The invention is a carrier comprising three support elements connected by an underlying frame. The periphery of a wafer rests upon the support elements. The invention also comprises a wafer handler with a plurality of arms. Spacers space the carrier above a base plate associated with a station in a wafer handling area. An arm slides beneath the frame and between the spacers, but the handler does not contact the wafer. A method of using the handler and carrier is provided where the handler lifts ...

A transport-by-suction type die for use in a working machine having working stages, the die comprises a feed arm mounted in a position above the working stage in a lower part of the die to be slidable in the direction of consecutive feed and to be vertically movable with respect to a surface of the working stage; suction pads for supporting a piece part by suction, the suction pads being attached to the feed arm at the same interval as that of the working stages; a negative-pressure aspiration m...

A pick and place mechanism for assembling a large number of contactors on a contact substrate. The pick and place mechanism includes a first area for positioning an intermediate plate having a plurality of contactors thereon, a second area for positioning the contact substrate for receiving the contactors thereon, a carrier provided between the first and second areas for converting a direction of the contactor to a predetermined direction when receiving the contactor on a seat having an inclined...

The invention relates to a device for selectively positioning a tool carried by a vehicle moving on the perforated plate of a bank of tubes, said device being composed of a vehicle comprising transfer members mounted to slide in a central body and comprising on either side thereof jacks extending at right angles to the planes in which said members move and of which the mobile rods of said jacks comprise at their free end positioning fingers, which vehicle is connected by swivel joint means to an...

An integrated system is disclosed for workpiece handling and/or inspection at the front end of a tool. The system comprises a rigid member of unitary construction such as a metal plate which mounts to the front of a tool associated with a semiconductor process. The front end components, including the load port assemblies, prealigners and workpiece handling robot, are mounted to the plate to provide precise and repeatable positioning of the front end components with respect to each other.

Telemanipulator for operation in a waterbox of a steam generator for attachment underneath the tubeplate of the latter. The device has expandable grippers mounted on arms carried by a bearer unit, for engaging and locking as required in the orifices in the tubeplate, with means enabling independent movement of the apparatus underneath the tubeplate while remaining always suspended by at least two grippers. The bearer unit has four independent arms each equipped with two expandable grippers, and ...

A stepped platform is arranged to traverse the down-facing tubesheet of a nuclear steam generator with a rotating, circular work table attached to the platform to position a plurality of tools, in sequence, at a common area of the tubesheet for required work.

An apparatus for preventing the cross contamination of heating element within horizontal furnaces is disclosed. A rotating spindle may connect to either or both of the lifting arm of a triaxial loader or the transfer plate of a loading station. A pair of spindles are able to lift a single wafer boat. Each spindle includes a plurality of active positions with one active position associated with each heating element of the horizontal furnace. A control processor monitors the position of the spindl...

A tool carrier unit, intended to be moved over a tube plate, comprises two perpendicular arms equipped with devices for engaging in the holes of the plate, and for moving the unit, step by step, by relative movement of the arms, across the plate. The unit comprises a supporting element in the form of an angle bracket defining a vee arranged with its apex perpendicular to the plate. The arms are arranged external to the vee, and at the inside of the vee, unaffected by the movement of the arms, gu...

Workpieces such as chips are removed from a receiving plane by a transfer unit, which carries them to a delivery plane. The workpieces are transported in two segments during two phases, each workpiece being deposited between the phases on an intermediate station arranged in the region of the feed path. The transfer unit has two working heads, which simultaneously transport one workpiece from the receiving plane to the intermediate station, and another workpiece from the intermediate station to t...