# US 8,783,463 B2 · Wafer container with tubular environmental control components > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 8,783,463 B2 - Document ID: US8783463B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 12/922,408 - Filed: 2009-03-13 - Published: 2011-05-19 - Granted: 2014-07-22 - Earliest claimed: 2008-03-13 - Assignees: Entegris, Inc. - Applicants: James A. Watson; John Burns; Martin L. Forbes; Matthew A. Fuller; Mark V. Smith - Inventors: James A. Watson; John Burns; Martin L. Forbes; Matthew A. Fuller; Mark V. Smith - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US8783463B2 ## CPC - H10P 72/1926: {characterised by the presence of atmosphere modifying elements inside or attached to the closed carrier} - H10P: GENERIC PROCESSES OR APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF DEVICES COVERED BY CLASS H10 ## Abstract A wafer container utilizes a rigid polymer tubular tower with slots and a “getter” therein for absorbing and filtering moisture and vapors within the wafer container. The tower preferably utilizes a purge grommet at the base of the container and may have a check valve therein to control the flow direction of gas (including air) into and out of the container and with respect to the tower. The tower is sealingly connected with the grommet. The tower may have a getter media piece rolled in an elongate circular fashion forming or shaped as a tube and disposed within the tower and may have axially extending. The media can provide active and/or passive filtration as well as having capabilities to be recharged. Front opening wafer containers for 300 mm sized wafers generally have a pair of recesses on each of the left and right side in the inside rear of the container portions. These recesses are preferably utilized for elongate towers, such towers extending substantially from a bottom wafer position to a top wafer position. In alternative embodiment, a tubular shape of getter material is exposed within the front opening container without containment of the getter other than at the ends. The tubular getter form is preferably supported at discrete locations to maximize exposure to the internal container environment. A blocker member can selectively close the apertures. An elastomeric cap can facilitate securement of the tubular component in the container portion. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A front opening wafer container for wafers 300 mm and larger, the container comprising: a container portion having container wall that extends around a closed left side, a closed right side, a closed bottom, a closed top, and a closed backside defining an open interior, the container portion having a plurality of horizontal wafer shelves spaced apart, affixed therein and defining a generally cylindrical wafer receiving region in the open interior for holding a stack of horizontal spaced apart wafers seated in the shelves, a door frame defining an open front, wherein the container portion wall at the back side has a inwardly extending recess extending from the top of the container portion to the bottom of the container portion, at both lateral sides of the recess a protruding portion of the shell defines a pair of upright feet for seating the wafer container when the wafer container is rotated backwardly with the open front facing upwardly, the feet defining interior compartments, each compartment having a pair of opposing side wall portions, a back wall portion, two interior vertical corners, a top wall portion and a bottom wall portion; a door to fit in the open front and latchable to the door frame; at least one elongate tubular environmental control component, secured within one of said compartments and being spaced from the pair of side wall portions and the back wall portion, the elongate tubular environmental control component having a length and the length extending substantially a distance between the top wall portion and the bottom wall portion, wherein the elongate tubular environmental control component has an axis that is upright and the elongate tubular environmental control component is connected to the bottom of the container portion at a purge port that is offset from the axis of the tubular environmental control component. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The front opening wafer container of claim 1 wherein the elongate tubular environmental control component is comprised of two elongate portions, each elongate portion connected by a plurality of latches for securing the elongate portions together, the two portions defining a containment region. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The front opening wafer container of claim 2 wherein the two elongate portions together defining a containment portion and the containment portion contains at least one of a filtration material or a vapor absorbent material. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The front opening wafer container of claim 1 wherein the elongate tubular environmental control component has a containment portion with an interior and a plurality of apertures providing communication between the interior of the containment portion and the open interior of the container portion. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The front opening wafer container of claim 4 further comprising an elongate blocking member that is positionable on the tubular environmental control component to selectively obstruct the communication between the interior of the containment portion and the open interior of the container portion. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The front opening wafer container of claim 5 wherein the elongate blocking member is formed of an elastomeric material and the tubular environmental control component has attachment structure extending around the plurality of apertures and said blocking component resiliently engages to said attachment structure to sealingly block the communication between the interior of the containment portion and the open interior of the container portion. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The front opening wafer container of claim 1 wherein the elongate tubular environmental control component is comprised of two elongate portions defining a containment portion, and wherein the elongate tubular control component further comprises an elastomeric cap that resiliently expands to adheringly cover the top of the containment portion. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The front opening wafer container of claim 1 further comprising an additional elongate tubular environmental control component located in an interior compartment and wherein the two elongate tubular environmental control components are both connected to a purge inlets on the bottom of the wafer container, and wherein the wafer container has a further purge inlet positioned on the bottom of the wafer container proximate to the door frame, and further comprises a purge outlet on the bottom of the wafer container proximate the door frame. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The front opening wafer container of claim 1, wherein the elongate tubular environmental control component is comprises an elastomeric cap that resiliently expands to adheringly cover the top of the containment portion and wherein the cap has a shell engaging portion whereby the tubular environmental control component has two opposing ends and is secured at both ends to the container portion. ### Claim 10 A front opening wafer container for wafers 300 mm and larger, comprising: a container portion having container wall that extends around a closed left side, a closed right side, a closed bottom, a closed top, and a closed backside defining an open interior, the container portion having a plurality of horizontal wafer shelves spaced apart, affixed therein and defining a generally cylindrical wafer receiving region in the open interior for holding a stack of horizontal spaced apart wafers seated in the shelves, a door frame defining an open front, wherein the container portion wall at the back side has a pair of corner regions extending from the top of the container portion to the bottom of the container portion; a door to fit in the open front and latchable to the door frame; a pair of elongate tubular environmental control components positioned in the corner regions, each elongate tubular environmental control component having a containment portion with an interior and a plurality of apertures providing communication between the interior of the containment portion and the open interior of the container portion, and wherein each of the elongate tubular environmental control component has an axis that is upright and the elongate tubular environmental control component is connected to the bottom of the container portion at a purge port that is offset from the axis of the tubular environmental control component. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The front opening wafer container of claim 10 the pair of elongate tubular environmental control are spaced from the wall portions and the back side and the elongate tubular environmental control component has a length and the length extends substantially a distance between the top wall portion and the bottom wall portion. ### Claim 12 (depends on 10) The front opening wafer container of claim 10 wherein each elongate tubular environmental control component is comprised of two elongate portions, each elongate portion connected to the other by at least one of a plurality of latches and hinges, the two portions defining a containment portion. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The front opening wafer container of claim 12, further comprising an elongate blocking member that is positionable on at least one of the tubular environmental control component to selectively obstruct the communication between the interior of the containment portion and the open interior of the container portion. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The front opening wafer container of claim 13, wherein the elongate blocking member is formed of an elastomeric material and the tubular environmental control component has attachment structure extending around the plurality of apertures and said blocking component resiliently engages to said attachment structure to sealingly block the communication between the interior of the containment portion and the open interior of the container portion. ### Claim 15 (depends on 10) The front opening wafer container of claim 10 wherein the elongate tubular environmental control components are each comprised of two elongate portions defining a containment portion, and wherein the elongate tubular control component further comprises an elastomeric cap that resiliently expands to adheringly cover the top of the containment portion. ### Claim 16 (depends on 7) The front opening wafer container of claim 7 wherein the cap has a shell engaging portion whereby the tubular environmental control component has two opposing ends and is secured at both ends to the container portion. ### Claim 17 (depends on 10) The front opening wafer container of claim 10 wherein each of the containment portions has therein at least one of a filter material and an absorbent material. ### Claim 18 A front opening wafer container for wafers 300 mm and larger, the wafer container comprising: a container portion having container wall that extends around a closed left side, a closed right side, a closed bottom, a closed top, and a closed backside defining an open interior, the container portion having a plurality of horizontal wafer shelves spaced apart, affixed therein and defining a generally cylindrical wafer receiving region in the open interior for holding a stack of horizontal spaced apart wafers seated in the shelves, a door frame defining an open front, wherein the container portion wall at the back side has a pair of corner regions extending from the top of the container portion to the bottom of the container portion; a door to fit in the open front and latchable to the door frame; an elongate tubular environmental control component positioned in one of the corner regions, said elongate tubular environmental control component having a containment portion with an interior and a plurality of apertures providing communication between the interior of the containment portion and the open interior of the container portion, and wherein said elongate tubular environmental control component has an axis that is upright and the elongate tubular environmental control component is connected to the bottom of the container portion at a purge port that is offset from the axis of the tubular environmental control component, and wherein the elongate tubular environmental control component is comprised of two elongate portions, each elongate portion connected to the other by at least one of a plurality of latches and hinges, the two portions defining a containment portion. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The front opening wafer container of claim 18 wherein the containment portion has therein at least one of a filter material and an absorbent material. ### Claim 20 (depends on 18) The front opening wafer container of claim 18 further comprising an elongate blocking member that is positionable on the tubular environmental control component to selectively obstruct the communication between the interior of the containment portion and the open interior of the container portion. ### Claim 21 (depends on 20) The front opening wafer container of claim 20, wherein the elongate blocking member is formed of an elastomeric material and the tubular environmental control component has attachment structure extending around the plurality of apertures and said blocking component resiliently engages to said attachment structure to sealingly block the communication between the interior of the containment portion and the open interior of the container portion. ### Claim 22 (depends on 18) The front opening wafer container of claim 18 wherein the elongate tubular environmental control component is further comprised an elastomeric cap that resiliently expands to adheringly cover the top of the containment portion. ### Claim 23 (depends on 22) The front opening wafer container of claim 22 wherein the cap has a shell engaging portion whereby the tubular environmental control component has two opposing ends and is secured at both ends to the container portion. ### Claim 24 (depends on 18) The front opening wafer container of claim 18 wherein each of the containment portions has therein at least one of a filter material and an absorbent material. ### Claim 25 A front opening wafer container comprising: a container portion having container wall that extends around a closed left side, a closed right side, a closed bottom, a closed top, and a closed backside defining an open interior, the container portion having a plurality of horizontal wafer shelves spaced apart, affixed therein and defining a generally cylindrical wafer receiving region in the open interior for holding a stack of horizontal spaced apart wafers seated in the shelves, a door frame defining an open front, wherein the container portion wall at the back side has a pair of corner regions extending from the top of the container portion to the bottom of the container portion; a door to fit in the open front and latchable to the door frame; an elongate tubular environmental control component positioned in the container portion and extending substantially from the bottom of the container portion to the top of the container portion, said elongate tubular environmental control component having a containment portion with an interior and a plurality of apertures providing communication between the interior of the containment portion and the open interior of the container portion, and wherein said elongate tubular environmental control component has an axis that is upright and is connected to the bottom of the container portion at a purge port and wherein the elongate tubular environmental control component is further comprised of an elongate blocking member that is positionable on the tubular environmental control component to selectively obstruct the communication between the interior of the containment portion and the open interior of the container portion. ### Claim 26 (depends on 25) The front opening wafer container of claim 25 wherein the elongate blocking member is formed of an elastomeric material and the tubular environmental control component has attachment structure extending around the plurality of apertures and said blocking component resiliently engages to said attachment structure to sealingly block the communication between the interior of the containment portion and the open interior of the container portion. ### Claim 27 (depends on 25) The front opening wafer container of claim 25 wherein the elongate tubular environmental control component is further comprised a cap formed of elastomeric material that resiliently expands to adheringly cover the top of the containment portion. ### Claim 28 (depends on 27) The front opening wafer container of claim 27 wherein the cap has a shell engaging portion whereby the tubular environmental control component has two opposing ends and is secured at both ends to the container portion.