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:
Jul. 01, 2014
Filed:
Apr. 15, 2010
Gregory George, Colchester, VT (US);
Hale Johnson, Jericho, VT (US);
Dennis Patricio, Hinesburg, VT (US);
Gregory George, Colchester, VT (US);
Hale Johnson, Jericho, VT (US);
Dennis Patricio, Hinesburg, VT (US);
Suss Microtec Lithography, GmbH, Garching, DE;
Abstract
A device for centering circular wafers includes a support chuck for supporting a circular wafer to be centered upon its top surface, left, right and middle centering linkage rods and a cam plate synchronizing the rectilinear motion of the left, right and middle centering linkage rods. The left centering linkage rod includes a first rotating arm at a first end and rectilinear motion of the left centering linkage rod translates into rotational motion of the first rotating arm. The right centering linkage rod comprises a second rotating arm at a first end, and rectilinear motion of the right centering linkage rod translates into rotational motion of the second rotating arm. The first and second rotating arms are rotatable around an axis perpendicular to the top surface of the support chuck and comprise a curved edge surface configured to roll against the curved edge of the circular wafer. The middle centering linkage rod includes a third alignment arm at a first end. The third alignment arm is placed in contact with the curved edge of the circular wafer and linear motion of the middle centering linkage rod in the Y-direction pushes the third alignment arm and the circular wafer toward or away from the center of the support chuck. The cam plate includes first and second linear cam profiles. The first cam profile provides rectilinear motion for the middle centering linkage rod and the second linear cam profile provides rectilinear motion for the left and right centering linkage rods.