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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8146973 | Tendon enhanced end effector An end effector assembly for a substrate transfer robot is described. The end effector assembly includes a robot wrist. At least one end effector is secured to the robot wrist. The end effector has a fixed end, a free end, a load-supporting surface and a tension mem... | 04/03/2012 |
| 8104809 | Suction cup with warning ring A manually activated suction lifting device has a handle which rotates up to complete an active suction. The first stage of the suction is created by pushing firmly down on the convex top of the device. Upon creation of the final suction with the handle locked up, a... | 01/31/2012 |
| 8104810 | Gripper having sensor for detecting displacement A gripper assembly includes at least one movable gripper jaw and a sensor member coupled for movement with the at least one gripper jaw. The sensor member includes a slot. A sensor is located at least partially within the slot and includes at least one inductor for ... | 01/31/2012 |
| 8070203 | Method for controlling vacuum-operated hoists and load protection device for vacuum-operated hoists A method for operating vacuum-operated hoists with at least one elastically deformable vacuum-operated lifting mechanism, with a controllable vacuum generator, and with at least one motorized lifting drive is disclosed. A load detection device is used in order to de... | 12/06/2011 |
| 7380850 | Holding structure for holding an object A holding structure, such as a manipulator, includes a plurality fingers. At least one of the fingers is movable such that an object can be held or released by a closing or opening motion of the movable finger. At least one contact surface of the fingers, which is c... | 06/03/2008 |
| 7370895 | Work transfer device and method of transferring work Provided are a work transfer device and a method of transferring work which are capable of safely transferring work without letting the work to fall even when poor adhesion of a frame occurs due to troubles. By providing an adsorption part which adsorbs a frame, and... | 05/13/2008 |
| 7334826 | End-effectors for handling microelectronic wafers End-effectors may be used to grasp microelectronic workpieces for handling by automated transport devices. One such end-effector includes a plurality of abutments and a detector adapted to detect engagement of the edge of the workpiece by at least one of the abutmen... | 02/26/2008 |
| 7322623 | Sawtooth terminal blade gripper and method of gripping A gripping apparatus is disclosed. The gripping apparatus includes a first finger including a plurality of first sawteeth along a first longitudinal end and a receiving area being located between adjacent sawteeth and a second finger including a plurality of complem... | 01/29/2008 |
| 7300082 | Active edge gripping and effector The present invention generally relates to an end effector that utilizes a gripping mechanism to grip a peripheral edge of the wafer and secure the wafer to the end effector. In one embodiment, the gripping mechanism includes a pair of gripper arms that pivot betwee... | 11/27/2007 |
| 7296835 | Robotic hand and arm apparatus A robotic hand and arm where the fingers are driven by rotational motors with drums, and pulled with cables using rolling friction. The hand extends into a robotic arm through a wrist wherein the wrist is controlled by pneumatic cylinders. Each finger preferably is ... | 11/20/2007 |
| 7281741 | End-effectors for handling microelectronic workpieces End-effectors may be used to grasp microelectronic workpieces for handling by automated transport devices. One such end-effector includes a plurality of end-effectors and a detector adapted to detect engagement of the edge of the workpiece by at least one of the abu... | 10/16/2007 |
| 7281739 | Adjustable mount for vacuum cup with offset mounting post and swivel A material handling device includes a vacuum cup pivotally attached to a receiving collar and pivotable to engage a surface of an object to be picked up by the material handling system. The receiving collar includes a support post and a mounting collar that is movab... | 10/16/2007 |
| 7261351 | Spreader including a detection system A spreader (1) for lifting a freight container (7, 17) comprises a frame (3, 4, 11) and two pairs of pickup elements (5). Each pair of pickup elements (5) are mounted at opposite ends of the frame (3, 4, 11) and the frame ( | 08/28/2007 |
| 7261350 | Negative pressure attraction device and attraction confirming sensor An air suction passage (4A, 4B) is provided with a pick and place confirming sensor (1) comprising a gas flow sensor. The pick and place confirming sensor (1) measures the flow rate of air sucked in from an air suction port (33) of... | 08/28/2007 |
| 7255238 | Transporting apparatus having vertically movable holding portion The present invention provides a transporting apparatus provided with a sensor for detecting information relating to a relative position in the vertical direction between an article to be transported and a holding portion for holding the article, and a controller th... | 08/14/2007 |
| 7201553 | Method and device for feeding reels to a machine A device (2) for feeding reels (3) has a manipulator (14) having a gripping member (19) for picking up one reel (3) at a time off a pallet (16) and transferring the reel (3) to an unwinding pin (4a; 4... | 04/10/2007 |
| 7179044 | Method of removing substrates from a storage site and a multiple substrate batch loader A substrate handling robot includes an arm drive mechanism. A first arm is connected to the arm drive mechanism. A multiple substrate batch loader is connected to the first arm. A second arm is also connected to the arm drive mechanism. A single plane end effector i... | 02/20/2007 |
| 7168748 | Intelligent, self-contained robotic hand A robotic device has a base and at least one finger having at least two links that are connected in series on rotary joints with at least two degrees of freedom. A brushless motor and an associated controller are located at each joint to produce a rotational movemen... | 01/30/2007 |
| 7104579 | Detection and handling of semiconductor wafers and wafer-like objects An end effector has one or more vortex chucks to support a wafer, and at least two detectors for detecting different portions of the wafer before the wafer is picked up. If one of the detectors detects a wafer and the other one does not, an alarm is generated to ale... | 09/12/2006 |
| H2163 | Guided thrust maneuvered shipboard crane A floating object is attached to a shipboard hoisting crane through its attachment device under high seawave conditions, by maintaining alignment of the crane attachment device under maneuvering thrust control with a location on the floating object during lowering o... | 08/01/2006 |
| 7018159 | Adaptive load-clamping system A fluid power load-clamping system includes at least one fluid valve for variably regulating the maximum fluid pressure causing closure of the clamp. Preferably the valve increases the maximum fluid pressure automatically in relation to the measured magnitude of the... | 03/28/2006 |
| 7004523 | Gripping device capable to grip a vial or other containers without using mechanical fingers or other mechanical gripping devices It is described a gripping device for vials or similar containers, comprising a tubular body attached to one end of a movable supporting vertical shaft and gripping means associated to said tubular body. Said gripping means comprise non-mechanical gripping members, ... | 02/28/2006 |
| 7004522 | Suction unit A suction unit includes a rotary driving source which is arranged outside of a casing, a substantially oblong circular crank member which is rotatable and which is connected to a rotary shaft of the rotary driving source, a connecting rod which has one end rotatably... | 02/28/2006 |
| 7004524 | Handling device with a reversible toroidal gripping member A handling device includes a gripping member and a support structure that supports the gripping member. The gripping member includes a flexible, substantially toroidal wall member having an outer wall portion and an inner wall portion that defines an axial passagewa... | 02/28/2006 |
| 6979032 | Vacuum pick-up head with vacuum supply valve A vacuum pick-up device includes a vacuum supply valve mounted to a distribution manifold to which a plurality of suction cups is attached. The vacuum supply valve is operational to control the vacuum pressure supplied to the suction cups of the device. The vacuum p... | 12/27/2005 |
| 6976822 | End-effectors and transfer devices for handling microelectronic workpieces Passive end-effectors for handling microelectronic workpieces having a perimeter edge circumscribing a first diameter. In one embodiment, a passive end-effector in accordance with the invention includes a body having a plurality of contact sites located along a circ... | 12/20/2005 |
| 6974168 | System and method for performing simultaneous precision die bond of photonic components onto a single substrate Embodiments of the present invention overcome the disadvantages of the metal bond head systems while also providing a method for performing precision die bond of multiple die at once. A mounting system is adapted for simultaneous high accuracy placement of multiple ... | 12/13/2005 |
| 6968963 | Grappler control system for a gantry crane A system and process are provided for controlling motion of a grappler of a gantry crane to avoid damaging an object to be lifted. In an embodiment, a speed of grappler movement is automatically reduced when in close proximity to the object. Furthermore, the grapple... | 11/29/2005 |
| 6918622 | Robot hand and robot hand finger A robot hand finger makes a hooking movement similar to that of the human fingers with less number of driving units by installing a 4-joint link. A robot hand includes several fingers and 4-joint link in order to implement a horizontal movement of the fingers. A rob... | 07/19/2005 |
| 6913302 | Robot arm edge gripping device for handling substrates An edge gripping device grips and ungrips a substrate, such as a semiconductor wafer. A blade extends in a distal direction from a base of the device. At least one distal contact member is provided at the tip of the blade. Two proximal lever arms are pivotally coupl... | 07/05/2005 |
| 6896304 | Automatic sensing wafer blade and method for using An automatic sensing wafer blade for picking up wafers that is equipped with a sensor capable of self-diagnosing potential failure conditions of the blade and a method for using the wafer blade are described. The automatic sensing wafer blade is equipped with a V-sh... | 05/24/2005 |
| 6874834 | Linear slide gripper A linear slide gripper assembly is provided having a linear slide assembly coupled to a gripper assembly. The linear slide assembly has extension and retraction ports in fluid communication with a fluid source to move the gripper assembly between extended and retrac... | 04/05/2005 |
| 6846029 | Torus-shaped mechanical gripper A device for gripping, holding, and releasing objects of varying sizes and shapes, which comprises an elongated torus (30) enclosing a fluid material (31), an external control rod (40), and an internal control rod (38). Torus (30) ... | 01/25/2005 |
| 6827544 | Suction control unit in a plate suction and lifting device A suction control unit in a plate suction and lifting device that can suck and lift even the plate with process holes or the corrugated plate by finding the suckable flat part of the plate. A suction control unit 1 controls a plate suction and lifting device ... | 12/07/2004 |
| 6827381 | Gripper or clamping device In a gripper device for manually operated or automatic handling devices, having a gripper housing, at least one base jaw displaceably seated in the gripper housing, and a drive for the base jaw, wherein the drive comprises a hydraulically or pneumatically chargeable... | 12/07/2004 |
| 6817639 | Under pressure handling device Under pressure handling device comprising an under pressure generator, a device for controlling the under pressure and several grippers which engage on a work piece to be handled, wherein each gripper is provided with a device for controlling the under pressure, a s... | 11/16/2004 |
| 6786692 | Method and apparatus for automatic pick up of hosiery articles from a container A method and apparatus for automatically picking up hosiery articles (20) from a container (7), e.g., socks, knee socks, and the like in which an actuator (4) comprised of a support (5), to which a grasping device (6) is suspended,... | 09/07/2004 |
| 6746203 | Gripping and transport clamp mounted at the end of a robotic arm and method for operating the same The present invention relates to a gripping and transport clamp mounted at an end of a robotic arm. The clamp has a support member mounted at the end of the robotic arm and two lower pressing plates and one upper pressing plate mounted on the support member. A senso... | 06/08/2004 |
| 6692049 | Intelligent integrated circuit wafer handling system with fail safe system A system for handling stiff but flexible discs, particularly semiconductor wafers, including fail safe mechanisms that prevent the disc from being dropped if power to the unit is interrupted. Also, the electronics controlling operation resumes functioning... | 02/17/2004 |
| 6652014 | Vacuum grip system for gripping an object, and handling apparatus for handling an object using a vacuum grip system The invention relates to a vacuum grip system (10) for gripping at least one object (11a). The vacuum grip system (10) has a base unit (18) and at least two suction units (19, 20) affixed thereto, disposed at right angles to one another, and each having a... | 11/25/2003 |
