US Patent 7741837 Probe apparatus

A probe apparatus includes a load port for mounting therein a carrier having therein a plurality of substrates; a plurality of probe apparatus main bodies, each having a probe card having probes on its bottom surface; a substrate transfer mechanism for transferring the substrates between the load port and the probe apparatus main bodies, the substrate transfer mechanism being rotatable about a vertical axis and movable up and down. The substrate transfer mechanism has at least three substrates capable of moving back and forth independently. Further, at least two wafers are received from the carrier by the substrate transfer mechanism, and then are sequentially loaded into the probe apparatus main bodies. The prove apparatus a high throughput increasing a wafer transfer efficiency.