Patents by Inventor Simon Jeyapalan
Simon Jeyapalan 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).
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Publication number: 20240120227Abstract: A substrate handling apparatus according to one or more embodiments may include: a base, an elevating unit that is connected to the base to freely elevate and lower, an arm that is rotatably connected to the elevating unit, a disk that is provided on the arm, and a hand that is rotatably connected to the arm, wherein in case that the hand is provided on a position to overlap the arm, the disk is provided under the substrate extracted by the hand.Type: ApplicationFiled: October 6, 2022Publication date: April 11, 2024Applicants: KAWASAKI JUKOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA, Kawasaki Robotics (USA), INC.Inventors: Haruhiko TAN, Simon JEYAPALAN, Avish Ashok BHARWANI, Mu-Kai LIN
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Patent number: 11862507Abstract: A robot system according to one or more embodiments may include a robot, and a control part. The robot may include one or more joints driven by an electric motor, and can hold a wafer by a holding part. The control part gives commands to the robot for control. When the robot holds and transports the wafer with the holding part, the control part performs, based on information about the electric motor, at least one of the following: determining whether slippage has occurred between the holding part and the wafer; and estimating an amount of slippage of the wafer relative to the holding part.Type: GrantFiled: November 25, 2020Date of Patent: January 2, 2024Assignees: KAWASAKI JUKOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA, KAWASAKI ROBOTICS (USA), INCInventors: Masaya Yoshida, Avish Ashok Bharwani, Simon Jeyapalan
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Publication number: 20230150120Abstract: A substrate conveying robot includes an arm, a substrate holding hand, a sensor board to which a sensor is electrically connected, and a control board on which a controller is mounted, the control board including a universal connector connectable to different types of the sensor boards.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 17, 2021Publication date: May 18, 2023Applicants: KAWASAKI JUKOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA, Kawasaki Robotics (USA), INC.Inventors: Haruhiko TAN, Shota TOMINAGA, Avish Ashok BHARWANI, Simon JEYAPALAN
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Publication number: 20220415690Abstract: An aligner system includes a motor, a rotating device, a control device, and a sensor. The motor generates a rotational drive force. The rotating device 11 is rotated by the rotational drive force generated by the motor, while supporting a wafer. The control device controls rotation of the rotating device, and performs a process of setting a rotational phase of the wafer to a predetermined value. The sensor emits a plurality of light beams traveling in different directions toward an edge of the wafer, and receives the light beams to detect a defect in the edge of the wafer.Type: ApplicationFiled: June 24, 2021Publication date: December 29, 2022Applicants: KAWASAKI JUKOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA, Kawasaki Robotics (USA), INC.Inventors: Haruhiko TAN, Avish Ashok BHARWANI, George CHIN, Simon Jeyapalan
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Publication number: 20220399218Abstract: A transport system includes a robot, sensors (an aligner sensor, a protrusion detecting sensor) and a controller. The robot having a hand which supports a wafer and transports the wafer to an aligner apparatus. The sensor detects the position of the wafer before the robot delivers the wafer to the aligner apparatus while supporting the wafer on the hand. The controller determines the positional deviation of the wafer based on a detection value of the sensor.Type: ApplicationFiled: June 10, 2021Publication date: December 15, 2022Applicants: KAWASAKI JUKOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA, Kawasaki Robotics (USA), INC.Inventors: Haruhiko TAN, Avish Ashok BHARWANI, Simon JEYAPALAN
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Publication number: 20220395986Abstract: Disclosed are techniques and systems for automatically determining and correcting the levelness of a wafer handling robot end effector. The systems may use a tilt sensor or a gravitational field sensor which may be calibrated to the wafer handling robot. The output from the tilt sensor may be used to determine or estimate the tilt of an end effector of the wafer handling robot and to perform correctional positioning to reduce or eliminate the tilt, to automatically teach certain positions that have reduced tilt, to perform health checks on the robot, provide feedback to a user, etc.Type: ApplicationFiled: October 23, 2020Publication date: December 15, 2022Inventors: Richard M. Blank, Marco Piccigallo, Eric Chan, Arulselvam Simon Jeyapalan
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Publication number: 20220254666Abstract: Systems and techniques for determining and using multiple types of offsets for providing wafers to a wafer support of a wafer station of a semiconductor processing tool are disclosed; such techniques and systems may use an autocalibration wafer that may include a plurality of sensors, including a plurality of edge-located imaging sensors that may be used to image fiducials associated with two different structures located in a selected wafer station.Type: ApplicationFiled: July 21, 2020Publication date: August 11, 2022Inventors: Hossein Sadeghi, Richard M. Blank, Peter S. Thaulad, Mark E. Emerson, Arulselvam Simon Jeyapalan, Marco Piccigallo
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Publication number: 20220165607Abstract: A robot system according to one or more embodiments may include a robot, and a control part. The robot may include one or more joints driven by an electric motor, and can hold a wafer by a holding part. The control part gives commands to the robot for control. When the robot holds and transports the wafer with the holding part, the control part performs, based on information about the electric motor, at least one of the following: determining whether slippage has occurred between the holding part and the wafer; and estimating an amount of slippage of the wafer relative to the holding part.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 25, 2020Publication date: May 26, 2022Applicants: KAWASAKI JUKOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA, Kawasaki Robotics (USA), INC.Inventors: Masaya YOSHIDA, Avish Ashok BHARWANI, Simon JEYAPALAN
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Patent number: 11335578Abstract: A substrate transfer apparatus of the present invention includes: a robot including a hand configured to hold a substrate, and an arm configured to move the hand; a robot control device configured to set a moving path for the hand and control the arm such that the hand moves on the moving path toward a target position; and a camera disposed so as to be able to capture an image of the substrate held by the hand located at a predetermined confirmation position. The robot control device sets the moving path so as to pass through the confirmation position, obtains an image captured by the camera when the hand is located at the confirmation position, calculates a distance between a predetermined environment and the substrate which are taken in the image, and calculates a positional deviation amount from a reference position of the substrate on the basis of the distance.Type: GrantFiled: February 13, 2020Date of Patent: May 17, 2022Assignees: KAWASAKI JUKOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA, KAWASAKI ROBOTICS (USA), INC.Inventors: Masaya Yoshida, Avish Ashok Bharwani, Ming Zeng, Simon Jeyapalan, Hajime Nakahara
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Publication number: 20210257242Abstract: A substrate transfer apparatus of the present invention includes: a robot including a hand configured to hold a substrate, and an arm configured to move the hand; a robot control device configured to set a moving path for the hand and control the arm such that the hand moves on the moving path toward a target position; and a camera disposed so as to be able to capture an image of the substrate held by the hand located at a predetermined confirmation position. The robot control device sets the moving path so as to pass through the confirmation position, obtains an image captured by the camera when the hand is located at the confirmation position, calculates a distance between a predetermined environment and the substrate which are taken in the image, and calculates a positional deviation amount from a reference position of the substrate on the basis of the distance.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 13, 2020Publication date: August 19, 2021Applicants: KAWASAKI JUKOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA, KAWASAKI ROBOTICS (USA), INC.Inventors: Masaya YOSHIDA, Avish Ashok BHARWANI, Ming ZENG, Simon JEYAPALAN, Hajime NAKAHARA
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Patent number: 10509052Abstract: A test wafer having two spaced-apart accelerometers mounted thereon is disclosed. The accelerometers may be positioned at locations located along a common axis passing through the center of gravity of the test wafer. The test wafer may include a controller that may be used to transmit acceleration data collected by the accelerometers to another device. In some implementations, a semiconductor processing tool is provided that includes a test wafer receptacle for storing a test wafer that remains with the semiconductor processing tool and that may be retrieved by a wafer handling robot for performing a test cycle during periods when the wafer handling robot is not performing substrate transport operations.Type: GrantFiled: February 6, 2017Date of Patent: December 17, 2019Assignee: Lam Research CorporationInventors: Peter S. Thaulad, Arulselvam Simon Jeyapalan, Richard M. Blank, Tyson Lee Ringold, Victor Eduardo Espinosa, III
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Publication number: 20180224500Abstract: A test wafer having two spaced-apart accelerometers mounted thereon is disclosed. The accelerometers may be positioned at locations located along a common axis passing through the center of gravity of the test wafer. The test wafer may include a controller that may be used to transmit acceleration data collected by the accelerometers to another device. In some implementations, a semiconductor processing tool is provided that includes a test wafer receptacle for storing a test wafer that remains with the semiconductor processing tool and that may be retrieved by a wafer handling robot for performing a test cycle during periods when the wafer handling robot is not performing substrate transport operations.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 6, 2017Publication date: August 9, 2018Inventors: Peter S. Thaulad, Arulselvam Simon Jeyapalan, Richard M. Blank, Tyson Lee Ringold, Victor Eduardo Espinosa, III
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Patent number: 9002504Abstract: The present disclosure is directed to methods and systems for evaluating wafer size handling capabilities of wafer handling robots and wafer stations in a wafer processing environment. In one embodiment, a method is provided in which size parameters for each of one or more wafer stations and one or more robot hands of a wafer handling robot are set based on user input. A user command identifying a desired robot hand and a desired wafer station is received. A first size parameter of the desired robot hand is compared to a second size parameter of the desired wafer station. If the first size parameter is equal to the second size parameter, or if the second size parameter is an all-size parameter, the user command is executed. If the first size parameter is not equal to the second size parameter, an error is generated.Type: GrantFiled: March 12, 2013Date of Patent: April 7, 2015Assignee: Kawasaki Robotics (USA) Inc.Inventors: Thomas Miu, Shinya Kitano, Simon Jeyapalan, Ming Zeng, Avish A. Bharwani
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Publication number: 20140277727Abstract: The present disclosure is directed to methods and systems for evaluating wafer size handling capabilities of wafer handling robots and wafer stations in a wafer processing environment. In one embodiment, a method is provided in which size parameters for each of one or more wafer stations and one or more robot hands of a wafer handling robot are set based on user input. A user command identifying a desired robot hand and a desired wafer station is received. A first size parameter of the desired robot hand is compared to a second size parameter of the desired wafer station. If the first size parameter is equal to the second size parameter, or if the second size parameter is an all-size parameter, the user command is executed. If the first size parameter is not equal to the second size parameter, an error is generated.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 12, 2013Publication date: September 18, 2014Applicant: KAWASAKI ROBOTICS (USA), INC.Inventors: Thomas Miu, Shinya Kitano, Simon Jeyapalan, Ming Zeng, Avish A. Bharwani