Patents by Inventor Sun-Fu CHOU

Sun-Fu CHOU 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).

  • Publication number: 20240047251
    Abstract: A gas purge device includes a first nozzle and a gas gate. The first nozzle is coupled to a front-opening unified pod (FOUP) through a first port of the FOUP. The gas gate is coupled to the first nozzle via a first pipe. The gas gate includes a first mass flow controller (MFC), a second MFC, and a first switch unit. The first MFC is configured to control a first flow of a first gas. The second MFC is configured to control a second flow of a second gas. The first switch unit is coupled to the first MFC and the second MFC, and is configured to provide the first gas to the first nozzle through the first pipe or receive the second gas from the first nozzle through the first pipe according to a process configuration.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 19, 2023
    Publication date: February 8, 2024
    Inventors: MENG-LIANG WEI, SUN-FU CHOU
  • Patent number: 11631604
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides a load port device, a gas gate and a gas-providing method. The load port device includes a gas-providing nozzle and the gas gate. The gas-providing nozzle is used for providing gas to a wafer container. The gas gate includes a plurality of gas inlet ports, a gas-providing port and a controller. Each gas inlet port connects to a gas source. The gas-providing port connects to the gas-providing nozzle. The controller is configured to: select one of the plurality of gas inlet ports; and connect the selected gas inlet port to the gas-providing port.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 17, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 18, 2023
    Assignee: NANYA TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Jih-Cheng Huang, Sun-Fu Chou
  • Patent number: 11545379
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides systems and methods for controlling a semiconductor manufacturing equipment. A control system includes a sensor unit capturing a set of data related to a gas pressure in the equipment, a sensor interface receiving the set of data and generating at least one input signal for a database server, and a control unit. The control unit includes a front end subsystem, a calculation subsystem, and a message and feedback subsystem. The front end subsystem performs a front end process to generate a data signal. The calculation subsystem performs an artificial intelligence analytical process to determine, according to the data signal, whether a malfunction related to the gas pressure has occurred and generate an output signal. The message and feedback subsystem generates an alert signal and a feedback signal according to the output signal and transmits the alert signal to a user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2023
    Assignee: NANYA TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION
    Inventor: Sun-Fu Chou
  • Publication number: 20220130698
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides a gas purge device and a gas purge method for purging a wafer container to clean wafers. The gas purge device includes a first nozzle and a gas gate. The first nozzle is coupled to a front-opening unified pod (FOUP) through a first port of the FOUP. The gas gate is coupled to the first nozzle via a first pipe. The gas gate includes a first mass flow controller (MFC), a second MFC, and a first switch unit. The first MFC is configured to control a first flow of a first gas. The second MFC is configured to control a second flow of a second gas. The first switch unit is coupled to the first MFC and the second MFC, and is configured to provide the first gas to the first nozzle through the first pipe or receive the second gas from the first nozzle through the first pipe according to a process configuration.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 22, 2020
    Publication date: April 28, 2022
    Inventors: Meng-Liang WEI, Sun-Fu CHOU
  • Publication number: 20220037180
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides systems and methods for controlling a semiconductor manufacturing equipment. A control system includes a sensor unit capturing a set of data related to a gas pressure in the equipment, a sensor interface receiving the set of data and generating at least one input signal for a database server, and a control unit. The control unit includes a front end subsystem, a calculation subsystem, and a message and feedback subsystem. The front end subsystem performs a front end process to generate a data signal. The calculation subsystem performs an artificial intelligence analytical process to determine, according to the data signal, whether a malfunction related to the gas pressure has occurred and generate an output signal. The message and feedback subsystem generates an alert signal and a feedback signal according to the output signal and transmits the alert signal to a user.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 31, 2020
    Publication date: February 3, 2022
    Inventor: Sun-Fu CHOU
  • Publication number: 20220020620
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides a load port device, a gas gate and a gas-providing method. The load port device includes a gas-providing nozzle and the gas gate. The gas-providing nozzle is used for providing gas to a wafer container. The gas gate includes a plurality of gas inlet ports, a gas-providing port and a controller. Each gas inlet port connects to a gas source. The gas-providing port connects to the gas-providing nozzle. The controller is configured to: select one of the plurality of gas inlet ports; and connect the selected gas inlet port to the gas-providing port.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 17, 2020
    Publication date: January 20, 2022
    Inventors: Jih-Cheng HUANG, Sun-Fu CHOU