Passive Separation Cassette With Dual-Elevation Workpiece Handling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing semiconductor processing systems are often designed for a specific workpiece size, such as 300 mm diameter, and struggle to accommodate differently sized workpieces efficiently without requiring system redesign.
Innovation Solution
A cassette and carrier system that supports workpieces at two different elevations, using taller workpiece support posts and a carrier with alignment tabs and holes, allowing robots to handle workpieces of varying sizes without altering the cassette or other system components.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the system is designed for a specific workpiece size (e.g., 300 mm diameter), then the robots and transfer stations can be optimized for that size, but the system cannot accommodate differently sized workpieces without redesign
Solution Approach 1:
The system separates the workpiece support function into distinct components: the carrier (which holds the workpiece) and the cassette (which holds the carrier). The carrier is designed with specific dimensions to match different workpiece sizes, while the cassette remains standardized. This segmentation allows the carrier to be changed for different workpiece sizes without modifying the cassette or robot systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The carrier acts as an intermediary component between the workpiece and the cassette/robot system. By introducing this intermediate element, the system can accommodate different workpiece sizes through carrier variations while maintaining a standardized cassette and robot interface. The carrier absorbs the variability in workpiece dimensions.
2Productivity
If robots and transfer stations are dimensioned for a particular sized workpiece, then handling efficiency is optimized, but accommodating smaller workpieces becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The standardized cassette design serves multiple functions: it can hold carriers of different sizes, accommodate various workpiece dimensions, and interface with the same robot systems regardless of workpiece size. This multi-functionality allows the system to maintain optimized handling efficiency while gaining flexibility for different workpiece sizes.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the cassette is redesigned to accommodate different sized workpieces, then workpiece size flexibility improves, but system complexity and modification costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the system into standardized cassette and variable carrier components, the invention avoids the need to redesign the entire cassette structure for different workpiece sizes. Only the carrier needs to be modified or replaced, significantly reducing manufacturing complexity and modification costs.
4Device complexity
If a single elevation support system is used, then the structure is simpler, but carriers and workpieces cannot be separately handled by different robots
Solution Approach 1:
The invention introduces a vertical dimension to the support structure by using support posts of different heights. The taller posts support the workpiece at a higher elevation while shorter posts support the carrier at a lower elevation. This vertical separation enables different robots to access and handle the carrier and workpiece independently without collision or interference.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for holding and transporting one or more workpieces is disclosed. The system includes a cassette that is configured to support a carrier and a workpiece at two different elevations. In this way, as the carrier with the workpiece is placed on the cassette by a first robot, the carrier moves down further, as the workpiece is supported by taller support posts. The end effector of a second robot may then later remove only the workpiece from the cassette for processing. The processed workpiece is later placed back in the cassette by the second robot. This processed workpiece is then removed, along with the carrier, by the first robot. Carriers may be created to accommodate different sized workpieces such that the cassette remains unchanged.