A carrier head includes a base assembly, a substrate mounting surface connected to the base assembly, a plurality of segments disposed circumferentially around the substrate mounting surface to provide a collet retaining ring to surround a substrate mounted on the substrate mounting surface, and an outer ring that is vertically movable relative to the plurality of segments. An inner surface of the collet retaining ring is configured to engage a substrate, and the collect retaining ring and outer ring are configured such that vertical motion of the outer ring controls motion of the collet retaining ring between a clamping and unclamping position.

While the loading member supporting mechanism moves the loading member from the workpiece set state to the workpiece retracted state and returns to the workpiece set state again, the displacement drive unit and the rotation drive unit perform an operation of disposing the workpiece holding portion arranged at the processing position to the replacement position and an operation of disposing the workpiece holding portion disposed at the replacement position to the processing position in a trajectory in which the loading member does not interfere with the shoe.

An example grinder/polisher system includes: a specimen holder configured to secure a specimen; a platen; an actuator configured to move at least one of the specimen holder and the platen; a sensor configured to detect objects within a field of view of the sensor; and a controller configured to control movement of the actuator and to stop the actuator in response to detection of an object by the sensor while the actuator is moving.

The invention relates to an equipment having an upstream holder for a supply reel carrying a continuous ribbon, a portion of which is suitable for forming a film intended to cover a support plate, a downstream holder, an assembly station having a base comprising having a first platen, an actuator with a movable part carrying a second platen, the second platen or the first platen being adapted to receive a support plate, wherein the second platen is adapted to cooperate with the first platen to form a tooling capable of contacting the film and the support plate when the portion of the ribbon forming the film is located between the second platen and the first platen, facing the support plate.

A truing device includes a housing and a truing mandrel (1) with a shaft (10) used to mount a circular tool having a concentric opening, in particular a grinding disc (3), and with a first bearing (11) fixed on the housing (4) and located in a first end region of the truing mandrel (1) The shaft (10) includes a hydraulic clamping device (20) having a chamber (21) containing hydraulic medium, to which a pre-clamping pressure can be applied with a preclamping element (23) The hydraulic clamping device is formed from a clamping section (22) lying above the chamber (21) in the radial direction and held in the shaft on both sides. The outer surface of the clamping section forms the clamping surface and which, when the hydraulic pressure in the chamber (21) increases, can be reversibly moved or bent outwards in the radial direction such that a radial clamping force can be exerted on the inner surface of the concentric opening of the circular tool penetrated by the clamping section (22). A method provides for mounting and removing a circular tool on the truing mandrel of a truing device of this kind.

A method for slicing a workpiece includes feeding and slicing a workpiece held by a workpiece holder with a bonding member therebetween, while reciprocatively traveling a fixed abrasive grain wire wound around multiple grooved rollers to form a wire row, so that the workpiece is sliced at multiple positions simultaneously. The bonding member has a grindstone part. The method includes, after the workpiece is sliced and before it is drawn out from the wire row, a fixed-abrasive-grain removal step of pressing the wire against the grindstone to remove fixed abrasive grains from the wire while reciprocatively traveling. In the fixed-abrasive-grain removal step, the wire rate is 100 m/min. or less, and the load on each line of the wire is 30 g or more. The method prevents a sliced workpiece from catching a wire and from causing saw mark and wire break in drawing out the wire after slicing.

A method for modifying the mechanical and surface properties of a component. The method involves: removably attaching a component to at least one component support that is located within a vibratory trough of a component treatment apparatus, the at least one component support being a support shaft upon which the component is removably mountable within the vibratory trough; supplying the vibratory trough with treatment media; moving the component support or the vibratory trough so that the component is immersed into the treatment media; vibrating the vibratory trough to provide a substantially uniform surface treatment of the component, the vibratory trough being movable by at least one trough vibrating mechanism whose actuation is controlled by a controller in response to signals received from at least one sensor located on or within the vibratory trough; removing the component from the treatment media; and detaching the component from the component support.

A device for producing a curved lateral surface on a rolling element for a rolling bearing includes a grinding apparatus for grinding the curved lateral surface and a retaining apparatus having a control wheel with a convexly profiled peripheral feeding surface for retaining the rolling element during the grinding. The retaining apparatus may include a plurality of control wheels. The control wheel or the convexly profiled peripheral feeding surface may be formed from a ceramic, a resin-bonded synthetic, or a metallic material. The device may include a dressing apparatus for profiling the convexly profiled peripheral feeding surface of the control wheel.

A carrier head for a chemical mechanical polisher includes a base, a substrate mounting surface, an annular inner ring and an outer ring. The inner ring has a lower surface configured to contact an upper surface of a substrate positioned on the substrate mounting surface, an outer surface, and an inwardly facing surface extending downwardly from the lower surface and is configured to circumferentially surround the edge of the substrate, the inner ring vertically movable relative to the substrate mounting surface. The outer ring has an inner surface circumferentially surrounding the inner ring, an outer surface, and a lower surface to contact the polishing pad, and the outer ring is vertically movable relative to and independently of the substrate mounting surface and the inner ring.

A clamping device for clamping an article or workpiece to be balanced includes a clamping apparatus for clamping the article. The clamping apparatus has an adjusting device for adjusting the clamping diameter of a clamping body of the clamping apparatus for clamping the article on a placement surface. The clamping body has a disk-shaped spring element sprung in radial direction with a centrally disposed clearance forming at least one spring element cone. The clamping body also has a clamping element inserted into the clearance and having at least one corresponding clamping element cone. The adjusting device has an actuating device for displacing the clamping element relative to the spring element, for moving the cone surfaces of the clamping element cone and the spring element cone relative to one another and for consequently clamping and/or unclamping the spring element in radial direction by the cone surfaces.