Insert body for container, container, and method for manufacturing same

Abstract

Provided are an insert body for a container, a container, and a method for manufacturing the same, with which it is possible to eliminate the risk of a substrate being contaminated by foreign matter such as a gate and chips, and to improve moldability and quality.　An insert body 4 is injection-molded by a molding material containing a prescribed resin to form a part of a body 1 for aligning and storing a plurality of semiconductor wafers. The insert body comprises a pair of left and right side wall plates 5 respectively forming portions of both side walls 3 of the body 1 opened on a front surface 2, and a plurality of support teeth 20 which are arranged in an inner surface vertical direction in which the pair of left and right side wall plates 5 oppose each other, and which support the peripheral edges of the semiconductor wafers. A plurality of gate marks 30 recessed in the thickness direction of the side wall plates 5 are formed on a rear end inner surface 10 of each side wall plate 5. The recessed gate marks 30 are completely covered with the body molding material, and thus the gate, chips, etc. remaining in the gate marks 30 are also covered and are not exposed to the inside and outside of the body 1.

Description

Container insert, container, and method of manufacturing same

[0001] The present invention relates to a container insert used in the manufacture of a container made of FOSB or the like, a container, and a method for manufacturing the same.

[0002] 5, a substrate storage container known as a FOSB includes a body 1 for storing a plurality of semiconductor wafers (not shown) arranged vertically, and a detachable door set (not shown) that is press-fitted into an open front face 2 of the body 1, and is used for shipping and transporting semiconductor wafers (see Patent Document 1). The body 1 is formed as a front-open box with an open front face 2, and a pair of support teeth 20A that support the semiconductor wafers are provided opposite each other on the inner surfaces of both side walls 3, and the pair of support teeth 20A are arranged at a predetermined interval in the vertical direction.

[0003] The body 1 is required to have properties such as impact resistance, weather resistance, and transparency, but the plurality of support teeth 20A are required to have dimensional stability, wear resistance, etc. in order to support the semiconductor wafers with high precision and cleanliness. Therefore, when manufacturing a multifunctional body 1, in order to ensure multifunctionality, an insert body 4A as shown in Figure 6, in which the plurality of support teeth 20A are arranged in the side wall plate 5A, is separately molded, and this insert body 4A is inserted to form part of the side wall 3 of the body 1.

[0004] To manufacture the body 1, a pair of insert bodies 4A, each having a plurality of support teeth 20A arranged on the inner surface of a side wall plate 5A, are first molded using a predetermined molding material. Each insert body 4A is injection molded using a molding material containing a resin that contributes to dimensional stability, wear resistance, etc. (see arrows in FIGS. 7 and 8 ). Multiple gates are cut off from the rear end face 11A of the side wall plate 5A, leaving multiple large gate marks 30A of the same size on the end face 11A. When cutting the gates, some of the gates are left uncut to avoid damaging the end face 11A of the rear end 9A of the insert body 4A.

[0005] Next, after the pair of insert bodies 4A are molded, they are inserted into a prepared molding die for the body 1 with a gap between them, and the molding die is clamped and filled with a body molding material containing a specified resin, thereby injection molding a transparent body 1 with an opening on the front face 2.

[0006] The body molding material contains a resin that contributes to impact resistance, weather resistance, transparency, etc., and flows through the cavity of the mold to form most of the body 1. To form the remainder of the side wall 3 of the body 1, the rear portion of the side wall 3 is butted against the narrow end face 11A with the gate mark 30A at the rear end 9A of the insert 4A at the same thickness and fused (see Figure 9). After the body 1 is injection molded, the mold is cooled and opened, and the body 1 is demolded and removed, completing the body 1 production.

[0007] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-068839

[0008] Conventional bodies 1 are manufactured as described above, with the rear portion of the side wall 3 fused to the narrow end face 11A of the rear end 9A of the insert body 4A in a simple butt-jointed state with the same thickness. As a result, gates and chips remaining in the gate marks 30A of the insert body 4A are exposed inside the body 1 from the butt joint, and these exposed gates and chips may turn into particles and contaminate the semiconductor wafer.

[0009] Methods to resolve this concern include (1) reducing the size of the gate of the insert body 4A, and (2) cutting the insert body 4A without leaving any gate. However, in the case of (1), reducing the size of the gate reduces the fluidity of the molding material, which can cause serious problems in molding the insert body 4A. In addition, in the case of (2), there is a risk that the end face 11A of the rear end portion 9A of the insert body 4A may be accidentally damaged, resulting in a deterioration in the quality of the insert body 4A.

[0010] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above, and aims to provide a container insert, a container, and a manufacturing method thereof that can eliminate the risk of foreign matter such as gates and chips contaminating the substrate, and that can improve moldability and quality.

[0011] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a part of a container for storing substrates, which is molded from a molding material containing a predetermined resin, and is characterized by including a side wall plate that forms part of the side wall of the container which is open at the front, and a support piece formed on the inner surface of this side wall plate to support the substrate, and in which a gate mark recessed in the thickness direction of the side wall plate is formed at either the front or rear of the side wall plate.

[0012] The side wall panel has a front portion that is integrated with the front portion of the side wall of the container, a central portion that is connected to the rear of the front portion, and a rear portion that is connected to the rear of the central portion and is integrated with the rear portion of the side wall of the container, the inner surface of at least one of the front and rear portions having a larger area than the end face, the support pieces are arranged at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction of the side wall panel and are formed in a roughly plate shape that extends in the front-to-back direction of the container, and it is preferable that the gate mark is formed as a recess in the inner surface of at least one of the large areas of the front and rear portions of the side wall panel.

[0013] In addition, the rear portion of the side wall plate is inclined toward the inside of the container width direction, and a flat rear end portion that is integrated with the rear portion of the side wall of the container is connected to the rear of this rear portion, and the inner surface of this rear end portion is made larger in area than the end face of the rear end portion.A step portion for preventing the substrate from popping out is formed on the outer surface of the front portion of the support piece, and a gate mark can be formed as a recess on the inner surface of the rear end portion of the side wall plate.

[0014] In addition, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention is characterized in that a front-open box capable of storing a substrate is molded from a container molding material containing a specified resin, and each of both side walls contains a container insert body as described in claim 1 or 2.

[0015] In addition, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention is characterized in that multiple container inserts as described in claim 1 or 2 are inserted at intervals into a molding die for a container, the molding die is clamped, and a container molding material containing a predetermined resin is filled in, thereby covering the gate marks of the container inserts with the container molding material to form a front-open box container.

[0016] Here, the specified resin of the molding material in the claims includes, for example, polycarbonate-based polymer alloy resin. Furthermore, the substrate includes semiconductor wafers, glass substrates, mask substrates, etc., each having a diameter of at least 300 mm or 450 mm. The container includes at least FOSB-type shipping containers and FOUP-type in-process containers. These containers can be molded to be transparent or translucent using a container molding material containing, for example, polycarbonate resin.

[0017] The gate marks are formed as recesses on at least one of the inner and outer surfaces of the front and rear portions of the side wall panels, but it is preferable to form the required number of recesses on the inner surface of the rear or rear end portion of the side wall panels. Furthermore, the up-down, front-rear, left-right directions of the container insert according to the present invention are directions based on the drawings and can be appropriately changed as needed. While the present invention is directed to a container insert, if the configuration of another application is the same as the configuration of the present invention and can be converted into a container insert, and the effects of the present invention are achieved, the configuration of the other application falls within the technical scope of the present invention.

[0018] According to the present invention, when a container is manufactured by insert molding using a container insert, the container molding material forms most of the container, but when forming the remaining side wall of the container, it covers and welds to the recessed gate mark of the container insert and any foreign matter in the gate mark.

[0019] The present invention has the effect of eliminating the risk of contamination of the substrate by foreign matter such as gates and chips, and also has the effect of improving the moldability and quality of the container.

[0020] According to the invention of claim 2, the gate mark is formed as a recess on the inner surface of a relatively large area of ​​either the front or rear part of the side wall plate, so that the gate size can be freely set regardless of the thickness of the insert body. Furthermore, when multiple support pieces are arranged in the vertical direction of the side wall plate, multiple substrates can be supported in an aligned state inside the container.

[0021] According to the invention of claim 3, the rear end of the side wall plate is flat, making it easy to form the gate mark. Furthermore, since the gate mark is formed as a recess on the relatively wide inner surface of the rear end of the side wall plate, the gate size can be freely set regardless of the thickness of the insert. Furthermore, by forming a step portion for preventing the substrate from jumping out on the outer surface of the front part of the support piece, it is possible to prevent the substrate from jumping out or shifting toward the front of the container.

[0022] According to the invention of claim 4, it is possible to eliminate the risk that foreign matter in the gate mark will be exposed inside the container and cause contamination of the substrate. According to the invention of claim 5, the recessed gate mark of the container insert is covered with the container molding material, so that foreign matter such as the gate and chips remaining in the gate mark are also covered, preventing the foreign matter from being exposed inside or outside the container.

[0023] FIG. 1 is a perspective explanatory view schematically showing an embodiment of a container insert and a container according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective explanatory view schematically showing an embodiment of a container insert according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional explanatory view schematically showing a main portion of an embodiment of a container insert and a container according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a plan explanatory view schematically showing a second embodiment of a container insert and a container according to the present invention. FIG. 5 is a perspective explanatory view schematically showing a body of a conventional substrate storage container. FIG. 6 is a perspective explanatory view schematically showing a pair of conventional inserts. FIG. 7 is a plan explanatory view schematically showing a relationship between an insert and a gate according to the prior art. FIG. 8 is a front explanatory view of FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional explanatory view showing a state in which the remaining portion of the side wall of the body is butted against the rear end face of the conventional insert.

[0024] A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the container insert in this embodiment is an insert 4 that is molded from a molding material containing a predetermined resin and that constitutes a part of a body 1 that stores a plurality of semiconductor wafers in an aligned manner, and that includes a pair of left and right side wall plates 5 that constitute part of both side walls 3 of the body 1 that has an opening on the front face 2, and a plurality of support teeth 20 that are arranged on the opposing inner surfaces of the pair of left and right side wall plates 5 and support the semiconductor wafers. A plurality of gate marks 30 that are recessed in the thickness direction of the side wall plates 5 are formed in the rear end portion 9, which is a part of the rear portion 8 of each side wall plate 5, thereby contributing to the achievement of Goal 9 of the SDGs adopted at the United Nations Summit.

[0025] 1, the body 1 is formed as a transparent front-open box, and a removable door set (not shown) is press-fit into the substantially rectangular front opening 2 to form a substrate storage container known as a FOSB. A pair of left and right support teeth 20 that horizontally support the peripheral edges of both sides of a semiconductor wafer are provided on the opposing inner surfaces of both side walls 3 of the body 1, and are arranged at a predetermined interval in the vertical direction, with portions of both side walls 3 and the plurality of support teeth 20 being formed by molding an insert body 4.

[0026] A flat rectangular robotic flange (not shown) is detachably attached as an option to the approximate center of the ceiling of the body 1, and this robotic flange is suspended from a ceiling transport mechanism (not shown) or the like. In addition, gripping operation handles (not shown) are detachably attached as options to the outer surfaces of both side walls 3 of the body 1.

[0027] 2 , the side wall plate 5 of the insert body 4 is formed as a long plate having a short front portion 6 that is inclined outward in the width direction of the body 1 and is integrated with the front portion of the side wall of the body 1, a long central portion 7 that is generally straight in plan and connected to the rear of the front portion 6, and a long rear portion 8 that is connected to the rear of the central portion 7 and is inclined inward in the width direction of the body 1, and a short rear end portion 9 that is integrated with the rear portion of the side wall of the body 1 is connected to the rear of the rear portion 8, and the side wall plate 5 is sandwiched and integrated between the ceiling and bottom plate of the body 1. From the viewpoint of facilitating the formation of the gate mark 30, the rear end portion 9 of the side wall plate 5 is formed as a flat, long plate that is generally straight in plan, and has an inner surface 10 that has a larger area than the end face 11 and is adjacent to the rear portions of the multiple support teeth 20.

[0028] 1 and 2, the multiple support teeth 20 are arranged at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction on the inner surface of the side wall plate 5, and gaps for inserting semiconductor wafers are defined between adjacent support teeth 20 in the vertical direction. Each support tooth 20 is formed in a plate shape that extends approximately horizontally in the front-to-rear direction of the body 1 while bending from the inner surface of the central portion 7 to the inner surface of the rear portion 8 of the side wall plate 5, and functions to support and mount the peripheral edge of a semiconductor wafer on its surface 21. A jump-out prevention step 22 is formed on the outside of the front surface 21 of each support tooth 20, with a thickness that is approximately triangular in plan view, to prevent the semiconductor wafer from jumping out forward.

[0029] 2, a plurality of gate marks 30 are formed as depressions at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction on the inner surface 10 of the rear end 9 of the side wall panel, and each gate mark 30 is formed in a thin, approximately semicircular shape, and is attached to the rear of the side wall 3 when the body 1 is molded. The gate marks 30 are formed as depressions on the inner surface 10 of the rear end 9 of the side wall panel 5, in other words, in the direction of the surface opposite from the surface facing the interior of the body 1, because this allows the flow cross section of the gate to be enlarged.

[0030] The gate mark 30 is approximately semicircular because it is possible to use common parts for the mold, and therefore to form the gate mark 30 with a simple structure. On the peripheral surface of the gate mark 30, protrusions such as claw-shaped protrusions are formed in the radially inward direction as necessary to strengthen the connection with the rear part of the side wall 3.

[0031] When manufacturing the body 1 with the above configuration, first, a mold for the insert bodies 4 is prepared, and this mold is clamped and filled with a molten molding material containing a predetermined resin (see the arrows in FIG. 2 ), thereby molding a pair of insert bodies 4 having a plurality of support teeth 20 arranged on the inner surface of the side wall plate 5. The mold for the insert bodies 4 has the gate positions changed so that a plurality of gate marks 30 can be recessed into the inner surface 10 of the rear end portion 9 of the side wall plate.

[0032] The resin used as the molding material is not limited to, but may be, for example, a polycarbonate polymer alloy resin, which has excellent dimensional stability and abrasion resistance. Each insert 4 is injection molded in a neutral color such as white, and the gates on the inner surface 10 of the rear end 9 are cut with nippers or the like, leaving multiple gate marks 30 on the inner surface 10. When cutting the gates, it is preferable to leave some of the gates intact so as not to damage the inner surface 10 of the rear end of the insert 4.

[0033] Next, after the pair of insert bodies 4 have been molded, they are inserted into a prepared molding die for the body 1 with a gap between them, and the molding die is clamped and filled with a molten body molding material containing a specified resin, thereby injection molding a transparent body 1 with an opening on the front face 2.

[0034] The resin used as the body molding material is not limited in any way, but may be, for example, polycarbonate resin, which has excellent impact resistance, weather resistance, transparency, etc. This body molding material flows through the cavity in the mold to form most of the body 1, but when forming the remainder of the side wall 3 of the body 1, as shown in Figure 1, the front portion of the side wall 3 is fused to the front portion 6 of the side wall plate 5, the rear portion of the side wall 3 is fused to the rear end portion 9 of the side wall plate 5, and the rear portion of the side wall 3 is fused in a state where it completely covers the gate mark 30 of the insert body 4.

[0035] After the body 1 is injection molded in this way, the molding die is further filled with the body molding material and kept under pressure, the molding die is cooled and opened, and then the body 1 is demolded and taken out, thereby manufacturing a multi-functional body 1.

[0036] According to the above configuration, the recessed gate mark 30 of the insert body 4 is completely covered and fused with the body molding material, so that the gate, chips, etc. remaining in the gate mark 30 are also covered, and the gate, chips, etc. are not exposed inside or outside the body 1. Therefore, it is possible to effectively eliminate the risk that the gate and chips remaining in the gate mark 30 will be exposed inside the body 1 and that these exposed gates and chips will become particles and cause contamination of the semiconductor wafer.

[0037] Furthermore, since there is no need to reduce the gate of the insert body 4, there is no deterioration in the fluidity of the molding material, and it is possible to effectively prevent any problems with the moldability of the insert body 4. Furthermore, since there is no need to cut the insert body 4 without leaving the gate, there is no risk of accidentally damaging the rear end portion 9 of the insert body 4, and it is possible to greatly improve the quality of the insert body 4. Furthermore, since the gate mark 30 is formed by recessing the wide inner surface 10 of the rear end portion 9 of the side wall panel, rather than the narrow end surface 11 of the rear end portion 9, it is possible to freely set the gate size regardless of the thickness of the insert body 4.

[0038] Next, Figure 4 shows a second embodiment of the present invention, in which the shapes of the pair of left and right side wall plates 5 and the multiple support teeth 20 of the insert body 4 are each modified and linearized, and multiple gate marks 30 are formed in the rear portion 8 of each side wall plate 5, recessed in the thickness direction of the side wall plate 5.

[0039] As shown in Figure 4, the side wall panel 5 is formed as a vertically long plate having a front portion 6 that is integral with the front portion of the side wall of the body 1, a long central portion 7 that is connected to the rear of the front portion 6, and a rear portion 8 that is connected to the rear of the central portion 7 and is integral with the rear portion of the side wall of the body 1, and is sandwiched and integrated between the ceiling and bottom plate of the body 1. The front portion 6 of the side wall panel 5 is formed as a flat, vertically long plate with a substantially straight plane, and its inner surface has a larger area than its end surfaces. Furthermore, the rear portion 8 of the side wall panel 5 is formed as a flat, vertically long plate with a substantially straight plane, and its inner surface 10 has a larger area than its end surfaces 11 to facilitate the formation of the gate mark 30.

[0040] The plurality of support teeth 20 are arranged at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction on the inner surface of the side wall plate 5, and gaps for inserting semiconductor wafers are defined between adjacent support teeth 20 in the vertical direction. Each support tooth 20 is formed in a plate shape extending substantially horizontally in the front-to-rear direction of the body 1, and supports a semiconductor wafer on a surface 21.

[0041] The gate marks 30 are recessed at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction on the inner surface 10 of the rear portion 8 of the side wall panel, and each gate mark 30 is formed in a thin, approximately semicircular shape, and is attached to the rear portion of the side wall 3 when the body 1 is molded. The other parts are the same as those in the above embodiment, so a description thereof will be omitted.

[0042] In this embodiment, the same effects as those of the above embodiment can be expected, and moreover, since the number of bent or curved portions of the side wall plate 5 and the support teeth 20 is reduced, it is clear that simplification of the configuration of the side wall plate 5 and the support teeth 20 can be expected. Furthermore, since the rear end portion 9, which has a different shape from the rear portion 8 of the side wall plate 5, can be omitted, the configuration of the mold for the insert body 4 can be simplified.

[0043] The resins used for the body 1 and insert body 4 in the above-described embodiment may include thermoplastic resins such as cycloolefin polymer, polyetherimide resin, polyetherketone resin, polyetheretherketone resin, polyacetal resin, polybutylene terephthalate resin, and liquid crystal polymer, as well as alloys of these. These resins may contain conductive materials such as carbon fiber, carbon nanotubes, and conductive polymers, as well as various antistatic agents such as anionic, cationic, and nonionic agents, as needed. Furthermore, ultraviolet absorbers, glass fibers or carbon fibers that improve rigidity, and the like may be added as needed.

[0044] In addition, the front portion 6, central portion 7, rear portion 8, or rear end portion 9 of the side wall panel 5 in the above embodiment may be elongated, shortened, bent, or curved as necessary. In addition, in the above embodiment, multiple gate marks 30 are formed on the inner surface 10 of the rear portion 8 or rear end portion 9 of the side wall panel 5, but multiple gate marks 30 can also be formed on the outer surface of the rear portion 8 or rear end portion 9 that is exposed to the outside, provided that this does not cause any particular problems.

[0045] Furthermore, if there are no particular problems, multiple gate marks 30 recessed in the thickness direction of the side wall panel 5 can be formed on either the inner or outer surface having an area larger than the end face of the front portion 6 of each side wall panel 5. The number of gate marks 30 can be increased or decreased to one, two, four, etc. The gate marks 30 can also be formed in a substantially semi-elliptical, substantially rectangular, polygonal, etc. Furthermore, all of the technologies described in this specification are subject to patent protection through amendments or divisional applications, etc.

[0046] The container insert, container, and manufacturing method thereof according to the present invention are used in fields such as semiconductors and precision instruments.

[0047] REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Body (container) 3 Side wall 4 Insert body (container insert body) 5 Side wall plate 6 Front portion 7 Center portion 8 Rear portion 9 Rear end portion 10 Inner surface 11 End face 20 Support teeth (support pieces) 21 Surface 22 Step portion for preventing jump-out 30 Gate mark

Claims

1. A container insert that is molded from a molding material containing a specified resin and that constitutes part of a container for storing a substrate, the container insert comprising a side wall plate that constitutes part of the side wall of the container that is open at the front, and a support piece formed on the inner surface of the side wall plate to support the substrate, and a gate mark that is recessed in the thickness direction of the side wall plate is formed on either the front or rear of the side wall plate.

2. A container insert as described in claim 1, wherein the side wall panel has a front portion which is integral with the front portion of the side wall of the container, a central portion which is connected to the rear of the front portion, and a rear portion which is connected to the rear of the central portion and is integral with the rear portion of the side wall of the container, the inner surface of at least one of the front and rear portions having a larger area than the end face, the support pieces are arranged at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction of the side wall panel and are formed in a roughly plate shape extending in the front-to-rear direction of the container, and the gate mark is formed as a recess in the inner surface of at least one of the large areas of the front and rear portions of the side wall panel.

3. A container insert as described in claim 2, in which the rear part of the side wall plate is inclined towards the inside in the width direction of the container, and a flat rear end part is connected to the rear of this rear part to be integrated with the rear part of the side wall of the container, and the inner surface of this rear end part is made larger in area than the end face of the rear end part, a step part for preventing the board from jumping out is formed on the outer surface of the front part of the support piece, and a gate mark is formed as a recess on the inner surface of the rear end part of the side wall plate.

4. A container, which is molded into a front-open box capable of housing a substrate from a container molding material containing a specified resin, and which comprises the container insert body according to claim 1 or 2 on both side walls.

5. A method for manufacturing a container, comprising inserting a plurality of container inserts as described in claim 1 or 2 at intervals into a molding die for the container, clamping the molding die and filling it with a container molding material containing a predetermined resin, thereby covering the gate marks of the container inserts with the container molding material to form a front-open box container.