CA1097770A - Controls for semiconductor wafer orientor - Google Patents
Controls for semiconductor wafer orientorInfo
- Publication number
- CA1097770A CA1097770A CA291,007A CA291007A CA1097770A CA 1097770 A CA1097770 A CA 1097770A CA 291007 A CA291007 A CA 291007A CA 1097770 A CA1097770 A CA 1097770A
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- Prior art keywords
- wafer
- electro
- motion
- point
- location
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
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Classifications
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
- H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
- H01L21/677—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations
- H01L21/67784—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations using air tracks
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
- B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
- B65G51/00—Conveying articles through pipes or tubes by fluid flow or pressure; Conveying articles over a flat surface, e.g. the base of a trough, by jets located in the surface
- B65G51/02—Directly conveying the articles, e.g. slips, sheets, stockings, containers or workpieces, by flowing gases
- B65G51/03—Directly conveying the articles, e.g. slips, sheets, stockings, containers or workpieces, by flowing gases over a flat surface or in troughs
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- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Fluid Mechanics (AREA)
- Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
- Condensed Matter Physics & Semiconductors (AREA)
- General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
- Computer Hardware Design (AREA)
- Microelectronics & Electronic Packaging (AREA)
- Power Engineering (AREA)
- Container, Conveyance, Adherence, Positioning, Of Wafer (AREA)
- Delivering By Means Of Belts And Rollers (AREA)
Abstract
CONTROLS FOR SEMICONDUCTOR WAFER ORIENTOR
ABSTRACT
This specification deals with electro-optic controls for stopping and orienting of a semiconductor wafer being transported along a track on an air film. At one or more locations along the track the characteristics of the air film are changed by electronic controls responding to optical pickups sensing the position and orientation of a semiconductor wafer entering the particular location on the air film to first stop the wafer in the general proximity of the location, then center the wafer in the location and after the wafer is centered, quickly rotate the wafer until it assumes the desired orienta-tion. All this is done without edge contact of the wafer by any solid objects.
ABSTRACT
This specification deals with electro-optic controls for stopping and orienting of a semiconductor wafer being transported along a track on an air film. At one or more locations along the track the characteristics of the air film are changed by electronic controls responding to optical pickups sensing the position and orientation of a semiconductor wafer entering the particular location on the air film to first stop the wafer in the general proximity of the location, then center the wafer in the location and after the wafer is centered, quickly rotate the wafer until it assumes the desired orienta-tion. All this is done without edge contact of the wafer by any solid objects.
Description
10~7770 _ The present invention relates to the orienting of objects such as semiconductor wafers that are being transported along a track on an air film.
United States Patent No. 4,081,201, issued March 28, 1978, and assigned to the same assignee as this invention and entitled, "Wafer Air Film Transportation System" dis-closes a track configuration in which an air film for supporting objects such as semiconductor wafers being moved along the track or bed is controlled by the configura-tion of the track to eliminate the need of a wafer guide or restraint to keep the wafers on the track. In co-pend-ing Canadian patent application number 291,046 filed on even date herewith by J.K. Hassan et al, and assigned to the same assignee as this invention, and entitled "Pneu-matic Control Of The Motion Of Objects Suspended On An Air Film", pneumatics are described l0~mo 1 that can be used to stop, hold, center, rotate and change
United States Patent No. 4,081,201, issued March 28, 1978, and assigned to the same assignee as this invention and entitled, "Wafer Air Film Transportation System" dis-closes a track configuration in which an air film for supporting objects such as semiconductor wafers being moved along the track or bed is controlled by the configura-tion of the track to eliminate the need of a wafer guide or restraint to keep the wafers on the track. In co-pend-ing Canadian patent application number 291,046 filed on even date herewith by J.K. Hassan et al, and assigned to the same assignee as this invention, and entitled "Pneu-matic Control Of The Motion Of Objects Suspended On An Air Film", pneumatics are described l0~mo 1 that can be used to stop, hold, center, rotate and change
2 directions of wafers traveling along such an air track at
3 selected points along the air track without physical contact
4 to the wafer by solid objects. In the manufacture of semi-conductor wafers these pneumatics have application in inter-6 sections where control over the direction of the wafer is 7 necessary to choose between alternative paths which the 8 wafer may take and in orientors where a mark such as a flat 9 or notch in the edge of the wafer must be accurately positioned relative to a location in the orientor to align the wafer so 11 that manufacturing steps can be performed.
13 In accordance with the present invention, an electro-optic 14 control mechanism is provided which can be used to accurately orient wafers and like objects in pneumatic environments such 16 as those described in the previously mentioned applications 17 without using solid objects to contact the wafer for alignment lg purposes. Electronic controls respond to electric signals from 19 optical pickups at a selected location to alter the character-istics of an air film on which the wafer is moving to first 21 center the wafer in the selected location and after the wafer 22 is centered to quickly rotate the wafer until the notch 23 approches the desired location and thereafter move the wafer 24 with a jogging action until the notch is at the location.
Therefore it is an object of the present invention to 26 provide electro-optic controls for controlling the motion ~7 of an object such as a wafer in an air film transportation 28 system-1 A second o~ject of the invention is to provide electro-2 optic controls for orienting such an object without contacting 3 the edge of the wafer with probes or other solid objects.
4 It is also an object of the present invention to provide electro-optic controls for reorienting, redirecting and/or 6 holding transported objects at points along an air track.
7 It is another object to provide a mechanism for sensing 8 the presence of a transported object at one or more points 9 along the track.
THE DRAWINGS
11 These and other objects of the invention will be apparent 12 from the drawings of which:
13 FIGURE 1 is a top view of a piece of air track with stop 14 air jets of the present invention in grooves of the track.
FIGURE 2 is a section taken along line 2-2 in FIGU~E 1.
16 FIGURE 3 is a section taken along line 3-3 in FIGURE 1.
17 FIGUP~ 4 is an exploded view of the air track of FIGURE 1 18 around one of the stop air jets.
19 FIGURE 5 is a section taken along line 5-5 in FIGURE 4.
FIGU~ES 6 and 7 show a sensor for sensing a wafer as it 21 passes over the sensor on an air film.
22 FIGURE 8 is a diagram explaining the operation of the 23 sensor.
24 FIGURE 9 is a schematic showing how a sensor would operate in conjunction with the air jet to stop the motion 26 of a wafer.
27 FIGURE 10 is one form of an intersection using the 28 stop jet and sensor of the present application.
1 FIGURES 11 and 12 are plane views of another form of 2 intersection using the stop jet and sensor of the present 3 application.
4 FIGURE 13 is a three-dimensional view of a contactless orientator using another form of intersection with the stop 6 jet of the present invention.
7 FIGURE 14 is a top view of FIGURE 13.
8 FIGURES 15, 16 and 17 are schematics explaining the fiber 9 optics for sensing the wafer.
FIGURE 18 is a circuit schematic for the orientator 11 of FIGURE 13.
12 FIGURES 19 and 20 are side views of a support showing 13 how it can be raised to contact the wafer.
14 DESCRIPT~ON OF THE DRAWINGS
As explained in United States Patent Number 4,081,201, 16 a wafer 12 suspended on an air film of fluid is fed to the top 17 surface 16 of a track 14 from air manifolds 18 in the track 18 through nozzles with long, thin passages 20 arranged in six 19 rows positioned symmetrically around the center line 24 of the track. These passages are inclined with respect to the 21 vertical at an angle, ~ , in the track of the center line and 22 an angle, e in the direction of motion of the wafer along the 23 track. An exhaust channel 26 is formed in the track on the 24 centerline side of each row of nozzles 20. Channels 26 are asymmetrical in cross section. The wall 28 towards the center 26 is vertical and straight while the external wall 30 is curved 27 with a radius r and terminates longitudinally with the top 28 surface of the track. As explained in the above mentioned FI9-7~-061 -4-1~7770 1 United States Patent Number 4,081,201, because 2 of a combination of physical phenomena referred to as axi-radial 3 and Coanda effects this arrangement establishes an air film which 4 causes objects such as semiconductor wafers 12 to travel along S the track in stable fashion in a direction determined by the 6 angle e of inclination of the passage 20.
7 A mechanism is provided which enables stopping the wafers 8 at any preselected point along the track. For this purpose one 9 or more air jets 32 are placed in the bottom of one or more of the exhaust channels 26 in the track 14 for directing a jet cf 11 air along the channel 26 floor. As shown in Figs. 4 and 5, this 12 causes air or fluid 31 from the film above the air jet 32 to be 13 sucked down into the channel 26 and along the channel in the 14 direction of the jet stream 33 causing a perturbation in the air film or bed around the air jet 32 in the form of a vacuum.
16 When a wafer passes over this vacu~m, suction on the wafer by 17 the vacuum causes the wafer to stop. The wafer will remain 18 stopped until the air jet is turned off. This releases the 19 wafer to again proceed down the track under the control of the air film set up in the axi-radial and Coanda effects 21 described in the above mentioned U.S. Patent No. 4,081,201.
22 A new sensor 34 utilizing the axi-radial flow phenomena 23 is provided to control the turniny on and turning off of the 24 stop air jet 32. This sensor is located in the top surface 16 of the track and as shown in Figs. 6 and 7 emits a vertical 26 air stream 35 from a cavity 36 fed through a supply channel 38 27 and monitored by a sensor channel 40. The cavity may be 28 cylindrical in form or it may be conically shaped with the ' .
1 truncated end of the cone opening on the track surface. As 2 shown in the diagram of Fig. 8, when there is no wafer on the 3 track over the sensor, the pressure in the sensing channel is 4 low, PS1. When the wafer passes over the sensor 34, the pressure in the sensor channel 40 increases dramatically to 6 PS2. This pressure differential is due to the telegraphed 7 effect of a pressure change at the surface 16 of the track 8 around the jet 34. When the jet is unobstructed by a wafer 9 there is a slight vacuum in the lower portion of the supply channel 36 due to the diameter difference of supply channels 11 36 and 38. However, when a wafer passes over the jet a sudden 12 suction region is generated at the surface 16 of the track 13 around the jet 34. This is due to the axi-radial flow phenomena 14 associated with the deflection of the jet by the wafer. This engendered condition at the track surface is reflected by an 16 associated increase in pressure which is detected in passage 40 17 to the sidewall 36 of the enlarged opening for the jet. As 18 illustrated in Fig. 9, this difference in pressure PS2 - PSl is 19 used to control a value 42 that regulates the supply of air to the aspirating or stop jet 32. The ~alve 42 can be one of a 21 number of pressure sensitive valves, examples of which may be 22 found in a catalog entitled, "Northeast Fluidics Sensing And 23 Interface Valves And Components", copyright 1973 by Clippard 24 Instrument Company, Inc. For the purpose of this application we will assume this valve 42 has a diaphragm 44 which, under 26 action of a spring 46 normally seals the opening of a supply 27 channel 48 blocking the path 50 from the supply to the stop 28 jet 32. However, when the pressure in the sense line 40 2S increases to PS2, the diaphragm 44 is moved ~y the air pressure against the action of the spring to open the path 50 from the 1~)97770 1 supply to the jet 32. While the sense jet 34 is used in 2 this embodiment because of its desirable characteristics, other 3 sensing elements can be used to control the stop jet 32 such 4 as electro-optic detectors and different t~pes of pneumatic sensors such as the one found on page 20 of the above mentioned 6 catalog.
7 Fig. 10 shows two intersecting sections 52 and 54 of a 8 track 14 having such a sensor and aspirating jets connected 9 as shown in Fig. 9 to stop the wafer in the intersection. The 10 aspirating jets 32 are normally off. When a wafer enters the 11 intersection it eventually passes over sensor 34, the sensor 12 opens a valve to allow air under pressure to reach the aspirating 13 jets stopping the wafer in position 56. A vent valve 64 is then 14 opened to interrupt the air supply to the aspirating jets by 15 closing valve 42. The aspirating jets 32 then release the suction 16 exerted on the wafer so that the wafer will move to position 58 17 under the influence of the film jets for the fluid layer established 18 in accordance with the above mentioned ~nited ~tates 19 Patent Number 4,0~1,201. It will he no-ted that the 20 angle of inclination of the passages 20 changes on track section 54 21 in the area of the intersection of sections 52 and 54. This is 22 evidenced by the direction of arrows 60. From these arrows it 23 should be apparent that the air film or fluid layer tends to direct 24 a stopped or slow moving wafer to center itself in position 58 25 at the center of the intersection. Additional jets 62 around 26 the periphery of this position 58 aid in centering the wafer J
27 into position 58 by exerting a centering force on the edye of 28 the wafer. Vent valve 64 can be open and shut in a repeating 29 sequence to pulse the stop or aspirating jet 32 off and on ~` -1 a number of times while the wafer moves from position 56 to L
2 position 58. This will periodically grab and release the 3 wafer to damp and stabilize the motion of the wafer as it 4 moves into position 58 considerably reducing the time it takes
13 In accordance with the present invention, an electro-optic 14 control mechanism is provided which can be used to accurately orient wafers and like objects in pneumatic environments such 16 as those described in the previously mentioned applications 17 without using solid objects to contact the wafer for alignment lg purposes. Electronic controls respond to electric signals from 19 optical pickups at a selected location to alter the character-istics of an air film on which the wafer is moving to first 21 center the wafer in the selected location and after the wafer 22 is centered to quickly rotate the wafer until the notch 23 approches the desired location and thereafter move the wafer 24 with a jogging action until the notch is at the location.
Therefore it is an object of the present invention to 26 provide electro-optic controls for controlling the motion ~7 of an object such as a wafer in an air film transportation 28 system-1 A second o~ject of the invention is to provide electro-2 optic controls for orienting such an object without contacting 3 the edge of the wafer with probes or other solid objects.
4 It is also an object of the present invention to provide electro-optic controls for reorienting, redirecting and/or 6 holding transported objects at points along an air track.
7 It is another object to provide a mechanism for sensing 8 the presence of a transported object at one or more points 9 along the track.
THE DRAWINGS
11 These and other objects of the invention will be apparent 12 from the drawings of which:
13 FIGURE 1 is a top view of a piece of air track with stop 14 air jets of the present invention in grooves of the track.
FIGURE 2 is a section taken along line 2-2 in FIGU~E 1.
16 FIGURE 3 is a section taken along line 3-3 in FIGURE 1.
17 FIGUP~ 4 is an exploded view of the air track of FIGURE 1 18 around one of the stop air jets.
19 FIGURE 5 is a section taken along line 5-5 in FIGURE 4.
FIGU~ES 6 and 7 show a sensor for sensing a wafer as it 21 passes over the sensor on an air film.
22 FIGURE 8 is a diagram explaining the operation of the 23 sensor.
24 FIGURE 9 is a schematic showing how a sensor would operate in conjunction with the air jet to stop the motion 26 of a wafer.
27 FIGURE 10 is one form of an intersection using the 28 stop jet and sensor of the present application.
1 FIGURES 11 and 12 are plane views of another form of 2 intersection using the stop jet and sensor of the present 3 application.
4 FIGURE 13 is a three-dimensional view of a contactless orientator using another form of intersection with the stop 6 jet of the present invention.
7 FIGURE 14 is a top view of FIGURE 13.
8 FIGURES 15, 16 and 17 are schematics explaining the fiber 9 optics for sensing the wafer.
FIGURE 18 is a circuit schematic for the orientator 11 of FIGURE 13.
12 FIGURES 19 and 20 are side views of a support showing 13 how it can be raised to contact the wafer.
14 DESCRIPT~ON OF THE DRAWINGS
As explained in United States Patent Number 4,081,201, 16 a wafer 12 suspended on an air film of fluid is fed to the top 17 surface 16 of a track 14 from air manifolds 18 in the track 18 through nozzles with long, thin passages 20 arranged in six 19 rows positioned symmetrically around the center line 24 of the track. These passages are inclined with respect to the 21 vertical at an angle, ~ , in the track of the center line and 22 an angle, e in the direction of motion of the wafer along the 23 track. An exhaust channel 26 is formed in the track on the 24 centerline side of each row of nozzles 20. Channels 26 are asymmetrical in cross section. The wall 28 towards the center 26 is vertical and straight while the external wall 30 is curved 27 with a radius r and terminates longitudinally with the top 28 surface of the track. As explained in the above mentioned FI9-7~-061 -4-1~7770 1 United States Patent Number 4,081,201, because 2 of a combination of physical phenomena referred to as axi-radial 3 and Coanda effects this arrangement establishes an air film which 4 causes objects such as semiconductor wafers 12 to travel along S the track in stable fashion in a direction determined by the 6 angle e of inclination of the passage 20.
7 A mechanism is provided which enables stopping the wafers 8 at any preselected point along the track. For this purpose one 9 or more air jets 32 are placed in the bottom of one or more of the exhaust channels 26 in the track 14 for directing a jet cf 11 air along the channel 26 floor. As shown in Figs. 4 and 5, this 12 causes air or fluid 31 from the film above the air jet 32 to be 13 sucked down into the channel 26 and along the channel in the 14 direction of the jet stream 33 causing a perturbation in the air film or bed around the air jet 32 in the form of a vacuum.
16 When a wafer passes over this vacu~m, suction on the wafer by 17 the vacuum causes the wafer to stop. The wafer will remain 18 stopped until the air jet is turned off. This releases the 19 wafer to again proceed down the track under the control of the air film set up in the axi-radial and Coanda effects 21 described in the above mentioned U.S. Patent No. 4,081,201.
22 A new sensor 34 utilizing the axi-radial flow phenomena 23 is provided to control the turniny on and turning off of the 24 stop air jet 32. This sensor is located in the top surface 16 of the track and as shown in Figs. 6 and 7 emits a vertical 26 air stream 35 from a cavity 36 fed through a supply channel 38 27 and monitored by a sensor channel 40. The cavity may be 28 cylindrical in form or it may be conically shaped with the ' .
1 truncated end of the cone opening on the track surface. As 2 shown in the diagram of Fig. 8, when there is no wafer on the 3 track over the sensor, the pressure in the sensing channel is 4 low, PS1. When the wafer passes over the sensor 34, the pressure in the sensor channel 40 increases dramatically to 6 PS2. This pressure differential is due to the telegraphed 7 effect of a pressure change at the surface 16 of the track 8 around the jet 34. When the jet is unobstructed by a wafer 9 there is a slight vacuum in the lower portion of the supply channel 36 due to the diameter difference of supply channels 11 36 and 38. However, when a wafer passes over the jet a sudden 12 suction region is generated at the surface 16 of the track 13 around the jet 34. This is due to the axi-radial flow phenomena 14 associated with the deflection of the jet by the wafer. This engendered condition at the track surface is reflected by an 16 associated increase in pressure which is detected in passage 40 17 to the sidewall 36 of the enlarged opening for the jet. As 18 illustrated in Fig. 9, this difference in pressure PS2 - PSl is 19 used to control a value 42 that regulates the supply of air to the aspirating or stop jet 32. The ~alve 42 can be one of a 21 number of pressure sensitive valves, examples of which may be 22 found in a catalog entitled, "Northeast Fluidics Sensing And 23 Interface Valves And Components", copyright 1973 by Clippard 24 Instrument Company, Inc. For the purpose of this application we will assume this valve 42 has a diaphragm 44 which, under 26 action of a spring 46 normally seals the opening of a supply 27 channel 48 blocking the path 50 from the supply to the stop 28 jet 32. However, when the pressure in the sense line 40 2S increases to PS2, the diaphragm 44 is moved ~y the air pressure against the action of the spring to open the path 50 from the 1~)97770 1 supply to the jet 32. While the sense jet 34 is used in 2 this embodiment because of its desirable characteristics, other 3 sensing elements can be used to control the stop jet 32 such 4 as electro-optic detectors and different t~pes of pneumatic sensors such as the one found on page 20 of the above mentioned 6 catalog.
7 Fig. 10 shows two intersecting sections 52 and 54 of a 8 track 14 having such a sensor and aspirating jets connected 9 as shown in Fig. 9 to stop the wafer in the intersection. The 10 aspirating jets 32 are normally off. When a wafer enters the 11 intersection it eventually passes over sensor 34, the sensor 12 opens a valve to allow air under pressure to reach the aspirating 13 jets stopping the wafer in position 56. A vent valve 64 is then 14 opened to interrupt the air supply to the aspirating jets by 15 closing valve 42. The aspirating jets 32 then release the suction 16 exerted on the wafer so that the wafer will move to position 58 17 under the influence of the film jets for the fluid layer established 18 in accordance with the above mentioned ~nited ~tates 19 Patent Number 4,0~1,201. It will he no-ted that the 20 angle of inclination of the passages 20 changes on track section 54 21 in the area of the intersection of sections 52 and 54. This is 22 evidenced by the direction of arrows 60. From these arrows it 23 should be apparent that the air film or fluid layer tends to direct 24 a stopped or slow moving wafer to center itself in position 58 25 at the center of the intersection. Additional jets 62 around 26 the periphery of this position 58 aid in centering the wafer J
27 into position 58 by exerting a centering force on the edye of 28 the wafer. Vent valve 64 can be open and shut in a repeating 29 sequence to pulse the stop or aspirating jet 32 off and on ~` -1 a number of times while the wafer moves from position 56 to L
2 position 58. This will periodically grab and release the 3 wafer to damp and stabilize the motion of the wafer as it 4 moves into position 58 considerably reducing the time it takes
5 for the wafer to get from position 56 to position 58.
6 When the wafer is in position 58, the aspirating jets 32
7 are turned off by opening vent valve 65 and driver jets 64d
8 come on and drive the wafer in the selected direction. Four
9 driver jets 64 are supplied air through independently controlled
10 paths so that the wafer can be sent in any one of the four L
11 directions of the intersections by turning two of the driver
12 jets 64 on. For instance, turning jets 64a and 64b on will r
13 cause the wafer to m~ve in the direction of arrow 66.
14 The intersection shown in Figs. 11 and 12, like the
15 intersection shown in Fig. 10, consists of a section of track
16 like that of Fig. 1 where six rows of passages 20 are separated
17 by channels. However, here the passages 20 are arranged in r
18 three concentric circles instead of being equally spaced
19 as they are in Fig. 1. The diameter of circle 63 is larger,
20 by approximately two film hole diameters, than the diameter of
21 a 3-1/4 inch semiconductor wafer. Similarly, the diameter of
22 circle 65a is larger than a 2-1/4 inch wafer by the same amount.
23 Now, when a 3-1/4 inch wafer is centered the passages 20 in
24 circle 63 exert a peripheral force while the passages in L
25 circle 65a and 67 act as film passages. Similarly, when a
26 2-1/4 inch wafer is centered the passages of circle 65a exert
27 a peripheral force while the passages of circle 67 act as 2~ film holes.
29 The film hole angles of all the holes are such that 30 hence, the associated angle in the plane of the surface is 31 denoted b~ ~ = 45. Thus the holes do not all point to the ~I9-76-~61 -8-1~97770 l center but are optimized with respect to the channel locations.
2 The angles for the passages 20 are as follows:
3 circle 67: ~ = e= 10, ~ = 45 4 circle 65a: ~ = e = 15, ~ = 45 circle 63: ~ = e = 20, ~ = 45.
6 The hole diameter and length are 0.0135 inches and about 0.072 7 inches, respectively. Other hole sizes are also used depending on 8 the desired operating pressure.
9 The intersection of Figs. ll and 12 also includes sensors, 10 and drivers like that of the intersection shown in Fig. 10.
11 In addition rotary motion can also be imparted to the wafers 12 by the inclusion, for example, of four diametrically opposite 13 and oppositely directed jets ( ~ = 90) in the intersection.
14 Another variation of this aspect is described in the orientor 15 below.
16 Centering of wafers in this intersection is very rapid 17 and requires only three to four aspirator on and off pulses 18 for the wafer to move into position 5~ from the position which l9 it is first stopped by the aspirator. This rapid centering 20 is due in large part to the particular angles of the air 21 passages 20 and their use as both air film and peripheral holes.
22 With this arrangement the fluid force Fp acts in a planar 23 direction while the vertical force Fv is counteracted by the 24 film attraction force. Thus, with such symmetric arrangement 25 of passage ~ Fp - 0 on the centered wafer. X
~6 A third form of intersection is shown in Fig. 14. Here F
27 the air evacuating channels 26 form a pattern emanating from
29 The film hole angles of all the holes are such that 30 hence, the associated angle in the plane of the surface is 31 denoted b~ ~ = 45. Thus the holes do not all point to the ~I9-76-~61 -8-1~97770 l center but are optimized with respect to the channel locations.
2 The angles for the passages 20 are as follows:
3 circle 67: ~ = e= 10, ~ = 45 4 circle 65a: ~ = e = 15, ~ = 45 circle 63: ~ = e = 20, ~ = 45.
6 The hole diameter and length are 0.0135 inches and about 0.072 7 inches, respectively. Other hole sizes are also used depending on 8 the desired operating pressure.
9 The intersection of Figs. ll and 12 also includes sensors, 10 and drivers like that of the intersection shown in Fig. 10.
11 In addition rotary motion can also be imparted to the wafers 12 by the inclusion, for example, of four diametrically opposite 13 and oppositely directed jets ( ~ = 90) in the intersection.
14 Another variation of this aspect is described in the orientor 15 below.
16 Centering of wafers in this intersection is very rapid 17 and requires only three to four aspirator on and off pulses 18 for the wafer to move into position 5~ from the position which l9 it is first stopped by the aspirator. This rapid centering 20 is due in large part to the particular angles of the air 21 passages 20 and their use as both air film and peripheral holes.
22 With this arrangement the fluid force Fp acts in a planar 23 direction while the vertical force Fv is counteracted by the 24 film attraction force. Thus, with such symmetric arrangement 25 of passage ~ Fp - 0 on the centered wafer. X
~6 A third form of intersection is shown in Fig. 14. Here F
27 the air evacuating channels 26 form a pattern emanating from
28 a cross and at the center of the cross is a four-way aspirating
29 jet 32. This intersection has air film passages 20 in ro~s 10"7770 1 along the channels 26, passages to exert a peripheral force 2 on the wafer 12 when it is in the centered position, and 3 driver jets 64 just as the previous intersections. This type 4 of intersection is suitable to be used for a wafer orientator.
For this purpose jets 68, with ~ = 90 are added to the inter-6 section. These jets 68 exert a tangential force on the wafer 12 7 when the wafer is in position 58 causing the wafer to rotate 8 in the clockwise direction. This occurs without impairing the 9 basic wafer motion constraint properties of the supporting air film. The air jets 68 are supplied through the air film manifold 11 along with the jets 20 so that they are on all the time the air 12 jets and peripheral jets are on.
13 In accordance with the present invention an electro-optic 14 control arm 70 is used to control the positioning and orienting of wafer 12 in the intersection. As shown in Figs. 15, 16 and 17, 16 the optics for this sytem consist of rough and fine control sets 17 of diodes 72 and 74 respectively. These diodes arç used to 18 sense both the edge of the wafer and a notch 76 in the wafer 12.
19 Light normally shines on all the diodes in both sets from light sources mounted in the intersection 16. When a wafer enters 21 the intersection in the direction of arrow 76 it passes under 22 the arm 70 and comes in between the sets of diodes 72 and 74 23 and the electric lights positioned in the track cutting off 24 light to the diode 72a, the first diode in set 72. Control circuits respond to the cutting off of light to diode 72a 26 by opening the path 50 of air to the aspirating jet 32 and 27 closing the path of air to the air film and radial jets thereby 28 stopping the wafer 12. Once the wafer is stopped, the aspirating 29 jet ~s turned intermittently on and off so that the air film 1 jets and the rotational jets can move the wafer while the 2 aspirating jet is off. This centers the wafer in the position 58.
3 In one specific mode of operation, the turning on and off of 4 the aspirator is done in a sequence of eight steps and with each successive step of the sequence, the period of time the 6 aspirator is off diminishes from 500 to 130 milliseconds while 7 the period the aspirator is on remains about 50 milliseconds.
8 This quickly stabilizes the wafer at its desired position. After 9 the count of eight, air supplied to the jet 32 is turned off so that jogging of the wafer by the aspirator stops and the wafer rotates 11 freely in position 58 until the notch 76 passes under the rough 12 orienting diode set 72 of five diodes. When one of these 13 diodes 72c senses light while an outer diode 72d is still blocked 14 from the light source by the wafer it is an indication that the notch is in the rou~h position and the aspirator is again turned 16 on and off; this time in fixed increments until the fine diodes 74 17 are both exposed to light through the notch. When the light is 18 impinging, the diodes 74 generate a specific voltage relationship 19 in the circuits shown in Fig. 18 and described hereinafter and the wafer is in position so the aspirating jet is turned on 21 and the air film feed is turned off.
22 With the wafer properly oriented readings can then be 23 performed on the wafer or the oriented wafer can be transferred 24 to a manufacturing station by a transfer mechanism such as a Burnulli/head. When the function to be performed is completed, 26 the aspirator jet is turned off and the wafer ejected from the 27 intersection in any direction by driver jets 64.
28 In taking a reading it may be difficult to read accurately 29 because the wafers are warped. For this purpose a support 80 ~0~77~0 1 is provided. This support is normally recessed in the floor 2 of one of the grooves of the intersectlon so it does not 3 contact wafers being over it or interfere with the wafers' 4 motion. However, by the use of air pressure this support S can be raised to contact the wafer and a vacuum applied in 6 the area to be read to ~traighten the wafer to make it 7 readable.
8 Referring to Fl;g. 18, it can be seen how the circuitry 9 works to operate the jets as responses to the electrical signals from the diode sets 72 and 74. Initially, the film jet control 11 coil 96 is energized while the aspirator and exit jet control 12 coils 94 and 140 are de-energized. This means that air is being 13 supplied to the film jets, and the rotational jets, while the 14 air supply to the aspirating jets and the exit jets are held lS off. When diode 72a is cut off from the light source by wafer 16 12, AND gate 82 sets wafer present latch 84. The output of the 17 wafer present latch through OR gate 88 then removes the clear 18 from the wafer stop latch 86 and the pulse generator latch 108, 19 and also enables AND gate 148 turning the aspirator jet on and the film jets off by supplying electrical power to the aspirator 21 jet control coil 94 and turning off electrical power to film 22 jet control coil 96.
23 The pulse generator latch 108 is controlled by a timing 24 circuit 110 having a capacitor 112 and resistors 113 and 114 that sets the basic timing for the oscillator circuit 110.
26 Initially the output of the pulse generator latch is Lo 27 and transistor 116 is conducting, holding capacitor 112 discharged 28 through resistor 114. As pointed out previously, 1 when the clear input to oscillator latch 108 goes Hi the 2 oscillator la~ch becomes active turning transistor 116 off.
3 Now capacitor 112 can charge. Before capacitor 112 charges, the 4 voltage across it is below the potential at point 118.
Therefore, the output of the Lo detector 120 sets the latch 6 108. This causes the output of the oscillator latch 108 to go 7 Hi and voltage across capacitor 112 begins to rise until its 8 input to the Hi detector exceeds the voltage at point 124 9 resetting the latch so that the output of the latch 108 goes Lo, and also turns on transistor 116 discharging capacitor 112, 11 dropping the voltage across capacitor 112 below the voltage at 12 point 118 causing the output of the Lo voltage detector 120 13 to go up and set the latch. With the latch set the output 14 goes Hi and also turns off transistor 116, starting another cycle.
Thus once the clear signal is removed from the latch 108, the 16 output of the pulse generator latch oscillates.
17 The period of pulse repetition and the ratio of on to off 18 time is determined by the voltage at point 124. Thé voltage at 19 point 124 and 118 is controlled by the conduction of transistor 128. Transistor 128 is normally held conducting by 21 positive potential fed through resistor 130, diode 132 to the 22 base of transistor 128 holding the base up and therefore the 23 potential point 124 high. However, when the oscillator latch 108 24 goes through one cycle it sets the first pulse latch 102. When the first pulse latch is set, the diode 132 is back biased and 26 the voltage at the emitter of transistor 128 starts to drop due 27 to RC ~ime constant of resistor 134 and capacitor 136. At some 28 point the capacitor will charge sufficiently to turn off transistor 29 128. With transistor 128 off, the on time of the generator is 10977~70 1 determined by the voltage divider action of resistors 142, 144 A&B
2 and 146. The on time of the latch varys from 500 milliseconds 3 when transistor 128 is turned on to 130 milliseconds when 4 transistor 128 is off, while the off time stays relatively constant at approximately 50 milliseconds. The change in the 6 on time of the oscillator occurs over eight on/off cycles 7 of the oscillator. A counter 104 counts each off pulse and 8 when eight is reached it carrys. The carry signal Co clears 9 the pulse generator latch 108 and latch 86. While the pulse generator latch was in the sequence of eight pulses it was 11 turning the aspirator jet and the film jets on and off out of 12 phase with each other centering the wafer with a jogging motion.
13 First the wafer is allowed to move towards its centered position 14 under the influence of the air film rotational and peripheral jets. Then those jets are turned off and the aspirator is 16 turned on stopping the wafer. With each cycle the amount of 17 time the film, rotational and peripheral jets are on, is 18 reduced. This quickly centers the wafer into position 58 19 with a minimum of overshoot. After the count of eight and the latches 108 and 86 are cleared the aspirator jet is turned off 21 and the wafer rotates in its centered position on the air film 22 under the influence of the rotational jets until the notch 76 23 passes between the fast sense diode set 72 and the light source 24 illuminating them. When the notch 76 allows light to reach any one of the diodes 72c and causes it to conduct while a 26 diode 72d furthex from the position of 72a is ~locked 27 from the light source and therefore is not conducting, 28 detection circuit 134 provides a signal that sets the 2~ latch 106 clearing the counter 104. With the counter 104 1~7~70 1 cleared, the Co output of the counter goes up and allows the 2 latch 108 to pulsate. This time with transistor 128 held 3 non-conducting so that the pulsing has a fixed on period 4 of 130 milliseconds. The wafer now rotates more slowly and precisely until the notch 76 passes between the final 6 sense diodes 74. When that happens both diodes 74a and 74b 7 conduct. When diode 74a conducts sufficiently more than 8 diode 74b the voltage across diode 74a turns on the AND gate 134, 9 and sets the final notch latch 136 turning the aspirator on and the film jets off to hold the wafer in its oriented position.
11 A signal is sent to the reading equipment indicating that 12 the wafer is oriented. The information can be then read and 13 after the reading is complete, the reading e~uipment provides 14 an eject signal to an AND gate 138 energizing the exit jet control coil 140 and thus turning the exit jets on. At the 16 same time it sends a reset pulse to the wafer present latch 84 17 resetting the control circuitry and turning the aspirator jet 18 off and the film jets on. Thus the wafer is expelléd from 19 the intersection and the equipment is ready to orient the next wafer to enter the intersection.
21 While the intersection of Fig. 13 operates to orient, it 22 has been found that it is much more sophisticated than needed 23 for the orienting purpose and the form of the intersection 24 shown in Fig. 14 is less expensive and simpler. Here the number of channels and jets are reduced and the diodes are 26 placed in the track instead of in the arm. The arm then ~7 contains the light sources to activate the diodes. All the 28 jets described herein are axi-radial which are of the type 1~7~70 described in U.S. Patent 4,081,201.
A number of changes can be made in the described structure. For instance, a vacuum may be substituted for the aspirating jet 32 or the film jets 20 may be left on when the aspirating jet is on. Therefore it should be obvious to those skilled in the art that many changes can be made in the above embodiment of the invention without departing from the spirit of the invention and the scope of the claims.
For this purpose jets 68, with ~ = 90 are added to the inter-6 section. These jets 68 exert a tangential force on the wafer 12 7 when the wafer is in position 58 causing the wafer to rotate 8 in the clockwise direction. This occurs without impairing the 9 basic wafer motion constraint properties of the supporting air film. The air jets 68 are supplied through the air film manifold 11 along with the jets 20 so that they are on all the time the air 12 jets and peripheral jets are on.
13 In accordance with the present invention an electro-optic 14 control arm 70 is used to control the positioning and orienting of wafer 12 in the intersection. As shown in Figs. 15, 16 and 17, 16 the optics for this sytem consist of rough and fine control sets 17 of diodes 72 and 74 respectively. These diodes arç used to 18 sense both the edge of the wafer and a notch 76 in the wafer 12.
19 Light normally shines on all the diodes in both sets from light sources mounted in the intersection 16. When a wafer enters 21 the intersection in the direction of arrow 76 it passes under 22 the arm 70 and comes in between the sets of diodes 72 and 74 23 and the electric lights positioned in the track cutting off 24 light to the diode 72a, the first diode in set 72. Control circuits respond to the cutting off of light to diode 72a 26 by opening the path 50 of air to the aspirating jet 32 and 27 closing the path of air to the air film and radial jets thereby 28 stopping the wafer 12. Once the wafer is stopped, the aspirating 29 jet ~s turned intermittently on and off so that the air film 1 jets and the rotational jets can move the wafer while the 2 aspirating jet is off. This centers the wafer in the position 58.
3 In one specific mode of operation, the turning on and off of 4 the aspirator is done in a sequence of eight steps and with each successive step of the sequence, the period of time the 6 aspirator is off diminishes from 500 to 130 milliseconds while 7 the period the aspirator is on remains about 50 milliseconds.
8 This quickly stabilizes the wafer at its desired position. After 9 the count of eight, air supplied to the jet 32 is turned off so that jogging of the wafer by the aspirator stops and the wafer rotates 11 freely in position 58 until the notch 76 passes under the rough 12 orienting diode set 72 of five diodes. When one of these 13 diodes 72c senses light while an outer diode 72d is still blocked 14 from the light source by the wafer it is an indication that the notch is in the rou~h position and the aspirator is again turned 16 on and off; this time in fixed increments until the fine diodes 74 17 are both exposed to light through the notch. When the light is 18 impinging, the diodes 74 generate a specific voltage relationship 19 in the circuits shown in Fig. 18 and described hereinafter and the wafer is in position so the aspirating jet is turned on 21 and the air film feed is turned off.
22 With the wafer properly oriented readings can then be 23 performed on the wafer or the oriented wafer can be transferred 24 to a manufacturing station by a transfer mechanism such as a Burnulli/head. When the function to be performed is completed, 26 the aspirator jet is turned off and the wafer ejected from the 27 intersection in any direction by driver jets 64.
28 In taking a reading it may be difficult to read accurately 29 because the wafers are warped. For this purpose a support 80 ~0~77~0 1 is provided. This support is normally recessed in the floor 2 of one of the grooves of the intersectlon so it does not 3 contact wafers being over it or interfere with the wafers' 4 motion. However, by the use of air pressure this support S can be raised to contact the wafer and a vacuum applied in 6 the area to be read to ~traighten the wafer to make it 7 readable.
8 Referring to Fl;g. 18, it can be seen how the circuitry 9 works to operate the jets as responses to the electrical signals from the diode sets 72 and 74. Initially, the film jet control 11 coil 96 is energized while the aspirator and exit jet control 12 coils 94 and 140 are de-energized. This means that air is being 13 supplied to the film jets, and the rotational jets, while the 14 air supply to the aspirating jets and the exit jets are held lS off. When diode 72a is cut off from the light source by wafer 16 12, AND gate 82 sets wafer present latch 84. The output of the 17 wafer present latch through OR gate 88 then removes the clear 18 from the wafer stop latch 86 and the pulse generator latch 108, 19 and also enables AND gate 148 turning the aspirator jet on and the film jets off by supplying electrical power to the aspirator 21 jet control coil 94 and turning off electrical power to film 22 jet control coil 96.
23 The pulse generator latch 108 is controlled by a timing 24 circuit 110 having a capacitor 112 and resistors 113 and 114 that sets the basic timing for the oscillator circuit 110.
26 Initially the output of the pulse generator latch is Lo 27 and transistor 116 is conducting, holding capacitor 112 discharged 28 through resistor 114. As pointed out previously, 1 when the clear input to oscillator latch 108 goes Hi the 2 oscillator la~ch becomes active turning transistor 116 off.
3 Now capacitor 112 can charge. Before capacitor 112 charges, the 4 voltage across it is below the potential at point 118.
Therefore, the output of the Lo detector 120 sets the latch 6 108. This causes the output of the oscillator latch 108 to go 7 Hi and voltage across capacitor 112 begins to rise until its 8 input to the Hi detector exceeds the voltage at point 124 9 resetting the latch so that the output of the latch 108 goes Lo, and also turns on transistor 116 discharging capacitor 112, 11 dropping the voltage across capacitor 112 below the voltage at 12 point 118 causing the output of the Lo voltage detector 120 13 to go up and set the latch. With the latch set the output 14 goes Hi and also turns off transistor 116, starting another cycle.
Thus once the clear signal is removed from the latch 108, the 16 output of the pulse generator latch oscillates.
17 The period of pulse repetition and the ratio of on to off 18 time is determined by the voltage at point 124. Thé voltage at 19 point 124 and 118 is controlled by the conduction of transistor 128. Transistor 128 is normally held conducting by 21 positive potential fed through resistor 130, diode 132 to the 22 base of transistor 128 holding the base up and therefore the 23 potential point 124 high. However, when the oscillator latch 108 24 goes through one cycle it sets the first pulse latch 102. When the first pulse latch is set, the diode 132 is back biased and 26 the voltage at the emitter of transistor 128 starts to drop due 27 to RC ~ime constant of resistor 134 and capacitor 136. At some 28 point the capacitor will charge sufficiently to turn off transistor 29 128. With transistor 128 off, the on time of the generator is 10977~70 1 determined by the voltage divider action of resistors 142, 144 A&B
2 and 146. The on time of the latch varys from 500 milliseconds 3 when transistor 128 is turned on to 130 milliseconds when 4 transistor 128 is off, while the off time stays relatively constant at approximately 50 milliseconds. The change in the 6 on time of the oscillator occurs over eight on/off cycles 7 of the oscillator. A counter 104 counts each off pulse and 8 when eight is reached it carrys. The carry signal Co clears 9 the pulse generator latch 108 and latch 86. While the pulse generator latch was in the sequence of eight pulses it was 11 turning the aspirator jet and the film jets on and off out of 12 phase with each other centering the wafer with a jogging motion.
13 First the wafer is allowed to move towards its centered position 14 under the influence of the air film rotational and peripheral jets. Then those jets are turned off and the aspirator is 16 turned on stopping the wafer. With each cycle the amount of 17 time the film, rotational and peripheral jets are on, is 18 reduced. This quickly centers the wafer into position 58 19 with a minimum of overshoot. After the count of eight and the latches 108 and 86 are cleared the aspirator jet is turned off 21 and the wafer rotates in its centered position on the air film 22 under the influence of the rotational jets until the notch 76 23 passes between the fast sense diode set 72 and the light source 24 illuminating them. When the notch 76 allows light to reach any one of the diodes 72c and causes it to conduct while a 26 diode 72d furthex from the position of 72a is ~locked 27 from the light source and therefore is not conducting, 28 detection circuit 134 provides a signal that sets the 2~ latch 106 clearing the counter 104. With the counter 104 1~7~70 1 cleared, the Co output of the counter goes up and allows the 2 latch 108 to pulsate. This time with transistor 128 held 3 non-conducting so that the pulsing has a fixed on period 4 of 130 milliseconds. The wafer now rotates more slowly and precisely until the notch 76 passes between the final 6 sense diodes 74. When that happens both diodes 74a and 74b 7 conduct. When diode 74a conducts sufficiently more than 8 diode 74b the voltage across diode 74a turns on the AND gate 134, 9 and sets the final notch latch 136 turning the aspirator on and the film jets off to hold the wafer in its oriented position.
11 A signal is sent to the reading equipment indicating that 12 the wafer is oriented. The information can be then read and 13 after the reading is complete, the reading e~uipment provides 14 an eject signal to an AND gate 138 energizing the exit jet control coil 140 and thus turning the exit jets on. At the 16 same time it sends a reset pulse to the wafer present latch 84 17 resetting the control circuitry and turning the aspirator jet 18 off and the film jets on. Thus the wafer is expelléd from 19 the intersection and the equipment is ready to orient the next wafer to enter the intersection.
21 While the intersection of Fig. 13 operates to orient, it 22 has been found that it is much more sophisticated than needed 23 for the orienting purpose and the form of the intersection 24 shown in Fig. 14 is less expensive and simpler. Here the number of channels and jets are reduced and the diodes are 26 placed in the track instead of in the arm. The arm then ~7 contains the light sources to activate the diodes. All the 28 jets described herein are axi-radial which are of the type 1~7~70 described in U.S. Patent 4,081,201.
A number of changes can be made in the described structure. For instance, a vacuum may be substituted for the aspirating jet 32 or the film jets 20 may be left on when the aspirating jet is on. Therefore it should be obvious to those skilled in the art that many changes can be made in the above embodiment of the invention without departing from the spirit of the invention and the scope of the claims.
Claims (7)
1. In an orientor with an object supporting fluid film that imparts rotational motion to the object around some point in the orientor, object sense means for sensing the presence of the object in the proximity of the point and a pneumatic stop means which when it is on stops motion of the object relative to that point, and when it is off allows the object to rotate on the object supporting fluid film, a new control mechanism comprising:
control means coupled to the pneumatic stop means for turning on the pneumatic stop means on to stop the object when said object sense means first senses the object in the proximity of the point and then when the object is so stopped for turning off said pneumatic stop means to re-lease the object and allow it to freely rotate with unhin-dered motion around the point under the influence of the supporting air film;
first electro-optical sense means at a first location of the orientor for producing an output when an indicia on the object is sensed by the first electro-optical sense means as passing over the first location while it rotates with said unhindered motion around the point;
electronic oscillating means coupled to said control means and responsive to said output of the first optical sense means for ending said unhindered motion by operating said pneumatic stop means on for a period and off for a period so that the wafer rotates with a jogging motion from said first location to a second location; and second electro-optical sense means not including the first electro-optical sense means for generating a second output signal when the indicia is at the second location;
means coupling said control means to the second electro-optical sense means for ending the jogging motion and all other motion of the object with the pneumatic stop means in response to second output signal whereby very rapid posi-tioning is obtained without the use of solid guides.
control means coupled to the pneumatic stop means for turning on the pneumatic stop means on to stop the object when said object sense means first senses the object in the proximity of the point and then when the object is so stopped for turning off said pneumatic stop means to re-lease the object and allow it to freely rotate with unhin-dered motion around the point under the influence of the supporting air film;
first electro-optical sense means at a first location of the orientor for producing an output when an indicia on the object is sensed by the first electro-optical sense means as passing over the first location while it rotates with said unhindered motion around the point;
electronic oscillating means coupled to said control means and responsive to said output of the first optical sense means for ending said unhindered motion by operating said pneumatic stop means on for a period and off for a period so that the wafer rotates with a jogging motion from said first location to a second location; and second electro-optical sense means not including the first electro-optical sense means for generating a second output signal when the indicia is at the second location;
means coupling said control means to the second electro-optical sense means for ending the jogging motion and all other motion of the object with the pneumatic stop means in response to second output signal whereby very rapid posi-tioning is obtained without the use of solid guides.
2. The control mechanism of Claim 1 wherein said object is a wafer and the indicia is a notch in the edge of the wafer.
3. The control mechanism of Claim 2 wherein said first optic means includes spaced electro-optic sensing means sensing at different distances from the point along dif-ferent radii and AND function means for producing said output when the optic sensing means closer to the point indicates nothing is at its sensing distance and the optic sensing means further from the point indicates the body of the wafer is at its sensing distance.
4. The control mechanism of Claim 3 wherein said object sense means includes one of said spaced electro-optic sense means.
5. The control mechanism of Claim 3 wherein there are at least three spaced electro-optic sense means in a line.
6. The control mechanism of Claim 1 wherein said oscillating means is responsive to said object sense means to oscillate a set number of on/off periods and said control means is responsive to said oscillations to turn on said pneumatic stop means with increasingly shorter periods of off time as the set number of oscillations proceeds whereby a damped motion is provided to the wafer prior to its release to rotate on the supporting air film.
7. The control mechanism of Claim 2 wherein said flat edge of the wafer is a side of a notch in the wafer.
FI9-76-061 CLAIMS 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7
FI9-76-061 CLAIMS 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| US77239377A | 1977-02-28 | 1977-02-28 | |
| US772,393 | 1977-02-28 |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1097770A true CA1097770A (en) | 1981-03-17 |
Family
ID=25094910
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA291,007A Expired CA1097770A (en) | 1977-02-28 | 1977-11-16 | Controls for semiconductor wafer orientor |
Country Status (6)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| JP (1) | JPS53106580A (en) |
| BR (1) | BR7801097A (en) |
| CA (1) | CA1097770A (en) |
| DE (1) | DE2801609A1 (en) |
| FR (1) | FR2381697A1 (en) |
| GB (1) | GB1594792A (en) |
Cited By (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EP3514825A1 (en) * | 2018-01-22 | 2019-07-24 | Hennecke Systems GmbH | Wafer sorting apparatus |
Families Citing this family (3)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NL8300648A (en) * | 1983-02-21 | 1984-09-17 | Integrated Automation | FLOATING CARRIAGE FOR SUBSTRATES. |
| JP4275769B2 (en) | 1998-06-19 | 2009-06-10 | 株式会社渡辺商行 | Substrate transfer device |
| JP4274601B2 (en) * | 1998-07-08 | 2009-06-10 | 昌之 都田 | Substrate transfer device and operation method thereof |
Family Cites Families (3)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US3865254A (en) * | 1973-05-21 | 1975-02-11 | Kasker Instr Inc | Prealignment system for an optical alignment and exposure instrument |
| US3890508A (en) * | 1973-12-28 | 1975-06-17 | Texas Instruments Inc | Workpiece alignment system |
| US4081201A (en) * | 1976-12-27 | 1978-03-28 | International Business Machines Corporation | Wafer air film transportation system |
-
1977
- 1977-11-16 CA CA291,007A patent/CA1097770A/en not_active Expired
-
1978
- 1978-01-12 JP JP159578A patent/JPS53106580A/en active Granted
- 1978-01-14 DE DE19782801609 patent/DE2801609A1/en not_active Withdrawn
- 1978-01-20 FR FR7802110A patent/FR2381697A1/en active Granted
- 1978-02-01 GB GB407278A patent/GB1594792A/en not_active Expired
- 1978-02-23 BR BR7801097A patent/BR7801097A/en unknown
Cited By (2)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EP3514825A1 (en) * | 2018-01-22 | 2019-07-24 | Hennecke Systems GmbH | Wafer sorting apparatus |
| WO2019142032A1 (en) * | 2018-01-22 | 2019-07-25 | Hennecke Systems Gmbh | Wafer sorting apparatus |
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| JPS53106580A (en) | 1978-09-16 |
| BR7801097A (en) | 1978-09-26 |
| GB1594792A (en) | 1981-08-05 |
| FR2381697B1 (en) | 1982-05-14 |
| JPS5538056B2 (en) | 1980-10-02 |
| FR2381697A1 (en) | 1978-09-22 |
| DE2801609A1 (en) | 1978-08-31 |
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