Front Opening Unified Pod with latch component

Abstract

A wafer container includes a container body, the internal of which is disposed with a plurality of slots for supporting wafers and an open front is formed on one sidewall of which for importing and exporting said plurality of wafers, and a door with an outer surface and an inner surface, which is joined with opening of the container body with its inner surface for protecting the plurality of wafers within the container, the characteristic in that: at least one latch component including a cam and a pair of moving bars is disposed between outer surface and inner surface of the door, wherein a pair of cam grooves are disposed on the cam for being connected with guide bar on one end of the pair of moving bars, and each moving bar includes a slide groove for being fixed in by roller disposed between outer surface and inner surface of the door, which in turn allows the rotation of the cam to cause to-and-fro movement of another end of the moving bars.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0001]1. Field of the Invention[0002]The present field of the invention is related to a wafer container, and more particularly, to a latch component disposed in the door of wafer container.[0003]2. Description of the Prior Art[0004]The semiconductor wafers are transferred to different stations to apply the various processes in the required equipments. A sealed container is provided for automatic transfer to prevent the pollution from occurring during transferring process. FIG. 1 shows the views of wafer container of the conventional prior art. The wafer container is a front opening unified pod (FOUP) which includes a container body 10 and a door 20. The container body 10 is disposed with a plurality of slots 11 for horizontally placing a plurality of wafers, and an opening 12 is located on a sidewall of the container body 10 for importing and exporting. Further, the door 20 includes an outer surface 21 and an inner surface 22, in which the door 20 is joine...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0010]In door component of front opening unified pod (FOUP) of prior art, the latch component is composed of complex mechanic apparatus, which not only leads to higher failure rate but also generates too much mechanic friction in the operating process that may lead to pollution of wafer. One objective of the present invention is thus to provide a front opening unified pod (FOUP) disposed with latch component with cam so that the moving bars can move to and fro on only one plane surface and the latch component can also be simplified.

[0011]Another objective of the present invention is to provide a front opening unified pod (FOUP) disposed with latch component with cam, wherein with the design of roller, the moving bars can be driven by the cam to move to and fro on only one plane surface, the design of which reduces friction generated in the moving process of moving bars and also reduces pollution.

[0012]Still another objective of the present invention is to provide a front opening unified pod (FOUP) disposed with latch component with cam, wherein a recess is formed between latch component for wafers to be fully and effectively filled in the space of the recess. This makes it possible for the length between the front side and the back side of the FOUP to be shortened, and also for the center of gravity to be more focused on the central part of wafer container to make the wafer container more stable.

[0013]Yet another objective of the present invention is to provide a front opening unified pod (FOUP) disposed with latch component with cam, wherein wafer restraint component can be disposed on inner surface of the door for effectively fixing the wafers.

Problems solved by technology

In door component of front opening unified pod (FOUP) of prior art, the latch component is composed of complex mechanic apparatus, which not only leads to higher failure rate but also generates too much mechanic friction in the operating process that may lead to pollution of wafer.

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