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:
Jun. 09, 2009
Filed:
Mar. 23, 2006
Digby Pun, San Jose, CA (US);
Kent Nguyen, San Jose, CA (US);
Robert Barnett, San Jose, CA (US);
Photon Dynamics, Inc., San Jose, CA (US);
Abstract
A vacuum gripper for use in substrate positioning operations includes a vacuum pad adapted to make contact with the substrate and a shaft connected to the vacuum pad. The shaft is characterized by a first diameter at a portion of the shaft proximal to the vacuum pad and a second diameter at a portion of the shaft distal to the vacuum pad. The vacuum gripper also includes a first air bearing surrounding the portion of the shaft proximal to the vacuum pad, a second air bearing surrounding the portion of the shaft distal to the vacuum pad, and an air source in fluid communication with the first air bearing and the second air bearing. The vacuum gripper further includes an exhaust port, a valve in fluid communication with the exhaust port, and a first flow restrictor in fluid communication with the valve.