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US 5,469,035 AGranted
Two-axis magnetically coupled robot
AssigneeApplied Materials, Inc.
InventorRobert B. Lowrance
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A robot having a pair of magnetic couplings that each couple a motor in a cylindrical first chamber to an associated cylindrical ring closely spaced from the cylindrical wall of said first chamber. The robot includes a mechanism to convert rotation of each of these rings into separate motions of the robot. In the preferred embodiment, these separate motions are radial and rotational.
Claims42
A robot comprising:
- a first arm assembly rotatable about a first axis of rotational symmetry;
- a second arm assembly rotatable about a second axis of rotational symmetry;
- and
- a drive mechanism coupled to the first arm assembly and the second arm assembly for rotating the first arm assembly and the second arm assembly, said drive mechanism comprising a first motor and a first magnetic coupler coupled to the first motor, wherein the first magnetic coupler rotates the first arm assembly in response to activation of the first motor and comprises
- a first set of magnets coupled to the first motor and retained in a first ring that maintains the first set of magnets in a plane during rotation of the first set of magnets, and
- a second set of magnets coupled to the first arm assembly and retained in a second ring that maintains the second set of magnets in the plane during rotation of the second set of magnets,
- wherein the first set of magnets rotates in response to rotation motion created by activation of the first motor, and further wherein the first set of magnets are magnetically coupled to the second set of magnets, such that rotations of the first set of magnets are imparted to the second set of magnets to cause rotation of the second set of magnets to rotate the first arm assembly.
4 more elements
A robot comprising:
- a first arm assembly and a second arm assembly coaxially rotatable about an axis of rotational symmetry;
- a drive mechanism coupled to the first arm assembly and the second arm assembly for rotating the first arm assembly and the second arm assembly, said drive mechanism comprising
- a first motor and a second motor,
- a first magnetic coupler coupled to the first motor for rotating the first arm assembly in response to activation of the first motor;
- and
- a second magnetic coupler coupled to the second motor for rotating the second arm assembly in response to activation of the second motor;
- wherein rotations of the first and second arm assemblies are converted into rotation of the robot about the axis of rotational symmetry and linear, radial extension of a robot arm from the axis of rotational symmetry.
4 more elements
A robot comprising:
- a first magnetic coupler for magnetically coupling rotational motion generated using a first motor across a first cylindrical section of a wall to a first member that is rotatable about an axis of rotational symmetry of said first cylindrical section of the wall;
- a second magnetic coupler for magnetically coupling rotational motion generated using a second motor across a second cylindrical section of the wall to a second member that is rotatable about an axis of rotational symmetry of said second cylindrical section of the wall;
- a first arm assembly located in a chamber and coupled to the first member, said first arm assembly moving in response to rotation of the first member by the first motor;
- and
- a second arm assembly located in the chamber and coupled to the second member, said second arm assembly moving in response to rotation of the second member by the second motor;
- wherein the first and second arm assemblies are coupled to the first and second members, respectively, such that rotations of the first and second members cause rotations of a portion of each of the first and second arm assemblies, respectively, that are converted into a pair of independent motions of said robot.
3 more elements
A magnetic coupling mechanism comprising:
- a first motor and a second motor;
- a first set of magnets and second set of magnets mounted for rotation by the first motor and the second motor respectively, wherein the first and second sets of magnets are located on one side of a wall;
- a first arm assembly coupled to a first coaxial rotatable member;
- a second arm assembly coupled to a second coaxial rotatable member;
- a third set of magnets and fourth set of magnets positioned on the other side of the wall, wherein the third and fourth sets of magnets are coupled to the first and second coaxial rotatable members respectively,
- wherein the first set of magnets are magnetically coupled to the third set of magnets and the second set of magnets are magnetically coupled to the fourth set of magnets, such that rotation created using the first and second motors on said one side of the wall causes corresponding rotation of the first and second rotatable members on the other side of the wall and, thus, movements of the first arm assembly and second arm assembly respectively.
3 more elements
A robot apparatus for moving a workpiece support comprising:
- a robot vacuum chamber;
- a robot arm assembly within said vacuum chamber having a workpiece support, wherein the robot arm assembly includes at least one rotatable member;
- a rotatable support shaft within the vacuum chamber extending between opposite sides of the robot vacuum chamber and coupled to said at least one rotatable member of said robot arm assembly to position and maintain the workpiece support at a desired angular location when a vacuum is created in the robot vacuum chamber;
- at least one motor assembly coupled to said robot arm assembly to cause said at least one rotatable member to rotate about an axis, wherein said at least one motor assembly includes a first portion coupled to the rotatable support shaft and a second portion outside the vacuum chamber, wherein the second portion transmits movements to the first portion through magnetic coupling to cause rotation of the rotatable support shaft to position the workpiece support.
1 more element
A robot comprising:
- a first magnetic coupler for magnetically coupling rotational motion generated using a first motor across a first cylindrical section of a wall to a first member that is rotatable about an axis of rotational symmetry of said first cylindrical section of the wall;
- a second magnetic coupler for magnetically coupling rotational motion generated using a second motor across a second cylindrical section of the wall to a second member that is rotatable about an axis of rotational symmetry of said second cylindrical section of the wall;
- a converter coupled to the first and second member to convert rotations of the first and second members into a pair of independent motions of said robot.
A robot comprising:
- a first magnetic drive for driving a first member disposed on a first side of a wall so as to be rotatable without contact to the wall, wherein the first magnetic drive comprises a first drive portion disposed on a second side of the wall to rotate the first member;
- a second magnetic drive for driving a second member disposed on the first side of a wall so as to be rotatable without contact to the wall, wherein the second magnetic drive comprises a second drive portion disposed on the second side of the wall to rotate the second member;
- a first arm assembly located in a chamber and coupled to the first member, said first arm assembly moving in response to rotation of the first member by the first drive portion;
- and
- a second arm assembly located in the chamber and coupled to the second member, said second arm assembly moving in response to rotation of the second member by the second drive portion;
- wherein the first and second arm assemblies are coupled to the first and second members, respectively, such that rotations of the first and second members cause rotations of a portion of each of the first and second arm assemblies, respectively, that are converted into a pair of independent motions of said robot.
3 more elements
A robot comprising:
- a first and second members coaxially rotatable about a first axis;
- a first magnetic drive for driving the first member disposed on a first side of a wall so as to be rotatable without contact to the wall, wherein the first magnetic drive comprises a first drive portion disposed on a second side of the wall to rotate the first member;
- a second magnetic drive for driving the second member disposed on the first side of a wall so as to be rotatable without contact to the wall, wherein the second magnetic drive comprises a second drive portion disposed on the second side of the wall to rotate the second member;
- and
- a first arm and a second arm coupled to the first and second members respectively so that rotations of the first and second members rotate the first and second arms respectively causing two independent motions of the robot that include rotation of the robot about the axis of rotational symmetry and linear, radial extension of a robot arm from the axis of rotational symmetry.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.