Pod clamping unit in pod opener, pod corresponding to pod clamping unit, and clamping mechanism and clamping method using pod clamping unit

• US 20050095098A1
• Filed: 10/21/2004
• Published: 05/05/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 10/23/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: TDK Corporation
• Original Assignee: TDK Corporation
• Inventors: Miyajima, Toshihiko, Emoto, Jun, Okabe, Tsutomu
• Granted Patent: US 7,621,714 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 414/411
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67379 characterised by coupling elements, kinematic members, handles or elements to be externally gripped
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67772 involving removal of lid, door, cover
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67775 Docking arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 414/139 including wafer charging or discharging means for vacuum chamber

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to provide a clamping mechanism and the like, which have no likelihood of contacting the under surface of a pod when the pod is mounted on a mounting board at a loading port. To achieve the object, as an unit for clamping the pod, it is configured to comprise a clamp arm capable of nipping a clamped portion of the pod in its top end portion, a clamp member drive mechanism for performing the nipping and releasing operations of the clamp arm, and a lifting mechanism for moving up and down each clamp arm together the clamp member drive mechanism for the mounting board surface. At that time, an inclined surface having a predetermined angle for up and down directions is formed in the lower part end portion of the top end in at least one from among the clamp arms.

Claims

1. A pod clamping unit for fixing a pod to a mounting board in a pod opener, which has a pod main body to open at one side and a lid to open and close said opening and, at the same time, fixes the pod capable of accommodating a wafer in its interior on a mounting board surface and opens and closes said lid so that the inserting and taking out of said wafer into and from the interior of said pod is made possible,

said pod clamping unit, comprising:

a horizontal cylinder which is fixed to the rear surface of said mounting board and supports one end of a horizontal cylinder rod, and at the same time, expands and contracts said horizontal cylinder rod in a first direction;

a vertical cylinder, which is fixed to the other end of said horizontal cylinder rod and supports one end of a vertical cylinder rod and, at the same time, expands and contacts said vertical cylinder rod in a second direction; and

a clamp member fixed to the other end of said vertical cylinder rod;

wherein said mounting board is further insertable with said vertical cylinder rod and comprises an opening which makes it possible that said clamp member exists in the surface side of said mounting board, and

wherein said clamp member, in a state where said vertical cylinder rod is shrunk, is positioned at a predetermined height from said mounting board surface, which does not contact with a bottom face of said pod when said pod is mounted on said mounting board surface.

2. A pod clamping mechanism, comprising:

the pod clamping unit according to claim 1 and an engaging concave portion provided in the bottom face of said pod,

said engaging concave portion comprising;

an engaging hole having an inner depth capable of accommodating said clamp member in a predetermined depth, an opening portion communicating to said engaging hole having a width approachable by said clamp member, and a clamped portion which is engageable with a part of said clamp portion by said clamp member being driven in said first direction and is neighbored to said opening portion so as to close a part of said engaging hole.

3. A pod, which has a pod main body to open at one side and a lid to open and close an opening and, at the same time, is capable of accommodating a wafer in its interior,

wherein said pod comprises an engaging concave portion used when mounted on the mounting board and fixed to said mounting board in a pod opener which opens and closes the lid so that the inserting and taking out of said wafer into and from the interior of said pod is made possible, and

wherein said engaging concave portion comprises:

an engaging hole having an inner depth capable of accommodating the clamp member in said pod opener in a predetermined depth;

an opening portion communicating with said engaging hole having a width approachable by said clamp member, and the clamped portion, which is engageable with a part of said clamp portion by said clamp member being driven in a first direction and is neighbored to said opening portion so as to close a part of said engaging hole.

4. A pod clamping method for fixing a pod to a mounting board in a pod opener, which has a pod main body to open at one side and a lid to open and close said opening, and at the same time, fixes the pod capable of accommodating a wafer in its interior on the mounting board surface and opens and closes said lid so that the inserting and taking out of said wafer into and from the interior of said pod is made possible,

said pod clamping method comprises the steps of:

mounting said pod on a predetermined position on the surface of said mounting board;

protruding the clamp member arranged on said mounting board to the engaging concave portion provided in the bottom face of said pod from said mounting board surface by using a first cylinder;

moving said clamp member and the first cylinder in a predetermined direction by using a second cylinder; and

engaging the clamped portion neighbored to the opening portion of said engaging concave portion with said clamp member by moving said clamp member in a direction reverse to a direction to allow said clamp member to protrude by using said first cylinder.

5. A pod clamping unit for fixing a pod to a mounting board in a pod opener, which has a pod main body to open at one side and a lid to open and close said opening, and at the same time, fixes the pod capable of accommodating a wafer in its interior on the mounting board surface and opens and closes said lid so that the inserting and taking out of said wafer into and from the interior of said pod is made possible,

said pod clamping unit comprises:

a pair of clamp members, which expands in a direction approximately parallel to the under surface of said pod, and comprises a clamp arm capable of nipping a member in its top end portion, respectively;

a clamp member drive mechanism, which is connected to said pair of clamp members and allows the operation of nipping and releasing said clamp arm to be performed; and

a lifting mechanism, which drives said pair of clamp members together with said clamp member drive mechanism, and allows each said clamp arm to move up and down for said mounting board surface;

wherein a clamp inclined portion having a predetermined angle for up and down directions is formed on the surface reverse to the surface opposing said pod in at least one among said clamp arms.

6. The pod clamping unit according to claim 5, wherein said inclined surface is formed in the top end portion of said clamp arm.

7. The pod clamping unit according to claim 5, wherein said clamp arm is arranged with each top end portion opposed to each other.

8. The pod clamping unit according to claim 5, wherein said clamp member drive mechanism is operated by an pressurized air.

9. A pod clamping mechanism comprising the pod clamping unit according to claim 5, the engaging concave portion provided in the bottom face of said pod,

wherein said engaging concave portion has an engaging hole having an inner depth capable of accommodating in a predetermined depth at least one from among said clamp arms formed in the inner depth direction of said pod from said pod bottom face;

and a clamped portion which is protruded toward the center of said engaging hole as if to narrow the opening in the opening portion of said engaging hole and defines a size of said opening to be a width approachable by said nipping portion,

wherein said clamped portion is included in one side wall of said engaging concave portion and is nipped by said each clamp arm, and

wherein said pod clamping mechanism further comprises a clamped inclined surface, which is engageable with the clamp arm having said clamp inclined portion by said each clamp arm driven in a direction to face with each other, and which is abuttable against said clamp inclined portion provided in said one side wall of said engaging concave portion.

10. The pod clamping mechanism according to claim 9, wherein said clamp inclined surface is formed toward the interior of said engaging concave portion.

11. The pod clamping mechanism according to claim 9, wherein said mounting board surface has a hole passable by said each clamp arm, and said clamp member drive mechanism exists in the rear surface of said mounting board.

12. A pod fixed to said mounting board by the pod clamping unit according to claim 5 comprising:

an engaging hole which is formed in an inner depth direction of said pod from the bottom face of said pod and has an inner depth capable of accommodating at least one from among said clamp arms in a predetermined depth, and an engaging concave portion comprising an clamped portion, which protrudes toward the center of said engaging hole as if to narrow the opening in the opening portion of said engaging hole and defines said opening to be a width approachable by said nipping portion and, at the same time, is nipped by said each clamp arm,

wherein said clamped portion further comprises a clamped inclined surface, which is engageable with the clamp arm having said clamp inclined portion by said each clamp arm driven in a direction to face with each other, and which is abuttable against said clamp inclined portion provided in said one side wall of said engaging concave portion.

13. A pod clamping method for fixing a pod to a mounting board in a pod opener, which has a pod main body to open at one side and a lid to open and close said opening, and at the same time, fixes the pod capable of accommodating a wafer in its interior on the mounting board surface and opens and closes said lid so that the inserting and taking out of said wafer into and from the interior of said pod is made possible,

said pod clamping method comprises the steps of:

mounting said pod on a predetermined position on the surface of said mounting board;

protruding a plurality of clamp arms arranged at the lower part from the surface of said mounting board to the surface of said mounting board in the engaging concave portion provided in the pod bottom face from said mounting board surface, and

nipping the clamped portion provided in one side surface of said engaging concave portion by driving said plurality of clamp arms,

wherein the clamped inclined surface to rise up by having a predetermined angle for said mounting board surface possessed by said clamped portion and the inclined surface to move downward by having said predetermined angle possessed by at least one clamp arm from among a plurality of clamp arms abut against each other in the step of nipping said clamped portion.

14. A pod clamping unit for fixing a pod to a mounting board in a pod opener, which has a pod main body to open at one side and a lid to open and close said opening, and at the same time, fixes the pod capable of accommodating a wafer in its interior on the mounting board surface and opens and closes said lid so that the inserting and taking out of said wafer into and from the interior of said pod is made possible,

wherein said pod clamping unit comprises an inner space at the upper end portion, and further comprises a clamp member opening and closing cylinder capable of moving up and down for the surface of said mounting board and a plurality of clamp members accommodated in said inner space,

wherein said inner space communicates with the same number of plurality of clamp member protruded openings as said clamp members arranged in an approximate radial pattern with the axis of the clamp member opening and closing cylinder as a center in a flat surface approximately orthogonal to up and down directions of said clamp member opening and closing cylinder, and

wherein said plurality of clamp members, independently from the up and down movements of said clamp member opening and closing cylinder, are driven in such a manner to have its one part protruded from said clamp member protruded opening.

15. The pod clamping unit according to claim 14, wherein said clamp member opening and closing cylinder maintains an opening and closing piston in a space communicated to the lower part of said inner space, and pushes out said clamp member toward said clamp member protruded opening from said inner space by a lifting operation of said opening and closing piston toward said inner space.

16. The pod clamping unit according to claim 14, wherein said clamp member opening and closing cylinder is supported by the lifting piston held in the inner space provided in the clamp member lifting cylinder arranged at its lower part, and performs up and down movements for the surface of said mounting board accompanied with the up and down movement of said lifting piston.

17. The pod clamping unit according to claim 14, wherein said clamp member comprises a metal ball.

18. A pod clamping mechanism comprising the pod clamping unit according to claim 14, and the engaging concave portion provided in the bottom face of said pod,

wherein said engaging concave portion has an engaging hole which has an inner depth capable of accommodating said clamp member opening and closing cylinder upper portion in a predetermined depth and an inner width capable of accommodating said clamp member opening and closing cylinder in a protruded state of said clamp member, and a clamped portion which protrudes toward the center of said engaging hole as if to narrow an opening in the opening portion of said engaging hole, and defines said opening to be a width approachable by said clamp member opening and closing cylinder, and at the same time, unapproachable by said clamp member opening and closing cylinder in a protrude state of said clamp member.

19. The pod clamping mechanism according to claim 18, wherein said mounting board surface has a hole passable by the upper end portion of said clamp member opening and closing cylinder formed.

20. A pod, which has a pod main body to open at one side and a lid to open and close said opening, and at the same time, is capable of accommodating a wafer in its interior,

wherein said pod comprises an engaging concave portion used when mounted on the mounting board and fixed to said mounting board in a pod opener which opens and closes said lid so that the inserting and taking out of said wafer into and from the interior of said pod is made possible, and

wherein said engaging concave portion comprises an engaging hole formed in its interior direction from the bottom face of said pod which is capable of accommodating the clamping unit in said pod opener in a predetermined depth

and, at the same time, has an inner depth capable of performing the clamping operation in its interior for fixing said pod to said mounting board by said clamping unit, and a clamped portion which protrudes toward the center of said engaging hole as if to narrow an opening in the opening portion of said engaging hole and defines said opening portion to be approachable by said clamping unit, and at the same time, unapproachable in a state where said clamping unit performs said clamping operation,

wherein the end portion of said engaging concave portion innermost side, which is a periphery of said opening portion in said clamped portion, has an inclined surface to narrow the opening as proceeding toward the opening side.

21. A pod clamping method for fixing a pod to a mounting board in a pod opener, which has a pod main body to open at one side and a lid to open and close said opening and, at the same time, fixes the pod capable of accommodating a wafer in its interior on the mounting board surface and opens and closes said lid so that the inserting and taking out of said wafer into and from the interior of said pod is made possible,

said pod clamping method comprises the steps of:

mounting said pod on a predetermined position on the surface of said mounting board;

allowing the clamp member opening and closing cylinder arranged at the lower part from said mounting board surface to approach to the engaging concave portion provided in said pod bottom face from said mounting board surface;

protruding a part of the clamp member from the opening portion provided in an approximate radial pattern with the axis of said clamp member opening and closing cylinder as a center in said clamp member opening and closing cylinder top end portion; and

pulling back said clamp member opening and closing cylinder to said mounting board surface side in a protruded state of a part of said clamp member.

22. A pod clamping unit for fixing a pod to a mounting board in a pod opener, which has a pod main body to open at one side and a lid to open and close said opening and, at the same time, fixes the pod capable of accommodating a wafer in its interior on the mounting board surface and opens and closes said lid so that the inserting and taking out of said wafer into and from the interior of said pod is made possible,

said pod clamping unit, comprising:

a clamp member opening and closing cylinder capable of moving up and down in a vertical direction to the surface of said mounting board;

a pair of clamp members which is rotatably supported in the one end portion by said clamp member opening and closing cylinder and has a clamp portion in the other end portion and, moreover, has a slide pin embedded in a direction orthogonal to its expanded surface; and

a link having a long hole and said long hole being inserted with each of the slide pin in said pair of clamp members,

wherein a pair of said clamp members are driven through said slide pin by driving said link, and said clamp member opening and closing cylinder can move down for a predetermined amount when said clamp member takes a predetermined clamping posture.

23. The pod clamping unit according to claim 22, wherein said clamp member opening and closing cylinder holds the opening and closing piston capable of moving up and down in its axial direction, and said link is connected to said opening and closing piston so as to be driven according to the up and down movement of said opening and closing piston.

24. The pod clamping unit according to claim 22, wherein said clamp member opening and closing cylinder is supported by the lifting piston held in the inner space provided in the clamp member lifting cylinder arranged at its lower part, and the clamp member put into said clamping posture moves between a clamping position and a non-clamping position accompanied with the up and down movement of said lifting piston.

25. The pod clamping unit according to claim 22, wherein said clamp member comprises a straight-line portion in which said slide pin is embedded, a bent portion which is connected to one end of said straight-line portion and is bent in a predetermined direction to expand and, at the same time, is rotatably supported by said clamp member opening and closing cylinder, and said clamp member which is connected to the other end of said straight-line portion and expands approximately in the same direction as said bent portion.

26. A pod clamping mechanism comprising the pod clamping unit according to claim 22 and an engaging concave portion provided in the bottom face of said pod,

wherein said engaging concave portion comprises an engaging hole having an inner depth capable of accommodating said clamp portion in a predetermined depth when said clamp member is in said clamping posture, and the clamped portion which protrudes toward the center of said engaging hole as if to narrow an opening in the opening portion of said engaging hole and defines said opening to be a width approachable only when said clamp member is in the process of taking said clamping posture by the driving of said link.

27. The pod clamping mechanism according to claim 26, wherein said mounting board surface is formed with a hole having approximately the same size as said opening portion, and said clamp member approaches to said engaging hole from a stand-by position in said mounting board through said hole.

28. A pod clamping method for fixing a pod to a mounting board in a pod opener, which has a pod main body to open at one side and a lid to open and close said opening and, at the same time, fixes the pod capable of accommodating a wafer in its interior on the mounting board surface and opens and closes said lid so that the inserting and taking out of said wafer into and from the interior of said pod is made possible,

said pod clamping method comprises the steps of:

mounting said pod on a predetermined position on the surface of said mounting board;

protruding a pair of rotatable clamp members to the interior of an engaging concave portion provided in the bottom face of said pod from said mounting board surface by rotating the rotatable pair arranged at the lower part from said mounting board and, moreover, connected by a link so as to enable it to take a clamping posture; and

moving a pair of clamp members in said clamping posture in a predetermined direction and engaging a clamped portion defining the opening portion of said engaging concave portion and said clamp portion.

29. A pod clamping unit for fixing a pod to a mounting board in a pod opener, which has a pod main body to open at one side and a lid to open and close said opening and, at the same time, fixes the pod capable of accommodating a wafer in its interior on the mounting board surface and opens and closes said lid so that the inserting and taking out of said wafer into and from the interior of said pod is made possible,

said pod clamping unit, comprising:

a bar-shaped lifting piston capable of moving up and down for the surface of said mounting board;

a clamp pin cylinder fixed to the upper end portion of said lifting piston; and

an approximate bar-shaped clamp member which is accommodated in said clamp pin cylinder, and is expandable and contactable in a direction orthogonal to said up and down directions,

wherein the expanding and contracting operations of said clamp member can be executed only when said lifting piston exists in its lifting position and in its vicinity.

30. The pod clamping unit according to claim 29, wherein said clamp member is accommodated by a space capable of accommodating a part of said clamp member provided in said clamp pin cylinder, and the expanding and contracting operations of said clamp member are performed by introducing and discharging a pressurized medium into said space.

31. The pod claming unit according to claim 29, wherein said lifting piston has its non accommodated portion expandably and contractably supported in up and down directions by the lifting piston cylinder accommodating the under part of said lifting piston, and said lifting piston cylinder is fixed to said mounting board.

32. A pod clamping mechanism comprising the pod clamping unit according to claim 29 and an engaging concave portion provided in the bottom face of said pod,

said engaging concave portion, comprising:

an engaging hole having an inner depth capable of accommodating said clamp pin cylinder in a predetermined depth and an inner depth capable of accommodating said clamp pin cylinder in a protruded state of said clamp member, and an clamped port which protrudes toward the center of said engaging hole as if to narrow an opening in the opening portion of said engaging hole and defines said opening to be approachable by said clamp pin cylinder and, at the same time, unapproachable by said clamp pin cylinder in a protruded state of said clamp pin.

33. The pod clamping mechanism according to claim 32, wherein said mounting board surface is formed with a hole passable by said clamp pin cylinder.

34. A pod clamping method for fixing a pod to a mounting board in a pod opener, which has a pod main body to open at one side and a lid to open and close said opening and, at the same time, fixes the pod capable of accommodating a wafer in its interior on the mounting board surface and opens and closes said lid so that the inserting and taking out of said wafer into and from the interior of said pod is made possible,

said pod clamping method comprises the steps of:

mounting said pod on a predetermined position on the surface of said mounting board;

allowing the clamp pin cylinder arranged at the lower part from said mounting board surface to approach to the engaging concave portion provided in said pod bottom face from said mounting board surface;

protruding a part of the clamp member accommodated in said clamp pin cylinder to a predetermined direction; and

pulling back said clamp pin cylinder in a protruding state of said clamp member to said mounting board surface side.