Patents by Inventor Toyomi Nishi
Toyomi Nishi 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).
-
Patent number: 7708618Abstract: A polishing apparatus includes an arrangement of a plurality of units to deal with various operations and a robot having at least one arm. The plurality of units are disposed around the robot and include a loading unit for receiving thereon a, e.g. dry, workpiece to be polished, a polishing system including at least one polishing unit for polishing the workpiece, a washing system and a drying system at least including one washing unit for washing and drying the polished workpiece, and an unloading unit for receiving thereon a resultant clean and dry polished workpiece.Type: GrantFiled: October 31, 2007Date of Patent: May 4, 2010Assignees: Ebara Corporation, Kabushiki Kaisha ToshibaInventors: Hiromi Yajima, Yukio Imoto, Shoichi Kodama, Riichiro Aoki, Takashi Omichi, Toyomi Nishi, Tetsuji Togawa
-
Publication number: 20080166949Abstract: A polishing apparatus includes an arrangement of a plurality of units to deal with various operations and a robot having at least one arm. The plurality of units are disposed around the robot and include a loading unit for receiving thereon a, e.g. dry, workpiece to be polished, a polishing system including at least one polishing unit for polishing the workpiece, a washing system and a drying system at least including one washing unit for washing and drying the polished workpiece, and an unloading unit for receiving thereon a resultant clean and dry polished workpiece.Type: ApplicationFiled: October 31, 2007Publication date: July 10, 2008Inventors: Hiromi Yajima, Yukio Imoto, Shoichi Kodama, Riichiro Aoki, Takashi Omichi, Toyomi Nishi, Tetsuji Togawa
-
Patent number: 7198552Abstract: A polishing apparatus for polishing a surface of a workpiece includes a housing unit, a partition wall partitioning an interior of the housing unit into a first chamber and a second chamber, a polishing section disposed in the first chamber and having a turntable with an abrasive cloth mounted on an upper surface thereof and a top ring positioned above the turntable for supporting the workpiece to be polished and pressing the workpiece against the abrasive cloth, and a cleaning section disposed in the second chamber and cleaning the workpiece which has been polished. The polishing apparatus further includes a transferring device for transferring the workpiece which has been polished from the polishing section to the cleaning section through an opening and an exhaust system for exhausting ambient air from each of the polishing section and cleaning section separately and independently.Type: GrantFiled: December 6, 2005Date of Patent: April 3, 2007Assignees: Ebara Corporation, Kabushiki Kaisha ToshibaInventors: Toyomi Nishi, Tetsuji Togawa, Harumitsu Saito, Manabu Tsujimura, Hiromi Yajima, Kazuaki Himukai, Shoichi Kodama, Yukio Imoto, Riichiro Aoki, Masako Watase, Atsushi Shigeta, Shiro Mishima, Gisuke Kouno
-
Publication number: 20060084369Abstract: A polishing apparatus for polishing a surface of a workpiece includes a housing unit, a partition wall partitioning an interior of the housing unit into a first chamber and a second chamber, a polishing section disposed in the first chamber and having a turntable with an abrasive cloth mounted on an upper surface thereof and a top ring positioned above the turntable for supporting the workpiece to be polished and pressing the workpiece against the abrasive cloth, and a cleaning section disposed in the second chamber and cleaning the workpiece which has been polished. The polishing apparatus further includes a transferring device for transferring the workpiece which has been polished from the polishing section to the cleaning section through an opening and an exhaust system for exhausting ambient air from each of the polishing section and cleaning section separately and independently.Type: ApplicationFiled: December 6, 2005Publication date: April 20, 2006Inventors: Toyomi Nishi, Tetsuji Togawa, Harumitsu Saito, Manabu Tsujimura, Hiromi Yajima, Kazuaki Himukai, Shoichi Kodama, Yukio Imoto, Riichiro Aoki, Masako Watase, Atsushi Shigeta, Shiro Mishima, Gisuke Kouno
-
Patent number: 6997782Abstract: A polishing apparatus for polishing a surface of a workpiece includes a housing unit, a partition wall partitioning an interior of the housing unit into a first chamber and a second chamber, a polishing section disposed in the first chamber and having a turntable with an abrasive cloth mounted on an upper surface thereof and a top ring positioned above the turntable for supporting the workpiece to be polished and pressing the workpiece against the abrasive cloth, and a cleaning section disposed in the second chamber and cleaning the workpiece which has been polished. The polishing apparatus further includes a transferring device for transferring the workpiece which has been polished from the polishing section to the cleaning section through an opening and an exhaust system for exhausting ambient air from each of the polishing section and cleaning section separately and independently.Type: GrantFiled: September 27, 2002Date of Patent: February 14, 2006Assignees: Ebara Corporation, Kabushiki Kaisha ToshibaInventors: Toyomi Nishi, Tetsuji Togawa, Harumitsu Saito, Manabu Tsujimura, Hiromi Yajima, Kazuaki Himukai, Shoichi Kodama, Yukio Imoto, Riichiro Aoki, Masako Watase, Atsushi Shigeta, Shiro Mishima, Gisuke Kouno
-
Patent number: 6905400Abstract: A polishing cloth mounted on a turntable is dressed by bringing a dresser in contact with the polishing cloth for restoring the polishing capability of the polishing cloth. The dressing is performed by measuring heights of a surface of the polishing cloth at radial positions of the polishing cloth in a radial direction thereof determining a rotational speed of the dresser with respect to a rotational speed of the turntable on the basis of the measured heights, and dressing the polishing cloth by pressing the dresser are rotating. The dresser has an annular diamond grain layer or an annular SiC layer.Type: GrantFiled: February 1, 2002Date of Patent: June 14, 2005Assignee: Ebara CorporationInventors: Norio Kimura, You Ishii, Toyomi Nishi, Takayoshi Kawamoto, Takeshi Sakurai
-
Publication number: 20030040261Abstract: A polishing apparatus for polishing a surface of a workpiece includes a housing unit, a partition wall partitioning an interior of the housing unit into a first chamber and a second chamber, a polishing section disposed in the first chamber and having a turntable with an abrasive cloth mounted on an upper surface thereof and a top ring positioned above the turntable for supporting the workpiece to be polished and pressing the workpiece against the abrasive cloth, and a cleaning section disposed in the second chamber and cleaning the workpiece which has been polished. The polishing apparatus further includes a transferring device for transferring the workpiece which has been polished from the polishing section to the cleaning section through an opening and an exhaust system for exhausting ambient air from each of the polishing section and cleaning section separately and independently.Type: ApplicationFiled: September 27, 2002Publication date: February 27, 2003Inventors: Toyomi Nishi, Tetsuji Togawa, Harumitsu Saito, Manabu Tsujimura, Hiromi Yajima, Kazuaki Himukai, Shoichi Kodama, Yukio Imoto, Riichiro Aoki, Masako Watase, Atsushi Shigeta, Shiro Mishima, Gisuke Kouno
-
Patent number: 6500051Abstract: A polishing apparatus for polishing a surface of a workpiece includes a housing unit, a partition wall partitioning an interior of the housing unit into a first chamber and a second chamber, a polishing section disposed in the first chamber and having a turntable with an abrasive cloth mounted on an upper surface thereof and a top ring positioned above the turntable for supporting the workpiece to be polished and pressing the workpiece against the abrasive cloth, and a cleaning section disposed in the second chamber and cleaning the workpiece which has been polished. The polishing apparatus further includes a transferring device for transferring the workpiece which has been polished from the polishing section to the cleaning section through an opening and an exhaust system for exhausting ambient air from each of the polishing section and cleaning section separately and independently.Type: GrantFiled: June 27, 1997Date of Patent: December 31, 2002Assignees: Ebara Corporation, Kabushiki Kaisha ToshibaInventors: Toyomi Nishi, Tetsuji Togawa, Harumitsu Saito, Manabu Tsujimura, Hiromi Yajima, Kazuaki Himukai, Shoichi Kodama, Yukio Imoto, Riichiro Aoki, Masako Watase, Atsushi Shigeta, Shiro Mishima, Gisuke Kouno
-
Patent number: 6413357Abstract: A polishing apparatus is used for polishing a workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer to a flat mirror finish by a combination of chemical polishing and mechanical polishing. The polishing apparatus includes a turntable with a polishing cloth mounted on an upper surface thereof, a top ring for supporting the workpiece to be polished and pressing the workpiece against the polishing cloth, and a dressing tool for dressing the polishing cloth on the turntable. The polishing apparatus further includes a cover which covers an upper surface of the turntable for preventing liquid on the turntable from being scattered, and inserting holes formed in an upper wall of the cover for inserting the top ring and the dressing tool therethrough.Type: GrantFiled: September 21, 2000Date of Patent: July 2, 2002Assignee: Ebara CorporationInventors: Tetsuji Togawa, Seiji Katsuoka, Norio Kimura, Toyomi Nishi
-
Patent number: 6409582Abstract: A polishing apparatus is used for polishing a workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer to a flat mirror finish. The polishing apparatus, includes a turntable having a polishing surface thereon, and a top ring for holding a workpiece to be polished and pressing the workpiece against the polishing surface on the turntable. A pusher is disposed in a position for transferring the workpiece to and from the top ring, and has a workpiece support which can be lifted to a position close to the top ring for transferring the workpiece to and from the top ring. When the workpiece support receives a polished workpiece and is lowered, a cleaning liquid is ejected substantially simultaneously from three cleaning nozzle units that are disposed in respective three positions to clean the upper and lower surfaces of the workpiece and the lower surface of the top ring.Type: GrantFiled: March 20, 2000Date of Patent: June 25, 2002Assignee: Ebara CorporationInventors: Tetsuji Togawa, Kuniaki Yamaguchi, Shunichiro Kojima, Toyomi Nishi
-
Publication number: 20020072300Abstract: A polishing cloth mounted on a turntable is dressed by bringing a dresser in contact with the polishing cloth for restoring polishing capability of the polishing cloth. The dressing is performed by measuring heights of a surface of the polishing cloth at radial positions of the polishing cloth in a radial direction thereof, determining a rotational speed of the dresser with respect to a rotational speed of the turntable on the basis of the measured heights, and dressing the polishing cloth by pressing the dresser against the polishing cloth while the turntable and the dresser are rotating. The dresser has an annular diamond grain layer or an annular SiC layer.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 1, 2002Publication date: June 13, 2002Inventors: Norio Kimura, You Ishii, Toyomi Nishi, Takayoshi Kawamoto, Takeshi Sakurai
-
Patent number: 6364752Abstract: A polishing cloth mounted on a turntable is dressed by bringing a dresser in contact with the polishing cloth for restoring the polishing capability of the polishing cloth. The dressing is performed by measuring heights of a surface of the polishing cloth at radial positions of the polishing cloth in a radial direction thereof, determining a rotational speed of the dresser with respect to a rotational speed of the turntable on the basis of the measured heights, and dressing the polishing cloth by pressing the dresser against the polishing cloth while the turntable and the dresser are rotating. The dresser has an annular diamond grain layer or an annular SiC layer.Type: GrantFiled: June 25, 1997Date of Patent: April 2, 2002Assignee: Ebara CorporationInventors: Norio Kimura, You Ishii, Toyomi Nishi, Takayoshi Kawamoto, Takeshi Sakurai
-
Publication number: 20020007361Abstract: A method of managing of products each having a plurality of parts is provided. In the method, at first, an original structural tree of a product which defines a relationship between the product and its parts is created and then part numbers are assigned to the product and parts. Products and parts having the same structure are allocated with the same part number. Next unique serial numbers are assigned to the product and at least major parts thereof. Different serial numbers are assigned to separate products and parts even if they have the same structure. Then part numbers and serial numbers are entered in the structural tree and the resultant structural tree is stored in a database connected to a computer. The serial numbers are marked on the product and parts assigned therewith, and information of the tree is retrieved by using the serial numbers on the product and parts.Type: ApplicationFiled: July 13, 2001Publication date: January 17, 2002Inventors: Kazuhiro Esaki, Kiyoshi Kobayashi, Toyomi Nishi
-
Patent number: 6139677Abstract: A polishing apparatus 70 is used for polishing a workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer to a flat mirror finish by a combination of chemical polishing and mechanical polishing. The polishing apparatus includes a turntable 73 with a polishing 74 cloth mounted on an upper surface thereof, a top ring 75 for supporting the workpiece to be polished and pressing the workpiece against the polishing cloth, and a dressing tool 79 for dressing the polishing cloth on the turntable. The polishing apparatus further includes a cover 10 which covers an upper surface of the turntable for preventing liquid on the turntable from being scattered, and inserting holes 17 and 21 formed in an upper wall of the cover for inserting the top ring and the dressing tool therethrough.Type: GrantFiled: January 23, 1997Date of Patent: October 31, 2000Assignee: Ebara CorporationInventors: Tetsuji Togawa, Seiji Katsuoka, Norio Kimura, Toyomi Nishi
-
Patent number: 6074276Abstract: A polishing apparatus is used for polishing a workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer to a flat mirror finish. The polishing apparatus includes a polishing section for polishing a surface of a workpiece, a cleaning section for cleaning the workpiece which has been polished, a first liquid leakage sensor provided in the polishing section for detecting a liquid leakage which occurs in the polishing section, and a second liquid leakage sensor provided in the cleaning section for detecting a liquid leakage which occurs in the cleaning section. The polishing apparatus further includes a controlling device for stopping the supply of liquid to the polishing section or the cleaning section in which the liquid leakage occurs when either one of the first and second liquid leakage sensors detects the liquid leakage.Type: GrantFiled: December 18, 1998Date of Patent: June 13, 2000Assignee: Ebara CorporationInventors: Miki Shibata, Toyomi Nishi, Hidetaka Nakao, Tetsuji Togawa
-
Patent number: 6050884Abstract: A polishing apparatus is used for polishing a workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer to a flat mirror finish. The polishing apparatus includes a turntable having a polishing surface thereon, and a top ring for holding a workpiece to be polished and pressing the workpiece against the polishing surface on the turntable. A pusher is disposed in a position for transferring the workpiece to and from the top ring, and has a workpiece support which can be lifted to a position close to the top ring for transferring the workpiece to and from the top ring. When the workpiece support receives a polished workpiece and is lowered, a cleaning liquid is ejected substantially simultaneously from three cleaning nozzle units that are disposed in respective three positions to clean the upper and lower surfaces of the workpiece and the lower surface of the top ring.Type: GrantFiled: February 26, 1997Date of Patent: April 18, 2000Assignee: Ebara CorporationInventors: Tetsuji Togawa, Kuniaki Yamaguchi, Shunichiro Kojima, Toyomi Nishi
-
Patent number: 5931723Abstract: A polishing apparatus is used for polishing a workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer to a flat mirror finish. The polishing apparatus has an exhaust device for exhausting air in the polishing apparatus. The polishing apparatus includes a housing, a polishing section housed in the housing for polishing a workpiece, a cleaning section housed in the housing for cleaning the workpiece which has been polished, and a base comprising a plurality of structural members for supporting at least one device in at least one of the cleaning section and the polishing section. At least one of the structural members has a fluid passage therein and intake openings to serve as an exhaust duct. The polishing apparatus further comprises a main exhaust duct communicating with the exhaust duct and extending to an exterior of the housing for exhausting air introduced in the exhaust duct.Type: GrantFiled: May 29, 1997Date of Patent: August 3, 1999Assignee: Ebara CorporationInventors: Seiji Katsuoka, Toyomi Nishi, Tetsuji Togawa
-
Patent number: 5885134Abstract: A polishing apparatus is used for polishing a workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer to a flat mirror finish. The polishing apparatus includes a polishing section for polishing a surface of a workpiece, a cleaning section for cleaning the workpiece which has been polished, a first liquid leakage sensor provided in the polishing section for detecting a liquid leakage which occurs in the polishing section, and a second liquid leakage sensor provided in the cleaning section for detecting a liquid leakage which occurs in the cleaning section. The polishing apparatus further includes a controlling device for stopping the supply of liquid to the polishing section or the cleaning section in which the liquid leakage occurs when either one of the first and second liquid leakage sensors detects the liquid leakage.Type: GrantFiled: April 16, 1997Date of Patent: March 23, 1999Assignee: Ebara CorporationInventors: Miki Shibata, Toyomi Nishi, Hidetaka Nakao, Tetsuji Togawa
-
Patent number: 5860847Abstract: A polishing apparatus has a turntable with an abrasive cloth mounted on an upper surface thereof and a top ring disposed above the turntable for supporting a workpiece to be polished against the abrasive cloth under predetermined pressure. The turntable is rotatable by a first motor through a timing pulley connected to the first motor, and the top ring is rotatable by a second motor through a timing pulley connected to the second motor. A torque detector incorporated in the timing pulley connected to at least one of the first motor and the second motor detects an output torque produced by the at least one of the first motor and the second motor.Type: GrantFiled: September 6, 1996Date of Patent: January 19, 1999Assignees: Ebara Corporation, Kabushiki Kaisha ToshibaInventors: Kunihiko Sakurai, Tetsuji Togawa, Toyomi Nishi, Seiji Katsuoka, Hiromi Yajima, Masako Kodera
-
Patent number: RE38215Abstract: A polishing apparatus is used for polishing a workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer to a flat mirror finish. The polishing apparatus includes a polishing section for polishing a surface of a workpiece, a cleaning section for cleaning the workpiece which has been polished, a first liquid leakage sensor provided in the polishing section for detecting a liquid leakage which occurs in the polishing section, and a second liquid leakage sensor provided in the cleaning section for detecting a liquid leakage which occurs in the cleaning section. The polishing apparatus further includes a controlling device for stopping the supply of liquid to the polishing section or the cleaning section in which the liquid leakage occurs when either one of the first and second liquid leakage sensors detects the liquid leakage.Type: GrantFiled: March 22, 2001Date of Patent: August 12, 2003Assignee: Ebara CorporationInventors: Miki Shibata, Toyomi Nishi, Hidetaka Nakao, Tetsuji Togawa