Substrate transfer device with cassettes

1 . A substrate transfer device comprising:

a first cassette having a pair of opposite side plates, a top plate interconnecting the side plates, and a pair of bottom flanges extending inwardly from bottoms of the side plates respectively, the sides plates each comprising supporting members protruding inwardly therefrom;

a second cassette having a pair of opposite side plates and a pair of top and bottom plates interconnecting the sides plates, the sides plates each comprising supporting members protruding inwardly therefrom;

a base supporting the first and second cassettes thereon, and defining a slide groove therein; and

a push element comprising a slide portion and an urging portion;

wherein the slide portion can slide in the slide groove, and the urging portion can push substrates in the first cassette into the second cassette.

2 . The substrate transfer device as claimed in claim 1 , further including a fastening frame for fastening the first and second cassettes together on the base.

3 . The substrate transfer device as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the base further defines a pair of latch holes at opposite lateral sides thereof, and the fastening frame includes a pair of locating latches at bottom ends thereof respectively fixed in the latch holes.

4 . The substrate transfer device as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the fastening frame has an inverted U-shape.

5 . The substrate transfer device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the base further includes a stop tab attached on a longitudinal end thereof for locating and fastening the second cassette on the base.

6 . The substrate transfer device as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the base further defines at least one latch slot in a longitudinal end thereof, and the stop tab has a locating latch that can be engaged in said latch slot for locating and fastening the second cassette.

7 . The substrate transfer device as claimed in claim 1 , further including a stop bar transversely fastened to the base above the slide portion, for preventing the slide portion from sliding completely out from the slide groove.

8 . The substrate transfer device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the push element further comprises a connection portion interconnecting the slide portion and the urging portion.

9 . The substrate transfer device as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the connection portion includes a pair of vertical bars connecting with the slide portion, and a pair of horizontal bars connecting with the urging portion.

10 . The substrate transfer device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the slide groove has a generally T-shaped profile.

11 . The substrate transfer device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the bottom flanges of the first cassette define an opening therebetween, and a width of the opening is substantially the same as a width of the slide groove.

12 . The substrate transfer device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the substrate transfer device is made of material that can resist electrostatic discharge.

13 . A substrate transfer device assembly comprising:

a first cassette including two opposite spaced first side walls with first supporting devices thereon to hold a plurality of parallel arranged substrates thereon between said two first side walls;

a second cassette including two opposite spaced second side walls with second supporting devices thereon for holding said plurality of parallel arranged substrates thereon between said two first side walls;

said first cassette and said second cassette being arranged with a rear opening of said first cassette and a front opening of said second cassette being close to and aligned with each other under a condition that the first supporting devices are aligned with the corresponding second supporting devices in a front-to-back direction, respectively; and

a push element projecting into the first cassette from an exterior to push the substrates move in the front-to-back direction from the first cassette into the second cassette.

14 . The assembly as claimed in claim 13 , wherein said first cassette lacks a bottom wall so as to allow the push element to upwardly enter an interior of the cassette.

15 . The assembly as claimed in claim 13 , wherein a fastening frame surrounds a rear portion of the first cassette and a front portion of the second cassette to assure the rear opening of the first cassette is aligned with front opening of the second cassette in the front-to-back direction.

16 . The assembly as claimed in claim 13 , wherein both said first cassette and said second cassette are seated upon a planar base.

17 . The assembly as claimed in claim 16 , wherein said base is equipped with guiding means for assuring said push element moves along the front-to-back direction without tilting.

18 . A method of transferring substrate from one cassette to another one, comprising steps of:

providing similar first and second cassettes each with a pair of side walls having supporting devices thereon;

equipping said first cassette with a plurality of substrates arranged on the corresponding supporting devices in a spatial parallel relation with one another;

aligning the first cassette with the second cassette to have a rear opening of the first cassette aligned with a front opening of the second cassette in a front-to-back direction wherein the supporting devices of the first cassette are aligned with the corresponding ones of the second cassettes in said front-to-back direction; and

forcing the substrates to move along said front-to-back direction from the first cassette to the second cassette.

19 . The method as described in claim 18 , further including a step of providing a planar base to support said first and second cassettes.

20 . The method as described in claim 18 , further including a step of providing a fastening frame to hold the first cassette and the second cassette in alignment with each other.