Importance

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Abstract

A metallic tip for attachment to a vacuum-operated wand of the type for handling of semiconductor wafers and the like. The wand tip has a tubular portion for attachment to the wand and has a flattened portion with generally parallel upper and lower walls extending from the tubular portion. The lower wall has a slotted region to expose the inner surface of the upper wall so as to define a vacuum pocket. The upper wall has a raised region to promote stiffness and to allow fluid communication between the tubular portion and the vacuum pocket. The upper and lower walls are in physical contact and are in vacuum-sealed relation about the major portion of the periphery of the vacuum pocket. The unitary tip is formed by compressing a portion of a tubular metallic member to form the upper and lower walls. A slot is machined into the lower wall to provide the vacuum pocket, afterwhich a mandrel is inserted into the tubular portion and a second compression is performed. The lower wall is planar, but the upper wall includes the raised region having a shape and dimensions determined by the mandrel. Vacuum sealing of the periphery of the vacuum pocket includes brazing of the two walls, which are in physical contact.

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First Claim