A cutting apparatus includes a cassette table on which a first cassette in which a frame unit, ring-shaped frame and wafer are housed, and a second cassette in which a simple wafer is housed. A first conveying unit having a first frame holding part holds the ring-shaped frame of the frame unit withdrawn from the first cassette and conveys the frame unit to a chuck table. A first wafer holding part holds the simple wafer withdrawn from the second cassette and conveys the simple wafer to the chuck table. A cutting unit cuts the wafer, and a second conveying unit conveys the frame unit from the chuck table to a cleaning unit. A second wafer holding part holds the cut simple wafer and conveys it from the chuck table to the cleaning unit.

A transport system includes a plurality of transport vehicles and a controller. The transport vehicle includes a travel unit and transfer unit. The controller performs a blocking control to prohibit transport vehicles other than the transport vehicle from entering a blocking zone corresponding to the area occupied by the transport vehicle when transferring an article in a plan view. To transfer an article from/to a placement table, the transport vehicle travels along the route to the placement table in a first direction. An area of the blocking zone when the transport vehicle accesses to the placement table in the first direction is equal to or less than an area of the blocking zone identified when the transport vehicle accesses to the placement table in the second direction different from the first direction.

A suspended transport vehicle travels along a track supported by a ceiling and transfers an article to a shelf of a rack installed on a floor, the suspended transport vehicle has a driving part, a first traveling part and a second traveling part, a ceiling-side member that is suspended downwards from the first traveling part and the second traveling part and has a transferring part that transfers the article to the shelf of the rack, a floor-side member that is provided so as to be capable of relative movement with respect to the ceiling-side member and has travel rollers being contacting parts in contact with a first guide part installed on the floor, and a distance sensor that detects a relative distance between the ceiling-side member and the floor-side member.

A method for operating a conveying system is provided. An overhead hoist transport (OHT) vehicle is provided, wherein the OHT vehicle includes a gripping member configured to grip and hold a carrier, and a receiver configured to receive a signal. The signal is transmitted to the receiver of the OHT vehicle. The OHT vehicle is moved toward the carrier, and the carrier is gripped by the gripping member of the OHT vehicle. A lifting force is determined based on a weight of a carrier, a number of workpieces in the carrier, or a vertical distance between the OHT vehicle and the carrier, and the lifting force is applied to the carrier.

A control unit performs a travel stop process for stopping travel of a travel unit in response to an indicator detection unit detecting a stop notice indicator section and then detecting a stop position indicator section. After the travel of the travel unit is stopped as a result of the travel stop process, the control unit performs a transfer process for causing a transfer unit to transfer an article. The control unit performs, instead of the transfer process, anomaly notification processing for providing a notification of an occurrence of an anomaly to a superordinate control unit, after the travel of the travel unit is stopped by the travel stop process, in response to: (i) a travel distance, from a position at which the indicator detection unit has detected the stop notice indicator section, being smaller than a determination distance smaller than a notice distance, and (ii) the indicator detection unit detecting the stop position indicator section.

An overhead transport vehicle system stores a large number of articles and includes an inclined rail and overhead transport vehicles each including a traveler to travel on the inclined rail, a holder to hold an article, an elevator to raise and lower the holder, a horizontality guide to keep the elevator horizontal or substantially horizontal at the inclined rail, and a controller. Supports are horizontally provided at a same or substantially same height, and the overhead transport vehicles located on the inclined rail are able to transfer the article between them. The overhead transport vehicles transfer the article between the supports and the controller controls the elevator to raise and lower the holder by a raising and lowering amount according to a height distance between the inclined rail and an individual support.

A traveling vehicle controller includes a command assignment controller to detect a first-to-arrive traveling vehicle that is able to reach a destination point first among traveling vehicles, based on travel route candidates on which the traveling vehicles travel along a travel path from respective positions to reach the destination point, and assign the command to the first-to-arrive traveling vehicle. During detection of the first-to-arrive traveling vehicle, when a traveling vehicle traveling toward a branch point on the travel path is located within a range of a branch-switching impossible distance from the branch point and is scheduled to proceed toward a main way at the branch point, the command assignment controller performs pseudo-shift processing by which this traveling vehicle is determined to be located in a position downstream of the branch point and on a side of the main way.

A vertical batch furnace assembly for processing wafers having a cassette handling space, a wafer handling space, and a first wall and separating the cassette handling space from the wafer handling space. The first wall has at least one wafer transfer opening in front of which, at a side of the first wall which is directed to the cassette handling space, a wafer transfer position for a wafer cassette is provided. The cassette handling space comprises a cassette storage having a plurality of cassette storage positions and a cassette handler configured to transfer wafer cassettes between the cassette storage positions and the wafer transfer position. The cassette handler has a first cassette handler arm and a second cassette handler arm.

An overhead transport vehicle system includes a travel rail, an overhead transport vehicle, and a gas supplier. The overhead transport vehicle travels on the travel rail to transport a FOUP, includes a tank to store inactive gas, and supplies the inactive gas into the FOUP from the tank during transport of the FOUP. The gas supplier is provided along the travel rail to supply inactive gas into the tank of the overhead transport vehicle.

A transfer device includes a holder that holds an article, and a self-propelled cart that supports the holder and travels. The self-propelled cart includes a wheel and a wheel drive source that drives the wheel, and the self-propelled cart travels along a traveling path provided on an elevation unit and a delivery device. The delivery device includes a positioning portion that positions the elevation unit while the elevation unit is at a transfer height, and a delivery-side guide that guides travel of the self-propelled cart along the traveling path. The elevation unit includes an elevation-side guide that guides travel of the self-propelled cart along the traveling path, and the elevation-side guide is arranged so as to be continuous with the delivery-side guide while the elevation unit is positioned by the positioning portion.