Patent ID: 7898204

Claim:
A substrate positioning apparatus, comprising: a base; a movable stage disposed over a substantially planar surface of the base and that moves within a moveable stage plane over the surface within a work envelope; at least three actuators disposed on the base about the work envelope; and a plurality of drive links, each drive link being coupled to one of the actuators by a first rotary joint at a first fixed location of the drive link and coupled to the moveable stage by a second rotary joint at a second fixed location of the drive link, wherein motion of the actuators drive the plurality of drive links to move the moveable stage within the work envelope, wherein the at least three actuators drive the plurality of drive links in a motion within the work envelope, and wherein the at least three actuators constrain the motion of the plurality of drive links within the work envelope to the moveable stage plane that is substantially parallel to the substantially planar surface of the base.