Patent ID: 9443748
Filing Date: 2016-09-13
CPC Classification: H01L

Claim Text:
1. A substrate processing apparatus, comprising: a mounting stand configured to hold at least one substrate accommodation container accommodating a plurality of substrates; a cover opening and closing unit configured to open and close a cover of the at least one substrate accommodation container mounted on the mounting stand; a substrate checking unit configured to check for presence or absence or a position of the substrates within the at least one substrate accommodation container; a substrate transfer mechanism configured to transfer one or more substrates within the at least one substrate accommodation container to one or more processing chambers; a substrate processing unit configured to perform processing on the transferred substrates within the one or more processing chambers; and a controller configured to control the operation of the cover opening and closing unit, the substrate checking unit, the substrate processing unit, and the substrate transfer mechanism, wherein when a first substrate accommodation container is mounted on the mounting stand, the controller provides control to the opening and closing unit to open a cover of the first substrate accommodation container and check one or more substrates within the first substrate accommodation container by means of the substrate checking unit, wherein at the time the checking for presence or absence or a position of the one or more substrates within the first substrate accommodation container is terminated, the controller determines whether an instruction for performing processing on the one or more substrates within the first substrate accommodation container is issued, and controls the cover opening and closing unit based on the determination, wherein the controller issues the instruction for performing processing on the one or more substrates within the first substrate accommodation container when a second substrate accommodation container being processed by the substrate processing unit does not exist on the mounting stand, or when a final non-processed substrate within the second substrate accommodation container is unloaded from the second substrate accommodation container by the substrate transfer mechanism, and wherein if the instruction for performing processing on the one or more substrates within the first substrate accommodation container is issued, the controller controls the cover opening and closing unit to maintain the opened state of the cover of the first substrate accommodation container, and if the instruction for performing processing on the one or more substrates within the first substrate accommodation container is not issued, the controller controls the cover opening and closing unit to close the cover of the first substrate accommodation container.