Abstract: Substrates to be used in manufacturing hard disks are polished in a two-step process entailing a coarse and fine polishing in a single polishing machine. The use of this method and apparatus eliminates the need for two separate polishing machines and for transferring the disks from one polishing machine to another. Furthermore, the overall quality of hard disk substrates polished by this method and apparatus, including smoothness, flatness and edge roll-off, is superior to that achieved by the prior art.

Abstract: A flange or mounting assembly for mounting a cutting tool on a drive shaft of a motor, which includes an inner flange having a spindle, an outer flange and fastening means for retaining the outer flange on the spindle of the inner flange and for maintaining the cutting tool in frictional engagement with the flanges, wherein the flanges include means for preventing relative rotation therebetween so that the flange assembly is particularly adaptable for use on bi-rotational power equipment.

Abstract: Disclosed is a suction operated valve resurfacing, or lapping, tool and an associated method for its use. In general terms, the tool of the present invention includes a handle portion and a suction generating means. A reciprocating assembly is adapted for travel within the interior of the handle and functions in expelling air out of and drawing air into the handle. Through the use of the suction generating means the tool can be positively secured to the upper surface of a valve. Thereafter, the entire tool can be rotated via the handle to facilitate the resurfacing of the valve seat.

Abstract: An improved turntable of a nylon fiber grinding wheel, which is integrally made of plastic by injection has a predetermined amount of flexibility. The turntable has a locking hole provided at a center portion therethrough, and a ring groove encircling the locking hole on a top surface of the turntable. The ring groove has a plurality of through slot arranged spacedly and radially and defines a plurality of ribs arranged radially and respectively between the through slots. A bottom surface recess of the turntable and ring groove are overfilled with a gluing agent such as epoxy resin, so that the gluing agent would also fill in the plurality of through slots and enwrap around the plurality of ribs. Therefore, a nylon fiber grinding plate can be attached to the bottom surface recess of the turntable by means of the gluing agent.

Abstract: A sharpening apparatus for sharpening blades of tools and other implements such as spatulas and grill scrapers. The sharpening apparatus includes a base member on which a sharpening stone is positioned. A slidable blade guide member is slidably connected to the base member. The slidable blade guide member includes a guide surface that is disposed at an angle relative to the upper surface of the sharpening stone, and a mounting mechanism for removably mounting a spatula against the guide surface such that the scraping edge of the spatula is in engagement with the sharpening stone. The slidable blade guide member is manually slidable back and forth to sharpen the scraping edge of the spatula. A fixed blade guide member is also attached to the base member.

Abstract: A wafer is polished while it is pressed against a polishing cloth through a pressure air layer, and a polished surface adjustment ring as well as the wafer are pressed against the polishing cloth. The wafer is polished in the state wherein a collapsing position of the polished surface adjustment ring with respect to the polishing cloth is set in such a way that the polishing pressure which is applied from the polishing cloth to the wafer can be constant.

Abstract: A method of determining a real time removal rate. A material layer is polished. During the polishing process, a light is incident onto the material layer continuously. The incident light is reflected from the material layer with a reflected light intensity. By integrating the reflected light intensity, followed by dividing the integration with a product of a differential of the reflected light intensity and the polishing time, an I-Dt transformation is obtained. The I-Dt transformation has a period which reflects the removal rate through calculation of optical principle.

Abstract: A cutting chuck for use with a cutting blade and for holding a semiconductor wafer in place during a dicing process and a die pick for picking the segmented semiconductor wafer from the chuck. The chuck includes a surface for supporting the wafer and several ports in the surface connected to a vacuum source. Preferably, the cutting chuck includes a housing having a base and a wall. A vacuum chamber is provided within the housing and on top of the base. A porous layer is located in housing and above the vacuum chamber. A surface layer is above the porous layer and contains ports connecting the surface supporting the wafer to the vacuum chamber via the porous layer. In a most preferred embodiment, the chuck is removeably attached to the vacuum source via a check valve. The cutting chuck may also include recesses in the surface to prevent impingement on the cutting chuck by a cutting blade during wafer dicing.

Abstract: In a wire saw primarily intended for sawing stone with the aid of light portable equipment, a continuous, easily flexed wire loop or wire on which cutting elements are uniformly spaced includes elastomeric spacing elements between the cutting elements. With the intention of increasing the flexibility of the wire loop and its ability to endure bending as it runs around guide sprocket wheels of small diameter, the diameter of the wire or the wire loop is reduced. A narrow waist bore which centers against the wire enables the cutting elements to be threaded in a centerd way on the wire. The spacing elements are applied thinly on the wire between the cutting elements. The elastomeric material functions to resiliently center the cutting elements by being pressed against the center plane of the cutting elements from both sides into recesses provided in the end-walls of the cutting elements, theses recess being flared at a wide angle of about 90 degrees.

Abstract: A polishing apparatus for polishing for example a semiconductor wafer to a high degree of flatness includes a turntable to the upper surface of which is affixed a polishing cloth and a top ring. A surface of the workpiece interposed between the polishing cloth on the turntable and the top ring is polished by pressing the workpiece against the polishing cloth with a predetermined pressure and moving the turntable and the top ring relative to each other. The turntable includes a set of annular small tables each of which is smaller than the diameter of the workpiece and determined on the basis of an area of effect on the workpiece.

Abstract: The present invention provides an apparatus for recognizing the shape of a semiconductor wafer, capable of stably achieving accurate shape recognition without being affected by either a circuit pattern formed on the semiconductor wafer or the color of an adhesive sheet attached to a frame for adhering to the semiconductor wafer. The shape recognizing apparatus for recognizing the shape of a semiconductor wafer in accordance with the present invention comprises an image pickup means for picking up an image of the semiconductor wafer and providing video signals representing the image, the image pickup means being opposite to the semiconductor wafer, and a shape recognizing means for recognizing the shape of the semiconductor wafer by processing the video signals.

Abstract: An abrasive member for a very high return loss optical connector ferrule is used in abrading an end of an optical connector ferrule having a ferrule hole, in which an optical fiber has been inserted and secured, into a convex spherical surface. The abrasive member comprises a flexible substrate and an abrasive layer, which is formed on the surface of the flexible substrate and comprises a binder and abrasive grains. The surface roughness Ra, expressed in terms of arithmetic mean deviation, of the abrasive layer falls within the range of 0.01 .mu.m to 0.05 .mu.m. The abrasive member carries out polishing such that the surface smoothness of the ferrule surface and the optical fiber surface may be kept high, such that a difference in level between the ferrule surface and the optical fiber surface may not occur, and such that the very high return loss characteristics may thereby be obtained.

Abstract: With an abrasive dresser for a polishing disc of a chemical-mechanical polisher for abrading a flat rotatable polishing disc of a chemical-mechanical polisher which supplies a chemical polishing agent to the surface of the polishing disc to polish the surface of an article on top of the polishing disc, a sectional shape of an abrasive surface being a peripheral portion of a flat disc shaped base member which protrudes upwards over a predetermined width with an abrasive grit distributed substantially uniformly over and affixed to the surface thereof, is formed as a convex circular arc curved surface. In this way, the portion of contact with the polishing disc of the chemical-mechanical polisher becomes surface contact, thereby enabling a reduction in wear during use and an increase in life, together with an increase in the efficiency of abrading the polishing disc.

Abstract: A rotating preparatory abrasion roller finely abrades the surface of a web, which is to be a support of a lithographic plate, in preparatory abrading prior to main graining for graining the surface of the web. The preparatory abrasion roller, which is arranged against one surface of the running web, is pressed into an interval between a pair of supporting rollers, which are arranged at a predetermined interval against the other surface of the web. Consequently, the surface of the web is finely abraded in contact with a relatively large area on the surface of the preparatory abrasion roller in the state wherein the web laps with the part of the preparatory abrasion roller.

Abstract: An apparatus for abrading or deburring a workpiece is provided and includes in combination a conveyor for moving the workpiece from a first position to a second position and at least two assemblies intermediate the first and second positions and opposite the conveyor for abrading one side of the workpiece in a plurality of directions. In an alternate embodiment of the invention, a third assembly may be provided which deburrs an opposite side of the workpiece as it is passed through the deburring assembly. The conveyor for moving the workpiece positively fixes the location of the workpiece with respect to the conveyor and translates the workpiece through the deburring assembly.

Abstract: An apparatus for polishing a semiconductor wafer is provided comprising a wafer carrier to provide a force against a wafer and a rotating polishing pad during the polishing operation and a polishing slurry distributor device disposed to provide a spray of the slurry on the polishing pad. The wafer is polished using less slurry than a conventional polishing apparatus while still maintaining the polishing rates and polishing uniformity of the prior art polishing apparatus. A preferred spraying means is a closed elongated tube having a plurality of openings which tube is positioned over at least one-half the diameter of the polishing pad and a polishing slurry under pressure is directed onto the surface of the pad, preferably in a substantially transverse spray stream.

Abstract: A dust remover for power sander includes a dust collecting hood secured on the sander and fluidically communicated with a vacuum system formed in or attached to the sander, having a resilient bellows portion formed on a lower portion of the hood for covering a sanding pad as driven by a motor of the sander and a bottom flange having a plurality of apertures or perforations circumferentially formed in the flange, with the bellows portion resiliently expanding to retain the bottom flange on a working surface; whereby upon vacuum suction in the sander to form at least an air stream as drafted from the outside into the inside of the hood, the dusts, as produced when operating the sander, will be sucked inwardly into the hood as laden in the air stream to be finally collected and disposed for preventing air pollution and for enhancing occupational health.

Abstract: A process and a device for clearing out joints in masonry is disclosed. The clearing out is effected by producing a groove by high-pressure water jets that are so oriented and guided relative to one another and relative to the desired groove. Further, a groove with a determined cross section of determined width and depth results.

Abstract: Any part of an abrasive media in a solid particle or liquid form is prevented from entering a seal and/or the area where a rotary shaft bearing for a rotating barrel is sealed, thereby protecting the bearing and/or its seal against any possible damage that may be caused by abrasive media. A the barrel finishing operation performed by rotating a rotating barrel rotatably mounted inside a cylindrical stationary barrel on a lower portion thereof in a spaced relationship to the stationary barrel. The stationary barrel has an outer bottom plate at the bottom end thereof.

Abstract: A polishing method and a compact apparatus for the method are presented for efficient production of a polished workpiece for manufacturing high technology devices. The polishing method comprises a first and second steps for polishing a work surface. In the first polishing step, the work surface is pressed against an abrading surface of a first polishing tool which is being rotated. In the second step, the work surface is pressed against a rubbing surface of a second polishing tool which is being moved in a planar translation motion relatively to the work surface.