Patent ID: 6126381
Filing Date: 2000-10-03
Classification: B25J,H01L,Y10S

Abstract:
A specimen manipulating apparatus, comprising:a robot arm including an upper arm supporting a middle arm, a forearm, and a hand and operable for rotation about a shoulder axis, the middle arm having a first end that is supported by the upper arm for rotation about a proximal elbow axis and having a second end that supports the forearm for rotation about a distal elbow axis, the forearm having a first end that is supported by the middle arm for rotation about the distal elbow axis and having a second end that supports the hand for rotation about a wrist axis, the hand releasably grasping the specimen;a first motor for rotatably positioning the middle arm about the proximal elbow axis;a second motor for rotatably positioning the upper arm about the shoulder axis;a controller coordinating the operation of the first and second motors in first and second states, the first state characterized by operating the second motor and holding stationary the first motor so that the mechanical linkage causes linear displacement of the hand and the second state characterized by operating the first and second motors so that the mechanical linkage causes angular displacement of the hand about the shoulder axis;a Z-axis mechanism for moving the robot arm in a Z-axis direction parallel to the shoulder axis and in which the robot arm manipulates the hand for grasping and moving a specimen in an arcuate direction around the shoulder axis, in a radial direction relative to the shoulder axis, and in the Z-axis direction; anda unitary prealigner mechanism for aligning the specimen, the unitary prealigner mechanism arranged to move relative to the robot arm in the Z-axis direction.