Satish D Sundar, Age 583020 Reid Dr, Flower Mound, TX 75022

6514033, Feb 4, 2003

Sep 21, 2001

09/960009

Satish Sundar - Milpitas CA

Applied Materials, Inc. - Santa Clara CA

B66C 2300

4147445, 29 871

The present invention generally provides a robot that can transfer workpieces, such as silicon wafers, at increased speeds and accelerations and decelerations. More particularly, the present invention provides a robot wrist associated with the robot arm for mechanically clamping a workpiece to a workpiece handling member attached to the arm. The workpiece clamp selectively applies sufficient force to hold the workpiece and prevent slippage and damage to the workpiece during rapid rotation and linear movement of the handling member. In one embodiment, a clamp for securing silicon wafers uses two clamp fingers connected to a single flexure member to position and hold the wafer with minimal particle generation and wafer damage. The clamp is designed so that wafers are normally clamped except near full extension of the workpiece handling member to deliver or pick up a wafer.

6685422, Feb 3, 2004

Oct 23, 2001

10/032663

Satish Sundar - Milpitas CA
Ned G. Matthews - San Jose CA

Applied Materials Inc. - Santa Clara CA

B25J 1502

4147445, 901 15, 901 39, 2941031

The present invention generally provides a robot that can transfer workpieces, such as silicon wafers, at increased speeds and accelerations and decelerations. More particularly, the present invention provides a robot wrist associated with the robot arm for mechanically clamping a workpiece to a workpiece handling member attached to the arm. The wafer clamp selectively applies sufficient force to hold the workpiece and prevent slippage and damage to the workpiece during rapid rotation and linear movement of the handling member. In a particular embodiment, a clamp for securing silicon wafers uses a flexure assembly to position and hold the wafer with minimal particle generation and wafer damage. The clamp is designed so that the wafers are normally clamped near full extension of the workpiece handling member to deliver or pick up a wafer. A particular embodiment uses a pneumatic cylinder to actuate the flexure assembly so that the flexure assembly moves outwardly and rearwardly away from the wafer when actuated at or near full extension of the workpiece handling member.

6856863, Feb 15, 2005

Jul 27, 2000

09/626362

Satish Sundar - Milpitas CA, US

Applied Materials, Inc. - Santa Clara CA

G05B019/18

700254, 700255, 700258, 700218, 31856813, 31856811, 3185681, 901 46

An automatic calibration method and apparatus for robots, particularly robots used in substrate processing systems. The method for calibrating a robot in a processing chamber comprises: determining a useable free-space for the robot in a processing system; determining a distance between a position of a robot end effector and a target position in the useable free-space; and generating a path within the useable space from the position of the robot end effector to the target position using incremental displacements of the robot end effector that minimize the distance between the robot end effector and the target position. The apparatus for calibrating a robot in a processing system comprises: a sensor disposed at a location to be taught; a receiver disposed on a robot end effector; and a microprocessor connected to receive signals from the sensor and the receiver to determine a distance between the sensor and the receiver, wherein the microprocessor generates a path using incremental movements that minimizes the distance between the sensor and the receiver.

7107125, Sep 12, 2006

Oct 29, 2003

10/697731

Pyongwon Yim - Sunnyvale CA, US
Satish Sundar - Milpitas CA, US
Vinay Shah - San Francisco CA, US
Mario David Silvetti - Morgan Hill CA, US
Douglas Kitajima - San Jose CA, US
Venkatesh Babu - San Jose CA, US
Visweswaren Sivaramakrishnan - Santa Clara CA, US
Indrajit Lahiri - Santa Clara CA, US
Surinder Bedi - Fremont CA, US

Applied Materials, Inc. - Santa Clara CA

G05B 15/00
G05B 19/00

700258, 700245

A robotic positioning system that cooperates with a sensing system to correct robot motion is provided. The sensing system is decoupled from the sensors used conventionally to control the robot's motion, thereby providing repeatable detection of the robot's true position. In one embodiment, the positioning system includes a robot, a controller, a motor sensor and a decoupled sensor. The robot has at least one motor for manipulating a linkage controlling the displacement of a substrate support coupled thereto. The motor sensor is provides the controller with motor actuation information utilized to move the substrate support. The decoupled sensor provides information indicative of the true position the substrate support that may be utilized to correct the robot's motion.

7226269, Jun 5, 2007

Jan 15, 2004

10/758753

Satish Sundar - Milpitas CA, US
Sanjeev Baluja - San Francisco CA, US

Applied Materials, Inc. - Santa Clara CA

B65G 49/07

4147445, 414941, 294116, 901 6

In one embodiment, the invention is a substrate edge gripper assembly for positioning a semiconductor substrate upon a transfer robot. In one embodiment, a modular assembly comprises spring loaded jaws that are mounted on either side of a robot end effector. The jaws are adapted to be actuated by a feature remote from the robot end effector to release the substrate for delivery.

7527694, May 5, 2009

Jun 14, 2006

11/423966

Satish Sundar - Milpitas CA, US

Applied Materials, Inc. - Santa Clara CA

C23C 16/00
B05C 13/00
B05C 13/02
B05C 21/00
C23F 1/00
H01L 21/306

118729, 118728, 118730, 118500, 118503, 15634512, 15634514, 15634523, 15634551

In one embodiment, a substrate centering apparatus for centering a substrate on a substrate support is provided. In one embodiment, the invention comprises an apparatus that is mounted to an underside of a substrate support and includes a lever that projects upward through a support surface of the substrate support. The lever may be biased toward a center of the substrate support to contact an edge of a substrate. A mechanism is coupled to the lever and moves the lever radially outward to release the substrate. In one embodiment, the mechanism is actuated as the substrate support moves downward to a position that facilitates substrate handoff.

7695232, Apr 13, 2010

Jun 15, 2006

11/424461

Robert B. Moore - Livermore CA, US
Eric Ruhland - Pleasanton CA, US
Satish Sundar - Milpitas CA, US
Mario David Silvetti - Morgan Hil CA, US

Applied Materials, Inc. - Santa Clara CA

H01L 21/677

414217, 414935

A new apparatus for processing substrates is disclosed. A multi-level load lock chamber having four environmentally isolated chambers interfaces with a transfer chamber that has a robotic assembly. The robotic assembly has two arms that each can move horizontally as the robotic assembly rotates about its axis. The arms can reach into the isolated chambers of the load lock to receive substrates from the bottom isolated chambers, transport the substrates to process chambers, and then place the substrates in the upper chambers. The isolated chambers in the load lock chamber may have a pivotably attached lid that may be opened to access the inside of the isolated chambers.

7813832, Oct 12, 2010

Oct 24, 2007

11/923516

Satish Sundar - Milpitas CA, US

Applied Materials, Inc. - Santa Clara CA

G06F 7/00
B65G 49/07

700218, 41422202, 41422204, 414936

A method and apparatus for positioning a substrate in a substrate processing chamber. The method includes placing the substrate on a substrate transfer blade, moving the substrate transfer blade to a first position located in a transfer chamber, and capturing at least one image that includes at least a portion of the substrate transfer blade and at least a portion of the substrate. The method also includes processing the image to determine a position of a predetermined portion of the substrate transfer blade and a position of predetermined portion of the substrate. The method further includes determining an offset between the position of the predetermined portion of the substrate transfer blade and the position of the predetermined portion of the substrate, and moving the substrate transfer blade to a second position located in the substrate processing chamber, wherein the second position is adjusted to account for the offset.