Vacuum handling apparatus
US4496180A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 20, 1983 |
| Grant date | Jan 29, 1985 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jul 20, 2003 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH01L21/6838
- WIPO fieldHandling
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
A vacuum operated apparatus is provided for releasably grasping and transporting a thin solid object or article (e.g. silicon semiconductor wafer). The apparatus has two fixed rigid arms joined together at their rear end to define a gap therebetween having an open end and closed end wherein the upper arm directs the thin solid object into the gap and toward the lower arm having a port communicating with the gap and an enclosed passage way connected to a vacuum source. A vacuum applied to the lower arm holds the object against the grasping surface of the lower arm. Silicon semiconductor wafers may be grasped and transported with the apparatus and more especially silicon semiconductor wafers can be deposited onto and removed from the surface of a barrel type susceptor of an epitaxial reactor with enhanced ease and reduced danger of scratching and breaking the wafer.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.