Patents Examined by Nicole Blan
  • Patent number: 9499772
    Abstract: A composition of matter includes water, at least one acid, at least one surfactant, at least one fluoride salt, and ammonium nitrate. A method of decontaminating a surface includes exposing a surface to such a composition and removing the composition from the surface. Other compositions of matter include water, a fatty alcohol ether sulfate, nitrilotriacetic acid, at least one of hydrochloric acid and nitric acid, sodium fluoride, potassium fluoride, ammonium nitrate, and gelatin.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 22, 2016
    Assignee: BATTELLE ENERGY ALLIANCE, LLC
    Inventors: Ricky L. Demmer, Daniel Crosby, Christopher J. Norton
  • Patent number: 9500429
    Abstract: A unified bolt and bolt carrier cleaning tool comprising a cylindrical body having a bolt scraper arrangement formed at a first end and a bolt carrier scraper arrangement formed at an opposite end. The bolt scraper arrangement includes a well having two scraper blades shaped to conform to the outer surfaces of the bolt face of a bolt assembly of a weapon. The bolt carrier scraper arrangement includes three longitudinal scraper blades formed in the outer surface and end of the body, the blades being shaped to conform to an inner surface of a bolt-receiving chamber of the bolt carrier. Preferably the tool further comprises a first transverse bore threaded for receiving an auxiliary cleaning tool. Preferably, the tool further comprises a second transverse bore and associated circular recess having scraper blades for cleaning the surfaces of a firing pin extracted from the bolt.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 22, 2016
    Assignee: The Otis Patent Trust
    Inventors: James R. Brooker, Christopher Ashley
  • Patent number: 9457386
    Abstract: A food and beverage dispenser for dispensing food and beverage products may have a clean in place (CIP) system that functions with minimal to no operator interface and disassembly. The dispenser may include one or more product barrels and an ingredient supply refrigerator. A nozzle cap containing a cleaning/sanitizing agent may be placed on a dispensing valve of the dispenser, and a CIP connector may be connected to a BIB connector after disconnecting the BIB connector from a BIB package. The CIP connector completes a CIP circuit that places the product barrel in fluid circulation with a water source and optionally another sanitizer source to help clean the dispenser in place. A heater may be included in the CIP circuit to heat the circulating fluid. A microcontroller or other computer processor may control the CIP process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 4, 2016
    Assignee: FBD Partnership, LP
    Inventors: Matthew Grayson Gates, Jimmy Irving Frank, David A. Renaud
  • Patent number: 9452456
    Abstract: A substrate treatment plant includes a process chamber delimited by chamber walls and in the process chamber a substrate conveying unit for the horizontal conveyance of slab-shaped substrates in one conveying plane and in one conveying direction. The substrate conveying unit includes an arrangement of rotatably mounted, cylindrical conveying rollers transversely arranged to the conveying direction, the topmost generatrices of the conveying rollers defining the conveying plane, and at least one substrate treatment unit, which is located above the conveying plane, and at least one gas inlet. In the region of the substrate treatment unit at least one additional heating unit is located below the conveying plane and a condensation unit is located under the substrate conveying unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 16, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 27, 2016
    Assignee: VON ARDENNE GMBH
    Inventors: Hubertus Von Der Waydbrink, Steffen Grosser, Michael Hentschel, Daniel Stange, Thomas Meyer
  • Patent number: 9453355
    Abstract: Method and apparatus for a pool vacuum having a wheeled vacuum head having an internal rotating impeller driven by water pressure from a hose connected to the water return inlet of the pool wherein the internal impeller shares a common shaft with a propeller extending into the vacuum head so that the impeller turns the propeller which in turn creates a powerful, upward water flow which will lift leaves, debris and trash from the bottom of the pool upwardly through a housing and into a filter mounted on the upper end portion of the pool vacuum.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 27, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 27, 2016
    Inventor: Robert E. Rasp
  • Patent number: 9452941
    Abstract: Pyrophoric material such as iron sulfide is frequently found in refinery equipment. When the equipment is opened to the atmosphere for maintenance, an exothermic reaction can take place that may cause injury to personnel and catastrophic damage to equipment. A process used to treat pyrophoric material uses sodium nitrite injected into a gaseous carrier stream to oxidize iron sulfides to elemental sulfur and iron oxides. The sodium nitrite solution may be buffered to a pH of about 9 with disodium phosphate or monosodium phosphate. A chemical additive that provides a quantitative measure of reaction completion may be added to the treatment solution.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 24, 2015
    Date of Patent: September 27, 2016
    Assignee: Refined Technologies, Inc.
    Inventor: Sean Sears
  • Patent number: 9445714
    Abstract: Endotracheal tube coupling adapters for facilitating collection and removal of biofilm or any debris from endotracheal tubes for disposal or laboratory testing are disclosed. The endotracheal tube coupling adapters may be adapted for use in closed suction systems. The endotracheal tube coupling adapters may be configured to remain coupled to an endotracheal tube from the time of intubation until the time of removal and to receive visualization, cleaning, and/or biofilm collection devices or members without being removed from the endotracheal tube.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 26, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2016
    Assignee: ENDOCLEAR LLC
    Inventors: Brad Eugene Vazales, David Mark Chersky
  • Patent number: 9427109
    Abstract: A grill rod scraping tool for cleaning the top, sides and bottom side of grill rods. The tool comprises of a neck with concave contours and a U-shaped end that enable the prongs and scraper of the tool to scrape the top, sides, and bottom side of the grid iron rods. The concave contours of the neck also allow both left and right handed individuals to operate and rotate the tool with ease. The prongs are angled away from the neck to enable the tool to be used while the grid iron rods are still hot. The grill tool is applied to the grill rod and pushed and pulled along the length of the grill rod to clean residue from food and hardened char.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 30, 2016
    Inventor: John Edwins
  • Patent number: 9418831
    Abstract: Cleaning and drying of semiconductor wafers is carried out in a single-chamber type cleaning/drying apparatus for flat objects such as semiconductor wafer, where cleaning is carried out by impinging both sides of the wafer which rotates at a relatively low speed with jets of a washing liquid and where subsequent drying is carried out in the same chamber by increasing the rotation speed of the wafer and supplying an isopropyl-alcohol (IPA) mist onto the wafer from the top of the chamber. After the IPA forms a solution with the residue of water on the wafer, the drying process is accelerated by supplying gaseous nitrogen through nozzles arranged on both side of the coaxial with the wafer center. As a result, the IPA-water solution quickly evaporates without leaving traces of water drops on the dried surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2007
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2016
    Assignee: Planar Semiconductor, Inc.
    Inventors: Rubinder Randhawa, Basha Sajjad, Shmuel Erez, Harry Christov
  • Patent number: 9412628
    Abstract: A method of treating one or more wafers is provided. The method comprises the steps of: a) providing at least one wafer, that has first and second opposed major faces and at least one feature, such as a metal silicide, that is sensitive to a neutralizing chemistry on the first major face; b) causing an acidic chemistry, such as a sulfuric acid and/or phosphoric acid, to contact the first major face of the wafer and causing the wafer to spin; c) after causing the acidic chemistry to contact the wafer, causing a non-etching rinsing fluid to contact the first major face while the wafer is spinning; and d) during at least a portion of the time that the non-etching rinsing fluid is caused to contact the first major face of the spinning wafer, causing a neutralizing liquid to contact the second major face of the spinning wafer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 11, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2016
    Assignee: TEL FSI, INC.
    Inventor: David P. DeKraker
  • Patent number: 9387521
    Abstract: A method of wet cleaning an aluminum part having bare aluminum surfaces and anodized aluminum surfaces. The method includes CO2 dry ice blasting the surfaces of the aluminum part at approximately 35 to approximately 45 psi, masking the aluminum part to conceal the bare aluminum surfaces, soaking the dry ice blasted and masked aluminum part in deionized water at or above approximately 60° C., scrubbing the aluminum part with an abrasive pad and deionized water after completion of the soaking in deionized water, and repeating the soaking and scrubbing in the recited order at least three additional times.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2016
    Assignee: Lam Research Corporation
    Inventors: Hong Shih, Fan-Cheung Sze, Brian McMillin, John Daugherty, Yan Fang, Duane Outka, Tuochuan Huang, Sivakami Ramanathan
  • Patent number: 9390949
    Abstract: This description relates to a wafer debonding and cleaning apparatus including an automatic wafer handling module. The automatic wafer handling module loads a semiconductor wafer into a wafer debonding module for a debonding process. The automatic wafer handling module removes the semiconductor wafer from the debonding module and loads the semiconductor wafer into a wafer cleaning module for a cleaning process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2011
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2016
    Assignee: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY, LTD.
    Inventors: Wen-Chih Chiou, Yu-Liang Lin, Hung-Jung Tu
  • Patent number: 9386842
    Abstract: A broom with hooked bristles section that may include a broom handle and a broom head having an upper section, a lower section, a first side and a second side. The broom handle may attach to the upper section of the broom head. A plurality of straight bristles may attach to the first side of the lower section of the broom head, while a plurality of hooked bristles may attach to the second side of the lower section of the broom head. The plurality of hooked bristles allows for the ability to collect and remove debris from underneath objects.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 26, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2016
    Inventor: David Scott Doherty
  • Patent number: 9381598
    Abstract: A master verification assembly includes a plurality of plunger devices. Each of the plunger devices includes a piston that is axially moveable between a raised position and a depressed position. When placed in a washing assembly, each of the plunger devices is aligned with a nozzle. The nozzles dispense a cleaning fluid under pressure. An axial force applied by the dispensed cleaning fluid depresses the pistons into the depressed position, whereupon the pistons disposed in the depressed position are axially secured in an indicator position. Upon removal of the master verification assembly from the washing assembly, depressed pistons in the indicator position indicate proper function of the nozzles, whereas pistons disposed in the raised position indicate improperly functioning nozzles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 15, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2016
    Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC
    Inventor: Matthew Kenworthy
  • Patent number: 9359555
    Abstract: A process for decoking of delayed coker feed heater pass is disclosed. A chemical mixture containing a metal hydroxide and a metal carbonate is combined with steam to decoke the delayed coker feed heater pass.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 8, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2016
    Assignee: SBT TECHNOLOGY, INC.
    Inventor: Vasant Lotu Bhirud
  • Patent number: 9362163
    Abstract: Described are cleaning methods for removing contaminants from an electrical contact interface of a partially fabricated semiconductor substrate. The methods may include introducing a halogen-containing species into a processing chamber, and forming an adsorption-limited layer, which includes halogen from the halogen-containing species, atop the electrical contact interface and/or the contaminants thereon. The methods may further include thereafter removing un-adsorbed halogen-containing species from the processing chamber and activating a reaction between the halogen of the adsorption-limited layer and the contaminants present on the electrical contact interface. The reaction may then result in the removal of at least a portion of the contaminants from the electrical contact interface. In some embodiments, the halogen adsorbed onto the surface and reacted may be fluorine. Also described herein are apparatuses having controllers for implementing such electrical contact interface cleaning techniques.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 29, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2016
    Assignee: Lam Research Corporation
    Inventors: Michal Danek, Juwen Gao, Aaron Fellis, Francisco Juarez, Chiukin Steven Lai
  • Patent number: 9347139
    Abstract: A method of removing a metal protective layer from a surface of a reactor component comprising treating the metal protective layer with one or more chemical removal agents to remove at least a portion of the metal protective layer from the reactor component. A method of removing a metal protective layer from a surface of a reactor component comprising treating the metal protective layer to remove the metal protective layer from the reactor component, and determining a thickness of the reactor component following treatment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2016
    Assignee: Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LP
    Inventors: Dennis L. Holtermann, Tin-Tack Peter Cheung, Christopher D. Blessing, Lawrence E. Huff, Joseph Bergmeister, III, Robert L. Hise, Geoffrey E. Scanlon, David W. Dockter
  • Patent number: 9349626
    Abstract: Provided is a buffer unit, which includes a frame including a base plate, a first vertical plate, and a second vertical plate, wherein the first and second vertical plates are spaced apart from each other on the base plate, a first buffer on which a photomask is placed, the first buffer being allowed to be reversed between the first and second vertical plates; and a plurality of driving parts disposed at outsides of the first and second vertical plates, and driving the first buffer to grip and reverse the photomask placed on the first buffer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 30, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2016
    Assignee: SEMES CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Kihoon Choi, Byung Man Kang, Byung Chul Kang, Donghyuk Jang
  • Patent number: 9349617
    Abstract: Embodiments that relate to mechanisms for cleaning wafers is provided. A method for wafer cleaning includes cleaning wafers by a wet-bench cleaning operation. The method also includes thereafter cleaning each of the wafers by a single-wafer cleaning operation. In addition, a cleaning apparatus for enhancing the performance of the above method is also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2016
    Assignee: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Shang-Yuan Yu, Shao-Yen Ku, Chien-Wen Hsiao, Hong-Jie Xu, Jui-Chuan Chang, Wen-Chang Tsai
  • Patent number: 9323076
    Abstract: A cleaning device for cleaning eyewear has a mounting element for mounting the cleaning device on the eyewear, a cleaning element, and a retraction mechanism. The mounting element includes a loop mounting system that may be wrapped around a part of the eyewear and connected to form a loop for mounting the cleaning device on the eyewear. The retraction mechanism is mounted on the mounting element, and a cord attaches the cleaning element to the retraction mechanism. The invention further includes a method of use of the cleaning device for cleaning the eyewear.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2016
    Inventor: Jeffrey Allen Lynch