Patents by Inventor Bill Thornton

Bill Thornton 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).

  • Mapping system for semiconductor wafer cassettes
    Patent number: 6364745
    Abstract: An integral machine for polishing, cleaning, rinsing and drying workpieces such as semiconductor wafers. A load/unload station has a plurality of platforms for receiving cassettes of wafers to be processed. A dry end-effector of a robot retrieves wafers from the cassettes and transfers them to an index table. A transfer apparatus having wafer carrier elements picks up wafers from the index table, moves the wafers to a polishing table for polishing, and returns the wafers to the index table for further processing. A flipper moves the polished wafers to a cleaning station. The cleaning station includes scrub stations, a rinsing station and a spin dryer station, and a connective system of water tracks. A wet end-effector of the robot transfers rinsed wafers to the spin dryer station. The dry end-effector of the robot moves dried wafers from the spin dryer station back to the cassette of origination.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 2000
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2002
    Assignee: SpeedFam-IPEC Corporation
    Inventors: Jose R. Gonzalez-Martin, Chris Karlsrud, Robert Allen, Toby Jordan, Craig Howard, Arthur Hamer, Jeff Cunnane, Periya Gopalan, Bill Thornton, Jon MacErnie, Fernando Calderon
  • Combined CMP and wafer cleaning apparatus and associated methods
    Patent number: 6350177
    Abstract: An integral machine for polishing, cleaning, rinsing and drying workpieces such as semiconductor wafers. A load/unload station has a plurality of platforms for receiving cassettes of wafers to be processed. A dry end-effector of a robot retrieves wafers from the cassettes and transfers them to an index table. A transfer apparatus having wafer carrier elements picks up wafers from the index table, moves the wafers to a polishing table for polishing, and returns the wafers to the index table for further processing. A flipper moves the polished wafers to a cleaning station. The cleaning station includes scrub stations, a rinsing station and a spin dryer station, and a connective system of water tracks. A wet end-effector of the robot transfers rinsed wafers to the spin dryer station. The dry end-effector of the robot moves dried wafers from the spin dryer station back to the cassette of origination.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 17, 2000
    Date of Patent: February 26, 2002
    Assignee: SpeedFam-IPEC Corporation
    Inventors: Jose R. Gonzalez-Martin, Chris Karlsrud, Robert Allen, Toby Jordan, Craig Howard, Arthur Hamer, Jeff Cunnane, Periya Gopalan, Bill Thornton, Jon MacErnie, Fernando Calderon
  • Integral machine for polishing, cleaning, rinsing and drying workpieces
    Patent number: 6213853
    Abstract: An integral machine for polishing, cleaning, rinsing and drying workpieces such as semiconductor wafers. A load/unload station has a plurality of platforms for receiving cassettes of wafers to be processed. A dry end-effector of a robot retrieves wafers from the cassettes and transfers them to an index table. A transfer apparatus having wafer carrier elements picks up wafers from the index table, moves the wafers to a polishing table for polishing, and returns the wafers to the index table for further processing. A flipper moves the polished wafers to a cleaning station. The cleaning station includes scrub stations, a rinsing station and a spin dryer station, and a connective system of water tracks. A wet end-effector of the robot transfers rinsed wafers to the spin dryer station. The dry end-effector of the robot moves dried wafers from the spin dryer station back to the cassette of origination.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 1997
    Date of Patent: April 10, 2001
    Assignee: SpeedFam-IPEC Corporation
    Inventors: Jose R. Gonzalez-Martin, Chris Karlsrud, Robert Allen, Toby Jordan, Craig Howard, Arthur Hamer, Jeff Cunnane, Periya Gopalan, Bill Thornton, Jon MacErnie, Fernando Calderon