Adjustable wafer cassette stand
OwnerErich Edlingerinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention relates, generally to a wafer cassette holding mechanism for use in processing wafers. The cassette holding mechanism has adjustable alignment posts to facilitate the cassette placement, and an adjustment guide for guiding the placement of the cassette on the holding mechanism so that the holding mechanism may be configured to receive and securely hold a variety of different sizes and brands of wafer cassettes. In addition, the cassette holding mechanism further includes a plurality of adjustment screws for fine tuning the level position of the support platform.
Claims29
A cassette stand for holding a cassette of the type configured to hold a plurality of wafers, said cassette being of the type including a bottom flange having a leading edge and respective first and second rearwardly projecting vertically extending wings, said cassette stand comprising:
- a platform upon which said cassette may be placed;
- an adjustment guide on said platform positioned to abut said leading edge of said flange of said cassette;
- respective first and second alignment posts extending upwardly from said platform and configured to receive said first and said second wings of said cassette, respectively;
- and
- wherein said adjustment guide is movable about said platform and securable at a desired position on said platform, and further wherein said first and said second alignment posts are moveable about said platform and fixable at desired positions on said platform.
A cassette stand for supporting a cassette of the type configured to hold a plurality of semiconductors wafers, said cassette stand comprising:
- a support platform upon which said cassette is supportable;
- a leveling plate rigidly securable to a machine which is configured to process said wafers;
- a plurality of leveling screws interconnecting said support platform and said leveling plate and maintaining said support platform substantially parallel to said leveling plate, wherein each one of said plurality of leveling screws are independently adjustable to fix the planar orientation of said support platform with respect to said leveling plate;
- and
- a single set screw configured to threadedly engage said leveling plate and bottom out on an underside of said support platform such that, when said set screw is tightened, said leveling plate and said support platform are urged away from each other, fixing the position of each of said leveling screws.
A method for establishing a substantially level wafer cassette platform, comprising the steps of:
- providing a wafer cassette stand comprising a support platform, a leveling plate, and a plurality of leveling screws interconnecting said support platform and said leveling plate;
- securing said leveling plate to a machine configured to process wafers;
- and
- adjusting at least one of said leveling screws so that at least a portion of said support platform is moved with respect to said leveling plate, causing said support platform to be substantially parallel to said leveling plate.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.