According to the US Patent and Trademark Office, the invention relates to a “method for aligning a loadport of a process machine to an OHT system which can be carried out by first providing an OHT rail overhanging a cleanroom floor; setting a reference point in the cleanroom in proximity to the OHT rail; marking on the cleanroom floor boundary reference lines for each row of process machines based on the reference point; positioning a process machine on the cleanroom floor with a boundary line of the machine aligned to the boundary reference line; mounting a loadport onto the process machine; and fine tuning a center line of the loadport to a reference line on the floor that is 200mm apart from and parallel to the boundary reference line.”
The inventors were issued US Patent Number 7,261,508 on August 28.
The patent has been assigned to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd., Hsin-Chu.
The original application was filed on April 22 2002.
