Patents by Inventor Don J. Weeks

Don J. Weeks 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: 5592211
    Abstract: A laser pattern inspection and/or writing system which writes or inspects a pattern on a target on a stage, by raster scanning the target pixels. Inspection can also be done by substage illumination with non-laser light. A database, organized into frames and strips, represents an ideal pattern as one or more polygons. Each polygon's data description is contained within a single data frame. The database is transformed into a turnpoint polygon representation, then a left and right vector representation, then an addressed pixel representation, then a bit-mapped representation of the entire target. Most of the transformations are carried out in parallel pipelines. Guardbands around polygon sides are used for error filtering during inspection. Guardbands are polygons, and frames containing only guardband information are sent down dedicated pipelines. Error filtering also is done at the time of pixel comparisons of ideal with real patterns, and subsequently during defect area consolidation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 1995
    Date of Patent: January 7, 1997
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Vernon R. Porter, William G. Manns, Anthony B. Wood, Jerry D. Merryman, Don J. Weeks, S. Charles Baber, Thomas C. Penn
  • Patent number: 5046110
    Abstract: A laser pattern inspection and/or writing system which writes or inspects a pattern on a target on a stage, by raster scanning the target pixels. Inspection can also be done by substage illumination with non-laser light. A database, organized into frames and strips, represents an ideal pattern as one or more polygons. Each polygon's data description is contained within a single data frame. The database is transformed into a turnpoint polygon representation, then a left and right vector representation, then an addressed pixel representation, then a bit-mapped representation of the entire target. Most of the transformations are carried out in parallel pipelines. Guardbands around polygon sides are used for error filtering during inspection. Guardbands are polygons, and frames containing only guardband information are sent down dedicated pipelines. Error filtering also is done at the time of pixel comparisons of ideal with real patterns, and subsequently during defect area consolidation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 1988
    Date of Patent: September 3, 1991
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Lori A. Carucci, Don J. Weeks, William G. Manns
  • Patent number: 5027132
    Abstract: A laser pattern inspection and/or writing system which writes or inspects a pattern on a target on a stage, by raster scanning the target pixels. Inspection can also be done by substage illumination with non-laser light. A database, organized into frames and strips, represents an ideal pattern as one or more polygons. Each polygon's data decription is contained within a single data frame. The database is transformed into a turnpoint polygon representation, then a left and right vector representation, then an addressed pixel representation, then a bit-mapped representation of the entire target. Most of the transformations are carried out in parallel pipelines. Guardbands around polygon sides are used for error filtering during inspection. Guardbands are polygons, and frames containing only guardband information are sent down dedicated pipelines. Error filtering also is done at the time of pixel comparisons of ideal with real patterns, and subsequently during defect area consolidation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 1989
    Date of Patent: June 25, 1991
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: William G. Manns, Don J. Weeks, Jerry D. Merryman, Chyi N. Sheng
  • Patent number: 5018210
    Abstract: A laser pattern inspection and/or writing system which writes or inspects a pattern on a target on a stage, by raster scanning the target pixels. Inspection can also be done by substage illumination with non-laser light. A database, organized into frames and strips, represents an ideal pattern as one or more polygons. Each polygon's data description is contained within a single data frame. The database is transformed into a turnpoint polygon representation, then a left and right vector representation, then an addressed pixel representation, then a bit-mapped representation of the entire target. Most of the transformations are carried out in parallel pipelines. Guardbands around polygon sides are used for error filtering during inspection. Guardbands are polygons, and frames containing only guardband information are sent down dedicated pipelines. Error filtering also is done at the time of pixel comparisons of ideal with real patterns, and subsequently during defect area consolidation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 1988
    Date of Patent: May 21, 1991
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Jerry D. Merryman, Thomas C. Penn, William G. Manns, Don J. Weeks, Anthony B. Wood
  • Patent number: 5018212
    Abstract: A laser pattern inspection and/or writing system which writes or inspects a pattern on a target on a stage, by raster scanning the target pixels. Inspection can also be done by substage illumination with non-laser light. A database, organized into frames and strips, represents an ideal pattern as one or more polygons. Each polygon's data description is contained within a single data frame. The database is transformed into a turnpoint polygon representation, then a left and right vector representation, then an addressed pixel representation, then a bit-mapped representation of the entire target. Most of the transformations are carried out in parallel pipelines. Guardbands around polygon sides are used for error filtering during inspection. Guardbands are polygons, and frames containing only guardband information are sent down dedicated pipelines. Error filtering also is done at the time of pixel comparisons of ideal with real patterns, and subsequently during defect area consolidation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 1988
    Date of Patent: May 21, 1991
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: William G. Manns, Anthony B. Wood, David A. Norwood, Don J. Weeks, Michael Gordon
  • Patent number: 5001764
    Abstract: A laser pattern inspection and/or writing system which writes or inspects a pattern on a target on a stage, by raster scanning the target pixels. Inspection can also be done by substage illumination with non-laser light. A database, organized into frames and strips, represents an ideal pattern as one or more polygons. Each polygon's data description is contained within a single data frame. The database is transformed into a turnpoint polygon representation, then a left and right vector representation, then an addressed pixel representation, then a bit-mapped representation of the entire target. Most of the transformations are carried out in parallel pipelines. Guardbands around polygon sides are used for error filtering during inspection. Guardbands are polygons, and frames containing only guardband information are sent down dedicated pipelines. Error filtering also is done at the time of pixel comparisons of ideal with real patterns, and subsequently during defect area consolidation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 1988
    Date of Patent: March 19, 1991
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Anthony B. Wood, William G. Manns, David A. Norwood, Don J. Weeks, Chyi N. Sheng
  • Patent number: 4991977
    Abstract: A laser pattern inspection and/or writing system which writes or inspects a pattern on a target on a stage, by raster scanning the target pixels. Inspection can also be done by substage illumination with non-laser light. A database, organized into frames and strips, represents an ideal pattern as one or more polygons. Each polygon's data description is contained within a single data frame. The database is transformed into a turnpoint polygon representation, then a left and right vector representation, then an addressed pixel representation, then a bit-mapped representation of the entire target. Most of the transformations are carried out in parallel pipelines. Guardbands around polygon sides are used for error filtering during inspection. Guardbands are polygons, and frames containing only guardband information are sent down dedicated pipelines. Error filtering also is done at the time of pixel comparisons of ideal with real patterns, and subsequently during defect area consolidation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 1988
    Date of Patent: February 12, 1991
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: William G. Manns, Anthony B. Wood, Ronald S. Drafz, Don J. Weeks
  • Patent number: 4984282
    Abstract: A laser pattern inspection and/or writing system which writes or inspects a pattern on a target on a stage, by raster scanning the target pixels. Inspection can also be done by substage illumination with non-laser light. A database, organized into frames and strips, represents an ideal pattern as one or more polygons. Each polygon's data description is contained within a single data frame. The database is transformed into a turnpoint polygon representation, then a left and right vector representation, then an addressed pixel representation, then a bit-mapped representation of the entire target. Most of the transformations are carried out in parallel pipelines. Guardbands around polygon sides are used for error filtering during inspection. Guardbands are polygons, and frames containing only guardband information are sent down dedicated pipelines. Error filtering also is done at the time of pixel comparisons of ideal with real patterns, and subsequently during defect area consolidation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 1988
    Date of Patent: January 8, 1991
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: William G. Manns, David A. Norwood, Don J. Weeks, Chyi N. Sheng, Anthony B. Wood
  • Patent number: 4969200
    Abstract: A laser pattern inspection and/or writing system which writes or inspects a pattern on a target on a stage, by raster scanning the target pixels. Inspection can also be done by substage illumination with non-laser light. A database, organized into frames and strips, represents an ideal pattern as one or more polygons. Each polygon's data description is contained within a single data frame. The data base is transformed into a turnpoint polygon representation, then a left and right vector representation, then an addressed pixel representation, then a bit-mapped representation of the entire target. Most of the transformations are carried out in parallel pipelines. Guardbands around polygon sides are used for error filtering during inspection. Guardbands are polygons, and frames containing only guardband information are sent down dedicated pipelines. Error filtering also is done at the time of pixel comparisons of ideal with real patterns, and subsequently during defect area consolidation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 1988
    Date of Patent: November 6, 1990
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: William G. Manns, Anthony B. Wood, Michael Gordon, Don J. Weeks, Tom G. Hudiburgh, David A. Norwood