Patent ID: 8267634

Claim:
A semiconductor workpiece processing system comprising; at least one processing tool for processing semiconductor workpieces; a primary transport system having one or more constant velocity transport loops and autonomously motive carriers of semiconductor workpieces, the one or more constant velocity transport loops and the autonomously motive carriers being configured so that the autonomously motive carriers autonomously travel in a constant velocity flow along the primary transport system; a secondary transport system having one or more constant velocity transport loops configured so that the autonomously motive carriers autonomously travel in a constant velocity flow along the secondary transport system, the secondary transport system being connected to the primary transport system through queue sections wherein, the queue sections are configured to allow the movement of autonomously motive carriers between the primary transport system and secondary transport system without disrupting the flow of either the primary or secondary transport systems; a control unit coupled to the primary and secondary transport systems, the control unit being configured to effect movement of the autonomously motive carriers along the primary and secondary transport systems; and one or more interfaces connected to the one or more transport loops of the secondary transport system through interface shunts for interfacing with the at least one processing tool, wherein the interface shunts are configured to allow the movement of autonomously motive carriers between the one or more transport loops of the secondary transport system and the one or more interfaces without disrupting the flow of the secondary transport system; wherein the flow of material along the primary and secondary transport systems is continuous, and the secondary transport system and at least one of the queue sections and the interface shunts comprise a solid state motor effecting carrier travel thereon and a solid state switch effecting transitioning between the secondary transport system and at least one of the queue section and the interface shunts, the solid state switch being configured to leverage momentum of the autonomously motive carriers travelling along one of the secondary transport system, queue sections and interface shunts for effecting the transition and wherein transfer of the autonomously motive carriers onto and off of the primary and secondary transport systems is non-deterministic with respect to a transport rate of the primary and secondary transport systems.