the width direction of each of the holding grooves 39 and the retaining grooves 38 are inclined toward the central portion in the width direction of each of the holding grooves 39 and the retaining grooves 38, the front edge portion and back edge portion of the wafer 33 is guided to each of the side planes toward the central portion of the holding grooves 39 and the retaining grooves 38, when being inserted into each of the holding grooves 39 and the retaining grooves 38 in case that the door body 3 is fitted to the opening portion 2a of the container body 2. Therefore, in the closed state that the door body 3 is fitted to the opening portion 2a of the container body 2, each of the wafers 33 is sandwiched between the wafer retainer 7 and the retaining member 37 in the state separated from each of the side planes of each of the wafer supporting grooves 6, so when each of the wafers 33 is vibrated by the falling of the waver transportable container 1, for example, the damage of each of the wafers by the contact to each of the side planes of each of the wafer supporting grooves 6 caused by the vibration can be absolutely prevented.
In addition, since the retaining member 37 is integrally formed with the container body 2, each of the retaining grooves 38 can be formed continuously with each of the wafer supporting grooves 6, for example, so the consistency of each of the retaining grooves 38 relative to each of the wafer supporting grooves 6 can be certainly improved. Therefore, compared with the case that the retaining member 37 is formed separately from the container body 2, the accuracy of retaining position of each of the wafers 33 can be absolutely improved. If the retaining member 37 is formed separately from the container body 2, the positioning is required such that each of the retaining grooves 38 formed in the retaining member 37 conforms to each of the wafer supporting grooves 38, when incorporating the retaining member 37 to the container body 2. Therefore, the operation of incorporating the retaining member 37 to the container body 2 can be complicated.
Moreover, the magnitude of elastic force of each of the inner elastic members 31b provided in each of the inner two sides of the supporting frame 30 is set smaller than the magnitude of elastic force of each of the outer elastic members 31a provided in each of the outer two sides of the supporting frame, so the efficiency, which absorbs the impact on each of the wafers 33 by each of the elastic members, can be further improved.
In addition, in the above embodiment, the example that the guide ribs 17 are disposed in the side planes of the door body 3 and the positioning ribs 22 and the clamp mounting portions 24 are disposed in the side planes of the container body 2 was explained. However, the positioning ribs 22 and the clamp mounting portions 24 can be disposed in the side planes of the door body 3 and the guide ribs 17 can be disposed in the side planes of the container body 2, so as to obtain the same effect. But, considering the mold construction of the container body 2 and the door body 3 and the usage status of the waver transportable container 1, it is preferable to dispose the guide ribs 17, positioning ribs 22 and clamp mounting portions 24 as described in the above embodiment.
In the above embodiment, the positioning ribs 22 of the container body 2 are positioned between the side edges 18 of the guide ribs 17 of the door body 3, but the positioning ribs 22 can be positioned in the outsides of the guide ribs 17 to guide the guide ribs.
Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the positioning ribs 22 are disposed in the side planes of the container body 2, but an opening portion, notch or the like, which can control the guide ribs for positioning, can be disposed instead of using the positioning ribs 22.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the present invention without departing from the scope or sprit of the invention. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present invention cover modifications and variations provided they fall within the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.
