Patent ID: 7857570

Claim:
A method of supplying substrates to a processing tool, comprising: providing a plurality of load ports having a plurality of direct transfer locations, each load port having a direct transfer location and having a mechanism adapted to open a substrate carrier supported at the direct transfer location, wherein each load port is free of any carrier support location other than the direct transfer location; providing a factory exchange location at which the substrate carrier is exchanged with a substrate carrier transport device while the substrate carrier is in motion and being transported by the substrate carrier transport device; providing a carrier handler having an end effector adapted to contact the substrate carrier and disengage the substrate carrier from the substrate carrier transport device while the substrate carrier is in motion and being transported by the substrate carrier transport device, the carrier handler being adapted to remove the substrate carrier from the factory exchange location, to place the substrate carrier only at the load port directly after removing the substrate carrier from the factory exchange location, to remove the substrate carrier from the load port, and to place the substrate carrier at only the factory exchange location directly after removing the substrate carrier from the load port; wherein carrier support locations other than the carrier handler, the factory exchange location, and the plurality of direct transfer locations of the plurality of load ports are absent; receiving a first plurality of substrate carriers at the factory exchange location from the substrate carrier transport device via the carrier handler; and providing a controller programmed to perform the steps of: for each substrate carrier of the first plurality of substrate carriers: transporting the substrate carrier from the factory exchange location directly to the direct transfer location of a respective one of the plurality of load ports, wherein an absence of carrier support locations other than the direct transfer location is provided to which the carrier handler is adapted to transport the substrate carrier during transporting the substrate carrier from the factory exchange location directly to the direct transfer location; docking and opening the substrate carrier at the respective load port; undocking and closing the substrate carrier at the respective load port; transporting the substrate carrier from the direct transfer location of the respective load port directly to the factory exchange location, wherein an absence of carrier support locations other than the factory exchange location is provided to which the carrier handler is adapted to transport the substrate carrier during transporting the substrate carrier from the direct transfer location directly to the factory exchange location; and returning the substrate carrier to the substrate carrier transport device via the carrier handler while the substrate carrier transport device is in motion.