The present invention provides an apparatus for packing wafer cassettes, the apparatus including: a loading part to which a wafer cassette is loaded; an accessory inspecting part configured to check a recipe attached to the wafer cassette and inspect accessories of the wafer cassette; a first label attaching part configured to attach a first label to the wafer cassette on which the accessory inspection has been completed; a primary film packing part configured to receive a primary film according to the recipe and pack the wafer cassette using the primary film; a secondary film packing part configured to receive a secondary film according to the recipe and secondarily pack the wafer cassette using the secondary film; a second label attaching part configured to attach a second label to the secondary film with which the wafer cassette has been packed; and an unloading part configured to discharge the wafer cassette which has been completely packaged.

The present application relates to a movable buffer, an automated material handling system and a corresponding overhead hoist transfer. The movable buffer includes: an inclined track including a first end and a second end opposite to each other, wherein the second end of the inclined track is higher than the first end of the inclined track; a storage tray connected to the inclined track, wherein the storage tray is provided with a space for accommodating a front opening unified pod, the storage tray is provided with at least one opening; and a transmission mechanism, wherein the upper surface of the transmission mechanism is connected to the lower surface of the overhead buffer, the lower surface of the transmission mechanism is connected to the inclined track, and the transmission mechanism is used for driving the storage tray to slide from the first end of the inclined track to the second end.

In an embodiment, a system includes: a tool port of a semiconductor processing tool; a processing port with an internal processing port location and an external processing port location; a robot configured to move a die vessel between the internal processing port location and the tool port; and an actuator configured to move the die vessel between the internal processing port location and the external processing port location.

A dynamic routing method and apparatus for an Overhead Hoist Transport (OHT) system are disclosed. The present disclosure in some embodiments provides a dynamic routing method for an OHT system, including generating a Q table of records of at least one Q value which is a time for a vehicle to move through an edge between two adjacent nodes to a node other than the two adjacent nodes, measuring a transit time of the vehicle when assigned a destination node and passing a transit edge between a current node and next node, extracting target edges to be updated according to the transit time from a plurality of edges, and differentially updating Q values for the target edges according to distances to the transit edge partially based on the transit time, the Q values for the target edges being time values for the vehicle to move through the target edges to the destination node.

A cassette with embedded temperature sensors that is disposed within a load lock is disclosed. The temperature sensors may be disposed in a plurality of shelves of the load lock cassette to monitor the temperature of each of a plurality of workpieces disposed in the load lock. The output of these temperature sensors may be provided to a controller, which controls when the load lock is opened. The load lock cassette may also include cooling channels to accelerate the cooling of the workpieces to improve throughput. The cooling may be controlled using closed loop control, where a controller monitors the temperature of the workpieces during the cooling operation.

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.

An embodiment of the present disclosure aims to provide a logistics system capable of preventing congestion of transport vehicles in a specific section of a fabrication facility. According to the present disclosure, a logistics system in a fabrication facility includes a stocker equipment that is located near a central passage and stores an article, and a rail that provides a travel path of a transport vehicle that loads and unloads the article to the stocker equipment. The stocker equipment includes a load port disposed on a side opposite to the central passage and a rack that provides a space for storing the article. The rail includes a central rail formed along the central passage and a branch rail that is branched from the central passage and formed along the periphery of the load port.

A substrate container including a plate, a shell, a connector, and a seal, where the connector is threaded and secured via a nut, and the seal contacts each of the shell, plate, and connector. The plate has a recess accommodating an end of the connector and the nut. Field-serviceable, removable purge modules including check valves may be used with the substrate container, and may be secured to the substrate container in the recess in the plate. Filters may be secured to the connector or included in the purge modules. These filters may have diameters larger than an internal diameter of the connector.

Provided are an alignment jig, a side track buffer system including the same, and an alignment method using the same. The alignment jig includes a horizontal jig fixed to a bottom plate of a side track buffer to extend in a horizontal direction to a lower portion of the transfer rail, and a vertical jig fixed to the transfer rail to extend downward in a vertical direction so as to be adjacent to a top surface in the horizontal direction. A separation distance between an intersection point of the vertical jig and the horizontal jig and a central portion of the bottom plate is detected as a buffer separation distance, and a buffer frame is horizontally moved automatically or manually to allow the buffer separation distance to match a reference separation distance, so that the side track buffer is installed in an accurate position.

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.