Polishing apparatus
First Claim
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1. A polishing apparatus comprising:
- a turntable having mounted on an upper surface thereof an abrasive cloth;
a first motor having connected thereto a first timing pulley, said first motor being coupled to said turntable through said first timing pulley for rotating said turntable;
a top ring positioned above said turntable for supporting a workpiece to be polished against said abrasive cloth;
a second motor having connected thereto a second timing pulley, said second motor being coupled to said top ring through said second timing pulley for rotating said top ring;
at least one of said first motor and said second motor having an output shaft; and
a torque detector, incorporated between said output shaft and a respective at least one of said first timing pulley and said second timing pulley, operable to detect an output torque produced by said at least one of said first motor and said second motor.
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Abstract
A polishing apparatus has a turntable with an abrasive cloth mounted on an upper surface thereof and a top ring disposed above the turntable for supporting a workpiece to be polished against the abrasive cloth under predetermined pressure. The turntable is rotatable by a first motor through a timing pulley connected to the first motor, and the top ring is rotatable by a second motor through a timing pulley connected to the second motor. A torque detector incorporated in the timing pulley connected to at least one of the first motor and the second motor detects an output torque produced by the at least one of the first motor and the second motor.
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Citations
15 Claims
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1. A polishing apparatus comprising:
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a turntable having mounted on an upper surface thereof an abrasive cloth; a first motor having connected thereto a first timing pulley, said first motor being coupled to said turntable through said first timing pulley for rotating said turntable; a top ring positioned above said turntable for supporting a workpiece to be polished against said abrasive cloth; a second motor having connected thereto a second timing pulley, said second motor being coupled to said top ring through said second timing pulley for rotating said top ring; at least one of said first motor and said second motor having an output shaft; and a torque detector, incorporated between said output shaft and a respective at least one of said first timing pulley and said second timing pulley, operable to detect an output torque produced by said at least one of said first motor and said second motor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A polishing apparatus comprising:
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a turntable having mounted on an upper surface thereof an abrasive cloth; a top ring positioned above said turntable for supporting a workpiece to be polished against said abrasive cloth; a motor for rotating one of said turntable or said top ring, said motor including an output shaft; coupling means connected to said output shaft for transmitting rotation torque produced by said motor to said one of said turntable or said top ring; and a torque detector, interposed between said output shaft and said coupling means, for detecting an output torque produced by said motor. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11)
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12. A method for polishing a workpiece, :
- said method comprising;
pressing said workpiece by a top ring against an abrasive cloth on an upper surface of a turntable; transmitting rotation of an output shaft of a first motor to said turntable through a first coupling device mounted on said output shaft; transmitting rotation of an output shaft of a second motor to said top ring through a second coupling device mounted on said output shaft of said second motor; and detecting an output torque produced by at least one of said first motor and said second motor by a torque detector incorporated between said at least one of said first motor and said second motor and a respective at least one of said first coupling device and said second coupling device. - View Dependent Claims (13)
- said method comprising;
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14. A method for detecting an end point of a polishing operation of polishing a workpiece, wherein said polishing operation includes pressing said workpiece by a top ring against an abrasive cloth on an upper surface of a turntable while rotating said turntable by transmitting rotation of an output shaft of a first motor to said turntable and rotating said top ring by transmitting rotation of an output shaft of a second motor to said top ring, said method comprising:
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detecting an output torque produced by at least one of said first motor and said second motor by a torque detector incorporated between a respective at least one of said output shaft of said first motor and said output shaft of said second motor and a coupling device mounted thereon; and detecting an occurrence of a change in the thus detected output torque indicative of an end point of said polishing operation. - View Dependent Claims (15)
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Specification