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Multiple interface door for wafer storage and handling container
| Details |
Inventors: McKenna, Douglas B.; Briner, Donald R.; Laramore, Christopher D.;
Assignee: Bye/Oasis (Austin, TX)
Primary Examiner: Keenan; James W.
Assistant Examiner:
Attorney, Agent or Firm:
The present invention is an improved container and interface for transporting or otherwise handling contamination-sensitive materials, such as semi-conductor wafers during processing. The container of the present invention employs a door-within-a-door design, allowing the container to connect with different interfaces on a single side. Employing a container of the present invention, manufacturers may connect a single container to different tools or mini-environments employing incompatible interfaces without the need to use different containers or to access the contents of a single container from different directions. The present invention is particularly useful in instances where a single interface standard, e.g., SEMI Standard SMIF interfaces, has not been uniformly adopted in a facility. The present invention also provides means which allow either a cassette container or a cassette to be directly placed on an indexer and subsequent indexing to the correct location This is also useful in instances where a facility has not uniformly adopted SMIF technology, and requires the flexibility to load both cassettes and SMIF containers on the same tool. |
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention is an improved design for providing multiple access ports into a sealed container or "pod" for handling (i.
e.
, transporting, storing, etc.
) contamination sensitive items.
While it is contemplated that the container of the present invention may be employed in a wide variety of applications, it is particularly suitable for use in handling silicon wafer products during manufacture of semiconductors and similar products that are highly sensitive to damage from contamination by dust particles and other environmental factors during processing.
Shown in FIG.
1 is a container 10 of the present invention.
The container 10 includes an exterior 12, an interior 14, at least one opening 16 on one of its sides, and a door assembly 18 controlling access through the opening 16.
In the embodiment shown, the opening 16 is a lower opening adapted for bottom loading into the container 10.
The door assembly 18 includes multiple doors therein, a first, outer, door 20 and a second, inner, door 22 embedded within the first door 20.
Access to the interior 14 of the container can be accomplished through either of the doors 20 or 22.
The advantage of this construction is that a single side of the container 10 may be attached to two or more different interfaces.
This supplies a wide degree of flexibility in the possible uses of the container and its ability to move items between a number of different sealed environments.
Of particular interest is the containers ability to attach to existing standard interfaces and still be able to attach to new or different interfaces that may be later adopted.
For example, Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) has promulgated standards for the interface port and container door of a Standard Mechanical Interface (SMIF) system.
The SEMI-Standards provide a uniform industry standard so that containers and tool canopy interfaces of different manufacturers can be compatible (e.
g.
, SEMI E19, 4-92, 200MM "STANDARD MECHANICAL INTERFACE (SMIF)" published in 1992)
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Control Computers 
