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. 30, 2004
Filed:
Jun. 21, 2001
Thomas M. Pratt, San Jose, CA (US);
Scott Douglas McClelland, San Jose, CA (US);
Craig L. Stevens, Ben Lomond, CA (US);
Kerry Hopkins, Gilroy, CA (US);
Novellus Systems, Inc., San Jose, CA (US);
Abstract
The mechanism comprises a magnetically coupled drive mechanism for transporting semiconductor wafers in a semiconductor wafer processing system. The mechanism includes an actuator within a cylinder that contains a set of magnets that drive a complementary set of magnets inside a carriage along a linear path. The carriage is limited to linear motion via a linear ball slide. The magnets in the actuator and carriage are magnetically coupled in such a way as to prevent angular rotation of the magnets within the actuator. Accordingly, driving elements in the actuator can be moved via rotation of a ball screw shaft coupled to a ball nut affixed to the actuator magnets.