US 11,685,055 B2
Robot gripper for moving wafer carriers and packing materials and method of operating the same
Chien-Fa Lee, Hsinchu (TW); Feng-Kuang Wu, Hsinchu County (TW); Fu-Cheng Hung, Tainan (TW); Chi-Wei Chen, Hsinchu (TW); and Chih-Hua Chen, Hsinchu (TW)
Assigned to TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY LTD., Hsinchu (TW)
Filed by TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY LTD., Hsinchu (TW)
Filed on Aug. 25, 2020, as Appl. No. 17/2,497.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/016,870, filed on Apr. 28, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2021/0331327 A1, Oct. 28, 2021
Int. Cl. B25J 11/00 (2006.01); B65B 69/00 (2006.01); H01L 21/673 (2006.01); B25J 15/00 (2006.01)
CPC B25J 11/0095 (2013.01) [B25J 15/0014 (2013.01); B25J 15/0028 (2013.01); B25J 15/0052 (2013.01); B65B 69/00 (2013.01); H01L 21/67379 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A gripper mechanism, comprising:
a first clamp assembly having a first support pin at a bottom of the first clamp assembly; and
a second clamp assembly arranged opposite to the first clamp assembly and having a second support pin at a bottom of the second clamp assembly;
wherein the first and second clamp assemblies are configured to move close to or away from each other;
wherein the first support pin is configured to move relative to the bottom of the first clamp assembly and the second support pin is configured to move relative to the bottom of the second clamp assembly;
wherein the first support pin is configured to move close to or away from the bottom of the first clamp assembly and rotate with respect to the bottom of the first clamp assembly, and the second support pin is configured to move close to or away from the bottom of the second clamp assembly and rotate with respect to the bottom of the second clamp assembly;
wherein the first support pin is configured to rotate from extending along a bottom edge of the first clamp assembly to extending toward the second support pin, and the second support pin is configured to rotate from extending along a bottom edge of the second clamp assembly to extending toward the first support pin.