Appeal No. 2004-1231
Application 09/481,224
polishing pad 60 to the lower platform 46, rotating the
conditioning disc 30 on the upper platform 44 in a first
direction and rotating the polishing pad 60 on the lower platform
46 in a second direction that is opposite to the first direction,
and moving the upper platform 44 toward the lower platform 46 so
that a first surface of the conditioning disc 30 is pressed
against a second surface of the polishing pad 60 for a pre-set
length of time while the conditioning disc 30 and the polishing
pad 60 are rotated in opposite directions. See Appellants’
specification, page 14, line 4 through page 15, line 3.
Claim 1 is representative of the claimed invention and
is reproduced as follows:
1. An apparatus for off-line pre-conditioning a conditioning
disc comprising:
an upper platform not situated in a CMP apparatus for
mounting a conditioning disc thereto exposing a first surface to
be preconditioned and for rotating in a first direction;
a lower platform not situated in a CMP apparatus for
mounting a polishing pad thereto exposing a surface for pre-
conditioning said conditioning disc and for rotating in a second
direction opposite to said first direction;
means for applying a preset pressure between said first
surface and said second surface by pressing said two surfaces
against each other; and
means for moving vertically at least one of said
upper platform and said lower platform toward the other.
3
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