A wafer stocker is capable of further improving an environment around wafers. The wafer stocker includes a housing, a loading device provided on a front surface of the housing, a wafer cassette shelf arranged in the housing, a wafer transfer robot configured to move the wafers from a transfer container mounted on the loading device to a wafer cassette in the wafer cassette shelf, a wafer cassette delivery device configured to move the wafer cassette in the wafer cassette shelf to a stage having a different height, and a fan filter unit configured to generate a laminar flow in a wafer transfer space and in a wafer cassette transfer space.

Provided is a tower lift, including: a body; a first carriage module and a second carriage module configured to be movable in a vertical direction along the body and each support objects to be transferred; a driving unit comprising a driving belt which vertically moves the first carriage module and the second carriage module and on which the first carriage module or the second carriage module is mounted; and a gap adjusting unit adjusting a gap between the first carriage module and the second carriage module.

A controller determines, when a traveling vehicle to proceed in a first direction from a predetermined cell toward a destination is present, whether or not to grant the traveling vehicle occupation permission for a cell adjacent to the predetermined cell in the first direction. The traveling vehicle proceeds in the first direction if occupation permission for the adjacent cell has been granted from the controller, whereas the traveling vehicle stops at the predetermined cell if occupation permission has not been granted. The controller assigns to the traveling vehicle a traveling instruction in which a cell situated at a plurality of cells ahead of the predetermined cell in the second direction is designated as a waypoint to the destination if the traveling vehicle has not obtained occupation permission for the adjacent cell and has continuously been in a stop state at the predetermined cell for a predetermined period of time.

Exemplary substrate processing systems may include a transfer region housing defining an internal volume. A sidewall of the transfer region housing may define a sealable access for providing and receiving substrates. The systems may include a plurality of substrate supports disposed within the transfer region. The systems may also include a transfer apparatus having a central hub including a first shaft and a second shaft concentric with and counter-rotatable to the first shaft. The transfer apparatus may include a first end effector coupled with the first shaft. The first end effector may include a plurality of first arms. The transfer apparatus may also include a second end effector coupled with the second shaft. The second end effector may include a plurality of second arms having a number of second arms equal to the number of first arms of the first end effector.

A wafer storage system includes a main rail, an overhead hoist transport (OHT) on the main rail, the OHT being configured to transfer at least one storage case with wafers, an interface port on at least one side of the main rail, an auxiliary rail on one side of the interface port, the auxiliary rail being parallel to the main rail, and the interface port being between the main rail and the auxiliary rail, an auxiliary transport on the auxiliary rail, the auxiliary transport being configured to move along the auxiliary rail and to move the at least one storage case, a storage shelf on at least one side of the auxiliary transport, the storage shelf being configured to store the at least one storage case, and a worktable on one side of the storage shelf, the storage shelf being between the worktable and the auxiliary transport.

A transport system includes: a grid-patterned rail that has a plurality of first rails extending in a first direction and a plurality of second rails extending in a second direction different from the first direction and intersecting with the first rails and that forms a plurality of cells with the plurality of first rails and the plurality of second rails; an overhead transport vehicle that travels along the grid-patterned rail, a suspender that is suspended from the grid-patterned rail; and a frame surrounding one of the cells in a plan view and is provided below the suspender.

A substrate support system 10 for a conveyor printer is provided, comprising a support unit 100 comprising a plurality of vacuum apertures 108 arranged for fluidic communication with a source of negative pressure. The support unit 100 also comprises at least one air bearing 114 arranged for fluidic communication with a source of positive pressure. The air bearing 114 comprises porous media 116. The substrate support system 10 also comprises a conveyor belt 150 arranged over the support unit 100 for supporting a substrate 170 to be printed on. The conveyor belt 150 comprises a plurality of belt apertures. The vacuum apertures 108 are arranged to convey a negative pressure through the belt apertures for retaining the substrate 170 on the conveyor belt 150. The at least one air bearing 114 is arranged to convey a positive pressure to support the conveyor belt 150.

A substrate processing apparatus includes: a carrier block including carrier placement parts and configured to load/unload a substrate into/from a carrier; a processing block provided on one side of the carrier block to process the substrate; first and second carrier placement parts of the carrier placement parts and provided side by side in a front-rear direction in a plan view; substrate placement parts provided to be arranged step by step vertically on one side of a substrate transfer region formed between the first and second carrier placement parts; a first substrate transfer mechanism provided in the substrate transfer region to deliver the substrate between the carrier of the first carrier placement part and a first substrate placement part of the substrate placement parts; and a second substrate transfer mechanism for moving upward and downward so as to deliver the substrate between first and second substrate placement parts.

A transfer apparatus according to the disclosure includes a mast portion including a base portion, and a protrusion portion protruding from the base portion, and a plurality of shuttles configured to move along the mast portion, thereby transferring a carrier. The mast portion includes a first magnet track fixed to a first sidewall of the protrusion portion, and a second magnet track fixed to a second sidewall of the protrusion portion. Each of the plurality of shuttles includes a first coil portion adjacent to the first magnet track in a horizontal direction, and a second coil portion adjacent to the second magnet track in the horizontal direction. The protrusion portion, the first magnet track, and the second magnet track are disposed between the first and second coil portions.

In an article transport vehicle that is able to transport a plurality of types of articles, the efficiency of operations is improved in accordance with the type of article, while suppressing an increase in the size of the article transport vehicle. If a control device determines that an article held by a holding portion is a first-type article, the control device controls the transfer mechanism so as to cause the turning mechanism to perform a turning mechanism and cause a sliding mechanism to perform a sliding operation such that operation periods of these operations do not overlap. If the control device determines that the article held by the holding portion is a second-type article, the control device controls the transfer mechanism so as to perform the turning operation and the sliding operation such that the operation periods of these operations overlap.