A stocker is disposed above a processing device and includes: a plurality of shelves provided in multiple stages in an up-down direction, to place articles thereon; and a crane to place an article on the shelves or take out an article placed on the shelves. The shelves include: a carry-in/out port used for an overhead transport vehicle to place an article thereon; and storage shelves used for the crane to place an article thereon. The carry-in/out port has a vertical dimension that allows a grip of the overhead transport vehicle to place the article from above. More storage shelves are provided than the carry-in/out port and are provided to have a smaller vertical dimension than that of the carry-in/out port. The crane places an article on the carry-in/out port onto the storage shelves or place an article on the storage shelves onto the carry-in/out port by a transfer device.

An operating method of a wafer cassette handling apparatus includes at least the following steps. A stage that carries a wafer cassette is moved into a main body of a wafer cassette handling apparatus to open a cassette door of the wafer cassette. The stage that carries the wafer cassette is moved out of the main body after the cassette door is opened. A wafer is extracted from the wafer cassette and transferred to a processing system. Another operating method and a wafer cassette handling apparatus are also provided.

The present invention relates to an apparatus for removing fume which includes, a wafer cassette for stacking wafers; and an exhaust for exhausting the fume of the wafers stacked in the wafer cassette, wherein the wafer cassette includes stacking shelves provided at both sides for stacking wafers; and a front opening for incoming and outgoing of the wafers which are being stacked in the stacking shelf, wherein the stacking shelves include multiple inclined ramp portions which are slanted towards the wafers stacked in the stacking shelves as they travel towards the front opening, wherein a purge gas outlet is provided in the inclined ramp portion for supplying purge gas for the wafers stacked in the stacking shelves. According to the present invention, the residual process gases on wafers can be removed efficiently.

An overhead hoist transfer (OHT) apparatus and a differential overhead trolley thereof are provided. The OHT apparatus includes a rail module and a differential overhead trolley. The rail module includes a main rail and a first rail, and defines a turning path extending from the main rail to the first rail. The differential overhead trolley is movably disposed on the rail module, and includes a walking mechanism and a carrying body that is hung on the rail module by being connected to the walking mechanism. The walking mechanism includes two differential wheels and a driving unit that is connected to the two differential wheels. When the differential overhead trolley is moved along the turning path, the driving unit is configured to drive the two differential wheels to move along the first rail by different rolling velocities.

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.

The present invention relates to an apparatus for removing fume which includes, a wafer cassette for stacking wafers; and an exhaust for exhausting the fume of the wafers stacked in the wafer cassette, wherein the wafer cassette includes stacking shelves provided at both sides for stacking wafers; and a front opening for incoming and outgoing of the wafers which are being stacked in the stacking shelf, wherein the stacking shelves include multiple inclined ramp portions which are slanted towards the wafers stacked in the stacking shelves as they travel towards the front opening, wherein a purge gas outlet is provided in the inclined ramp portion for supplying purge gas for the wafers stacked in the stacking shelves. According to the present invention, the residual process gases on wafers can be removed efficiently.

A communication method of a transport system including transport carriages each transporting a transported object, and communication devices connected one-to-one with loading ports onto which the transported objects are loaded. The communication devices are communicably connected to each other in advance. The communication method includes transmitting, from a specific transport carriage to the communication devices, a first signal having a specific communication as a final transmission destination, and receiving, in the specific communication device, the first signal from the specific transport carriage through a communication channel that passes through another communication device. The first signal is a signal communicated for the specific transport carriage to transfer the transported object to and from a specific loading port connected one-to-one with the specific communication device.

A vehicle includes one or more travel portions each configured to travel along a rail track, a travel controller configured to perform an image recognition to determine a shape of a portion of the rail track based on an image captured by an imaging device supported by the vehicle and to control the one or more travel portions based on a result of the image recognition, an information obtaining portion configured to obtain position information of each of a plurality of locations that the vehicle travels past as a result of traveling along the rail track, and to obtain the order in which the vehicle travels past such plurality of locations, and memory configured to store information obtained by the information obtaining portion.

A wafer inspection system is provided. The wafer inspection system includes: a transfer region in which a transfer device is arranged; an inspection region in which test heads for inspecting a substrate are arranged; and a maintenance region in which the test heads are maintained. The inspection region is located between the transfer region and the maintenance region, a plurality of inspection rooms accommodating the test heads are adjacent to each other in the inspection region, and the test heads are configured to be unloaded from the inspection region to the maintenance region.

The present invention relates to a buffer chamber unit for wafer processing equipment.