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US 8,297,319 B2Granted
Carrier gas system and coupling substrate carrier to a loadport
AssigneeBrooks Automation, Inc.
InventorsDaniel Babbs, William Fosnight
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method for pressurizing a substrate carrier including pressurizing a chamber that is of unitary construction with the carrier and/or a substrate cassette within the carrier and maintaining a pressure within the carrier by releasing gas from the chamber into the carrier.
Claims8
A method for pressurizing a substrate carrier comprising:
- pressurizing a chamber that is of unitary construction with the carrier and/or a substrate cassette within the carrier;
- maintaining a pressure within the carrier by releasing gas from the chamber into the carrier;
- monitoring the pressure within the carrier and/or chamber;
- reporting an alarm if the pressure is below a predetermined level;
- and
- commanding a handling system to transport the carrier to a chamber replenishing station from a location remote from the chamber replenishing station.
3 more elements
A substrate transport system comprising:
- a substrate transport carrier having:
- a casing for holding and carrying a substrate substantially isolated from an outside atmosphere, the casing having at least one chamber capable of holding the substrate and a chamber atmosphere different from the outside atmosphere,
- a portable gas supply connected to the casing so that the gas supply and casing are movable as a unit, the gas supply being arranged to hold a supply of gas and to controllably exhaust gas from the supply into the at least one chamber so that the chamber atmosphere is maintained at a predetermined pressure, and
- a pressure monitoring unit connected to the substrate transport carrier, the pressure monitoring unit being configured to monitor the pressure within the at least one chamber and/or the portable gas supply and report an alarm if the pressure is below a predetermined level;
- and
- a handling system having a controller, the handling system being configured to transport the substrate transport carrier;
- wherein the pressure monitoring unit is configured to report the alarm to the controller of the handling system if the pressure is below a predetermined level, and the controller is configured to command the handling system to transport the substrate transport carrier to a portable gas supply replenishing station from a location remote from the portable gas supply replenishing station.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.