Trek, Inc.

Peter McAnn

Toshio Uehara

Donnie Herman

A clamping system and a method of clamping a work piece are disclosed. The clamping system has an electrostatic clamp and a high-impedance voltmeter ('HIV'). The electro-static clamp may include a platen and a plurality of electrodes embedded in the platen. In use, at least some of the embedded electrodes provide one side of a capacitor and a work piece provides another side of the capacitor in order to hold the work piece relative to the platen when at least some of the embedded electrodes are electrically charged. The HIV is electrically connected to at least some of the embedded electrodes.

System and method for clamping a work piece

A system which may be used to control, monitor and optimize an electrostatic clamp is disclosed. In one embodiment of the invention, there is a computer, a control circuit, and at least one amplifier. Also, a signal assessing circuit may be included and used to provide a sensing signal to an output signal of the control circuit. The signal assessing circuit may provide a sensing signal that can be used to monitor the capacitance of the electrostatic clamp. Further, the signal assessing circuit may include circuitry which monitors performance of the electrostatic clamp, and provide performance information to the control circuit.

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Medina, NY, United States of America

Peter McAnn