High resolution piggyback linear motor design for placement systems and the like
First Claim
1. A high precision placement system comprising:
- first mounting means including first reference surface means;
first two-dimensional positioning means movable along said first reference surface means for positioning said first positioning means in a coarse manner relative to said first reference surface means;
second mounting means including second reference surface means, mounted upon said first two-dimensional positioning means;
second two-dimensional positioning means movable relative to said second reference surface means for positioning said second positioning means relative to said second reference surface means and hence relative to said first reference surface means, said second two-dimensional positioning means having a higher resolution than said first two-dimensional positioning means.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A positioning system for accurately positioning components and the like in which a two-dimensional linear motor moves upon an air bearing across a large platen having a predetermined grid pattern yielding reasonably good resolution. A second two-dimensional positioning assembly of extremely fine resolution is secured to the linear motor arranged to traverse the large platen. Location sensors are provided in closed loop feedback system for detecting the X and Y positions. Coarse resolution is obtained by operating the first two-dimensional linear motor and fine resolution is obtained by operating the second two-dimensional positioning assembly, preferably after disabling the air bearing. The fine positioning system may also include a driver motor for rotating a manipulator arranged upon the second positioning system to correct for any angular misalignment of the component being placed by the manipulator.
-
Citations
45 Claims
-
1. A high precision placement system comprising:
-
first mounting means including first reference surface means; first two-dimensional positioning means movable along said first reference surface means for positioning said first positioning means in a coarse manner relative to said first reference surface means; second mounting means including second reference surface means, mounted upon said first two-dimensional positioning means; second two-dimensional positioning means movable relative to said second reference surface means for positioning said second positioning means relative to said second reference surface means and hence relative to said first reference surface means, said second two-dimensional positioning means having a higher resolution than said first two-dimensional positioning means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
-
-
35. A high precision placement system comprising:
-
a platen having a planar working surface, and first and second sets of parallel uniformly spaced grid-like groove lines formed in the platen surface for defining an orthogonal matrix of teeth; first and second two-dimensional linear motor means each having first and second forcer means and means for operating said first and second forcer means to move said first and second two-dimensional linear motor means over the planar working surface of said platen; third and fourth two-dimensional positioning means each respectively mounted upon said first and second two-dimensional linear motor means; and means for moving said first, second, third and fourth two-dimensional positioning means for precision positioning thereof, the resolution of said third and fourth positioning means being greater than the resolution of said first and second positioning means.
-
-
36. A method for precision positioning of an object mounted upon an output platform movable by means of a two-dimensional positioning means which in turn is mounted upon the intermediate output platform of a second two-dimensional positioning means arranged to move relative to a work surface, comprising the steps of:
-
operating the second two-dimensional positioning means to move both the first and the second two-dimensional positioning means to a predetermined location; and operating the first two-dimensional positioning means to position the output platform at the desired final location, the resolution of the first positioning means being greater than the resolution of the second positioning means. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39)
-
-
40. A precision placement system comprising:
-
first mounting means; reference means; first positioning means for moving said first mounting means relative to said reference means in mutually perpendicular directions along substantially common plane; second mounting means; second positioning means mounted upon said first mounting means for moving said second mounting means in mutually perpendicular directions substantially along a second common plane, said second positioning means having a higher resolution than said first positioning means; said second positioning means further comprising means for rotating said second mounting means about a predetermined axis.
-
-
41. A precision placement system comprising:
-
first mounting means; reference means; first positioning means for moving said first mounting means relative to said reference means in mutually perpendicular directions along substantially common plane; second mounting means; second positioning means mounted upon said first mounting means for moving said second mounting means in mutually perpendicular directions substantially along a second common plane, said second positioning means having a higher resolution than said first positioning means; said second positioning means further comprising means for rotating said second mounting means about a predetermined axis; holding means on said second mounting means for holding a component for delivery of said component to a working surface adjacent to said holding means; and camera means mounted upon said second mounting means for mapping the position of said component relative to said working surface, including means for generating signals for operating said second positioning means in the event of misalignment between said components and said working surface.
-
-
42. A method for precision positioning of an object releasably mounted upon an output platform movable by means of a first positioning system which in turn is mounted upon the intermediate output platform of a second positioning system which is arranged to move relative to a work surface located beneath said object, and holding means mounted on said platform for holding a component, comprising the steps of:
-
operating the second positioning system to move the first positioning system in mutually perpendicular directions to drive the first positioning system to a predetermined location; determining if there is any misalignment between the component held by the holding means and the work surface; and operating the first positioning system responsive to detection of a misalignment of said components relative to the desired position on the working surface. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44, 45)
-
Specification