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Magnetically-positioned X-Y stage having six-degrees of freedom

  • US 5,886,432 A
  • Filed: 04/28/1997
  • Issued: 03/23/1999
  • Est. Priority Date: 04/28/1997
  • Status: Expired due to Fees
First Claim
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1. An apparatus for magnetically positioning a movable X-Y stage with respect to X and Y horizontal axes and a Z vertical axis that comprises:

  • a first set of a plurality of flat stationary electromagnetic coils of wire that substantially lie in a first horizontal X, Y plane and are angularly offset in said first horizontal X, Y plane by plus an oblique angle with respect to a given one of said X and Y horizontal axes;

    a second set of a plurality of flat stationary electromagnetic coils of wire that substantially lie in a second horizontal X, Y plane substantially in vertical alignment with said first horizontal X, Y plane and are angularly offset in said second horizontal X, Y plane by minus said oblique angle with respect to the same one of said X and Y horizontal axes as said first set of coils of wire; and

    a Halbach array of magnets attached to said movable X-Y stage, wherein said array substantially lies in a third horizontal X, Y plane, is oriented substantially parallel to the same one of said X and Y horizontal axes with respect to which said oblique angles are measured, and is simultaneously situated in a cooperative relationship with both of said first and second sets of coils of wire;

    whereby a lateral force in said X and/or Y horizontal directions and/or a vertical force in said vertical Z direction may be selectively generated in accordance with the phase and magnitude of current energizing a wire of some of each of said plurality of flat stationary electromagnetic coils of said first and second sets.

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