| Class / Patent application number | Description | Number of patent applications / Date published |
|---|
| 414221000 | Including serially arranged valves in path having a vertical component (e.g., airlocks, etc.) | 11 |
| 20090142167 | Loadlock designs and methods for using same - Provided are apparatuses and methods disclosed for wafer processing. Specific embodiments include dual wafer handling systems that transfer wafers from storage cassettes to processing modules and back and aspects thereof. Stacked independent loadlocks that allow venting and pumping operations to work in parallel and may be optimized for particle reduction are provided. Also provided are annular designs for radial top down flow during loadlock vent and pumpdown. | 06-04-2009 |
| 20090169344 | Substrate processing apparatus and substrate processing method - A substrate processing apparatus | 07-02-2009 |
| 20100111650 | AUTOMATIC SUBSTRATE LOADING STATION - Embodiments of the present invention provide method and apparatus for automatically loading substrates to a substrate carrier tray. On embodiment of the present invention provides an automatic substrate loader comprises a cassette handling mechanism, a substrate aligner configured to align a substrate, and a carrier tray aligner. The automatic substrate loader further comprises a first robot configured to transfer substrates between the substrate aligner and the substrate storage cassettes, and a second robot configured to transfer substrates between the substrate aligner and the carrier tray disposed on the carrier tray aligner. | 05-06-2010 |
| 20100202860 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MINIMIZING CONTAMINATION IN SEMICONDUCTOR PROCESSING CHAMBER - A semiconductor processing apparatus includes a reaction chamber, a loading chamber, a movable support, a drive mechanism, and a control system. The reaction chamber includes a baseplate. The baseplate includes an opening. The movable support is configured to hold a workpiece. The drive mechanism is configured to move a workpiece held on the support towards the opening of the baseplate into a processing position. The control system is configured to create a positive pressure gradient between the reaction chamber and the loading chamber while the workpiece support is in motion. Purge gases flow from the reaction chamber into the loading chamber while the workpiece support is in motion. The control system is configured to create a negative pressure gradient between the reaction chamber and the loading chamber while the workpiece is being processed. Purge gases can flow from the loading chamber into the reaction chamber while the workpiece support is in the processing position, unless the reaction chamber is sealed from the loading chamber in the processing position. | 08-12-2010 |
| 20110142574 | METHOD OF TRANSFERRING AN OBJECT INTO A CLEAN ROOM - A method of transferring at least one object, sterilised and packed into a bag, into a clean room, where the bag is connected with an inner liner connecting the clean room with an outer room and on this is opened at an area open towards the inner liner so that a tube-like connection, closed towards the outer room, is formed between the interior of the bag and the inner liner, through which the at least one object is transferred into the clean room. | 06-16-2011 |
| 20140064886 | SYSTEM, ARCHITECTURE AND METHOD FOR SIMULTANEOUS TRANSFER AND PROCESS OF SUBSTRATES - An architecture for substrate processing system wherein a group of several substrates are transferred simultaneously and processed simultaneously. Robot arm is used to transfer the substrates using a substrate hanger attached to the end thereof. The hanger is configured to slide above the substrates and pick up the substrates using hanger extensions that slide under the substrates and hold the substrates at their peripheral edge. By hanging the substrates from above, no regards to the position of lift pins is necessary. Also, by constructing the hanger to be symmetrical, the hanger motion is strictly linear and need not rotate. This saves transfer time and avoids collision with lift pins. Also, the symmetry and linear motion of the hanger maintains the substrates at the same relative position throughout the transfer and processing sequence. | 03-06-2014 |
| 20140126980 | SUBSTRATE PROCESSING APPARATUS - Provided is a substrate processing apparatus which includes: first and second vacuum transfer chambers which are partitioned from each other; processing chambers configured to perform a vacuum processing onto substrates; a load lock chamber installed to be sandwiched between the first and second vacuum transfer chambers, and including partition valves installed between the load lock chamber and a normal pressure atmosphere, and between the load lock chamber and each of the first and second vacuum transfer chambers; and substrate mounting tables inside the load lock chamber and configured to move between an upper position at which the substrates are transferred between the load lock chamber and the normal pressure atmosphere, and a lower position at which the substrates are transferred between the load lock chamber and the first or second vacuum transfer chamber. | 05-08-2014 |
| 20140271055 | SUBSTRATE DEPOSITION SYSTEMS, ROBOT TRANSFER APPARATUS, AND METHODS FOR ELECTRONIC DEVICE MANUFACTURING - Electronic device processing systems are described. The system includes a mainframe housing having a transfer chamber, a first facet, a second facet opposite the first facet, a third facet, and a fourth facet opposite the third facet, a first carousel assembly coupled to a first facet, a second carousel assembly coupled to the third facet, a first load lock coupled to the second facet, a second load lock coupled to the fourth facet, and a robot adapted to operate in the transfer chamber to exchange substrates from the first and second carousels. Methods and multi-axis robots for transporting substrates are described, as are numerous other aspects. | 09-18-2014 |
| 20150125240 | DYNAMIC PITCH SUBSTRATE LIFT - An apparatus for dynamically adjusting the pitch between substrates in a substrate stack comprises first and second lift portions. The first lift portion supports a first group of the plurality of substrates, and the second lift portion supports a second group of the plurality of substrates. The first and second lift portions are operable to move the first and second groups of substrates in a first direction independently from each other. This independent movement enables the pitch, or spacing, between adjacent substrates to be dynamically adjusted so that an end effector of a robot can be positioned between such adjacent substrates to pick one of the substrates without inadvertently engaging another substrate that is not being picked. Other embodiments are disclosed. | 05-07-2015 |
| 20190148177 | APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING SUBSTRATES OR WAFERS | 05-16-2019 |
| 20220135348 | TRANSPORT APPARATUS, VACUUM APPARATUS, PROCESSING SYSTEM, AND A METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING AN ARTICLE - A transport apparatus comprises: a stator including a plurality of coils arranged along a first direction; and a mover including a first magnet group having a plurality of magnets arranged along the first direction, the plurality of magnets arranged to face the plurality of coils in a second direction crossing the first direction, wherein the mover is driven toward the first direction by a magnetic force generated between the magnets and the coils, wherein the stator includes a first region in which the plurality of coils is arranged at given intervals and a second region adjacent to the first region, and wherein a magnetic compensator is arranged in the second region for compensating changes in magnetic energy distribution characteristics formed by the magnets and the coils in the first region. | 05-05-2022 |
