Patent ID: 7611319

Claim:
A system comprising: a substrate carrier having first docking features and adapted to be opened by opening a door; and a loadport having second docking features and a carrier opening mechanism; wherein the carrier opening mechanism matches with the door, and the carrier opening mechanism is capable of opening the door after docking of the substrate carrier with the loadport is completed; wherein the first docking features are adapted to interact with the second docking features; wherein an interaction of the first and second docking features is adapted to: allow docking of the substrate carrier by allowing the first docking features to pass by or through the second docking features if the first docking features match with the second docking features; and block docking of the substrate carrier by not allowing the first docking features to pass by or through the second docking features if the first docking features do not match with the second docking features wherein the substrate carrier includes geometry which would otherwise allow docking at the loadport except for the mismatch of the first docking features and the second docking features; wherein docking occurs after a placement of the substrate carrier at the loadport; and wherein docking does not comprise the placement of the substrate carrier at the loadport or the opening of the door.