Resilient Suction Clamp for Warped Substrate Positioning
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional suction clamps struggle to properly clamp warped or bended substrates due to their inability to engage the entire surface effectively, leading to inadequate clamping forces and potential misalignment during lithographic processes.
Innovation Solution
A suction clamp with a resilient member that allows the first pad to move between a receiving and clamping position, ensuring engagement of both lower and higher parts of a warped surface, and a pressure drop member to enhance suction force, combined with an asymmetric pad shape for improved clamping.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a conventional suction clamp with a fixed pad is used, then the structure is simple, but it cannot properly clamp warped or bended substrates
Solution Approach 1:
The pad is made movable relative to the base through a resilient member, allowing it to dynamically adjust its position between a receiving position and a clamping position. This dynamic adjustment enables the pad to engage both lower and higher parts of warped substrates, resolving the contradiction between simple structure and effective clamping of non-flat objects.
Solution Approach 2:
The resilient member changes the positional parameter of the pad between receiving and clamping states. This parameter change allows the system to adapt to different substrate geometries, improving reliability without requiring complex multi-component mechanisms.
2Reliability
If the pad is made movable to engage warped surfaces, then clamping effectiveness improves, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The resilient member acts as a flexible element that enables the pad to move between positions. This flexible mechanism provides the necessary adaptability for engaging warped surfaces while maintaining a relatively simple overall structure, balancing reliability improvement with acceptable device complexity.
3Force
If suction force is increased to improve clamping, then clamping force improves, but leaks increase on warped surfaces
Solution Approach 1:
The movable pad dynamically adapts its position to maintain contact with the warped substrate surface. By moving to engage both lower and higher parts of the warped surface, the pad maintains effective sealing across the suction opening, allowing high suction force to be applied without increasing leaks.
4Ease of manufacture
If a fixed pad position is used, then the device is simple to manufacture, but it cannot engage both lower and higher parts of warped surfaces
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of manufacturing multiple fixed pads for different positions, the invention uses a single pad that dynamically moves between receiving and clamping positions. This dynamic approach achieves reliable engagement of warped surfaces while maintaining ease of manufacture, as it requires only one pad and a simple resilient member rather than multiple precisely positioned components.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution ensures proper clamping of warped substrates by increasing the suction force and reducing leaks, allowing for accurate positioning and stable patterning in lithographic processes.
Implementation Method 1
a suction opening arranged in the base and adapted to be connected to a suction device for providing a suction force for clamping the object on the first pad
Implementation Method 2
a resilient member connecting the first pad to the connection area of the base structure such that the first pad is moveable relative to the base between a receiving position for receiving the object and a clamping position for clamping the object, wherein the resilient member is adapted to bias the first pad to the receiving position
Data Source
AI summary
A suction clamp for clamping an object. The suction clamp includes a base structure including a base and a connection area, and a first pad for receiving the object. The suction clamp further includes a resilient member connecting the first pad to the connection area of the base structure such that the first pad is moveable relative to the base between a receiving position for receiving the object and a clamping position for clamping the object, wherein the resilient member is adapted to bias the first pad to the receiving position. The suction clamp further includes a suction opening arranged in the base and adapted to be connected to a suction device for providing a suction force for clamping the object on the first pad.