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. 04, 2017
Filed:
Oct. 23, 2012
Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, Inc., Gloucester, MA (US);
Jason M. Schaller, Austin, TX (US);
Robert Brent Vopat, Austin, TX (US);
Charles T. Carlson, Cedar Park, TX (US);
Malcolm N. Daniel, Austin, TX (US);
Aaron P. Webb, Austin, TX (US);
William T. Weaver, Austin, TX (US);
Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, Inc., Gloucester, MA (US);
Abstract
One embodiment of this workpiece handling system has conveyor belts and a load lock. A first swap robot holds and transports workpieces between a build station and the load lock. A gantry robot transports the workpieces between each of the conveyor belts and the first swap robot. In one instance, processed workpieces are transported from the first swap robot to a first conveyor belt and unprocessed workpieces are transported from a second conveyor belt to the first swap robot using the gantry robot. A second swap robot also may be used with the first swap robot to load and unload workpieces from the load lock.