SYSTEM OF TRANSPORTING AND STORING CONTAINERS OF SEMICONDUCTOR WAFERS AND TRANSFER MECHANISM

摘要

The invention relates to a system of transporting and storing containers (1) of semiconductor wafers, which is intended to be used in a bay (2) of a wafer factory, said bay comprising one or more wafer processing tools (3, 4). The aforementioned processing tools comprise a front face (5, 6) with at least one opening (7) which is used to load/unload wafers and which can be connected to a wafer container (1), all of said loading/unloading openings being essentially disposed in a vertical plane (8). Moreover, a bay conveyor (9) is used to supply containers to the bay, said conveyor being disposed above the processing tools in parallel with the vertical plane. The inventive system comprises: means (10) of storing containers in a space (11) which is located above the processing tools and which is set back from the above-mentioned openings; means (12) of temporarily supporting at least one container, which project out from the front face (5, 6) of the processing tools and which are in line with the bay conveyor, such that the space above the openings is left free; first means (13) of transferring containers from the temporary support means towards the storage means and vice versa; second means (13) of transferring containers from the storage means towards the openings and vice versa; and third means (13) of transferring containers from the temporary support means towards the openings and vice versa. The invention also relates to a transfer mechanism (13).