Metal working – Method of mechanical manufacture – Disassembling
Reexamination Certificate
2002-07-19
2003-06-24
Vidovich, Gregory (Department: 3726)
Metal working
Method of mechanical manufacture
Disassembling
C220S324000, C220S784000, C220S786000, C206S711000, C206S454000, C414S940000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06581264
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a transportation container for housing precision substrates typified by semiconductor wafers such as silicon wafers, and a method for opening and closing a lid thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Examples of the types of containers for precision substrates such as semiconductor wafers include process cassettes, open cassettes, production containers used in the carrying of precision substrates within a clean room, and third cassettes, as well as transportation containers used for movement between factories and for shipping.
Transportation containers of the prior art, as shown in
FIG. 1
for example, are configured from a rectangle container body
140
with base, an inner box
141
which is housed within this container body
140
in which a plurality of precision substrates are housed in a row arrangement, a cushon member
142
which contacts the upper end of the plurality of precision substrates, and a freely detachable lid
144
which closes up, by way of a frame-form packing
143
, the open upper part of the container body
140
. Outward projecting clamp members
145
are arranged in both the left and right sides of the open upper part of the container body
140
, and elastic hooks
146
with clamp holes, which fit over the clamp members
145
, are arranged in both the left and right sides of the lid
144
, and the closed state of the lid
144
with respect to the container body
140
is maintained by virtue of the engagement between the clamp members
145
and the elastic hooks
146
. There is a strong demand in transportation containers such as this for, in particular, sealing characteristics, to prevent contamination of the plurality of precision substrates, and for safety, in order to prevent breakage of the precision substrates.
In the field of manufacturing semiconductors, studies have been conducted enthusiastically, aiming at increase in diameter of precision substrate which is demanded as a result of increased size of chips (for example, in semiconductor wafers, from 200 mm to 300 mm), decreasing contamination, and improving the degree of cleanliness of the clean room. In order to realize these objects, automation of related equipment is indispensable. This is because, when the diameter of the precision substrates is increased, the size of containers for housing them is also enlarged, and the weight is thereby increased, whereby the works of operators approximates ergonomics upper limits to make automation of such works necessary. In addition, the works must be automated also because the operators themselves constitute a source of contaminant in the attempts to control contamination of precision substrates and to improve the degree of cleanliness.
In recent years, while attending to the prevention of environmental damages and placing importance on standardization and normalization, researches have been conducted all over the world in order to realize highly automated next-generation semiconductor factories, manufacturing devices, processes, systems, SMIFs (Standard Mechanical Interface) and the like. As a part of these, exhaustive researches have been carried out also on sealed containers for precision substrates, and specific developments, in particular in production containers, are being made.
This type of production containers are known as FOUP (Front Opening Unified Pod) which are, although not shown in the drawings, composed of a container body formed in a front opening box structure, and a lid which opens and closes the open front face of the container body, configured such that they can be connected directly to a substrate processing device, and used as conveyance carriers between processes. A pair of elastic retainers are provided on the interior back face of the container body and on the opposing face of the lid, respectively, to contact and support the outer circumferential edges of the precision substrates. These retainers hold the precision substrates to ensure safety. In addition, a mechanical latching mechanism, which is automatically operated by an automaton machine, is built into the lid, and this mechanical latching mechanism having a large number of components maintains the closed state of the lid with respect to the container body.
Examples of related prior art documents include Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-open Hei 7 No. 29841, and Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Hei 8 No. 279564 and Hei 9 No. 107025.
As mentioned in the above, automation is progressing with respect to the production containers for precision substrates, and there is a strong demand for transportation containers of an automation type. In particular, realization of transportation containers that can be used with a degree of cleanliness of less than 1 is strongly expected. Under such circumstances, some extent of standardization and normalization are being carried out also on transportation containers, in other words, FOSBs (Front Opening Shipping Boxes).
However, transportation containers, unlike production containers, require higher sealability and safety in order to cope with harsh transportation conditions as well as the problem of dust invading into the container as a result of pressure fluctuations during air transport, and therefore the clamp members
145
and elastic hooks
146
must be engaged very firmly. Consequently, the operability of the clamp members
145
and elastic hooks
146
is retarded to require very delicate adjustment of force to be used in opening and closing the lid
144
, and such work must be done manually by an operator. Further, because the engagement configuration between the clamp members
145
and elastic hooks
146
is complicated, automation of the opening and closing of the lid
144
is very difficult. Still further, unlike the production containers which can be manufactured in relatively small quantity, the transportation containers need to be manufactured in mass, and therefore low cost manufacturing is imperative.
As a method for resolving drawbacks mentioned above and realizing automatic handling of transportation containers, configuration of production containers may be applied to transportation containers. However, in contrast to transportation containers which are designed with much emphasis on strength, production containers are designed as carriers to afford the smooth execution of operations within a factory. Thus, the designing concepts are basically different between these two types of containers and, therefore, those production containers are not suitable for application into transportation containers in view of sealability, safety and durability. In particular, the adoption of a mechanical latching mechanism comprising a plurality of components results in complexity of configuration and cost increase, which constitutes a large impediment to cost reduction.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is made with respect to the above-mentioned drawbacks and is directed to provide a transportation container and a method for opening and closing a lid thereof, which are suitable for automation process with good sealability, safety and durability.
In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the subject matters of the present invention are as follows.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, a transportation container comprises: a container body for housing precision substrates; a detachable lid adapted to engage in and cover an open end face of the container body via a seal gasket; and a locking mechanism adapted to fix the lid engaged into the open end face of the container body, wherein the locking mechanism having a pair of protrusions formed at the opposing sides of a rim of the open end face of the container body, and having a pair of clamp plates which are swingably journaled on opposing sides of the lid to clamp the protrusions, each protrusion having, on the back thereof, a groove to be clamped, each clamp plate having attachment shafts for the lid formed in one end of the clamp plate and operated parts
Aoki Hideaki
Ohori Shinichi
Darby & Darby
Kenny Stephen
Shin-Etsu Polymer Co. Ltd.
Vidovich Gregory
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