Material or article handling – Apparatus for charging a load holding or supporting element... – With simultaneous charging and discharging of plural load...
Patent
1997-07-03
1999-11-16
Underwood, Donald W.
Material or article handling
Apparatus for charging a load holding or supporting element...
With simultaneous charging and discharging of plural load...
414806, 414808, 414937, B65H 300
Patent
active
059846070
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to a transfer apparatus, a transfer method, a treatment apparatus and a treatment method for use in a process for manufacturing semiconductor devices.
BACKGROUND ART
A conventional treatment apparatus used in a process for manufacturing semiconductor devices is known from, for example, Japanese Patent Application KOKAI Publication No. 63-24615. At the time of subjecting objects to be treated, such as semiconductor wafers (hereinafter referred to simply as "wafers"), to a predetermined treatment, a plurality of wafers are transferred from a cassette as a first support member to a wafer boat as a second support member by means of transfer means, thereby performing the predetermined treatment.
More specifically, to transfer wafers from the cassette to the wafer boat, load/unload means for loading and unloading wafers therebetween is moved first to a first position in which wafers can be carried out of the cassette, thereby carrying a single wafer out of the cassette, and then to a second position in which wafers can be carried into the wafer boat, thereby loading the single wafer into the wafer boat by the load/unload means.
Since in this treatment apparatus, the load/unload means is moved between the first and second positions each time it transfers a single wafer, a great amount of time is required to transfer a plurality of wafers from the cassette to the wafer boat, which is the major cause of hindrance to increase the throughput of the treatment apparatus. Accordingly, a long time is required to completely transfer all wafers contained in the cassette, and therefore it is necessary to keep the cassette for a long time in a position in which the wafers can be carried out by means of the load/unload means.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is a first object of the invention to provide a transfer apparatus capable of transferring a to-be-transferred object in a short time.
It is a second object of the invention to provide a transfer method which enables a to-be-transferred object to be transferred in a short time.
It is a third object of the invention to provide a treatment apparatus capable of increasing the throughput.
It is a fourth object of the invention to provide a treatment method capable of reducing the time required to transfer a to-be-transferred object, thereby increasing the throughput.
According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a transfer apparatus for transferring a plurality of to-be-transferred objects from a first support unit supporting the objects to a second support unit capable of supporting the objects, comprising: support unit in a first position in which the objects can be carried out of the first support unit, and loading the objects one by one into the second support unit in a second position in which the objects can be carried into the second support unit; the load/unload means, the third support unit being capable of supporting the objects; and the second position.
According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a treatment apparatus for transferring a plurality of to-be-transferred objects from a first support unit supporting the objects to a second support unit capable of supporting the objects, and subjecting to a predetermined treatment the objects supported by the second support unit, comprising: support unit from a first position in which the objects can be carried out of the first support unit, and loading the objects into the second support unit one by one in a second position in which the objects can be carried into the second support unit; the load/unload means, the third support unit being capable of supporting the objects; the second position; and unit.
According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of transferring a plurality of to-be-transferred objects from a first support unit supporting the objects to a second support unit capable of supporting the objects, comprising the steps of: support unit capable of supporting the objects; the objects can be transferred
REFERENCES:
patent: 4775281 (1988-10-01), Prentakis
patent: 5439547 (1995-08-01), Kumagai
patent: 5570994 (1996-11-01), Somekh et al.
patent: 5810538 (1998-09-01), Ozawa et al.
Oosawa Tetsu
Ushikawa Harunori
Tokyo Electron Limited
Underwood Donald W.
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