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:
Mar. 27, 2001
Filed:
Aug. 03, 1999
Ming-Chien Wen, Hsin-chu, TW;
Chuan-Yuan Lu, Chi-Shun, TW;
Chi-Yun Tseng, Chu-Tung, TW;
Su-Yi Doung, Chung-Li, TW;
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd., Hsin Chu, TW;
Abstract
An apparatus for transferring wafers by a robot blade and a method for using the apparatus are disclosed. In the apparatus, a robot blade that is equipped with distance sensors mounted in a bottom surface of the blade is provided which senses the distance between the bottom surface of the robot blade and an adjacent surface below the robot blade such that any possible scratching of the adjacent surface is eliminated. The adjacent surface below the robot blade may be a wafer surface in a wafer cassette, or a wafer pedestal surface in a process machine. The distance sensors are mounted in recesses in the bottom surface of the blade which may be suitably capacitance sensors, ultrasonic sensors or optical sensors. The distance sensed by the distance sensors is analyzed by a controller and compared to a predetermined value of a minimum allowable distance such that any danger of scratching the adjacent surface is eliminated.