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. 21, 2006
Filed:
Jul. 08, 2003
Eugene M. Chow, Stanford, CA (US);
David K. Fork, Los Altos, CA (US);
Thomas Hantschel, Menlo Park, CA (US);
Koenraad F. Van Schuylenbergh, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Christopher L. Chua, San Jose, CA (US);
Eugene M. Chow, Stanford, CA (US);
David K. Fork, Los Altos, CA (US);
Thomas Hantschel, Menlo Park, CA (US);
Koenraad F. Van Schuylenbergh, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Christopher L. Chua, San Jose, CA (US);
Xerox Corporation, Stamford, CT (US);
Abstract
Lithographically defined and etched spring structures are produced by various methods such that they avoid the formation of a plated metal wedge on an underside of the spring structure after release. A post is utilized to offset the spring from an underlying substrate by a distance greater than the thickness of the plated metal. A trench is etched into the substrate below the spring to provide clearance during deflection of the spring. Another spring includes a knee (bend) that provides the necessary clearance during deflection. A plating process is limited to the upper side of another spring. A released spring is used as a shadow mask for patterning resist that prevents wedge formation during plating. Various tip arrangements are disclosed that can be utilized with each spring structure