JPS6079710A - Stocker of semiconductor wafer cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To determine the position of a shelf in high accuracy without raising dust by providing guide rails in front and back to move the shelf for a semiconductor wafer cassette vertically in many stages and using a rail for transfer of the shelf from the front rail to the back rail. CONSTITUTION:Among shelves 20-27, the shelves 24-26 are held by the first guide rail 28 and the second guide rail. The shelf 24 is held by guides 31, 32 inserted in the first guide rail and guides 36, 37 provided on the opposite side and inserted in the second guide rail. The other shelves are also held in the same way. In order to transfer the shelf 27 from front to back, the shelf 27 is held by the third guide rail 29 and the fourth guide rail and slided horizontally to the right direction, then transferred to the fifth guide rail and the sixth guide rail. When the shelf 23 is moved to the front of a stocker, the shelves 20-22 are brought down stage by stage by a vertical movement mechanism 35.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (1) Technical field to which the invention pertains The present invention relates to a stocker for three-dimensionally storing a plurality of semiconductor wafer cassettes, and particularly relates to a semiconductor wafer cassette having a feeding mechanism that is easy to drive and has high reliability. Regarding a cassette stocker.

(2) Explanation of the prior art Conventionally, the protection of half-four-year-old Ueno has been carried out by arranging the Uni/Tame in a box called Butsuse Soto and storing the Kazenodo in a 7H clean protective fence. This method poses no problem when the number of cassettes to be stored is small, but as the number of cassettes increases, problems arise such as storage space and lot management of stored wafers. , From the viewpoint of workability when storing the Ueno cassettes on the Hosumi shelf, the height of the storage shelf O] is limited (in addition, in order to store the Ueno cassettes on a large number of shelves between pipes according to the lot number, it is necessary to of man-hours are required.

Therefore, we came up with a storage unit that has a three-dimensional arrangement of shelves and is rotatable so that it has a small floor area and allows for easy loading and unloading of cassettes. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, this chain 5 is provided between two sprocket wheels 1.2, and a chain 6 is provided between two sprocket wheels 3, 4. A plurality of 1lII7 are provided between the chains 5 and 6.
~18 are provided. According to this configuration, each shelf board is always kept in a horizontal state even if the position of each column is changed by rotating the sprocket wheel, but in reality, the shelf board 19 is not placed on the shelf board. When placed, the center of gravity of the shelf shifts and the shelf tilts, making it difficult to insert and remove cassettes. Furthermore, the cassette insertion/removal from the side direction of the shelf board 11
This makes it difficult to apply to automated lines. In addition, chains always require ``sag,'' which reduces the accuracy of shelf positioning, and due to their structure, generates a lot of dust.They also require oils and fats on the ribs, so they cannot be used in clean rooms. This is extremely inconvenient for use in

(3) Object of the Invention The object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor welding, casing, and throat striker which is highly accurate and does not generate dust without the drawbacks of the prior art.

(4) Features of the Invention The features of the present invention include a plurality of semiconductor wafer cases 7 which are raised and lowered in multiple vertical stages. ) in a stacker of semiconductor wafer cassettes with fields for
It is equipped with a guide or a support part with a guide, and
The guides No. 11 are respectively fitted onto the first and second guide rails, and the guides No. 7 are slid onto the kite on at least one shelf at at least one end of each of the guide rails No. 1 and No. 2. Third and fourth guide rails of corresponding length are provided, the first to third and fourth guide rails having corresponding lengths.
The guide rails 11, 11, and 44 are located in the stocker of two half-wafer cassettes that are movable in a direction substantially perpendicular to the length direction of the third and a44 guide rails.

Then, by providing kite rails parallel to the 41st and second guide rails and having the same length, 4 ↓ 5 and a hanging 6, each shelf can be moved by moving the 3rd and 4th kite rails. From the 1st i2 guide rail to the 5th,
It can be moved to the sixth guide rail. Note that each column is held at both ends by one of the third and fifth guide rails and one of the corresponding second, fourth, and sixth guide rails.

(5) Effects of the Invention According to the present invention, since each column is moved without using a chain, it is possible to realize a stocker for semiconductor wafer cassettes that does not generate dust and has accurate shelf positioning.

(6) Embodiment One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 3 is a 111 side view of a striker according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a front view. Each of these columns 20-27 has shelves 24-26 held by a first guide rail 28 and a second kite rail (not shown). Each column is held in position by a guide fitting into a guide rail, for example shelf 24 with kite 31, 32 fitting into a guide rail of Ml.

The guides 36 and 37 provided on the same side on the opposite side are held by fitting into the second guide rail.In addition, in this row, each guide is attached to a support 33, 38 and the first . The vertical position of each column is maintained by vertical contact between the respective supports. The guide of the shelf 27 is in a state of being pushed upward from the second guide rail, and at this time, the guide of the shelf 27 is
The guide is held down to the left in FIG. 3 (towards the front of the stocker) by a stopper (not shown), and the third guide rail 29 and fourth guide rail (not shown) move. After fitting into the guides, the stopper is released. After that, the third guide rail 29 and the fourth kite rail move to the right in FIG. do.

, the guide rail of 1 bird 5 and the 6th υ guide rail are connected to the shelf 2 (5 holding the shelves 1 to 22, but after the shelf 23 moves toward the front of the stocker, the second guide rail 11111 J: Gage I; Gage groove: ] 5, the entire shelves 20 to 22 are lowered by one stage 720, and the shelf 19 is held at the top of the 5th and 6th guide rails.The shelf 23 that has moved toward the front of the stocker is It is pushed up by the shelf raising and lowering mechanism 34 of lr 1,
As a result, the valley guide in the column 23 is fitted with the guide rails in the first and nest 2, and the shelves 24 to 26 are pushed upwards to the shelf 2.
6 valley guides are released from the first and second guide rails. By repeating these operations, each column can be moved freely.

Note that the first shelving mechanism 35. g2Q] By reversing the operations of the shelving mechanism 36 and the third and fourth guide rails, the moving direction of each column can be reversed.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, the position of each column can be set extremely accurately, and since no chain is used, less dust is generated from each linocage. Furthermore, since the drive mechanism is independent of the number of shelves, a44'l + 2nd °lj% 5. A stocker with any number of stages can be easily realized by simply changing the length of the sixth valley guide rail.

Furthermore, since each column can be installed in the black IPI in the drive mechanism, its maintenance is extremely simple.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 41 and Figure 2 of the conduit are respectively a side view and a front view of a conventional stocker for semiconductor wafer cassettes, Figure 3 is a side view of a stocker for semiconductor wafer cassettes according to an embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 4 is a front view of 1gl. . Referring to Figure 1', 1 to 4... Sprocket wheels. 5.6......Chain, 7-18...Shelf, 19...Wafer case/nod, 20-27.
...shelf, 28..., ilG l guide rail, 29.
...Third guide rail, :3()...
・Fifth guide rail, 31 , 32 , 36 , 37
... Guide: 13, +38...
Support both: 34 ...... First shelf Nigechoge (Iku:
1゛1)・;35・・・・・・The second wave is raised and lowered. Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a storage rack for semiconductor cassettes that is equipped with a plurality of shelves for semiconductor cassettes that can be raised and lowered in multiple vertical stages, the shelves @h are each provided with a guide or a support having a guide at both ends thereof, and The guides are each fitted with a first and a second guide rail, and at least one end of each of the first and second guide rails has a first guide of a length corresponding to the guide of at least one of the shelves. 3 and 4 guide rails are provided, and said paddle 3 and 4 guide rails are provided.
each of the guide rails move in a direction substantially orthogonal to the length direction of the third and fourth guide rails Ti
A stocker for semiconductor cassettes that is characterized by its high performance.