Appeal No. 2004-2277
Application No. 09/886,760
alignment” (specification, page 1). Representative claims 1 and
9 read as follows:
1. An apparatus for aligning the loading/unloading of a
wafer cassette to/from a loadport by an overhead hoist transport
(OHT) system comprising:
a loadport positioned on a floor having a top surface for
mounting a wafer cassette thereto, said top surface of the
loadport having at least two spaced-apart laser beam projectors
for projecting at least two laser beams upwardly toward an OHT
rail;
an OHT rail positioned over said loadport having a bottom
surface facing said loadport, said bottom surface being equipped
with an energy receiving means for receiving said at least two
laser beams and for sending out a signal to a process controller
to determine a position of said loadport;
a process controller for receiving a signal from said energy
receiving means and for comparing to pre-stored data for sending
out a signal to an OHT delivery arm; and
an OHT delivery arm for receiving a signal from said process
controller to correct the delivery position of said wafer
cassette onto said loadport based on said signal received.
9. A method for aligning the loading/unloading of a wafer
cassette to/from a loadport by an OHT system comprising the steps
of:
positioning a loadport on a floor having a top surface for
mounting a wafer cassette thereto;
mounting at least two spaced-apart laser beam projectors on
said top surface of the loadport for projecting at least two
laser beams upwardly toward an OHT rail;
positioning an OHT rail over said loadport having a bottom
surface facing said loadport;
mounting an energy receiving means on said bottom surface
for receiving said at least two laser beams and for sending out a
signal to a process controller to determine a position of said
loadport;
providing a process controller to receive a signal from said
energy receiving means and for comparing to pre-stored data to
send out a signal to an OHT delivery arm; and
adjusting the position of said OHT delivery arm based on
said signal received from said process controller to correct the
delivery position of said wafer cassette onto said loadport.
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