Method of controlling transfer robot
AssigneeUlvac, Inc.
InventorYoshinori Fujii
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method of controlling a transfer robot is provided, in which method the communication time of the transfer robot can be reduced and the transfer time of a substrate can be shortened. A series of actions of the transfer robot when a substrate that is present in a processing chamber is transferred to a predetermined position in a processing chamber, are performed by a single command. The series of actions may include a swap action in which, after having taken out by a robot hand the substrate that is present in the processing chamber, a substrate that is different from the substrate is handed over by a robot hand to a predetermined position on the processing chamber.
Claims8
A method of controlling a transfer robot, the transfer robot transferring a to-be processed substrate from a first of a plurality of processing chambers to a second of the plurality of processing chambers, the method comprising:
- contracting a robot hand to take a first substrate out of the first processing chamber;
- turning the robot hand so that a front end of the robot hand points to the second processing chamber;
- extending the robot hand to transfer the first substrate to the second processing chamber,
- wherein a series of actions of the transfer robot including the contracting, turning and extending of the transfer robot hand is performed by a single command,
- wherein the transfer robot has two robot hands disposed at a predetermined distance from each other in the turning direction of the transfer robot;
- the method further comprising:
- first taking out the first substrate present in the first processing chamber by one of the two robot hands, second taking out, after the first taking out, a second substrate different from the first substrate and handing over by the other of the two robot hands to a predetermined position in the first processing chamber, wherein the series of actions further includes the first taking out and the second taking out and handing;
- and the method further comprising:
- during the series of actions without waiting for completion of the series of actions, generating a signal for closing an isolation valve which separates the first processing chamber from a transfer chamber in which the transfer robot is disposed,
- wherein the transfer robot generates the signal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.