Cassette Supply System Flat Surface Positioning

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Solution Overview

Problem

The existing cassette supply systems for semiconductor substrates face issues with brusque movements during cassette transfer, leading to particle generation and reduced throughput due to overdetermined positioning, which complicates the handling process and increases system costs.

Innovation Solution

A cassette supply system with a base plate featuring a substantially flat surface and pads instead of pins to support cassettes, allowing for precise positioning without overdetermination, and a cassette handler with an end effector having protrusions to match the cassette grooves, enabling smooth and fast transfer.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If plate pins and handler pins simultaneously contact cassette grooves during transfer, then cassette positioning is achieved, but brusque movements occur causing particle generation and reduced throughput

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecassette positioning precisionVSAvoidsystem throughput

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The invention extracts the positioning function from the pin-groove contact mechanism. Instead of using pins that contact grooves (which causes overdetermined positioning), the base plate is designed with a substantially flat surface that supports the cassette bottom directly, eliminating the pin-groove interaction and its associated brusque movements during transfer

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The invention inverts the traditional positioning approach. Rather than having protruding pins contact recessed grooves, the solution uses a flat surface to support the cassette from below, reversing the contact geometry to achieve non-overdetermined positioning that allows faster transfer speeds

Inventive Principle:

Principle #13The other way round (Inversion)

2Reliability

If end effector moves slowly with high precision during cassette transfer, then particle generation is avoided, but system throughput deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveparticle-free transferVSAvoidsystem throughput

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The invention removes the source of brusque movements by eliminating the pin-groove contact mechanism. The flat surface support prevents overdetermined positioning, allowing the end effector to move faster during transfer without generating particles, thus improving throughput while maintaining transfer reliability

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Data Source

PatentUS11049751B2Cassette supply system to store and handle cassettes and processing apparatus equipped therewith

Publication Date: 2021.06.29 ASM IP HLDG BV

AI summary

The invention relates to a cassette supply system to store and handle cassettes for substrates and a processing apparatus for processing substrates equipped with said system. The system having a cassette storage provided with base plate constructed and arranged to support cassettes. Also a cassette handler with an end effector with at least one protrusion to support and position the cassette on the end effector is provided to transfer cassettes to and from the base plate. The base plate may be provided with a substantially flat surface to support the cassettes.