FRAME CASSETTE
According to various embodiments, a frame cassette may include: a housing; a mounting structure inserted in the housing, the mounting structure including a plurality of tape-frame slots, wherein each tape-frame slot is configured to receive a tape-frame, wherein the housing includes an opening to introduce a tape-frame into a tape-frame slot of the plurality of tape-frame slots or to remove a tape-frame from a tape-frame slot of the plurality of tape-frame slots, and a door mounted at the housing, wherein the door is configured to close the opening of the housing to seal the interior of the housing from the exterior of the housing.
1 . A frame cassette comprising:
a housing;
a mounting structure within the housing, the mounting structure comprising a plurality of tape-frame slots, each tape-frame slot configured to receive a tape-frame,
wherein the housing comprises an opening to introduce a tape-frame into a tape-frame slot of the plurality of tape-frame slots or to remove a tape-frame from a tape-frame slot of the plurality of tape-frame slots,
a door mounted at the housing;
wherein the door is configured to close the opening of the housing to seal the interior of the housing from the exterior of the housing.
2 . The frame cassette according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a door guidance system mechanically connecting the door to the housing, wherein the door guidance system is configured to move the door.
3 . The frame cassette according to claim 2 ,
wherein the door comprises a door handling flange configured to operate the door by an overhead transportation system.
4 . The frame cassette according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a gasket connected with at least one of the housing or the door, the gasket sealing the housing air-tightly when the door is closed.
5 . The frame cassette according to claim 4 ,
wherein the gasket completely surrounds the opening in the housing.
6 . The frame cassette according to claim 1 ,
wherein the door is bivalved to prevent particles entering the interior of the housing during opening or closing of the door.
7 . The frame cassette according to claim 1 ,
wherein the door comprises a rotation-based release mechanism such that the door can be at least one of connected to the housing or disconnected form the housing,
wherein the door is operated by a load port of a semiconductor processing tool.
8 . The frame cassette according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a transport flange which allows the frame cassette being transported by an overhead transport system.
9 . The frame cassette according to claim 1 ,
wherein the door and the housing are configured such that the interior of the housing is hermetically sealed maintaining cleanroom conditions of ISO-class 7 or cleaner than ISO-class 7 according to the ISO-14644-1 cleanroom standard in the interior of the housing.
10 . The frame cassette according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a valve structure to purge the housing with inert gas.
11 . The frame cassette according to claim 1 ,
wherein the housing comprises an electrostatic discharge protection.
12 . The frame cassette according to claim 1 , further comprising:
one or more RFID-tags for frame cassette identification.
13 . The frame cassette according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a kinematic coupling comprising at least one features to align the frame cassette to a load port of a semiconductor processing tool.
14 . The frame cassette according to claim 1 ,
wherein the mounting structure comprises 13 or 25 tape-frame slots.
15 . The frame cassette according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a human handle to manually move the frame cassette.
16 . The frame cassette according to claim 15 ,
wherein the human handle is disposed on the top-side of the housing.
17 . The frame cassette according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a frame restraint preventing the hosted tape-frames from slipping within the housing during transportation of the frame cassette.
18 . The frame cassette according to claim 1 , further comprising:
bottom rails for a transport of the frame cassette via roller conveyors.
19 . The frame cassette according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a cassette stacking to stack two or more than two frame cassettes on top of each other.
20 . A frame cassette comprising:
a housing comprising a plurality of tape-frame slots, each tape-frame slot of the plurality of tape-frame slots configured to receive a tape-frame,
wherein the housing comprises an opening to introduce a tape-frame into a tape-frame slot of the plurality of tape-frame slots or to remove a tape-frame from a tape-frame slot of the plurality of tape-frame slots,
a door connected to the housing;
wherein the door is configured to close the opening of the housing to air-tightly seal the interior of the housing.