Claims
- 1. A carrier for holding a batch of spaced apart flat workpieces, comprising:
a front ring; a back ring; a plurality of ribs connecting the front and back rings; and a plurality of steps on an outer surface of one or more of the ribs.
- 2. The carrier of claim 1 further including a plurality of lugs on one or more of the ribs.
- 3. The carrier of claim 1 further comprising a plurality of workpiece slots in one or more of the ribs.
- 4. The carrier of claim 1 further comprising one or two gates pivotably attached to the front and back rings.
- 5. The carrier of claim 1 further comprising a front plate within the front ring and a back plate within the back ring.
- 6. The carrier of claim 1 further comprising a reinforcing rod within one or more of the ribs.
- 7. The carrier of claim 4 having at least 3 pairs of spaced apart ribs and wherein the ribs and the gate occupy less than 20% of the cylindrical sidewall area of the carrier.
- 8. The carrier of claim 1 comprising fluorine containing resins.
- 9. A carrier for holding flat workpieces within a spin/spray process chamber, comprising:
a carrier frame having a front ring, a back ring, and a plurality of parallel legs extending between the front and back rings; an array of workpiece slots in one or more of the legs; at least one gate on the carrier frame moveable between open and closed positions; a plurality of stepped outer surfaces on at least one of the legs.
- 10. The carrier of claim 9 wherein a plurality of stepped outer surfaces is provided on each leg.
- 11. The carrier of claim 9 further comprising at least one lug on one or more of the legs.
- 12. The carrier of claim 9 further comprising a pair of hooks on the front ring, for engagement with an end effector of a robot.
- 13. The carrier of claim 9 further comprising a leg support within one or more of the legs.
- 14. The carrier of claim 13 wherein the leg support comprises a structural rod within the leg extending substantially the entire length of the leg between the front and back rings.
- 15. The carrier of claim 9 further including a front plate within the front ring and closing off the front end of the carrier, and a back plate within the back ring substantially closing off the back end of the carrier.
- 16. The carrier of claim 15 wherein the carrier is cylindrical, further including a workpiece load/unload opening of from 110 to 150 degrees, and with the gate pivotably attached to the carrier frame at the opening.
- 17. The carrier of claim 9 wherein each of the workpiece slots has a depth not exceeding 5% of the diameter of the workpiece.
- 18. The carrier of claim 9 further comprising end effector blade slots in the front and back rings.
- 19. A carrier for holding flat workpieces within an automated processing system including at least one spin/spray process chamber, comprising:
a carrier frame having a front ring, a back ring, and a plurality of pairs of opposing parallel legs extending between the front and back rings; a leg support rod within each of the legs; an array of workpiece slots in two or more pairs of the legs; a pair of gates on the carrier frame moveable between open and closed positions; and a plurality of graduated steps on an outside surface of each of the legs.
- 20. The carrier of claim 19 wherein the workpiece slots are adapted to receive a 300 mm diameter workpiece, and wherein the slots have a depth of less than 15 mm.
- 21. The carrier of claim 19 further comprising spin balancing features on an outside surface of the carrier frame.
- 22. The carrier of claim 19 further comprising front and back plates on the front and back rings, to close off the front and back ends of the carrier frame, respectively.
- 23. The carrier of claim 22 wherein the front and back plates and keyed to the front and back rings, respectively.
Parent Case Info
[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/735,154, filed Dec. 12, 2000, and now pending, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/611,709, filed Jul. 7, 2000, and now abandoned and retained, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/274,511, filed Mar. 23, 1999 and now U.S. Pat. No. 6,279,724, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/112,259, filed Jul. 8, 1998, and now U.S. Pat. No. 6,273,110, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/994,737, filed Dec. 19, 1997, and now U.S. Pat. No. 6,447,232, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/851,480, filed May 5, 1997 and now abandoned, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/680,463, filed Jul. 15, 1996, and now U.S. Pat. No. 5,664,337. Priority to these applications is claimed under 35 USC §120, and these applications are incorporated herein by reference. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/612,009, filed on Jul. 7, 2000, is also incorporated herein by reference.
Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
08680463 |
Jul 1996 |
US |
Child |
08851480 |
May 1997 |
US |
Continuation in Parts (6)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09735154 |
Dec 2000 |
US |
Child |
10397946 |
Mar 2003 |
US |
Parent |
09611709 |
Jul 2000 |
US |
Child |
09735154 |
Dec 2000 |
US |
Parent |
09274511 |
Mar 1999 |
US |
Child |
09611709 |
Jul 2000 |
US |
Parent |
09112259 |
Jul 1998 |
US |
Child |
09274511 |
Mar 1999 |
US |
Parent |
08994737 |
Dec 1997 |
US |
Child |
09112259 |
Jul 1998 |
US |
Parent |
08851480 |
May 1997 |
US |
Child |
08994737 |
Dec 1997 |
US |