Apparatus for retaining wafers
US5040484A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 2, 1990 |
| Grant date | Aug 20, 1991 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 2, 2010 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10T279/31
- WIPO fieldSemiconductors
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A device for releaseably holding a workpiece includes a resilient collet which is attached to a base by an elastomeric member. Typically, the collet is an annular ring. Several fingers for holding the workpiece extend from the collet. The fingers are pivoted by actuating a member which elastically deforms the collet and causes the fingers to pivot from a position for engaging the workpiece to a position for releasing the workpiece and vice-versa. In one application, the base is a platen for supporting a wafer in a semiconductor processing system, and a plurality of the holding devices are arranged around the periphery of a rotating disk. A counterweight ring is attached to the collet to counterbalance the moment generated by the centrifugal force of the wafer pressing against the fingers as the disk is rotated.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.