Patent ID: 7229240

Claim:
A substrate processing apparatus employing a sequential transport control system in which a plurality of substrates are sequentially transported with no dependence on tact time, said substrate processing apparatus comprising: an indexer block including an indexer for receiving unprocessed substrates to feed said unprocessed substrates toward a plurality of processing blocks; said plurality of processing blocks including a processing unit responsible for a predetermined process on said substrates, said processing unit capable of adjusting a processing environment for said predetermined process; substrate holding parts for transferring said substrates between said indexer block and an adjacent one of said plurality of processing blocks; an indexer-specific transport mechanism provided in said indexer block for transferring said substrates between one of said substrate holding parts and a corresponding cassette capable of storing said substrates; a main transport mechanism respectively provided in said plurality of processing blocks, each transferring said substrates between a corresponding one of said substrate holding parts and said processing unit; and a controller, wherein in the event of adjustment of said processing environment in said processing unit in a first processing block of said plurality of processing blocks, said controller controls operation of said indexer-specific transport mechanism and each of said main transport mechanisms to: i) continue transporting a foremost substrate and substrates that follow said foremost substrate among said substrates not reaching said processing unit in said first processing block until said foremost substrate is placed on one of said substrate holding parts that is located immediately in front of said first processing blocks; ii) stop the transport process when said foremost substrate is transferred to said one of said substrate holding parts that is located immediately in front of said first processing block; and iii) restart said transport process after receipt of notification of completion of adjustment.