Patents by Inventor Masahiko Sekimoto

Masahiko Sekimoto 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: 6682408
    Abstract: A polishing apparatus is used for polishing a workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer to a flat mirror finish. The polishing apparatus comprises a turntable having a polishing surface, a top ring for holding a workpiece and pressing the workpiece against the polishing surface to polish the workpiece, at least three cleaning apparatuses for cleaning polished workpieces, and a transfer structure for transferring the polished workpieces between at least three cleaning apparatuses. The polishing apparatus further includes a rotary transporter disposed in a position which can be accessed by said top rings and having a plurality of portions positioned on a predetermined circumference from a center of rotation of the rotary transporter for holding the workpieces.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 27, 2001
    Date of Patent: January 27, 2004
    Assignee: Ebara Corporation
    Inventors: Kunihiko Sakurai, Tetsuji Togawa, Nobuyuki Takada, Satoshi Wakabayashi, Kenichiro Saito, Masahiko Sekimoto, Takuji Hayama, Daisuke Koga
  • Patent number: 6629883
    Abstract: A multi-head type polishing apparatus includes a polishing table having a polishing surface, a plurality of top rings for holding workpieces and pressing the workpieces against the polishing surface, and a carousel for supporting the top rings and indexing the top rings. The polishing apparatus further includes a rotary transporter disposed in a position which can be accessed by the top rings, and having a plurality of portions positioned on a predetermined circumference from a center of rotation of the rotary transporter for holding the workpieces. The polishing apparatus also has a pusher for transferring the workpieces between the rotary transporter and the top rings.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 16, 2001
    Date of Patent: October 7, 2003
    Assignees: Ebara Corporation, Mitsubishi Materials Corporation
    Inventors: Seiji Katsuoka, Masahiko Sekimoto, Mitsuru Miyazaki, Naoki Noji, Kazuki Chiba, Kenji Fujimoto
  • Publication number: 20020075361
    Abstract: A portion of an ink jet recording head, which is formed by silicon material of a silicon substrate, is used as nozzles, ink chambers and a portion of an ink supply passage for supplying ink to the ink chambers and the remaining ink supply passage is formed of other material than the silicon material and connected to the portion of the ink jet recording head formed of the silicon material. A plurality of ink jet recording heads are formed as a unit block by a semiconductor fabrication process and cut out from a silicon substrate in block unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 12, 2001
    Publication date: June 20, 2002
    Applicant: NEC Corporation
    Inventors: Torahiko Kanda, Kenichi Ohno, Masahiko Sekimoto
  • Publication number: 20020045410
    Abstract: A polishing apparatus is used for polishing a workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer to a flat mirror finish. The polishing apparatus comprises a turntable having a polishing surface, a top ring for holding a workpiece and pressing the workpiece against the polishing surface to polish the workpiece, at least three cleaning apparatuses for cleaning polished workpieces, and a transfer structure for transferring the polished workpieces between at least three cleaning apparatuses. The polishing apparatus further includes a rotary transporter disposed in a position which can be accessed by said top rings and having a plurality of portions positioned on a predetermined circumference from a center of rotation of the rotary transporter for holding the workpieces.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 27, 2001
    Publication date: April 18, 2002
    Inventors: Kunihiko Sakurai, Tetsuji Togawa, Nobuyuki Takada, Satoshi Wakabayashi, Kenichiro Saito, Masahiko Sekimoto, Takuji Hayama, Daisuke Koga
  • Patent number: 6358128
    Abstract: A polishing apparatus is used for polishing a workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer to a flat mirror finish. The polishing apparatus comprises a turntable having a polishing surface, a top ring for holding a workpiece and pressing the workpiece against the polishing surface to polish the workpiece, at least three cleaning apparatuses for cleaning polished workpieces, and a transfer structure for transferring the polished workpieces between at least three cleaning apparatuses. The polishing apparatus further includes a rotary transporter disposed in a position which can be accessed by said top rings and having a plurality of portions positioned on a predetermined circumference from a center of rotation of the rotary transporter for holding the workpieces.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 15, 2000
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2002
    Assignee: Ebara Corporation
    Inventors: Kunihiko Sakurai, Tetsuji Togawa, Nobuyuki Takada, Satoshi Wakabayashi, Kenichiro Saito, Masahiko Sekimoto, Takuji Hayama, Daisuke Koga
  • Patent number: 6354922
    Abstract: A polishing apparatus is used for polishing a workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer to a flat mirror finish. The polishing apparatus comprises a turntable having a polishing surface, a top ring for holding a workpiece and pressing the workpiece against the polishing surface to polish the workpiece, at least three cleaning apparatuses for cleaning polished workpieces, and a transfer structure for transferring the polished workpieces between at least three cleaning apparatuses. The transfer structure comprises a plurality of robots and is capable of changing transfer routes between the three cleaning apparatuses.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 3, 2000
    Date of Patent: March 12, 2002
    Assignee: Ebara Corporation
    Inventors: Kunihiko Sakurai, Tetsuji Togawa, Nobuyuki Takada, Satoshi Wakabayashi, Kenichiro Saito, Masahiko Sekimoto, Takuji Hayama, Daisuke Koga
  • Publication number: 20010053663
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a polishing apparatus for polishing a workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer. The polishing apparatus has a processing section including a polishing section (1) for polishing a semiconductor wafer (6) and a cleaning section (10) for cleaning a polished semiconductor wafer, a receiving section (40) for supplying a semiconductor wafer (6) to be polished to the processing section and receiving a polished semiconductor wafer (6), and a cleaning chamber (20) disposed between the processing section and the receiving section and defined by partitions (102, 103) with shutters (22, 24) which separate the processing section and the receiving section from each other.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 17, 2001
    Publication date: December 20, 2001
    Inventors: Masao Yoshida, Masahiko Sekimoto
  • Publication number: 20010044266
    Abstract: A multi-head type polishing apparatus has a plurality of top rings for holding workpieces with respect to a single polishing table. A polishing apparatus includes a polishing table having a polishing surface, a plurality of top rings for holding workpieces and pressing the workpieces against the polishing surface, and a carousel for supporting the top rings and indexing the top rings. The polishing apparatus further includes a rotary transporter disposed in a position which can be accessed by the top rings and having a plurality of portions positioned on a predetermined circumference from a center of rotation of the rotary transporter for holding the workpieces, and a pusher for transferring the workpieces between the rotary transporter and the top rings.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 16, 2001
    Publication date: November 22, 2001
    Inventors: Seiji Katsuoka, Masahiko Sekimoto, Mitsuru Miyazaki, Naoki Noji, Kazuki Chiba, Kenji Fujimoto
  • Patent number: 6293855
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a polishing apparatus for polishing a workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer. The polishing apparatus has a processing section including a polishing section (1) for polishing a semiconductor wafer (6) and a cleaning section (10) for cleaning a polished semiconductor wafer, a receiving section (40) for supplying a semiconductor wafer (6) to be polished to the processing section and receiving a polished semiconductor wafer (6), and a cleaning chamber (20) disposed between the processing section and the receiving section and defined by partitions (102, 103) with shutters (22, 24) which separate the processing section and the receiving section from each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 9, 1999
    Date of Patent: September 25, 2001
    Assignee: Ebara Corporation
    Inventors: Masao Yoshida, Masahiko Sekimoto