Granted Patent B2

US 8,406,918 · App. 12/643,929 · Granted Mar 26, 2013

Abstract

Claims (50)

1. A disk carrier positioning apparatus, comprising:

a panel having a disk opening configured to receive a disk;

a plurality of beam sensors disposed around the disk opening to project beams parallel to a surface of the disk when secured within the disk opening, the plurality of beam sensors comprising at least one beam sensor on each of a front side and rear side of the panel; and

a top gripper and a bottom gripper to secure the disk within the disk opening,

wherein the plurality of beam sensors are configured to detect alignment of the disk within the disk opening when secured by the to and bottom grippers.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of beam sensors comprises an upper side sensor, a lower side sensor, and a intermediate side sensor to detect a slant of the disk within the disk opening when secured by the top and bottom grippers.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein

the upper side sensor is disposed on a first side of the carrier by an upper area of the disk opening,

the lower side sensor is disposed on the first side of the carrier by a lower area of the disk opening, and

the intermediate side sensor is disposed on a second side of the carrier, adjacent a center area of the disk opening.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 , further comprising first and second top sensors to detect a vertical position of the disk within the disk opening when secured by the top and bottom grippers.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the first and second top sensors are disposed above the disk opening on opposite ends of the top gripper.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the plurality of beam sensors and the top sensors are fiber optic sensors.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:

a plurality of covers, each coupled to the panel and forming respective cavities therewith; and

wiring coupled to the plurality of beam sensors and disposed within the cavities.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the plurality of covers comprise a top cover, a front side cover, a rear side cover and a bottom cover.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein at least one of the front side cover and the rear side cover are removable to enable the wiring to be coupled to an amplifier.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the panel comprises one or more additional disk openings configured to receive a corresponding one or more additional disks, each of the one or more additional openings have a corresponding additional plurality of beam sensors disposed there around to project beams parallel to a surface of the one or more additional disks, each of the additional plurality of beam sensors comprising at least one additional beam sensor on each side of the panel.

11. A method of teaching disk positioning, comprising:

inserting a disk into a disk opening of a carrier using a robotic arm; and

determining a misalignment of the inserted disk within the carrier using a plurality of beam sensors disposed around the disk opening, wherein the plurality of beam sensors comprise at least one beam sensor on each side of the disk,

wherein determining the misalignment comprises determining a slant misalignment of the disk within the disk opening by projecting a plurality of beams parallel to a surface of the disk using the plurality of beam sensors by detecting an interruption of at least one of the plurality of projected beams.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein determining the slant misalignment of the disk further comprises:

projecting a first beam of the plurality of beams by an upper side sensor;

projecting a second beam of the plurality of beams by a lower side sensor;

projecting a third beam of the plurality of beams by an intermediate side sensor; and

detecting the interruption of one or more of the first, second and third beams indicating a slant of the disk within the disk opening.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein determining the misalignment further comprises determining a vertical misalignment of the disk within the opening.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein determining the vertical misalignment of the disk comprises:

projecting a fourth beam towards an edge of the disk by a first top sensor;

projecting a fifth beam towards the edge of the disk by a second top sensor; and

detecting no signal from the first and second top sensors indicating that the disk is not in a proper vertical alignment.

15. A method of teaching disk positioning, comprising:

inserting a disk into a disk opening of a carrier using a robotic arm;

determining a misalignment of the inserted disk within the carrier using a plurality of beam sensors disposed around the disk opening, wherein the plurality of beam sensors comprise at least one beam sensor on each side of the disk,

inserting the disk into the disk opening of the carrier using the robotic arm; and

detecting at least one of an under insertion and an over insertion of the disk using the plurality of beam sensors.

16. A disk sputtering apparatus, comprising:

a disk transportation carrier comprising a panel having a plurality of disk openings, each of the disk openings have corresponding disk grippers to secure disk therein;

a disk changing system; and

a controller operatively coupled with the disk changing system to insert disks into and extract disks from the grippers within the disk openings of the panel, wherein the panel further comprises:

a plurality of beam sensors disposed around each of the disk openings to project beams parallel to a surface of the disk when secured within the disk openings, each of the plurality of beam sensors comprising at least one beam sensor on each side of the panel.

17. The disk sputtering apparatus of claim 16 , further comprising an amplifier coupleable by wiring to the plurality of beam sensors.

18. The disk sputtering apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the panel further comprises:

a top gripper and a bottom gripper to secure the disk within the disk opening, and wherein the plurality of beam sensors are configured to detect alignment of the disk within the disk opening when secured by the top and bottom grippers, and wherein the plurality of beams sensors comprises:

an upper side sensor, a lower side sensor and an intermediate side sensor to transmit corresponding triggering signals to the controller indicating an existence of a misalignment of the disk within the disk opening, and wherein

the upper side sensor is disposed on a first side of the carrier, facing the disk damper picker, by an upper area of the disk opening,

the lower side sensor is disposed on the first side of the carrier by a lower area of the disk opening, and

the intermediate side sensor is disposed on a second side of the carrier, adjacent a center area of the disk opening.

Assignments (8)