Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080242412 | Operating apparatus for game machine - An operating apparatus for game machine includes a depressing member, and a main body of the depressing member is provided with three engaging protrusions and two depressing protrusions that downwardly protrude. For example, the two depressing protrusions are provided between the three engaging protrusions. In response to a beating operation by a player, the right side of the depressing member is depressed, and then, an engaging portion of the engaging protrusion at the left side is engaged with a rear surface of an upper surface panel. Accordingly, the depressing member is sure to be depressed at the right side without being upwardly actuated, and a rubber switch depressed by the depressing protrusion is brought into contact with a board. At this time, a contact provided on the board and a contact provided on the rubber switch are brought into contact with each other, and an operation signal according to the beating operation is output to the game machine. | 10-02-2008 |
20090035098 | LID OPENING/CLOSING SYSTEM FOR CLOSED CONTAINER AND SUBSTRATE PROCESSING METHOD USING SAME - An object is to provide a FIMS system that can be loaded with a plurality of low profile pods that are arranged vertically one above another. A tunnel is provided between a position on a support mechanism on which a pod is to be set and a mini environment that is in communication with the FISM. The position of the pod at which a lid of the pod is detached from the pod after the lid is held by a FIMS door and a position of the pod to which the pod is brought after the detachment of the lid and at which a wafer can be brought into/out of the pod are designed to be inside the tunnel. In addition, the lid detached from the pod and the door can be located in a housing space provided in the tunnel. | 02-05-2009 |
20090142164 | CONTAINER LID OPENING/CLOSING SYSTEM AND SUBSTRATE PROCESSING METHOD USING THE SYSTEM - An FIMS system in which loading is possible in a manner in which multiple thin pods are vertically stacked together, in which attraction pads are arranged on plates on which the pods are loaded, the pods being retained by and fixed to the plates through attraction and retention by the pads. A tube for imparting an attraction force to the attraction pads is accommodated in an accommodation space inside box-like member of a minimum requisite space thickness, and the region where the tube can be reflected only exists within the accommodation space. | 06-04-2009 |
20090142166 | CONTAINER LID OPENING/CLOSING SYSTEM AND SUBSTRATE PROCESSING METHOD USING THE SYSTEM - Provided is an FIMS system in which loading is possible in a manner in which multiple thin pods are vertically stacked together, with an information pad being arranged on an abutment surface of the main body of each pod abutting a door and on the side surface of the door corresponding to the abutment surface. When there is detected a state in which the door is pushed in toward a mini-environment, information imparted to the information pad can be detected by the FIMS system. | 06-04-2009 |
20090294442 | LID OPENING/CLOSING SYSTEM FOR CLOSED CONTAINER, CONTAINED OBJECT INSERTION/TAKEOUT SYSTEM HAVING SAME LID OPENING/CLOSING SYSTEM, AND SUBSTRATE PROCESSING METHOD USING SAME LID OPENING/CLOSING SYSTEM - A tunnel is provided between a portion on a support mechanism on which a pod is loaded and a mini environment that is in communication with a FIMS. The pod is located in the tunnel when a lid of the pod is detached from the pod after the lid is held by a door. The pod is also located in the tunnel when it is at a position that allows transfer of wafers and to which the pod is moved after detachment of the lid. The lid and the door that have been separated from the pod can also be housed in a housing space annexed to the tunnel. A light emitting portion and a light receiving portion of an optical sensor are provided respectively on opposed walls of the tunnel. A pod is provided with a detection window that can transmit detection light. | 12-03-2009 |
20090297298 | CONTAINED OBJECT TRANSFER SYSTEM - A transfer chamber is partitioned into a second chamber in which a transfer robot moving through an opening portion which can be opened/closed by a door is arranged, and a minute first chamber which serves as a FIMS system and includes a door capable of retaining a lid of a pod. The second chamber maintains a state in which an inert gas constantly circulates owing to minute nitrogen while having a pressure higher than that inside the first chamber. The first chamber is normally sealed while an oxide gas is suppressed in advance. In addition, at a time of transferring wafers, a partial pressure of the oxide gas is lowered with use of a downflow which is caused by the inert gas. Further, the first chamber and the second chamber are communicated with each other after a level of the partial pressure is confirmed with use of an oxygen level meter. As described above, an existing amount of the oxide gas is reduced in the so-called transfer chamber in semiconductor processing equipment in which the FIMS system is secured. | 12-03-2009 |
20100059408 | CLOSED CONTAINER AND LID OPENING/CLOSING SYSTEM THEREFOR - In a pod used in an FIMS system, diffusion of dust particles or the like adhering on the lid of the pod to the interior of the system is reduced. An engaged portion is provided inside the outer surface of the lid of the pod, and a flange portion provided around a pod opening to which the lid can be fitted is provided with an insertion hole that allows access to the engaged portion from the exterior space. A latch mechanism is supported on the pod body side surface of the flange portion in such a way that the latch mechanism can slide along a direction parallel to the side wall of the flange. An engagement portion of the latch mechanism reaches the engaged portion through the insertion hole, and the state of the latch mechanism changes between an engaged state and a disengaged state with movement of the latch mechanism. | 03-11-2010 |
20100117377 | CLOSED CONTAINER AND LID OPENING/CLOSING SYSTEM THEREFOR - In a pod used in an FIMS system, an engaged portion is provided on the outer surface of the lid of a pod. A through hole is provided in a flange portion that is provided around the pod opening and in which the lid is to be received. The through-hole allows access to the engaged portion from the external space. A latch mechanism is supported on the pod body side surface of the flange portion in such a way that it can slide in a direction parallel to the side wall of the flange. The engagement portion of the latch mechanism reaches the engaged portion through the aforementioned through-hole. Movement of the latch mechanism brings the engagement portion into an engaging state and a disengaged state. | 05-13-2010 |
20100133270 | LID OPENING/CLOSING SYSTEM FOR CLOSED CONTAINER - The FIMS system is for use with a pod composed of a lid having an engaged portion provided on the outer surface thereof and a pod body having a latch mechanism including an engagement portion that engages the engaged portion as it moves along a predetermined axis to fix the lid to the pod. The FIMS system has a latch mechanism drive means for driving the latch mechanism along a certain axis and an engagement portion position sensor that can generate a signal indicating whether the engagement portion is at an engagement position or non-engagement position when the latch mechanism drive means drives the latch mechanism. The latch mechanism drive means and the engagement portion position sensor are provided in the vicinity of a first opening portion of the FIMS system. | 06-03-2010 |
20100180697 | TACTILE SENSOR - The present invention provides a tactile sensor which can reproduce a sensor surface in contact with a sensing object and contribute to a reduction in cost of an automation system which utilizes an industrial robot, the tactile sensor including: a contact-portion unit | 07-22-2010 |
20110210042 | SUBSTRATE STORAGE POD AND LID MEMBER THEREOF, AND PROCESSING APPARATUS FOR A SUBSTRATE - The substrate storage pod includes a pod case for housing a substrate, and an opening, a lid member which closes and seals the opening, a buffer space which is defined in the lid member, an air-supply port for supplying a replacement gas into the buffer space; and multiple holes which are arranged so as to establish communication between the buffer space and an inner plate of the lid member in a state of being fit-inserted to the opening of the pod case, for sending out the replacement gas into the hollow inner space, the replacement gas having been supplied into the buffer space, the inner plate facing the hollow inner space of the pod case. With this, pressure variation of the replacement gas in supply pipes is blocked, and hence replacement-gas flow in a stable laminar state free from disturbance can be obtained. | 09-01-2011 |
20110215028 | SUBSTRATE STORAGE POD AND LID OPENING/CLOSING SYSTEM FOR THE SAME - The substrate storage pod includes an engagement portion in an outer side surface of a lid of the pod, and an insertion slot through which the engagement portion can be accessed from an external space; the insertion slot is formed in a flange portion arranged around the periphery of an opening in the pod and into which the lid can be fitted, and a latch mechanism supported so as to be slidable in a direction parallel to a flange side wall in a pod main body-surface of the flange portion. An engaging portion of the latch mechanism reaches the engagement portion via the insertion slot. The engagement portion is switched between an engaged state and a non-engaged state in response to movement of the latch mechanism. | 09-08-2011 |
20120063869 | LOAD PORT APPARATUS - To prevent an overload from being imposed on a door drive mechanism when driving a door increased in weight due to upsizing so that reproducibility of a stop position of the door can be ensured, provided is a load port apparatus in which the door drive mechanism for driving the door in a direction perpendicular to an opening-portion forming plane is constituted by: a rotary cylinder capable of pivoting a cam follower from an angle of 0° to an angle of 180°; and a slider including a cam groove capable of housing the cam follower within a plane perpendicular to a rotational axis of the rotary cylinder, the cam groove extending in a vertical direction, and in which the door is supported by the slider. | 03-15-2012 |
20130028688 | LOAD PORT APPARATUS AND CLAMPING DEVICE TO BE USED FOR THE SAME - To suppress deformation of a portion to be clamped even when a load applied to the portion to be clamped is increased at the time of fixing a front opening unified pod (FOUP), a clamping arm pivotable between a retracting position and a clamping position about a rotational axis inclined relative to a bottom surface of the FOUP is arranged. The clamping arm is housed in a housing depression so that the clamping arm at the retracting position is situated below a surface of a mount base, and at the clamping position, protrudes from the surface of the mount base and becomes engageable with the portion to be clamped. | 01-31-2013 |
20130074615 | LOAD PORT APPARATUS AND METHOD OF DETECTING OBJECT TO BE PROCESSED - To enable appropriate wafer mapping in the case where a wafer is stored at the highest level, which is provided as a reserve, of a pod, a load port apparatus drives a mapping frame that supports a sensor by a first driving unit that drives the mapping frame in a first direction parallel to the direction along which wafers in the pod are arranged in an overlapping manner and a second driving unit that drives the mapping frame in a second direction that crosses the first direction in such a way as to form an acute angle in the side in which the sensor starts the mapping. | 03-28-2013 |
20130190091 | OPERATING APPARATUS FOR GAME MACHINE - An operating apparatus for game machine includes a depressing member, and a main body of the depressing member is provided with three engaging protrusions and two depressing protrusions that downwardly protrude. For example, the two depressing protrusions are provided between the three engaging protrusions. In response to a beating operation by a player, the right side of the depressing member is depressed, and then, an engaging portion of the engaging protrusion at the left side is engaged with a rear surface of an upper surface panel. Accordingly, the depressing member is sure to be depressed at the right side without being upwardly actuated, and a rubber switch depressed by the depressing protrusion is brought into contact with a board. At this time, a contact provided on the board and a contact provided on the rubber switch are brought into contact with each other, and an operation signal according to the beating operation is output to the game machine. | 07-25-2013 |