Thin wafer shipper

摘要

An improved wafer support mechanism in a wafer container useful for carrying a plurality of axially aligned thin mostly circular wafer substrates. The container includes a cassette that has a plurality of adjacently disposed teeth for receiving the substrates, wherein each rib member is continuous from the cassette open top to the cassette open bottom, a removable top cover portion, a removable bottom cover portion, a cushion assembly removably attached to the container top cover and another cushion assembly removably located in the container bottom cover and held in place by the weight of the wafer cassette. The top cushions are formed of individual segments having an extended lead-in feature at the end of each segment, spring sections in each segment and each segment has a V-shaped cross section to receive the wafer edge. The top and bottom cushions are installed in the top and bottom container covers respectively, and extend the wafer support to approximately the entire circumference of each wafer.

主权项

1. A wafer shipper comprising a cassette and a cassette container and configured for holding thin wafers,
the cassette comprising a pair of sidewalls defining slots for holding wafers, a pair of endwalls extending between the sidewalls, one of the endwalls configured as an H-bar machine interface, and pair of elongate feet extending downwardly from the respective sidewalls; the cassette container comprising a bottom base portion for receiving the cassette therein, and a top cover attachable to the bottom base portion, each of the top cover and base portion having four walls and a common wall spanning between the four walls, each of the top cover and base portion having a juncture for closing the top cover to the base portion, the cassette container further comprising an upper cushion attachable to the top cover and a lower cushion that seats in a receiving region in the bottom base portion;
wherein the upper cushion is secured to the inside of the top cover and the upper cushion has a pair of rails that attach to the top cover, and that support a plurality of wafer engaging segments, the wafer engaging segments connecting to the pair of rails by way of a respective pair of U-shaped springs formed of the same material as the wafer engaging segments, the upper cushion further comprising a plurality of guides extending radially inward for placement in between wafers secured by the wafer engaging segments.