164 patents
Page 5 of 9
Utility
Automatic Handling Buffer for Bare Stocker
25 Feb 21
A buffer station for automatic material handling system can provide throughput improvement.
Lutz Rebstock
Filed: 11 Aug 20
Utility
Workpiece stocker with circular configuration
23 Feb 21
An improved stocker configuration for storing workpieces in a fabrication facility is disclosed, employing workpiece compartments arranged stationarily around a robot handling assembly.
Lutz Rebstock
Filed: 16 Apr 18
Utility
Inspection System
18 Feb 21
The invention relates to an inspection system adapted for determining a state and/or content of a wafer or reticle container or at least a part of a wafer or reticle container, comprising a detection device or a multitude of detection devices (102, 104, 152, 154, 156, 158, 160, 164) adapted to receive detection data from a surface and/or interior of the wafer or reticle container or the part of a wafer or reticle container indicative of the state and/or content of the wafer or reticle container or the part of a wafer or reticle container.
Lutz REBSTOCK
Filed: 17 Mar 20
Utility
Load port module
16 Feb 21
A substrate loading device including a frame adapted to connect to a substrate processing apparatus, the frame having a transport opening through which substrates are transported to the processing apparatus, a cassette support connected to the frame for holding at least one substrate cassette container proximate the transport opening, the support configured so that a sealed internal atmosphere of the container is accessed from the support at predetermined access locations of the container, and the cassette support has a predetermined continuous steady state differential pressure plenum region, determined at least in part by boundaries of fluid flow generating differential pressure, so that the predetermined continuous steady state differential pressure plenum region defines a continuously steady state fluidic flow isolation barrier disposed on the support between the predetermined access locations of the container and another predetermined section of the support isolating the other predetermined section from the predetermined access locations.
Radik Sunugatov, Robert Carlson, Mike Krolak
Filed: 22 Nov 19
Utility
Robot Embedded Vision Apparatus
11 Feb 21
A substrate transport apparatus includes a transport chamber, a drive section, a robot arm, an imaging system with a camera mounted through a mounting interface of the drive section in a predetermined location with respect to the transport chamber and disposed to image part of the arm, and a controller connected to the imaging system and configured to image, with the camera, the arm moving to or in the predetermined location, the controller effecting capture of a first image of the arm on registry of the arm proximate to or in the predetermined location, the controller is configured to calculate a positional variance of the arm from comparison of the first image with a calibration image of the arm, and determine a motion compensation factor changing an extended position of the arm.
Jairo Terra MOURA
Filed: 29 Jul 20
Utility
Substrate Transport Apparatus
11 Feb 21
A substrate transport apparatus including a frame, an upper arm rotatably mounted to the frame about a shoulder axis, a forearm rotatably mounted to the upper arm about an elbow axis where the forearm includes stacked forearm sections dependent from the upper arm through a common joint, and independent stacked end effectors rotatably mounted to the forearm, the forearm being common to the independent stacked end effectors, wherein at least one end effector is mounted to the stacked forearm sections at a wrist axis, where the forearm is configured such that spacing between the independent stacked end effectors mounted to the stacked forearm sections is decoupled from a height build up between end effectors accommodating pass through instrumentation.
Robert T. CAVENEY, Ulysses Gilchrist
Filed: 27 Oct 20
Utility
Dual Arm Robot
28 Jan 21
A substrate processing apparatus including a frame, a first arm coupled to the frame at a shoulder axis having a first upper arm, a first forearm and at least one substrate holder serially and rotatably coupled to each other, a second arm coupled to the frame at the shoulder axis where shoulder axes of rotation of the arms are substantially coincident, the second arm having a second upper arm, a second forearm and at least one substrate holder serially and rotatably coupled to each other, and a drive section connected to the frame and coupled to the arms, the drive section being configured to independently extend and rotate each arm where an axis of extension of the first arm is angled relative to an axis of extension of the second arm substantially at each angular position of at least one of the first arm or the second arm.
Robert T. Caveney, Alexander G. KRUPYSHEV, Martin R. ELLIOT, Christopher HOFMEISTER
Filed: 11 Aug 20
Utility
Dual scara arm
26 Jan 21
A substrate transport apparatus having a drive section and a scara arm operably connected to the drive section to move the scara arm.
Antonio F. Pietrantonio, Anthony Chesna, Hakan Elmali, Ulysses Gilchrist
Filed: 27 Nov 18
Utility
Semiconductor process transport apparatus comprising an adapter pendant
26 Jan 21
A semiconductor process transport apparatus including a drive section with at least one motor, an articulated arm coupled to the drive section for driving articulation motion, a machine controller coupled to the drive section to control the at least one motor moving the articulated arm from one location to a different location, and an adapter pendant having a machine controller interface coupling the adapter pendant for input/output with the machine controller, the adapter pendant having another interface, configured for connecting a fungible smart mobile device having predetermined resident user operable device functionality characteristics, wherein the other interface has a connectivity configuration so mating of the fungible smart mobile device with the other interface automatically enables configuration of at least one of the resident user operable device functionality characteristics to define an input/output to the machine controller effecting input commands and output signals for motion control of the articulated arm.
Dana L. Atwood, Jairo Moura
Filed: 6 Jul 18
Utility
Tube sealer
28 Dec 20
A device for sealing sample tubes comprises a tool assembly configured to interface with a rack (10) holding a plurality of sample storage tubes (20), the tool assembly holding a plurality of punches (322) and a die plate (324) including a plurality of cutting holes, with each of the plurality of cutting holes accepting one of the plurality of punches (322).
Beat Reuteler
Filed: 4 Feb 16
Utility
Process apparatus with on-the-fly substrate centering
28 Dec 20
A substrate processing apparatus including a frame defining a chamber with a substrate transport opening and a substrate transfer plane defined therein, a valve mounted to the frame and being configured to seal an atmosphere of the chamber when closed, the valve having a door movably disposed to open and close the substrate transport opening, and at least one substrate sensor element disposed on a side of the door and oriented to sense substrates located on the substrate transfer plane.
Leigh F. Sharrock
Filed: 4 Dec 16
Utility
Semiconductor stocker systems and methods
21 Dec 20
In an embodiment, the present invention discloses cleaned storage processes and systems for high level cleanliness articles, such as extreme ultraviolet (EUV) reticle carriers.
Lutz Rebstock
Filed: 21 Oct 19
Utility
Substrate Process Apparatus
16 Dec 20
A process apparatus including a front end with a load opening for loading production workpieces into the apparatus; a process section being offset at a distance from and coupled to the front end via an interior transport path configured for transport of the workpieces between the front end and process section; a load lock between the front end and process section with the transport path extending through the load lock, the load lock having an intermediate entry with an opening shunting the transport path to the exterior separate from the front end; and a predetermined interchangeable transport carrier cassette configured to be entered within the load lock from the exterior through the intermediate entry opening, the entry and removal of the cassette through the opening loads and unloads the load lock with a transport path interface that interfaces, the transport path coincident with the cassette loaded in the load lock.
Alexander Krupyshev, Leigh Sharrock, Daniel Babbs, Robert May
Filed: 10 Jun 20
Utility
Wafer Aligner
9 Dec 20
A semiconductor wafer transport apparatus includes a frame, a transport arm movably mounted to the frame and having at least one end effector movably mounted to the arm so the at least one end effector traverses, with the arm as a unit, in a first direction relative to the frame, and traverses linearly, relative to the transport arm, in a second direction, and an edge detection sensor mounted to the transport arm so the edge detection sensor moves with the transport arm as a unit relative to the frame, the edge detection sensor being a common sensor effecting edge detection of each wafer simultaneously supported by the end effector, wherein the edge detection sensor is configured so the edge detection of each wafer is effected by and coincident with the traverse in the second direction of each end effector on the transport arm.
Anthony C Bonora, Justo GRACIANO
Filed: 24 Aug 20
Utility
Position Feedback for Sealed Environments
9 Dec 20
A transport apparatus comprising a housing, a variable reluctance drive mounted to the housing, and at least one transport arm connected to the variable reluctance drive where the drive includes at least one rotor having salient poles of magnetic permeable material and disposed in an isolated environment, at least one stator having salient pole structures each defining a salient pole with corresponding coil units coiled around the respective salient pole structure and disposed outside the isolated environment where the at least one salient pole of the at least one stator and the at least one salient pole of the rotor form a closed magnetic flux circuit between the at least one rotor and the at least one stator, at least one seal partition configured to isolate the isolated environment; and at least one sensor including a magnetic sensor member connected to the housing, at least one sensor track connected to the at least one rotor, where the at least one seal partition is disposed between and separates the magnetic sensor member and the at least one sensor track so that the at least one sensor track is disposed in the isolated environment and the magnetic sensor member is disposed outside the isolated environment.
Jairo T. MOURA, Reza SAEIDPOURAZAR, Branden Gunn, Matthew W. Coady, Ulysses Gilchrist
Filed: 1 Apr 20
Utility
Load lock fast pump vent
30 Nov 20
A semiconductor processing tool is disclosed, the tool having a frame forming at least one chamber with an opening and having a sealing surface around a periphery of the opening, a door configured to interact with the sealing surface for sealing the opening, the door having sides perpendicular to the door sealing surface and perpendicular to a transfer plane of a substrate, and at least one drive located on the frame to a side of at least one of the sides that are substantially perpendicular to the door sealing surface and substantially perpendicular to the transfer plane of the substrate, the drive having actuators located at least partially in front of the sealing surface and the actuators being coupled to one of the sides of the door for moving the door from a sealed position.
Christopher Hofmeister, Martin R. Elliott, Alexander Krupyshev, Joseph Hallisey, Joseph A. Kraus, William Fosnight, Craig J. Carbone, Jeffrey C. Blahnik, Ho Yin Owen Fong
Filed: 19 Dec 19
Utility
Method and apparatus for health assessment of a transport apparatus
23 Nov 20
A method for health assessment of a system including a transport apparatus including registering predetermined operating data embodying at least one dynamic performance variable output by the transport apparatus, determining a base value (CpkBase) characterized by a probability density function of each of the dynamic performance variable output, resolving from the transport apparatus in situ process motion commands of the apparatus controller and defining another predetermined motion set of the transport apparatus, registering predetermined operating data embodying the at least one dynamic performance variable output by the transport apparatus and determining with the processor another value (CpkOther) characterized by the probability density function of each of the dynamic performance variable output by the transport apparatus, and comparing the other value and the base value (CpkBase) for each of the dynamic performance variable output by the transport apparatus respectively corresponding to the predetermined motion base set and the other predetermined motion set.
Aaron Gawlik, Jairo T. Moura
Filed: 3 May 18
Utility
Intelligent condition monitoring and fault diagnostic system for preventative maintenance
23 Nov 20
A system for condition monitoring and fault diagnosis includes a data collection function that acquires time histories of selected variables for one or more of the components, a pre-processing function that calculates specified characteristics of the time histories, an analysis function for evaluating the characteristics to produce one or more hypotheses of a condition of the one or more components, and a reasoning function for determining the condition of the one or more components from the one or more hypotheses.
Martin Hosek, Jay Krishnasamy, Jan Prochazka
Filed: 4 Nov 18
Utility
Automated Cryogenic Storage System
18 Nov 20
An automated cryogenic storage system includes a freezer and an automation system to provide automated transfer of samples to and from the freezer.
Robert T. Caveney, Frank Hunt, Lingchen Sun, Julian D. Warhurst, Bruce S. Zandi, Anthony C. Bonora
Filed: 30 Apr 20
Utility
Modular sample store
16 Nov 20
A modular sample store including a storage area; a service area; a transfer area; a motorized robot with a lifting device and at least one platform; and a controller.
Johann Camenisch, Beat Reuteler, Mirko Hebenstreit, Jurg Tanner, Christian Cachelin
Filed: 7 Aug 17