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. 21, 2004
Filed:
Jun. 09, 2003
Kenji Sugimoto, Kyoto, JP;
Minobu Matsunaga, Kyoto, JP;
Masakazu Sanada, Kyoto, JP;
Katsushi Yoshioka, Kyoto, JP;
Kaoru Aoki, Kyoto, JP;
Moritaka Yano, Kyoto, JP;
Satoshi Yamamoto, Kyoto, JP;
Tsuyoshi Mitsuhashi, Kyoto, JP;
Takashi Nagao, Kyoto, JP;
Mitsumasa Kodama, Kyoto, JP;
Abstract
A series of substrate transport paths for transporting substrates is arranged on upper and lower stories. Substrates are transferable between the substrate transport path on the first story and the substrate transport path on the second story. The paths include a going-only path for transporting the substrates forward, and a return-only path for transporting the substrates in the opposite direction, these paths being arranged on the upper and lower stories. An indexer connects one end of the substrate transport path on one story to one end of the substrate transport path on the other story. An interface connects the other end of the substrate transport path on one story to the other end of the substrate transport path on the other story. This construction efficiently reduces a waiting time due to interference between the substrates transported along the going-only path and the substrates transported along the return-only path.