A magnetic levitation system for contactlessly holding and moving a carrier in a vacuum chamber, including a base defining a transportation track, a carrier movable above the base along the transportation track, and at least one magnetic bearing for generating a magnetic levitation force between the base and the carrier. The at least one magnetic bearing includes a first magnet unit arranged at the base and a second magnet unit arranged at the carrier. The magnetic levitation system further includes a magnetic side stabilization device for stabilizing the carrier in a lateral direction, the magnetic side stabilization device comprising a stabilization magnet unit arranged at the base, wherein at least one of the first magnet unit and the first stabilization magnet unit is arranged in a housing space of the base, the housing space being separated from an inner volume of the vacuum chamber by a separation wall.

A travelling vehicle system includes travelling vehicles and a controller. The controller includes a storage that stores a last permitted travelling vehicle, to which a passage permission is transmitted lastly and the passage permission for which is not canceled, for each direction in a branching section or a merging section included in a blocking area, stores a last canceled travelling vehicle, the passage permission for which is canceled lastly, for each direction in the blocking area, and stores the travelling vehicle, to which the passage permission in a same direction in the blocking area is transmitted lastly, as a forward travelling vehicle of a travelling vehicle waiting for the permission to pass through the blocking area at the time of transmission of the passage permission to the passage-permission waiting travelling vehicle, and a determiner that determines whether to give passage permission to the travelling vehicle waiting for the permission.

A controller determines, when a traveling vehicle to proceed in a first direction from a predetermined cell toward a destination is present, whether or not to grant the traveling vehicle occupation permission for a cell adjacent to the predetermined cell in the first direction. The traveling vehicle proceeds in the first direction if occupation permission for the adjacent cell has been granted from the controller, whereas the traveling vehicle stops at the predetermined cell if occupation permission has not been granted. The controller assigns to the traveling vehicle a traveling instruction in which a cell situated at a plurality of cells ahead of the predetermined cell in the second direction is designated as a waypoint to the destination if the traveling vehicle has not obtained occupation permission for the adjacent cell and has continuously been in a stop state at the predetermined cell for a predetermined period of time.

A ceiling conveyance vehicle includes a traveling wheel to roll on a track including a first track and a second track and a main body below the track and coupled to the traveling wheel. The ceiling conveyance vehicle includes a direction changer to change between a first state in which the traveling wheel rolls on the first track and a second state in which the traveling wheel rolls on the second track, with an orientation of the main body with respect to the track maintained, an article holder capable of holding an article, a hoisting-and-lowering driver to hoist and lower the article holder, a lateral slider to slidingly move the hoisting-and-lowering driver in a horizontal, linear direction, and a first rotational driver to rotationally drive the lateral slider around a first perpendicular axis with respect to the main body.

A dipole alignment device includes an electric field forming part including a stage, and a probe part which form an electric field on the stage; an inkjet printing apparatus including at least one inkjet head which sprays ink including dipoles and a solvent with the dipoles dispersed therein onto the stage; a transportation part comprising a first moving part which moves the electric field forming part in at least one direction; and a light irradiation apparatus including a light irradiation part which applies light to the ink sprayed onto the stage.

An apparatus for transferring a semiconductor die (“die”) from the first substrate to the second substrate. The apparatus includes a stage configured to hold a product substrate. A first bridge holds a transfer mechanism assembly. A second bridge holds a die substrate holder configured to hold the first substrate. A controller is configured to cause the first bridge and the second bridge to move to align the transfer mechanism assembly with the die on the first substrate with a transfer position on the second substrate where the die is to be transferred.

A semiconductor wafer cassette warehouse transportation structure system includes a wafer cassette lift transportation structure body, a wafer cassette frame structure body, an arm structure body, an arm gripping wafer cassette structure body, and a wafer cassette warehouse structure body. The suspension support rods are suspended on a ceiling. The wafer cassette lift transportation structure body lifts the wafer cassettes to the inlet and outlet. The arm structure body grips the wafer cassettes and puts same on the tracks so that the wafer cassettes can be transported to the wafer cassette warehouse structure body to be precisely accessed. The system saves space and facilitates the access of the wafer cassettes because the wafer cassettes are stored on the wafer cassette warehouse structure body suspended on the ceiling.

An apparatus and an operating method for automated wafer carrier handling are provided. The operation method includes bring a base frame and an engaging mechanism of an automated wafer carrier handling apparatus into abutting contact with a top flange mounted on a wafer carrier to limit at least one degree of freedom of movement of the top flange, where the engaging mechanism is disposed on the base frame; transporting the wafer carrier to a destination location by the automated wafer carrier handling apparatus; and releasing the top flange mounted on the wafer carrier from the automated wafer carrier handling apparatus at the destination location.

A processing system is provided, including a vacuum enclosure having a plurality of process windows and a continuous track positioned therein; a plurality of processing chambers attached sidewalls of the vacuum enclosures, each processing chamber about one of the process windows; a loadlock attached at one end of the vacuum enclosure and having a loading track positioned therein; at least one gate valve separating the loadlock from the vacuum enclosure; a plurality of substrate carriers configured to travel on the continuous track and the loading track; at least one track exchanger positioned within the vacuum enclosure, the track exchangers movable between a first position, wherein substrate carriers are made to continuously move on the continuous track, and a second position wherein the substrate carriers are made to transfer between the continuous track and the loading track.

A magnetic transfer apparatus includes: a magnetomotive force source providing magnetic flux, a first magnetic flux distribution circuit connected to one end of the magnetomotive force source, having a single input terminal and a plurality of output terminals, and distributing the magnetic flux, and a second magnetic flux distribution circuit connected to the other end of the magnetomotive force source, having a single output terminal and a plurality of input terminals, and collecting the distributed magnetic flux. The output terminals of the first magnetic flux distribution circuit are disposed to be adjacent to each other to form a pair with the input terminals of the second magnetic flux distribution circuit.