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US 12,656,269 B2Granted
Apparatus and method for handling wafer storage box
AssigneesTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd., Tsmc China Company Limited
InventorsXiao Jin, Qin Sun
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method includes placing a wafer storage box onto a stage; opening the wafer storage box, such that a sealing strip of the wafer storage box is exposed; directing a light beam over the sealing strip; determining whether the light beam is blocked by the sealing strip; and in response the determination determines that the light beam is blocked by the sealing strip, performing a maintenance process on the sealing strip.
Claims20
A method, comprising:
- placing a wafer storage box onto a stage;
- opening the wafer storage box, such that a sealing strip of the wafer storage box is exposed;
- directing a light beam over the sealing strip;
- determining whether the light beam is blocked by the sealing strip;
- and
- in response the determination determines that the light beam is blocked by the sealing strip, performing a maintenance process on the sealing strip.
3 more elements
A method, comprising:
- positioning a wafer storage box on a stage;
- opening the wafer storage box, such that a sealing strip of the wafer storage box is exposed;
- directing a light beam to propagate along a horizontal path above the sealing strip;
- detecting whether the light beam is blocked by the sealing strip at a first side of the wafer storage box;
- in response to determining that the light beam is blocked by the sealing strip at the first side, performing a maintenance process on the sealing strip;
- rotating the wafer storage box relative to the light beam;
- and
- detecting whether the light beam is blocked by the sealing strip at a second side of the wafer storage box after rotation.
5 more elements
A method, comprising:
- positioning a wafer storage box relative to a light inspection path;
- opening the wafer storage box, such that a sealing strip of the wafer storage box is exposed;
- directing a light beam to propagate along the light inspection path above the sealing strip;
- measuring an intensity of the light beam received by a light sensor;
- determining whether the sealing strip is detached from a ledge of the wafer storage box by comparing the measured intensity with a predetermined threshold;
- and
- in response to determining that the measured intensity is less than the predetermined threshold, performing a maintenance process on the sealing strip.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.