Patent ID: 6926803

Claim:
A confinement ring support assembly for coupling together confinement rings in a plasma processing chamber, comprising: a post having a first end and a second end, said post having a plurality of supporting lips and a plurality of corresponding sliding surfaces, each of said plurality of supporting lips being offset from one another longitudinally and being disposed at a different arc relative to one another, each of said plurality of supporting lips being associated with a corresponding one of said plurality of sliding surfaces, said each of said plurality of sliding surfaces extending longitudinally from its corresponding lip toward said second end; and a plurality of washers, each of said plurality of washers having an interior opening to permit said each of said plurality of washers to slide longitudinally along said post, said interior opening having a cut that mates with one of said sliding surfaces to constrain a rotational movement of said each of said plurality of washers when said each of said plurality of washers slides along its corresponding sliding surface in a longitudinal direction relative to said post, said each of said plurality of washers being constrained in its longitudinal movement toward said first end by a supporting lip associated with a sliding surface that mates with its interior opening cut, at least one said plurality of washers being configured to slide freely past a supporting lip associated with another one of said plurality of washers in its longitudinal direction toward said second end.