Unified conveying apparatus, and semiconductor device manufacturing facility comprising the same

An automatic manufacturing system for manufacturing semiconductor devices, said system comprising:

• a bay including a plurality of intrabays disposed side-by-side, and an interbay extending between said intrabays;
• a plurality of semiconductor manufacturing apparatus disposed in each of said intrabays;
• and
• at least one over-head conveying apparatus disposed in said bay, said conveying apparatus comprising a conveying rail section and a vehicle section, said conveying rail section including an upwardly facing first rail extending along a first conveying route, a downwardly facing second rail extending parallel to said first rail along a second conveying route, and an intermediate rail structure interconnecting faces of said first and said second rails so as to integrate said first and second rails, and said vehicle section including at least one over-head shuttle vehicle disposed on and guided by said first rail so as to transfer articles along said first conveying route as supported by said first rail of the conveying rail section, and at least one over-head hoist vehicle disposed beneath and guided by said second rail so as to transfer articles along said second conveying route as suspended from said second rail of the conveying rail section, each said over-head shuttle and over-head hoist vehicle having an independent driving mechanism such that the articles can be conveyed independently from one another along said first and second conveying routes.