Patent ID: 7416998

Claim:
An air curtain forming apparatus for attachment to a semiconductor fabrication equipment, the semiconductor fabrication equipment having an opening that permits a wafer to be transferred to or from a hermetic container, the air curtain forming apparatus comprising: cylindrically shaped filters connected to each other, one filter having an air supply tube; a filter case forming a rectangular frame and encasing the cylindrically shaped filters, the filter case having a front opening and an aperture wherein the air supply tube passes through the aperture; and a guide cover having an injection slit and a guide slit, the guide cover removably mounted on the filter case at its front opening, such that air supplied to the air supply tube passes through the injection slit and is ejected from the apparatus through the guide slit forming an air curtain at a gap between the opening and a gateway of the hermetic container to prevent ambient air from entering the hermetic container when the hermetic container is opened.