Substrate delivery mechanism
AssigneeEbara Corporation
InventorsSoichi Isobe, Hideo Aizawa, Hiroomi Torii, Daisuke Koga, Satoshi Wakabayashi
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A substrate delivery mechanism comprises a top ring, a substrate loader for loading a substrate, and a pusher mechanism, wherein the substrate loader comprises a top ring guide and the pusher mechanism comprises a top ring guide lifting table, in which the top ring guide and the top ring guide lifting table together form a sealed space below the substrate held by the top ring in a condition where the substrate loader is moved up by the pusher mechanism, wherein the substrate is detached from the top ring by exhausting the sealed space while at the same time injecting a fluid from through-holes provided in a substrate holding surface of the top ring.
Claims22
A substrate delivery mechanism comprising:
- a holder for holding a substrate;
- a loader for transferring the substrate to said holder or receiving the substrate from said holder;
- and
- a pusher mechanism having
- (i) a lifting table for lifting said loader so as to be fitted with an outer periphery of said holder when said loader is to transfer the substrate to said holder or receive the substrate from said holder, and
- (ii) an exhaust pipe connected to said lifting table,
- wherein said exhaust pipe is to exhaust a sealed space defined by an under surface of said holder, an inner surface of said loader and a top surface of said lifting table after said lifting table has lifted said loader so as to be fitted with the outer periphery of said holder.
A substrate delivery mechanism comprising:
- a holder for holding a substrate;
- a lifting table capable of being brought into contact with said holder when transferring the substrate to said holder or receiving the substrate from said holder;
- and
- a pipe connected to said lifting table,
- wherein said pipe is communicable with a vacuum source such that after said lifting table is brought into contact with said holder, when the substrate is to be transferred from said holder to said lifting table and with said pipe being in communication with the vacuum source, suction can be applied via said pipe to a lower surface of the substrate while a fluid is injected from said holder against an upper surface of the substrate.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.