Feasibility Study of Mechanically Adaptive Microfabrication Process Tooling and Fixturing (original) (raw)
Research and development of new microsystems technologies often relies on performing different microfabrication operations on small numbers of dice. These type of operations fall outside the mainstream batch fabrication procedures, and manual transfers and manipulations of fragile released microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) structures can lead to damage during handling. This paper presents the design of a mechanically adaptive tooling and fixturing device to reduce chipping, cracking, and other failures that occur during materials handling operations in existing microfabrication processes. The design is based on a three-leg, planar, parallel kinematic mechanism (PKM) with variable locations of the base joints. Changing the design constraints, such as locations of the base joints of the fixture or stiffness of each leg, provides variable fixturing capabilities that can be utilized to perform different tasks. Static analysis reveals the relationship between the locations of the base joints of the fixture and the resulting stiffness and contact forces with the part. Additionally, the singular configurations of the device are identified and used to determine geometries best suited to performing different tasks such as part loading/unloading and stable fixturing.
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