Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US4431361?dq=6,600,481
Timestamp: 2016-05-05 20:33:07
Document Index: 117369222

Matched Legal Cases: ['arts 4', 'art 4', 'art 4', 'art 4', 'art 4', 'art 3', 'art 4', 'art 48', 'art 48', 'arts 48']

Patent US4431361 - Methods of and apparatus for transferring articles between carrier members - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign inPatentsArticles, such as fragile, delicate semiconductor wafers, in a first carrier member are caused to pass nearly, but not quite wholly, into a second carrier member by being pushed--against gravity--thereinto. The carrier members are then subjected to a displacement, e.g. by inversion, and said articles...http://www.google.com/patents/US4431361?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US4431361 - Methods of and apparatus for transferring articles between carrier membersAdvanced Patent SearchPublication numberUS4431361 APublication typeGrantApplication numberUS 06/297,632Publication dateFeb 14, 1984Filing dateAug 31, 1981Priority dateSep 2, 1980Fee statusLapsedAlso published asDE47132T1, DE3171220D1, EP0047132A2, EP0047132A3, EP0047132B1Publication number06297632, 297632, US 4431361 A, US 4431361A, US-A-4431361, US4431361 A, US4431361AInventorsChristopher J. BayneOriginal AssigneeHeraeus Quarzschmelze GmbhExport CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManPatent Citations (9), Referenced by (103), Classifications (9), Legal Events (5) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetMethods of and apparatus for transferring articles between carrier members
US 4431361 AAbstract
Articles, such as fragile, delicate semiconductor wafers, in a first carrier member are caused to pass nearly, but not quite wholly, into a second carrier member by being pushed--against gravity--thereinto. The carrier members are then subjected to a displacement, e.g. by inversion, and said articles are allowed to drop wholly into said second carrier member. The further distance travelled by the articles after rotational displacement of a housing retaining the carrier members is very small, e.g. about 2 mm.
1. Method of gently transferring fragile disk-like semiconductor wafers or substrates between a wafer carrier and a magazine carrier, wherein said carriers have a bottom with an aperture formed therein, and side elements formed with slits to retain and receive said semiconductor wafers in stacked, spaced alignment, comprising the steps ofaligning the slits in one of the carriers to retain wafers with the slits in the other of the carriers to receive wafers; pushing the wafer in one carrier by engagement with a plunger element against the force of gravity into the other carrier to pass nearly, but not quite wholly, into the other carrier by introducing the plunger element through the apertured bottom of one carrier and pushing the wafers from the slits in the said one carrier into the slits of the other carrier; retaining said plunger element against the wafers to thereby essentially remove said wafers from said first carrier member; and inverting the second carrier together with the plunger element to permit the wafers to drop the final distance for complete reception in the other carrier. 2. Method according to claim 1, including the step of locating said carriers in a housing;and wherein the inverting step comprises inverting said housing. 3. Method according to claim 1, wherein the pushing step comprises pushing said plunger element upwardly, directly counter the force of gravity, to remove said wafers from the first carrier.
Apparatus for effecting such transfer operations is already known e.g. from U.S. Pat. No. 3,949,891 filed July 22nd 1974 and entitled "Semi Conductor Wafer Transfer Device" but, irrespective of whether they are manually or automatically operated, they suffer from the disadvantage that the transfer was affected by bringing the two carrier members into an inverted position in register and the two devices were turned over, together. Therefore the wafers fell a distance roughly equal to the added depths of both carrier members; this may lead to cracking or chipping of wafer edges and lead to frequent rejection of the wafers.
It is therefore an object to provide a method of and transfer apparatus for this purpose which will respectively employ and operate with only a very small dropping movement of the articles and to reduce the risks of contamination by handling, to a negligible degree.
For example, the housing may be mounted on a horizontal spindle for movement through 180� in either direction.
In order that the invention may be more clearly understood, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings which show one specific embodiment thereof by way of example only, and in which:
Referring to the drawings, in FIG. 1 there is shown a first embodiment of a transfer mechanism incorporating the basic features of the invention and comprising a housing 1 rotatable about a horizontal axis in relation to a stand 2. The housing has a spindle projecting axially from its rear end to engage in anti-friction bearings in an aperture in the vertical portion 3 of the stand 2 (the spindle and aperture are not shown). The front end of the upper part of the housing is open, to gain access to a shuttle baffle 4, constituting the baffle means hereinabove referred to, and being in two parts 4a and 4b, the upper part 4b being slidable relative to the lower part 4a. The whole shuttle baffle unit is carried by and longitudinally slidable on, a pair of rails 5 secured to the inside of housing 1, the sides of the shuttle baffle being grooved at 6 for this purpose.
An empty magazine 24 is placed upside down, as shown, on the upper face of baffle part 4b and is locked in position by locking arms 29 whilst the baffle 4 is outside the apparatus. The baffle is then slid into the upper part of housing 1 on slide rails 5. A carrier 23, loaded with articles 26 is inserted into housing 1 beneath the baffle 4. The operating head 22 is then pulled out under spring pressure, to release its plunger from the aperture in the wall of the lower part of housing 1. The handle 16 can then be operated to lift pillar 12 and support member 13 to cause the articles 26 to pass into the baffle 4 occupying alternate grooves in part 4b, until the plunger on head 22 again locks handle 16 at which time it is arranged that the articles 26 do not fully bottom in the grooves in longitudinal struts 32, 33 i.e. they are not fully "home" into the magazine 24, being short by, say, 2 mm. At this time the locking rod 19 will also be freed from part 3 of stand 2 whereupon the housing 1 is rotated clockwise through 180� until it reaches a stop (not shown), thus inverting the carrier members so that they exchange positions. The shuttle baffle 4 is then indexed by rotating hand wheel 9 until it meets and end stop thereby achieving the closure of grooves occupied by the first load of articles 26, and opening each unoccupied slot in magazine 24 and part 4b of baffle 4, ready to receive the second load of articles 26. The articles 26 thus enter the magazine 24 with minimum force by gravity but they will have suffered no damage due to the fact that the dropping distance is so small.
The housing 1 is then rotated anti-clockwise through 180� and returned to its initial position. The operating head 22 is then retracted and handle 16 is moved back to its start position, thereby returning support member 13. The empty carrier 23 is removed and replaced by a second loaded one and the operation is repeated, the articles from this second carrier being loaded into the grooves between those first loaded. Thus the magazine 24 contains the contents of both carriers 23, the second "load" also having been gently dropped into the "home" position on the next rotation of the housing 1.
In using the apparatus, a magazine 69 may be located on the top face of the shuttle 48 between opposed pairs of pegs 76 or 77 at each end of the baffle. These pegs are mounted on sliders 78, one at each corner of the upper face of the baffle. As will be apparent from the drawings, particularly FIG. 3, the respective pegs 76 and 77 are longitudinally staggered so that the width across the baffle top between each pair 76 and 77 is different. Thus magazines of two different widths can be located as desired by removing each slider 78, turning it through 180� and replacing it so as to use alternative pegs.
The upper part 48b of the baffle has a removable rectangular side portion 48d which is located on the main portion by pegs 79 projecting from the lateral inner faces of the other portion and into holes 80 as shown. Alternatively the pegs may be on one portion only and the apertures in the other if desired. The two portions are locked together under the control of a locking knob 81 mounted for example at the end of a spindle having a detent engaging in a cut-out or aperture in the under-part of the upper peg 79. Any desired locking arrangement may be used, and since it may take any of the forms well known by those experienced in mechanical techniques it need not be, and therefore has not been, further described or illustrated here. A handle member 82 is provided to enable the portion 48d to be easily manipulated. A support platform 83 is located above and spaced from the baffle 48 on posts 84 to prevent the magazine 69 from falling out by gravity when the housing is rotated through 180� with respect to the position shown in FIG. 2 for the purpose which will be referred to later.
To load a magazine 69 in two stages, from two loaded carriers 68, the locking knob 67 is pulled outwardly to enable the handle 60 to be rotated clockwise thus raising the lifting bars 57, until the handle 60 locks the shaft 59 against further rotation. The housing 40 is then rotated clockwise through 180� until it reaches its stop position. The machine is now in the mode opposite that shown in FIG. 2 with the support platform 83 lowermost.
To avoid touching the magazine by hand which would transfer undesired grease thereto, a magazine 69 is lifted by lifting fork 91 and placed on the platform 83, the pegs 76 and 77 on the baffle engaging in the notches 95 of the magazine. Then the locking knob 81 is pulled out and the removable portion 48c of the baffle is replaced, whereupon the housing 40 can be returned to its initial position by rotating it anti-clockwise through 180�.
The housing 40 is then rotated clockwise by 180� until it reaches the stop. The lever 53 is then moved from left to right to translate the upper portion 48b and 48d of the baffle towards the operator. The housing 40 is then rotated anti-clockwise by 180� until it reaches the stop when the locking knob 67 can again be released to lower the lifting bars 57 by operating handle 60 anti-clockwise until the bars 57 are at the start position again.
Now, with the fully loaded magazine in the upper part 48b and 48d of the baffle, the housing 40 can again be rotated clockwise through 180� away from its stop until it reaches again the position opposite that shown in FIG. 2 i.e. with the platform 83 of the shuttle baffle 48 lowermost. As the housing reaches this position, the articles will drop the last little distance completely "home" into the magazine but, due to the small travel of about 2 mm, they will not suffer any damage which is a fault experienced in transfer devices of the prior art even those employing an arrangement to perform a similar kind of indexing movement as described above to effect a transfer between two frame sections having single and double groove spacing and indexing movements between the sections analogous to that of the present invention.
The apparatus is, for this purpose of course in the reverse position to that shown in FIG. 2. The fully loaded magazine is placed on the platform 83, the locking knob 81 is pulled out and the removed block 48d is replaced and the housing 40 with the loaded magazine is rotated by 180� until it meets the stop. The locking knob 67 is then pulled out and the lifting bars 57 lowered by operating handle 60 so that the carrier 68, previously placed on base 96, and now filled with articles 71 can be removed by hand and replaced by an empty second carrier 68. Then locking knob 67 is pulled out, lifting bars 57 are raised by turning handle 60 and housing 40 is rotated clockwise by 180�. At this juncture the lever 53 is moved from left to right until the movement of the parts 48b and 48d of the baffle away from the operator ceases whereupon the housing 40 is again rotated anti-clockwise by 180� until it reaches the stop so that locking knob 67 can again be operated to lower bars 57 until handle 60 locks to allow the second loaded carrier 68 to be removed.
At this stage, the magazine 69 is still in the apparatus so the knob 67 must be operated to turn handle 60 to raise bars 57 until handle 60 locks. Then housing 40 is rotated clockwise by 180� until it stops, locking knob 80 is pulled out, block 48d is removed, together with the empty magazine and the latter is removed by lifting fork 91.
The magazine 69 may be made from low-mass silica which will withstand a furnace temperature of up to 1050� C. If it is desired to process wafers or other articles 71 in temperatures up to 1200� C. then a magazine such as shown at 87 in FIG. 7 made from silicon, or another such as 98 in FIG. 8 made from silica glass, may be used, both exhibiting the notches 95 to receive the baffle pegs 76 or 77.
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feesApr 21, 1992FPExpired due to failure to pay maintenance feeEffective date: 19920216RotateOriginal ImageGoogle Home - Sitemap - USPTO Bulk Downloads - Privacy Policy - Terms of Service - About Google Patents - Send FeedbackData provided by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services