JPH092564A - Disk case - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To facilitate uniform processing of disks without causing deformation in a heat-treating atmosphere by constituting a pair of opposite side walls of an upper coupling, an intermediate support and a lower support, making openings between these members, and providing coupling pieces between the respective members with predetermined intervals. CONSTITUTION: A disk case to be used at the time for processing disks such as silicon wafers has an upper opening 2 and a lower opening, wherein a pair of opposite side walls comprise a lower support 6 for supporting a lower end face of the disk 1, an intermediate support 5 for supporting a side end of the disk and an upper coupling 4 provided on the upper opening 2. These three members are separated from one another via an opening 9, while the opening 9 is equipped with coupling pieces 20 for coupling these members. The lower and intermediate supports 6, 5 are formed with recessed grooves 11, 13 having a predetermined width continuously for supporting the disk 1 via a predetermined interval. Further, the upper coupling 4 is formed with a tapered guide groove 7.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention holds a disk vertically such that it is used for moving or storing the disk such as a silicon wafer or a hard disk substrate, or used for processing the disk. Disc case.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art It is important to secure the surface smoothness of a disk such as a silicon wafer or a hard disk substrate in order to obtain reliability of operation of an integrated circuit, a hard disk or the like. However, the discs are easily damaged and the thickness is as thin as 0.6 to 1.5 mm, so dozens of discs are spaced so that they will not be damaged by mutual contact or contact with others during handling. It is housed in a disk case that holds it open, moved, stored, and processed.

Various cases have already been proposed as such cases. For example, the actual Kaihei 4-131938
There is a number. This is because the shape of the ribs forming the grooves is devised in order to prevent the wafers from being erroneously housed in the same groove when the wafer is housed in the groove provided so as to face the side surface of the case. However, in this case, since there is no open part on the side surface, when this case is housed in a chemical tank or furnace and subjected to necessary processing, the circulation of the chemical solution and the thermal atmosphere inside the case becomes insufficient, It becomes difficult to uniformly treat the disk surface. It is proposed to improve this point and to provide an opening on the side surface of the case so that the processing fluid can flow into the inside of the case. As an example of this, Japanese Patent Publication No. 3-500713, Shokai 61-494.
There is No. 50. However, in the former case, the case is deformed when the wafer is subjected to high temperature treatment especially in a chemical solution, and also when the case is molded, the case is bent and a compressive force is applied to the edge of the wafer. Although it may be damaged, the shape of the case is devised to prevent such a case, and the case is resistant to bending and distortion. As a result, one side surface has a structure with no specially shaped opening, and the other side opening also has an elongated shape provided in the groove between the ribs supporting the disk,
When the disk is housed, the opening is blocked, which is not sufficient for uniform fluidization of the processing fluid.

Also, in the latter, there is an opening at the lower part of the side wall, but since this opening is also provided only between the ribs that support the disk as in the former, when the disk is stored, that disk is stored. Results in blocking the opening, and there is no opening in the side wall itself, and the fluidity in the latter case is insufficient.

Further, an assembly type case such as Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 59-56737 has been proposed. Although such a case can be said to be suitable for uniform fluidization of the processing fluid, it has a problem in dimensional accuracy during assembly and is unsuitable as a disk case requiring a high degree of precision. In addition, in terms of cost, it is more advantageous to integrally mold.

[0006]

Under the circumstances, the present invention can be integrally molded with a predetermined dimensional accuracy.
In addition, even when the disk is treated with a chemical agent at a high temperature or in a heat treatment atmosphere, the disk is not deformed so as to impair the dimensional accuracy, and the disk can be uniformly processed so that its high quality can be ensured. An object of the present invention is to provide a disk case that allows a processing fluid to flow uniformly.

[0007]

As a result of extensive studies on the shape of the disk case, the present inventor opened the upper and lower sides of the disk case, and provided a pair of opposed side walls with an upper connecting portion and an intermediate support. Part and a lower support part, and an opening is provided between these members, and an opening is provided except for the lower support part and the intermediate support part for vertically supporting the disk to ensure uniform fluidity of the processing fluid. In order to secure the dimensional accuracy at the time of molding the case, and to increase the rigidity of the case with a large opening, a connecting piece is provided at a predetermined interval between the members to solve the above problems. The inventors have found that they can obtain the present invention and have reached the present invention.

That is, the present invention is a disc case for vertically holding a large number of discs with a predetermined interval, which has an upper opening and a lower opening, and a pair of opposing side walls have a lower end surface of the disc. A lower support portion for supporting the disc, an intermediate support portion for supporting the disc side end portion, and an upper connection portion provided in the upper opening portion, and these three members are separated via the opening portion, A connecting piece for connecting the members to enhance the rigidity of the disk case is provided in the opening, and a groove having a predetermined width for supporting the disk at a predetermined interval is continuously formed in the lower support section and the intermediate support section. Formed in
The gist of the present invention is a disk case, which is manufactured by integral molding with resin.

In the disc case of the present invention, the lower support portion and the intermediate support portion are continuously provided with a recessed groove having a predetermined width for supporting the disc at a predetermined interval so that the disc is accommodated in a normal posture. It is preferable that a wide inclined surface (taper) is formed above the groove so as to guide the disk when the disk is inserted into the groove.

Further, in a preferred embodiment of the disk case of the present invention, a guide groove, which is preferably tapered, is formed in the upper connecting portion to facilitate the insertion of the disk. Further, it is more preferable to penetrate the bottom of the guide groove to form an opening.

Further, in another preferred embodiment, it is preferable that the interval between the disc guide grooves facing each other in the upper coupling portion is shorter than the interval between the concave grooves facing each other in the intermediate support portion. In the above-mentioned conventional technique (Japanese Patent Publication No. 3-500713 and No. 61-49450), opposing grooves for guiding and supporting the disc are formed vertically, and their intervals are the same. . By the way, the disk case
The side wall forming each groove is also slightly deformed due to deformation during molding and deformation due to thermal expansion due to being exposed to a high temperature when the disk is processed. A certain clearance is required between the disc and the groove so that the disc is not damaged by the influence of this deformation. However, in order to secure sufficient clearance and to securely store it in a predetermined support groove in a normal posture when inserting the disc, increase the height of the disc guide rib of the upper connecting portion by the amount of ensuring the clearance. Need to do. However, if the height of the rib is increased, the amount of deformation during molding of the case (during cooling) increases, and it becomes difficult to achieve a predetermined dimensional accuracy.

Therefore, in a preferred embodiment of the disc case of the present invention, the height of the disc guide ribs of the upper connecting portion is minimized, while the distance between the opposing guide grooves formed by the guide ribs is set to the above-mentioned clearance. It was possible to overcome the problems of deformation and clearance at the time of molding of the disk case by making the gap shorter than the interval between the facing concave grooves of the intermediate supporting portion which secured the above. This is possible only if the upper connecting portion can guide the disc in a normal posture when the disc is inserted. Since the upper connecting portion does not come into contact with the disc after the disc is stored, the above-mentioned clearance at the time of thermal expansion in the upper connecting portion. This is because it is not necessary to consider securing

Further, in the disc case of the present invention, it is preferable that the groove width of the intermediate supporting portion is narrower than the groove width of the lower supporting portion.

The thickness of the disk is approximately 0.6 to 1.6.
Since the groove is used in the range of mm, the groove of the lower supporting portion of the disk case needs to have a width such that the groove having the maximum thickness can make surface contact with the bottom of the groove at its thickness surface. This is because the operation of storing the disc in the disc case is automated, and in the case of the disc case of the present invention, for example, when the disc is lowered from the opening above the case by a robot and is guided by the guide groove of the upper coupling part. It is possible to release the disc and free-fall it and insert it into a predetermined concave groove of the intermediate supporting portion and a predetermined concave groove of the lower supporting portion. At this time, it is important that the thickness surface of the dropped disk is brought into surface contact with the concave groove and not the edge of the disk surface. This is because if the edge of the disk surface comes into contact with the groove when the disk is dropped, the impact of the drop may damage the edge of the disk surface. This is because there is a risk of
However, since the impact of the groove of the intermediate support portion is not as great as that of the lower support portion and it does not support the weight of the disc like the lower support portion, the width of the groove of this support portion is lower. Even if the groove is narrower than the groove of the side supporting portion and is supported by the point contact of the end portion of the disk surface, there is no possibility of damaging the disk. The concave groove is provided with a draft for smooth demolding of the disc case itself after molding, but by narrowing the groove width of the intermediate support portion,
Since the expansion of the width of the concave groove due to this draft can be limited, it is possible to suppress rattling that may damage the disk housed in the concave groove, and the disk is not a predetermined concave groove and different. It is possible to prevent erroneous storage in the groove.

Further, in the disk case of the present invention, it is preferable that the pair of opposite side walls is notched in a U-shape. As a result, the fluidity of the processing fluid is further homogenized in the disc case of the present invention, so that a disc of uniform quality can be obtained.

The disk case of the present invention can be manufactured by a usual injection molding method. The material is preferably a heat resistant or chemical resistant resin that can withstand the conditions for treating the disk. For example, polyamide, LCP (thermotropic liquid crystal polymer), polyetheretherketone (PEEK), polyetherketone (PEK), P
EEK-based alloy resin (for example, PEEK / thermotropic liquid crystal polymer, PEEK / polybenzimidazole (PBI), etc.), polybenzimidazole (PB
I), polyphenylene sulfide (PPS), polyether sulfone (PES), polyether imide (PE)
I), a fluororesin such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), and the like.

The disk used in the disk case of the present invention is, for example, a silicon wafer or an aluminum substrate for a hard disk. Using the disc case of the present invention, these discs can be stored and safely moved, stored and transported. In addition, it is possible to receive various necessary processes in the state of being housed in the disc case. For example, in the case of a silicon wafer, it is treated with various liquids, gases or high temperatures. Further, for a disk for a hard disk substrate, a disk made of aluminum is put in a heating furnace to remove the distortion. The disk case of the present invention, in its preferred embodiment,
In order to prevent the disc from being damaged by the effect of thermal expansion even at such a high temperature, a sufficient clearance can be secured between the recessed grooves of the facing intermediate support portion with the accommodated disc, while Dimensional accuracy is maintained by relatively narrowing the gap between the guide grooves of the facing upper connecting part (without increasing the height of the guide ribs) so that the guides can be smoothly guided and stored in the predetermined groove. Therefore, it is particularly suitable for high temperature treatment such as annealing treatment.

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the disc case of the present invention and the discs housed therein. In FIG.
Reference numeral 1 is a disc, 2 is an upper opening, 3 is a side wall, 4, 5 and 6 are side walls 3, and each of them is an upper coupling portion 4, an intermediate support portion 5 for supporting a side end portion of the disc, and a side end surface of the disc. Is a lower support portion 6 for supporting the. 6 is inclined with respect to the lower opening 17. Reference numeral 7 is a guide rib which constitutes a guide groove for guiding the disc provided in the upper coupling portion, and the guide rib is preferably formed in a tapered shape 8 so that the disc can be smoothly stored in a predetermined position in a normal posture. It

Reference numeral 9 is an opening provided at the bottom of each guide groove for facilitating the flow of the processing fluid, 10 is a lateral beam connecting the guide ribs, and 11 is a rib forming a groove provided in the intermediate support portion. The rib is chamfered on the inclined surface 12 so that the upper part of the rib is wide so that the disk is smoothly guided to the groove. Reference numeral 13 is a rib that forms a groove provided in the lower support portion, and in this rib as well as the groove of the intermediate support portion, in order to make the guide of the disk smooth, an inclined surface 15 from the upper surface 14 toward the bottom portion is provided. Is chamfered by. Reference numeral 16 is another opposite side wall, which is largely cut out in a U shape. Then, the width of the concave groove between the ribs 13 of the lower support portion is
The width of the groove between the ribs 11 of the intermediate support portion is wider than that of the groove so that the end surface (circumferential surface) of the thick disk can make surface contact with the groove bottom.

Furthermore, 18 is an opening between the upper connecting portion and the intermediate supporting portion, and 19 is an opening between the intermediate supporting portion and the lower supporting portion. As described above, in the disc case of the present invention, large openings are provided in the vertical and lateral directions in order to improve the fluidity of the fluid for processing the accommodated disc, but the reduction of the rigidity of the disc case due to this is prevented. Therefore, the connecting pieces 20 are provided in these openings. Not only can the rigidity of the case be improved by the connecting piece 20, but the connecting piece forms a resin flow path at the time of molding, and a disk case having a complicated shape with many openings and ribs can be formed with a predetermined dimensional accuracy. It can be molded.

FIG. 2 is a side view taken in the direction of arrow A in FIG.
FIG. 1B is a sectional view taken along the line in FIG. 1B. The distance between the recessed grooves between the opposing ribs of the intermediate support portion shown in FIG. 3a is slightly wider than the distance between the guide grooves of the upper coupling portion shown in b.

Further, FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a state in which the disc is supported in the concave groove of the lower support portion, and FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the state in which the disc is supported in the concave groove of the intermediate support portion. It is a figure. In this way, the width d of the concave groove of the intermediate support portion is made narrower than the width c of the concave groove of the lower support portion.

When the disk case having the above-mentioned shape is used, even if the disk is lowered from the upper side of the case and is allowed to fall freely when it reaches the guide rib of the upper connecting portion, the disk is guided by the guide groove and the intermediate supporting portion is provided. Since it can be stored in the respective predetermined grooves of the lower support portion in a normal posture without being damaged, the work of storing the disc in the disc case can be remarkably efficient.

[0025]

As described above, the disc case of the present invention has a structure in which the upper and lower sides are entirely open, and the side wall portion is also a large opening except for the upper connecting portion for guiding the disc and the supporting portion. Moreover, these openings do not block the openings even when the disks are stored, so when processing the disks stored in the disk case, the atmosphere of chemicals, air, inert gas, etc. Since a fluid such as a processing gas containing satisfactorily flows over the entire surface of the disk, the disk can be uniformly processed.

Further, while the structure having such a large opening is provided, since the connecting piece is provided in the opening of the side wall portion, it has sufficient rigidity and, at the time of molding, this serves as a resin flow path. Therefore, a complicated shape can be manufactured with a predetermined dimensional accuracy and good moldability.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a disc case of the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a side view taken along the arrow A in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line B in FIG.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of a state where a disc is supported in a lower support groove.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of a state where the disc is supported by the concave groove of the intermediate support portion.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Disc 2 ... Upper side opening 4 ... Upper side connection part 5 ... Intermediate support part 6 ... Lower side support part 7 ... Guide rib 9 ... Opening part 11 ... Intermediate support part concave groove structure rib 13 ... Lower support part concave groove Constituent rib 20 ... Connecting piece

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Taiki Kawasumi 1-1 Tanabe Nitta, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Fuji Electric Co., Ltd.

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A disk case for vertically holding a large number of disks with a predetermined interval, the disk case having an upper opening and a lower opening, and a pair of opposed side walls supporting a lower end surface of the disk. Side support portion, an intermediate support portion that supports the disk side end portion, and an upper connection portion provided in the upper opening portion, and these three members are separated from each other through the opening portion, and A connecting piece for connecting these members to enhance the rigidity of the disk case, and a groove having a predetermined width for supporting the disk at a predetermined interval is continuously formed in the lower support part and the intermediate support part. A disc case characterized by being manufactured by integral molding with resin. 2. The disc case according to claim 1, wherein a guide groove for inserting a disc is formed in the upper coupling portion. 3. The disk case according to claim 2, wherein the guide groove bottom portion of the upper connecting portion penetrates. 4. The disk case according to claim 1, wherein the pair of side walls is notched in a U shape. 5. The disc case according to claim 1, wherein the lower support portion and the intermediate support portion are provided with a groove having a wide upper portion which guides the disc when it is inserted. 6. The disc case according to claim 1, wherein the gap between the disc guide grooves facing each other in the upper connecting portion is shorter than the gap between the concave groove portions in the intermediate support portion. 7. The disk case according to claim 1, wherein the concave groove of the intermediate supporting portion is narrower than the concave groove of the lower supporting portion.