Patent ID: 9536764
Date: 2017-01-03
CPC Classifications: B25J,H01L

Claim:
1. An end effector of a robot arm of a wafer transfer system operable to hold and release individual wafers such that the robot arm can transfer a held wafer during semiconductor wafer processing, the end effector comprising: an end effector housing, the end effector housing including a first blade mount coupled to a first blade, a second blade mount coupled to a second blade, a first pair of mount linear rails, a second pair of mount linear rails, a pair of linear guides on the first blade mount movable along the first pair of mount linear rails and a second pair of linear guides on the second blade mount movable along the second pair of mount linear rails and an actuator wherein the first blade mount is laterally movable on the first pair of mount linear rails and the second blade mount is laterally movable on the second pair of mount linear rails such that the actuator included in the housing can synchronously move the first and second blades laterally towards each other and laterally away from each other such that the first and second blades can hold and release an individual wafer; the actuator including a longitudinally movable piston which is coupled to the first blade mount by a first actuator link and to the second blade mount by a second actuator link wherein the longitudinally movable piston is operable to move between a protracted position and a retracted position; wherein the first actuator link is pivotally coupled to the longitudinally movable piston at a first end thereof by a first link pivot and the first actuator link is pivotally coupled to the first blade mount at a second end thereof by a first mount pivot, and the second actuator link is pivotally coupled to the longitudinally movable piston at a first end thereof by a second link pivot and the second actuator link is pivotally coupled to the second blade mount at a second end thereof by a second mount pivot; the first blade mount including a first actuator link recess such that the first actuator link is rotatable about one end therein between an upper surface of the first blade mount and a lower surface of a back end of the first blade when the longitudinally movable piston is longitudinally moved and the second blade mount including a second actuator link recess such that the second actuator link is rotatable about one end therein between an upper surface of the second blade mount and a lower surface of a back end of the second blade when the longitudinally movable piston is longitudinally moved; wherein moving the longitudinally movable piston towards the protracted position causes the first and second blades to synchronously move laterally towards each other and moving the longitudinally movable piston towards the retracted position causes the first and second blades to synchronously move laterally away from each other.