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:
May. 01, 2001
Filed:
Jul. 06, 1998
Erik R. Loopstra, Heeze, NL;
Peter Heiland, Wiesbaden, DE;
ASM Lithography, Veldhoven, NL;
Abstract
A supporting device (,) provided with a first part (,), a second part (,), and a gas spring (,) for supporting the second part relative to the first part parallel to a support direction (Z). The gas spring (,) comprises a pressure chamber (,) which is provided in an intermediate part (,) and is bounded by a piston (,) which is displaceable in the intermediate part (,) parallel to the support direction and is supported perpendicularly to the support direction by means of a static gas bearing (,). A stiffness of the supporting device parallel to the support direction is thus substantially entirely determined by a stiffness of the gas spring, and a low stiffness can be achieved through a suitable design of the gas spring. A transmission of vibrations directed parallel to the support direction from the first part to the second part is prevented as much as possible thereby. The invention also relates to a lithography device having a plurality of such supporting devices.