Patent ID: 6958005

Claim:
A pad conditioning system for conditioning a polishing pad in conjunction with a workpiece polishing operation, the pad conditioning system comprising: a pad conditioning head having a plurality of abrasive particles protruding from a surface of the pad conditioning head; a positioning unit coupled with the pad conditioning head, wherein the positioning unit is configured to move the surface into contact with a polishing pad; a liquid supply nozzle configured to selectively discharge liquid onto the abrasive particles that are in contact with the polishing pad to minimize frictional wear of the abrasive particles; and a liquid supply line that extends through the pad conditioning head and is configured to supply liquid to the liquid supply nozzle, wherein the surface is configured to gimbal with respect to the pad conditioning head and the liquid supply line includes a gimbal coupler that forms a portion of the liquid supply line, wherein the gimbal coupler is configured to flex to relieve stress on the liquid supply line as the surface gimbals.