Reticle manipulating device
View Patent ↗A reticle manipulating device with an at least substantially closed housing for maintaining clean-room conditions inside the housing, an input/output station for introducing and discharging reticles in and out of the housing, and at least one functional unit arranged in the housing for impressing a predetermined function on the reticles. The device has a manipulating device also arranged inside the housing, for manipulating the reticles in the housing.
1. A reticle manipulating device with an at least substantially closed housing for maintaining clean-room conditions inside the housing, which has several functional units, each of which conducts at least one function for the reticle inside the housing, wherein a first functional unit is designed as an input/output station with an opening through which reticles are introduced and discharged in and out of the housing, a manipulating device also arranged inside the housing for transferring the reticles from the input/output station to at least one other functional unit and vice versa, is hereby characterized by an interface of the first functional unit, by means of which the first functional unit can be connected to the reticle manipulating device, the interface having a mechanical and an electrical part forming a detachable mounting and electrical connection of the first functional unit with the housing of the reticle manipulating device.
2. The reticle manipulating device according to claim 1 , further characterized in that the input/output station has several input/output units, each of which can be mounted in a detachable manner and has a separate opening for introducing and discharging reticles in and out of the housing, wherein a height of at least one of the several input/output units corresponds substantially to a whole-number multiple of another height of another one of the several input/output units.
3. A reticle manipulating device system, comprising a reticle manipulating device according to claim 1 and at least one second functional unit, which is different in its construction from the first functional unit, whereby the first functional unit can be exchanged for the second functional unit.
4. The reticle manipulating device system according to claim 3 , further characterized by functional units of different functions.
5. The reticle manipulating device system according to claim 3 , further characterized by several functional units of the same function.
6. The reticle manipulating device system according to claim 3 , further characterized in that a stocking device is provided as a functional unit for the simultaneous intermediate stocking of several reticles inside the housing.