Patents by Inventor Gisuke Kouno

Gisuke Kouno 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: 7198552
    Abstract: 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: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 2005
    Date of Patent: April 3, 2007
    Assignees: Ebara Corporation, Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: 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: 20060084369
    Abstract: 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: Application
    Filed: December 6, 2005
    Publication date: April 20, 2006
    Inventors: 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: 6997782
    Abstract: 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: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2002
    Date of Patent: February 14, 2006
    Assignees: Ebara Corporation, Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: 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: 20030040261
    Abstract: 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: Application
    Filed: September 27, 2002
    Publication date: February 27, 2003
    Inventors: 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: 6500051
    Abstract: 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: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 1997
    Date of Patent: December 31, 2002
    Assignees: Ebara Corporation, Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: 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: 5846335
    Abstract: A semiconductor cleaning method includes scrubbing a semiconductor wafer using a cleaning member made primarily of polyurethane and having micropores in a surface contacting the semiconductor wafer. The micropores have an average diameter ranging from 10 to 200 .mu.m. The cleaning member may be made of either polyurethane foam or non-woven fabric composed of fibers bound together by urethane resin. By this scrubbing step, particles that are strongly attached to the surface of a substrate such as the semiconductor wafer can easily be removed. During cleaning of the substrate, surface irregularities and crystalline protrusions on the surface of a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer can be scraped off to adjust the surface roughness of the semiconductor wafer to a desired degree for making the semiconductor wafer surface flat.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 22, 1997
    Date of Patent: December 8, 1998
    Assignees: Ebara Corporation, Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Toshiro Maekawa, Koji Ono, Motoaki Okada, Tamami Takahashi, Shiro Mishima, Masako Kodera, Atsushi Shigeta, Riichiro Aoki, Gisuke Kouno
  • Patent number: 5704827
    Abstract: A polishing apparatus includes a detachable light weight cloth cartridge which shows little deformation under uneven loading during a polishing operation. Either mechanical or non-mechanical fixation of the cloth cartridge to a turntable is achieved. Mechanical fixation involves attaching the cloth cartridge to the turntable at peripheral and center sections of the cloth cartridge. Non-mechanical fixation involves attaching the cloth cartridge to the turntable by a vacuum arrangement. The assembly of the cloth cartridge and the turntable not only produces excellent flatness on polished semiconductor wafers by maintaining a level polishing surface, but also improves the production yield by preventing breakage of wafers during the polishing process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 18, 1995
    Date of Patent: January 6, 1998
    Assignees: Ebara Corporation, Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Toyomi Nishi, Manabu Tsujimura, Tamami Takahashi, Hiromi Yajima, Riichiro Aoki, Yukio Imoto, Shoichi Kodama, Kazuaki Himukai, Gisuke Kouno, Takanobu Nishimura
  • Patent number: 5679059
    Abstract: 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: Grant
    Filed: November 28, 1995
    Date of Patent: October 21, 1997
    Assignees: Ebara Corporation, Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: 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: 5520501
    Abstract: A wafer holding apparatus comprises a susceptor unit having wafer support grooves where wafers are detachably fixed, a plurality of chuck claws so provided as to be movable by air cylinders relative to a chuck body and adapted to hold the outer edge of the wafer, a transfer arm for transferring the chuck body to a predetermined position, and an automatic position correcting device for automatically correcting the positions of the chucks relative to the wafer support groove.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 15, 1995
    Date of Patent: May 28, 1996
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Gisuke Kouno, Takuji Ashikari