Claims
- 1. An apparatus for supporting a wafer, the apparatus comprising:a first surface; one or more vortex chucks for emitting gas vortices from said first surface towards the wafer; and a plurality of retractable limiters on said first surface, said retractable limiters restricting the lateral movement of said wafer relative to said first surface, wherein the limiters are retractable to reduce an amount by which they extend from said first surface when the gas vortices press the wafer against another surface.
- 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said one or more vortex chucks are a plurality of vortex chucks located along the periphery of said first surface.
- 3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the one or more vortex chucks are a plurality of vortex chucks.
- 4. A method comprising:emitting one or more gas vortices from a first surface towards an object to support the object, and restricting a lateral movement of the object relative to the first surface with at least one retractable limiter; pressing the limiter against a second surface to cause the limiter to retract; wherein pressing the limiter against the second surface comprises the gas vortices pressing the object against the second surface.
- 5. The method of claim 4 wherein the lateral movement of the object is restricted with plural retractable limiters, each of which retracts during the pressing operation.
- 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the second surface comprises an adhesive.
- 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the second surface is a sticky tape.
- 8. The method of claim 5, wherein the second surface immobilizes the object.
- 9. The method of claim 4, wherein the second surface comprises an adhesive.
- 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the second surface is a sticky tape.
- 11. The method of claim 4 wherein the one or more gas vortices are a plurality of gas vortices.
- 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the second surface comprises an adhesive.
- 13. The method of claim 11, wherein the second surface immobilizes the object.
- 14. The method of claim 4, wherein the second surface immobilizes the object.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
The present application is a division of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/632,236 filed Aug. 4, 2000 and incorporated herein by reference.
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