System for transporting substrate carriers

A substrate carrier transport system comprising:

• a conveyor adapted to transport a substrate carrier;
• a load mechanism adapted to load the substrate carrier onto the conveyor while the conveyor is moving;
• and
• an unload mechanism adapted to unload the substrate carrier from the conveyor while the substrate carrier is moving along the conveyor.

A substrate loading station comprising:

• a load port from which a substrate may be loaded to or from a processing tool;
• a load/unload mechanism for loading or unloading substrate carriers to or from a factory transport mechanism, the load/unload mechanism being adapted so as to substantially match a velocity of a substrate carrier moving along the factory transport mechanism when the load/unload mechanism initially contacts the substrate carrier;
• and
• an apparatus for transporting a substrate carrier between the load/unload mechanism and the load port.