Source: http://www.google.es/patents/US8651823
Timestamp: 2017-11-24 15:27:24
Document Index: 568513540

Matched Legal Cases: ['Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'Application No. 200680045074', 'Application No. 200410079193', 'Application No. 200410079193', 'Application No. 2008', 'Application No. 2008', 'Application No. 2008', 'Application No. 095142923', 'Application No. 095142926', 'Application No. 2008', 'Application No. 2008', 'Application No. 2008', 'Application No. 2009', 'Application No. 2011', 'Application No. 10', 'Application No. 10', 'Application No. 095142923', 'Application No. 095143263', 'Application No. 096106723', 'Application No. 094140888', 'Application No. 095142929', 'Application No. 200580039961', 'Application No. 200580039961', 'Application No. 200680043297', 'Application No. 200680050665', 'Application No. 200680050665', 'Application No. 200680050801', 'Application No. 200680050801', 'Application No. 200680050814', 'Application No. 200680051205', 'Application No. 200680051205', 'Application No. 200680051448', 'Application No. 07836336', 'Application No. 2007', 'Application No. 2008', 'Application No. 2008', 'Application No. 2008', 'Application No. 2008', 'Application No. 2008', 'Application No. 2008', 'Application No. 2008', 'Application No. 2008', 'Application No. 2008', 'Application No. 2009', 'Application No. 10', 'Application No. 10', 'Application No. 094140888', 'Application No. 095142926', 'Application No. 095142928', 'Application No. 095142932', 'Application No. 200680051448']

Patente US8651823 - System and method for a pump with reduced form factor - Google Patentes
Embodiments of the present invention provide pumps with features to reduce form factor and increase reliability and serviceability. Additionally, embodiments of the present invention provide features for gentle fluid handling characteristics. Embodiments of the present invention can include a pump having...http://www.google.es/patents/US8651823?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatente US8651823 - System and method for a pump with reduced form factor
Número de publicación US8651823 B2
Número de solicitud US 13/216,944
También publicado como CN101583796A, CN101583796B, EP1952022A2, EP1952022A4, EP1952022B1, EP2894332A1, EP2894332B1, US8087429, US9399989, US20070128050, US20120057990, US20140044570, WO2007061956A2, WO2007061956A3, WO2007061956B1
Número de publicación 13216944, 216944, US 8651823 B2, US 8651823B2, US-B2-8651823, US8651823 B2, US8651823B2
Inventores James Cedrone, George Gonnella, Iraj Gashgaee
Citas de patentes (242), Otras citas (165), Citada por (11), Clasificaciones (18), Eventos legales (4)
US 8651823 B2
a feed pump having a feed chamber in fluid communication with the pump inlet flow path:
a dispense pump having a dispense chamber in fluid communication with the pump outlet flow path;
2. The multi-stage pump of claim 1, wherein the dispense block fully defines a first and second portion of the pump inlet flow path, a first and second portion of a feed stage outlet flow path, a first and second portion of a dispense stage inlet flow path, a first and second portion of a vent flow path, a first and second portion of a purge flow path and at least a portion of the pump outlet flow path.
3. The multi-stage pump of claim 2, wherein:
4. The multi-stage pump of claim 3, wherein the feed pump comprises a stepper motor and the dispense pump comprises a brushless DC motor.
5. The multi-stage pump of claim 3, further comprising a valve plate coupled to a single face of the dispense block, the valve plate and the dispense block defining to define valve chambers for the inlet valve, the isolation valve, the barrier valve and the purge valve, wherein the valve chambers are disposed on a single side of the valve plate facing the dispense block.
6. The multi-stage pump of claim 5, further comprising a sheet of elastomeric material coupled between the valve plate and the dispense block.
7. The multi-stage pump of claim 1, wherein the dispense block comprises one or more features to lead drips away from on-board electronics.
8. A multi-stage pump configured to dispense photoresist chemicals comprising:
a dispense block formed of a single piece of material defining at least a portion of a dispense chamber in fluid communication with the pump outlet flow path and at least a portion of a feed chamber in fluid communication with the pump inlet flow path;
a feed stage diaphragm movable in the feed chamber;
a feed piston to move the feed stage diaphragm;
a dispense diaphragm movable in the dispense chamber;
a dispense piston to move the dispense diaphragm;
a valve plate coupled to the dispense block, the valve plate and dispense block defining valve chambers for an inlet valve, an isolation valve, a barrier valve and a purge valve, wherein the valve plate defines the valve chambers on a single side of the valve plate and wherein the valve plate is coupled to an end face of the dispense block.
9. The multi-stage pump of claim 8, wherein the dispense block further defines a first and second portion of the pump inlet flow path, a first and second portion of a feed stage outlet flow path, a first and second portion of a dispense stage inlet flow path, a first and second portion of a vent flow path, a first and second portion of a purge flow path and at least a portion of the pump outlet flow path.
10. The multi-stage pump of claim 9, wherein:
11. The multi-stage pump of claim 8, further comprising a sheet of elastomeric material coupled between the valve plate and the dispense block.
12. The multi-stage pump of claim 8, further comprising a pressure sensor positioned to read pressure in the dispense chamber.
13. A method for a multi stage pump configured to dispense photo resist chemicals, the method comprising:
mounting a dispense diaphragm between the dispense block and a dispense pump piston housing;
mounting a feed stage diaphragm between the dispense block and a feed pump piston housing;
coupling a feed pump piston to a feed pump motor via a feed pump lead screw;
positioning the feed pump piston so that the feed pump piston contacts the feed stage diaphragm;
positioning a dispense pump piston so that the dispense pump piston contacts the dispense diaphragm; and
14. The method of claim 13, wherein the dispense block further defines a first and second portion of the pump inlet flow path, a first and second portion of a feed stage outlet flow path, a first and second portion of a dispense stage inlet flow path, a first and second portion of a vent flow path, a first and second portion of a purge flow path and at least a portion of the pump outlet flow path.
16. The method of claim 15, further comprising coupling a valve plate to the dispense block, wherein the valve plate at least partially defines one or more valves.
17. The method of claim 16, wherein the valve plate partially defines the inlet valve, the vent valve, the isolation valve, the barrier valve, and the purge valve all on one side of the valve plate.
18. The method of claim 17, further comprising selectively directing vacuum pressure to the inlet valve, the vent valve, the isolation valve, the barrier valve, and the purge valve.
This application is a continuation of, and claims a benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. 120 of the filing date of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/602,464, entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR A PUMP WITH REDUCED FORM FACTOR,” by inventors Cedrone et al., filed Nov. 20, 2006, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,087,429, which in turn is a Continuation-in-Part and claims under 35 U.S.C. 120 benefit of and priority to PCT Patent Application No. PCT/US2005/042127, entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR A VARIABLE HOME POSITION DISPENSE SYSTEM,” by Applicant Entegris, Inc. and inventors Laverdiere et al., filed Nov. 21, 2005, in the United States Receiving Office, and under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/742,435, entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MULTI-STAGE PUMP WITH REDUCED FORM FACTOR,” by Cedrone et al., filed Dec. 5, 2005, each of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
FIG. 22 provides dimensions for an example embodiment of a multi-stage pump; and
FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic representation of a pumping system 10. The pumping system 10 can include a fluid source 15, a pump controller 20 and a multi-stage pump 100, which work together to dispense fluid onto a wafer 25. The operation of multi-stage pump 100 can be controlled by pump controller 20, which can be onboard multi-stage pump 100 or connected to multi-stage pump 100 via a one or more communications links for communicating control signals, data or other information. Additionally, the functionality of pump controller 20 can be distributed between an onboard controller and another controller. Pump controller 20 can include a computer readable medium 27 (e.g., RAM, ROM, Flash memory, optical disk, magnetic drive or other computer readable medium) containing a set of control instructions 30 for controlling the operation of multi-stage pump 100. A processor 35 (e.g., CPU, ASIC, RISC, DSP or other processor) can execute the instructions. One example of a processor is the Texas Instruments TMS320F2812PGFA 16-bit DSP (Texas Instruments is Dallas, Tex. based company). In the embodiment of FIG. 1, controller 20 communicates with multi-stage pump 100 via communications links 40 and 45. Communications links 40 and 45 can be networks (e.g., Ethernet, wireless network, global area network, DeviceNet network or other network known or developed in the art), a bus (e.g., SCSI bus) or other communications link. Controller 20 can be implemented as an onboard PCB board, remote controller or in other suitable manner. Pump controller 20 can include appropriate interfaces (e.g., network interfaces, I/O interfaces, analog to digital converters and other components) to controller to communicate with multi-stage pump 100. Additionally, pump controller 20 can include a variety of computer components known in the art including processors, memories, interfaces, display devices, peripherals or other computer components not shown for the sake of simplicity. Pump controller 20 can control various valves and motors in multi-stage pump to cause multi-stage pump to accurately dispense fluids, including low viscosity fluids (i.e., less than 100 centipoise) or other fluids. An I/O interface connector as described in U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/741,657, entitled “I/O INTERFACE SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR A PUMP,” by Cedrone et al., filed Dec. 2, 2005, which is hereby fully incorporated by reference herein, can be used to connected pump controller 20 to a variety of interfaces and manufacturing tools.
FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic representation of a multi-stage pump 100. Multi-stage pump 100 includes a feed stage portion 105 and a separate dispense stage portion 110. Located between feed stage portion 105 and dispense stage portion 110, from a fluid flow perspective, is filter 120 to filter impurities from the process fluid. A number of valves can control fluid flow through multi-stage pump 100 including, for example, inlet valve 125, isolation valve 130, barrier valve 135, purge valve 140, vent valve 145 and outlet valve 147. Dispense stage portion 110 can further include a pressure sensor 112 that determines the pressure of fluid at dispense stage 110. The pressure determined by pressure sensor 112 can be used to control the speed of the various pumps as described below. Example pressure sensors include ceramic and polymer pesioresistive and capacitive pressure sensors, including those manufactured by Metallux AG, of Korb, Germany. According to one embodiment, the face of pressure sensor 112 that contacts the process fluid is a periluoropolymer. Pump 100 can include additional pressure sensors, such as a pressure sensor to read pressure in feed chamber 155.
The following provides a summary of various stages of operation of multi-stage pump 100. However, multi-stage pump 100 can be controlled according to a variety of control schemes including, but not limited to those described in U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/741,682 entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PRESSURE COMPENSATION IN A PUMP” by Inventors Cedrone et al., filed Dec. 2, 2005; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/502,729 entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR FLUID FLOW CONTROL IN AN IMMERSION LITHOGRAPHY SYSTEM” by Inventors Clarke et al., filed Aug. 11, 2006; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/602,472, entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CORRECTING FOR PRESSURE VARIATIONS USING A MOTOR” by Inventors Gonnella et al., filed Nov. 20, 2006, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/292,559 entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTROL OF FLUID PRESSURE” by Inventors Gonnella et al., filed Dec. 2, 2005; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/364,286 entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MONITORING OPERATION OF A PUMP” by Inventors Gonnella et al., filed Feb. 28, 2006, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/602,508, entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PRESSURE COMPENSATION IN A PUMP” by Inventors Cedrone et al., filed Nov. 20, 2006; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/602,449, entitled “I/O SYSTEMS, METHODS AND DEVICES FOR INTERFACING A PUMP CONTROLLER” by Inventors Cedrone et al., filed Nov. 20, 2006, each of which is fully incorporated by reference herein, to sequence valves and control pressure. According to one embodiment, multi-stage pump 100 can include a ready segment, dispense segment, fill segment, pre-filtration segment, filtration segment, vent segment, purge segment and static purge segment. During the feed segment, inlet valve 125 is opened and feed stage pump 150 moves (e.g., pulls) feed stage diaphragm 160 to draw fluid into feed chamber 155. Once a sufficient amount of fluid has filled feed chamber 155, inlet valve 125 is closed. During the filtration segment, feed-stage pump 150 moves feed stage diaphragm 160 to displace fluid from feed chamber 155. Isolation valve 130 and barrier valve 135 are opened to allow fluid to flow through filter 120 to dispense chamber 185. Isolation valve 130, according to one embodiment, can be opened first (e.g., in the “pre-filtration segment”) to allow pressure to build in filter 120 and then barrier valve 135 opened to allow fluid flow into dispense chamber 185. According to other embodiments, both isolation valve 130 and barrier valve 135 can be opened and the feed pump moved to build pressure on the dispense side of the filter. During the filtration segment, dispense pump 180 can be brought to its home position. As described in U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/630,384, entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR A VARIABLE HOME POSITION DISPENSE SYSTEM” by Laverdiere, et al. filed Nov. 23, 2004 and PCT Application No. PCT/US2005/042127, entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR VARIABLE HOME POSITION DISPENSE SYSTEM”, by Applicant Entegris, Inc. and Inventors Laverdiere et al., filed Nov. 21, 2005, both of which are hereby incorporated by reference, the home position of the dispense pump can be a position that gives the greatest available volume at the dispense pump for the dispense cycle, but is less than the maximum available volume that the dispense pump could provide. The home position is selected based on various parameters for the dispense cycle to reduce unused hold up volume of multi-stage pump 100. Feed pump 150 can similarly be brought to a home position that provides a volume that is less than its maximum available volume.
The size of each valve can be selected to balance the desire to minimize the pressure drop across the valve (i.e., the desire to minimize the restriction caused by the valve in the open position) and the desire to minimize the amount of hold up volume of the valve. That is, the valves can be dimensioned to balance the desire for minimally restricted flow and to minimize pressure spikes when the valve opens/closes. In the examples of FIG. 16A and 16B, purge valve 140 is the smallest valve to minimize the amount of holdup volume that returns to the dispense chamber when purge valve 140 closes. Additionally, the valves can be dimensioned to be fully opened when a threshold vacuum is applied. For example, purge valve 140 of FIG. 16A is dimensioned to be fully opened when 10 Hg of vacuum is applied. As the vacuum increases, purge valve 140 will not open any further. The dimensions provided in FIGS. 16A and 16B are provided by way of example only for a specific implementation and are not provided for limitation. Valves according embodiments of the present invention can have a wide variety of dimensions. Embodiments of valve plates are also described in U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/742,147, entitled “VALVE PLATE SYSTEM AND METHOD”, by Inventors Gashgaee et al., filed Dec. 2, 2005, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/602.457, entitled “FIXED VOLUME VALVE SYSTEM”, by Inventors Gashgaee et al., filed Nov. 20, 2006, which are hereby fully incorporated by reference herein.
As discussed above, feed pump 150 according to one embodiment of the present invention can be driven by a stepper motor while dispense pump 180 can be driven by a brushless DC motor or PSMS motor. FIGS. 17-19 below describe embodiments of motors usable according to various embodiments of the present invention. Examples of control schemes for motors are described in U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/741,660, entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR POSITION CONTROL OF A MECHANICAL PISTON IN A PUMP”, by Inventors Gonnella et al., filed Dec. 2, 2005, and U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/841,725, entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR POSITION CONTROL OF A MECHANICAL PISTON IN A PUMP”, by Inventors Gonnella et al., filed Sep. 1, 2006, which are hereby fully incorporated by reference herein.
FIG. 18 is a plot diagram comparing average torque output and speed range of a stepper motor and a BLDCM, according to one embodiment of the invention, As illustrated in FIG. 18, the BLDCM can maintain a nearly constant high torque output at any speed. In addition, the usable speed range of the BLDCM is wider (e.g., about 1000 times or more) than that of the stepper motor. In contrast, the stepper motor tends to have lower torque output which tends to undesirably fall off with increased speed (i.e., torque output is reduced at higher speed).
FIGS. 20C-20F provide other example valve and motor timing diagrams. For the valves, the black sections indicate that the valve is open in various segments of the dispense cycle. For the dispense and feed motors, the black sections indicate when the motor is a forward or reverse state. Using the example of 30 segment dispense cycle, FIGS. 20C and 20E indicate example motor and valve timings during segments 1-16 and FIGS. 20C and 20F indicate example motor and valve timings during segments 1-17 of the dispense cycle. It should be noted that the multi-stage pump can utilize other valve and motor timings, more or less segments and other control schemes. It should also be noted that the segments can have varying amounts of time. U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/742,168 entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR VALVE SEQUENCING IN A PUMP,” by Inventors Gonnella et al., filed Dec. 2, 2005 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/602,465, entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR VALVE SEQUENCING IN A PUMP,” by Inventors Gonnella et al., filed Nov. 20, 2006, which are hereby fully incorporated by reference herein, describe various embodiments of valve and motor timings.
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Clasificación de EE.UU. 417/18, 417/1, 417/44.11
Clasificación cooperativa Y10T137/87885, Y10T29/49236, F04B2205/03, F04B2201/0601, F04B2201/0201, F04B53/22, F04B53/16, F04B53/06, F04B49/065, F04B23/06, F04B13/00, F04B9/02, F04B7/0076, F04B43/04
Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:CEDRONE, JAMES;GONNELLA, GEORGE;GASHGAEE, IRAJ;SIGNING DATES FROM 20061117 TO 20061121;REEL/FRAME:027085/0866