Contact printing mask alignment apparatus for semiconductor wafer geometry

Claim 1

A CONTACT PRINTING ALIGNMENT FIXTURE FOR PRECISELY ORIENTING A PATTERN OF GEOMETRIC INDICIA ON A MASK WITH RESPECT TO GEOMETRIC INDICIA ON THE SURFACE OF A SEMICONDUCTOR WAFER COMPRISING FRAME, MEANS CONSTITUTING AN INCLINED PLANE IN SAID FRAME, A WEDGE PLATE SLIDABLE ON SAID INCLINED PLANE, A WORK STATE SLIDABLE IN A HORIZONTAL PLANE ON SAID WEDGE PLATE, A TURNTABLE ROTATABLE IN SAID WORK STAGE, A WAFER CHUCK, MEANS CONSTITUTING A UNIVERSAL JOINT SUPPORTING SAID CHUCK IN SAID TURNTABLE, A HOLDER SUPPORTING THE MASK IN SAID FRAME ABOVE SAID WAFER CHUCK, MEANS TO DRIVE SAID WEDGE PLATE UP SAID INCLINED PLANE UNTIL THE UPPER SURFACE OF A WATER HELD ON SAID CHUCK IS PRESSED INTO ABUTMENT WITH THE MASK, MEANS TO LOCK SAID UNIVERSAL JOINT MEANS IN THE CONFIGURATION ASSUMED AS A RESULT OF ABUTMENT OF THE SURFACE OF THE WATER WITH THAT OF THE MASK WHEREBY THE OPPOSED ABUTTING SURFACES THEREOF ARE MAINTAINED IN PARALLEL PLANES, MEANS TO SAID DRIVE SAID PLATE DOWN SAID INCLINED PLANE A PREDETERMINED SMALL DISTANCE SO AS TO ADJACENTLY SPACE THE PARALLEL PLANES OF THE LOWER SURFACE OF SAID MASK AND THE UPPER SURFACE OF SAID WAFER, MEANS TO MANIPULATE SAID WORK STAGE UNTIL THE INDICA ON THE WAFER SURFACE PRECISELY REGISTER WITH THE MASK INDICIA PATTERN, AND MEANS TO DRIVE SAID WEDGE PLATE UP AND SAID INCLINED PLANE AND AT THE SAME TIME RESTRICTING ALL HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT OF SAID WORK STAGE WITH RESPECT TO AID MASK SO THAT THE SURFACE OF THE WAFER WILL BE RE-ABUT THE MASK IN PRECISE ALIGNMENT THEREWITH PREPARATORY TO PHOTOGRAPHIC EXPOSURE.