Wafer carrier wear indicator
AssigneeEntegris, Inc.
InventorTodd E. Andres
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A wafer carrier for use in polishing disks. The wafer carrier includes a main body and an integral visual inspection wear indicator. The main body has at least one opening formed therein adapted to receive a disk. The visual inspection wear indicator provides a visual indication of when the main body has reached the end of its useful life. The inspection wear indicator may have several portions to incrementally identify the approximate wear stage, that is, the approximate remaining useful life.
Claims25
A wafer carrier for use in polishing disks, the wafer carrier comprising:
- a main body having at least one opening formed therein, wherein each of the at least one opening is adapted to receive a disk;
- and
- a visual inspection wear indicator operably integrally molded into the main body to provide a visual indication of when the main body has reached the end of its useful life, the visual wear indicator including a first indicator portion and a second indicator portion, wherein the first indicator portion remains present on the main body after the useful life of the wafer carrier, and wherein the second indicator portion is worn off the main body to indicate that the wafer carrier has reached the end of its useful life.
A wafer carrier for use in polishing disks, the wafer carrier comprising:
- a main body having at least one opening formed therein, wherein each of the at least one opening is adapted to receive a disk;
- and
- a visual inspection wear indicator operably attached to the main body to provide a visual indication of when the main body has reached the end of its useful life, the visual wear indicator including a first indicator portion and a second indicator portion, wherein the first indicator portion and the second indicator portion form a phrase indicating that replacement is not needed, wherein the first indicator portion forms a phrase indicating that replacement is needed, wherein the first indicator portion remains present on the main body after the useful life of the wafer carrier, and wherein the second indicator portion is worn off the main body to indicate that the wafer carrier has reached the end of its useful life.
A wafer carrier for use in polishing disks, the wafer carrier comprising:
- a main body having at least one opening formed therein, wherein each of the at least one opening is adapted to receive a disk;
- and
- a visual inspection wear indicator operably attached to the main body to provide a visual indication of when the main body has reached the end of its useful life, the visual wear indicator including a first indicator portion and a second indicator portion, wherein the second indicator portion has a graduated configuration that indicates the portion of the useful life of the disk carrier that remains and includes a series of wear indicators that each has a different height, wherein the second indicator portion is worn off the main body to indicate that the wafer carrier has reached the end of its useful life, and wherein the first indicator portion remains present on the main body after the useful life of the wafer carrier.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.