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:
Apr. 17, 2001
Filed:
Sep. 23, 1999
David Felsenthal, Marblehead, MA (US);
Chunghsin Lee, Lynnfield, MA (US);
Piero Sferlazzo, Marblehead, MA (US);
Applied Science and Technology, Inc., Wilmington, MA (US);
Abstract
An apparatus for simultaneously transporting and processing substrates is described. The apparatus includes a load lock that stores at least one substrate prior to processing and that stores at least one substrate after processing. A first transport mechanism transports at least one substrate into and out of the load lock. A multi-stage elevator is adapted to receive the first transport mechanism. A first process chamber is vertically disposed from the multi-stage elevator. The multi-stage elevator vertically transports at least one substrate into and out of the first process chamber. A second process chamber may be coupled to the multi-stage elevator. A second transport mechanism transports at least one substrate between the multi-stage elevator and the second process chamber.