Clean air room for a semiconductor factory

• US 5,096,477 A
• Filed: 07/23/1990
• Issued: 03/17/1992
• Est. Priority Date: 04/05/1990
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha NMB Semiconductor
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha NMB Semiconductor
• Inventors: Yamashita, Tetsuo, Shinoda, Shousuke, Sugihara, Yukio, Matsumoto, Yoshihiro
• Primary Examiner(s): Chiesa, Richard L.
• Application Number:
  US07/555,647
• Time in Patent Office: 603 Days
• Field of Search: 55/385.1, 55/385.2, 55/467, 55/472, 55/97, 98/31.5, 98/34.6, 98/36, 98/31.6
• US Class Current: 55/385.2
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 3/167 Clean rooms, i.e. enclosed spaces in which a uniform flow of filtered air is distributed air distribution by perforated walls F24F7/10

Abstract

A clean air room for a semiconductor factory includes a plurality of clean air boxes placed in side-by-side relation and each designed for its own processing step, an air conditioning equipment including a fresh-air regulator for controlling a supply of fresh-air to the clean air boxes, and fan filter units for supplying the air under pressure, the clean air boxes having clean air chambers of which environment is maintained to a predetermined degree of cleanliness in response to the fan filter units and defining an air circulating path extending through the clean air chambers, the clean air chambers including low clean air chambers and an ultra clean air chamber divided by common side walls of the clean air boxes, the low clean air chambers having operating zones and the ultra clean air chamber having a transfer robot therein, and semiconductor processors extending through the common side walls and having processing stations, the processing stations being located at least within the ultra clean air chamber. The ultra clean air chamber includes partitions between which the transfer robot is movable, and the partitions and the common side walls cooperate to form small chambers, the partitions having openings through which an arm of the robot is moved into and out of the small chambers.

Claims

1. A clean air room for a semiconductor factory comprising:

a plurality of clean air boxes formed by partitioning an upper section of a room with vertical walls, each placed in side-by-side relation and blocked of by a top wall and an inner wall, each clean air box being designed for its own processing step;

air conditioning equipment comprising a fresh air regulator for controlling a supply of fresh air to said clean air boxes, and a fan filter unit for controlling pressure and blowing air into each clean air box, wherein said fan filter unit is positioned below said upper section;

clean air chambers for providing laminar air flow into the clean air boxes, said clean air chambers being formed from said top wall and a bottom wall, in which a predetermined degree of cleanliness is maintained by means of fan filter units;

a passage provided outside of an inner wall through which air circulates by passing from a common lower section located under the bottom wall to the upper section of each clean air box which is divided by said inner wall;

said clean air chambers comprising low clean air chambers for accommodating operation zones and ultra clean air chambers for accommodating a transfer robot, divided by common side walls, semiconductor processing apparatus being disposed beneath said common sidewalls, wherein processing stations of said processing apparatuses are located at least partially in said ultra clean air chamber.

2. The clean air room of claim 1, further comprising partitions which divide the ultra clean chamber, said partitions and said common side walls defining small chambers, and said partitions containing openings through which an arm of said transfer robot may enter.

3. The clean air room of claim 1, wherein said laminar air flow is vertical.

4. The clean air room of claim 1, wherein the clean air room encompasses an entire interior space of a building.