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SamsungGranted patentChips & hardwareInterest 4/10

Samsung patents chip tray scanner that checks for bends and alignment

This patent describes a device used in chip factories to inspect trays holding silicon wafers. It uses a camera on a moving door to take two angled photos of each wafer, allowing a computer to check if the wafer is bent or positioned correctly.

Why it mattersIt helps ensure that delicate computer chips are handled correctly during manufacturing, which is a routine but necessary step in making electronics.

In the filing’s own words

A load port module includes: a mounting table configured to receive a container, wherein the container is configured to receive a substrate therein; a door opener is configured to open and close a door of the container; an image generator is on the door opener, and the image generator is configured to generate a first image of the substrate at a first angle with respect to the substrate, and a second image of the substrate at a second angle with respect to the substrate different from the first angle; and a controller is configured to determine warpage of the substrate based on the first image and to determine alignment of the substrate based on the second image.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. A load port module comprising: a mounting table configured to receive a container, wherein the container is configured to hold a substrate; a door opener configured to open and close a door of the container; an image generator on the door opener, wherein the image generator is configured to generate a first image of the substrate at a first angle with respect to an extension direction relative to a slot of the container, and a second image of the substrate at a second angle with respect to the extension direction that is different from the first angle; and a controller configured to determine a warpage of the substrate based on the first image and an alignment of the substrate based on the second image, wherein: the substrate is one of a plurality of substrates in the container, the image generator is configured to image each one of the plurality of substrates in the container at the first angle with respect to each one of the plurality of substrates when the door opener descends during a first descent, the door opener is configured to ascend, and the image generator is configured to image each one of the plurality of substrates in the container at the second angle with respect to each one of the plurality of substrates as the door opener descends during a second descent.

Facts

Company
Samsung (Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.)
Official title
Load port module and driving method thereof
Patent number
US12772783B2
Application number
18354191
Filed
Jul 18, 2023
Granted
Oct 20, 2026
Inventors
1
Claims
19

Classified under

H10P 72/0608 Electricity & electronicsH10P 72/0616 Electricity & electronicsH10P 72/3302 Electricity & electronicsH10P 72/53 Electricity & electronicsB25J 9/1653 Operations & transportB25J 9/1674 Operations & transport
Read the full filing (official PDF) ↗ Open in the Patent Tracker

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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.