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:
Nov. 27, 2001
Filed:
Aug. 31, 1999
Wayne J. Schmidt, Meridian, ID (US);
Thomas H. Oberlitner, Kalispell, MO (US);
Semitool, Inc., Kalispell, MT (US);
Abstract
An improved conveyor system for transporting a microelectronic workpiece within a processing tool is set forth. The conveyor system includes a transport unit slidably guided on a conveyor rail for transporting and manipulating the workpieces. The transport unit includes a vertical member which is connected to a base end of a two section robot arm. The robot arm includes an end effector at a distal end thereof which is actuated to grip a surrounding edge of a workpiece. A first rotary actuator is arranged to rotate the vertical member about its axis to rotate the entire robot arm. A second rotary actuator is positioned to rotate the second section of the robot arm, via a belt, with respect to the first section of the robot arm. A third rotary actuator is arranged to rotate the end effector about its horizontal axis. The third rotary actuator permits the end effector to flip the microelectronic workpiece between a face up and a face down orientation. In a further aspect of the invention, two transport units are mounted to slide laterally on the conveyor rail. The transport units include a vertical space between respective end effectors and the first sections of the robot arms to allow wafers carried by the end effectors to overlap in plan. Two different end effectors are disclosed, a plunger activated gripping device and a vacuum operated gripping device which uses raised pad areas, vacuum ports and locating pins.