| 摘要 |
An integrated intrabay buffer, delivery, and stocker system including a pair of shuttles (116), capable, by themselves, of transferring a pod in an X- Z plane between the interbay transport system, the I/O ports (104) of various process tools (102) and a plurality of storage shelves (106) provided along the wall of the tool bay. Advantageously, the present invention integrates together the process tools (102) within a tool bay by providing a single transport mechanism shared by each tool (102), and by providing a single, large storage and buffer area for pods that is shared by each tool (102). This increases reliability and flexibility, and simplifies the hardware and software control. Additionally, the storage shelves (106) may be provided above some or all of the process tools (102) within the tool bay. Such an arrangement offers a substantially greater number of spaces to store a pod as compared to conventional tool bays. |
