Substrate processing apparatus and substrate transporting device mounted thereto

A substrate processing apparatus comprising:

• a plurality of processing tanks for processing substrates, the plurality of processing tanks being arranged in line with each other in one line;
• a transporting track provided along the line of processing tanks;
• a plurality of substrate transporting devices for receiving, delivering and transporting the substrates, comprising a first substrate transporting device which is operable in a first operating range that extends at least from a first processing tank in the line of processing tanks to a last processing tank in the line of processing tanks, so as to include all of the processing tanks in the line, and a second substrate transporting device which is operable in a second operating range that extends at least from the first processing tank in the line of processing tanks to the last processing tank in the line of processing tanks, so as to include all of the processing tanks in the line, said first substrate transporting device and said second substrate transporting device being provided on the same transporting track, which extends along the line of processing tanks, such that when the second substrate transporting device is positioned at an nth one of the processing tanks the first substrate transporting device is movable only up to an n−th one of the processing tanks which immediately precedes the nth one of the processing tanks;
• and
• a scheduler which prepares scheduling data for controlling operations of the plurality of substrate transporting devices, based on processing conditions and transporting conditions which are entered in advance;
• wherein when the scheduling data indicates that transportation of the substrates occurs at more than one of the processing tanks simultaneously, the scheduler checks whether it is possible for the transportation of the substrates at said more than one of the processing tanks to be shared among the plurality of substrate transporting devices;
• and
• wherein when it is possible for the transportation of the substrates to be shared the scheduling data prepared by the scheduler is confirmed and the operations of the plurality of substrate transporting devices are controlled based on the scheduling data, and when it is not possible for the transportation of the substrates to be shared a timing of loading substrates before processing at the processing tanks is changed.