Development of the Pneumatic Non-Contact Holder

Pneumatic non-contact holders have been put to practical use for transporting semiconductor wafers and foodstuffs (hereafter “workpiece”) in manufacturing processes. The two main types of pneumatic non-contact holder are the Bernoulli and vortex types. In our previous study, we used a Bernoulli-type non-contact holder to achieve full non-contact holding by attaching a diffuser, but the workpiece underwent irregular rotation. With a vortex-type holder, this rotation could be prevented by generating two vortex flows with opposite rotations. However, the workpiece tended to slip away from the holder so that a guard structure was required, which introduced point contact with the guard into the holding process. This study’s purpose was to create a holder that is fully non-contact and does not cause workpiece rotation. By combining both the Bernoulli and vortex types, we succeeded in holding a workpiece without both contact and rotation.