Patent ID: 6962471

Claim:
A system made up of at least one substrate conveying module and at least one workstation which has several side walls, substrates being exchangeable between the substrate conveying module and the workstation, wherein the workstation has, on at least two different side walls, kinematic coupling connecting elements that are directly connected to corresponding kinematic coupling connecting elements on at least one side wall of the substrate conveying module to provide for a connection between the workstation and the substrate conveying module while simultaneously automatically aligning the workstation with the substrate conveying module, wherein the substrate conveying module has kinematic coupling connecting elements on at least two different side walls, wherein the substrate conveying module has at least one load port for the loading and unloading of said substrates into and from the substrate conveying module, wherein said workstation is configured to perform a function comprising at least one of inspecting, measuring, and processing said substrates, wherein each of said at least two different side walls of said workstation are connectable to each of said at least two different side walls of said substrate conveying module so as to provide for at least four distinct connection configurations between said workstation and said substrate conveying module, and wherein, in each of said at least four configurations, said system is configured to move said substrates from said at least one load port to said workstation to perform said function.