Patents Examined by Alexander Markoff
  • Patent number: 10960855
    Abstract: A robotic wheel cleaner configured for performing a cleaning operation on a wheel is disclosed. The robotic wheel cleaner comprises a selectively moveable arm that is operatively connected to a body portion at a first end thereof. A cleaning tool is operatively connected to a second end of the moveable arm. The cleaning tool further comprises cleaning pad configured for selectively engaging at least a first predetermined location of a wheel. The cleaning tool is selectively movable along a first predetermined pathway to clean at least a predetermined portion of the wheel. The robotic wheel cleaner can further be actuated to move the cleaning tool to position the cleaning pad at least a second predetermined location of the wheel and to selectively move the cleaning pad along a second predetermined pathway to clean at least a second predetermined portion of the wheel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 7, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 30, 2021
    Assignee: INTERNATIONAL WHEEL AND TIRE, INC.
    Inventor: Kevin R. Kerwin
  • Patent number: 10935896
    Abstract: Disclosed are a cleaning solution mixing system, a tool and a method of operation thereof, including an ultrapure water source for providing ultrapure water; an ammonia filter for filtering ammonia in gas form; a hydrogen peroxide filter for filtering hydrogen peroxide in gas form; an ammonia re-gas membrane for dissolving the ammonia in the ultrapure water and forming ultra-dilute ammoniated water; a hydrogen peroxide re-gas membrane for dissolving the hydrogen peroxide in the ultrapure water and forming ultra-dilute hydrogenated water; and a mixer for forming an ultra-dilute cleaning solution by mixing the ultra-dilute ammoniated water and the ultra-dilute hydrogenated water.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 18, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 2, 2021
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventor: Abbas Rastegar
  • Patent number: 10926303
    Abstract: A cleaning tube may have an expansion portion that includes two or more slits. The cleaning tube may be deployed by linearly compressing the expansion portion, thus causing the tube to bulge into a disc through expansion of the slits. A sheath may cover the expansion portion to seal the slits. So deployed, the cleaning tube may be translated in a contaminated tube to remove contamination.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 21, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 23, 2021
    Inventors: Jose Salinas, Paul Bryce Martin, Jr.
  • Patent number: 10905305
    Abstract: An automated method and apparatus for cleaning articles by direct application of concentrated product to a soiled surface of the article is disclosed. The article type is identified and a product dispensing sequence is activated to control the type of product dispensed onto the articles based on the article type and/or soil type on the article. Product, duration, and other parameters are tailored according to the article type and/or soil type during each sequence of the wash cycle. Product, wash and rinse liquids are applied at specific locations and from specific directions from within the cleaning apparatus based upon the article type and/or soil type on the article.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 20, 2011
    Date of Patent: February 2, 2021
    Assignee: Ecolab USA Inc.
    Inventors: Lee J. Monsrud, Paul J. Mattia
  • Patent number: 10896828
    Abstract: A cleaning wafer or substrate for use in cleaning, or in combination with, components of, for example, integrated chip manufacturing apparatus. The cleaning substrate can include a substrate having varying predetermined surface features, such as one or more predetermined adhesive, non-tacky, electrostatic, projection, depression, or other physical sections. The predetermined features can provide for more effective cleaning of the components with which they are used, such as an integrated chip manufacturing apparatus in the place of the integrated chip wafer. The cleaning substrate can be urged into cleaning or other position by vacuum, mechanical, electrostatic, or other forces. The cleaning substrate can adapted to accomplish a variety of functions, including abrading or polishing. The cleaning substrate may be made by a novel method of making, and it may then be used in a novel method of use I combination with chip manufacturing apparatus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 19, 2021
    Assignee: International Test Solutions, Inc.
    Inventors: Alan E. Humphrey, James H. Duvall, Jerry Broz
  • Patent number: 10874757
    Abstract: A cleaning and sanitizing kit for use in a defined region of a hospital and a method employing the same.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 4, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 29, 2020
    Assignee: The Tuway American Group, Inc.
    Inventor: Douglas Koester
  • Patent number: 10867814
    Abstract: Disclosed is a liquid processing method of drying a substrate held horizontally after supplying deionized water to the substrate. The liquid processing method includes: supplying the deionized water to a front surface of the substrate; supplying a first solvent to the front surface of the substrate after supplying the deionized water; supplying a water-repellent agent to the front surface of the substrate to impart water-repellency to the front surface of the substrate; supplying a second solvent to the front surface of the substrate to which water-repellency is imparted; and removing the second solvent from the front surface of the substrate. A specific gravity of the first solvent is smaller than a specific gravity of the water-repellent agent, and a specific gravity of the second solvent is larger than the specific gravity of the water-repellent agent.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 14, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 15, 2020
    Assignee: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventors: Yosuke Kawabuchi, Kouzou Tachibana, Mitsunori Nakamori, Kotaro Ooishi, Keisuke Egashira, Koji Tanaka, Hiroaki Inadomi, Masami Yamashita, Yoshiteru Fukuda, Koji Yamashita, Yu Tsurifune, Takuro Masuzumi
  • Patent number: 10854240
    Abstract: A method for cleaning magnetic sliders. One embodiment of the method includes dislodging particulate debris from a surface of a magnetic slider by contacting the surface of the slider with an oscillating brush, enveloping the dislodged particulate debris in a foam, and removing the enveloped particulate debris by removing the foam from the magnetic slider.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 22, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 1, 2020
    Assignee: SEAGATE TECHNOLOGY LLC
    Inventors: Binh Dinh Tran, Phillip Andrew Grothe
  • Patent number: 10837259
    Abstract: A method includes inserting a flexible cable into a cleaning region of a channel of a component via a cleaning port, rotating the flexible cable about an axis within the channel to interact a tip with deposits disposed within the cleaning region of the channel, moving the flexible cable within the cleaning region of the channel along a length of the channel, and removing portions of the deposits from the cleaning region of the channel via a second port. The flexible cable includes the axis and the tip. A diameter of the tip is different than a diameter of the flexible cable. The tip is configured to loosen the portions of the deposits.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 8, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 17, 2020
    Assignee: Baker Hughes Oilfield Operations LLC
    Inventors: Ever Mauricio Reyes, Juan Carlos Mendoza, Richard Michael Hatley, Daniel James Knospler
  • Patent number: 10835932
    Abstract: It is an object to prevent adhesion of a processing liquid to a non-processing region of a substrate. In order to achieve the object, a substrate processing apparatus includes a substrate rotating mechanism, a discharging portion for discharging a processing liquid to a substrate, a moving portion for moving a discharging portion, and a controller. The discharging portion starts to discharge the processing liquid at a first position and is moved to a second position. The first position is a position of the discharging portion where a section of a passage of the discharging portion is projected onto a first region, and the second position is a position of the discharging portion where the section of the passage is projected onto a second region. The first region is a region on the peripheral edge side of the substrate from the second region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 17, 2020
    Assignee: SCREEN Holdings Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Takayuki Nishida, Akio Hashizume, Junichi Ishii
  • Patent number: 10828680
    Abstract: Systems and methods for cleaning a substrate include a combined treatment of hydrogen peroxide and ultraviolet (UV) irradiation. Specific embodiments include the direct irradiation with 185/254 nm UV of a spinning substrate immersed under a liquid film of dilute hydrogen peroxide solution. Such a cleaning treatment can result in about a 100% improvement of TiN strip rate compared to processing with the same hydrogen peroxide solution without UV exposure. Such method can also be executed at room temperature and still provide improved cleaning efficiency.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 10, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 10, 2020
    Assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited
    Inventor: Ian J. Brown
  • Patent number: 10832902
    Abstract: Disclosed is a substrate processing apparatus including: a holding unit that holds a substrate; a processing liquid supply unit that supplies a processing liquid to the substrate; a cup that includes a bottom portion, a tubular peripheral wall portion erected on the bottom portion, a liquid receiving portion provided above the peripheral wall portion and configured to receive the processing liquid scattered from the substrate, and a groove portion formed in a circumferential direction on an upper surface of the peripheral wall portion, and surrounds the holding unit; and a cleaning liquid supply unit that supplies a cleaning liquid to the upper surface of the peripheral wall portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 12, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 10, 2020
    Assignee: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventors: Yoshinori Ikeda, Yuki Taniguchi, Kazuyoshi Shinohara
  • Patent number: 10821486
    Abstract: A microelectronic module for cleaning a surface is described. The microelectronic module comprises at least one voltage converter for converting a provided first voltage into a higher, lower, or identical second voltage. The module also comprises at least one actuator. The actuator comprises at least one generator for generating an ionic current, an electrical plasma, harmonic components and/or an electrostatic field from the second voltage which is provided by the voltage converter. At least the voltage converter and the actuator are disposed on a thin-film, planar substrate. At least most of at least one object adhering to the surface is removed by the actuator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 3, 2020
    Assignees: Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Airbus Operations GmbH
    Inventors: Ralf Caspari, Robert Weichwald, Emanuel Ermann, Gerd Heller
  • Patent number: 10813516
    Abstract: A surface treatment machine, comprising a frame configured to translate with respect to a surface to treat, a surface treatment element connected to said frame and configured to treat with liquid a surface, a reservoir connected to the frame arranged to provide liquid to the surface treatment element through a delivery mouth; an adjustment element arranged to feed adjustably the liquid supplied from the reservoir to the delivery mouth. It is then provided a sensor configured to measure the speed of the frame with respect to the surface to treat. A control unit receives from the sensor a signal proportional to a speed for adjusting the adjustment element responsive to this value, in order to deliver the liquid with optimization of the flow-rate. It is possible then to maximize the range of the machine, and to optimize the working time of the operator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 2, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 27, 2020
    Assignee: IP CLEANING S.R.L.
    Inventor: Francesco Reccanello
  • Patent number: 10800675
    Abstract: A method for cleaning vehicles by means of which the formation of marks caused by drying is prevented. The method comprises a rinsing step using water. In the method, the anions forming poorly soluble salts with alkaline earth metals dissolved in water are removed from the water, while cations causing the water hardness are retained. Furthermore, a vehicle washing system includes: at least one application device for applying rinsing fluid to a vehicle to be cleaned; and an ion-exchange device for removing anions from the rinsing fluid prior to the application to the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 15, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 13, 2020
    Assignee: WASHTEC HOLDING GMBH
    Inventors: Andreas Sattler, Stefan Mayer, Robert Auer
  • Patent number: 10799917
    Abstract: A substrate processing apparatus removes foreign substances from a substrate at high removal efficiency. The substrate processing apparatus includes: a scrubber to perform surface processing of the substrate by bringing a scrubbing member into sliding contact with a first surface of the substrate, a hydrostatic support mechanism for supporting a second surface of the substrate via fluid pressure without contacting the substrate, the second surface being an opposite surface of the first surface, a cleaner to clean the processed substrate, and a dryer to dry the cleaned substrate. The scrubber brings the scrubbing member into sliding contact with the first surface while rotating the scrubbing member about a central axis of the scrubber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 7, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 13, 2020
    Assignees: EBARA CORPORATION, Toshiba Memory Corporation
    Inventors: Yu Ishii, Hiroyuki Kawasaki, Kenichi Nagaoka, Kenya Ito, Masako Kodera, Hiroshi Tomita, Takeshi Nishioka
  • Patent number: 10790166
    Abstract: A substrate processing method includes a replacing step of replacing the processing liquid with a low surface tension liquid, a liquid film forming step of forming a liquid film of the low surface tension liquid on the upper surface of the substrate, by continuing supplying the low surface tension liquid to the upper surface of the substrate after the replacing step, an opening forming step of forming an opening at a central region of the liquid film, an enlarging removing step of removing the liquid film from the upper surface of the substrate by enlarging the opening toward a peripheral edge of the substrate, and a liquid film contact step of bringing a proximity member into contact with the liquid film, by bringing the proximity member close to the peripheral edge of the substrate after starting the opening forming step.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 11, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 29, 2020
    Assignee: SCREEN Holdings Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Tetsuya Emoto
  • Patent number: 10786836
    Abstract: A substrate processing method includes a chemical liquid supplying step of supplying a chemical liquid to a substrate, an elapsed period measuring step of measuring an after-the-end elapsed period, a recovery step of controlling the switching unit to be in a recovery guiding state, when, at a start of the chemical liquid supplying step, the after-the-end elapsed period is less than a predetermined first period, and a draining step of controlling the switching unit to be in a drain guiding state, in which the liquid led to the recovery space is led to the drain line, when, at the start of the chemical liquid supplying step, the after-the-end elapsed period is not less than the predetermined first period and then switching to the recovery guiding state based on establishment of a predetermined draining ending condition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 21, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 29, 2020
    Assignee: SCREEN Holdings Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Atsuyasu Miura, Kazuhiro Fujita, Hiroki Tsujikawa, Yuya Tsuchihashi, Kenji Takemoto
  • Patent number: 10786837
    Abstract: According to the present invention, a substrate processing apparatus has a chamber (1), a stage (4) for holding a substrate (W) to be processed in the chamber (1), and a nozzle part (13) from which a gas cluster is blasted onto the substrate (W) to be processed, and has a function for processing the substrate (W) to be processed by the gas cluster. Cleaning of the inside of the chamber (1) is performed by: placing a prescribed reflecting member (dW, 60) in the chamber (1), blasting a gas cluster (C) onto the reflecting member (dW, 60), and applying the gas-cluster flow reflected by the reflecting member (dW, 60) onto a wall section of the chamber (1) to remove particles (P) adhered to the wall section of the chamber (1).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 20, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 29, 2020
    Assignee: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventors: Yukimasa Saito, Toshiki Hinata, Kazuya Dobashi, Kyoko Ikeda, Shuji Moriya
  • Patent number: 10784091
    Abstract: In some embodiments, a method for cleaning a processing chamber is provided. The method may be performed by introducing a processing gas into a processing chamber that has a by-product disposed along sidewalls of the processing chamber. A plasma is generated from the processing gas using a radio frequency signal. A lower electrode is connected to a first electric potential. Concurrently, a bias voltage having a second electric potential is applied to a sidewall electrode to induce ion bombardment of the by-product, in which the second electric potential has a larger magnitude than the first electric potential. The processing gas is evacuated from the processing chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 21, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 22, 2020
    Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Jing-Cheng Liao, Chang-Ming Wu, Lee-Chuan Tseng