Solar Cell Transport
AssigneeKLA-Tencor Corporation
InventorCarolus Truyens
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A transport system for substrates, the transport system having at least one belt for receiving the substrates thereon, retainers disposed at spaced distances on the belt, the spaced distances being at least as wide as a width of the substrates, the retainers rising to an elevation above the belt that is sufficient to stop the substrates from sliding when the substrates bump against the retainers, a motor for moving the belt, and a motion controller for providing asymmetric acceleration and deceleration of the belt, such that the belt decelerates faster than the belt accelerates, thereby aligning the substrates against the retainers through successive acceleration and deceleration cycles.
Claims20
A transport system for substrates, the transport system comprising:
- at least one belt for receiving the substrates thereon,
- retainers disposed at spaced distances on the belt, the spaced distances being at least as wide as a width of the substrates, the retainers rising to an elevation above the belt that is sufficient to stop the substrates from sliding when the substrates bump against the retainers,
- a motor for moving the belt, and
- a motion controller for providing asymmetric acceleration and deceleration of the belt, such that the belt decelerates faster than the belt accelerates, thereby aligning the substrates against the retainers through successive acceleration and deceleration cycles.
A transport system for substrates, the transport system comprising:
- two belts for receiving the substrates thereon, where each of the two belts are narrower than half a width of the substrates,
- retainers disposed at spaced distances on the belts, the spaced distances being at least as wide as a width of the substrates, the retainers rising to an elevation above the belts that is sufficient to stop the substrates from sliding when the substrates bump against the retainers, wherein the retainers are slanted toward the top such that the substrates can be easily removed from the belts without the substrates binding against the retainers,
- a motor for moving the belts, and
- a motion controller for providing asymmetric acceleration and deceleration of the belts, such that the belts decelerate faster than the belts accelerate, thereby aligning the substrates against the retainers through successive acceleration and deceleration cycles.
A method for aligning substrates on a transport belt, the method comprising the steps of:
- accelerating the transport belt at a first rate that is insufficient to cause the substrates to slide backwards on the transport belt during acceleration, and
- decelerating the transport belt at a second rate that is faster than the first rate, where the second rate is sufficient to cause the substrates to slide forwards on the transport belt during deceleration, thereby aligning the substrates against retainers disposed at spaced intervals on the transport belt during successive acceleration and deceleration cycles.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.