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. 19, 2005
Filed:
May. 15, 2001
David L. Baldwin, San Jose, CA (US);
Alexander J. Nagy, Santa Cruz, CA (US);
Jeffrey A. Hawthorne, San Francisco, CA (US);
Jeffrey P. Sample, Milpitas, CA (US);
Thanh V. Dang, San Jose, CA (US);
David L. Baldwin, San Jose, CA (US);
Alexander J. Nagy, Santa Cruz, CA (US);
Jeffrey A. Hawthorne, San Francisco, CA (US);
Jeffrey P. Sample, Milpitas, CA (US);
Thanh V. Dang, San Jose, CA (US);
Photon Dynamics, Inc., San Jose, CA (US);
Abstract
Methods, apparatuses, and systems are presented for positioning a sensing head relative to a workpiece, involving a control unit operative to provide a plurality of control signals to iteratively control positioning of the sensing head relative to the workpiece, a plurality of air injectors disposed and fixedly connected on a periphery of the sensing head, each of the air injectors capable of being independently controlled to eject a gas between the sensing head and the workpiece to create an air bearing and affect positioning of the sensing head relative to the workpiece in response to at least one of the control signals, and a plurality of sensors providing a plurality of feedback signals to the control unit, the feedback signals containing information relating to positioning of an optical imaging sensing head relative to the workpiece.