Patents by Inventor Keith D. Relleen

Keith D. Relleen has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Method and apparatus for processing wafers
    Patent number: 6679675
    Abstract: An apparatus for processing wafers one at a time. The apparatus has a vacuum chamber 1 into which wafers are loaded through a pair of loadlocks 3, 4 which are spaced one above the other. A robot within the vacuum chamber 1 has a pair of gripper arms 22, 29 which are moveable along and rotatable about a vertical axis 23 so as to be moveable between the loadlocks 3, 4 and a wafer processing position. Each of the loadlocks 3, 4 has a vertically moveable portion 8, 26 which is moveable away from the remainder of the loadlock to provide access in a horizontal plane for one of the gripper arms 22, 29.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2001
    Date of Patent: January 20, 2004
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Robert J. C. Mitchell, Keith D. Relleen, John Ruffell
  • Method and apparatus for processing wafers
    Publication number: 20020034433
    Abstract: An apparatus for processing wafers one at a time. The apparatus has a vacuum chamber 1 into which wafers are loaded through a pair of loadlocks 3, 4 which are spaced one above the other. A robot within the vacuum chamber 1 has a pair of gripper arms 22, 29 which are moveable along and rotatable about a vertical axis 23 so as to be moveable between the loadlocks 3, 4 and a wafer processing position. Each of the loadlocks 3, 4 has a vertically moveable portion 8, 26 which is moveable away from the remainder of the loadlock to provide access in a horizontal plane for one of the gripper arms 22, 29.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 30, 2001
    Publication date: March 21, 2002
    Applicant: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Robert J. C. Mitchell, Keith D. Relleen, John Ruffell
  • Method and apparatus for processing wafers
    Patent number: 6350097
    Abstract: An apparatus for processing wafers one at a time. The apparatus has a vacuum chamber 1 into which wafers are loaded through a pair of loadlocks 3, 4 which are spaced one above the other. A robot within the vacuum chamber 1 has a pair of gripper arms 22, 29 which are moveable along and rotatable about a vertical axis 23 so as to be moveable between the loadlocks 3, 4 and a wafer processing position. Each of the loadlocks 3, 4 has a vertically moveable portion 8, 26 which is moveable away from the remainder of the loadlock to provide access in a horizontal plane for one of the gripper arms 22, 29.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 19, 1999
    Date of Patent: February 26, 2002
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Robert J. C. Mitchell, Keith D. Relleen, John Ruffell