An overhead transport vehicle includes a fall prevention mechanism including a first rotary member, a fall prevention member, and a second rotary member. The first rotary member includes a base end portion supported so as to be rotatable about a first rotation shaft extending along direction Y. The fall prevention member is provided in a tip end portion of the first rotary member and is movable to a space below a cassette. The second rotary member includes a base end portion supported so as to be rotatable about a second rotation shaft extending along direction Z, and a tip end portion to which the first rotary member is attached.

An overhead transport vehicle includes a lift stage to transfer an article, a winding drum to overlap and wind a suspension attached to the lift stage, and a controller to control a rotation amount of the winding drum to control a lifting/lowering amount of the lift stage. The controller is configured or programmed to execute a first processing including calculating, as individual values of the overhead transport vehicle, an individual value of an entire length of the suspension, an individual value of a diameter of the winding drum, and an individual value of a thickness of the suspension, and a second processing including calculating a rotation amount of the winding drum with respect to a lifting/lowering amount of the lift stage based on the individual value of the entire length of the suspension, the individual value of the diameter of the winding drum, and the individual value of the thickness of the suspension calculated in the first processing.

A load port apparatus includes an installation section, a frame section, a first wheel, a second wheel, and a supporter. The installation section includes an installation surface for installing a container for containing a substrate. The frame section is disposed on one side of the installation section, extends upward from this one side, and includes a lower fixation unit located below the installation surface. The first wheel is attached below the installation section and has a first diameter. The second wheel is attached below the installation section and further away from the frame section than the first wheel and has a second diameter smaller than the first diameter. The supporter is attached below the installation section and further away from the frame section than the first wheel and has a vertically adjustable distance from the installation surface to a lower end of the supporter.

Proposed are an OHT (overhead hoist transport) vehicle traction device and a method of managing an OHT system using same. The OHT vehicle traction device may solve problems of a driving-malfunction vehicle on the rails of an OHT system or tows the vehicle, and the method of managing the OHT system may increase the management efficiency of the entire OHT system by solving problems of a driving-malfunction vehicle or towing the vehicle in an unmanned type.

A fixing device that fixes a lower end portion of a suspension belt to a holding portion is provided with a shaft-like portion with an axial direction aligned with a horizontal direction; a fixing portion where the lower end portion of the suspension belt is fixed is provided on an outer circumferential surface of the shaft-like portion; a region of the outer circumferential surface on one side of a virtual vertical surface that runs through an axial center of the shaft-like portion is defined as a first region and a region of the outer circumferential surface on the other side of the virtual vertical surface is defined as a second region; the fixing portion is provided in the first region; and the suspension belt extending from the fixing portion is disposed running through a lowest portion of the outer circumferential surface and running along the second region and upward.

A method of controlling a transport vehicle in an article transport system in a production factory includes checking tasks for transporting articles, searching for routes for the respective tasks for a plurality of transport vehicles, calculating expected power consumption for the respective tasks of the transport vehicles, and assigning the tasks to the transport vehicles based on the expected power consumption for the respective tasks and remaining power of the transport vehicles.

A transportation container is provided with a container body constructed of a top wall, a bottom wall, a rear wall, and two sidewalls forming a front opening for loading or unloading a reticle pod into or out of the container body; a lid for opening and closing the front opening; and a lift plate above the container body configured to connect to a carrier of an overhead hoist transfer (OHT) system.

An automatic cleaning unit for AMHS includes a plurality of sensors disposed on OHT rails. The sensors are configured to define a cleaning zone and to detect a location of an OHT vehicle. The automatic cleaning unit further includes a vacuum generator and a top cleaning part installed over the OHT rails in the cleaning zone. The top cleaning part is coupled to the vacuum generator. The vacuum generator is turned on to perform a vacuum cleaning operation when the sensors detect the OHT vehicle entering the cleaning zone.

System and method for cross-fab wafer transportation are provided. An exemplary system includes a first control unit coupled to an associated first automatic material handling system (AMHS), the first AMHS includes a first overhead transport (OHT) track comprising a first portion and a first vehicle movable along the first OHT track and carrying a container, the container is operable to carry semiconductor wafers therein. The system includes a second control unit coupled to an associated second AMHS, the second AMHS includes a second OHT track comprising a second portion adjacent to the first portion and a second vehicle movable along the second OHT track. When the first vehicle is within the first portion of the first OHT track and the second vehicle is within the second portion of the second OHT track, the first and second vehicles are operable to transfer the container directly from the first vehicle to the second vehicle.

A semiconductor processing system includes a first semiconductor processing site and a second semiconductor processing site. The system includes an unmanned electric vehicle configured to carry a portable cleanroom stocker between the first and second semiconductor processing sites. The portable cleanroom stocker is configured to maintain cleanroom conditions within the portable cleanroom stocker during transportation.