Method and apparatus for smoothing metal coated surfaces by successive rolling and burnishing operations. The apparatus performs rolling and burnishing operations automatically, using hard polished rollers and a flexible burnishing wheel having automatic compensation for wheel wear. The workpiece is advanced through the rolling and burnishing stations by two opposed conveyor belts which grip the pieces therebetween with the portion to be rolled and burnished protruding to one side of the belts.

A face grinder assembly is disclosed for removing irregularities from tire. The face grinder assembly includes an outer frame and a slide frame slidably attached to the outer frame. The slide frame is capable of vertical movement relative to the outer frame between a working position and a non-working position. A sub-assembly carried by the slide frame includes a grinding stone. The sub-assembly is configured to define a clearance for the tire in the non-working position of the slide frame.

An integrated process tool for chemical mechanical processing, cleaning and drying a semiconductor workpiece is provided. The integrated process tool includes a CMP module and a cleaning and drying module. After being processed, the workpiece is transported from the CMP module to the cleaning and drying module using a movable housing. In the cleaning and drying module, a cleaning mechanism is used to clean the workpiece while the workpiece is rotated and held by a support stucture of the movable...

A grinding machine includes a driving unit, a grinding wheel unit, an abrasive belt unit and a dust-collecting device. The dust-collecting device includes a dust-discharging unit and a dust-guiding unit. The dust-discharging unit includes a dust-collecting seat disposed fixedly on a side cover of the grinding wheel unit, and a suction fan assembly disposed within the dust-collecting seat. The dust-guiding unit includes a conduit communicated with a dust-receiving chamber in the grinding wheel un...

An apparatus performs at least one of cleaning and drying a semiconductor wafer while rotating the semiconductor wafer. The apparatus has a rotating mechanism for rotating the semiconductor wafer, and a sensor for detecting a reference position such as a notch or an orientation flat of the semiconductor wafer. The semiconductor wafer may be stopped from rotating to align the reference position with a predetermined position based on an output signal from the sensor.

A lens pad is provided for use on a lens clamp. The lens pad comprises a lens-engaging surface which, in turn, has a lens-facing recess located substantially centrally thereon. The lens-engaging surface thus is annular. Alternatively, the lens-engaging surface is more resilient toward a center thereof than toward a periphery thereof. Forces exerted by the lens pad against a surface of a lens when the lens pad is pressed against the surface therefore are less concentrated than such forces would b...

An apparatus for calibrating the centering of polishing heads in a polishing machine that is equipped with a plurality of spindles onto which polishing heads are mounted and a method for using such apparatus are disclosed. In the apparatus, a calibration disc is provided which has a hollow shaft mounted at a center of the bottom surface of the disc. A centering pin slidingly engaging an elongated cavity in the hollow shaft such that its protruded tip portion may be adjusted by using a locking de...

An integral machine for polishing, cleaning, rinsing and drying workpieces such as semiconductor wafers. A load/unload station has a plurality of platforms for receiving cassettes of wafers to be processed. A dry end-effector of a robot retrieves wafers from the cassettes and transfers them to an index table. A transfer apparatus having wafer carrier elements picks up wafers from the index table, moves the wafers to a polishing table for polishing, and returns the wafers to the index table for f...

A polishing apparatus is used for polishing a workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer to a flat mirror finish. The polishing apparatus, includes a turntable having a polishing surface thereon, and a top ring for holding a workpiece to be polished and pressing the workpiece against the polishing surface on the turntable. A pusher is disposed in a position for transferring the workpiece to and from the top ring, and has a workpiece support which can be lifted to a position close to the top ring fo...

A system for polishing a semiconductor substrate. Specifically, the system includes one or more polishing modules and a cleaning module. A rail is disposed between the polishing modules and the cleaning module. The rail has a first end disposed proximate a transfer station disposed on the polishing module and a second end disposed proximate the cleaning module. A robot is movably disposed on the rail. The robot is adapted to transfer a substrate between the transfer station and the cleaning modu...