Patent ID: 8292563

Claim:
A semiconductor wafer sorter for handling and sorting semiconductor wafers and originating a predetermined sort order of semiconductor wafers in one or more semiconductor wafer carriers, the semiconductor wafer sorter comprising: a housing with at least one load port module for interfacing the one or more semiconductor wafer carriers to the housing, an access path defined by the housing and extending through a closable opening of the at least one load port module disposed between the housing and the one or more semiconductor wafer carriers along which semiconductor wafers are transported from the one or more semiconductor wafer carriers having an initial sort, through the housing and into the one or more semiconductor wafer carriers resorting the semiconductor wafers within the one or more semiconductor wafer carriers from the initial sort and originating the predetermined sort order of semiconductor wafers in the one or more semiconductor carriers disposed on the at least one load port module, a handling and transport device connected to the housing for transporting semiconductor wafers along the access path, and at least one non-production wafer buffer module connected to the housing, the at least one non-production wafer buffer module buffering non-production wafers introduced by the sorter to the one or more semiconductor wafer carriers when originating the predetermined sort order of semiconductor wafers in the one or more semiconductor wafer carriers, a second path extending through the closable opening between the non-production buffer module and the one or more semiconductor wafer carriers, a controller configured to control the handling and transport device for effecting introduction of non-production wafers to the one or more semiconductor wafer carriers along the second path and the origination of the predetermined sort order of semiconductor wafers in the one or more semiconductor wafer carriers along the access path, and wherein the at least one nonproduction wafer buffer module is located so that non-production wafers are transported by the handling and transport device, when being sorted to the one or more semiconductor wafer carriers, along the second path between the non-production buffer module and the one or more semiconductor wafer carriers, the second path being different than the access path and having an end point that is independent of the access path.