In a local cart traveling system, a frame track includes first and second metal rails each with an L-shaped cross section and facing each other. A local cart is within the frame track, and includes a first electricity receiving tire and a second electricity receiving tire to travel on horizontal travel surfaces of the rails. A voltage supplier supplies an AC voltage to the travel surfaces, so that the first metal rail and a first electricity receiving tire define a first capacitor and the second metal rail and the second electricity receiving tire define a second capacitor. The local cart includes a power receiver to receive AC power, and a travel motor that receives power after the AC power is rectified. The frame track includes a connecting plate as an electrical insulator covering portions of the surfaces of vertical walls of the first metal rail and the second metal rail.

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 automated guided vehicle with a multistage loading structure includes a vehicle body, and a loader in the vehicle body and operative to load articles in a multistage manner. The loader has a loading unit that is positioned between the articles loaded in the multistage manner and separately loads the articles. The loading unit moves up and down.

An electronic component handler includes an electronic component transporter transporting an electronic component in an arrangement state where a shuttle plate is arranged, the shuttle plate having a recess receiving the electronic component, a light source casting light, a light receiver receiving the light, a detector detecting presence/absence of the electronic component in the recess, and a negative pressure generator putting the recess under a negative pressure. The shuttle plate has a first flow path. The electronic component transporter has: a shuttle plate fastener having a second flow path communicated with the first flow path in the arrangement state and having the shuttle plate fixed thereto in the arrangement state, a transmission member sealing the second flow path and transmitting the light, and a driver driving the shuttle plate fastener. The negative pressure generator is coupled to the second flow path and sucks the electronic component in the recess.

A transport system of a semiconductor fabrication facility, including: a rail for carrying vehicle, a sensor installed on the rail, a controller and a power panel. The sensor is arranged to determine a zone and send a quantity information in response to a quantity of vehicles in the zone. The controller is arranged to send an output signal in accordance with the quantity information. The power panel is arranged to adjust a current in accordance with the output signal, wherein the current is output to a cable extending along the rail.

An automated workpiece conveying vehicle included in a conveyance system that conveys a workpiece to each of a plurality of processing apparatuses is provided. The automated workpiece conveying vehicle includes: a workpiece support part that supports the workpiece; a traveling mechanism provided on the workpiece support part; a vibration detection unit that detects vibration of the workpiece support part and records the vibration as vibration data; and a receiver that receives a control signal transmitted from a control unit included in the conveyance system, the control signal instructing conveyance of the workpiece to the processing apparatus.

A support member system is described for association with an overhead transport system. The support member system provides a safety feature to the overhead transport system by which the overhead transport system is able to avoid damage to wafers that are contained within a wafer cassette that is unintentionally released by the overhead transport system. The support member system is able to prevent such released cassettes from impacting the ground or tools located under the overhead transport system. The support member system targets wafer cassettes that have dimensions which are different than the dimensions of wafer cassettes for which the overhead transport system was originally designed to transport. Stocker systems for receiving, storing and delivering different types of wafer cassettes are also described.

A system and an operating method for automated wafer carrier handling are provided. The system includes a storage rack including a standby position and a storage position separated from each other, a first and second moving mechanism, and a controller operatively coupled to the first and second moving mechanism to control operations of the first and second moving mechanism. The storage position is for buffering a wafer carrier awaiting transfer to a load port. The first moving mechanism is movably coupled to the storage rack and provides at least one degree of freedom of movement to transfer the wafer carrier from the storage position to the standby position. The second moving mechanism is disposed over the storage rack, operatively coupled the storage rack to the load port, and provides at least one degree of freedom of movement to transfer the wafer carrier from the standby position to the load port.

A mark printing device includes a driving unit driving along a driving rail of an overhead hoist transport, a printing unit being configured to print on the driving rail a mark for guiding a motion of a vehicle, a data processing unit receiving design data including design information of the driving rail and first information on a position and type of the mark from a server, an encoder unit being configured to calculate a rotation amount of a servo motor provided in the driving unit to detect a current position of the driving unit and a driving distance of the driving unit, and a control unit being configured to control the driving unit and the printing unit to print the mark on the driving rail by using the design data and second information on the current position and the driving distance of the driving unit.

When there is an interruption in power to an area of an integrated circuit manufacturing facility, product may be stranded in a vehicle mounted to an automated material handling system. An automated rescue vehicle can be deployed to retrieve the stranded vehicle so that a payload carried by that vehicle can be recovered and processing can resume. The rescue vehicle can carry a battery payload. The battery payload provides backup power while the rescue operation is performed. With such an automated system, no human intervention is needed to recover product during a power outage. In addition to improving wafer throughput during the power outage, such a rescue operation may prevent quality degradation for time-critical sequences of processing operations.