JP2002009142A - Substrate storing container - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a substrate storing container which does not cause abrasion between a substrate and a supporting part and thus the substrate is not contaminated when the substrate is conveyed in a state that it is stored in a container main body and an opening part is closed with a cover body. SOLUTION: This substrate storing container has the container main body that has an opening part and where the substrate supporting part which supports one or more substrates horizontally is provided on an inner wall facing each other, and the cover body by which the opening part is closed so as to be sealed and whose inside is equipped with a retainer 50 abutting to the end face of the substrate. When having closed the opening part of the container main body with the cover body, the container is constituted so that a center location Ob in a height direction of each abutting groove abutting to the end face of the substrate of the retainer 50 is located above a center location Oa in a height direction of each of substrates located on the substrate supporting part 27 of the container main body, and thus, when having stored the substrate W, it is held in a state that one part of the substrate floats from the substrate supporting part 27.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention accommodates a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter abbreviated as "wafer"), a mask glass, a liquid crystal cell, or a recording medium, transports the substrate, and processes and processes the substrate. The present invention relates to a substrate storage container used for positioning with respect to a processing device and transporting and / or storing between processing devices, and more particularly to a structure for holding a substrate by a retainer of the substrate storage container.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Substrates such as wafers and mask glass involved in the manufacture of semiconductors have been increased in diameter (for example, 300 mm or less) for the purpose of cost reduction by improving the yield of the substrates due to severe price competition for semiconductor devices. 40
0 mm or more) at a rapid pace. At the same time, semiconductor circuits are being miniaturized more and more,
AM design rule (minimum processing line width) is 0.25μm
From 0.18 μm to a factory where processing of substrates is performed, as well as containers used for transporting the substrates, are required to be more and more clean. The substrate processing apparatus is provided in a local environment (mini-environment) that is isolated from the outside world. The local environment is used to perform various processes for producing electronic circuit wiring on the substrate with high yield. It needs to be highly clean (Federal standard)
209E) has a cleanness of 1 or less, and 0.0 if necessary.
1 level). However, maintaining the entire semiconductor production plant in such a highly clean environment, along with technical difficulties, was predicted to require enormous investment.

[0003] Therefore, a method is adopted in which only a local area required for processing a substrate is set to a highly clean environment, and the substrate is conveyed between several clean environments thus formed by storing the substrate in a sealed substrate container. Has been proposed. Further, development of a substrate storage container that can be automatically transported without contaminating the stored substrate and that can directly access the processing apparatus has been promoted. In recent years, the idea of forming a plurality of such local environments and performing fine processing on the substrate to improve the yield among them has been becoming mainstream in recent years.

For example, as shown in an exploded perspective view of FIG. 10, a substrate storage container 60 used for transporting and storing substrates, or positioning the substrates in a processing apparatus, is a container body for aligning and storing a plurality of substrates. 61, and a lid 63 for sealingly closing the opening 62 of the container body 61. A pair of substrate support portions 64 for horizontally supporting the substrate are assembled on the opposing inner walls of the container body 61 to face each other, and the bottom of the container body 61 is used for mounting and positioning on a processing apparatus. A bottom plate 65 having an inverted V-shaped projection 65a (hereinafter, referred to as a V group) and a through hole 65b (hereinafter, referred to as a retaining feature) for fixing a substrate storage container to a processing apparatus is attached.

A sealing gasket 66 is interposed between the container body 61 and the lid 63, and is used to keep the substrate storage container 60 in a sealed state. Further, the opening 63 of the container body 61 is sealably closed on the lid 63 by a latch mechanism 68 in which a locking claw 67 operable from the outside is included. On the inner surface of the lid 63, a retainer 75 abutting on the end surface of the substrate (see a longitudinal sectional view of FIG. 11)
The retainer 75 includes a frame-shaped base member having a locking portion attachable to the inner surface of the lid 63, and one or more rows extending from a side wall of the base member facing each of the substrates so as to come into contact with each of the substrates. The elastic piece 76 has an inclined surface gradually expanding toward the opposing substrate, and a contact groove 77 for abutting the substrate at the tip of the elastic piece.
Are formed.

[0006] The processing equipment in the local environment includes:
The substrate storage container 60 as described above, which is conveyed from the outside world
And an access unit for loading a substrate stored therein from the substrate storage container 60 into the processing apparatus or unloading the substrate from the processing apparatus to the substrate storage container. The access unit is provided with a substrate storage container, a load port for positioning and connecting to a processing device, and a lid disposed at a position facing the lid 63 of the substrate storage container 60 to open and close the lid. A body opening / closing device is provided.

On the surface of the load port, there are provided a plurality of positioning pins each having a spherical tip, and a fixing member which is inserted into a through hole at the center of the bottom plate of the substrate storage container to fix the retaining feature. . The plurality of positioning pins are brought into contact with a V group arranged at the bottom of the substrate storage container to automatically center the substrate storage container, accurately position the substrate storage container at a predetermined position, and process the substrate storage container using a fixing member. Secure to the device. Thereafter, the positioning unit, which is the mounting portion of the substrate storage container, is moved forward to move the substrate storage container in parallel, and the cover is brought into contact with the cover member of the cover opening / closing device in a sealable manner.

The lid opening / closing device usually has a connection surface which is a wall perpendicular to the substrate mounting surface of the load port, and the connection surface transfers a substrate from a substrate storage container in an external environment into the processing apparatus. Has an opening. Usually, this opening is sealed with a cover member to prevent the inside environment from being contaminated by intrusion of particles floating in the outside world. The cover member has a latch mechanism operating device that positions and holds the lid of the substrate storage container and unlocks and locks the latch mechanism housed inside the lid.

When processing and processing a substrate in the environment of the mini-environment, first, the positioned substrate storage container is advanced until it comes into contact with a cover member provided in a seal zone at the opening of the load port. The outer periphery of the lid is sealably covered. On the inner surface of the cover member, a pair of positioning pins called registration pins, and a pair of rotatable operation keys connected to an operation device of a latch mechanism are arranged, and a suction unit for vacuum-sucking the lid. Are provided as appropriate. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 10, the lid 63 has a key groove 69 into which a latch key is inserted, and a pair of circular positioning recesses (not shown, which are generally inclined through a center point of the lid). The center point is arranged symmetrically on the line.).

After the positioning of the front surface of the substrate storage container 60 by the positioning pins is performed, the operation key inserted into the key groove 69 of the lid 63 rotates to release the latch mechanism between the container main body 61 and the lid 63. As a result, the locking claw 67 is disengaged from the locking concave portion 70 provided on the inner periphery of the opening of the container body 61,
The lid 63 is in a removable state. Next, the lid 63
While being held by the cover member, are retracted and lowered together to be separated from the container main body 61, and the opening 6 of the container main body 61 is opened.
2 communicates with the inside of the processing device. At this time, the container body 61
The peripheral edge of the opening 62 is sealed by the sealing area of the lid opening / closing device wall, so that contaminants floating in the external environment do not enter inside. In this way, when the lid 63 is removed and the opening 62 of the container main body 61 communicates with the processing device, the substrate is loaded from the inside of the substrate storage container 60 into the processing device, taken in, and then subjected to various types of processing. You.

[0011]

As described above, the processing of the substrate can be performed in the environment of the mini-environment. However, in the case of the conventional substrate storage container, the substrate is supported on the substrate support portion of the container body. When the opening is closed with the lid, the elastic piece of the retainer attached to the inner surface of the lid abuts against the peripheral end of the substrate and pushes it in.
When the substrate is aligned in the front-rear direction and the substrate is merely held between the stopper and the rear support at the end of the support in a state where the substrate is in surface contact with the support, when transporting the substrate storage container, The substrate is rubbed on the substrate support portion by vibrations during the transfer, and there is a concern that particles such as abrasion powder may be generated.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and is a substrate storage container standardized according to the SEMI standard. The substrate storage container stores a substrate in a container body, closes an opening portion with a lid, and transfers the substrate. It is an object of the present invention to provide a substrate storage container which does not cause wear between a substrate and a support portion and does not contaminate the substrate.

[0013]

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention employs the following means. The substrate storage container according to claim 1, wherein the container main body has an opening, and a substrate supporting portion for horizontally supporting one or a plurality of substrates is provided on opposing inner walls, and the opening is sealably closed. And a lid having a retainer attached to an inner surface thereof, the retainer being in contact with an end face of the substrate, wherein when the opening of the container body is closed by the lid, the retainer contacts the end face of the substrate. The center position in the height direction of each contact groove that contacts
It is configured to be located above the center position in the height direction of each substrate located on the substrate supporting portion of the container body, and when the substrate is stored, a part of the substrate is floated from the substrate supporting portion and held. It is characterized by having.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the retainer includes a frame-shaped base member having a locking portion attachable to the inner surface of the lid and a base so as to contact each of the substrates. Having one or a plurality of rows of elastic pieces extending from the side wall facing the member, and an inclined surface gradually expanding toward the opposing substrate at the tip of the elastic piece;
It is characterized in that a contact groove for contacting the substrate is formed.

That is, a V-shaped contact groove is formed at the end of the elastic piece that contacts the substrate of the retainer, and the center position of the contact groove in the height direction is set to each of the substrates accommodated in the support portion. 0.3 mm to 3 mm higher than the center position in the height direction,
Preferably, the height is increased by 0.5 mm to 2 mm.

In this manner, the retainer is positioned at 0.3 mm to 3 m with respect to the center position in the height direction of the substrate accommodated in the supporting portion.
m, the substrate is lifted and abutted on the V-groove of the retainer when the lid is closed,
Since the generation of abrasion powder due to the rubbing of the substrate on the support portion during the transfer of the substrate storage container can be reduced, there is no risk of contamination of the substrate.

Further, in the substrate storage container according to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the container main body has a rear support for holding the substrate at a position deeper than a terminal end of the substrate supporting portion, and the container main body has a rear support. The substrate is sandwiched between the contacting portion and the rear support, and a part of the substrate is held floating above the substrate supporting portion.

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a side view of a substrate storage container,
FIG. 2 is a rear view of the lid, FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 1, FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. It is sectional drawing by the BB line of No. 3. As shown in FIG. 1, the substrate storage container 10 has a substantially cubic container body 20 having an opening 20a on the front surface, a lid 30 for sealingly closing the opening 20a, a container body 20 and a lid. It has a gasket 40 for closing the body 30 in a sealed state, and a retainer 50 attached to the inner surface of the lid 30 for holding the substrate W. Further, as components for transporting the substrate storage container 10, a robotic flange 21 detachably attached to the top surface of the container body 20, a pair of side rails 22, a pair of manual handles 23, and a pair of A bottom rail 24 and a bottom plate 25 arranged on the lower surface of the container body 20 are provided. The container body 20
It is preferable to provide a window 26 made of a transparent member that allows the substrate to be housed to be checked from the outside on the back surface of the device.

Container body 20 and robotic flange 21
And the side rails 22 and the bottom plate 25 are made of a thermoplastic resin such as polycarbonate, acrylic resin, or PEEK having sufficient rigidity and strength, or an alloying technology of the base resin and the conductive resin using these as a base resin. It is molded from a thermoplastic resin to which antistatic performance is imparted by adding a conductive additive such as carbon fiber or metal fiber. Alternatively, a conductive polymer film may be applied to a thermoplastic resin or coated to impart conductivity.

A plurality of locking recesses for locking the lid 30 are provided on the inner periphery of the opening 20a of the container body 20, and the outer periphery of the opening 20a extends over the entire circumference. Thus, a flange portion 20b is formed. Further, the container body 2
The substrate support portion for separating a plurality of substrates W at a predetermined interval integrally with each of the both side walls of the container body 20 and horizontally storing them as shown in FIG. 27 is formed in a shelf shape. A rear port 28 serving as a stopper for a substrate to be inserted is provided integrally or as a separate component with the container main body 20 at the back side of the substrate support portion 27. It is preferable that a V-shaped or U-shaped inclined surface is provided on a contact surface of the rear support 28 with the substrate.

As shown in FIG. 2, the retainer 50 used in the substrate storage container of the present embodiment has a rectangular frame-like base member 52 and diagonally obliquely from the left and right side walls of the base member in a direction facing the substrate. It comprises a plurality of pairs of elastic pieces 53 extending. The elastic piece 53 has a leaf spring structure in which the width direction branches in a comb shape and is arranged symmetrically. On the outer surface of the base member 52, a locking portion 54 composed of a notch or a projection is provided.
Is formed, and is fitted to a locking portion (not shown) formed of a protruding piece or a notch or the like provided on the back surface of the lid 30 so as to engage with them, and is detachably attached.

The elastic pieces 53 of the retainer 50 are formed so as to extend obliquely from the left and right side walls of the base member 52 toward the substrate. The tip of the elastic piece 53 is the contact groove 5
A V-shaped concave portion 5 is formed, and holds the substrate W with an appropriate bending force so that the substrate W does not move and is contaminated or damaged when the substrate storage container 10 is transported. The contact groove 55 of the elastic piece 53 has an inclined surface for guiding the substrate W, and the cross section of the concave portion is formed in a V or U shape.
The inclined surface is formed as a guiding portion that can be brought into contact with the substrate even when the position of contact with the substrate is displaced due to dimensional variation, bending of the substrate, or the like. As a result, the substrate W placed on the substrate support portion 27 of the container body 20 first comes into contact with the inclined surface, and is gradually guided to and held at the center position of the contact groove 55 as the substrate W is pushed in. In the present embodiment, the case where the tip of the elastic piece has a cantilever structure in which the free end is a free end is shown, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the elastic piece may have a doubly supported structure. It goes without saying that it is good. Such a retainer 50 is made of a polyetheretherketone resin, a polycarbonate resin, a polybutyleneterephthalate resin, a polyetherimide (PE
I), various thermoplastic elastomers (TPO, TPEE
Etc.) synthetic resin.

FIG. 4 shows a state in which the substrate W is stored through the opening 20a of the container body 20 of the substrate storage container 10 of the present embodiment.
This shows a state in which the lid 30 is to be attached thereto. In this state, the substrate W is placed horizontally on the substrate support 27 of the container body 20. In addition, a rear support 28 serving as a stopper in the direction in which the substrate W is stored is formed in a portion on the back side when viewed from the opening 20a of the container body 20. The rear support 28 may be formed integrally with the container body 20 as shown in FIG.
May be formed as a separate component, and may be installed on the back side of the opening 20a so as to face the retainer 50. Like the retainer 50, the rear support 28 is formed of various thermoplastic elastomers such as polyester and polyolefin, and thermoplastic resins such as polyethylene and polypropylene. Preferably, it is desirable that the retainer 50 be made of a shape and a material that have a smaller elastic deformation than the retainer 50. Further, the contact surface of the rear support 28 with the substrate W can be formed in a vertical plane or an inclined plane, but preferably has a V-shaped or U-shaped cross section.

FIG. 5 shows a state in which the opening 20 a of the container body 20 is closed by the lid 30, and the substrate W stored at this time is inclined by the V-shaped contact groove 55 of the retainer 50. When the cover 30 is locked to the main container pair 20, the substrate W is lifted and supported at one end by the contact groove 55 of the retainer 50. Since the end is held by the rear support 28, the substrate W rises from the substrate support 27 and is supported so as not to make surface contact with the substrate support 27. In order to explain this state more clearly, the substrate W
6 and 7 are schematic enlarged views of the contact groove 55 of the retainer 50 and the substrate support 27. These figures show a state in which the contact groove 55 of the retainer 50 lifts one end of the substrate W from the substrate support 27 and holds it.

As shown in FIG. 6, each center line (center position) Ob in the height direction of the contact groove 55 of the retainer 50 is mounted on the substrate supporting portion 27 of the container body 20 and opposed to the retainer 50. H = 0.3 mm with respect to the center line (center position) Oa in the height direction on the supporting portion of the substrate W
It is mounted so as to be located ３3 mm above. Preferably, it is set to 0.5 mm to 2 mm. As described above, since the center position in the height direction of the contact groove 55 of the retainer 50 is positioned higher than the center position of the substrate W on the substrate support portion 27 of the container body 20, the lid 30 is When transporting the mounting substrate storage container 10 to the main body 20,
Since the inclined surface of the contact groove 55 of the retainer 50 gradually lifts the substrate W and holds it at the center of the contact groove 55, a part of the back surface of the substrate W is transferred to the substrate supporting portion when the substrate container 10 is transported. , And the contact area is reduced, so that there is almost no friction between the substrate and the substrate support portion 27, the generation of abrasion powder can be significantly reduced, and the contamination of the substrate can be prevented.

FIGS. 8 and 9 show another embodiment of the substrate storage container according to the present invention. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the substrate storage container 10 ', and FIG. 9 is a front view of the container main body 20'. Here, the substrate supporting portion 27 ′ of the substrate W is formed as a separate member, attached to the container body 20, and a pair of rear supports 28 ′ are attached to the container body 20 so as to face the retainer 50 attached to the inner surface of the lid 30. It is attached so that it does. Also in this case, the same effect can be obtained because the substrate W can be lifted from the substrate support portion 27 'and held between the rear support 28' by the retainer 50 as in the above-described embodiment.

In any case, a sealing gasket 40 is attached to the entire side surface of the lid 30. The gasket 40 is formed of various thermoplastic elastomers, fluorine rubber, EPDM, EPM, NBR, IR, and the like. The raw material of the gasket 40 is appropriately selected according to the shape and hardness in view of the sealing performance, and most preferably, the main material is a fluororubber which generates a small amount of gas upon heating. In addition, the lid 30 has a built-in latch mechanism similar to that shown in the conventional example, but is not limited to this, and a locking hook member provided on the outer surface of the lid 30 or the container body 20 may be used. It may be a structure that is locked by using a locking member provided on the lid.

[0028]

As described above, according to the substrate storage container of the present invention, the center height of the V-groove in contact with the substrate of the retainer attached to the lid is set on the substrate supporting portion of the container body. The mounting height is set so that it is higher than the board, so when lifting the board, one end of the board is pushed inward while holding it, so that it can be transported or stored in the board storage container. Occasionally, there is almost no friction between the substrate and the substrate support portion surface, and the generation of abrasion powder can be prevented, so that the substrate is not contaminated. In addition, even when the substrate storage container is transported, a part of the substrate is supported by being lifted from the substrate support portion by the retainer and the rear support, so that contamination due to rubbing of the substrate is reduced as compared with a case where the substrate is supported by surface contact. Can be.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded side view of an embodiment of a substrate storage container according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a rear view of the embodiment of the lid to which the retainer is attached.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the substrate storage container shown in FIG. 1, taken along line AA.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB of the substrate storage container shown in FIG. 3 in a state where a lid is removed.

5 is a cross-sectional view of the substrate storage container shown in FIG. 3 along a line BB in a state where a lid is attached.

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a positional relationship between a retainer and a substrate support of a container body.

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a state in which a substrate is supported by a retainer.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing another embodiment of the substrate storage container according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a front view of another embodiment of the substrate storage container according to the present invention, as viewed from an opening direction.

FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view of a conventional substrate storage container.

FIG. 11 is a longitudinal sectional view of a conventional substrate storage container.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Substrate storage container 20 Container main body 20a Opening 21 Robotic flange 22 Side rail 24 Bottom rail 25 Bottom plate 26 Window 27 Substrate support 28 Rear support member 30 Cover 40 Gasket 50 Retainer 52 Base member 53 Elastic piece 54 Lock Part 55 Contact groove (V groove) W Substrate Oa Center line of substrate Ob Center line of contact groove h Difference in height between Oa and Ob

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A container body having an opening and provided with a substrate supporting portion for horizontally supporting one or a plurality of substrates on opposing inner walls, and the opening is closed so as to be sealable, and an inner surface thereof. A lid having a retainer attached to the end face of the substrate, the lid being configured to close the opening of the container body with the lid, the lid being in contact with the end face of the substrate. The center position in the height direction of the contact groove is configured to be located higher than the center position in the height direction of each substrate positioned on the substrate support portion of the container main body. A substrate storage container characterized in that a part is floated and held from a substrate support part. 2. The retainer has a base member having a locking portion attachable to the inner surface of the lid, and one or a plurality of rows of elastic pieces extending from a side wall facing the base member so as to contact each of the substrates. 2. The substrate storage container according to claim 1, wherein an inclined surface that gradually widens toward the opposing substrate and a contact groove that contacts the substrate are formed at a tip end of the elastic piece. 3. The container body has a rear support for holding the substrate at a position deeper than the end of the substrate support, and holds the substrate between a portion of the retainer that contacts the substrate and the rear support. 2. The substrate storage container according to claim 1, wherein a part of the substrate is held floating from the substrate supporting portion.