TWI910824B - Wafer box and its support frame - Google Patents

Abstract

A wafer cassette includes a housing and two support frames. Each support frame includes at least one pillar, multiple support plates, and at least one partition component. The pillar extends along a height direction. The support plates are detachably fitted onto the pillar and arranged along the height direction. The partition component has multiple sleeves detachably fitted onto the pillar, the sleeves separating the support plates so that the support plates are spaced apart from each other. At least one sleeve is installed on the pillar between every two adjacent support plates, and the number of sleeves on the pillar between every two adjacent support plates can be selectively varied. When the support frame is damaged, it is not necessary to replace the entire wafer cassette, and it is not necessary to separately mold and manufacture the entire wafer cassette for robotic arms with different precision requirements, thus saving mold costs and reducing replacement costs.

Description

Wafer box and its support frame

This invention relates to a support frame, and more particularly to a wafer cassette and support frame having an adjustable spacing.

Substrates used in semiconductor manufacturing processes (such as semiconductor crystal wafers, or simply wafers) need to be kept in a highly clean environment. Therefore, wafer cases used for transporting or storing substrates must not only have the function of protecting them from impact and preventing them from being polluted by the outside air, but also have the ability to stably load the substrates.

In today's semiconductor industry, in order to accommodate multiple substrates, multiple support ribs are often provided on the left and right inner walls of the wafer cassette. These support ribs are symmetrically arranged on the left and right inner walls of the casing, respectively, to allow the substrates to be placed in layers.

However, these support ribs and the housing are often integrally molded structures. When the spacing of the support ribs to be used differs from the original, a new wafer cell must be manufactured to meet the requirements, incurring significant mold costs. Furthermore, if one of the support ribs is damaged, the entire wafer cell must be replaced, resulting in high replacement costs. These problems increase the transportation costs of the substrate.

Therefore, one of the objectives of this invention is to provide a support that can overcome at least one of the shortcomings of the prior art.

Therefore, the support frame of the present invention includes at least one support column, a plurality of support plates, and at least one partition component. The support column extends along a height direction. The support plates are detachably fitted onto the support column and arranged along the height direction. The partition component includes a plurality of sleeves detachably fitted onto the support column, the sleeves separating the support plates such that the support plates are spaced apart from each other, and at least one sleeve is installed on the support column between every two adjacent support plates, the number of sleeves on the support column between every two adjacent support plates being selectively variable.

In some embodiments, each of the support plates includes a load-bearing plane and a stop face perpendicularly connected to the load-bearing plane.

In some embodiments, each of the support plates includes a load-bearing plate body and two stop ribs. The load-bearing plate body has two opposite load-bearing planes, and the stop ribs are respectively protruding from the load-bearing planes. Each stop rib has a stop facet that is vertically connected to the corresponding load-bearing plane.

In some embodiments, each of the support pieces is a single component manufactured by a one-piece molding process.

In some embodiments, the support frame includes two spaced-apart pillars and two partition components, each of the support pieces having two spaced-apart through-holes for the pillars to pass through, and the sleeves of each partition component being detachably fitted onto the corresponding pillar.

In some embodiments, the support frame further includes a front retaining assembly and a rear retaining assembly, the front retaining assembly being detachably assembled to one of the supports and the rear retaining assembly being detachably assembled to the other support.

Another objective of this invention is to provide a wafer cassette that overcomes at least one of the shortcomings of the prior art.

Therefore, the present invention provides a wafer cassette suitable for mounting a substrate and comprising a housing and the two supports as described above. The housing includes a bottom wall, a top wall, and two side walls spaced apart from and connecting the bottom wall and the top wall. The supports are disposed between the bottom wall and the top wall and are respectively adjacent to the side walls, and two corresponding support pieces of the supports with the same height in the height direction are used to support the substrate.

In some embodiments, each sidewall has a front connector and a rear connector, and each support also includes a front retaining component detachably assembled to one of the supports and a rear retaining component detachably assembled to the other support. The front retaining component is mounted to the front connector adjacent to the sidewall, and the rear retaining component is mounted to the rear connector adjacent to the sidewall.

In some embodiments, each of the front connectors has at least one locking post and at least one retaining block, and forms at least one retaining groove through the retaining block; each of the rear connectors forms at least one recessed retaining groove; each of the front retaining components has a front rod, at least one front buckle, at least one locking member, and at least one fixing member, the locking member forming a through locking hole; the fixing member has a protruding hook; and each of the rear retaining components has a rear rod, at least one rear buckle, and at least one locking member.

This invention offers the following advantages: By selectively varying the number of sleeves between every two adjacent support plates, an operator can adjust the spacing between two adjacent support plates in each support frame according to the precision of the robotic arm, facilitating the picking and placing of the wafer by robotic arms of varying precision. This eliminates the need to separately mold and manufacture the entire wafer cassette for robotic arms of different precision, saving on mold costs. It also facilitates the immediate replacement of damaged components when a support frame fails, eliminating the need to replace the entire wafer cassette and reducing replacement costs. Based on the above, the wafer cassette reduces the transportation costs of the substrate.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, an embodiment of the wafer cassette 100 of the present invention is shown, which is suitable for mounting multiple substrates 9.

For ease of subsequent explanation, a left-right direction X, a height direction Y perpendicular to the left-right direction X, and a front-back direction Z perpendicular to both the left-right direction X and the height direction Y are defined for the wafer cell 100 of this invention. In Figure 1, the left-right direction X is defined as right (pointed to the right) and left (opposite to the left). The height direction Y is defined as up (pointed to the top) and down (opposite to the bottom). The front-back direction Z is defined as forward (pointed to the front) and backward (opposite to the back).

In this embodiment, the number of substrates 9 shown in the figure is schematically shown as two, but not limited to this.

The wafer pod 100 is a front-opening unified pod (FOUP) and includes a housing 1 and two support frames 2 disposed on the housing 1.

The housing 1 includes a bottom wall 11, a top wall 12 located above and spaced apart from the bottom wall 11, two side walls 13 spaced apart and connecting the bottom wall 11 and the top wall 12, and a rear wall 14 connected to the rear side of the bottom wall 11, the rear side of the top wall 12, and the rear side of the side walls 13. The bottom wall 11, the top wall 12, the side walls 13, and the rear wall 14 together define a receiving space 15, which is adapted to accommodate the substrates 9.

Referring to Figures 3 and 4, one of the side walls 13 is connected between the right side of the bottom wall 11 and the right side of the top wall 12, and the other side wall 13 is connected between the left side of the bottom wall 11 and the left side of the top wall 12. Each side wall 13 has an inner wall surface 131 facing the accommodating space 15, an outer wall surface 132 opposite to the inner wall surface 131, a front connector 133 disposed on the inner wall surface 131 and away from the rear wall 14, and a rear connector 134 disposed on the inner wall surface 131 and adjacent to the rear wall 14. In this embodiment, all components of the shell 1 (the bottom wall 11, the top wall 12, the side walls 13, the rear wall 14, the front connectors 133, the rear connectors 134, etc.) are manufactured in a single piece (e.g., by injection molding, but not limited thereto). In other embodiments, the front connectors 133 and the rear connectors 134 may also be disposed on the inner wall surfaces 131 by means of assembly or ultrasonic welding, etc. Therefore, some or all of the components of the shell 1 may not be manufactured in a single piece, and are not limited to this embodiment.

Each of the sidewalls 13's front connectors 133 has a plurality of forward-protruding, approximately cylindrical retaining posts 135 and a plurality of forward-protruding retaining blocks 136. Each of the front connectors 133 has a plurality of retaining grooves 137 that penetrate the retaining blocks 136 along the left-right direction X. In this embodiment, the number of retaining posts 135 in each front connector 133 is three, and the number of retaining blocks 136 in each front connector 133 is two. The retaining posts 135 are located near the top wall 12, near the bottom wall 11, and at the midpoint between the top wall 12 and the bottom wall 11 along the height direction Y. Each of the retaining blocks 136 is located between two adjacent retaining posts 135.

Each of the rear connectors 134 of the sidewall 13 has a plurality of rearwardly recessed locking grooves 138. In this embodiment, the number of locking grooves 138 in each of the rear connectors 134 is three, for example. The locking grooves 138 are located near the top wall 12, near the bottom wall 11, and at the midpoint between the top wall 12 and the bottom wall 11 along the height direction Y.

Referring to Figures 1, 3, 5 and 6, the supports 2 are disposed between the bottom wall 11 and the top wall 12 and are respectively adjacent to the side walls 13. Each support 2 includes two pillars 21, multiple support plates 22, two partition components 23, a front retaining component 24 and a rear retaining component 25.

The supports 21 are spaced apart from each other along the front-to-back direction Z. Each support 21 extends axially along the height direction Y and has a lower end 211 adjacent to the bottom wall 11, and an upper end 212 adjacent to the top wall 12, and an elongated column portion 213 connecting the lower end 211 and the upper end 212. The lower end 211 and the upper end 212 of each support 21 are each radially recessed to form an annular groove 214.

Referring to Figures 5, 6, 7, and 8, the support plates 22 are detachably fitted onto the supports 21 and arranged along the height direction Y. Each support plate 22 includes a load-bearing body 221 and two stop ribs 222. The load-bearing body 221 has two opposite load-bearing planes 224, and the stop ribs 222 protrude from the load-bearing planes 224 respectively. Each stop rib 222 has a stop facet 225 vertically connected to the corresponding load-bearing plane 224 and a stop protrusion 226. The stop facet 225 has a straight portion 227 and an arcuate portion 228. The straight portion 227 extends along the front-to-back direction Z. The arcuate portion 228 is located behind the straight portion 227. The stop protrusion 226 protrudes from the curved surface 228. Each of the support pieces 22 has two spaced holes 223 through which the supports 21 pass.

Referring to Figures 3, 7, 8, and 9, the support brackets 2 have two corresponding support pieces 22 of the same height in the height direction Y, which are used to support the corresponding substrate 9. The bearing plane 224 is adapted for placing the corresponding substrate 9 to support and carry it. The blocking surfaces 225 of the two corresponding support pieces 22 of the same height are used to block the substrate 9 on the left and right sides of the substrate 9 when it is placed into the receiving space 15 in the front-to-back direction Z, to prevent the substrate 9 from swaying left and right. The blocking protrusions 226 of the two corresponding support pieces 22 of the same height are used to block the substrate 9 when it is placed into the receiving space 15 in the front-to-back direction Z, thereby limiting the movement of the substrate 9 and preventing the substrate 9 from hitting the rear wall 14.

It should be noted that the size and shape of each support piece 22 can be varied to match the different sizes and shapes of the substrate 9 in order to support and block the substrate 9. The size and shape of the support piece 22 are not limited to this embodiment.

Referring to Figures 6, 7, 8, and 9, the load-bearing planes 224 of each support piece 22 are located on opposite sides of the support piece body 221 along the height direction Y. The stop ribs 222 protrude from the load-bearing planes 224, so that both the upper and lower surfaces of each support piece 22 are suitable for supporting and stopping the corresponding substrate 9. In detail, after rotating one of the support pieces 22 of one of the support frames 2 180 degrees about the front-back direction Z, it can be directly inserted into the pillars 21 of another support frame 2, which also has the function of supporting and stopping the corresponding substrate 9. An operator assembling the wafer cassette 100 and placing the substrate 9 does not need to separately categorize the support plates 22 of the support frames 2 into left and right types and then attach them to the corresponding pillars 21. Furthermore, the support plates 22 only need to be manufactured from a single mold and can be used by both left and right support frames 2 simultaneously. This achieves the effect of saving manufacturing and assembly costs.

In this embodiment, each of the support pieces 22 is a single component manufactured by an integral molding method (e.g., injection molding, but not limited thereto) to save on manufacturing and assembly costs.

Referring to Figures 5 and 6, the partition components 23 are respectively disposed on the supports 21 of the support frame 2. Each partition component 23 includes multiple sleeves 231 detachably fitted onto the corresponding support 21. The sleeves 231 separate the support pieces 22, leaving them spaced apart from each other. At least one sleeve 231 is installed on the support 21 between every two adjacent support pieces 22. The number of sleeves 231 on the support 21 between every two adjacent support pieces 22 can be selectively varied.

Referring to Figures 3, 5 and 6, the sleeves 231 separate the support pieces 22 vertically from each other, so that the operator can place the corresponding substrate 9 on the corresponding support piece 22 by means of the vertical spacing of the support pieces 22.

Each of the support frames 2 has its front retaining assembly 24 detachably mounted to one of the support pillars 21. In this embodiment, the front retaining assembly 24 is detachably mounted to the front support pillar 21. The front retaining assembly 24 has a front rod 241, a plurality of front fasteners 242, a plurality of latches 243, and a plurality of fasteners 244. In this embodiment, the number of front fasteners 242 is typically two, the number of latches 243 is typically three, and the number of fasteners 244 is typically two.

Specifically, the front rod 241 is long and extends longitudinally along the height direction Y. Front fasteners 242 are disposed at the upper and lower ends of the front rod 241, protrude rearward, and can respectively engage with the corresponding fastening slots 214 of the support column 21. When the front fasteners 242 of each front retaining assembly 24 are engaged with the corresponding fastening slots 214 of the support column 21, they form a blocking structure at the lower end 211 and upper end 212 of the support column 21, preventing the corresponding support pieces 22 and sleeves 231 from sliding out of the long column portion 213 from the upper end 212 or the lower end 211, thereby achieving the effect of fixing the support pieces 22 and sleeves 231.

Referring to Figures 3, 4, and 6, each of the front retaining components 24 is mounted on the front connector 133 adjacent to the side wall 13. Specifically, the latches 243 of one front retaining component 24 are disposed on the front rod 241 and protrude to the right, while the latches 243 of another front retaining component 24 are disposed on the front rod 241 and protrude to the left. The latches 243 of each front retaining component 24 are disposed between the front fasteners 242 and are respectively adjacent to the top wall 12, adjacent to the bottom wall 11, and located at the midpoint of the front rod 241 in the height direction Y. Each of the latches 243 has a through-hole 245, although in other embodiments the latch 245 may not be through-hole. The latches 245 of the front retaining assembly 24 are respectively inserted into the latches 135 of the corresponding front connector 133.

Each of the front retaining components 24 has its retaining members 244 disposed on the front rod 241 and respectively positioned between two adjacent retaining members 243 and corresponding to the positions of the retaining blocks 136. Each retaining member 244 has a hook 246 protruding away from the center of the receiving space 15 and along the left-right direction X. The position of each hook 246 corresponds to the retaining groove 137 of the corresponding front connector 133, and each hook 246 can engage with the corresponding retaining groove 137.

Referring to Figures 3, 5, and 6, the rear retaining assembly 25 of each support frame 2 is detachably assembled to another pillar 21 of the support frame 2. In this embodiment, the rear retaining assembly 25 is detachably assembled to the rear pillar 21. The rear retaining assembly 25 has a rear rod 251, a plurality of rear fasteners 252, and a plurality of fasteners 253. In this embodiment, the number of the rear fasteners 252 is typically two, and the number of the fasteners 253 is typically three.

Specifically, the rear rod 251 is long and extends along the height direction Y. Rear fasteners 252 are disposed at the upper and lower ends of the rear rod 251, protruding forward and respectively engaging with the corresponding fastening slots 214 of the support column 21. When the rear fasteners 252 of each rear retaining assembly 25 are engaged with the corresponding fastening slots 214 of the support column 21, they form a blocking structure at the lower end 211 and upper end 212 of the support column 21, preventing the corresponding support pieces 22 and sleeves 231 from sliding out of the long column portion 213 from the upper end 212 or the lower end 211, thereby achieving the effect of fixing the support pieces 22 and sleeves 231.

Referring to Figures 3, 4, and 6, each of the rear retaining components 25 is mounted on the rear connector 134 adjacent to the side wall 13. Specifically, the locking fasteners 253 of the rear retaining components 25 are disposed on the rear rod 251 and protrude rearward. The locking fasteners 253 of each rear retaining component 25 are respectively adjacent to the top wall 12, adjacent to the bottom wall 11, and located at the midpoint of the rear rod 251 in the height direction Y. The positions of the locking fasteners 253 of each rear retaining component 25 correspond to the locking slots 138 of the corresponding rear connector 134. Each locking fastener 253 can be locked into the corresponding locking slot 138.

The following describes how each support 2 is detached from the shell 1.

First, the operator moves the fasteners 244 along the left-right direction X toward the center of the receiving space 15 so that the hooks 246 are respectively pulled out from the corresponding fixing slots 137 of the front connector 133.

Next, the operator moves the support frame 2 forward, causing the fasteners 253 to separate from the corresponding locking slots 138 of the rear connector 134, while the locking holes 245 separate from the corresponding locking posts 135 of the front connector 133, the fasteners 243 move away from the corresponding locking posts 135 of the front connector 133, and the fasteners 244 move away from the corresponding retaining blocks 136 of the front connector 133. The operator can then detach the support frame 2 from the housing 1.

The following describes how each of the support frames 2 is assembled into the shell 1.

First, the operator places the locking fasteners 253 into the locking slots 138 of the corresponding rear connector 134, and at the same time, the operator inserts the locking holes 245 into the locking posts 135 of the corresponding front connector 133.

Next, the operator moves the fasteners 244 in the left-right direction X away from the receiving space 15, engaging the hooks 246 into the corresponding fixing slots 137 of the front connector 133. The operator can then assemble the support frame 2 into the housing 1.

Referring to Figures 3, 5 and 6, the following describes how the number of sleeves 231 changes between two adjacent support plates 22 of each support frame 2.

First, the operator removes the front fasteners 242 of the front retaining assembly 24 and the rear fasteners 252 of the rear retaining assembly 25 from the fastening slots 214 of the supports 21.

Next, the operator pulls one of the support plates 22, all the support plates 22 above it, and all the sleeves 231 upwards from the support pillars 21. This step can also be performed by the operator pulling one of the support plates 22, all the support plates 22 below it, and all the sleeves 231 downwards from the support pillars 21.

Next, the operator inserts the required number of sleeves 231 into the supports 21 from above, and places them against the uppermost unremoved sleeve 231. Alternatively, the operator can insert the required number of sleeves 231 into the supports 21 from below, and place them against the lowermost unremoved sleeve 231.

Next, the operator re-inserts the previously removed support plates 22 and sleeves 231 into the support pillars 21 in reverse order of removal. Specifically, each support plate 22 is re-inserted into the support pillar 21 by inserting the perforations 223 of the support plate 22 into the support pillar 21. The aforementioned reverse insertion of the supports 21 means that—originally, the support pieces 22 and the sleeves 231 were pulled upwards; in this step, the support pieces 22 are inserted downwards into the supports 21, and the sleeves 231 are inserted downwards into the supports 21 respectively; originally, the support pieces 22 and the sleeves 231 were pulled downwards; in this step, the support pieces 22 are inserted upwards into the supports 21, and the sleeves 231 are inserted upwards into the supports 21 respectively.

Finally, the operator fastens the front fasteners 242 of the front retaining assembly 24 to the corresponding fastening slots 214 of the support column 21, and at the same time, the operator fastens the rear fasteners 252 of the rear retaining assembly 25 to the corresponding fastening slots 214 of the support column 21. This completes the change in the number of sleeves 231 between two adjacent support pieces 22 of the support frame 2.

The distance between two adjacent support plates 22 can be increased or decreased depending on the number of sleeves 231 inserted between them. Therefore, the number of sleeves 231 fitted onto each support 21 and located between two adjacent support plates 22 can be two, three, or four, etc., and is not limited to the above examples. It should be adjusted according to actual needs. Therefore, any adjustment of the number of sleeves 231 between two adjacent support plates 22 is within the scope of this invention.

Referring to Figures 3, 4, 5 and 6, it should be noted that the protrusions and concavities of the front fasteners 242 of each front retaining component 24 and the corresponding fastening grooves 214 of the support column 21 can be partially or completely interchanged; the protrusions and concavities of the locking holes 245 of the front retaining component 24 and the corresponding locking posts 135 of the front connector 133 can be partially or completely interchanged; and the protrusions and concavities of the hooks 246 of the front retaining component 24 and the corresponding fixing grooves 137 of the front connector 133 can be partially or completely interchanged. The shape, number, and orientation of the front fasteners 242, the latches 243, the latch holes 245, the fasteners 244, and the hooks 246 of each of the front retaining components 24 are not limited to this embodiment. As long as they can respectively match the shape, number, and orientation of the corresponding latching grooves 214 of the support column 21, the corresponding latching posts 135 of the front connector 133, the retaining blocks 136, and the fixing grooves 137 to fix the support column 21 to the housing 1, they are all within the scope of this invention.

Similarly, the shapes of the rear fasteners 252 of each rear retaining component 25 and the corresponding slots 214 of the support column 21 can be partially or completely interchanged, and the shapes of the fasteners 253 of the rear retaining component 25 and the corresponding locking grooves 138 of the rear connector 134 can be partially or completely interchanged. The shape, number, and orientation of the rear fasteners 252 and fasteners 253 of each rear retaining component 25 are not limited to this embodiment. As long as they can respectively match the shape, number, and orientation of the corresponding slots 214 of the support column 21 and the corresponding locking grooves 138 of the rear connector 134 to fix the support column 21 to the housing 1, they are all within the scope of this invention.

Similarly, the shape, number, and orientation of the locking posts 135, the retaining blocks 136, the fixing grooves 137, the locking grooves 138, and the fastening grooves 214 are not limited to this embodiment.

In other embodiments, the elongated portion 213 of each support 21 has an external thread, and each sleeve 231 has an internal thread that can be screwed onto the external thread. This improves the engagement force between the sleeves 231 and the support 21, thereby enhancing the stability of the support pieces 22 in supporting the substrates 9.

Referring to Figure 10, in some embodiments, multiple sleeves 231, for example two, are installed between each pair of adjacent support plates 22. This allows robotic arms (not shown) of varying precision (especially lower precision) to reach between the two adjacent support plates 22 and retrieve the wafer 9, preventing retrieval difficulties due to insufficient spacing between the two adjacent support plates 22. Additionally, another substrate (not shown) with a thickness greater than that of the substrate 9 in the height direction Y can be provided for placement.

In particular, the number of support pieces 22 of the support frame 2 of the wafer cassette 100 can be adjusted according to the number of substrates 9 to be supported, and the distance between each pair of adjacent support pieces 22 can be adjusted according to the precision of the robotic arm, and the distance between each pair of adjacent support pieces 22 can also be adjusted according to the thickness of the substrate 9 to be supported, which increases the flexibility of the wafer cassette 100 in use.

In summary, by selectively varying the number of sleeves 231 between every two adjacent support pieces 22, the operator can adjust the spacing between two adjacent support pieces 22 of each support frame 2 according to the different precision levels of the robotic arms, thus facilitating the handling and placement of the wafer 9 by robotic arms of varying precision. This eliminates the need for separate molds to manufacture the entire wafer cassette 100 for robotic arms of different precision levels, saving on mold costs. It also facilitates the immediate replacement of damaged components when a support frame 2 is damaged, eliminating the need to replace the entire wafer cassette 100 and reducing replacement costs. Based on the above, the wafer cassette 100 reduces the transportation cost of the substrate 9, thus effectively achieving the purpose of this cost-effective invention.

However, the above description is merely an example of the present invention and should not be used to limit the scope of the present invention. Any simple equivalent changes and modifications made in accordance with the scope of the patent application and the contents of the patent specification shall still fall within the scope of the present invention.

100: Wafer Case 1: Casing 11: Bottom Wall 12: Top Wall 13: Side Wall 131: Inner Wall 132: Outer Wall 133: Front Connector 134: Rear Connector 135: Locking Post 136: Holding Block 137: Fixing Slot 138: Locking Slot 14: Rear Wall 15: Accommodating Space 2: Support Frame 21: Support Column 211: Lower End 212: Upper End 213: Long Column Section 214: Clip Slot 22: Support Plate 221: Load-Bearing Plate 222: Stop Rib 223: Perforation 224: Load-Bearing Plane 225: Stopping Elevation 226: Stopping Protrusion 227: Straight Section 228: Curved Section 23: Separator Component 231: Sleeve 24: Front Holding Component 241: Front Rod Component 242: Front Fastener 243: Clip 244: Fixing Component 245: Locking Hole 246: Hook 25: Rear Holding Component 251: Rear Rod Component 252: Rear Fastener 253: Fastener 9: Baseboard X: Left/Right Direction Y: Height Direction Z: Front/Back Direction

Other features and effects of the present invention will be clearly shown in the embodiments with reference to the drawings, wherein: Figure 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the wafer cassette of the present invention; Figure 2 is a front view illustrating that a plurality of substrates are located within an accommodating space of a housing of the embodiment and placed on two supports; Figure 3 is an exploded perspective view illustrating the assembly relationship between the housing and the supports of the embodiment; Figure 4 is a perspective view of the housing of the embodiment viewed from another angle; Figure 5 is a perspective view of the supports of the embodiment; Figure 6 is an exploded perspective view of one of the supports of the embodiment; Figure 7 is a perspective view of one of the support sheets included in one of the supports of the embodiment; Figure 8 is a perspective view of one of the support pieces of one of the support frames in this embodiment, viewed from another viewpoint; and Figure 9 is a cross-sectional view of this embodiment taken along the secant line IX-IX in Figure 2, illustrating that two of the support pieces are adapted to support the substrate; and Figure 10 is a front view illustrating another embodiment of this embodiment.

100: Wafer Box

1: Shell

11: Bottom wall

12: Top wall

13: Side wall

131: Inner wall surface

132:Outer wall surface

14: Rear wall

15: Storage space

2: Support frame

9:Substrate

X: Left/Right direction

Y: Height direction

Z: Forward/Backward Direction

Claims (9)

A support frame includes: at least one support column extending along a height direction; a plurality of support plates detachably fitted onto the support column and arranged along the height direction; and at least one partition component including a plurality of sleeves detachably fitted onto the support column, the sleeves separating the support plates such that the support plates are spaced apart from each other, wherein at least one sleeve is installed on the support column between every two adjacent support plates, and the number of sleeves on the support column between every two adjacent support plates is selectively variable. The support frame as described in claim 1, wherein each support piece includes a load-bearing plane and a stop facet perpendicularly connected to the load-bearing plane. The support frame as described in claim 1, wherein each support piece includes a load-bearing body and two stop ribs, the load-bearing body having two opposite load-bearing planes, the stop ribs being respectively protruding from the load-bearing planes, and each stop rib having a stop facet vertically connected to the corresponding load-bearing plane. The support frame as described in claim 1, wherein each of the support pieces is a single component manufactured by an integral molding process. The support frame as described in any one of claims 1 to 4 includes two mutually spaced pillars and two partition components, each of the support pieces having two mutually spaced through holes for the pillars to pass through, and the sleeves of each partition component being detachably fitted onto the corresponding pillar. The support frame as described in claim 5 further includes a front retaining assembly and a rear retaining assembly, the front retaining assembly being detachably assembled to one of the support columns and the rear retaining assembly being detachably assembled to the other support column. A wafer cassette adapted to hold a substrate, the wafer cassette comprising: a housing including a bottom wall, a top wall, and two mutually spaced sidewalls connecting the bottom wall and the top wall; and two supports as described in any one of claims 1 to 5, the supports being disposed between the bottom wall and the top wall and respectively adjacent to the sidewalls, wherein two corresponding support tabs of equal height in the height direction in the supports are used to support the substrate. The wafer cassette as claimed in claim 7, wherein each sidewall has a front connector and a rear connector, and each support further includes a front retaining assembly detachably assembled to one of the supports and a rear retaining assembly detachably assembled to the other support, the front retaining assembly being mounted to the front connector adjacent to the sidewall and the rear retaining assembly being mounted to the rear connector adjacent to the sidewall. The wafer cassette as claimed in claim 8, wherein each of the front connectors has at least one latch and at least one retaining block and is formed with at least one retaining groove through the retaining block; each of the rear connectors is formed with at least one recessed retaining groove; each of the front retaining components has a front rod, at least one front fastener, at least one latch, and at least one retainer, the latch being formed with a through-hole; the retainer having a protruding hook; and each of the rear retaining components has a rear rod, at least one rear fastener, and at least one retaining fastener.