Abstract: The present invention relates in general to methods and apparatus for processing expandable food materials, and more particularly to methods and apparatus for low shear thermo-mechanical processing of food materials and unique pods for use in connection with such methods and apparatus. The invention can include cooker and extruder apparatus for the customized production of food products, including a compression module, a dryer module, and a control unit, that interact with the pods to produce desired food product.

Abstract: The present invention relates in general to methods and apparatus for processing expandable food materials, and more particularly to methods and apparatus for low shear thermo-mechanical processing of food materials. The invention can include cooker and extruder apparatus for the customized production of food products, including a compression module, a dryer module, and a control unit.

Abstract: The invention relates generally to equipment for semiconductor wafer processing, for example, mechanisms and apparatus for handling pods or containers for housing silicon wafers or substrates. The pod may be a front-opening unified pod or similar article and may house a carrier or cassette for holding the wafers or substrates. Additionally, the invention relates generally to an automated system for transporting a plurality of wafers in the pod for processing, loading the pod on the receiving station, sealing the pod against an interface, opening the door of the pod, and shuttling the wafers into and out of a connected clean environment processing station, such as an ion implantation machine, using a robotic device.