PURPOSE: To selectively alter a plurality of processing steps of a conveyed wafer as required and to improve throughput of processes by providing an interface mechanism between a material to-be-processed conveying/delivering mechanism and a holding/conveying mechanism of a conveying passage.
CONSTITUTION: When a wafer WB is processed, the waver WB before processing is set to a cassette 121 provided in a conveying/delivering mechanism 120. The cassette 121 is set displaceably in four directions of a longitudinal direction X, a lateral direction Y, a vertical direction Z and further a turning direction θ, and the wafer WB is removed from the cassette 121. It is transferred in a baton passing manner to one of forceps 112, 113 of a holding/conveying mechanism 110 of a conveying passage 102 through an interface mechanism provided at a connector of the mechanism 120 to the passage 102. In the meantime, the wafer WB is centered and aligned, and the wafer WB is set to a processing step of next stage in an optimum attitude by the mechanism 110.
AKUMOTO MASAMI
HIRAKAWA OSAMU
KIMURA YOSHIO
TEL KYUSHU KK