International Business Machines Corporation

Other

Ernst E Thiele

Mark Vincent Pierson

Lawrence E Williams

Lewis C Hecht

Merritt P Sulger, Deceased

Thomas P Duffy

By Ellen Sulgar, Executrix

Disclosed is a manufacturing system having isolated islands of 'clean room' environment connected by inter-process transfer containers for transfering in-process workpieces. The system has airlock transfer ports between the process enclosures and the inter-process transfer containers. The make and break airlock transfer ports have facing sealable doors in the process enclosure and the transfer container. These doors are in air sealable facing recesses of the process enclosure and the transfer container. At least one peripheral gasket surrounds the recesses and the pair of doors. This provides a substantially clean room environment in the airlock. The sealable door in the interprocess transfer container is fabricated of a ferromagnetic material and is seated on a ferromagnetic gasket, while the sealable door in the process enclosure has a controllable electromagnetic clamp. After establishment of an airtight seal between the two recesses, the doors are opened by activating the electromagnetic clamp in the process enclosure door to pull the ferromagnetic door in the interprocess transfer container away from the ferromagnetic gasket. The results in the simultaneous opening of the of the process enclosure door and the ferromagnetic interprocess transfer container door, while avoiding contamination inside either of the containers.

Dockable interface airlock between process enclosure and interprocess

Disclosed is a system for handling large area, in-process, circuit panel layers. The circuit panel layers are thin and flimsy, and require rigid support for certain processing steps. The system includes a peripheral frame fixture for surrounding and supporting the in process circuit panel layer, and a a loading chuck for mounting the in-process circuit panel layer in the peripheral frame fixture. The peripheral frame fixture includes a bottom plate having a central opening to expose the circuit panel layer, a top frame having a corresponding central opening to expose the opposite surface of the circuit panel layer, and a compressive apparatus, as screws, bolts, or the like, for applying a z axis compressive force to the bottom plate, the top frame, and a panel layer therebetween. Optionally, the fixture may include alignment pins or fiducials for aligning the bottom plate, a panel layer, and the top frame, and a robotic interface for a robotic arm to grasp and transfer the peripheral frame fixture. The system also includes a loading chuck for mounting the in-process circuit panel layer in the peripheral frame fixture. The loading chuck includes a peripheral edge for receiving the bottom plate of the peripheral frame fixture. This provides co-planarity of the in-process circuit panel layer, the bottom plate of the peripheral frame fixture, and the vacuum table. The vacuum table is within the area bounded by the peripheral edge of the loading chuck and the peripheral frame of the peripheral frame fixture, and is coplanar with them. The vacuum table includes slidable bearing surfaces, with vacuum apertures for drawing a vacuum to hold the panel in place, and slide actuators for moving the slidable bearing surfaces to apply x-y axis tension to a panel on the bearing surfaces.

Vacuum loading chuck and fixture for flexible printed circuit panels

Disclosed is a method of manufacturing a printed circuit panel. The method is carried out without a cleanroom, but in a clean room environment. The first step is to place a thin, non-rigid panel in a suitable fixture, for example, for transfer and also for processing. The fixtured panel is then placed in an air tight transfer container, which has a substantially contaminant free atmosphere. The transfer container has a sealed door at one end. The transfer container is then brought into a seaiable, substantially airtight interlock with a process enclosure. This process enclosure also has a substantially contaminant free atmosphere, and a sealed door at one end. An airtight seal is formed between the transfer container and the process enclosure, and also between the surfaces of the two doors. This is to avoid introducing surface contaminants into the process enclosure and transfer container atmospheres. Next, the two doors are opened simultaneously. This is to allow the transfer of at least one panel and its fixture from the transfer container into the process enclosure. Inside the process enclosure the panel is transferred to a process station for a manufacturing process. Finally, the panel and its fixture are transferred from the process enclosure into the transfer container. This may be the same container or a different container. The doors of the process enclosure and the transfer container are then closed and sealed.

Method of printed circuit panel manufacture

Disclosed is a transfer container for carrying circuit panels in and between substantially contaminant free environments. The walls of the transfer container are fabricated out of substantially particulate free, unfilled polymers, such as polycarbonate. One of the end walls is an access wall. The access wall has an opening surrounded by a ferromagnetic gasket. This gasketed opening is adapted to receive a ferromagnetic door panel. The side walls, and the top and bottom walls may extend beyond the access wall, with the ends of said walls defining a plane, so that the access wall is recessed with respect to the plane defined by the said extensions. Each of the side walls have co-planar bracket pairs for holding circuit panels. Either one of, or preferably both brackets of a bracket pair have pyramidal or conical positioning pins. These pins extend upwardly from the brackets and are adapted to receive and hold a workpiece in place.

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Endicott, NY, United States of America

Ernst E Thiele