Replaceable wafer support backstop

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9343345-B2
Application number	US-201314398957-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 6, 2013
Priority date	May 4, 2012
Publication date	May 17, 2016
Grant date	May 17, 2016

Abstract

A wafer container an enclosure portion including a top wall, a bottom wall, a pair of side walls, a back wall, and a door frame opposite the back wall, the door frame defining a front opening, and a wafer support structure including two side wafer supports 5 each side wafer support including a removable backstop. The invention includes maintaining wafer containers by replacing the removable backstop. The invention includes converting shipping containers that ship large diameter wafers vertically to containers to be used in fabrication facilities that store wafers horizontally for robotic pickup for processing.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A front opening container for large diameter semiconductor wafers comprising:
an enclosure portion including a top wall, a bottom wall with a kinematic coupling disposed thereon, a left side wall and a right side wall, a back wall, and a door frame opposite the back wall, the door frame defining a front opening, and
wafer support structure including two side wafer supports, each side wafer support comprising a plurality of spaced vertically aligned wafer shelves, one side wafer support positioned at the left side wall and one positioned at the right side wall, each side wafer support having rearwardly positioned attachment structure for receiving a backstop;
a pair of wafer backstops each having cooperating attachment structure for attachment to the rearwardly positioned attachment structure of each of the wafer support structures, each wafer backstop having a plurality of vertically aligned wafer engagement surfaces corresponding to each of the plurality of wafer shelves;
wherein one of the pair of wafer backstops and the two side wafer supports has a plurality of horizontally extending tabs and the other has a plurality of horizontally extending slots configured to receive the tabs.

2. The front opening container for large diameter semiconductor wafers of claim 1 wherein the plurality of horizontally extending tabs includes a plurality of spring catches to releasably lock the pair of backstops to the two side wafer supports.

3. The front opening container for large diameter semiconductor wafers of claim 1 in combination with a plurality of 450 mm wafers seated on the plurality of wafer shelves.

4. A front opening container for large diameter semiconductor wafers comprising:
an enclosure portion including a top wall, a bottom wall with a kinematic coupling disposed thereon, a left side wall and a right side wall, a back wall, and a door frame opposite the back wall, the door frame defining a front opening, and
wafer support structure including two side wafer supports, each side wafer support comprising a plurality of spaced vertically aligned wafer shelves, one side wafer support positioned at the left side wall and one positioned at the right side wall, each side wafer support having rearwardly positioned attachment structure for receiving a backstop;
a pair of wafer backstops each having cooperating attachment structure for attachment to the rearwardly positioned attachment structure of each of the wafer support structures, each wafer backstop having a plurality of vertically aligned wafer engagement surfaces corresponding to each of the plurality of wafer shelves,
wherein each of the plurality of vertically aligned wafer engagement surfaces is positioned at an angle measured from an axial center of wafers seated in the enclosure portion of 40 to 50 degrees from a vertical plane extending directly rearwardly from said axial center.

5. A front opening container for large diameter semiconductor wafers comprising:
an enclosure portion including a top wall, a bottom wall with a kinematic coupling disposed thereon, a left side wall and a right side wall, a back wall, and a door frame opposite the back wall, the door frame defining a front opening, and
wafer support structure including two side wafer supports, each side wafer support comprising a plurality of spaced vertically aligned wafer shelves, one side wafer support positioned at the left side wall and one positioned at the right side wall, each side wafer support having rearwardly positioned attachment structure for receiving a backstop;
a pair of wafer backstops each having cooperating attachment structure for attachment to the rearwardly positioned attachment structure of each of the wafer support structures, each wafer backstop having a plurality of vertically aligned wafer engagement surfaces corresponding to each of the plurality of wafer shelves,
wherein the pair of wafer backstops each have a plurality of upright wafer engagement surfaces aligned with and transverse to a plurality of top surfaces of the plurality of shelves and the wafer engagement surfaces are positioned to center the wafers on the plurality of wafer shelves for robotic pickup.

6. The front opening container for large diameter semiconductor wafers of claim 5 wherein each of the pair of wafer backstops engage the respective wafer support at a plurality of vertically aligned stop surfaces of the wafer support that are each in substantial radial alignment with a respective wafer engagement surface of the respective wafer backstop.

7. A front opening container for containing a plurality of large diameter semiconductor wafers, the container comprising:
an enclosure portion having an open interior and comprising a top wall adapted to receive a robotic flange, a bottom wall with a kinematic coupling disposed thereon, a left side wall and a right side wall, a back wall, a door frame opposite the back wall, the door frame defining a front opening, and
two side wafer supports positioned in the enclosure portion, one associated with the left side wall and one associated with the right side wall; each side wafer support comprising a plurality of spaced vertically aligned wafer shelves defining slots for the large diameter semiconductor wafers, each side wafer support having a forward portion and a rearward portion;
a pair of wafer backstops removably attached to the rearward end of each of the two side wafer supports, each wafer backstop having a plurality of vertically aligned wafer engagement surfaces corresponding to each of the plurality of wafer shelves and defining the backside of the wafer slots: and
a door with a latch mechanism, configured to sealingly close the front opening, the door comprising a wafer cushion for engaging the plurality of large diameter wafers;
wherein one of the pair of wafer backstops and the two side wafer supports has a plurality of horizontally extending tabs and the other has a plurality of horizontally extending slots configured to receive the tabs.

8. The front opening container for large diameter semiconductor wafers of claim 7 wherein the plurality of horizontally extending tabs includes a plurality of spring catches to releasably lock the pair of backstops to the two side wafer supports.

9. The front opening container for large diameter semiconductor wafers of claim 7 wherein the pair of wafer backstops is formed of a material different than that of the two side wafer supports.

10. The front opening container for large diameter semiconductor wafers of claim 7 wherein the pair of wafer backstops each have a plurality of upright wafer engagement surfaces aligned with and transverse to a plurality of top surfaces of the plurality of shelves and the wafer engagement surfaces are positioned to center the wafers on the plurality of wafer shelves for robotic pickup.

11. A front opening container for containing a plurality of large diameter semiconductor wafers, the container comprising:
an enclosure portion having an open interior and comprising a top wall adapted to receive a robotic flange, a bottom wall with a kinematic coupling disposed thereon, a left side wall and a right side wall, a back wall, a door frame opposite the back wall, the door frame defining a front opening, and
two side wafer supports positioned in the enclosure portion, one associated with the left side wall and one associated with the right side wall; each side wafer support comprising a plurality of spaced vertically aligned wafer shelves defining slots for the large diameter semiconductor wafers, each side wafer support having a forward portion and a rearward portion;
a pair of wafer backstops removably attached to the rearward end of eac

Assignees

• Entegris Inc

Inventors

• Fuller Matthew A
• Burns John

Classifications

• H10P72/1921

  characterised by substrate supports · CPC title

• H10P72/1914

  characterised by locking systems · CPC title

• H10P72/1912 Primary

  characterised by shock absorbing elements, e.g. retainers or cushions · CPC title

• H10P72/3406 Primary

  involving removal of lid, door or cover · CPC title

• H01L21/67369

  Electricity · mapped topic