Electroprocessing workpiece contact assemblies, and apparatus with contact assemblies for electroprocessing workpieces
Contact assemblies and machines with contact assemblies for electroprocessing workpieces are disclosed herein. The contact assemblies include a support member and a contact member coupled to the support member. The support member includes an inner wall defining an opening configured to receive a workpiece. The contact member includes a mounting section connected to the support member and a plurality of contacts projecting from the mounting section. The individual contacts include a cantilevered segment projecting inwardly and downwardly to center a workpiece and a tip segment projecting inwardly and upwardly to provide electrical contact with the centered workpiece.
Latest Patents:
- FOOD BAR, AND METHOD OF MAKING A FOOD BAR
- Methods and Apparatus for Improved Measurement of Compound Action Potentials
- DISPLAY DEVICE AND MANUFACTURING METHOD OF THE SAME
- PREDICTIVE USER PLANE FUNCTION (UPF) LOAD BALANCING BASED ON NETWORK DATA ANALYTICS
- DISPLAY SUBSTRATE, DISPLAY DEVICE, AND METHOD FOR DRIVING DISPLAY DEVICE
The following disclosure is related to contact assemblies for providing an electrical potential to a microfeature workpiece for electroprocessing of the workpiece.
BACKGROUNDElectroprocessing (i.e., electroplating or electropolishing/etching) of microelectronic/microfeature workpieces, such as silicon wafers, typically involves immersing an electrically conductive surface on the device side of the workpiece in an electrolyte to establish a current path between an immersed electrode and a plurality of electrical contacts applied to the electrically conductive surface at the periphery of the workpiece. Consequently, selected species are deposited on the workpiece from the electrolyte (electroplating) or removed from the workpiece (electropolishing/etching) by applying a voltage differential between the workpiece electrical contacts and the immersed electrode such that a current path extends through the electrolyte between the immersed electrode and the electrically conductive surface.
Today, fabrication of semiconductor devices on workpieces such as silicon wafers involves depositing copper on the device side of the workpieces so as to form interconnecting copper lines and vias or removing copper from selected parts of the workpiece so as to isolate interconnecting copper lines and vias. Other microfeature devices are fabricated on workpieces by depositing copper, other metals, and other nonmetallic materials in a similar manner but without the formation of interconnecting lines or vias. In the course of fabrication, many such layers of lines, vias and other formations may be electroplated or subject to electropolishing/etching.
As workpiece diameters increase (typically today from 200 mm to 300 mm), device sizes diminish, and line and via dimensions become more extreme, the electrical contact system that provides electrical contact to the periphery of the device side of the workpiece must meet increasingly stringent specifications. In particular, plated film uniformity specifications are becoming increasingly narrow. Also, the surface area at the periphery of the wafer that is available for making electrical contact with the wafer is becoming increasingly smaller. These two, in particular, require employing more electrical contact points around the workpiece periphery and locating the contact points closer to the edge of the workpiece. Because workpieces, such as silicon wafers, are not identical in thickness or diameter—even though nominally the same—it is increasingly difficult to provide an electrical contact system that contacts the periphery of the workpiece within the narrow perimeter band that is not occupied by fabricated devices.
In order to make electrical contact in the small perimeter bands, it is common for the contact elements to be exposed to the electrolyte during an electroprocessing cycle. Where such “wet contact” elements are employed and as more numerous contact points are provided, there is an increasing tendency, in the case of electroplating, for many of the contact elements that make electrical contact at each contact point to become bonded to the electrically conductive surface on the workpiece during electroplating. This tendency makes removal of the workpiece from the contact system, following electroplating, problematic. This requires some means for dislodging the workpiece from the contact elements after completion of electroplating.
In the case of workpieces such as silicon wafers, the outer edge of the workpiece is rounded or beveled and the permissible band for making electrical contact is located immediately radially inward of the outer edge. As the specification for the size of the perimeter band on the workpiece is reduced, the contact elements that make electrical contact at each contact point risk missing the band by making contact (a) too far radially inward and thereby encroaching on the workpiece area reserved for devices, or (b) too far radially outward and thereby either missing the workpiece entirely or making contact on the edge. Because the workpiece mounting/holding system, within which the electrical contact system is located, must accommodate workpieces of varying sizes within a particular workpiece standard, making electrical contact at all points around the workpiece becomes problematic. This requires some means for centering each workpiece relative to the contact elements of the electrical contact system.
Conventional electroprocessing systems rotate the workpiece within the electrolyte. Consequently, electrical contact systems with “wet contact” elements cause flow disturbances and fluid turbulence as the workpiece and “wet contact” elements rotate in the electrolyte during electroprocessing. Fluid turbulence in the electrolyte adjacent to the electroprocessed workpiece surface can create bubbles and disrupt the hydrodynamic boundary layer, which adversely affects electroprocessing.
SUMMARYThe present invention provides workpiece mounting/holding systems that include an electrical contact system designed to provide numerous electrical contacts on a workpiece within a narrow perimeter band. The electrical contact system accurately aligns and centers workpieces relative to the electrical contacts. The electrical contact system can provide electrical contact elements that exert an ejection force to break the mechanical bond that tends to form between the electrical contact elements and the workpieces after electroplating. The electrical contact system can provide additional means to exert an ejection force for breaking such mechanical bonds as an adjunct to the force exerted by the electrical contact elements. The electrical contact elements occupy only a small band around the perimeter of the workpieces, and project only a short distance into the electrolyte to reduce fluid turbulence.
The electrical contact system includes a plurality of electrical contact elements each of which has a cantilevered segment that projects from a contact mounting segment and ends with a contact tip segment. As a workpiece is inserted into the workpiece mounting/holding system for electroprocessing, the workpiece edge is forced to engage the cantilevered segment of each contact element and slide along the segment. The contact elements are oriented such that the force applied to move the workpiece along the cantilevered segments causes the segments to flex and be placed under strain and, consequently, the workpiece tends to center and align relative to the contact system as it is positioned in the contact system for electroprocessing.
The contact element tip segments, at the ends of the cantilevered segments, are oriented such that the workpiece engages the outer points of the tip segments as it is forced to its final position for electroprocessing within the contact system. As the workpiece reaches its final position, the outer points of the tip segments are drawn across the workpiece for a short distance and are flexed so as to be placed under strain. Consequently, when the workpiece is relieved from the insertion force following electroprocessing, the flexed tip segments return to their unstrained configuration, each pivoting about its junction with the contact element cantilevered segment, such that any mechanical bond formed between the tip outer points and the workpiece is broken. The relative configurations of the cantilevered segments and tip segments are such that, once the insertion force on the workpiece is removed and any mechanical bonds are broken, the cantilevered segments return to their unflexed condition and force the workpiece to slide back toward the location at which it entered the contact system. The contact element tip segments are short and are configured to project into the electrolyte by only a short distance to reduce fluid turbulence.
The electrical contact systems include a support member for the electrical contact elements that is configured in the form of a mounting ring with one or more electrical mounting members secured to the mounting ring. The mounting members are contact mounting segments that form a band of conductive material from which individual contact element cantilevered segments project. If more than one mounting member is provided, the mounting segments may be abutted to one another, end-to-end, when secured to the mounting ring so as to provide a continuous conductive ring. Alternatively, the mounting segments can be electrically isolated from adjacent mounting segments and yet also be secured to the mounting ring in an end-to-end fashion.
The mounting members can be fabricated from sheets of thin conductive material with multiple contact element cantilevered segments, and the tip segments associated with each cantilevered segment, being formed integrally with the mounting segments. Following formation of a mounting member into a contact mounting segment with integrally-formed contact element cantilevered and tip segments, the cantilevered and tip segments may be formed into their designed configurations. The tip segments may be formed to extend at an angle that is nearly 90 degrees from the cantilevered segments. The cantilevered segments may then be formed to extend at an obtuse angle from the mounting segment.
The workpiece mounting/holding system includes a workpiece backing member designed to move a workpiece into a processing position within the electrical contact system and hold the workpiece in that position during electroprocessing. When workpiece processing is completed, the backing member retracts to permit the workpiece to be removed from the mounting/holding system. The workpiece backing member may be provided with a vacuum system that can be activated at the completion of workpiece processing to hold the workpiece against the backing member as the backing member is retracted. This application of a vacuum system could assist in moving the workpiece so as to break any mechanical bonds formed between the electrical contact tip segments and the workpiece.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The following description discloses the details and features of several embodiments of contact assemblies, electrochemical processing reactors, and integrated tools for processing microfeature workpieces. The terms “microfeature workpiece” or “workpiece” refer to substrates on and/or in which microdevices are formed. Typical microdevices include microelectronic circuits or components, thin-film recording heads, data storage elements, microfluidic devices, and other products. Micromachines or micromechanical devices are included within this definition because they are manufactured in much the same manner as integrated circuits. The substrates can be semiconductive pieces (e.g., silicon wafers or gallium arsenide wafers), nonconductive pieces (e.g., various ceramic substrates), or conductive pieces (e.g., doped wafers). Also, the term electrochemical processing or deposition includes electroplating, electro-etching, anodization, and/or electroless plating. It will be appreciated that several of the details set forth below are provided to describe the following embodiments in a manner sufficient to enable a person skilled in the art to make and use the disclosed embodiments. Several of the details and advantages described below, however, may not be necessary to practice certain embodiments of the invention. Additionally, the invention can include additional embodiments that are within the scope of the claims, but are not described in detail with respect to
The electrical contact system 100 depicted schematically in
The support member 110 may be provided as a continuous ring or as a series of segments arranged in a ring, and
The plating rotor 20, as seen in
In the course of moving the workpiece 101 to the processing position shown in
The spring force built up in the cantilevered segments 142 will be greatest at the point where the workpiece 101 contacts the tips segments 144 as seen in
As the workpiece 101 continues to advance from the position shown in
The sheet portions 230a and 230b, as thus formed, can be secured to the support member 110 by spot welds, screws, or other techniques. As shown in
The operation and features of the contact assemblies are best understood in light of the environment and equipment in which they can be used to electroprocess workpieces (e.g., electroplate and/or electropolish/electroetch). As such, the following description is divided into the following sections: (A) Reactor Heads Having Contact Assemblies; (B) Electrochemical Processing Stations Having Contact Assemblies; and (C) Integrated Tools and Electroprocessing Reactors.
A. Reactor Heads Having Contact Assemblies
As previously described and referring to
The contacts 140 are flexible and move between (a) a flexed first position (shown in
The transition segments (bends 143) of the individual contacts 140 also flex and the tip segments 144 consequently pivot as the workpiece 101 is loaded into the contact assembly 100 (
Referring to
The contacts 140 may not be coated with a dielectric material such that the submerged section of the individual contacts 140 thieves material from the processing fluid near the perimeter of the workpiece 101. An advantage of this feature is that thieving reduces the thickness of the plated layer at the perimeter of the workpiece 101 so that the material plates more uniformly across the workpiece 101. This feature is particularly useful for applications in which it is desirable to reduce the thickness of a plated layer at the perimeter of the workpiece to compensate for edge effects.
Referring to
The contact assembly 100 is particularly advantageous for electroprocessing large workpieces with small features. In addition to repeatedly centering the workpieces and enabling removal of the workpieces, the contacts also have a low-profile to mitigate turbulence and a high-density to enhance the uniformity of the current density. Several specific features of contacts in accordance with the invention are described in more detail with reference to
Referring only to
The contacts 140 are cantilevered fingers that project radially inward and generally downward from the mounting section 132. The contacts 140 and the mounting section 132 illustrated in
The cantilevered segment 142 of the individual contacts 140 projects inwardly from the mounting section 132 in a first direction at an inclined angle relative to the loading path P (
In the illustrated contacts 140, the length of the cantilevered segments 142 is greater than the length of the tip segments 144 so that the tip edge 145 of the individual contacts 140 is positioned below the second wall 118 of the support member 110. An advantage of this feature is that the support member 110 will be positioned above the processing fluid while the contacts 140 are at least partially submerged within the processing fluid and contact the workpiece. As such, the support member 110 does not need a dielectric layer over the exterior surface to inhibit material from plating onto the member 110 and, furthermore, will not interfere with the flow of processing fluid along the processing plane.
The illustrated individual contacts 140 are tapered and have a first width W1 at the junction between the mounting section 132 and the cantilevered segment 142 and a second width W2 at the junction between the cantilevered segment 142 and the tip segment 144. As such, the distance between the tip segments 144 of adjacent contacts 140 is greater than the distance between the cantilevered segments 142 of adjacent contacts 140. Also, as described above, the contacts 140 are thin and flexible elements. For example, the illustrated contacts 140 and contact member 130 have a thickness of approximately 0.05 mm to approximately 1.25 mm. Although thin and flexible, the contacts 140 are stiff enough so that the strain imposed by loading a workpiece creates an ejection force for breaking the mechanical bond between workpieces and the contacts 140 when the backing member 60 is retracted. This feature facilitates separation of the workpieces from the contacts 140 without damaging the contacts 140.
The contacts 140 may be composed of a conductive material that is inert in the particular electroprocessing fluid. Suitable conductive materials include platinum/iridium alloys, platinum, stainless steel, tungsten, and/or molybdenum. For example, the contacts 140 can be composed of a platinum/iridium alloy having approximately 5-30% iridium, and more particularly about 20% iridium. The illustrated contacts 140 do not include a dielectric coating on the conductive material. As such, the contacts 140 thieve material from the processing fluid near the perimeter of the workpiece. This feature is particularly useful for applications in which it is desirable to reduce the thickness of a plated layer at the perimeter of the workpiece to compensate for edge effects.
One feature of the contact assembly 100 illustrated in
Referring back to
A dielectric splash guard 160 is attached to the outer and second walls 114 and 118 of the support member 110. The splash guard 160 includes a first portion 162 and a second portion 164 projecting inwardly and downwardly from the first portion 162 in a direction generally parallel to the contacts 140. The second portion 164 projects downward a first distance D1 from the second wall 118 and the contacts 140 project downward a second distance D2 from the second wall 118 when a workpiece is not loaded in the contact assembly 100. The first distance D1 is greater than or equal to the second distance D2 so that the splash guard 160 forms a skirt around the contacts 140 to protect the contacts 140. The splash guard 160 also assists in collecting in-situ rinse water after a rinse cycle, and includes a plurality of slots 166 to sling rinse water during the rinse cycle.
Referring to
B. Electrochemical Processing Stations Having Contact Assemblies
The processing chamber 470 defines a reactor that includes an outer housing 480 and a reaction vessel 490 in the housing 480. The reaction vessel 490 includes a plurality of electrodes 492 and a dielectric divider 494 for directing a flow of processing fluid between the electrodes 492 and the workpiece 101. The processing fluid, for example, flows over a weir (arrow F) and into the housing 480, from which the processing fluid is recycled. Alternatively, the reaction vessel 490 may include a single electrode. Suitable processing chambers are disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 10/729,349 and 10/860,384, which are incorporated by reference herein.
The head assembly 450 and the contact assembly 100 hold the workpiece 101 at a workpiece-processing site in the reaction vessel 490 so that at least a processing surface of the workpiece 101 engages the processing fluid. An electrical field is established in the fluid by generating an electrical potential between the surface of the workpiece 101 via the contact assembly 100 and the electrodes 492. For example, the contact assembly 100 can be biased with a negative potential with respect to the electrodes 492 to plate metals or other types of materials onto the workpiece 101. Alternatively, the contact assembly 100 can be biased with a positive potential with respect to the electrodes 492 to (a) de-plate the contacts 140 or electropolish plated material from the workpiece 101, or (b) deposit other materials onto the workpiece 101 (e.g., an electrophoretic resist). In general, therefore, materials can be deposited on or removed from the workpiece with the workpiece acting as a cathode or an anode depending upon the particular type of material used in the electrochemical process.
C. Integrated Tools and Electroprocessing Reactors
The load/unload station 510 has two container supports 512 that are each housed within a protective shroud 513. The container supports 512 are configured to position workpiece containers 514 relative to the apertures 506 in the cabinet 502. The workpiece containers 514 each house a plurality of microfeature workpieces 101 in a “mini” clean environment for carrying the workpieces 101 through other environments that are not at clean room standards. Each of the workpiece containers 514 is accessible from the interior region 504 of the cabinet 502 through the apertures 506.
The processing apparatus 500 also includes a one or more workpiece cleaning stations and workpiece etching stations 522, as well as electrochemical processing stations, and a transfer device 530 in the interior region 504 of the cabinet 502. The transfer device 530 moves the microfeature workpieces 101 between the workpiece containers 514 and the processing stations 420 and 522. For example, the transfer device 530 includes a linear track 532 extending in a lengthwise direction of the interior region 504 between the processing stations 420. The illustrated apparatus 500 includes a first set of processing stations 420 arranged along a first row R1-R1 and a second set of processing stations 420 arranged along a second row R2-R2. The linear track 532 extends between the first and second rows R1-R1 and R2-R2 of the processing stations 420. The transfer device 530 further includes a robot unit 534 carried by the track 532 that can access any of the processing stations 420 along the track 532. Suitable transfer devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,752,584; 6,749,391; 6,749,390; 6,318,951; and 6,322,119, all of which are incorporated by reference herein.
From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that specific embodiments of the invention have been described herein for purposes of illustration, but that various modifications may be made without deviating from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, the contact member can be manufactured using different methods than those described above with reference to
Claims
1. A workpiece holder for holding a workpiece and providing electrical contact to the workpiece in an electroprocessing system to apply an electrical potential to a workpiece when the workpiece is positioned in a processing position, the workpiece holder comprising:
- (a) a workpiece backing member axially extendable relative to a support member for moving a workpiece from a loading position to a processing position along a loading path; and
- (b) a contact assembly including, the support member defining an opening for receiving a workpiece; and a plurality of contacts arranged around the perimeter of the support member opening and connected to the support member, each individual contact consisting of a cantilevered segment projecting into the support member opening at an acute angle relative to the loading path so as to be contacted by a perimeter edge of the workpiece as the workpiece is moved to the processing position, and a tip segment integral with and projecting from the cantilevered segment so as to contact and support the workpiece when the workpiece is moved to the processing position, the cantilevered segments being so constructed and arranged to guide and center the workpiece as the workpiece is moved by the workpiece backing member to the processing position, and the tip segments being so constructed and arranged to provide tip edges that electrically contact the workpiece at the processing position.
2. The workpiece holder of claim 1 wherein the cantilevered segments are integral with a contact mounting section and the contact mounting section is fastened to the support member.
3. The workpiece holder of claim 1 wherein the contact assembly further comprises several mounting sections aligned end-to-end and fastened to the support member, and each of the mounting sections have several integral contacts.
4. The workpiece holder of claim 1 wherein the cantilevered segments project at an acute angle of between about 30 degrees to 60 degrees relative to the loading path.
5. The workpiece holder of claim 1 wherein the cantilevered segments have a trapezoidal planar profile that tapers from a wider base to a narrower outer end, and the tip segments extend from the cantilevered segment outer ends.
6. The workpiece holder of claim 1 wherein each tip segment extends approximately perpendicular to the integral cantilevered segment.
7. The workpiece holder of claim 1 wherein the cantilevered segments do not contact the workpiece when the workpiece is in the processing position.
8. The workpiece holder of claim 1 wherein the support member has an electrically conductive inner wall defining the opening, and wherein the cantilevered segments are integral with a contact mounting section and the contact mounting section is fastened to the support member inner wall.
9. The workpiece holder of claim 8 wherein the individual contacts have a first width at a junction between the mounting section and the cantilevered segments and a second width at a junction between the cantilevered and tip segments, and wherein the first width is greater than the second width such that adjacent tip segments are separated from one another.
10. The workpiece holder of claim 1 for use in an electroplating operation wherein the cantilevered segments flex during loading of the workpiece onto the tip segments such that retraction of the workpiece backing member causes the tip edges of the tip segments to break loose from an electroplated workpiece surface created in the electroplating operation.
11. The workpiece holder of claim 1 further comprising a skirt ring attached to the support member and extending therefrom so as to extend beyond the contacts when the workpiece is removed from the contacts.
12. The workpiece holder of claim 11 wherein the support member and skirt ring are provided with fluid drain apertures for draining electroprocessing fluid away from the workpiece during processing.
13. A contact assembly for use in an electrochemical processing system to apply an electrical potential to a microfeature workpiece, the contact assembly comprising:
- a support member having an inner wall defining an opening configured to receive the workpiece along a loading path; and
- a plurality of contacts coupled to the support member, the individual contacts including a cantilevered segment and a tip segment integral with and projecting from the cantilevered segment, the cantilevered segment projecting inwardly in a first direction along the loading path, the tip segment projecting inwardly in a second direction along the loading path, the first direction being opposite the second direction, wherein the individual contacts are in electrical communication with each other independent of the position of the workpiece.
14. The contact assembly of claim 13 for use in an electroplating operation wherein the cantilevered segments flex during loading of the workpiece onto the tip segments such that retraction of a workpiece backing member causes tip edges of the tip segments to break loose from an electroplated workpiece surface created in the electroplating operation.
15. The contact assembly of claim 13, further comprising an outer dielectric member projecting in the first direction from the support member.
16. The contact assembly of claim 13, further comprising a contact member having a mounting section attached to the inner wall of the support member and the plurality of contacts projecting from the mounting section, wherein the mounting section and the contacts are integral components of the contact member.
17. The contact assembly of claim 13, further comprising a contact member having a mounting section attached to the inner wall of the support member and the plurality of contacts projecting from the mounting section, wherein the individual contacts have a first width at a junction between the mounting section and the cantilevered segments and a second width at a junction between the cantilevered and tip segments, and wherein the first width is greater than the second width such that the distance between the cantilevered segments of adjacent contacts is less than the distance between the tip segments of adjacent contacts.
18. A reactor for electroprocessing of workpieces, the reactor comprising:
- a vessel for holding an electroprocessing fluid;
- a plurality of electrodes disposed relative to the vessel and dielectrically separated from one another to provide an electrical potential in the vessel;
- a head assembly movable relative to the vessel between a load/unload position and a processing position, and including a workpiece backing member axially extendable relative to a support member for moving a workpiece from a loading position to a processing position along a loading path; and
- a contact assembly carried by the head assembly, the contact assembly comprising the support member defining an opening for receiving the workpiece; and a plurality of contacts arranged around the perimeter of the support member opening and connected to the support member, each individual contact consisting of a cantilevered segment projecting into the support member opening at an acute angle relative to the loading path so as to be contacted by a perimeter edge of the workpiece as the workpiece is moved to the processing position, and a tip segment integral with and projecting from the cantilevered segment so as to contact and support the workpiece when the workpiece is moved to the processing position, the cantilevered segments being so constructed and arranged to guide and center the workpiece as the workpiece is moved by the workpiece backing member to the processing position, and the tip segments being so constructed and arranged to provide tip edges that electrically contact the workpiece at the processing position.
19. The reactor of claim 18 wherein the cantilevered segments are integral with a contact mounting section and the contact mounting section is fastened to the support member.
20. The reactor of claim 18 wherein contact assembly further comprises several mounting sections aligned end-to-end and fastened to the support member, and each of the mounting sections have several integral cantilevered segments.
21. The reactor of claim 18 wherein the cantilevered segments project at an acute angle of between about 30 degrees to 60 degrees relative to the loading path.
22. The reactor of claim 18 wherein the cantilevered segments have a trapezoidal planar profile that tapers from a wider base to a narrower outer end, and the tip segments extend from the cantilevered segment outer ends.
23. The reactor of claim 18 wherein each tip segment extends approximately perpendicular to the integral cantilevered segment.
24. The reactor of claim 18 wherein the cantilevered segments do not contact the workpiece when the workpiece is in the processing position.
25. The reactor of claim 18 wherein the support member has an electrically conductive inner wall defining the opening, and wherein the cantilevered segments are integral with a contact mounting section and the contact mounting section is fastened to the support member inner wall.
26. The reactor of claim 18 for use in an electroplating operation wherein the cantilevered segments flex during loading of the workpiece onto the tip segments such that retraction of the workpiece backing member causes tip edges of the tip segments to break loose from an electroplated workpiece surface created in the electroplating operation.
27. The reactor of claim 18 further comprising a lift/rotate assembly configured to rotate the head assembly from an upwardly facing disposition for receiving the workpiece to a downwardly facing disposition for placing the workpiece in the vessel for electroprocessing.
28. An electroprocessing apparatus comprising:
- (a) a cabinet having an interior region within which workpieces may be processed;
- (b) a plurality of workpiece processing stations located within the interior region, at least one of such stations comprising a reactor for electroprocessing of workpieces, the reactor comprising: a vessel for holding an electroprocessing fluid; a plurality of electrodes disposed relative to the vessel and dielectrically separated from one another to provide an electrical potential in the vessel; a head assembly movable relative to the vessel between a load/unload position and a processing position, and including a workpiece backing member axially extendable relative to a support member for moving a workpiece from a loading position to a processing position along a loading path; and a contact assembly carried by the head assembly, the contact assembly comprising the support member defining an opening for receiving the workpiece; and a plurality of contacts arranged around the perimeter of the support member opening and connected to the support member, each individual contact consisting of a cantilevered segment projecting into the support member opening at an acute angle relative to the loading path so as to be contacted by a perimeter edge of the workpiece as the workpiece is moved to the processing position, and a tip segment integral with and projecting from the cantilevered segment so as to contact and support the workpiece when the workpiece is moved to the processing position, the cantilevered segments being so constructed and arranged to guide and center the workpiece as the workpiece is moved by the workpiece backing member to the processing position, and the tip segments being so constructed and arranged to provide tip edges that electrically contact the workpiece at the processing position;
- (c) a load/unload station for delivering workpieces to the interior region and for receiving workpieces from the interior region; and
- (d) a workpiece transfer for delivering workpieces to and from processing stations in the interior region.
29. The electroprocessing apparatus of claim 28 wherein the processing stations include at least one workpiece cleaning station.
30. The electroprocessing apparatus of claim 28 wherein the processing stations include at least one workpiece etching station.
Type: Application
Filed: Jun 28, 2005
Publication Date: Dec 28, 2006
Applicant:
Inventor: Kyle Hanson (Kalispell, MT)
Application Number: 11/170,557
International Classification: C25D 17/06 (20060101);