Patents Examined by Ronald Jarrett
  • Patent number: 9214370
    Abstract: A substrate transfer device that transfers a substrate by allowing a substrate opening formed on a front surface of a substrate transfer vessel to face an opening formed on a partition wall from one side of the partition wall and separating a cover body of the substrate transfer vessel from the other side of the partition wall includes a door configured to open and close the opening from the other side of the partition wall; a reciprocating unit configured to straightly move the door back and forth between a first position where the opening is closed and a second position away from the first position toward the other side of the partition wall; and a rotating unit configured to rotate the door around a rotation axis in a straightly moving direction of the door between the second position and a third position deviated from a region facing the opening.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 10, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 15, 2015
    Assignee: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventors: Naruaki Iida, Akihiro Teramoto
  • Patent number: 9212495
    Abstract: A work machine capable of decreasing the height of a work attachment in a folded state and suppressing the influence on the operability during demolishing operation. An arm has a surface facing downward when the attachment is in a folded posture, and the surface includes a flat arm contact surface capable of making contact with a mounting surface, on which a work attachment is mounted; and an attachment surface that extends in the direction away from the mounting surface. A work device cylinder is attached to the attachment surface so as not to make contact with the mounting surface. When the attachment is in the attachment folded posture, the arm contact surface is more parallel to a boom upper surface than a boom-side sloped surface and an arm-side sloped surface or is parallel to the boom upper surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 23, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 15, 2015
    Assignee: KOBELCO CONSTRUCTION MACHINERY CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Takanobu Nakamura, Yasushi Shigenari
  • Patent number: 9209064
    Abstract: The present invention relates to an apparatus for transferring a substrate. The apparatus includes a supporting member; an elevating and rotating member; a transferring unit; a first arm whose one end is supported by the elevating and rotating member to be rotatable; a second arm whose one end is supported by the transferring unit to be rotatable and whose the other end is supported by the other end of the first arm to be rotatable; and an arm driving part, installed on the first arm, which drives the other end of the second arm to pivot on the other end of the first arm to allow the first arm and the second arm to be folded or unfolded and thus removes the state of singularity by rotating the other end of the second arm based on the other end of the first arm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 20, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 8, 2015
    Assignee: TES Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Soo Jong Lee, Eun Jae Choi, Sung Pyo Lee, Byoung Sam Choi, Yoon Bum Kim, Hyeon Ju Kim, Jae Wan Park, Jeong Yong Kim, Chang Hyun Jee, Jae Ok Park
  • Patent number: 9209063
    Abstract: The present invention relates to an apparatus for transferring a substrate. The apparatus includes a supporting member; an elevating and rotating member; a transferring unit; a first arm whose one end is supported by the elevating and rotating member to be rotatable; a second arm whose one end is supported by the transferring unit to be rotatable and whose the other end is supported by the other end of the first arm to be rotatable; and an arm driving part, installed on the first arm, which drives the other end of the second arm to pivot on the other end of the first arm to allow the first arm and the second arm to be folded or unfolded and thus removes the state of singularity by rotating the other end of the second arm based on the other end of the first arm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 20, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 8, 2015
    Assignee: TES Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Soo Jong Lee, Eun Jae Choi, Sung Pyo Lee, Byoung Sam Choi, Yoon Bum Kim, Hyeon Ju Kim, Jae Wan Park, Jeong Yong Kim, Chang Hyun Jee, Jae Ok Park
  • Patent number: 9200377
    Abstract: A panel frame carrier, comprises: a frame body; a transverse first rail assembly arranged at a front side of the frame body; a transverse second rail assembly arranged at a rear side of the frame body; a transformed rail arranged on a support plate; a longitudinal carrying assembly provided for supporting a support plate to drive the longitudinal displacement of the support plate; a panel frame including a sliding platform moveably disposed on the any rails mentioned above; a first moving member provided for pushing the panel frame from the first moving member to the transformed rail; and a second moving member provided for pushing the panel frame from the panel frame to the second moving member; whereby the panel frame is transmitted from an end of the first rail assembly through the transformed rail to the second rail assembly and vice versa.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 1, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 1, 2015
    Inventors: Hsin-Chi Iou, Chien-Wei Chang
  • Patent number: 9181675
    Abstract: A working mechanism (4) takes a traveling stance by a way that left and right boom cylinders (9, 10) are expanded to rotate a tip end of a first boom (5) to the rear side and a positioning cylinder (11) is compressed to rotate a tip end of a second boom (6) to the lower side. In the traveling stance of the working mechanism (4), a front surface plate (23A) of a right front housing cover (23) is inclined along a tilting angle (?) of the left and right boom cylinders (9, 10), and the front surface plate (23A) of the right front housing cover (23) is arranged in a position of lining with front ends (9A1, 10A1) of tubes (9A, 10A) in the left-right direction forming the respective boom cylinders (9, 10).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 25, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 10, 2015
    Assignee: HITACHI CONSTRUCTION MACHINERY CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Tsuyoshi Ueki, Yukihiro Tatsuno, Hidefumi Hiramatsu
  • Patent number: 9174346
    Abstract: A loading/unloading robot includes an arm unit attached to a support unit that is capable of being raised and lowered and a hand unit for conveying a loaded/unloaded object, attached to the arm unit. The support unit includes a base portion capable of revolving around a raising/lowering axis and a head portion rotatably attached to the base portion. The arm unit includes arms that are rotatably attached to the head portion. Front ends of the arms move forward and backward along a forward/backward direction that passes the head portion. The hand unit includes a loading/unloading hand rotatably attached to the arm. A center distance from the rotational axis of the head portion to the rotational axes of rear arms is shorter than a center distance from an axis of revolution of the base portion to the rotational axis of the head portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 4, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 3, 2015
    Assignee: HIRATA CORPORATION
    Inventor: Hiroaki Ando
  • Patent number: 9177850
    Abstract: The present invention provides a substrate carrying mechanism, a substrate processing apparatus, and a semiconductor device manufacturing method that, when carrying a substrate, suppress the generation of scratches and particles caused by substrate deformation, suppress a decrease in substrate holding force due to substrate deformation, and realizes stable high-speed carriage. Namely, the substrate carrying mechanism, the substrate processing apparatus, and the semiconductor device manufacturing method of the present invention include: a plate-like body that becomes a support base body of a substrate that is a carrying subject; and substrate support portions in which plural convex portions disposed on a surface of the plate-like body are placed on a circumference of a circle that is smaller than the diameter of the substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 5, 2011
    Date of Patent: November 3, 2015
    Assignee: HITACHI KOKUSAI ELECTRIC INC.
    Inventor: Akira Takahashi
  • Patent number: 9147590
    Abstract: A substrate transport apparatus having a drive section and a scara arm operably connected to the drive section to move the scara arm. The scara arm has an upper arm and at least one forearm. The forearm is movably mounted to the upper arm and capable of holding a substrate thereon. The upper arm is substantially rigid and is adjustable for changing a predetermined dimension of the upper arm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 15, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 29, 2015
    Assignee: Brooks Automation, Inc.
    Inventors: Antonio F. Pietrantonio, Anthony Chesna, Hakan Elmali, Ulysses Gilchrist
  • Patent number: 9138901
    Abstract: A transfer device can control a posture of a holding table accurately and prevent the holding table from wobbling even when the holding table is moved at a high speed. A first posture holding link 56 and a second posture holding link 57 are provided at the transfer device. One end of the first posture holding link 56 and one end of the second posture holding link 57 are rotatably connected to a connecting shaft 53. Rails 51 and 52 are fastened to a base plate 27 of the holding table 21. Rollers 54 and 55 are connected to the connecting shaft 53 to be rotated about an axis line. The rollers 54 and 55 are in contact with roller driving portions 51a and 52a. When the holding table 21 is moved, the rollers 54 and 55 are rotated on the roller driving portions 51a and 52a.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 22, 2015
    Assignees: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED, SANKYO SEISAKUSHO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Tsutomu Hiroki, Toshinao Kato
  • Patent number: 9142442
    Abstract: The present invention relates to an apparatus for transferring a substrate. The apparatus includes a supporting member; an elevating and rotating member; a transferring unit; a first arm whose one end is supported by the elevating and rotating member to be rotatable; a second arm whose one end is supported by the transferring unit to be rotatable and whose the other end is supported by the other end of the first arm to be rotatable; and an arm driving part, installed on the first arm, which drives the other end of the second arm to pivot on the other end of the first arm to allow the first arm and the second arm to be folded or unfolded and thus removes the state of singularity by rotating the other end of the second arm based on the other end of the first arm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 2, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 22, 2015
    Assignee: TES Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Soo Jong Lee, Eun Jae Choi, Sung Pyo Lee, Byoung Sam Choi, Yoon Bum Kim, Hyeon Ju Kim, Jae Wan Park, Jeong Yong Kim, Chang Hyun Jee, Jae Ok Park
  • Patent number: 9114538
    Abstract: A parallel link robot includes a housing, a plurality of driving devices, and a plurality of arms. The housing includes arm coupling openings and a receiving opening. The plurality of driving devices are disposed in the receiving opening of the housing. The plurality of driving devices are attachable and detachable from and in a direction above the receiving opening. The plurality of arms are coupled to the respective driving devices through the respective arm coupling openings.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 6, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 25, 2015
    Assignee: KABUSHIKI KAISHA YASKAWA DENKI
    Inventors: Kazuhiro Fukudome, Takashi Sanada, Nobuhiko Mihara
  • Patent number: 9112385
    Abstract: A force-controlled electric hand including: an electric motor; a rotary-linear motion conversion mechanism converting rotary motion from the electric motor to linear motion; a pair of finger bases including a movable finger base which moves linearly in parallel with a first axial line through the rotary-linear motion conversion mechanism by power from the electric motor; a pair of fingers fixed to the pair of finger bases to grip a target workpiece by linear motion of the movable finger base; and a force sensor provided at least at one of the pair of finger bases to detect gripping force of the pair of fingers. The force sensor has a pair of parallel beams extending in parallel with a second axial line vertical to the first axial line and detects the gripping force based on an amount of displacement of the parallel beams in a direction of the first axial line.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 18, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 18, 2015
    Assignee: FANUC Corporation
    Inventor: Tetsuro Sakano
  • Patent number: 9095092
    Abstract: An attachment for laterally shifting a working implement is provided. The attachment can have a primary frame having a first side and a second side, the primary frame can be connectable to the vehicle so that the primary frame extends substantially perpendicular to the vehicle. A secondary frame can have a first side and a second side and be moveably connected to the primary frame so that the secondary frame can move laterally relative to the vehicle. An extension frame can have a first side and a second side and be moveably connected to the secondary frame so that the extension frame can move laterally relative to the vehicle. A working implement, such as a mower, can be operably connectable to the extension frame so that the working implement can be shifted laterally relative to the vehicle using the attachment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2011
    Date of Patent: August 4, 2015
    Inventor: Irwin Sieben
  • Patent number: 9057178
    Abstract: A machine including an implement system pivotably mounted on the machine, a thumb member mounted on an arm of the implement system for free dampened back and forth pivotable movement, the thumb member being controllably pivotable into selectable pivot positions via controlled pivoting of one or the other or both of the arm and a bucket member, a dampener being interconnected between the thumb member and the arm in an arrangement where the dampener dampens free pivoting movement of the thumb member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 16, 2015
    Assignee: Caterpillar Inc.
    Inventor: Gregory A. Seljestad
  • Patent number: 9044864
    Abstract: Systems and methods are described for fixed rotational positioning of a robotic hand assembly using mechanical wrist locking techniques. A wrist is configured to rotate the hand assembly and point grip components in a desired direction (e.g., for pick and place operations). Tolerances of components of the wrist can accumulate to manifest rotational positioning error. Embodiments include wrist locking techniques for locking the wrist in a desired rotational position. Some implementations couple grip components with wrist lock components in such a way that movement of the grip components causes the wrist lock assembly automatically to move between locked and unlocked states. For example, retracting the grip components pushes a wrist lock latch into an unlocked position (allowing the wrist to rotate). Extending the grip components allows the latch to move to a locked position where it interlocks with an alignment feature to lock the wrist into an accurate, predetermined angle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 2, 2015
    Assignee: ORACLE INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION
    Inventor: Joseph Paul Manes
  • Patent number: 9045827
    Abstract: Provided are an apparatus and method for supplying a light-emitting diode (LED) wafer that may quickly and accurately transfer LED wafers by acquiring position information of pockets in a carrier in which the LED wafers are to be seated. The apparatus may include a cassette in which a plurality of LED wafers are loaded, a carrier including a plurality of pockets in which the LED wafers are seated, an aligning unit to align the LED wafers that are to be seated in the carrier, a transfer robot to transfer the LED wafers from the cassette to the aligning unit, a picker to hold, in an adsorbed state, the LED wafers transferred to the aligning unit, or to release the adsorbed state, a capturing unit to fix the picker, and to acquire position information of the pockets, and an LED wafer loading robot to transfer the picker and the capturing unit from the aligning unit to the carrier.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 9, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 2, 2015
    Assignees: LG CNS CO., LTD., Robostar Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: in hwan Ryu, hak pyo Lee, il Chan Yang, Sung Kyu Choi, Byeong Seung Lee
  • Patent number: 8992159
    Abstract: Embodiments described herein provide methods, apparatuses, and systems for moving, loading, and/or sorting logs. A log grapple may include opposing arm assemblies and independently positionable drive wheels disposed between the arms. The log grapple may be operable in a grapple mode, in which the arms are in a closed position and the drive wheels are in an open position, and a feed mode, in which the arms and the drive wheels are in closed positions. In feed mode, the first and second drive wheels may be rotated to drive the log through the arms. The log grapple may be further configured to delimb, measure, and/or cut logs in the feed mode. A log grapple may also include a measuring wheel assembly. Optionally, the measuring wheel assembly may include a hydraulic actuator configured to retract the measuring wheel and a gas spring configured to extend the measuring wheel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 5, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 31, 2015
    Assignee: Pierce Pacific Manufacturing, Inc.
    Inventors: Brad A. Sintek, Joseph B. Crover, Brandon K. Gray, Greg M. Hildebrandt
  • Patent number: 8992160
    Abstract: A transfer robot according to an embodiment includes an arm and a body. The arm is provided, at a terminal end thereof, with a robot hand transferring a thin plate-like workpiece, and operates in horizontal directions. The body includes a lifting and lowering mechanism that lifts and lowers the arm. In the transfer robot, at least a part of the body is disposed outside a side wall of a transfer room that is connected to an opening and closing device opening and closing a storage container for the thin plate-like workpiece and to a processing room processing the thin plate-like workpiece.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 1, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 31, 2015
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Yaskawa Denki
    Inventor: Masatoshi Furuichi
  • Patent number: 8979464
    Abstract: Provided is a production facility which allows a worker to perform manual works such as restoration, setting change, and manufacturing, without entering an action area of a robot. The production facility includes a casing, a swaging as a dedicated device housed in the casing, for performing swaging using a boot band, and an internal transfer device. A human work area on the front side of the production facility and an action area of a transfer robot on the back side of the production facility are separated by the swaging device and the casing. The worker positioned on the front side of the production facility operates swaging device without entering the action area of the transfer robot so that the transfer robot need not be stopped when the work is performed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2009
    Date of Patent: March 17, 2015
    Assignee: NTN Corporation
    Inventors: Takuya Machida, Shigeki Matsushita, Shinya Inui, Hiroshi Hatano