Substrate storage container management system, load port, and substrate storage container management method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2019362995-A1
Application number	US-201916421733-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	May 24, 2019
Priority date	May 24, 2018
Publication date	Nov 28, 2019
Grant date	—

Abstract

A substrate storage container management system includes a load port, configured to transfer a substrate into and out of one or more substrate storage containers, including an ID reader configured to read one or more entity IDs for the substrate storage containers, and one or more sensors configured to directly or indirectly detect one or more states of the substrate storage containers, an associator configured to associate the entity IDs read by the ID reader with one or more sensor values detected by the sensors; a database in which data associated by the associator is accumulated, and a data processor configured to analyze the data in the database and to output a state of a respective substrate storage container for each of the entity IDs.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A substrate storage container management system comprising:
a load port that is configured to transfer a substrate into and out of one or more substrate storage containers, and includes:
an ID (identification) reader configured to read one or more entity IDs for the one or more substrate storage containers; and
one or more sensors configured to directly or indirectly detect one or more states of the one or more substrate storage containers;
an associator configured to associate the one or more entity IDs read by the ID reader with one or more sensor values detected by the one or more sensors; a database in which data associated by the associator is accumulated; and a data processor configured to analyze the data in the database and to output a state of a respective substrate storage container for each of the one or more entity IDs.

2 . The substrate storage container management system of claim 1 , wherein the data processor includes:
a calculator configured to calculate statistical data from one or more sensor values detected by a specific sensor of the one or more sensors; a comparator configured to compare a sensor value associated with a specific entity ID of the one or more entity IDs for a specific substrate storage container with a calculation result obtained by the calculator; and a state output part configured to output a state of the specific substrate storage container based on a comparison result obtained by the comparator.

3 . The substrate storage container management system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more sensors of the load port include plural types of sensors, and
wherein the associator is configured to associate the one or more entity IDs with plural types of sensor values detected by the plural types of sensors.

4 . The substrate storage container management system of claim 2 , wherein the one or more sensors of the load port include plural types of sensors, and
wherein the associator is configured to associate the one or more entity IDs with plural types of sensor values detected by the plural types of sensors.

5 . The substrate storage container management system of claim 1 , further comprising an operation adjuster configured to adjust a control value associated with processing of the respective substrate storage container at the load port based on the state of the respective substrate storage container for each of the one or more entity IDs that is outputted by the data processor.

6 . The substrate storage container management system of claim 2 , further comprising an operation adjuster configured to adjust a control value associated with processing of the respective substrate storage container at the load port based on the state of the respective substrate storage container for each of the one or more entity IDs that is outputted by the data processor.

7 . The substrate storage container management system of claim 3 , further comprising an operation adjuster configured to adjust a control value associated with processing of the respective substrate storage container at the load port based on the state of the respective substrate storage container for each of the one or more entity IDs that is outputted by the data processor.

8 . The substrate storage container management system of claim 1 , wherein the associator is configured to associate the one or more entity IDs with at least one of error information that is generated during processing of the respective substrate storage container and process information on processing of the substrate stored in the respective substrate storage container, and
wherein the substrate storage container management system further comprises an operation adjuster configured to adjust a control value associated with the processing of the respective substrate storage container at the load port based on the at least one of the error information and the process information for each of the one or more entity IDs that is accumulated in the database.

9 . The substrate storage container management system of claim 2 , wherein the associator is configured to associate the one or more entity IDs with at least one of error information that is generated during processing of the respective substrate storage container and process information on processing of the substrate stored in the respective substrate storage container, and
wherein the substrate storage container management system further comprises an operation adjuster configured to adjust a control value associated with the processing of the respective substrate storage container at the load port based on the at least one of the error information and the process information for each of the one or more entity IDs that is accumulated in the database.

10 . The substrate storage container management system of claim 3 , wherein the associator is configured to associate the one or more entity IDs with at least one of error information that is generated during processing of the respective substrate storage container and process information on processing of the substrate stored in the respective substrate storage container, and
wherein the substrate storage container management system further comprises an operation adjuster configured to adjust a control value associated with the processing of the respective substrate storage container at the load port based on the at least one of the error information and the process information for each of the one or more entity IDs that is accumulated in the database.

11 . The substrate storage container management system of claim 1 , further comprising a host system configured to communicate with the load port,
wherein at least the associator, the database, and the data processor are provided in the host system.

12 . The substrate storage container management system of claim 2 , further comprising a host system configured to communicate with the load port,
wherein at least the associator, the database, and the data processor are provided in the host system.

13 . The substrate storage container management system of claim 3 , further comprising a host system configured to communicate with the load port,
wherein at least the associator, the database, and the data processor are provided in the host system.

14 . The substrate storage container management system of claim 1 , wherein the data processor includes a learning part configured to learn the one or more states of the one or more substrate storage containers from the one or more sensor values detected by the one or more sensors.

15 . The substrate storage container management system of claim 2 , wherein the data processor includes a learning part configured to learn the one or more states of the one or more substrate storage containers from the one or more sensor values detected by the one or more sensors.

16 . The substrate storage container management system of claim 3 , wherein the data processor includes a learning part configured to learn the one or more states of the one or more substrate storage containers from the one or more sensor values detected by the one or more sensors.

17 . A load port for transferring a substrate into and out of one or more substrate storage containers, comprising:
an ID reader configured to read one or more entity IDs for the one or more substrate storage containers; and one or more sensors configured to directly or indirectly detect one or more states of the one or more substrate storage containers, wherein the load port is employed in a substrate storage container management system comp

Assignees

• Sinfonia Technology Co Ltd

Inventors

• Ito Izumi
• Mizutani Tomoya

Classifications

• H10P72/3408

  Docking arrangements · CPC title

• H10P72/3404

  Storage means · CPC title

• H10P72/0618 Primary

  using identification means, e.g. labels on substrates or labels on containers · CPC title

• G06K17/0022

  arrangements or provisions for transferring data to distant stations, e.g. from a sensing device ("transfer between computer elements G06F13/00 "; data-transmission H04L) · CPC title

• H10P72/3406

  involving removal of lid, door or cover · CPC title