Patent ID: 8070410

Claim:
A bare substrate stocker interfacing an automatic transport, the bare substrate stocker comprising: a stocker storage for storing bare substrates, the stocker storage comprising: a housing defining a storage area, the housing comprising two substantially parallel and opposite side walls; a plurality of compartments forming one layer depth of substrate storage on each of the side walls; and a storage robotic mechanism disposed between the layers of the compartments, the robotic mechanism comprising at least a linear guide along one side of the side walls for reaching the compartments disposed in the side walls, the storage robotic mechanism further comprising a substrate handler to access the substrates stored in the compartments; a stocker loading station adapted for receiving a container containing substrates, the substrates disposed in a substantially horizontal configuration; a drop station interfacing the stocker loading station and the stocker storage, wherein the drop station is adapted to allow the substrate to be picked up at the bottom and at the edge; a robotic mechanism interfacing the stocker loading station for transferring substrates between the container and the drop station; wherein the substrate handler of the storage robotic mechanism is adapted to access the substrate in the drop station, and wherein the substrates are stored in a vertical configuration in the stocker storage; a transport buffer comprising: one or more buffer stations for storing one or more containers containing substrates; and a buffer loading station adapted for holding a container; a buffer transfer mechanism to transfer a container between the buffer loading station and the buffer stations; and an interface mechanism adapted for transferring a container between the stocker loading station and the transport buffer.