The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 18, 2000
Filed:
Jun. 08, 1999
Ming-Te Chuang, Hsinchu Hsien, TW;
Yu-Shan Lin, Hsinchu, TW;
Kun-Feng Lin, Taichung Hsien, TW;
Qing-Yong Chen, Hsinchu Hsien, TW;
United Silicon Incorporated, , TW;
Abstract
A position detector is provided for use on a spin-drying machine employed in integrated circuit (IC) fabrication to detect whether the spin-drying machine has shifted in position during operation. If the spin-drying machine is positioned incorrectly, the position detector is capable of stopping the operation of robot arms used to grab and position wafers on the spin-drying machine so that the robot arms will not be damaged or crash into the wafers on the spin-drying machine due to the incorrect positioning of the spin-drying machine. The position detector is designed for use on a spin-drying machine having a spinning unit, a fixed platform surrounding the spinning unit, and at least one robot arm mounted on the fixed unit. The position detector comprises a pair of emitters mounted on the spinning unit and a pair of oppositely arranged receivers on the fixed platform. In the event that the spinning unit has shifted in position, one or both of the paired emitter/receiver units generates an OFF signal indicative of such a condition. In response, a control unit stops the operation of the robot arm, so that the robot arm will not be damaged or crash into the wafers on the spin-drying machine.