A METHOD OF PACKING A SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING APPARATUS TO BE CARRIED INTO A CLEAN ROOM

Abstract

A packing method of an object to be carried in a clean room that can reduce remarkably the amount of evolution of waste and accomplish resource saving, and a packing material therefor, wherein a packing material 102, which wraps an object 101 to be carried in a clean room 130 which is a clean atmosphere, is composed of a material of low dust evolution and capable of being cleaned, wherein the packing material 102 can be used a plurality of times by cleaning.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to a method of packing an object to be carried in a clean room and a packing material therefor.

[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0004] Hitherto, a clean room the inside of which is made a clean atmosphere has been employed for manufacturing semiconductor devices or the like.

[0005] When, into such a clean room, an object to be carried-in such as a manufacturing apparatus of semiconductor devices, for instance, is carried in, it is required that dust is not carried in as much as possible into the clean room from the outside. Accordingly, so far, a manufacturing apparatus of semiconductor devices which is in a clean state as manufactured in the clean room is packed by wrapping the whole thereof by film (thin film) of packing materials consisting of plastics such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate or the like, and, in this state, transported by a truck or the like. Thereby, the apparatus is prevented from the dust in the external environment sticking thereto.

[0006] Incidentally, as the aforementioned packing material formed in film, a packing material which has impact absorbing property by incorporating a large number of bubbles, that is, so-called air-cap or the like can be employed.

[0007] And, in a foreroom of the clean room therein this apparatus is carried in, the aforementioned packing material is removed, the apparatus kept in a clean state is carried into the clean room, with such a procedure, the apparatus is carried into the clean room.

[0008] That is, the apparatus of a clean state as manufactured in the clean room is packed with the aforementioned packing material, while maintaining in a state where the external dust does not stick, is transported by a truck or the like, and the packing material is unpacked in a foreroom or the like preceding the clean room therein the apparatus is carried in, thereby the apparatus to be carried-in and the clean room thereto the apparatus is carried in can be kept in a clean state.

[0009] Incidentally, in order to prevent more strictly the dust from being carried in a clean room, double implementation of the aforementioned packing is carried out.

[0010] That is, for instance, with a film consisting of plastic or the like which has sticking property, the surroundings of the apparatus is wrapped, the surroundings thereof is further wrapped by the aforementioned air cap or the like to implement double packing. Then, in a foreroom disposed separated in two steps of the clean room thereto the apparatus is carried-in, first, into the fore-room of the first step, the apparatus is carried in and the exterior packing is unpacked here, then, the apparatus is carried in the second foreroom and the interior packing is unpacked, thereafter, the apparatus is carried in the clean room. Thereby, the carrying in of the dust accompanying the carrying in of the apparatus is prevented from occurring.

[0011] However, in the aforementioned conventional technology, the packing material formed in film or the like is normally supplied in roll. The packing material, upon winding around the manufacturing apparatus of the semiconductor devices or the like to pack or upon removing to unpack, is appropriately cut by a cutter or the like to peel off. The packing material is difficult to be reused and the removed packing material is destined to be disposed of as waste. Accordingly, the amount of the evolved waste increases, thereby a problem occurs that contradicts the social demand of efficient use of the resource.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0012] An objective of the present invention is to provide a packing method of an object to be carried into a clean room, the packing method being capable of reducing an amount of evolution of waste remarkably and of using efficiently the resource, and a packing material.

[0013] The packing method of the object to be carried into a clean room of the present invention is a packing method of an object to be carried into a clean room which is made a clean atmosphere, wherein the object to be carried-in is packed by a packing material consisting of a material which has low dust evolving property and is capable of being cleaned, and the packing material consisting of the material which has the low dust evolving property and is capable of being cleaned is used a plurality of times by cleaning.

[0014] Further, a packing method of an object to be carried into a clean room of the present invention is characterized in that, in the aforementioned method, the object to be carried-in is packed so as to wrap the surroundings thereof by connecting a plurality of packing materials consisting of the material which has low dust evolving property and is capable of being cleaned, further, the object to be carried in is packed by wrapping the object to be carried-in by the material which is formed in bag and of less evolving the dust and capable of being cleaned, and by fastening the exterior by the material which is formed in belt and of less evolving the dust and capable of being cleaned.

[0015] Further, a packing method of an object to be carried into a clean room of the present invention is characterized in that, in the aforementioned method, the material of low dust evolution and capable of being cleaned contains at least any one kind among polyester based fiber, polyamide based fiber, polyolefin based fiber, and polyacrylic fiber, further, the material of low dust evolution and capable of being cleaned are mingled with conductive fiber between the fibers.

[0016] Still further, the packing method of the object to be carried in the clean room of the present invention is characterized in that, in the aforementioned method, the aforementioned object to be carried in is packed multiple, further, the aforementioned object to be carried-in is packed by use of the packing material consisting of the material of low dust evolution and capable of being cleaned and the packing material of film consisting of plastics.

[0017] A packing material of the present invention, which is a packing material packing an object to be carried into a clean room which is made a clean atmosphere, comprises a material which is formed in a predetermined shape capable of being disposed so as to wrap the surroundings of the object to be carried-in, of low dust evolution, and capable of being used a plurality of times, and an engaging member which is disposed along the periphery of the material and capable of engaging mutually.

[0018] A packing material of the present invention, which is a packing material packing an object to be carried into a clean room which is made a clean atmosphere, comprises a material of low dust evolution and capable of being used a plurality of times which is formed in bag shape capable of being disposed to cover the object to be carried in, a plurality of belt engaging means disposed at the predetermined positions of the material, and one or a plurality of belts for fastening the surroundings of the material.

[0019] Further, the packing material of the present invention is characterized in that, in the aforementioned packing material, the material of low dust evolution and capable of being cleaned contains at least any one kind of polyester based fiber, polyamide based fiber, polyolefin based fiber, and polyacrylic fiber, further, the material of low dust evolution and capable of being cleaned are mingled with conductive fiber between the fibers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing diagrammatically one embodiment of the present invention.

[0021] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing diagrammatically another embodiment of the present invention.

[0022] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a state at the start of the packing of another embodiment of the present invention.

[0023] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a state during packing of the embodiment of FIG. 3 of the present invention.

[0024] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a state during packing of the embodiment of FIG. 3 of the present invention.

[0025] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a state at the completion of packing of the embodiment of FIG. 3 of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0026] In the following, the embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0027] FIG. 1 shows one embodiment of the present invention. In this figure, reference numeral 101 denotes an object to be carried in a clean room 130 which is the destination thereof by bringing out of a clean room 110, for instance, a manufacturing apparatus of semiconductor devices which is manufactured in the clean room 110 and carried in the clean room 130.

[0028] Incidentally, the aforementioned manufacturing apparatus of semiconductor devices means, for instance, a cleaning apparatus for cleaning wafers or the like, a resist treatment apparatus for carrying out coating and development of the resist, an exposing apparatus, an etching apparatus, an ashing apparatus, an ion implantation apparatus, a filming apparatus such as a CVD apparatus or a sputtering apparatus, a heat treatment apparatus, an inspection apparatus such as an wafer prober, a manufacturing apparatus of liquid crystal display devices, and other various kinds of apparatuses being used for a series of manufacturing processes of the semiconductor devices.

[0029] Further, in the same figure, reference numeral 102 denotes a packing material for packing the object 101 to be carried in the clean room 130, the packing material 102 being constituted of cloth like material of low dust evolution and capable of being cleaned.

[0030] Incidentally, the aforementioned cleaning denotes the cleaning identical as the dry cleaning which uses organic solvents or the like for cleaning normal clothing, or, the cleaning identical as that due to washing which employs water and detergent for cleaning the normal clothing, and drying.

[0031] As the material of low dust evolution and capable of being cleaned, a cloth being used as the materials of socalled dust-proof clothing which an operator in a standard clean room wears can be preferably employed.

[0032] As such clothes, there are, for instance, polyester based fibers such as polyethylene terephthalate, polybuthylene terephthalate or the like, polyamide based fibers such as Nylon 6, Nylon 6,6, aromatic polyamide or the like, polyolefin based fibers such as polyethylene, polypropylene or the like, fibers mainly consisting of polyacrylic fibers, and ones which prevent dust from sticking due to static by providing an anti-static function by mingling conductive material (fiber) between these fibers, in more specific, Berutoron (trade name: product of Kanebo Co.), Anzerusu (trade name: product of Kanebo Co.), Weruki (trade name: Teijin Co.), Teijinrekuse (trade name: product of Teijin Co.), Serugado T700 (trade name: product of Teijin Co.) or the like can be cited. Further, GORE-TEX (trade name: product of NIHON GORE-TEX Co.) consisting of porous film of fluorinated resin, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) can be employed.

[0033] Now, the aforementioned clothes which are being employed as the material of the dust-proof clothing, in order to secure comfort of operators, are processed to give a certain air permeability, however, in the present invention, the air permeability is not particularly required, accordingly, the clothes omitted these processing can be employed.

[0034] Further, the clothes which are being employed as the material of the dust-proof clothing are required to be processed so that the inside is not seen through. On the other hand, in the present invention, it is convenient the clothes to be seen through from the outside.

[0035] That is, for instance, in the aforementioned manufacturing apparatus of semiconductor devices or manufacturing apparatus of liquid crystal display devices, there exist portions which do not allow exerting force from outside (for instance, glass portion of display device and so on), however, in the case of the manufacturing apparatus of semiconductor devices or manufacturing apparatus of liquid crystal display devices being moved, there are cases where an operator is required to push or pull the manufacturing apparatus of semiconductor devices or manufacturing apparatus of liquid crystal display devices. In such a case, if the inside can be seen through, the operator can easily judge the places where the packed manufacturing apparatus of semiconductor devices or manufacturing apparatus of liquid crystal display devices can be pushed or pulled.

[0036] Therefore, it is not necessary to be processed not to be seen through from the outside, but it is rather preferable the inside to be processed to be seen through.

[0037] Further, in the case of the inside being incapable of being seen through, as to the aforementioned places, it is preferable the operator to be able to judge readily from outside by use of written letters such as “do not push here” on the exterior of the cloth, or sticking written matter.

[0038] Further, when the surface of the cloth is slippery, in the case of the operator pushing the apparatus from the outside, the cloth slips between the surface of the apparatus, the force is difficult to be transmitted. Therefore, the surface of the cloth is preferable to be processed not to be slippery.

[0039] As the processing for preventing the slipping from occurring, to make rough the surface thereof, coating of rubber or the like can be employed. The rubber can be coated on the whole surface thereof or on only a part thereof.

[0040] The aforementioned packing material 102 has a predetermined shape and dimension, at the end portions thereof, there are disposed engaging members 102a which are constituted of, for instance, so-called magic tapes or fasteners. And, according to the size of the object 101 to be carried-in, the surroundings of the object 101 to be carried-in is covered with one or a plurality of pieces of packing materials 102, by engaging the end portions of the packing materials 102 by the engaging members 102a, the object 101 to be carried in is packed.

[0041] Incidentally, the shape and dimension of the packing material 102 can be a particular one according to the shape and dimension of the object 101 to be carried in, or, one of square, bag or the like, for instance, can be appropriately selected corresponding to the various kinds of object 101 to be carried in.

[0042] Further, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, in the surroundings of the packing material 102, an exterior packing material 103 is disposed. This exterior packing material 103 is constituted of the packing materials formed in film (thin film) consisting of the aforementioned plastics, a packing material identical as the current one consisting of, for instance, an air cap, and, the end portions thereof are sealed by, for instance, an adhesive tape 103a for packing or the like.

[0043] Incidentally, in FIG. 1, to make the understanding of the state of packing easy, between the object 101 to be carried-in and the packing material 102, between the packing material 102 and the exterior packing material 103, spaces are depicted to be formed, however, in reality, the object 101 to be carried in and the packing material 102, and, the packing material 102 and the exterior packing material 103 are packed as intimate as possible.

[0044] And, the aforementioned object 101 to be carried-in, in a clean state in the clean room 110, is packed doubly by the packing material 102 and the exterior packing material 103, after being brought out of the clean room 110, is transported to the neighbor of the inlet/outlet of a clean room 130 of the destination by a truck 120 or the like.

[0045] Thereafter, the object 101 to be carried in which is doubly packed by the packing material 102 and the exterior packing material 103, as in this state, first, is brought into the first foreroom 130a of the clean room 130, here, is taken off only the exterior packing material 103, and, in this state, is brought into the second foreroom 130b.

[0046] Then, in the second foreroom 130b, the packing material 102 is taken off, in this state, the object 101 to be carried-in is carried in the clean room 130.

[0047] Incidentally, the first foreroom 130a and the second foreroom 130b are disposed to prevent, when the object 101 to be carried-in is carried in the clean room 130, the dust or the like from being introduced into the clean room 130 from the outside, the first foreroom 130a being an environment of relatively low cleanliness, the second foreroom 130b being an environment of high cleanliness close to the clean room 130, in general, an air-shower or the like being disposed to remove the dust.

[0048] On the other hand, in the second foreroom 130b, the packing material 102 taken off the object 101 to be carried-in is brought out to the outside through the first foreroom 130a, transported to a cleaning factory by a truck 120 or the like, and cleaned (for instance, dry cleaning) similarly with the normal dust-proof clothing or the like to make a clean state. Thus, it can be reused as a packing material.

[0049] As described above, in the present embodiment, by cleaning the packing material 102, the packing material can be used repeatedly, accordingly, compared with the conventional way, the amount of evolution of the waste can be reduced remarkably, thereby, the saving of the resource can be accomplished.

[0050] Further, by cleaning, the packing material 102 of the desired degree of cleanliness can be used for packing the object 101 to be carried-in, accordingly, the object 101 to be carried in can be easily prevented from being contaminated due to sticking of the dust from the packing material 102.

[0051] Incidentally, in the above description, a case where the packing is doubly carried out by use of the packing material 102 of low dust evolution and capable of being cleaned, and the exterior packing material 103 formed in film consisting of plastics is described, however, for instance, only with the packing material 102 consisting of material of low dust evolution and capable of being cleaned, packing can be carried out once or a plurality of times (for instance, doubly or triply). Further, contrary to the aforementioned description, the interior can be packed by the packing material of film consisting of the plastics, and the exterior can be packed by the packing material of low dust evolution and capable being cleaned.

[0052] Further, for instance, as shown in FIG. 2, the packing material 102 of low dust evolution and capable of being cleaned, and other packing material 104 (for instance, the packing material of film consisting of plastic) can be mingled with to pack.

[0053] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, to the clean room 130, the first foreroom 130a and the second foreroom 130b are disposed. However, even when only one foreroom is employed, or essentially no foreroom is employed, the present invention can be applied similarly.

[0054] FIG. 3 through FIG. 6 show constitution of another embodiment, in this embodiment, the object 201 to be carried-in is packed by a packing material 202 formed in bag in advance.

[0055] That is, as shown in FIG. 3, first, on the object 201 to be carried-in, the packing material 202 is covered, as shown in FIG. 4, the tail portion of the packing material 202 is drawn downward.

[0056] Then, as shown in FIG. 5, after the tail portion of the packing material is drawn downward to the lower end portion of the object 201 to be carried-in, as shown in FIG. 6, to a plurality of belt loops 202a disposed with the predetermined distance apart as the belt engaging means on the packing material 202, the belts 202b are passed through, by these belts 202b, the packing material 202 is fastened.

[0057] Incidentally, both the aforementioned belt loops 202a and belts 202b are constituted of the material identical as the packing material 202. Further, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, three pieces of belts 202b are employed. However, the number of the belt 202b can be preferably varied as one, two, or four pieces according to the size of the object 201 to be carried-in.

[0058] Further, depending upon the shape or the like of the object 201 to be carried-in, for instance, in the case of there being much unevenness on the surface, only fastening by the aforementioned belts 202 may induce a case of loosening of the packing material 202. In such a case, for instance, when the object 201 to be carried-in is constituted of a metal such as iron or the like, by disposing magnets from the outside of the packing material 202, the loosening of the packing material 202 can be alleviated to a certain degree.

[0059] Further, in the case of being packed doubly or triply, as identical as the aforementioned embodiment, the outside of the packing material 202 is packed by, for instance, a packing material formed in film (thin film) consisting of plastic such as an air cap or the like, or a packing material constituted of material identical as the packing material 202.

[0060] As described above, according to the present invention, a packing method of an object to be carried in a clean room which can reduce remarkably the amount of evolution of the waste compared with the current method, and can accomplish the resource saving by making reusable the packing material, and a packing material employed therefor can be provided.

Claims

1. A method of packing an object to be carried in a clean room which is a clean atmosphere, comprising a step of:

packing the object to be carried-in by use of a packing material consisting of a material of low dust evolution and capable of being cleaned;

wherein the packing material of low dust evolution and capable of being cleaned is used a plurality of times by cleaning.

2. The method of packing an object to be carried in a clean room as set forth in

claim 1:

wherein the material of low dust evolution and capable of being cleaned contains at least any one kind of polyester based fibers, polyamide based fibers, polyolefin based fibers, and polyacrylic fibers.

3. The method of packing an object to be carried in a clean room as set forth in

claim 2:

wherein the material of low dust evolution and capable of being cleaned has conductive fibers mingled between the fibers.

4. The method of packing an object to be carried in a clean room as set forth in

claim 1:

wherein a plurality of packing materials consisting of the material of low dust evolution and capable of being cleaned are connected to cover the surroundings of the object to be carried-in.

5. The method of packing an object to be carried in a clean room as set forth in

claim 4:

wherein the material of low dust evolution and capable of being cleaned contains at least any one kind of polyester based fibers, polyamide based fibers, polyolefin based fibers, and polyacrylic fibers.

6. The method of packing an object to be carried in a clean room as set forth in

claim 5:

wherein the material of low dust evolution and capable of being cleaned has conductive fibers mingled between the fibers.

7. The method of packing an object to be carried in a clean room as set forth in

claim 1 is characterized in that:

the object to be carried-in is covered by the material which is formed in bag, of low dust evolution, and capable of being cleaned, and the exterior of the object to be carried-in is fastened by the material which is formed in belt, low dust evolution, and capable of being cleaned.

8. The method of packing an object to be carried in a clean room as set forth in

claim 7:

wherein the material of low dust evolution and capable of being cleaned contains at least any one kind of polyester based fibers, polyamide based fibers, polyolefin based fibers, and polyacrylic fibers.

9. The method of packing an object to be carried in a clean room as set forth in

claim 8:

wherein the material of low dust evolution and capable of being cleaned has conductive fibers mingled between the fibers.

10. The method of packing an object to be carried in a clean room as set forth in

claim 1:

wherein the object to be-carried in is packed multiple.

11. The method of packing an object to be carried in a clean room as set forth in

claim 10:

wherein the object to be carried-in is packed with a packing material consisting of a material of low dust evolution and capable of being cleaned, and a packing material formed in film consisting of plastics.

12. A packing material for packing an object to be carried in a clean room which is a clean atmosphere, comprises:

material of a predetermined shape capable of being disposed so as to wrap a surroundings of the object to be carried-in, low dust evolution, and capable of being used a plurality of times by cleaning; and

engaging members disposed along a periphery portion of the material and capable of being engaged each other.

13. The packing material as set forth in

claim 12:

wherein the material of low dust evolution and capable of being cleaned contains at least any one kind of polyester based fibers, polyamide based fibers, polyolefin based fibers, and polyacrylic fibers.

14. The packing material as set forth in

claim 13:

wherein the material of low dust evolution and capable of being cleaned has conductive fibers mingled between the fibers.

15. A packing material for packing an object to be carried in a clean room which is a clean atmosphere, comprises:

material formed in bag to enable to cover the object to be carried-in, of low dust evolution, and capable of being used a plurality of times by cleaning; a plurality of belt engaging means disposed at predetermined positions of the material; and

one or a plurality of belts being engaged by the belt engaging means and fastening the surroundings of the material.

16. The packing material as set forth in

claim 15:

wherein the material of low dust evolution and capable of being cleaned contains at least any one kind of polyester based fibers, polyamide based fibers, polyolefin based fibers, and polyacrylic fibers.

17. The packing material as set forth in

claim 16:

wherein the material of low dust evolution and capable of being cleaned has conductive fibers mingled between the fibers.