Patents Examined by Zeinab EL-Arini
  • Patent number: 7406974
    Abstract: A washout container to which are mounted inclined ramps that allow a transit mixer, concrete pumping truck or other concrete handling vehicle to drive up over a portion of the container for dumping excess concrete and washing out waste concrete. The container cross-section may be rectangular to semi-circular, and is preferably fabricated with a steel structure. A watertight latching door assembly is coupled to the container to prevent leakage of collected liquid concrete waste material while allowing solidified concrete materials to be unloaded at a disposal site. The interior of the container is preferably lined with a material to which concrete will not adhere. The liner may be applied as a coating to the interior of the container or as a solid material retained within the container. In this way, solidified waste concrete can be easily removed from the container at the disposal site and preferably crushed for recycling.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 11, 2006
    Date of Patent: August 5, 2008
    Assignee: Concrete Washout Systems, Inc.
    Inventor: Mark Jenkins
  • Patent number: 7404863
    Abstract: A method of thinning a silicon wafer in a controllable cost-effective manner with minimal chemical consumption. The wafer is placed into a process chamber, after which ozone gas and HF vapor are delivered into the process chamber to react with a silicon surface of the wafer. The ozone and HF vapor may be delivered sequentially, or may be mixed with one another before entering the process chamber. The ozone oxidizes the silicon surface of the wafer, while the HF vapor etches the oxidized silicon away from the wafer. The etched oxidized silicon is then removed from the process chamber. As a result, the wafer is thinned, which aids in preventing heat build-up in the wafer, and also makes the wafer easier to handle and cheaper to package. In alternative embodiments, HF may be delivered into the process chamber as an anhydrous gas or in aqueous form.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2003
    Date of Patent: July 29, 2008
    Assignee: Semitool, Inc.
    Inventor: Eric J. Bergman
  • Patent number: 7396418
    Abstract: A process for removing particles from a reticle is described, wherein the process is performed by using a pellicle particle detector (PPD) and a particle removing tool disposed in front of the PPD as well as fixed to the PPD. The particle removing tool includes at least one gas spray member directed toward a surface of the reticle for removing particles. The process includes steps as follows, step (a) loading the reticle into the PPD through the gas spray member to detect whether the reticle has particles thereon; step (b) ejecting the reticle from the PPD; step (c) turning on the particle removing tool as well as going back to step (a) when particles are detected on the reticle, and ending the particle removal process when no particle is detected on the reticle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 11, 2007
    Date of Patent: July 8, 2008
    Assignee: Powerchip Semiconductor Corp.
    Inventors: Po-Ching Lin, Yu-Cheng Yang
  • Patent number: 7371289
    Abstract: Apparatus for cleaning and doping a pin 2 of a tubular 3 during the making or breaking of a string on a well platform. The apparatus comprises a housing 4 having first and second conosed ends 6,7 and arranged in used to be secured at its first end 7 to the well platform or to a movable arm. The second end 6 has an opening therein for receiving the pin 2 to be cleaned and doped. A nozzle array 16 is mounted within the housing 4 for rotation about a longitudinal axis of the housing 4 and is coupled to a source of lubricant. A washing and drying unit 10 is also mounted within the housing 4, axially displaced from said nozzle array 16 and coupled to a source of cleaning liquid and a source of drying gas.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2001
    Date of Patent: May 13, 2008
    Assignee: Weatherford/Lamb, Inc.
    Inventors: Bernd Reinholdt, Matthias Luecke
  • Patent number: 7368019
    Abstract: A technique is provided to precludes elution of the nickel by infallibly removing the nickel adhering to the inner surface of plumbing hardware, realize a treatment for efficient (treating temperature, treating duration, etc.) preclusion of both or either of lead and nickel and perform a neutralizing treatment on the varying fluid used in the treatment for precluding elution, thereby rendering the fluid usable as industrial water, permitting a generous cut in cost and allowing thorough observance of the influence on the environment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 2003
    Date of Patent: May 6, 2008
    Assignee: Kitz Corporation
    Inventor: Norikazu Sugaya
  • Patent number: 7364627
    Abstract: A washout container to which are mounted inclined ramps that allow a transit mixer, concrete pumping truck or other concrete handling vehicle to drive up over a portion of the container for dumping excess concrete and washing out waste concrete. The container cross-section may be rectangular to semi-circular, and is preferably fabricated with a steel structure. A watertight latching door assembly is coupled to the container to prevent leakage of collected liquid concrete waste material while allowing solidified concrete materials to be unloaded at a disposal site. The interior of the container is preferably lined with a material to which concrete will not adhere. The liner may be applied as a coating to the interior of the container or as a solid material retained within the container. In this way, solidified waste concrete can be easily removed from the container at the disposal site and preferably crushed for recycling.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 2006
    Date of Patent: April 29, 2008
    Assignee: Concrete Washout Systems, Inc.
    Inventor: Mark Jenkins
  • Patent number: 7341067
    Abstract: A method of cleaning a heat transfer element within a boiler furnace is provided. The method includes the steps of allowing a furnace to operate and deposit ash on a heat transfer element, determining an efficiency rate for at least one cleaning element, and managing the cleaning element based on the efficiency rate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2004
    Date of Patent: March 11, 2008
    Assignee: International Paper Comany
    Inventors: Andrew Jones, Tim Carlier
  • Patent number: 7331354
    Abstract: In process for cleaning tray columns which are used for the purposes of rectifiying liquids comprising (meth)acrylic compounds, a basic liquid is conveyed downward through the tray column and a gas is passed through the column in countercurrent to the basic liquid at an average gas phase differential pressure over all trays of at least 0.5 mbar/tray.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 2003
    Date of Patent: February 19, 2008
    Assignee: BASF Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Juergen Schroeder, Klaus Joachim Mueller-Engel, Volker Schliephake, Ulrich Hammon, Volker Diehl, Ulrich Jaeger
  • Patent number: 7314529
    Abstract: A soft spray nozzle discharging a cleaning mist is vertically directed and fixed to an arm. A rinse nozzle discharging rinsing deionized water for suppressing obstruction is vertically fixed to the arm at a prescribed distance from the soft spray nozzle. During cleaning, it follows that both nozzles discharge detergents while keeping relative layout relation. Therefore, the discharged cleaning mist and rinsing deionized water do not interfere with each other before reaching the substrate but the used detergents are entirely horizontally splashed and recovered in a cup. Thus, the cleaning mist is prevented from scattering and adhering to the periphery.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 2004
    Date of Patent: January 1, 2008
    Assignee: Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kazuo Nakajima, Masanobu Sato, Hiroaki Sugimoto, Akio Hashizume, Hiroki Tsujikawa
  • Patent number: 7300523
    Abstract: A method for cleansing used reaction cuvettes so that whenever certain assays are to be or have been performed in the reaction cuvette, the cuvette is automatically subjected to an additional cleaning operation by providing a number of washing and drying manifolds, each of which is independently selectively activated to perform or not perform a cleaning operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 18, 2003
    Date of Patent: November 27, 2007
    Assignee: Dade Behring Inc.
    Inventors: Ching-Cherng Lee, Donald Richard Phillips, Sr., Arnold Lloyd Lewis, William Jackson Devlin, Sr.
  • Patent number: 7290304
    Abstract: A cleaning apparatus with an integrated cleaning sheet for cleaning the internal working components of a piece of electronic equipment along a predetermined media path. The cleaning apparatus includes a base material having a leading end and a trailing end. A cleaning sheet is disposed proximate the leading end of the base material and is for cleaning at least one internal working component of the electronic equipment. An adhesive strip attaches the cleaning sheet to the leading end of the base material. To clean an internal component of electronic equipment, the cleaning apparatus is fed through the reading, writing or scan heads (r/w/s heads) of a piece of electronic equipment when the electronic equipment is disposed in a normally-engaged position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 2006
    Date of Patent: November 6, 2007
    Inventor: Audrey Muhr-Sweeney
  • Patent number: 7285172
    Abstract: An improved process for removal of particulate matter having airborne potential. The process includes applying a foam to the particulate matter in a particulate matter area to prevent the particulate matter from becoming airborne. The particulate matter area may then be removed, prior to the foam draining, and encased in a storage device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 2005
    Date of Patent: October 23, 2007
    Inventors: William R. Martin, Carl W. Martin
  • Patent number: 7270716
    Abstract: It is intended to provide a method of selecting a contact lens suitable for a wearer and/or a care system therefor, by which the occurrence of problems (for example, worsening in the feel during wearing, lowering in the oxygen permeability of the lens, shortening in the lens life, lowering in the visual acuity, corneal injury, etc.) can be minimized to thereby ensure a high safety for the eye, namely, a method which comprises collecting the lacrimal fluid of a wearer, detecting the protein content and/or the lipid content in the lacrimal fluid thus obtained (Step S5), estimating the dirt adhesion characteristics of the wearer to a contact lens based on the protein content and/or lipid content thus detected, and then selecting a contact lens suitable for the wearer and/or a care system therefor from among a plurality of contact lenses and a plurality of care systems (Step S6).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 2005
    Date of Patent: September 18, 2007
    Assignee: Menicon Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Sadanori Ohno, Tetsuji Kawai, Kazuhiko Nakada, Hiroaki Suzuki
  • Patent number: 7270130
    Abstract: The present invention provides a method for cleaning semiconductor devices through heterogeneous nucleation of cavitation bubbles. Heterogeneous nucleation is performed by applying sonic energy to a cleaning solution and a phase material in order to remove unwanted particles from semiconductor devices. A surfactant may be added to the phase material and the cleaning solution.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 15, 2003
    Date of Patent: September 18, 2007
    Assignees: Infineon Technologies AG, International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Ravikumar Ramachandran, David Lee Rath
  • Patent number: 7264009
    Abstract: A cleaning apparatus is provided for cleaning an inner surface of a container. A spray head is arranged for operable fluid communication with a fluid pump and has a nozzle configured to disperse liquid in a mist. A mount carries the spray head and is removably supportable on a container having an inner surface to be cleaned. When removably supported on a container, the mount supports the spray head in a position within the container where the spray head can coat the inner surface of the container with mist.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2006
    Date of Patent: September 4, 2007
    Inventor: David B. Gregory
  • Patent number: 7255112
    Abstract: A process for removing colored stains from hydrophobic surfaces characterized in that the process involves the use of a formulation which comprises a salt of sulphophenyl alkyl carbonate is described. Also a process of removing color stains from a plastics material, characterized in that the stained plastics material is treated in a dishwashing machine with a formulation comprising a salt of sulphophenyl alkyl carbonate is described.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 18, 2003
    Date of Patent: August 14, 2007
    Assignee: Reckitt Benckiser N.V.
    Inventors: Laurence Geret, Gunnar Noeding
  • Patent number: 7232494
    Abstract: A method of washing dishes in a dishwasher that includes a Start Stop sequence in a wash segment of one or more of the dishwashing cycles. The Stop Start sequence includes the steps of pausing the operation of the wash pump, operating the wash pump to circulate wash water in the dishwasher for a short period of time, and repeating the steps of pausing and operating the wash pump for a short period of time a predetermined number of times. The Stop Start sequence is preceded by, and may be followed by, a period of continuous operation of the wash pump.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 6, 2002
    Date of Patent: June 19, 2007
    Assignee: Whirlpool Corporation
    Inventor: Antony Mark Rappette
  • Patent number: 7214275
    Abstract: A method of cleaning a head of a printer when the printer is in a normally-engaged position is disclosed. A step of the method includes providing a base a material with a leading end and trailing end. Another step includes providing an abrasive cleaning sheet which has distal and proximal ends. The abrasive cleaning sheet is located proximate to the leading end of the base material. At least the proximal end of the abrasive cleaning sheet is adhered to the base material. The next method step includes feeding the base material into a printing path of a printer and then moving the base material at least partially through the printer so the abrasive cleaning sheet contacts at least a head of the printer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 2005
    Date of Patent: May 8, 2007
    Inventor: Audrey Muhr-Sweeney
  • Patent number: 7210488
    Abstract: A solids removal system for use in removing sand and silt from well production fluids. The system has a manifold assembly provided with jetting nozzles, which is installed in a liquid and solids-containing vessel, where solids have settled in the walls. The jetting nozzles deliver, in a pre-determined sequence, a solids-dislodging fluid, causing the solids to become suspended in the fluid. The dislodged solids and fluid are then extracted by pump from the vessel and directed to a solid-fluid separator. Solids-free fluid is returned for re-re-circulation through the vessel, while the solids are moved to a containment location.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2004
    Date of Patent: May 1, 2007
    Assignee: OCS Technologies, LLC
    Inventor: Kenny Desormeaux
  • Patent number: 7207340
    Abstract: A gas removal system that removes a halogen gas remaining inside a processing chamber after executing a specific type of processing inside the processing chamber maintained in an airtight state with plasma obtained through discharge dissociation of the halogen gas supplied from a gas supply device comprises a pressure control device that controls the pressure inside the processing chamber, an air supply device that supplies the atmospheric air into the processing chamber after the pressure inside the processing chamber is lowered by the pressure control device, a control device that controls the air supply device and an evacuation device that evacuates a gas produced through a reaction of the halogen gas and the atmospheric air having occurred inside the processing chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 24, 2007
    Assignee: Tokyo Electric Limited
    Inventors: Kosuke Imafuku, Daisuke Hayashi