Substrate transport apparatus
AssigneeBrooks Automation, Inc.
InventorsRobert T. CAVENEY, Ulysses GILCHRIST
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A substrate transport apparatus including a frame, an upper arm rotatably mounted to the frame about a shoulder axis, a forearm rotatably mounted to the upper arm about an elbow axis where the forearm includes stacked forearm sections dependent from the upper arm through a common joint, and independent stacked end effectors rotatably mounted to the forearm, the forearm being common to the independent stacked end effectors, wherein at least end effector is mounted to the stacked forearm sections at a wrist axis, where the forearm is configured such that spacing between the independent stacked end effectors mounted to the stacked forearm sections is decoupled from a height build up between end effectors accommodating pass through instrumentation.
Claims29
A substrate transport apparatus comprising:
- a frame;
- an upper arm rotatably mounted to the frame about shoulder axis;
- a forearm rotatably mounted to the upper arm about an elbow axis where the forearm includes stacked forearm sections dependent from the upper arm through a common joint;
- and
- independent stacked end effectors rotatably mounted to the forearm, the forearm being common to the independent stacked end effectors, wherein at least one end effector is mounted to the stacked forearm sections at a wrist axis;
- where the forearm is configured such that spacing between the independent stacked end effectors mounted to the stacked forearm sections is decoupled from a mount stack up of other end effectors that accommodate pass through instrumentation within at least one of the other end effectors in the mount stack up.
A substrate transport apparatus comprising:
- a frame;
- an upper arm rotatably mounted to the frame about a shoulder axis;
- a forearm rotatably mounted to the upper arm about an elbow axis where the forearm includes stacked forearm sections dependent from the upper arm through a common joint;
- and
- independent stacked end effectors rotatably mounted to the forearm, the forearm being common to the independent stacked end effectors, wherein at least one end effector is mounted to the stacked forearm sections at a wrist axis, each end effector having a wafer hold location so that the independent stacked end effectors form a wafer hold location stack;
- wherein the forearm is configured so that a wafer hold location stack height is independent of a stack up height of an end effector accommodating pass through instrumentation.
A substrate transport apparatus comprising:
- a frame;
- an upper arm rotatably mounted to the frame about a shoulder axis;
- a forearm rotatably mounted to the upper arm about an elbow axis where the forearm includes stacked forearm sections dependent from the upper arm through a common joint;
- independent stacked end effectors rotatably mounted to the forearm, the forearm being common to the independent stacked end effectors, wherein at least one end effector is mounted to the stacked forearm sections at a wrist axis, each end effector having a wafer hold location so that the independent stacked end effectors form a wafer hold location stack, where the forearm is configured so that a wafer hold location stack height is independent of a stack up height of an end effector accommodating past through instrumentation;
- and
- a drive section configured to provide motion travel to the independent stacked end effectors and effect swapping between the independent stacked end effectors, wherein the substrate transport apparatus is configured to position the independent stacked end effectors at a predetermined location, wherein motion height effecting swapping between the independent stacked end effectors is decoupled from the stack up height of an end effector accommodating pass through instrumentation.
The substrate transport apparatus of claim 25, wherein at least one sensor is provided on one or more of the support member and the other one of the stacked forearm sections where the at least one sensor is disposed to sense a substrate, held on at least one end effector, that rotated between the support member and the other one of the stacked forearm sections.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.