NONCONTACT SUSPENDING AND TRANSPORTING PLANAR OBJECTS BY USING ACOUSTIC LEVITATION

A near field acoustic levitation phenomenon was recently reported by the authors where a several kilogram specimen can be stably levitated several tens microns apart from a rectangular flexural vibration plate 1)2). Any specimens can be levitated regardless of their material if the bottom surfaces are flat. In this report, a contactless transportation system consisting of a suspending device and a transportation actuator is proposed. The near field acoustic levitation is used for the former while a conventional pulse motor actuator is used for the later part. A trial-made non-contact transportation system is proved to transport a 8-inch silicon wafer successfully.