Lid opening/closing system of an airtight container

#1. Field of the Invention

#The present invention relates to a so-called front-opening interface mechanical standard (FIMS) system used when wafers held in a transfer container which is called a pod are transferred among semiconductor processing apparatuses in a semiconductor manufacture process or the like. To be more specific, the present invention relates to a FIMS system which has a purging mechanism for cleaning an inside of the pod and in which the pod serving as an airtight container for containing the wafers, which is called a front-opening unified pod (FOUP), is placed and the wafers are put in and taken out from the pod for transfer of the wafer by opening/closing a lid of the pod, i.e., a lid opening/closing system.

#2. Related Background Art

#FIG. 1A is a schematic structural view of a lid opening/closing system, in other words, a load port, a pod, a lid of the pod, and a part of an opener according to a first embodiment mode of the present invention shown in a state of vertical section;

#FIG. 1B is a view of a load port opening portion 10 shown in FIG. 1A seen from a direction of the arrow 1B.

#FIG. 1C is an enlarged view of a region surrounded by a dotted line 1C shown in FIG. 1A of a curtain nozzle 12 and its adjacent structure.

#Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic structural view of a main part of a lid opening/closing system (FIMS, hereinafter referred to as a load port) according to a first embodiment of the present invention, that is a side-view cross section of a pod and the main part of the load port which holds the pod with a lid thereof in an open state. Note that the pod inherently includes various elements such as a rack for supporting wafers and a seal member located between the lid of the pod and the pod. Further, various elements are attached to a door and a base for supporting the pod. However, those members are not directly associated with the present invention, so the detailed illustration and description thereof will be omitted. It should be noted that in the present invention a wafer 1 described below corresponds to an object to be contained, a pod 2 corresponds to a storage container, a main body portion 2a corresponds to a main body defined to be substantially in the shape of a box because its basic shape is a box, and an opening 2b of the pod 2 corresponds to an opening defined to be substantially in the shape of a rectangular because its basic shape is a rectangular or square. A base 53 described below corresponds to a mount base on which the storage container is mounted.

#In FIG. 1A, inside a main body portion 2a of the pod 2 there is a space for storing wafers 1, each of which is an object to be processed. The main body portion 2a has a box shape and includes an opening provided in one of surfaces constituting the side surfaces of the main body. The pod 2 includes a lid 4 for closing the opening 2b of the main body portion 2a. The main body portion 2a includes therein a rack (not shown) having a plurality of shelves for stacking the wafers 1 which are horizontally held in a vertical direction. Each of the wafers 1 placed on the shelves is stored in the inside of the pod 2 at predetermined intervals. The opening side of the pod 2 is adapted to face and communicate with a load port opening portion 10 which is provided on the load port portion side of a transfer chamber of the load port, which will be described below. The lid 4 is adapted to be held by a port door 6 which normally closes the opening portion 10, and the lid 4 is caused to be moved by a drive mechanism (not shown) so that the opening of the pod 2 communicates with the transfer chamber 52 (shown as an open space).

#FIG. 1B illustrates a schematic structure of a load port opening portion 10 seen from the direction of the arrow 1B of FIG. 1A. FIG. 1C is an enlarged view of a region surrounded by a dotted line indicated by 1C shown in FIG. 1A. A curtain nozzle 12 is attached to an inner wall of a transfer chamber 52 above the load port opening portion 10. The curtain nozzle 12 has a nozzle main body 12a, a first nozzle opening 12b, and a second nozzle opening 12c. As illustrated in FIG. 1B, the nozzle main body 12a is formed of substantially a hollow pipe-like member which extends in one direction (the direction perpendicular to the plane of FIGS. 1A and 1C) and which has a length longer than the width of the load port opening portion 10. The inside of the hollow nozzle main body 12a is connected to a substantially pipe-like gas introduction path 13 for introducing inert gas or the like from an outside region to the inside. One end of the gas introduction path 13 is, as illustrated in the figure, connected to the nozzle main body 12a, while the other end of the gas introduction path 13 is connected to an inert gas introduction system (not shown). The inert gas introduction system can supply inert gas of a predetermined flow rate from a gas supply under a predetermined pressure to the gas introduction path 13.