Did You Know...
...that the video game, Pong, was invented by a guy who graduated at the bottom of his engineering class? Nolan Bushnell spent more time running the games at a local amusement park than he did on his studies at the University of Utah. His dreams of working for Disney's amusement empire were dashed when the company wouldn't hire him. Taking a boring job, Nolan daydreamed about electronic versions of popular games. He invented Pong, the first video game, and went on to found Atari Co.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8395136 | Positional deviation detection apparatus and process system employing the same In a positional deviation detection apparatus provided with a transfer mechanism where plural arm portions are connected pivotably and in series with each other, the transfer mechanism being adapted to hold and transfer an object to be processed with a distal end ar... | 03/12/2013 |
| 7373220 | Robot teaching device A teaching device and a teaching modification device capable of easily attaining conformity between an operation program of a robot prepared by off-line programming and an actual operation of the robot. A layout of a robot system including three-dimensional models o... | 05/13/2008 |
| 7361920 | Substrate processing apparatus and transfer positioning method thereof A substrate processing apparatus has a transfer mechanism arranged on a transfer base and configured to transfer a processing substrate between predetermined transfer positions, a mapping sensor arranged on the transfer base and configured to detect an arrangement s... | 04/22/2008 |
| 7358516 | System and method for determining a position or/and orientation of two objects relative to each other as well as beam guiding arrangement, interferometer arrangement and device for changing an optical path length for use in such a system and method A system and a method for determining a position of two objects relative to each other is suggested, comprising: a source 43 of coherent radiation, a beam guidance for providing a measuring branch 49 for a measuring beam, which has an optical path leng... | 04/15/2008 |
| 7333879 | Offline programming device An offline programming device capable of automatically generating a measuring program by which the time and the workload for making an offline program may be greatly reduced. The offline programming device includes a storing part for storing a plurality of data in r... | 02/19/2008 |
| 7311326 | Distance detecting apparatus, air bag system controlling apparatus, and method of detecting distance A light emitting unit emits a light in a light emitting direction, which is the direction to an object, the light having a distributed pattern in a predetermined direction. A photographing device obtains an image of the object along a photographing direction. A hold... | 12/25/2007 |
| 7291855 | Medium transport apparatus A belt-like pattern reading unit reads a belt-like pattern given to the media storage cell using an image unit provided in a hold unit. A deflection amount calculating unit measures a deviation from a reference position of a horizontal pattern borderline correspondi... | 11/06/2007 |
| 7282889 | Maintenance unit for a sensor apparatus Presented are methods, systems, and apparatuses for managing and maintaining an electronic device such as a sensor apparatus. ... | 10/16/2007 |
| 7276718 | System and method for determining a position or/and orientation of two objects relative to each other as well as beam guiding arrangement, interferometer arrangement and device for changing an optical path length for use in such a system and method A system and a method for determining a position of two objects relative to each other is suggested, comprising: a source 43 of coherent radiation, a beam guidance for providing a measuring branch 49 for a measuring beam, which has an optical path leng... | 10/02/2007 |
| 7272524 | Method and a system for programming an industrial robot to move relative to defined positions on an object, including generation of a surface scanning program A method and a system for programming an industrial robot to move relative to defined positions on an object. The system includes a geometrical model of the object, the real object, and an industrial robot. A plurality of measuring points are generated corresponding... | 09/18/2007 |
| 7255524 | Substrate cassette mapper A mechanism for mapping the contents of a cassette which is used for delivering substrates to a system for processing semiconductor and similar materials which is independent of load port or loading robot movement. The mapping mechanism includes a U-shaped probe hav... | 08/14/2007 |
| 7235806 | Wafer edge with light sensor An apparatus for detecting the presence of a substrate that is carried by an end effector of a substrate handling assembly positioned within a substrate processing system comprises a receiving member that is coupled to an end effector and a light sensor that is oper... | 06/26/2007 |
| 7218995 | Device and method for workpiece calibration The invention relates to a device and a method for determination of location information of a workpiece. To enable rapid calibration of a relative position of the workpiece (1) in relation to a tool provided for processing said workpiece, it is proposed that ... | 05/15/2007 |
| 7206663 | Calibration cassette pod for robot teaching and method of using A calibration cassette pod for robot teaching and a method of using the calibration cassette pod are described. In the calibration cassette pod, a cassette pod body and a cassette pod door are first provided wherein the cassette pod body is constructed of a top pane... | 04/17/2007 |
| 7202491 | Method for sensing wafers located inside a closed wafer cassette Wafers in a cassette are mapped without having to open the cassette. The cassette is at least partially transparent to a particular type of radiation. A source of the radiation is directed into the cassette, through a transparent or translucent part of the cassette,... | 04/10/2007 |
| 7109510 | Method and apparatus for aligning a substrate on a stage A method for aligning a workpiece may include determining a first and second position of a first edge of the workpiece based on a first and a second position of a pickup device. The workpiece may be aligned based on the first and second position of the pickup device... | 09/19/2006 |
| 7109509 | Device for the detection of substrates stacked with a specific spacing For a device for the detection of substrates stacked at an opening of a wall element, there existed the problem of constructing the detection device in such a way that the detection of the position of the substrates can be performed more flexibly with respect to the... | 09/19/2006 |
| 7105847 | Semiconductor processing-purpose substrate detecting method and device, and substrate transfer system A detecting device includes a sensor support body having a pair of arms, and an optical sensor having a combination of a light emitting unit and a light receiving unit disposed on one and the other of the arms, respectively. A control operation section controls a dr... | 09/12/2006 |
| 7102735 | Substrate holding device, semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and device manufacturing method A substrate holding device includes a base member capable of removably holding a plate having a contact member to come into contact with a substrate, and a sensor that identifies an identification sign provided on the plate. ... | 09/05/2006 |
| 7071901 | Plasma display panel and imaging device using the same A plasma display panel and an imaging device realize a high luminous efficiency, a long lifetime and stable driving. The plasma display panel uses a discharge-gas mixture containing at least Xe, Ne and He. A Xe proportion of the discharge-gas mixture is in a range o... | 07/04/2006 |
| 7061534 | Three-dimensional image capturing device A three-dimensional image capturing device has a center LED and peripheral LEDs which are arranged around the center LED. The center LED and peripheral LEDs irradiate distance measuring light beams to a measurement subject. The distance measurement light beams are r... | 06/13/2006 |
| 7053392 | Optical measuring apparatus for measuring objects on machines The present invention teaches a method and apparatus for making measurement of an object on a machine, such as a machine tool, using an optical measuring apparatus which includes a light source for generating a beam of light which is incident on a detector. A detect... | 05/30/2006 |
| 7014415 | Substrate transfer apparatus, method for removing the substrate, and method for accommodating the substrate A substrate transfer apparatus, for removing a substrate from a substrate accommodating tray accommodating the substrate in a horizontal state, includes a plurality of support pins for raising the substrate accommodated in the substrate accommodating tray above the ... | 03/21/2006 |
| 6984839 | Wafer processing apparatus capable of mapping wafers A wafer processing apparatus on which a pod having an opening is detachably mounted is provided with a door unit and a mapping unit provided with a transmitting type sensor having an emitter and a detector forming a slot therebetween. The emitter and the detector ar... | 01/10/2006 |
| 6971175 | Assembly line and method for vehicle body manufacturing A vehicle body assembly line (10) and method for assembling vehicle bodies utilizes electromagnetic gauging apparatus (44) to generate production gauge data of an assembly of formed sheet metal components, and an electrical controller (38) compa... | 12/06/2005 |
| 6969841 | Method and apparatus for securing microelectronic workpiece containers An apparatus and method for handling microelectronic workpiece containers. In one embodiment, the apparatus includes a container support having one or more support elements positioned to carry a microelectronic workpiece container. A container securement device is p... | 11/29/2005 |
| 6921708 | Integrated circuits having low resistivity contacts and the formation thereof using an in situ plasma doping and clean Contact areas comprising doped semiconductor material at the bottom of contact holes are cleaned in a hot hydrogen plasma and exposed in situ during and/or separately from the hot hydrogen clean to a plasma containing the same dopant species as in the semiconductor ... | 07/26/2005 |
| 6915183 | Substrate processing apparatus and method of aligning substrate carrier apparatus The present invention has a first optical detection mark having a predetermined positional coordinate in a lateral direction with respect to a carrier opening of a processing unit through which a carrier apparatus enters and exits, a second optical detection mark ha... | 07/05/2005 |
| 6897463 | Wafer carrier mapping sensor assembly A wafer mapping sensor assembly includes a housing, and an imaging array positioned therein. Imaging optics are positioned relative to the array to focus an image upon the array. An illumination source is configured to direct illumination toward the wafer, where suc... | 05/24/2005 |
| 6878955 | Method and apparatus for accessing microelectronic workpiece containers An apparatus and method for handling microelectronic workpieces initially positioned in a container. The container can be changeable from a first configuration where the microelectronic workpiece is generally inaccessible within the container to a second configurati... | 04/12/2005 |
| 6825485 | System and method for aligning a robot device in a data storage library In a data storage library having a plurality of cells for use in housing media cartridges, each cell having a location in the library, the library further having a moveable robot for retrieving the cartridges from the cells, a system and method for aligning the robo... | 11/30/2004 |
| 6795202 | Wafer processing apparatus having wafer mapping function If a plurality of wafers are placed on each shelf of a rack in a pod, some problems will arise in processing processes. In addition, in some apparatus for detecting wafers, driving means having a not so high stability in the speed such as an air-operated cylinder is... | 09/21/2004 |
| 6653944 | Semiconductor wafer transport pod equipped with cover latch indicator A pod for transporting a cassette of semiconductor wafers that is equipped with a cover latch indicator is described. The pod is constructed by a base, a cover, a latch means and an indicator means. The base is used to support the cassette positioned ther... | 11/25/2003 |
| 6642533 | Substrate detecting method and device A substrate detection sensor is operatively connected to a door moving mechanism for opening/closing a front door with respect to a sealed container accommodating therein a plurality of substrates. The substrate detection sensor enters the sealed containe... | 11/04/2003 |
| 6621091 | Workpiece enclosure and processing system A workpiece enclosure system of the present invention includes a workpiece loading section, a laser workstation cell, and a workpiece unloading section. The workpiece loading section includes a materials handling robot arranged to move workpieces from an ... | 09/16/2003 |
| 6594844 | Robot obstacle detection system A robot obstacle detection system including a robot housing which navigates with respect to a surface and a sensor subsystem having a defined relationship with respect to the housing and aimed at the surface for detecting the surface. The sensor subsystem... | 07/22/2003 |
| 6590222 | Light detection apparatus Light detection apparatus for determining the location of a body within a predetermined area comprises at least two light detecting devices (10,10',10"), supported on the body and capable of receiving light at points which are spaced about a central axis ... | 07/08/2003 |
| 6563130 | Distance tracking control system for single pass topographical mapping A distance tracking control system, for use with a working member such as a robotic head, includes a non-contact distance sensor for sensing a distance of the working member from a surface. An actuator is provided for making positional adjustments of the ... | 05/13/2003 |
| 6542839 | Apparatus and method for calibrating the position of a cassette indexer An apparatus and a method for calibrating the position of a cassette indexer in a semiconductor process machine are described. The apparatus is constructed by a base plate, a top plate and at least two support members rigidly attaching the top plate to th... | 04/01/2003 |
| 6528808 | Transmitting photoelectric sensor array A plurality of sensing arms are provided at intervals on a sensor case so as to project outwardly of the case. A light-projecting element and a photoreceptor element forming a pair are provided in the sensor case so as to correspond to respective ones of ... | 03/04/2003 |
