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:
Sep. 29, 2015
Filed:
Sep. 05, 2013
Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, Inc., Gloucester, MA (US);
Robert Brent Vopat, Austin, TX (US);
Malcolm N. Daniel, Austin, TX (US);
Luke Bonecutter, Cedar Park, TX (US);
Jason M. Schaller, Austin, TX (US);
Charles T. Carlson, Cedar Park, TX (US);
William T. Weaver, Austin, TX (US);
Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, Inc., Gloucester, MA (US);
Abstract
A system and method for the handling of workpieces in a workpiece processing system is disclosed. The system utilizes three conveyor belts, where one may be a loading belt, feeding unprocessed workpieces from its associated workpiece carrier to a processing system. A second conveyor belt may be an unloading belt, receiving processed workpieces from the processing system and filling its associated workpiece carrier. The third conveyor belt may be exchanging its workpiece carrier during this time, so that it is available to start operating as the loading belt once all of the workpieces have been removed from the workpiece carrier associated with the first conveyor belt.