Apparatus for storage of objects from the field of manufacture of electronic components

A storage apparatus for objects in the manufacture of substrates, in particular of substrates for electronic components, is provided with a housing which forms at least one closed area for storage of the objects. The storage apparatus also has a pure air device by which a pure air atmosphere can be produced at least within a section of the housing. Using at least one input/output device for the storage apparatus, objects can be passed into the interior of the housing or removed from the interior, in which case the objects can be handled by at least one handling device in the interior of the housing, and object receptacles are provided within the housing, in which objects can be temporarily stored outside transport containers. In order to require a position area which is as small as possible for a storage apparatus such as this, despite it having a high storage capacity, the invention provides that two areas which are arranged at least partially one above the other are formed in the same housing of the storage apparatus, with a first area for an object storage device, and a second area for a transport container storage device.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a United States National Phase application of International Application PCT/CH2007/000361 filed Jul. 20, 2007 and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 of Swiss Patent Application CH 1238/06 filed Jul. 27, 2006, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a storage apparatus for objects in the manufacture of substrates, in particular substrates for electronic components such as, for example, LCD displays, wherein the storage apparatus is provided with a housing which forms at least one closed area for storage of the objects, which has a pure air device by means of which a pure air atmosphere can be produced at least within a section of the housing, which is provided with at least one input/output device by which means the objects can be passed into the interior of the housing or removed from the interior, which has at least one handling device by which means objects can be handled in the interior of the housing, and which has object receptacles inside the housing in which objects can be temporarily stored outside transport containers.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the industrial manufacture of electronic components such as, for example, LCD displays or other flat screens or substrates etc., objects must be regularly transported and temporarily stored inside a factory. Provided for this purpose on the one hand are transport containers in which the objects are securely arranged and transported against external influences. Frequently, so-called SMIF and FOUP boxes are used as transport containers. On the other hand, the objects are temporarily stored in a storage apparatus, as described initially, after or before they are transported in the factory.

Such storage apparatus generally comprise a housing which forms one or more areas which are separate from one another. In order to transfer the objects into this at least one area or remove them therefrom, the storage apparatus has a closable opening. The objects are usually removed mechanically or manually from the transport containers before they are transferred into the area. For transport inside the factory the objects are then removed from the storage apparatus again and inserted outside the area into a transport container stored temporarily outside the storage apparatus. For reasons of maintaining the clean room conditions, an attempt is usually made to store the objects and the transport container separately from one another. In addition, the transport containers are expensive and bulky. If very many objects are used in a factory, the corresponding number of transport containers required is usually also very high.

However, other solutions have also become known in which the substrates can be supplied together with their transport containers to the storage apparatus and only removed from the respective transport containers inside the storage apparatus. Here it is provided after removal of the objects to store the transport container in a first area and the objects in a second area. The two areas are separated from one another by vertical dividing walls pertaining to the housing. However, this solution cannot be satisfactory in that it requires a relatively large floor area. A further disadvantage is the concept-dependent expensive supply of clean air for comparatively large areas.

A solution for a heat treatment apparatus for wafers is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,407,181 in which a storage chamber for transport containers is separated by a vertical dividing wall from a transfer chamber of the heat treatment apparatus. In the transfer chamber located to the side of the storage chamber, wafers are inserted into a so-called boat with which the wafers are transferred to a reaction furnace located above the transfer chamber. This heat treatment apparatus also requires a comparatively large floor area. In addition, in this apparatus no temporary storage of wafers is possible but merely transfer of always the same number of wafers from transport containers into a reaction furnace.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a possibility by which objects from the manufacture of electronic components and their transport containers for transporting the objects can be temporarily stored in such a manner that only the smallest possible floor area in the factory is required for the intermediate storage.

This object is achieved according to the invention in a storage apparatus whereby two areas which are arranged at least partially one above the other are formed in the same housing of the storage apparatus, with a first area being intended for an object storage device and a second area being intended for a transport container storage device. The present invention is suitable for any objects or substrates from the field of manufacture of electronic elements, components, appliances and the like which are transported inside a production factory usually in transport containers. The usability of the invention is independent of the shape (round, oval, rectangular, octagonal etc.) of the objects or substrates and their materials. Furthermore, the invention is also suitable for the storage of objects located in object carriers. In such an application, the objects are preferably introduced together with their object carriers in the object storage device and received there for storage.

According to the invention, it is therefore provided that the objects and the transport containers provided for transporting them are stored separately from one another but nevertheless locally close to one another inside the same housing. Both the objects and also the transport containers can thus be removed from the manufacturing process by means of the storage device for a predetermined or an undetermined time until they are required again in said process. For this purpose, the objects can be removed from the transport containers. It is hereby possible to avoid chemical contaminations of the substrates which may occur, for example, due to degassing of the plastics of the transport containers. It has been shown that such contamination can occur particularly during fairly long storage of substrates in transport containers. Due to the additionally provided local proximity of the storage sites of the objects on the one hand and the transport containers on the other hand, the objects can be re-supplied to the manufacturing process rapidly and flexibly despite their secure contamination-free storage.

In addition, it is possible with the invention to provide only as many transport containers as is usually required in the factory for substrates in circulation at the same time. As opposed to hitherto, the number of transport containers need not be determined by reference to the total number of substrates which are present and are to be stored.

In this case, it may be preferable if the object storage device provided for receiving the objects and the transport container storage device in which the transport containers are to be temporarily stored are arranged at least substantially, preferably completely, one above the other. As a result, the storage apparatus requires only a particularly small floor area. An arrangement in which the object storage device is located above the transport container storage device has been shown to be particularly favourable here. Despite the spatial proximity of transport containers on the one hand and objects to be removed therefrom on the other hand, due to such an arrangement an advantageous pure air supply from above via a cover wall of the storage apparatus is possible with little technical effect for the object storage device.

The two areas should be located in the same housing but are preferably separated from one another, whereby atmospheres which are separate or isolated from one another can be produced in the areas. In particular, in the area of the object storage device, it should be possible to produce and maintain an atmosphere which satisfies high purity requirements. The transport container storage device can be separated from the object storage device by a dividing wall which runs horizontally at least approximately and in sections inside the housing. In this case, a common drive for the two storage devices can be guided through the dividing wall.

Inside the area of the storage apparatus, the objects and the transport containers can advantageously be inserted into the respective receptacles and removed therefrom by means of respectively one handling device. In order to be able to store a large number of objects and transport containers and nevertheless manage with particularly few handling steps and with short travel distances, a rotatable carousel can be provided, which is equipped with the object receptacles and the receptacles for the transport containers. Such an arrangement makes it possible to increase the number of object receptacles with little technical effort by exchanging these for receptacles for transport containers or conversely as required. The capacity can also be expanded by adding receptacles, for example, by placing further object receptacles onto the hitherto uppermost row of object receptacles on the carousel.

The insertion and removal of objects and transport containers into or from respectively one receptacle can be effected by means of handling devices arranged inside the housing. In this case, respectively one handling device is advantageously assigned to the transport containers and one handling device is assigned to the objects. For executing the relative movements between grippers of the handling devices and the respective receptacle required for this purpose, at least one movement axis can be placed in the receptacles, for example, a rotary movement about a vertical Z axis. The handling device can preferably execute travel movements at least in the direction of the Z and Y axis, to position the gripper at the height of the respective receptacle and move this towards and away from this.

Inside the storage apparatus, it can advantageously be provided that a drive of the handling device of the object storage device is located below an object handling plane of this handling device. The object handling device can be predefined by a position or a plane of the gripper at which this gripper receives the object. This arrangement has the advantage that the entire object storage area can be reached with this handling device as far as just below the cover the housing. Since the lowest position to be approached by this handling device can be provided at the height of an object removal from the respective transport box, the drive mechanism has sufficient free space towards the bottom.

In contrast to this, a drive of the handling device for the transport container storage device can always be located above the handling plane or position which is obtained due to the gripper of the transport container handling device. This makes it possible to use the storage area for the transport container down as far as the bottom of the housing or near the subsurface in which the storage apparatus is located. Since in a preferred embodiment it is not necessary that the handling device of the transport container storage device is movable in the Z direction as far as the housing cover, sufficient space for the drive mechanism is located above the object handling plane. Such a preferred embodiment of the storage apparatus according to the invention makes it possible to completely utilize the height of the storage apparatus with storage places. The storage capacity of the storage apparatus can be increased considerably as a result.

In an expedient embodiment according to the invention, only one drive can be provided for both carousel parts. In a first variant, both carousel parts can be moved simultaneously with the drive. In a second variant, both carousel parts can be moved independently of one another and optionally also in different directions of rotation.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, a common pure air device can advantageously be provided for the area of the object receptacles and the area of the transport container, from which pure air flows through both areas. This pure air device can be configured in particular in a manner such that a pure air stream flows successively through both areas by means of air guiding means. Alternatively to this, two partial flows of pure air can be produced, each assigned to only one area. In connection with the invention, “pure air” should be understood to mean not only gases which at least correspond approximately to the ambient air. The term “air” should be considered to mean in connection with the invention any gas or gas composition which is suitable as a gas stream for creating and maintaining clean or ultraclean room conditions inside the storage apparatus. The term air should in particular also cover pure nitrogen or pure gases having a high nitrogen fraction.

Due to this possible embodiment according to the invention, clean room conditions can be produced with the same pure air flow both at the objects and at the temporarily stored transport containers. In this case, it can be particularly advantageous if the same pure air flow is guided first through the area of the objects and then through the area of the transport containers.

The logistics required in a factory can be eased substantially if measurement equipment such as particle scanners, layer thickness measuring equipment and/or other metrology components by which means objects can be measured before or after storage are built into the storage apparatus. All the handling steps required for this then take place inside the housing and not in a plurality of individual components inside the factory, which must each be controlled individually by a factory main computer and coordinated with one another.

A particular flexibility is obtained in further preferred embodiments in which the storage apparatus is provided as a so-called stand-alone apparatus which contains no process installation in its housing with which the objects are machined or processed in connection with their manufacture. The site of such a stand-alone apparatus inside a factory can be optimized at any time without major expenditure and substantially only from the logistics point of view. Naturally however, it is also possible to connect a storage apparatus according to the invention either to a process installation or to integrate a process installation in the storage apparatus.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to the drawings in particular,FIGS. 1 to 16show a first embodiment of the storage apparatus1according to the invention, which is provided for the storage of objects from the manufacture of electronic components or apparatus such as, for example, glass substrates for the manufacture of LCD screens and their transport containers for transport inside a factory producing electronic components. Such objects can be both workpieces and also production means, in particular wafers or reticles, wherein this information is only exemplary and as a result, the suitability of the apparatus according to the invention in connection with all further objects from the field of the manufacture of electronic components or apparatus should not be excluded.

Transport containers for such objects, in particular substrates, are usually closed on all sides. The most commonly used of such transport containers are configured either according to the SMIF or the FOUP standard (SMIF=Standard Mechanical Interface; FOUP=Front Opening Unified Pod). SMIF transport containers have a hood and a base which can be closed with the hood. FOUP containers on the other hand are provided with an opening at the front side which can be closed with a cover. The storage apparatus can be configured in principle for receiving and storing transport containers for respectively only one or for several storage objects such as, for example, substrates of LCD screens or other substrates.

As components, the storage device has a housing2, an input/output device3, a transport container opening device4(FIG. 4), a transport container handling device5(FIG. 2), an object handling device6, an object storage device7, a transport container storage device8, an ID read/alignment device9and optional measuring equipment such as, for example, a particular detection device10(FIG. 4). All the components are located inside the housing2.

The housing2with its side walls14,15,16,17and top and bottom walls18,19consisting, for example, of metal sheets, forms a closed area. In this case, the housing is configured in such a manner than both the front and also the back side can be opened for maintenance purposes. The side walls15,17of the housing2located therebetween, however, are not provided for opening, which is why the storage apparatus1with its side walls can be positioned adjacent to other factory installations or adjacent to a factory wall. In this way, a number of preferred storage apparatuses1according to the invention having a very large storage capacity can be formed in particular on a small floor area in which maintenance and rapid emergency access to all the components of the respective storage apparatus is nevertheless ensured.

Two closable openings20,21of a lower input/output device3bthrough which objects can be inserted and removed are provided on a front side of the housing. Located immediately above this opening are two upper input/output devices3awhich are provided for automatic insertion of transport containers22into the interior of the housing2and for removal from the housing2. The two upper input/output devices3aare intended for transferring transport containers22supplied from the factory, for example, by an overhead transport system or for delivering transport containers22from the storage apparatus1to this system in an automated manner. Provided directly below the two openings are two “manual” input/output devices3bon which transport containers22are placed manually so that these can be inserted into the housing2in an automated manner by lowering the container. With the storage apparatus1, transport containers22can also be dispensed from the interior of the housing2to the “manual” input/output device. Such input/output devices3aand3bare, for example, previously known by the test wafer stocker TWS300 already supplied by the Applicant Tec-Sem AG or the product “Practor 300 with Foup Buffer”.

From one of the input/output devices3a,3ba transport container22arrives at the transport container opening device4which is already entirely located inside the housing2and which can be configured in principle in the same way as is described for SMIF transport containers in EP 0 875 921 A1. The content of this document is herewith completely included by reference. In principle, however, any other transport container opening device4with which the respective transport boxes can be opened and closed is suitable in connection with the invention.

The transport containers arrive at the transport container opening device4by means of a rotating device, for example, which is preferably located below a plate on which the respective transport container is placed and which turns the plate by turning about an axis in the direction of the transport container handling device. The transport container handling device5can grasp the respective transport container in this alignment and move it into the system. The transport containers have a standardized handling adapter on their upper side whereby they can be grasped by the transport container handling device5.

The transport container opening device4is used for automated opening and closing of transport containers22inside the storage apparatus. In the embodiment of the invention shown it is thus provided that the transport containers together with their contents are introduced closed into the interior of the storage apparatus1and only opened there.

As can be seen in particular fromFIG. 3, a buffer24for a comparatively small number of transport containers22is provided directly above the transport container opening device4. This buffer24which can accommodate, for example, ten, preferably empty transport containers22, serves to transfer one or more objects particularly rapidly into transport containers and remove them from the storage apparatus. Due to the buffer24, a transport container for receiving a corresponding object and for subsequently removing from the storage apparatus is ready almost immediately after requesting a certain object. The transfer time for removal of a transport container22from the transport container storage device8described in further detail subsequently, to the transport container opening device4can be avoided as a result. It is also possible to fill the transport containers22in the buffer24with objects such as substrates already requested by a host system. During retrieval, these can then be output without delay from the stocker or the storage apparatus for dispensing. A similar advantage can also be achieved by storage of transport containers filled with substrates in the transport container storage area.

Located in a corner region of the front wall with a side wall of the storage apparatus which can be seen in particular inFIG. 2, is the transport container handling device5by which means transport containers can be transported from the transport container opening device4to the transport container storage device and vice versa. In the exemplary embodiment, the transport container handling device5is configured as an articulated-arm robot25which is movable longitudinally along a Z axis (perpendicular to the plane of the drawing inFIG. 2) in the vertical direction. With the articulated arm the articulated-arm robot25executes movements within X-Y planes (parallel to the plane of the drawing inFIG. 2). For handling the transport containers a passive gripper26is affixed to the articulated arm by which means the articulated-arm robot acts on the top-side handling adapter of the respective transport container22configured as an SMIF box in the exemplary embodiment.

The object handling device6is located in the opposite corner region of the front wall on the other side of the transport container opening device4. This is in principle configured in the same way as the transport container handling device5, i.e., as an articulated-arm robot27movable in the X-Y plane, which is additionally movable in the Z direction. The articulated-arm robot27of the object handling device is provided for transporting and handling substrates29arranged in substrate carriers28(see, for example,FIG. 6) from the transport container opening device4to the object storage device7and vice versa. Preferably provided on this articulated-arm robot27is a passive two-armed gripper31for the handling of individual substrate carriers28which can grip through an opening30into the transport container opening device4and take up a substrate carrier from there or transfer a substrate carrier28to this device. Instead of articulated-arm robots, other types of handling devices can also be provided in connection with the invention, for example, robots having linear movement axes.

For gripping a substrate carrier29, the forks-shaped gripper31is moved under a substrate carrier28, which is still arranged, for example, in a transport container22and by raising the gripper31, the substrate carrier together with the substrates located therein is grasped and subsequently transported by movement of the three robot axes.

The ID read/alignment station9is located in the immediate proximity of the transport container opening device4and of the object handling device6in the housing2, below a control station11located externally on the housing2(FIG. 1,FIG. 4). With the aforesaid ID read/alignment station, barcodes inserted or attached to substrates29or substrate carriers28can be automatically detected and the substrates or substrate carriers thereby identified. For this purpose the ID read/alignment station can be provided with a camera, not shown in detail, and with suitable evaluation software for evaluating the camera signals. Such optical detection systems for reading out information contained in bar codes are previously known per se. By means of the ID read/alignment station9the objects can be brought by means of a rotary movement into a position possibly in front of the camera32of the station9in which the camera32can read the barcode or another identification means. If no barcode is identified during a first reading process on one of the respective side faces of the object, it can be assumed that this is located in a position turned through 90°, 180° or 270°. With the device9, objects located thereon can be transferred into the said rotational position by rotary movements of the device9about a vertical Z axis.

As can be seen in particular fromFIG. 5, two areas34,35which are spatially separated from one another, are formed in the housing, different clean room conditions being produced therein. These comprise a lower area34for the transport container storage device8and the transport container handling device5as well as an upper area35for the object storage device7and for all other components of the storage apparatus which come into contact directly with the objects such as, for example, the ID read station32and the object handling device6. An atmosphere which satisfies the highest clean room demands, for example, clean room conditions as described in the standard 14644-1 “Classification of Air Cleanliness” ISO:1 is created in the upper area35. The lower area34on the other hand, only satisfies less demanding clean room conditions but which is sufficient since no objects enter into this region, and certainly not objects stored open, as is the case in the upper region. The two regions are separated from one another by a horizontal dividing wall37.

Both the transport container storage device8and the object storage device7are configured at least approximately as hollow-cylindrical carousels38,39(FIG. 5) which are rotatable about a common vertical axis of rotation40. In a first variant shown inFIG. 5, the two carousels38,39are rotatable independently of one another with their own drive in each case. The two storage devices7,8can be rotated simultaneously in opposite directions of rotation about the axis of rotation40. In an alternative embodiment, only one common drive can be provided for both carousels by which means both carousels can only be rotated jointly. However, movements independent of one another can also be produced with only one drive which, for example, acts on the one or the other storage device as desired by means of a switching process or a coupling.

In the exemplary embodiment shown, only the electrical drive41of the lower carousel38is shown, which is arranged in the bottom area of the housing2and a pulley is located in its driven shaft, not shown in detail. An endless belt guided around the pulley is further guided around a disk having a significantly larger diameter than the pulley, the axis of rotation of the disk being in alignment with the vertical axis of rotation40of the carousel38. The drive movement of the electrical drive41is thus transmitted to the transport container storage device8in a stepped-down manner. For the object storage device7a device of fundamentally the same type can be provided in the upper region35for driving the carousel designated with39. By switching the direction of rotation of the respective electrical drive, both storage devices can be turned in respectively both directions of rotation.

On its outer peripheral surface the transport container storage device8has a plurality of receptacles for transport containers22which are arranged in the form of a plurality of disks43arranged one above the other horizontally and annularly adjacently to one another and one above the other in the carousel38. As a result of this configuration, a matrix-like arrangement of receptacles for transport containers22is obtained. In the exemplary embodiment shown inFIG. 5, six annular rows are provided, for example, by six disks43in which a receiving capacity of twelve receptacles for respectively one transport container22is provided. As a result, an overall receiving capacity of 72 transport containers is obtained.

In the upper area35, the transport container storage device8is supplied with nitrogen or clean air by a pure air supply located under the top wall18of the housing2(FIG. 1). In this case, a gas flow directed from top to bottom approximately centrally into the upper carousel39(FIG. 5) is produced by a fan-filter unit44. As a result of the direction of the gas flow and an excess pressure in the upper area35and also due to ducts through the horizontal dividing wall37not shown in detail, the pure air can enter into the lower area34after it has flowed through the upper area35. The ducts can be configured, for example, as perforations of the dividing wall37. Alternatively to this however, a separate (pure) gas supply, in particular for nitrogen, can be provided for each receptacle. The connections for gas flushing of the container22, already known from specified transport containers22, can be connected hereto with the result that long-term storage for objects remaining in the transport containers is possible, in particular in a nitrogen atmosphere.

In order to access a specific receptacle42, it is provided that the relevant receptacle42of the transport container storage device8is transferred into a predetermined rotational access position by means of the electrical drive41. Likewise, the transport container handling device5is moved to a height in relation of the Z axis which corresponds to the Z position of the respective receptacle42. With regard to the X-Y position, the gripper is transferred into the access position by means of a travel movement of the articulated arm of the robot. It can advantageously be provided that all the receptacles of one row or disk43are transferred into the same access position in each case for access.

The object storage device7arranged above the transport container storage device8has a plurality of annular shelves46arranged in parallel one above the other, the number of which can be variable. The same number of storage modules47which are explained in further detail hereinafter, is arranged on each shelf46, each storage module47being provided with ten storage elements48stacked one upon the other in each case. As is shown inter alia inFIG. 6, the storage elements48in this exemplary embodiment are configured as annularly closed into themselves and approximately tetragonal-shaped. In each case, each storage element48is provided for receiving and depositing in each case only one object or substrate carrier28.

Each storage element48is provided with a storage area48aand with a storage area48b. In this case, the storage area48ais configured in such a manner that the respective storage element48is suitable for arrangement, in particular for stacking on a base or on the storage element48arranged in each case under said element. At the same time, the upper side of the storage area48ais provided for arranging thereon a following storage element upwards in the stack. The storage area48bis used for receiving a storage object. The fundamental structure of such storage elements48and storage modules47or storage towers formed with these as well as their handling has already been described in WO 2005/006407 A1 and CH 01150/05 from the same applicant. The content of these documents is herewith included by reference in its entirety.

As can be seen inFIG. 6in particular, the storage area48bof each storage element has two webs49running parallel to one another on an inner side on two mutually opposite sides, a substrate carrier28resting thereon. The webs49can yield at least slightly elastically to the weight of the substrate carrier. An underside of a substrate carrier28received in this way by a storage element is located at least slightly above a lower standing surface of its storage element48with which this abuts against a storage element48located thereunder. In each of the storage elements48of the storage module arranged one above the other, only one substrate carrier28is stored in each case always in the same way. In addition each storage element48has respectively one centering element50at two of its opposite side edges running parallel to one another. Each of the centering elements50is directed obliquely outwards in relation to a viewing direction from top to bottom. The centering elements50each have an inner and an outer, substantially flat centering face51,52.

For stacking the storage elements48to form a storage module47configured as a storage tower, extending in the vertical direction, the two inner centering faces of the respectively upper storage element48abut against the two outer centering faces52of the storage element48located thereunder in each case. When stacking storage elements, which are always of the same type, a self-centering of the storage elements in the storage module47thus takes place due to the two conically arranged centering elements50of each storage element48.

As can be seen in particular inFIGS. 8 and 9, the storage elements49form a through channel53in each case on one side of each storage module47through which clean room air (filtered air or nitrogen) can be passed from bottom to top through the storage module47. A rotational passage for the clean room air, not shown, is provided at the lower or upper end of the carousel39into a compressed air line of the carousel of the object storage device7, not shown in detail. In the interior the supply is divided by means of compressed air lines leading to the individual storage modules, to which the respectively lowest storage element of a storage module is connected. As a result of the openings of the channel53directed towards the substrates, which are not shown, a vertical particle barrier is formed in each storage module47. The storage elements48stacked one upon the other in each case form a gap between two successive storage elements, through which the pressurized gas in the channel53can flow substantially in the horizontal direction over the substrate carriers28and substrates29. This can contribute towards flushing of the storage objects with pure air or nitrogen taking place during storage of the substrates and thus contamination with particles can be prevented or already existing contamination can be removed.

In order to access a substrate carrier28located in a storage module47, the storage module47of the respective substrate carrier28is rotated by means of the electrical drive of the carousel39in relation to a rotational position of the carousel into an access position for the object handling device6. Substantially at the same time, the gripper of the articulated-arm robot27as well as a likewise fork-shaped module opener55(FIGS. 10 to 16) can be transferred in the Z direction to the required access height for the respective substrate carrier28and in relation to the X-Y plane directly in front of the corresponding storage module47. The module opener55is linearly movable in each case in the Z and Y direction. The mobility of the module opener55and the object handling device in the Z direction can preferably be produced by a common drive which reduces the constructive, in particular the mechanical, expenditure of the storage apparatus.

From here the module opener55with its two forks travels laterally from the centering element50into the storage module and raises the storage element located immediately above the substrate carrier28to be removed (FIGS. 10 to 13). Naturally, all the other storage elements48located thereabove are also raised in this case. The fork-shaped gripper31then grasps the respective substrate carrier28between its forks, raises it with respect to its storage element48and removes it from the storage module (FIGS. 15,16). The module opener55can now be lowered again and the storage module47hereby closed (FIG. 16). In fundamentally the same way but with an opposite direction of movement of the respective storage carrier, such a storage carrier can also be inserted into a specific storage element of the storage module47.

With the object handling device6a substrate carrier can also be transferred to the particle detection device10(FIG. 4), delivered to this and removed from this again after the inspection. Such a particle detection device can be configured, for example, in accordance with the particle detection device described in WO 02/01292 A1. The content of WO 02/01292 A1 is herewith fully included by reference. Instead of such a detection device, in principle any other particle detection device which can be integrated in the housing of the storage apparatus can be used in connection with the present invention.

The storage apparatus is additionally provided with a control device whose computer and control software coordinates the individual components of the storage apparatus with one another, stores data detected by the components or other sensors and optionally makes available other components. In addition, the control device can be connected to a superordinate factory control. The operation station11of the control device can be seen, for example, inFIG. 1.

In preferred embodiments of the invention, the storage modules47can be designed with floor and cover elements56,57(FIG. 7) and as a result, simultaneously form in its entirety an independent store and transport container by which means objects can be transported in a normal factory environment. This system in particular opens up the possibility for removing substrates in an emergency or if maintenance work needs to be carried out in the interior of the storage area. If a substrate is required in the case of a machine breakdown, this can be accessed very easily. For this purpose the side wall of the rear side configured as doors is opened and the drive of the carousel39can be released with a manually controllable coupling. The carousel39can then be turned by hand to the correct position and the storage module47with the required substrate can now be removed in its entirety from the apparatus. The storage module can and should be transported in the closed state through the normal factory environment and only opened at a clean room workplace in order to transfer the corresponding substrate manually to a transport container. The substrates are completely located in a perfect clean room environment.

FIG. 17shows a further exemplary embodiment according to the invention. To avoid repetition, only substantial differences compared with the exemplary embodiment inFIGS. 1 to 16are discussed hereinafter. In this case, components which are identical in principle have the same reference numerals.

The exemplary embodiment inFIG. 17primarily differs from the first exemplary embodiments by means of the differently configured object storage device7.FIG. 17shows a section of the possible embodiment of the object storage device7in which box-shaped compartments60are provided in a plurality of rings, in which a plurality of receptacles61are formed for horizontal arrangement of substrates29or a substrate carrier28in each case. Each compartment60can be closed with its own laterally pivotally articulated and sealed door62. Each compartment60is permanently flushed by means of a nitrogen connection not shown in detail. When a substrate carrier28is removed or inserted, the nitrogen fraction drops temporarily to the level of the ambient air and increases again as soon as the door is shut. A, for example, pneumatically driven device whose pneumatic cylinders receive actuating signals from the control device can be provided for opening and closing the doors.