Patents Examined by Ryan Coleman
  • Patent number: 9447365
    Abstract: A method including immersing a ceramic coated article into a bath including an HF acid solution having NH4F with a molar concentration of about 0.1M to 1.0M for a time period to remove a deposition, and rinsing the ceramic coated article.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 1, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2016
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Sumanth Banda, Jennifer Y. Sun
  • Patent number: 9449857
    Abstract: A substrate processing apparatus is provided including: a liquid processing unit that processes a substrate with a processing liquid; a carry-in port formed in the liquid processing unit and configured to carry-in the substrate in a dry-state before the substrate is processed with the processing liquid; a carry-out port formed in the liquid processing unit and configured to carry-out the substrate in a wet-state after completing the liquid processing; a supercritical dry processing unit that performs a dry processing for the substrate using a supercritical fluid; a first substrate transport unit that transports the substrate in a dry-state before the substrate is processed with the processing liquid to the carry-out port of the liquid processing unit; and a second substrate transport unit that transports the substrate in a wet-state after completing the liquid processing from the carry-out port of the liquid processing unit to the supercritical dry processing unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2016
    Assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited
    Inventor: Hiroaki Inadomi
  • Patent number: 9421584
    Abstract: Polysilicon fragments are purified to remove metal contaminates by contacting the fragments with a purifying liquid at a flow rate >100 mm/sec. Effective removal without abrasion is accomplished.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 7, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2016
    Assignee: WACKER CHEMIE AG
    Inventors: Hanns Wochner, Christian Gossmann, Herbert Lindner
  • Patent number: 9412627
    Abstract: A surface of a substrate can be dried cleanly after liquid-processed by a liquid processing method and a liquid processing apparatus. The liquid processing method includes forming a liquid film of a rinse solution on an entire surface of a substrate having thereon a hydrophobic region by supplying, onto a central portion of the surface of the substrate, the rinse solution for rinsing a chemical liquid supplied on the substrate at a first flow rate while rotating the substrate at a first rotation speed; forming a stripe-shaped flow of the rinse solution on the surface of the substrate by breaking the liquid film formed on the entire surface of the substrate; and moving a discharge unit configured to supply the rinse solution toward a periphery of the substrate until the stripe-shaped flow of the rinse solution is moved outside the surface of the substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 10, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2016
    Assignee: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventor: Jun Nonaka
  • Patent number: 9394622
    Abstract: The device 1 according to the invention is suggested for gentle treatment of a flat material B to be treated with a treatment liquid F. The device 1 has the following components: at least one treatment chamber 20, in which the treatment liquid F can be accumulated up to a bath level M, at least one supply device 7 for the supply of the treatment liquid F into the at least one treatment chamber 20, at least one transport device 30, with which the material B to be treated can be transported in the horizontal position in a transport plane E below the bath level M through the at least one treatment chamber 20, at least one reception area 4 for the treatment liquid F, and at least one discharge device 40 with, respectively, at least one discharge opening 41 for the treatment liquid F for conveying it from the at least one treatment chamber 20 with a respective discharge rate into the at least one reception area 4.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 12, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2016
    Assignee: Atotech Deutschland GmbH
    Inventors: Ferdinand Wiener, Christian Thomas, Olaf Lorenz
  • Patent number: 9378940
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides a substrate processing apparatus including: a substrate processing chamber configured to process a substrate on which a target layer to be removed is formed on the surface of an underlying layer; a substrate holding unit provided in the substrate processing chamber and configured to hold the substrate; a mixed liquid supplying unit configured to supply a mixed liquid of sulfuric acid and hydrogen peroxide to the substrate held by the substrate holding unit in a mixing ratio of the hydrogen peroxide and a temperature that does not damage the underlying layer while removing the target layer; and an OH-group supplying unit configured to supply a fluid containing OH-group to the substrate in an amount that does not damage the underlying layer when the mixed liquid and the OH-group are mixed on the substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2016
    Assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited
    Inventors: Hisashi Kawano, Norihiro Ito, Yosuke Hachiya, Jun Nogami, Kotaro Ooishi, Itaru Kanno
  • Patent number: 9370806
    Abstract: The present invention is directed to a method and system of processing and removing hydrocarbon sludge from a tank wherein the hydrocarbon sludges are the product of gravity settling in the bottom of the tank to form a sludge consisting of inorganic and organic materials not readily flowable or pumpable for removal in the found state and where a process is used to selectively separate, grind, disperse and suspend these materials with a mechanical classifier system, and where flow agents may be metered to effect a slurry stream directed thru a nozzle system towards the sludge in the tank and by reducing the surface tension and mechanical conditioning of the sludge, create a pumpable slurry that may be removed from the tank with minimal time, cost and environmental impact.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 21, 2016
    Assignee: JR & JH HOLDINGS LLC
    Inventor: John C. Hancock
  • Patent number: 9364871
    Abstract: A cleaning method for a UV chamber involves providing a first cleaning gas, a second cleaning gas, and a purge gas to one or more openings in the chamber. The first cleaning gas may be an oxygen containing gas, such as ozone, to remove carbon residues. The second cleaning gas may be a remote plasma of NF3 and O2 to remove silicon residues. The UV chamber may have two UV transparent showerheads, which together with a UV window in the chamber lid, define a gas volume proximate the UV window and a distribution volume below the gas volume. A purge gas may be flowed through the gas volume while one or more of the cleaning gases is flowed into the distribution volume to prevent the cleaning gases from impinging on the UV transparent window.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 19, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 14, 2016
    Assignee: APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.
    Inventors: Sanjeev Baluja, Alexandros T. Demos, Kelvin Chan, Juan Carlos Rocha-Alvarez, Scott A. Hendrickson, Abhijit Kangude, Inna Turevsky, Mahendra Chhabra, Thomas Nowak, Daping Yao, Bo Xie, Daemian Raj
  • Patent number: 9339778
    Abstract: A column-type solid-liquid countercurrent contact apparatus, a washing apparatus for solid particles such as poly(arylene sulfide) (PAS) particles, a PAS manufacturing apparatus, a method of solid-liquid countercurrent contact, a method of washing solid particles such as PAS particles, and a method of manufacturing PAS, wherein a column top part, a column body part, and a column bottom part are included, the column body part is provided with a plurality of stirring chambers connected in the vertical direction and mutually divided by a ring-shaped partitioning plate, a paddle blade (a blade diameter/a diameter of the stirring chamber?0.65 and the blade diameter/the diameter of the stirring chamber?0.10) and a baffle are disposed at each of the plurality of stirring chambers, and a disc having a size covering at least a part of a communication opening positioned below the paddle blade is attached to a rotating shaft or to the paddle blade.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 23, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2016
    Assignee: KUREHA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Tomoyoshi Koizumi, Kimihiko Kikuchi
  • Patent number: 9339162
    Abstract: An apparatus and method for cleaning a surface. The apparatus includes a frame having wheels and a handle extending outwardly therefrom. A disc plate assembly is mounted on the frame for rotation about a first vertical axis and a nozzle assembly is mounted on the disc plate assembly for rotation about a second vertical axis. The disc plate assembly is rotated at a lower speed than the nozzle assembly. Separate pneumatically-operable motors drive the wheels, the disc plate assembly and nozzle assembly. A skirt extends downwardly from the frame and outwardly from nozzles on the nozzle assembly. The nozzles may be raised or lowered relative to the surface to be cleaned. Fluid is delivered from a fluid source to the nozzles and a vacuum port is provided on the frame to enable dirty fluid to be removed from a chamber bounded by the skirt.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2016
    Assignee: Terydon, Inc.
    Inventor: Terry D. Gromes, Sr.
  • Patent number: 9326656
    Abstract: A dishwasher includes a water intake device having a hot water intake which receives hot water from an external hot water supply fed, at least partially, by a thermal solar system, and a cold water intake which receives cold water from an external cold water supply. A program control device stores at least one wash program for controlling a wash cycle for cleaning dishes. The at least one wash program has a program step for washing dishes using hot water from the hot water supply and another program step for washing dishes using cold water from the cold water supply.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 2010
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2016
    Assignee: BSH Hausgeraete GmbH
    Inventors: Roland Rieger, Michael Georg Rosenbauer
  • Patent number: 9326657
    Abstract: A spray arm assembly for a dishwashing appliance is provided. The assembly can provide for sprays of fluid at different angles against the articles to be cleaned. For example, the spray arm assembly can have at least two spray bodies rotatable in opposite directions. Because the fluid is sprayed from the spray bodies at different angles and from different directions, more efficient and effective cleaning can be accomplished. In certain embodiments of the invention, one or both spray bodies may be operated at any one time and/or at different flow rates.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 21, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2016
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventor: Ramasamy Thiyagarajan
  • Patent number: 9320410
    Abstract: A dishwashing machine, particularly a household dishwashing machine, at least having one wash tub for the accommodation of receiving items to be washed that can be cleaned at least during one step of pre-rinsing and/or washing by cleaning agent additive. According to the invention, there is a wash tub cleaning program having lower item cleaning power than in the pre-rinsing and/or washing step, whereas the at least partially inner surfaces of the wash tub can be acted upon by fluid in order to remove grease deposits at least in the wash tub.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 16, 2010
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2016
    Assignee: BSH Hausgeraete GmbH
    Inventors: Daniel Delle, Bernd Heisele, Bruno Reiter, Roland Rieger
  • Patent number: 9281177
    Abstract: An apparatus for cleaning a surface of wafer or substrate includes a plate being positioned with a gap to surface of the wafer or substrate, and the plate being rotated around an axis vertical to surface of wafer or substrate. The rotating plate surface facing surface of the wafer or substrate has grooves, regular patterns, and irregular patterns to enhance the cleaning efficiency. Another embodiment further includes an ultra sonic or mega sonic transducer vibrating the rotating plate during cleaning process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 11, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 8, 2016
    Assignee: ACM Research (Shanghai) Inc.
    Inventors: Hui Wang, Jian Wang, Yue Ma, Chuan He
  • Patent number: 9275881
    Abstract: A liquid processing apparatus of the present disclosure includes a rotatable substrate holder that holds a wafer from above, and a top plate nozzle that supplies at least rinse liquid to the wafer and is provided in the rotation center of the substrate holder. The top plate nozzle is movably configured with the substrate holder in the top-bottom direction, and the rinse liquid is supplied to the wafer from the top plate nozzle while the top plate nozzle is spaced from the substrate holder. When the top plate nozzle approaches to the substrate holder, the rinse liquid is supplied to the lower surface of the substrate holder from the top plate nozzle to clean the lower surface of the substrate holder.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 25, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2016
    Assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited
    Inventors: Shuichi Nagamine, Yusuke Hashimoto
  • Patent number: 9272314
    Abstract: A steam purge method for a dishwasher includes a washing cycle, a steam purge cycle and a rinse cycle. During the steam purge cycle, a dishwasher tub is filled with fluid to a level below a heating element in a wash chamber, heated and at least partially converted to steam in the wash chamber. After the steam purge cycle, the dishwasher is drained and the rinse cycle commences. Optionally, a heated drying cycle may be performed upon termination of the rinse cycle. A single heating element arranged in the wash chamber is utilized for heating washing fluid during each of washing, purging and steam generation cycles, as well as for the heated drying cycle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2008
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2016
    Assignee: Whirlpool Corporation
    Inventors: Brooke L. Lau, Julio C. Moreira, Michelle L. Oakes, Ryan K. Roth
  • Patent number: 9269562
    Abstract: Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to a method for cleaning a processing chamber during substrate processing. During a first substrate processing step, a plasma is formed from a gas mixture of argon, helium, and hydrogen in the processing chamber. In a second substrate processing step, an argon plasma is formed in the processing chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 17, 2013
    Date of Patent: February 23, 2016
    Assignee: APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.
    Inventors: Robert Dinsmore, John C. Forster, Song-Moon Suh, Cheng-Hsiung Tsai, Glen T. Mori
  • Patent number: 9236280
    Abstract: Disclosed is a substrate processing apparatus including a processing vessel in which a target substrate W is processed by using a high-pressure fluid in a supercritical state or a subcritical state, and pipes that are divided into a first pipe member and a second pipe member in a flowing direction of the fluid and circulate the fluid are connected to processing vessel. A connecting/disconnecting mechanism moves at least one of first and second pipe members between a connection position and a separation position of first pipe member and the second pipe member, and opening/closing valves are installed in each of first and second pipe members and are closed at the time of separating pipe members.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 2011
    Date of Patent: January 12, 2016
    Assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited
    Inventors: Takayuki Toshima, Mitsuaki Iwashita, Yuji Kamikawa, Mikio Nakashima
  • Patent number: 9226571
    Abstract: A device for cleaning a toothbrush, attachable to a faucet expelling water in a first direction, the device including: an adapter mountable on a water expelling end of the faucet; and a cylindrical cleaning element in fluid flow communication with the adapter and disposed, when the adapter is mounted on the faucet, in a direction transverse to the first direction, the cylindrical cleaning element including a cylindrical housing and a water expelling cylindrical element, disposed within the cylindrical housing and including multiple rows of circumferentially disposed nozzles for expelling water jets, the water expelling cylindrical element defining an interior space accessible via circular portal at an end thereof, wherein when water is expelled from the faucet, at least some water is directed in the transverse direction and expelled through the nozzles in the water expelling cylindrical element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 16, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 5, 2016
    Inventor: Adam Belitz
  • Patent number: 9215956
    Abstract: Provided are a window cleaning apparatus and a method of controlling the same. The window cleaning apparatus including first and second cleaning units which are respectively attached on both surfaces of a window using a magnetic force to move together with each other includes a first magnetic module provided in the first cleaning unit, a second magnetic module provided in the second cleaning unit, a magnetic force detection part for detecting a magnetic force between the first and second magnetic modules, and a magnetic force control part for controlling the magnetic force between the first and second magnetic modules.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 2010
    Date of Patent: December 22, 2015
    Assignees: INTELLECTUAL DISCOVERY CO., LTD., KOREA INSTITUTE OF ROBOT & CONVERGENCE
    Inventor: Man Hyun Ryu