300 mm microenvironment pod with door on side
AssigneeEntegris, Inc.
InventorsBarry Gregerson, Gary Gallagher, Brian Wiseman
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A container for creating a microenvironment is disclosed. The container includes a shell, a door and a plurality of supports having a unique design which are used to securely retain items, such as silicon wafers, in a spaced apart parallel relationship. The supports are removable. An electrical path is provided to ground the supports. Kinematic coupling structures are also provided for positioning the container on a surface so as to, for example, properly align the door with the port of a wafer processing tool.
Claims45
A container for creating a microenvironment which protects items stored therein from damage, said container including:
- (a) a shell having an opening for insertion and removal of items from said shell, said shell made of a material which inherently possess a slightly negative electrical charge;
- (b) a pair of supports which cooperate to retain a plurality of items stored in the container in a parallel, spaced apart position with respect to each other;
- (c) a door for sealing said opening of said shell to prevent contamination of the items stored in said shell;
- and
- (d) means for creating an electrical path through which such supports are grounded so that particles within the shell are drawn away from said items and supports and toward the shell of said container.
A container for creating a microenvironment which protects items stored therein from damage, said container including:
- (a) a shell having an opening for insertion and removal of items from said shell;
- (b) a pair of supports which cooperate to retain a plurality of items stored in the container in a parallel, spaced apart position with respect to each other, each of said supports having a plurality of channels, each of said channels having a backside, at least a portion of which is curved in the circumferential direction;
- (c) a door for sealing said opening of said shell to prevent contamination of the items stored in said shell;
- and
- (d) means for kinematically coupling said container to another surface.
A container for creating a microenvironment which protects items being stored therein from damage, said container comprising:
- a shell including a shell opening, the shell comprising an inherently negatively charged material;
- a pair of grounded supports cooperating to retain a plurality of items stored in the container, said supports in a generally parallel, spaced apart position with respect to each other;
- and
- a door configured for sealing said shell opening.
A method of storing a plurality of items in a container, the container comprising a shell, a pair of grounded supports, and a door, the shell with a shell opening for insertion of the items into the shell and for removal of the items from the shell, the shell comprising an inherently negatively charged material, the supports cooperating to retain the plurality of items stored in the container in a generally parallel, spaced apart position with respect to each other, the door configured for sealing the shell opening, the method comprising:
- placing a first of the items into the shell;
- and
- sealing the shell opening with the door.
A method of making a container, comprising:
- forming a negatively charged shell with a shell opening;
- disposing a pair of electricly conductive supports in the shell;
- forming a door configured to seal the shell opening;
- and
- grounding the supports.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.