US 6,186,569 B1Granted

Heater sling

AssigneeSEH America, Inc.

InventorGary R. Heid

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Abstract

The heater sling according to this invention is capable of lifting, moving and positioning a workpiece. In particular, it relates to a device and method for lifting a circumferential heater used in the manufacture of silicon ingots by the Czochralski method. The invention operates by mechanically extending a plurality of slings under a workpiece, lifting the workpiece, and placing it in a desired location.

Claims5

Dependent claims

A lifting apparatus comprising:

(a) a top support, said top support having a top surface and a bottom surface that lay in a substantially horizontal fashion and a diameter, said top support including a void running vertically through the center of said top support, said void having sufficient diameter to accommodate a support rod's shaft, a plurality of removable attached pivot shafts spaced along the outside circumferential edge of said top support, and a hoist mechanism attached to said the top surface of said top support;
(b) a bottom support, said bottom support having a top surface and a bottom surface that lay in a substantially horizontal fashion and a diameter greater than said diameter of the top support, said bottom support including a void having sufficient diameter to accommodate a support rod's shaft running vertically through the center of said bottom support, and a plurality of slots, said slots located a distance from the center of the support that is greater than the distance from the center of said top support to said pivot shafts of said top support;
(c) a support rod, said rod having a shaft running through the voids of said top support and said bottom support, a bottom pad removably attached perpendicularly to one end of said shaft and located below the bottom surface of said bottom support, and a top pad removably attached perpendicularly to the other end of said shaft wherein said top pad has a hoist mechanism attached to the surface opposite where said shaft is attached and where said top pad is located above the top surface of said top support, wherein each pad constrains said top and bottom supports to slide along said support rod;
and
(d) a plurality of slings, each of said slings having a rigid body running through the slots of said bottom support, a cylindrical void at one end of said rigid body that attaches to the pivot shafts of said top support, a foot plate removably attached on the opposite end of said rigid body and at an oblique angle to said rigid body such that the foot plate is substantially horizontal, and a stopper removably attached to said rigid body between the foot plate and the cylindrical void and assembled between the bottom surface of said top support and the top surface of said bottom support such that the sling can slide through the slots on said bottom support from the foot plate of said sling to the stopper on the rigid body of said sling.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

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Abstract

A lifting apparatus comprising:

(a) a top support, said top support having a top surface and a bottom surface that lay in a substantially horizontal fashion and a diameter, said top support including a void running vertically through the center of said top support, said void having sufficient diameter to accommodate a support rod's shaft, a plurality of removable attached pivot shafts spaced along the outside circumferential edge of said top support, and a hoist mechanism attached to said the top surface of said top support;
(b) a bottom support, said bottom support having a top surface and a bottom surface that lay in a substantially horizontal fashion and a diameter greater than said diameter of the top support, said bottom support including a void having sufficient diameter to accommodate a support rod's shaft running vertically through the center of said bottom support, and a plurality of slots, said slots located a distance from the center of the support that is greater than the distance from the center of said top support to said pivot shafts of said top support;
(c) a support rod, said rod having a shaft running through the voids of said top support and said bottom support, a bottom pad removably attached perpendicularly to one end of said shaft and located below the bottom surface of said bottom support, and a top pad removably attached perpendicularly to the other end of said shaft wherein said top pad has a hoist mechanism attached to the surface opposite where said shaft is attached and where said top pad is located above the top surface of said top support, wherein each pad constrains said top and bottom supports to slide along said support rod;
and
(d) a plurality of slings, each of said slings having a rigid body running through the slots of said bottom support, a cylindrical void at one end of said rigid body that attaches to the pivot shafts of said top support, a foot plate removably attached on the opposite end of said rigid body and at an oblique angle to said rigid body such that the foot plate is substantially horizontal, and a stopper removably attached to said rigid body between the foot plate and the cylindrical void and assembled between the bottom surface of said top support and the top surface of said bottom support such that the sling can slide through the slots on said bottom support from the foot plate of said sling to the stopper on the rigid body of said sling.

2 more elements