Patents by Inventor Todd Michael Visconti

Todd Michael Visconti 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).

  • Reduced edge contact wafer handling system and method of retrofitting and using same
    Patent number: 6692219
    Abstract: A wafer handling system and a method of retrofitting the system to an existing wafer handling apparatus are provided that make possible a method of handling wafers by contacting only a narrow area of not more than two millimeters wide adjacent the edge of the wafer, which is particularly useful for backside deposition where device side contact defines an area of exclusion that renders the wafer unusable in that area. The system provides a chuck on a wafer transfer arm that holds a wafer by gravity on a segmented, upwardly facing annular surface. A compatible annular surface is provided on an aligning station chuck so that wafers can be transferred by contact only with the exclusion area of the wafer surface. A load arm has two similarly compatible chucks further provided with pneumatically actuated grippers to allow the wafer to be loaded into a vertical processing apparatus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2000
    Date of Patent: February 17, 2004
    Assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited
    Inventors: Stephen D. Coomer, Stanislaw Kopacz, Glyn Reynolds, Michael James Lombardi, Todd Michael Visconti
  • Reduced edge contact wafer handling system and method of retrofitting and using same
    Publication number: 20020064450
    Abstract: A wafer handling system and a method of retrofitting the system to an existing wafer handling apparatus are provided that make possible a method of handling wafers by contacting only a narrow area of not more than two millimeters wide adjacent the edge of the wafer, which is particularly useful for backside deposition where device side contact defines an area of exclusion that renders the wafer unusable in that area. The system provides a chuck on a wafer transfer arm that holds a wafer by gravity on a segmented, upwardly facing annular surface. A compatible annular surface is provided on an aligning station chuck so that wafers can be transferred by contact only with the exclusion area of the wafer surface. A load arm has two similarly compatible chucks further provided with pneumatically actuated grippers to allow the wafer to be loaded into a vertical processing apparatus.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 29, 2000
    Publication date: May 30, 2002
    Applicant: Tokyo Electron Limited
    Inventors: Stephen D. Coomer, Stanislaw Kopacz, Glyn Reynolds, Michael James Lombardi, Todd Michael Visconti