Wafer Book Stacking via Synchronous Gripper and Counterholder
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for producing multi-layered wafer blocks with cream coatings face challenges in achieving high throughput while maintaining quality, as they often result in structural damage to brittle wafers and inaccuracies in stacking, leading to increased waste due to the need to stop and accelerate wafer sheets, which can cause breaks and edge damage.
Innovation Solution
A method and device where the first wafer block component is placed and pressed onto the second from above, both moving at the same speed, using a gripper with translational degrees of freedom and a counterholder to ensure exact positioning and gentle handling, allowing continuous stacking without stopping the sheets, thereby minimizing damage and ensuring precise alignment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If wafer sheets are stopped in the stacking area for stacking, then stacking can be performed, but structural damage occurs due to acceleration and deceleration of brittle wafers
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the dynamics principle by making the counterholder displaceable along the conveying surface in the conveying direction, allowing it to move synchronously with the wafer sheets. This dynamic adjustment enables the counterholder to maintain proper positioning during continuous movement without requiring stopping, thereby preventing structural damage to the brittle wafers while still enabling stacking operations.
2Productivity
If wafer sheets are accelerated and slowed down in the stacking area, then stacking can be performed, but edge damage and breaks occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements continuity of useful action by enabling the stacking process to occur during continuous movement of the wafer sheets along the conveying surface. The displaceable counterholder allows the stacking operation to proceed without interruption or stopping, maintaining continuous action throughout the process and eliminating the harmful acceleration and deceleration cycles that cause edge damage and breaks.
3Productivity
If conventional stacking devices are used, then stacking can be performed, but accuracy in positioning wafer sheets is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the feedback principle through the synchronous movement mechanism between the conveying surface and the displaceable counterholder. The counterholder's position is continuously adjusted based on the movement of the wafer sheets, providing real-time feedback and correction that ensures precise alignment and congruent positioning of stacked wafer sheets while maintaining high productivity.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to an apparatus and method for producing multi-layered wafer books which are filled with a spreading substance such as a cream, for example, in which a first wafer book component (2) is transported along a conveying surface (30) to a stacking area (8), is lifted there from the conveying surface (30) by a gripping apparatus (4), a second wafer book component (3) subsequently or simultaneously being transported along the conveying surface (30) to the stacking area (8), and the first wafer book component (2) being placed and/or pressed onto the second wafer book component (3) from above in a joining process.