Synthetic resins or natural rubbers -- part of the class 520 ser – Synthetic resins – Mixing of two or more solid polymers; mixing of solid...
Reexamination Certificate
1999-05-07
2001-10-16
Lipman, Bernard (Department: 1713)
Synthetic resins or natural rubbers -- part of the class 520 ser
Synthetic resins
Mixing of two or more solid polymers; mixing of solid...
C525S324000, C525S330800, C525S332800, C525S332900, C525S333100, C525S333200
Reexamination Certificate
active
06303705
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for using a rubber product or a rubber member used in clean environments such as a clean room, and also concerns a manufacturing method for an electronic part using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, in a clean room inside an electronic part manufacturing facility, etc., with respect to gloves for handling electronic parts or their elements, those made of natural rubber corresponding to Class 100, etc., are mainly adopted. Such rubber gloves have a problem in which they tend to cause a reduction in the yield in a sputtering process using them to handle substrates, etc. prior to the sputtering process, although contaminants have been removed therefrom by sufficiently washing them upon production. It is considered that the substrates are contaminated by re-adhesion of contaminants such as dusts that have adhered to the gloves.
However, although the inventors of the present application increased the number of glove exchanges in order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the situation was hardly improved. When contaminants, which were supposed to raise the problem, were analyzed, contaminants derived from calcium, sulfur, etc. generated from the gloves themselves were detected. Moreover, it has been revealed that silica or carbon-based contaminants, which have adhered to the rubber gloves upon their contact with electronic parts and their elements, re-adhere to the substrates, thereby causing the contamination.
However, the generation of these contaminants is inevitable when rubber materials such as natural rubber are used. Moreover, with respect to the contaminants adhered to the gloves upon their contact with electronic parts and their elements, even if improvements of the working environments are taken, there is a limitation in the reduction thereof. Although studies have been made on other rubber materials and substitute materials for the rubber materials, appropriate materials have not been found.
Here, not limited to rubber gloves, the above mentioned problem is a common problem which tends to arise in any rubber product and rubber member that are used in clean environments. Also with respect to the generation of contaminants from rubber materials themselves, the problem tends to arise even in rubber materials that are not subjected to direct contact upon handling.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a method of use for a rubber product or a rubber member which can prevent generation of contaminants from the rubber materials and also prevent re-adhesion of contaminants that have adhered thereto later on, and to provide a manufacturing method for electronic parts wherein such a method is adopted.
The inventors tried various modifications and treatments for the surface of a rubber material in order to achieve the above-mentioned object. As a result, we discovered the aforementioned objective could be achieved by a surprisingly simple method, that is, the surface of the rubber material is swelled by a suitable solvent, thereby completing the present invention.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
More specifically, in one embodiment of the present invention, the method of use for a rubber product or a rubber member in clean environments of the present invention comprises the steps of allowing at least one portion of a surface of the rubber product or the rubber member to swell by using a solvent, and then using the rubber product or the rubber. Here, the term “to swell” means a state in which a rubber material absorbs a solvent to increase in volume. As a result, the level of the surface of the rubber material rises more than 1 &mgr;m, preferably more than 10 &mgr;m.
In the present invention, since at least one portion of the surface of a rubber product or a rubber member is brought into a swelled state by using a solvent, it is possible to prevent generation of contaminants from the rubber materials and also to prevent re-adhesion of contaminants thereto later on, as will be shown by the results of working examples described later. Although the reasons have not been revealed in detail, it is considered that a swelled rubber material makes it possible to prevent release, re-adhesion, etc. of contaminants generated from the rubber materials by its own adhesive force, and also to prevent re-adhesion of the contaminants by allowing contaminants externally adhering thereto to hold thereon while sticking by the adhesive force. Here,
FIG. 2
shows a state in which contaminant
4
adhering to the surface of a rubber glove
1
is hardly released by the adhesive force of a swelled rubber material.
In the above-mentioned step, it is preferable to supply the above-mentioned solvent to the surface regularly. Thus, contaminants, which have adhered after the previous supply of the solvent, are allowed to hold on the rubber material by a new supply of the solvent, thereby making it possible to positively prevent the release and re-adhesion thereof.
With respect to the above-mentioned clean environments, various environments may be listed as will be described later; however, the present invention is more preferably applied to those environments in electronic parts manufacturing facilities. In this case, in the electronic parts manufacturing facilities which are susceptible not only to generation of contaminants from the rubber materials, but also to re-adhesion of contaminants that have adhered to the rubber materials from the electronic parts or the elements thereof, the present invention can solve both of the problems; therefore, the present invention functions more effectively. Consequently, for example, in semiconductor manufacturing processes or the like, it becomes possible to reduce contamination to substrates, etc., and consequently to improve the yield in the succeeding film-forming processes, etc.
Moreover, with respect to the rubber products and rubber members, those of various kinds are listed as will be described later; however, the present invention is preferably applied to products such as rubber gloves, suction-support members, transport supporting members and holding members. Since any of these products and members are used in clean environments and have a portion that is to be directly in contact with an object that should be maintained clean, the generation of contaminants from the rubber materials and re-adhesion of contaminants that have adhered to the rubber materials later on raise particularly great adverse effects; therefore, the present invention particularly functions effectively.
With respect to material rubbers for the above-mentioned rubber products or rubber members, not less than one kind selected from the following group is used: the group consists of natural rubber (NR), isoprene rubber (IR), styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR), butadiene rubber (BR), chloroprene rubber (CR), nitrile rubber (NBR), butyl rubber (IIR), ethylenepropylene rubber (EPM), urethane rubber (U), silicone rubber (Q), fluoro rubber (FKM), acrylic rubber (ACM, ANM), epichlorohydrin rubber (CO, ECO) and polysulfide rubber (T). Since any of these rubbers serves as a crosslinking rubber, it has an appropriate swelling due to a solvent, resulting in an appropriate adhesive property, and it is also less susceptible to elution of the rubber components.
The manufacturing method for electronic parts in clean environments of the present invention parts comprises the steps of allowing at least one portion of a surface of a rubber product or a rubber member to swell by using a solvent and then handling the electronic parts or the elements thereof. The manufacturing method of the present invention makes it possible to prevent generation of contaminants from the rubber materials and also to prevent re-adhesion of contaminants that have adhered thereto later on; therefore, it becomes possible to reduce contamination to the electronic parts or their elements, and consequently to improve the yield in each of the processes upon manufacturing the electronic parts.
REFERENCES:
Knobb Martens Olson & Bear LLP
Lipman Bernard
Sumitomo Special Metals Co. Ltd.
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