The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 26, 2000
Filed:
Jun. 01, 1999
Mitsuya Sato, Yokohama, JP;
Canon Kabushiki Kaisha, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
An interlocking apparatus includes a plurality of determination units independent of each other, an operation stopping circuit, a switch, and a restoring circuit. The plurality of determination units determine that a semiconductor device manufacturing equipment has shifted to a predetermined state. The operation stopping circuit sets the manufacturing equipment to an operation stop state when at least one of the plurality of determination units determines that the manufacturing equipment has shifted to the predetermined state. The switch inputs a restoration instruction instructing that the manufacturing equipment set in the operation stop state is restored to an operation state. The restoring circuit is responsive to the restoration instruction to restore the manufacturing equipment to the operation state only when the manufacturing equipment is set in the operation stop state determined by all of the plurality of determination units determining that the manufacturing equipment has shifted to the predetermined state.