Claims
- 1. A side lifting wafer boat-tool assembly positioned for detachable, mutual engagement along a central length of the side of a boat, which boat is shaped to receive on its inside a plurality of wafer disks, with said tool lifting the boat by its side from a boat supporting surface, said assembly comprising:
- a first horizontal boat member with an inner surface being spaced from and extending along the outer side of said boat at a centrally-located lower boat location thereon, with said first and second boat members being in separate horizontal planes and lying also in two different vertical planes when viewed from an end view of said boat in order to define a vertical anti-rotation/lifting plane which is located between the inner and outer surface of the first and second boat members,
- said boat members in offset relationship to each other in said two different vertical planes; and
- a tool having an elongated handle with a longitudinal axis which is to be inserted between said offset members, and comprising at the forward end of said handle an essentially transversely-oriented boat-engaging member connected thereto for insertion by slight relative angular rotation between the boat and the handle, said tool anti-rotationally stabilized for side lifting the boat from its supporting surface by said tool's transversely-oriented member coming into contact with said inner and outer surfaces of said first and second offset boat members.
- 2. The assembly as recited in claim 1 wherein said first horizontal boat member;
- includes a straight centrally-located section connected to the side of said boat in order to define a space between the inner surface of said first horizontal member and the side of the boat; and
- said space lies in said boat-lifting plane and is essentially filled by the anti-rotational action of said boat-engaging portion of said side lifting tool.
- 3. The assembly as recited in claim 1 wherein said second horizontal boat members is a hollow tube at the end, and;
- said hollow end and another member with another hollow end is located on opposite sides of said boat in order to also receive, for an alternate lifting action;
- a front lifting insertion tool that is sized to fit within said hollow ends on opposite sides of said boat.
- 4. The assembly as recited in claim 1, wherein said tool further includes;
- a boat-supporting member to stabilize said boat for lifting by said tool, and;
- said tool's boat-supporting member contacts the first horizontal boat member thereby facilitating engagement of said transversely-oriented boat-engaging member of said tool with said first horizontal boat member.
- 5. The assembly as recited in claim 1, wherein the transversly-oriented boat-engaging portion of the tool, with the boat's horizontal member, forms;
- anti-rotational contact points which are disposed and spaced toward the boat ends along the side of said boat.
- 6. The assembly as recited in claim 1, wherein said tool further comprises;
- a rod transversely connected to said handle and disposed generally parallel to the first horizontal boat member at the side of said boat, when said tool is positioned for side lifting said boat by said tool.
- 7. The assembly as recited in claim 6, wherein said tool further comprises;
- a generally H-shaped forward portion thereof, said H-shaped portion including ears connected to said rod at spaced locations along the forward length of said transverse rod and extending generally vertically therefrom, and
- said ears having upper and lower end portions each being engageable with said first and second boat members to form lifting fulcrum points between said tool and said boat.
- 8. The assembly as recited in claim 1, and further wherein:
- the inside of said boat is formed with slots adapted to receive said wafer disks.
- 9. The assembly recited in claim 8, wherein said wafer-receiving slots are uniformly spaced and extend along the length of the inside of said boat, and said boats being arranged such that;
- a plurality of boats may be disposed lengthwise and contiguously, with the space between proximate slots on adjacent boats being equal to the space between adjacent slots in each individual boat.
- 10. The assembly as recited in claim 1, and further wherein:
- said boat engaging member rotates slightly from an essentially horizontal position, as the tool is moved into position with the boat, and then vertically into an anti-rotational and stabilized lifting engagement with the boat.
- 11. A hookless tool for lifting wafer boats, with the boat having, along one side thereof, a centrally-located space shielded from the wafer carrying portion of the boat, said tool comprising:
- an elongated handle having a longitudinal axis;
- a boat-engaging portion located at the forward end of said handle, and essentially transversely oriented to said handle, and essentially transversely oriented to said handle's longitudinal axis;
- means on the boat-engaging portion for anti-rotationally wedging within said space on said boat, in such a manner that the side of the boat and the tool contact each other at a pair of contact points with one each of said pair of contact points located on opposed and opposite sides, above and below, said longitudinal axis of said tool's handle; and
- means on said tool bearing against an outside surface of said boat between said contact points to form a hookless lifting surface between said tool and said boat.
- 12. A combination tool and boat in accordance with claim 11 wherein said space on said boat is defined, in part, by a: horizontal member connected to the upper outside surface of said boat for defining a vertical opening running horizontally along the central side of the wafer boat and having within said opening said pair of contact points.
- 13. A combination in accordance with claim 12 and further wherein said boat-engaging portion of said tool comprises:
- said upper and lower projections forming two pair of ears spaced apart by a length approaching but shorter than the length of the space at said side of said wafer boat.
- 14. A combination in accordance with claim 12 wherein said tool further comprises:
- said boat-engaging portion including at least one pair of upstanding projections located above and below said tool's longitudinal axis.
- 15. A combination in accordance with claim 14 wherein said tool further comprises:
- the upper projection's rearmost surface and the lower projection's foremost surface forms said anti-rotationally lifting means.
- 16. A combination in accordance with claim 14 and further wherein said tool comprises:
- said lifting surface engaging means comprises a rigid member connecting the pair of spaced-apart ears together and to said elongated handle.
- 17. A combination in accordance with claim 11 wherein said tool further comprises:
- said boat-engaging portion is a flat planar elongated bar member projecting above and below said handle's longitudinal axis with the bar member's opposed surfaces forming said anti-rotational means.
- 18. A combination in accordance with claim 11 and comprises:
- said elongated handle of said tool being essentially U-shaped, and adapted at the otherwise open ends of said U-shape, with fastening means for coupling said handle to said boat engaging member.
- 19. A combination in accordance with claim 11 wherein:
- said elongated handle has a straight longitudinal axis.
- 20. A combination in accordance with claim 11 wherein:
- said tool's boat-engaging portion is comprised of non-quartz ceramic high temperature resistant material, and said boat-engaging portion is connected by covered, or recessed, fastening means to an elongated straight, or angled, handle.
- 21. A combination in accordance with claim 11 wherein:
- said handle is comprised of quartz material,
- said boat engaging portion is comprised of metal and further comprises a quartz material encapsulating said metal portions of said boat engaging member at least at locations which come into contact with said wafer boat.
- 22. A combination in accordance with claim 21 wherein:
- said quartz handle is essentially U-shaped and is made from a quartz rod; and
- said boat engaging portion is a flat quartz member fused to said handle.
- 23. A side lifting wafer boat positioned to be lifted from one side at a time by a hookless tool assembly for detachable, mutual engagement along the one side of said boat to lift the boat by said side from a boat supporting surface, the tool having a handle with a longitudinal axis and at its forward end a transverse member projecting above and below said handle as a boat engaging member positioned to be, by slight relative angular rotation wedged between the boat and the tool's boat-engaging portion, and anti-rotationally stabilized for lifting against the outside side surface of said boat, said boat comprising:
- an inside surface slotted so as to receive a plurality of wafer disks, disposed in spaced parallel relation inside said boat;
- a first boat member spaced away from the outside surface on the side of said boat, and said member extending along said side of said boat at an upper location thereon; and
- said boat member defining an essentially vertically oriented space to receive and contact said tool's transverse boat-engaging member at upper and lower points on opposite sides of said handle's longitudinal axis that anti-rotationally wedge into said space and stabilize said boat for a side lift by said tool.
ORIGIN OF THE INVENTION
The invention was conceived, made and assigned by a sole inventor to the assignee hereof. This Application is a continuation-in-part of an Application assigned to the common assignee hereof and invented by the inventor hereof, which application now abandoned, is entitled "IMPROVED SIDE LIFTING TOOL WAFER-BOAT ASSEMBLY" filed on June 24, 1987 and issued Ser. No. 07/066,032.
This application is a continuation-in-part of an Application assigned to the common assignee hereof and invented by the inventor hereof, which application now abandoned, is entitled "IMPROVED SIDE LIFTING TOOL WAFER-BOAT ASSEMBLY" filed on June 24, 1987 and issued Ser. NO. 07/066,032. The invention was conceived, made and assigned by a sole inventor to the assignee hereof.
US Referenced Citations (6)
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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66032 |
Jun 1987 |
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