Method for transporting wafers
AssigneeTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
InventorsWei-Chih CHEN, Shi-Chi CHEN, Ting-Wei WANG, Jen-Ti WANG, Kuo-Fong CHUANG
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Abstract
A method includes moving a wafer transport device to a position above a load port; lowering a hoist unit of the wafer transport device above the load port, wherein the wafer transport device has a plurality of belts, each of the belts is connected to the hoist unit and wound around a respective belt winding drum; detecting sound waves from the belts by using at least one acoustic sensor to measure tensions of the belts; and comparing the tensions from the belts to determine an inclination of the hoist unit.
Claims20
A method comprising:
- moving a wafer transport device to a position above a load port;
- lowering a hoist unit of the wafer transport device above the load port, wherein the wafer transport device has a plurality of belts, each of the belts is connected to the hoist unit and wound around a respective belt winding drum;
- detecting sound waves from the belts by using acoustic sensors to measure tensions of the belts;
- and
- comparing the tensions of the belts to determine an inclination of the hoist unit.
A method comprising:
- moving a wafer transport device on a transport rail, wherein the wafer transport device comprises a hoist unit configured to grip a wafer container unit;
- stopping the wafer transport device above a load port;
- after stopping the wafer transport device, reading data of a rail mark located on the transport rail;
- aligning an orientation of the wafer transport device according to the data of the rail mark;
- after aligning the orientation of the wafer transport device according to the data of the rail mark, aligning the wafer transport device with respect to a top surface of the load port;
- and
- after aligning the wafer transport device with respect to the top surface of the load port, lowering the hoist unit.
A method comprising:
- transferring a wafer container unit by using a wafer transport device, wherein the wafer transport device comprises:
- a main body;
- a hoist unit comprising a gripper;
- and
- a plurality of belts connecting the main body and the hoist unit;
- stopping the wafer transport device with the wafer container unit above a load port;
- lowering the hoist unit of the wafer transport device above the load port;
- after lowering the hoist unit of the wafer transport device, projecting a first light beam from the main body to a first position of a top surface of the hoist unit to obtain a first distance;
- after lowering the hoist unit of the wafer transport device, projecting a second light beam from the main body to a second position of the top surface of the hoist unit to obtain a second distance;
- and
- comparing the first distance and the second distance to obtain an inclination of the top surface of the hoist unit with respect to a top surface of the load port.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.