Substrate Storage Container Pressure Equalization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional substrate storage containers face issues with substrate breakage and pollution due to high frictional resistance, differential air pressure causing door sticking, and substrates leaning or displacing during handling, especially with large-diameter wafers.
Innovation Solution
A front-opening box-type container with an inner-pressure adjustment device comprising an elastic attachment cylinder, filter support structure, and low-frictional resistance shelf elements and grooves to reduce friction and prevent leaning, allowing for simple attachment and detachment without screws, and featuring a guide rib for secure positioning.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the container body is highly sealed to prevent substrate pollution, then sealing performance is improved, but differential air pressure causes the door to stick tightly to the container body making it difficult to open
Solution Approach 1:
The pressure equalization hole is divided into multiple segments: a through hole in the door, a communication passage connecting the door interior to container interior, and a filter element. This segmentation allows the system to maintain high sealing performance while enabling pressure equalization to prevent door sticking.
Solution Approach 2:
A filter element is introduced as an intermediary component between the door interior and container interior. This filter allows air pressure equalization while preventing particle contamination, thus resolving the contradiction between maintaining seal integrity and enabling door operation under differential pressure.
2Reliability
If conventional inner-pressure adjustment devices are attached using screws to container body, then attachment reliability is improved, but mold structure becomes complex and manufacturing difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The screw fastening mechanism is extracted and replaced with a press-fit attachment method. The attachment protrusion fits directly into the attachment hole without requiring screws or complex mold structures, thereby simplifying manufacturing while maintaining attachment reliability through precise geometric fitting.
Solution Approach 2:
The mechanical screw-fastening system is replaced with a geometric interlocking press-fit system. This substitution eliminates the need for threaded holes and screw components, simplifying the mold structure and manufacturing process while maintaining secure attachment through precise dimensional matching.
3Stability of the object's composition
If shelf elements have high frictional resistance to prevent substrate displacement, then substrate positioning stability is improved, but substrates are more liable to breakage due to friction during handling
Solution Approach 1:
The shelf element surface is designed with localized low-friction regions where substrates contact, while other portions maintain higher friction for structural stability. This local differentiation reduces substrate breakage at contact points while preserving positioning stability through strategically placed higher-friction zones.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution effectively reduces frictional resistance, prevents substrate breakage and pollution, and ensures accurate positioning and handling of substrates by minimizing contact with shelf elements and adjacent substrates, while simplifying the mold structure and reducing the risk of air leakage.
Implementation Method 1
an elastic attachment cylinder, filter support structure fitted into the attachment cylinder
Data Source
AI summary
A substrate storage container which includes: a front-opening box type container body for storing a multiple number of substrates in alignment therein; a door for opening and closing the open front of the container body in a sealing manner; and inner-pressure adjustment devices attached to the mounting ports in the container body and the door for adjusting the pressure inside the container body closed with the door. The inner-pressure adjustment device is configured of an elastic attachment cylinder, a filter support structure fitted into, and protected by, the attachment cylinder and a multiple number of filters held inside the filter support structure. Since the inner-pressure adjustment device can be set by mounting an attachment cylinder of a simple structure by use of elastic deformation to the attachment hole, which is provided for the container body and/or the door, there is no need of forming screw holes which need time and effort.