Substrate processing apparatus
AssigneeDainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd.
InventorsYoshio Matsumura, Katsumi Shimaji
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A single transport path for transporting a substrate between the cassettes and a plurality of processing units, is arranged between the cassette storing means and the processing means. Hence, it is possible to skip some processing units or to change the order of the processing units easily, with simplifying the construction of the apparatus. Furthermore, the single transport path causes to reduce the space for transporting the substrate.
Claims17
A substrate processing apparatus for transporting a plurality of substrates, which are stored in a cassette serially one by one, to a plurality of processing units in which each of a substrate set therein is processed in a respective manner, comprising:
- cassette storing means for storing a plurality of cassettes, each of which is capable of storing a plurality of substrates, said plurality of cassettes being arranged in a predetermined direction;
- processing means, including a plurality of processing units, for processing the substrate in a predetermined manner, said plurality of processing units being arranged parallel to said predetermined direction;
- and
- transporting means, disposed between said cassette storing means and said processing means, said transporting means including a holding member which transports the substrate stored in said cassette in said cassette storing means to one of the processing units in the processing means and transports the substrate processed by said processing means to the cassette, said holding member being capable of moving along said predetermined direction holding the substrate to be transported and capable of stopping in front of said one of the processing units and in front of said cassette.
A substrate processing apparatus, comprising:
- a transporting robot movable along a linear path;
- a plurality of cassettes, each of said cassettes capable of holding a respective plurality of substrates, said plurality of cassettes being arranged along a first linear line, generally parallel to said linear path;
- a plurality of processing units, each said processing unit capable of performing a respective process on a substrate brought into operational engagement therewith, said processing units being arranged along a second linear line, generally parallel to said linear path;
- said linear path being located between said first and second linear lines.
A substrate processing apparatus for transporting a plurality of substrates, which are stored in a cassette serially one by one, to a plurality of processing units in which each of a substrate set therein is processed in a respective manner, comprising:
- a cassette storing system for storing a plurality of cassettes, each of which is capable of storing a plurality of substrates, said plurality of cassettes being arranged in a predetermined direction;
- a processing system, including a plurality of processing units, for processing the substrate in a predetermined manner, said plurality of processing units being arranged parallel to said predetermined direction;
- and
- a transporting system, disposed between said cassette storing system and said processing system, said transporting system including a holder member which transports the substrate stored in said cassette in said cassette storing system to one of the processing units in the processing system and transports the substrate processed by said processing system to the cassette, said holding member being capable of moving along said predetermined direction holding the substrate to be transported and capable of stopping in front of said one of the processing units and in front of said cassette.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.