Overhead transport vehicles with a hoist travel on a traveling rail for the overhead transport vehicles including a straight segment and a curved segment. A traveling rail for a local vehicle is provided below the traveling rail for the overhead transport vehicles, allows articles passing upward and downward over the traveling rail, has one end below the straight segment, extends from the one end parallelly to an extended line of the straight segment to a transfer position at the ground side, and has the other end outside an area under the straight segment. A buffer for the articles is provided below the straight segment and also below the traveling rail for the local vehicle. The local vehicle with a hoist traveling on the traveling rail for the local vehicle transfers the articles between the transfer position at the ground side and the buffer.

An apparatus for automated wafer carrier handling includes a base plate and an active expansion component movably coupled to the base plate. The active expansion component is configured to change from a contracted form to an expanded form so as to be engaged with a top flange mounted on a wafer carrier.

An apparatus includes a frame to hold a wafer tape having a first side and a second side. A plurality of semiconductor device dies are disposed on the first side of the wafer tape. A support member supports a product substrate having a circuit trace thereon. The support member is configured to hold the product substrate such that the circuit trace is disposed facing the plurality of semiconductor device dies on the wafer tape. A plurality of needles are disposed adjacent the second side of the wafer tape. A needle actuator is connected to the plurality of needles and is configured to move at least one needle of the plurality of needles to a die transfer position at which the at least one needle presses on the second side of the wafer tape to press a semiconductor device die into contact with the circuit trace.

A system to effectuate improved transfer of semiconductor die. A first frame secures a first substrate having the semiconductor die. A second frame secures a second substrate adjacent the first substrate. A needle is disposed adjacent to the first frame. The needle includes: a longitudinal surface extending in a direction toward the second frame, and a base end having a cross-sectional dimension being based, at least in part, on a cross-sectional dimension of the semiconductor die. A needle actuator is operably connected to the needle and is configured to actuate the needle such that, during the transfer operation, when the first substrate is secured in the first frame and the second substrate is secured in the second frame, the needle presses the semiconductor die into contact with the second substrate so as to transfer the semiconductor die onto the second substrate.

An apparatus includes a substrate and a circuit trace having a predetermined pattern disposed on the substrate. A plurality of LEDs are connected to the substrate via the circuit trace. The predetermined pattern is arranged as an array of lines along a surface of the substrate, and the plurality of LEDs are distributed along the lines of the array.

A substrate processing system including at least two vertically stacked transport chambers, each of the vertically stacked transport chambers including a plurality of openings arranged to form vertical stacks of openings configured for coupling to vertically stacked process modules, at least one of the vertically stacked transport chambers includes at least one transport chamber module arranged for coupling to another transport chamber module to form a linear transport chamber and another of the at least two stacked transport chambers including at least one transport chamber module arranged for coupling to another transport chamber module to form another linear transport chamber, and a transport robot disposed in each of the transport chamber modules, where a joint of the transport robot is locationally fixed along a linear path formed by the respective linear transport chamber.

A laser irradiation apparatus (1) according to one embodiment includes a laser generating device (14) that generates a laser beam, a flotation unit (10) that causes a workpiece (16) that is to be irradiated with the laser beam to float, and a conveying unit (11) that conveys the floating workpiece (16). The conveying unit (11) conveys the workpiece (16) with the conveying unit (11) holding the workpiece (16) at a position where the conveying unit (11) does not overlap an irradiation position (15) of the laser beam. The laser irradiation apparatus (1) according to one embodiment makes it possible to suppress uneven irradiation with a laser beam.

An elongated light circuit includes an elongated circuit trace and a plurality of micro-sized, unpackaged LEDs disposed sequentially on the circuit trace. A height of the LEDs ranges from about 12.5 microns to about 200 microns. The elongated circuit trace and the LEDs are coated with a protective coating.

A transport vehicle system includes: a plurality of transport vehicles that transport articles; a main track, and a plurality of branch tracks branching off from the main track at different positions of the main track; and a controller that, with each of the branch tracks and a part of the main track taken as a reciprocation traveling track, causes each of the plurality of transport vehicles to reciprocate in the reciprocation traveling track and transport an article, and when a transport vehicle is placed on any of the reciprocation traveling tracks, the controller causes a transport vehicle that is reciprocating on a reciprocation traveling track in front of the reciprocation traveling track of placement destination in the extending direction, to retreat to the branch track in the reciprocation traveling track and thereafter causes passage of the transport vehicle to be placed through the main track in the reciprocation traveling track.

A conveyance control device executes: a control step of detecting entering to a merging point adjacent area set on adjacent to each merging point on the conveyance route; a detection step of detecting whether there is an obstacle around the carrying cart; a communication step of performing, when the entering to each merging point adjacent area is detected, local wireless communications with another carrying cart by using a common frequency band and a common identification code set to values different among merging points; and a merging point passing control step of starting the communication step when the other carrying cart is detected in the merging point adjacent area in the detection step, and causing passing of a merging point in accordance with a priority set to each entering passage to the merging point, after a handshake with the other carrying cart is successfully performed in the communication step.