Patents Examined by Joel D Crandall
-
Patent number: 11878392Abstract: The invention relates to a method for the hydro-erosive processing of components, in which hydro-erosive grinding a liquid containing grinding particles flows over surfaces of the component (1), in a device having a channel (3), through which the liquid containing grinding particles flows under pressure and in which the component (1) to be ground is held and in which a valve (5) is positioned upstream of the component (1) in the flow direction, by means of which valve the flow of the liquid can be adjusted.Type: GrantFiled: May 21, 2019Date of Patent: January 23, 2024Assignee: BASF SEInventor: Mathias Weickert
-
Patent number: 11878387Abstract: An as-sliced wafer processing method includes a grinding step of grinding a first surface of an as-sliced wafer, an outer periphery positioning step of moving a chuck table and a grinding unit relative to each other in directions parallel to a holding surface of the chuck table so as to position an edge on an outer periphery of grinding stones at an outer peripheral edge of the first surface after the grinding step is carried out, and a chamfering step of chamfering an outer periphery of the first surface of the as-sliced wafer by the grinding stones after the outer periphery positioning step is carried out.Type: GrantFiled: August 23, 2021Date of Patent: January 23, 2024Assignee: DISCO CORPORATIONInventor: Satoshi Yamanaka
-
Patent number: 11878385Abstract: A method for slicing an ingot with a wire saw, comprising: forming a wire row by a wire spirally wound between a plurality of wire guides and configured to travel in an axial direction of the wire; feeding an ingot held with a workpiece-feeding mechanism to the wire row for slicing; and slicing the ingot into a plurality of wafers, while supplying a slurry to a contact portion between the ingot and the wire, wherein a warp direction in a wire travelling direction of a wafer obtained in previous ingot slicing is checked in advance, and the ingot is then sliced under a condition that a warp direction in a workpiece feeding direction of a wafer to be obtained matches the checked warp direction in the wire travelling direction, so that the wafers have identical warp directions in the workpiece feeding direction and in the wire travelling direction.Type: GrantFiled: March 2, 2018Date of Patent: January 23, 2024Assignee: SHIN-ETSU HANDOTAI CO., LTD.Inventor: Keiichi Kanbayashi
-
Patent number: 11865662Abstract: A blade sharpener for manual use includes a base, and at least one sharpening device pivotally attached to the base. Each sharpening device has a channel for receiving a blade to be sharpened. A second pivotally attached device may be sharpening device or a guide. The two devices are pivotable independently of each other thereby accommodating any curvature of a blade to be sharpened as the blade sharpener is moved along the blade. A blade sharpener for use with a powered rotary tool includes a main body having a bore for receiving the powered rotary tool, and a channel for receiving a blade to be sharpened. A guide having a channel is pivotably attached to the main body to accommodate any curvature of a blade.Type: GrantFiled: November 21, 2019Date of Patent: January 9, 2024Assignee: American Lawn Mower Co.Inventors: Charles East, Rhett Thompson, Michael Kersey
-
Patent number: 11858092Abstract: A substrate processing method of thinning a substrate having a protective tape attached on a front surface thereof includes measuring a thickness of the protective tape; and grinding, by using a grinder, a rear surface of the substrate held by a substrate holder.Type: GrantFiled: June 7, 2018Date of Patent: January 2, 2024Assignee: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITEDInventors: Munehisa Kodama, Takahiro Sakamoto
-
Patent number: 11858090Abstract: After a workpiece unit has been delivered from a cassette and before the workpiece unit is delivered to a chuck table, a value of the thickness of the workpiece unit is recognized on the basis of a result of a measurement performed by a measuring unit. The value of the thickness of the workpiece unit is represented by the sum of values of respective thicknesses of a workpiece and a tape affixed thereto. On the basis of the result of the measurement performed by the measuring unit, it is possible to decide whether or not the tape affixed to the workpiece has a desired thickness, i.e., whether the tape is of a desired type or not. As a result, a workpiece with an inadequate tape affixed thereto is prevented from being ground.Type: GrantFiled: November 22, 2021Date of Patent: January 2, 2024Assignee: DISCO CORPORATIONInventor: Kazuma Sekiya
-
Patent number: 11858087Abstract: There is provided a grinding apparatus including a chuck table configured to hold a workpiece, a grinding unit configured to grind the workpiece held by the chuck table by grinding stones fixed to a grinding wheel, a grinding feed mechanism configured to raise or lower the grinding unit, a reading unit configured to read a thickness of a base which thickness is recorded on a recording medium on which the thickness of the base of the grinding wheel is recorded, a base thickness storage section configured to store the thickness of the base which thickness is read by the reading unit, and a detecting unit configured to make the grinding unit perform processing by the grinding feed mechanism, and detect a fitting surface of a mount and the lower surface of a grinding stone of the grinding wheel fitted to the mount.Type: GrantFiled: February 17, 2022Date of Patent: January 2, 2024Assignee: DISCO CORPORATIONInventor: Jiro Genozono
-
Patent number: 11850698Abstract: An automatic knife sharpening machine may include a vice to grip a blade of a knife and a pair of grind wheels to grind material from the blade. The machine may include a scanner to determine a profile of an edge of the blade, and a sharpness sensor to determine a sharpness level of the edge. The machine may include a controller. The controller may perform a first sharpening pass on the knife by moving the grind wheels into contact with the blade, and advancing the grind wheels longitudinally along the blade from adjacent the vice towards a tip of the blade with the grind wheels in contact with the blade. The controller may determine, using the sharpness sensor, the sharpness level of the edge after the first sharpening pass and perform at least one second sharpening pass when the determined sharpness level is less than a threshold sharpness level.Type: GrantFiled: January 29, 2020Date of Patent: December 26, 2023Assignee: The Hillman Group, Inc.Inventors: Whitfield Janes Fowler, Sean Stone, Ari Bennett, Jeffrey Kastenbaum, David Frederick Lyons, Dmitriy Kolchin
-
Patent number: 11850700Abstract: An apparatus and method for sequential application of cleaning fluids for improved maintenance of chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) systems is disclosed. A method includes transferring a first substrate to a first polishing station of a plurality of polishing stations, polishing the first substrate at the first polishing station, transferring the first substrate to a second polishing station, and transferring a second substrate to the first polishing station. The method includes cleaning a first surface of a plurality of surfaces of the polishing system by dispensing a first cleaning fluid from a first one or more nozzles of a plurality of nozzles to direct the first cleaning fluid onto the first surface and dispensing a second cleaning fluid from the first one or more nozzles to direct the second cleaning fluid onto the first surface, where the second cleaning fluid is different from the first cleaning fluid.Type: GrantFiled: September 29, 2021Date of Patent: December 26, 2023Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.Inventors: Jeonghoon Oh, Jamie Stuart Leighton, Roger M. Johnson, Van H. Nguyen
-
Patent number: 11850705Abstract: A grinding apparatus includes a grinding unit, a grinding feeding mechanism, and a grinding water supply unit. The grinding water supply unit includes a nozzle that jets grinding water to grindstones, and a biasing mechanism that biases the nozzle upward. The nozzle is configured to be movable downward against the upward biasing according to a downward movement of the grinding unit. The grinding apparatus further includes an upper limit stopping section that sets an upper limit position for upward movement of the nozzle biased upward by the biasing mechanism, for forming a gap through which the grinding wheel is passed, between the nozzle and the mount.Type: GrantFiled: January 28, 2021Date of Patent: December 26, 2023Assignee: DISCO CORPORATIONInventor: Jiro Genozono
-
Patent number: 11850702Abstract: In some embodiments, the present disclosure relates to a chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) tool. The CMP tool includes a carrier and a malleable membrane coupled to the carrier and having a lower surface facing away from the carrier. The lower surface of the malleable membrane includes a first malleable material within a central region of the lower surface and a second malleable material within a peripheral region of the lower surface, which surrounds the central region. The first malleable material provides the central region of the lower surface with a first stiffness and the second malleable material provides the peripheral region of the lower surface with a second stiffness that is different than the first stiffness.Type: GrantFiled: March 3, 2022Date of Patent: December 26, 2023Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.Inventors: Cheng-Ping Chen, Ren-Dou Lee, Sheng-Tai Peng, Tsung-Lung Lai, Tzi-Yi Shieh, Chien-Wei Chang
-
Patent number: 11850697Abstract: A substrate processing apparatus includes: a holding part for holding a substrate; a rotating part for rotating the holding part to rotate the substrate together with the holding part; a liquid supply part for supplying a cleaning liquid to a main surface of the substrate; a polishing head for polishing the main surface; a moving part for scanning the polishing head in a radial direction of the substrate while pressing the polishing head against the main surface; and a controller for controlling the rotating part, the liquid supply part, and the moving part. The controller sets a division line that divides the main surface into plural areas in the radial direction, and controls the liquid supply part to supply the cleaning liquid for each area and controls the moving part to scan the polishing head for each area while a subsequent supply of the cleaning liquid is stopped.Type: GrantFiled: December 14, 2020Date of Patent: December 26, 2023Assignee: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITEDInventor: Osamu Miyahara
-
Patent number: 11845156Abstract: A chemical-mechanical polishing pad comprising a thermosetting polyurethane polishing layer includes an isocyanate-terminated urethane prepolymer, a polyamine curative, and a cyclohexanedimethanol curative. The polyamine curative and the cyclohexanedimethanol curative are in a molar ratio of polyamine curative to cyclohexanedimethanol curative in a range from about 20:1 to about 1:1.Type: GrantFiled: July 8, 2020Date of Patent: December 19, 2023Assignee: CMC MATERIALS, INC.Inventors: Rui Ma, Lin Fu, Chen-Chih Tsai, Jaeseok Lee, Sarah Brosnan
-
Patent number: 11839945Abstract: A method for preparing a polishing pad includes: preparing a polishing pad transition structure formed with a plurality of grooves, openings of the plurality of grooves being all located on a same side surface of the polishing pad transition structure; filling the plurality of grooves of the polishing pad transition structure with inorganic nanoparticles; pouring a mixture of a liquid polymer and a curing agent on the polishing pad transition structure, and evacuating air in the liquid polymer and the plurality of grooves; and placing the polishing pad transition structure in an environment at a temperature higher than or equal to a first temperature threshold, and the cured liquid polymer and the polishing pad transition structure constituting the polishing pad.Type: GrantFiled: July 1, 2020Date of Patent: December 12, 2023Assignees: XI'AN ESWIN MATERIAL TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD., XI'AN ESWIN SILICON WAFER TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.Inventors: Yuxuan Guo, Sungwoo Cho
-
Patent number: 11839946Abstract: A grinding machine tool with random eccentric orbital motion speed detection, the grinding machine tool comprises a body and a grinding disc, the body comprises a driving shaft and a tool holder connecting the grinding disc and having an eccentric distance relative to the driving shaft, and the grinding disc performs grinding in a random eccentric orbital motion when the driving shaft rotates. The grinding disc comprises at least one detected member on a side of the grinding disc facing the body for detecting a speed of the random eccentric orbital motion, and the at least one detected member defines a detection area with a range greater than or equal to twice the eccentric distance. Thereby, an accurate speed of the grinding disc performing the random eccentric orbital motion is obtained, so that the grinding operation of precision grinding which is gradually performed by automation is more precisely controlled.Type: GrantFiled: August 6, 2019Date of Patent: December 12, 2023Assignee: X'POLE PRECISION TOOLS INC.Inventor: Bach Pangho Chen
-
Patent number: 11833641Abstract: A cleaning method capable of removing abrasive grains adhering to a light passage provided in a polishing table is disclosed. The cleaning method includes: while supplying slurry containing abrasive grains onto a polishing pad supported by a polishing table, placing a substrate in sliding contact with the polishing pad to polish the substrate; during polishing of the substrate, directing light to the substrate through a light passage provided in the polishing table, and causing reflected light from the substrate to pass through the light passage; removing the polished substrate from the polishing pad; and supplying a chemical liquid into the light passage when the substrate is not present on the polishing pad to remove the abrasive grains adhering to the light passage by the chemical liquid.Type: GrantFiled: June 15, 2020Date of Patent: December 5, 2023Assignee: EBARA CORPORATIONInventor: Toshimitsu Sasaki
-
Substrate polishing apparatus, method of creating thickness map, and method of polishing a substrate
Patent number: 11833636Abstract: To measure thickness in a polishing treatment more efficiently. A substrate polishing apparatus comprises a rotatably configured polishing table provided with a sensor that outputs a signal related to a thickness, a rotatably configured polishing head that faces the polishing table, a substrate being attachable to a face of the polishing head that faces the polishing table, and a controller. The controller acquires a signal from the sensor when the sensor passes over a surface to be polished of the substrate, specifies an orbit of the sensor with respect to the substrate on a basis of a profile of the signal, calculates a thickness of the substrate at each point on the orbit on a basis of the signal, and creates a thickness map on a basis of the calculated thickness at each point on a plurality of orbits of the sensor.Type: GrantFiled: September 22, 2020Date of Patent: December 5, 2023Assignee: EBARA CORPORATIONInventors: Katsuhide Watanabe, Yoichi Shiokawa, Keita Yagi, Akira Nakamura -
Patent number: 11826869Abstract: A sharpening tool having a handle having a variable speed switch and a support grip, a removable universal tool adapter rotatably coupled to the handle, a locking feature for locking a position of the removable universal tool adapter, and a motor for driving a tool coupled to the removable universal tool adapter.Type: GrantFiled: January 18, 2019Date of Patent: November 28, 2023Assignee: EDGECRAFT CORPORATIONInventors: Bela Elek, Bill Hessler, George Jensen
-
Patent number: 11826873Abstract: Apparatus and method for removing material from the susceptor of a batch processing chamber are described. The apparatus comprises a polishing tool including a rotatable platen positioned above the susceptor. A method comprises contacting material deposited on the susceptor with the rotatable platen to remove the material from the susceptor.Type: GrantFiled: August 24, 2020Date of Patent: November 28, 2023Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.Inventors: Vijayabhaskara Venkatagiriyappa, Nitin Bhargav, Tae Kwang Lee
-
Patent number: 11826880Abstract: The disclosure discloses a double-station wheel deburring device consisting of two major systems. One is a wheel double-station exchange system responsible for feeding and discharging of two wheels, switching between a first working table and a second working table, switching between an upper station and a lower station, and rotation of the wheels. The other is a cutter feeding system responsible for feeding of a rim deburring blade, a riser deburring blade and brushes. The device can simultaneously remove burrs on outer rims, risers and valve holes of two wheels. Through the interactive double-station working tables, the feeding and discharging operation and the deburring operation are simultaneously carried out at separate stations. The device can be applied to deburring of wheels of different specifications. The disclosure also discloses a double-station wheel deburring method.Type: GrantFiled: December 12, 2019Date of Patent: November 28, 2023Assignee: CITIC Dicastal Co., LTDInventors: Huiying Liu, Yudong Li