ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 25 -- United States Patent no. 12,341,046, issued on June 24, was assigned to Tokyo Electron Ltd. (Tokyo).
"Transfer apparatus and transfer method" was invented by Norihiko Amikura (Miyagi, Japan) and Masatomo Kita (Miyagi, Japan).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A transfer apparatus includes a transfer arm, an irradiator, a light receiver, and a controller. The transfer arm transfers the member. The irradiator irradiates light obliquely onto a passage area, through which the member passes, when the member is transferred by the transfer arm. The light receiver receives the light, which is irradiated from the irradiator and reflected from the member, when the member passes t...