Seagate Technology Incorporated

Applied Materials, Inc.

William G Jacobs

Quy C Nguyen

Alan G Flint

William Edwin Kuhns

Sushil Shah

Alan Flint

Steven A Shifman

An assembly for transferring discs between disc manufacturing machinery or processes comprises a series of storage cassettes having discs stored therein. Each stored disc is retrieved from the cassette and placed into a shuttle which carries the disc while it is processed. The processed disc is retrieved from the shuttle subsequent to the disc manufacturing process and placed into a second storage cassette. The apparatus transfers the discs by gripping them between a stationary member which engages the edge of the disc and a selectably moveable member which engages the disc hole such that the disc is pinched between the two gripping members. The gripping and transferring functions are controlled by a computer.

Disc loading and unloading assembly

An automated disc washing machine having, in sequence, a loading station for loading a disc into the disc washing machine, at least one cleaning station for cleaning a disc, and an unloading station for unloading a cleaned disc from the disc washing machine. The disc washing machine also has a pivoted transfer arm connected adjacent the sequence of loading, cleaning and unloading stations for sequentially transferring a disc from the loading station to the cleaning station in one complete transfer cycle of the arm and from the cleaning station to the unloading station in another complete transfer cycle of the arm.

Disc washing system

An automatic disc gauging and sorting apparatus for gauging the thickness of the discs and sorting the discs into a series of predetermined ranges of varying thickness is provided. The apparatus includes a revolving disc sorting unit including a plurality of spaced-apart disc sorting containers arranged concentrically and in one plane. Each of the containers is designated to receive discs of a predetermined thickness range. A cassette transport assembly for transporting cassettes containing discs to be gauged and sorted to a disc pick-up position adjacent the sorting unit and for transporting empty cassettes away from the disc pick-up position is included, as well as a disc gauging unit associated with the sorting unit adjacent the disc pick-up position for gauging the thickness of the discs to be sorted. Finally, a disc shuttle arm unit associated with the sorting unit adjacent the disc pick-up position for removing a disc from a cassette in the disc pick-up position, inserting the disc into the disc gauging unit, removing the disc from the disc gauging unit and placing the disc in the proper container for its designated thickness is provided. A host computer coupled to the disc sorting unit controls the operations of the disc sorting unit, the cassette transport assembly, the disc gauging unit and the shuttle arm unit.

Automatic disc gauging and sorting apparatus

Apparatus for transferring wafers between storage magazines and processing trays. The trays are mounted on a generally cylindrical carousel which is rotated about its axis to bring successive ones of the trays into position for loading wafers on to the trays and unloading wafers from the trays. An elevator assembly is mounted within the carousel and is moveable in an axial direction for alignment with different wafer holding positions which are spaced along the trays. The storage magazines are mounted on the elevator assembly, and wafer transfer blades transfer the wafers between the magazines and radially moveable chucks which carry the wafers to and from the wafer holding positions in the trays.

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San Jose, CA, United States of America

William G Jacobs