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:
Apr. 23, 2002
Filed:
Feb. 18, 2000
Applicant:
Inventors:
Joseph Yudovsky, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Kenneth Tsai, Redwood City, CA (US);
Ilya Perlov, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Eugene Gantvarg, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Assignee:
Applied Materials, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Assistant Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
B65G 4/907 ; B23Q 3/00 ; B23Q 1/600 ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
B65G 4/907 ; B23Q 3/00 ; B23Q 1/600 ;
Abstract
A method and arrangement for lifting lowering and centering a substrate on a surface employs lift pins have conical tips. A capture range is provided by the conical tips to capture and center misaligned wafers. One or more of the pins are inclined in certain embodiments to enhance the alignment capability of the lift pins. The inclined lift pins, when retracting into a support member at an angle, move a supported substrate horizontally into proper alignment.