Apparatus with intelligent bins indicating the presence and identity of stored coded articles
First Claim
1. An apparatus for storing and identifying coded articles placed therein, said code being a visually perceptible bar code and providing an indication of the identity of said articles, said apparatus comprising:
- at least one bin which is adapted to store the coded articles;
presence detecting means disposed in each said at least one bin for detecting the presence of said coded article in said at least one bin;
code reading means disposed in each said at least one bin for reading the bar code disposed on the coded article; and
circuit means coupled to said presence detecting means and said code reading means for providing an indication of the identity and presence of the coded article in said at least one bin.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
In an apparatus for storing articles, bins have a sensor for detecting the presence of an article in a bin and an optical code reader for reading a bar code on the article. The presence detector and the optical code reader are coupled to a circuit which provides an indication of the identity and location of a coded article. The apparatus is particularly well suited for use in the manufacture of semiconductor devices, when wafer cassette boxes are provided with a suitable bar code. Alternatively, the bins may be disposed upon a remotely guided vehicle, thereby making the apparatus useful in an automated manufacturing process.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. An apparatus for storing and identifying coded articles placed therein, said code being a visually perceptible bar code and providing an indication of the identity of said articles, said apparatus comprising:
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at least one bin which is adapted to store the coded articles; presence detecting means disposed in each said at least one bin for detecting the presence of said coded article in said at least one bin; code reading means disposed in each said at least one bin for reading the bar code disposed on the coded article; and circuit means coupled to said presence detecting means and said code reading means for providing an indication of the identity and presence of the coded article in said at least one bin. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. An apparatus for storing and identifying coded semiconductor wafer containers placed therein, said code being a visually perceptible bar code providing an indication of the identity of each of said semiconductor wafer containers, said apparatus comprising:
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at least one bin which is adapted to store the coded semiconductor wafer containers; presence detecting means disposed in each said at least one bin for detecting the presence of said coded semiconductor wafer container in each said at least one bin; code reading means disposed in each said at least one bin for reading the code disposed on said coded semiconductor wafer container; and circuit means coupled to said presence detecting means and said code reading for providing an indication of the identity and presence of the coded semiconductor wafer container in said at least one bin.
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Specification