Did You Know...
...that while attempting to develop a super strong glue, 3M employee Spencer Silver accidentally developed a glue that was so weak it would barely hold two pieces of paper together? However, his colleague Art Fry needed the glue. Fry sang with his church choir and marked the pages of his hymnal with small scraps of paper that often fell out. He used Silver's glue to hold the papers in place. Today we call this invention Post-it Notes.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7291055 | Wafer polishing method and apparatus The present invention provides a wafer polishing method and a polishing apparatus which are capable of preventing peripheral sags of a wafer due to polishing and then manufacturing the wafer, especially an SOI wafer at a high flatness level. There is provided a wafe... | 11/06/2007 |
| 7287951 | Device and method for the harmonized positioning of wafer disks A device for aligning a plurality of vertically arranged (upright) disks (20), especially wafer disks during the fabrication of semiconductor chips. Two mounting or bearing elements (30, 32) respectively have individually mounted guide rollers (34 | 10/30/2007 |
| 7270297 | Hoist for aircraft cabin construction A device is provided for hoisting a module for mounting into an overhead space, such as the crown of an aircraft fuselage. The device includes a frame that supports the module, and a lifting device that lifts the first frame to properly place the module. The lifting... | 09/18/2007 |
| 7207555 | Support for moving cylindrical elements and method and conveyor using such supports The invention relates to a support (1) for rolling cylindrical elements, this support comprising first guide means (2) capable of guiding the cylindrical elements at a height z1. Downstream, in a direction in which the cylindrical elements roll,... | 04/24/2007 |
| 7162903 | Shaft truing system An apparatus for processing a drive shaft (11) for a vehicle, the drive shaft (11) having a longitudinal axis and first and second ends. There is provided a drive arrangement for coupling to the first end of the drive shaft and applying a rotatory forc... | 01/16/2007 |
| 7146835 | Method and apparatus to reduce slot width in tubular members An apparatus and method are provided for reducing the width of a plurality of longitudinal slots or other openings spaced circumferentially around a slotted tubular member. The invention includes a seaming roller positioned to contact the outer surface of the slotte... | 12/12/2006 |
| 7108476 | Method and device for changing a semiconductor wafer position A mechanical apparatus and method are disclosed for orienting and positioning semiconductor wafers while avoiding contamination of elements on the faces thereof, by only contacting the peripheries thereof. The apparatus may include a frame for wafer supports and a s... | 09/19/2006 |
| 6932558 | Wafer aligner A prealigner for aligning a disk-like work piece such as a silicon wafer, by centering and rotationally orienting the work piece. The prealigner centers and orients the work piece while only touching the periphery of the work piece using a plurality of wafer rollers... | 08/23/2005 |
| 6915171 | Automatic procedure for locating actuator addresses on a bus system An automatic procedure for locating actuator addresses on a bus system is revealed. The actuators may be identical except for their physical position, and thus their function and address on a bus system that controls and powers the actuators. Because their functions... | 07/05/2005 |
| 6682295 | Flatted object passive aligner A device for aligning a flatted object to a desired orientation. The flatted object has a substantially circular perimeter and a flatted chord portion and may be a silicon wafer or a cover for an electrostatic chuck. The device includes multiple conically... | 01/27/2004 |
| 6572327 | Method for positioning a cylindrical article A cylindrical article is positioned relative to a support surface by supporting the cylindrical article from a first pair of ball bearings contacting the cylindrical article adjacent to its first end, and a second pair of ball bearings contacting the cyli... | 06/03/2003 |
| 6554560 | Method for aligning wafers in a cassette A wafer orienting apparatus for aligning a plurality of semiconductor wafers each of which has a v-notch formed on its outer periphery. The apparatus includes a cassette process carrier for supporting the plurality of wafers in parallel wafer supporting s... | 04/29/2003 |
| 6382901 | Wafer flat zone aligner A wafer flat zone aligner prevents wafers from binding to the walls of a wafer cassette, that define the slots in which the wafers are seated, by restricting axial movement of the wafers while the wafers are being rotated by a wafer rotating roller of the... | 05/07/2002 |
| 6149376 | Pipe moving method, apparatus and system A system, apparatus and method are disclosed for moving an elongate object such as a pipe between lowered and raised positions, preferably while rotating the object to maintain its shape. The system and method use two apparatuses, an upender and a downend... | 11/21/2000 |
| 6012192 | Substrate processing apparatus A substrate processing apparatus which includes a substrate retention mechanism having retention rollers, including a plurality of driving rollers, for holding a substrate by abutting the retention rollers against different peripheral edge portions of the... | 01/11/2000 |
| 5971696 | System for carrying-in of cassette for substrates to be processed There is provided a cassette carrying-in system, which can rotate a cassette housing therein substrates to be treated so that the substrates are changed from a vertical state to a horizontal state and which can carry the cassette in, e.g., a load-lock cha... | 10/26/1999 |
| 5954915 | Surface finishing apparatus A surface finishing apparatus for finishing the edge surfaces of fiberboards or like substrates. A pair of axially convergent drive wheels impart rotational and radial motion to a board and pushes the board against a foiling head or other surface finishin... | 09/21/1999 |
| 5840129 | Hesitation free roller A method and apparatus for rotating wafers in a double sided scrubber without slipping or hesitating. A rotating roller imparts rotary motion to a semiconductor wafer during a double sided cleaning process. The rotating roller and wafer contact at their o... | 11/24/1998 |
| 5766300 | Welding device for optical PM-fibers A compact fiber rotator has a guiding and support Device (2) which comprises suction channels (17) formed in the angle of two blocks (3, 5), and a rotation device (32) which is attachable to the guide device (2) and comprises a house (33), a rotating toot... | 06/16/1998 |
| 5667342 | Method and apparatus for unloading powder coating material from a drum shaped container An apparatus and method for unloading powder from a drum shaped container permits the container to be loaded vertically onto an unlaoding assembly but then supported in a tilted unloading position while the container is being rolled about its axis. A cove... | 09/16/1997 |
| 5533243 | Notch position aligning apparatus and process for using the apparatus to independently align individual wafers in a wafer cassette According to this invention, there is provided a notch position aligning mechanism and a process for using the mechanism including a base which can be vertically movably inserted into a cassette through a lower opening of the cassette for storing a plural... | 07/09/1996 |
| 5513938 | Wheel lift rotator The present invention is directed to an apparatus for use in a paint booth to facilitate the coating of an object such as a wheel or rim with a liquid, powder, or other coating. The apparatus is designed to rotate a wheel about both its horizontal and ver... | 05/07/1996 |
| 5475892 | Semiconductor wafer particle extractor An alignment apparatus for aligning the flat edges on semiconductor wafers has a roller 13 used to turn the wafers 12 during alignment. The roller 13 is hollow and has a plurality of holes 14 in the surface of the roller though which a vacuum is drawn to ... | 12/19/1995 |
| 5383759 | Low particle wafer automatic flat aligner Disclosed is an apparatus and method for aligning the flat edges of semiconductor wafers in a wafer cassette. The apparatus includes a roller and alignment blade mounted in a frame on which the wafer cassette is mounted. A motor mechanism rotates the roll... | 01/24/1995 |
| 5362456 | Device for sterilizing products packed in cylindrical containers A device for sterilizing products packed in cylindrical containers, includes an elongate, essentially cylindrical housing and an essentially cylindrical rotor located therein which can be driven via a central shaft. The circumferential wall of the housing... | 11/08/1994 |
| 5224813 | Apparatus for changing a plate cylinder in a web-fed rotary gravure press An apparatus for changing a plate cylinder in a web-fed rotary gravure press comprises supporting mechanisms for detachably supporting both ends of a plate cylinder, a palette for carrying the plate cylinder, an elevator having a first conveying mechanism... | 07/06/1993 |
| 5183378 | Wafer counter having device for aligning wafers A wafer counter device comprising a system for aligning the orientation flats of plural wafers in a cassette with one another and a system provided with optical sensors for detecting whether or not the wafers are present in the cassette and serving to cou... | 02/02/1993 |
| 5176487 | Vehicle wheel changing tool The wheel changing apparatus includes a pair of angular arms supported at their outer ends by caster wheels or skids with the arms joined at their remaining ends by a connector housing. A handle on the housing facilitates raising and lowering of the arms ... | 01/05/1993 |
| 5147047 | Pellet inspection system A method and apparatus for inspecting cylindrically configured pellets for surface defects is disclosed. At least one axially extending linear portion of the peripheral surface of the pellet is optically sensed. A set of discrete digital values representa... | 09/15/1992 |
| 5102291 | Method for transporting silicon wafers Method for transporting silicon wafers. Damage to the wafers is minimized by supporting the wafer solely by wafer supports which contact the wafer only around the periphery thereof. Preferred supports are flanged wheels which are rotatable in the plane of... | 04/07/1992 |
| 5067871 | Procedure for horizontal storage of paper rolls A procedure to avoid permanent flattening of the roundness of paper rolls. The procedure involves a transport carriage provided with two rotatable supporting shafts and the rolls being rotated through one or more predetermined angles at predetermined inte... | 11/26/1991 |
| 5057288 | Device for sterilizing products packed in cylindrical containers A device for sterilizing products packed in cylindrical containers, includes an elongate, essentially cylindrical housing and an essentially cylindrical rotor located therein which can be driven via a central shaft. The circumferential wall of the housing... | 10/15/1991 |
| 5028200 | Wafer positioning mechanism using a notch formed on the wafer periphery A positioning mechanism for wafers put in a container, wherein a notch is formed on the periphery of the wafer. The positioning mechanism includes a drive roller coupled to a drive source, an arm member, a first end thereof being fixed and a second end ha... | 07/02/1991 |
| 4995063 | Single crystal orientation identifying and determining apparatus for semiconductor wafer and its operation method A single crystal orientation identifying and determining apparatus for semiconductor wafers capable of conducting the facial discrimination of a semiconductor wafer and the determination of the crystal orientation thereof, which comprises a first wafer st... | 02/19/1991 |
| 4892455 | Wafer alignment and transport mechanism A precise alignment mechanism combined with a transport mechanism for silicon wafers, that handles the wafers by the edges only, in order to eliminate the potential for surface damage or contamination of the wafers. The preferred embodiment of the inventi... | 01/09/1990 |
| 4813840 | Method of aligning wafers and device therefor A cassette of conventional form is loaded with a plurality of semiconductor wafers having indexing flats of the known type and placed over three parallel rollers rotatably secured to a frame. The three rollers include a center roller and two side rollers ... | 03/21/1989 |
| 4806057 | Automatic wafer loading method and apparatus An automated diffusion furnace load station has a cassette and wafer transporter which selectively transports, using a support assembly, wafer-filled cassettes from a delivery station to a transfer post over which a loaded cassette is lowered to suspend t... | 02/21/1989 |
| 4669274 | Slush and ice cream maker A machine suitable for placement in a freezer for making slush or ice cream in a cylindrical container. The machine comprises: (a) a platform; (b) at least four rollers, namely (i) first and second rollers rotatably mounted about a common first axis of ro... | 06/02/1987 |
| 4662811 | Method and apparatus for orienting semiconductor wafers A method and apparatus for orienting semiconductor wafers of the type that have a generally circular peripheral shape and a flat, chordally extending edge on the periphery. In fabricating the wafers the chordally extending portion is formed in fixed relat... | 05/05/1987 |
| 4629389 | Means for holding and rotating containers traveling around a turret periphery Jaws for receiving, holding, and rotating containers around a turret periphery are provided, the jaws being easily and efficiently adjusted to accommodate various sizes of containers, such as, for instance, oriented plastic carbonated beverage bottles in ... | 12/16/1986 |
