| 摘要 |
<p>PURPOSE:To temporarily keep an empty pod without relying on an external device and to collectively treat wafers covering a plurality of wafer cassettes by a method wherein an empty-pod temporary storage space which is continued to a pod carrying-in and-out space is partitioned in a device case and empty-pod transfer mechanisms are installed in both spaces. CONSTITUTION:When a horizontal lever 52A on the side of an ascending and descending driving gear 50A is extended into a handle 10a for a pod POD 101A which has become empty, a pod picking-up mechanism 50 is raised upward, and the pod POD 101A is held in the upper position of a port door 31A. A movable shelf 71A is conveyed to a part directly under a high-position pod delivery position, and the pod POD 101A is transferred onto the movable shelf 71A. Since the pod POD can be carried onto a port plate 3A, a pad POD 102A is transferred onto the port plate 3A. Consequently, a wafer cassette is conveyed to a treatment apparatus, a pod which has become empty can be kept inside a temporary storage space, and wafers covering a plurality of wafer cassettes can be treated collectively.</p> |
