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:
May. 15, 2012
Filed:
Oct. 17, 2005
Kenjiro Haraki, Tokyo-To, JP;
Hiroyuki Yamamoto, Tokyo-To, JP;
Satoshi Uemura, Tokyo-To, JP;
Yuji Tsunoda, Tokyo-To, JP;
Yasushi Takeuchi, Tokyo-To, JP;
Hirofumi Kaneko, Tokyo-To, JP;
Kenjiro Haraki, Tokyo-To, JP;
Hiroyuki Yamamoto, Tokyo-To, JP;
Satoshi Uemura, Tokyo-To, JP;
Yuji Tsunoda, Tokyo-To, JP;
Yasushi Takeuchi, Tokyo-To, JP;
Hirofumi Kaneko, Tokyo-To, JP;
Tokyo Electron Limited, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A vertical heat treatment apparatus includes: at least one loading and unloading partandfor loading and unloading a carrying containercontaining a plurality of process objects W into and from said vertical heat treatment apparatus; a first storage partthat stores a plurality of carrying containers loaded into said vertical heat treatment apparatus via the loading and unloading part; a heat treatment furnacethat accommodates a holderholding a plurality of process objects at multiple levels to perform a predetermined heat treatment to the process objects; and a transferpart that supports thereon a carrying container for transferring process objects between the holder and the carrying container, wherein an upper loading and unloading partand a lower loading and unloading partare provided as said at least one loading and unloading part, and a second storage partthat stores a carrying container is disposed between the upper and lower loading and unloading parts. Either one of the loading and unloading partsis utilized as a third storage partthat stores a carrying container. The carrying container storage capacity may be increased and the throughput may be improved.