Patents by Inventor Thomas M. Weeks

Thomas M. 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).

  • Apparatus and methods for preventing rotational slippage between a vertical shaft and a support structure for a semiconductor wafer holder
    Patent number: 7169234
    Abstract: A substrate support assembly positively secures a substrate holder support to a rotation shaft with respect to rotationally applied forces. A substrate holder support is configured to have an opening in a socket into which, when aligned with an indentation in the rotational shaft to form a passage, a retaining member is removably inserted to engage both the socket opening and the shaft indentation. Methods of rotating a substrate while minimizing rotational slippage of the substrate holder support with respect to the shaft are also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2004
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2007
    Assignee: ASM America, Inc.
    Inventors: Thomas M. Weeks, Lewis C. Barnett, Loren R. Jacobs, Eric R. Wood, Michael W. Halpin