Article transferring apparatus and article transferring method

An article transferring apparatus, comprising:

• a main rail along a ceiling of a substrate manufacturing line in which process modules for treating a substrate are arranged;
• a main transferring vehicle configured to move along the main rail and load and unload a container containing a substrate to and from a select one of the process modules;
• a sub-rail installed on a ceiling corresponding to an upper portion of a corresponding one of the process modules;
• and
• a sub-transferring vehicle configured to move along the sub-rail and configured to load and unload a container between a first loading part and a second loading part of the corresponding one of the process modules;
• and
• a control unit configured to output a transfer command of the container to the main transferring vehicle and the sub-transferring vehicle,
• wherein the control unit is configured to stop transferring the container of the sub-transferring vehicle when the main transferring vehicle loads or unloads the container to or from the first loading part or the second loading part to prevent a collision between the main transferring vehicle and the sub-transferring vehicle,
• the main transferring vehicle is configured to load a container containing a substrate that is not process-treated to the first loading part, and unload a container containing a substrate that has been process-treated from the second loading part,
• the sub-transferring vehicle is configured to transfer the container from the first loading part to the second loading part,
• the container transferred by the sub-transferring vehicle is configured to be in an empty state when the substrate that is not process-treated has been inserted into the corresponding one of the process modules, and
• the sub-transferring vehicle further includes a detection sensor configured to detect the main transferring vehicle.

An article transferring apparatus, comprising:

• a main rail along a ceiling of a substrate manufacturing line in which process modules for treating a substrate are arranged;
• a main transferring vehicle configured to move along the main rail and load and unload a container containing a substrate to and from a select one of the process modules;
• a sub-rail installed on the ceiling corresponding to an upper portion of a corresponding one of the process modules;
• and
• a sub-transferring vehicle configured to move along the sub-rail and load and unload a container between a first loading part and a second loading part of the corresponding one of the process modules,
• wherein the sub-rail is disposed to pass through upper portions of the first loading part and the second loading part,
• wherein the main transferring vehicle includes
• a vehicle configured to move along the main rail,
• a main body connected to the vehicle, and providing an interior space in which a container is located,
• a hoist unit provided in the main body, and configured to hoist a belt by winding or unwinding the belt,
• a hand unit fixed to one end of the belt, and configured to grip a container, and
• a slide unit configured to move the hoist unit in a horizontal direction.