US 5,507,873 AGranted

Vertical boat

AssigneeToshiba Ceramics Co., Ltd.

InventorsYutaka Ishizuka, Yoshiyuki Watanabe, Tatsuo Nozawa, Shinzi Sawanobori, Tomio Kon

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

Loading patent…

Abstract

A vertical boat for holding a plurality of semiconductor wafers comprising two end members (5) positioned at the top and the bottom of the vertical boat, and a plurality of support members (3,4) vertically mounted on the end members (5), the support members (3,4) including two front support members (3) located on the wafer inserting side and at least one rear support members (4) located on the rear side of the boat, each support member (3,4) having a series of slits (3a,4a) formed thereon at a predetermined interval and a series of support portions defined by the slits (3a,4a) for supporting semiconductor wafers (1), wherein the front support member (3) is generally formed by a circular arc plate, and wherein each angle (A,B) formed between the wafer inserting direction (X) and a line linking the front end (3b) of the support portion of the front support member (3) to the center (1a) of the wafer (1) is 100 degrees or more.

Claims17

Dependent claims

A vertical boat for holding a plurality of semiconductor wafers comprising:

two end members, one of which is positioned at a top portion and the other which is positioned on a bottom portion of the vertical boat;
and
a plurality of support members vertically extending between and mounted on the end members, the support members including two front support members located on a side of the vertical boat where the wafer is inserted and at least one rear support member located on a rear side of the vertical boat, the front support members and the at least one rear support member being separated from each other, each of the front support members and the at least one rear support member having a series of slits formed along their lengths, the series of slits defining a series of support portions for supporting a plurality of semiconductor wafers,
wherein each of the front support members is a one-piece type circular arc plate having a substantially constant thickness, and wherein both an outer circumference and inner circumference of the plate are substantially concentric to the periphery of the wafer when the wafer is set in position within the boat, and
wherein each of two angles (A,B) formed between a line in the wafer inserting direction (X) and a line linking the front end of the support portion of each front support member to the center of the wafer is at least 100 degrees.

2 more elements

A vertical boat for holding a plurality of semiconductor wafers comprising:

the vertical boat having a top portion and a bottom portion;
a top end member placed at the top portion of the vertical boat;
a bottom member placed at the bottom portion of the vertical boat;
a plurality of support members extending vertically between the top member and the bottom member and fixed thereto;
the support members including two front support members and at least one rear support member all of which extend vertically between the top member and the bottom member and are fixed thereto;
each of the front support members and the rear support member having a series of slits formed thereon and a series of support portions defined by the slits for supporting the wafers;
the front support members being formed from part of a pipe member in the shape of a circular arc extending vertically between the top end member and the bottom end member and being separate from each other and from the rear support member.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.