Patents Examined by Sharidan Carrillo
  • Patent number: 12291697
    Abstract: A cleaning solution is provided which can effectively clean and remove bacteria from a coffee maker. The cleaning solution can comprise from about 0.04 weight percent to about 0.06 weight percent hypochlorous acid, with the balance being electrolyzed oxygenated water, and wherein the cleaning solution has a pH of from about 6.1 to about 7.2. There is also provided a method of cleaning a coffee maker and dispenser therefore. The method comprises providing at least 16 fluid ounces of the cleaning solution into a reservoir of a substantially empty coffee maker, starting a brew cycle on the coffee maker, and then optionally flushing the coffee maker with water.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 2023
    Date of Patent: May 6, 2025
    Inventor: Stewart Anton Thiel
  • Patent number: 12288698
    Abstract: Improved puddle processes and methods are provided herein for retaining a processing liquid on a surface of a semiconductor substrate. More specifically, improved methods are provided herein for retaining a puddle within a center region of a semiconductor substrate while the substrate is stationary, or rotating at relatively low rotational speeds. In the disclosed embodiments, a puddle is retained within a center region of the semiconductor substrate by a thin film, which is deposited within a peripheral edge region of the substrate before a processing liquid is dispensed within the center region of the substrate to form the puddle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 21, 2023
    Date of Patent: April 29, 2025
    Assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited
    Inventors: Shan Hu, Peter D'Elia
  • Patent number: 12269073
    Abstract: Cleaning procedure for anilox including increasing the diameter of the laser spots (4) above the minimum diameter corresponding to focal spot w0 to a working diameter wN, defocusing the pulses of the laser beam (1) using a lens (3) and at the same time, with the help of a galvo mirror (8), redirecting the laser pulses in an organized manner to the cleaning-active zone (19) such that the laser spots (4) that hit the surface of the anilox (9) partially overlap in the linear direction (11) corresponding to the beam advancement and in the circumferential direction (13) corresponding to the direction of the anilox turn, simulating a continuous pulse.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 2023
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2025
    Assignee: TEG Technologies Research and Development, S.L.
    Inventors: Lluis Guixeras Nogue, Rafael Guixeras Llora
  • Patent number: 12269074
    Abstract: A furnace system includes at least one wall that defines a workspace. The workspace includes an aircraft part to be cleaned. One or more vacuum pumps are configured to achieve a predetermined vacuum level in the workspace. A gas purifier is configured to remove impurities in a gas to create a purified gas, the purified gas being directed from the gas purifier into the workspace, the purified gas being of a purity and composition that is effective to disassociate oxides on a surface or in a crack of the aircraft part to be cleaned when the workspace is heated to a predetermined temperature and the predetermined vacuum level is achieved in the workspace.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2025
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventor: Mark Dean Pezzutti
  • Patent number: 12257607
    Abstract: A process for reducing the salinity of salt containing material (SCM) includes introducing the SCM into a wash system configured to sequentially wash the SCM with water having decreasing salinity levels across a plurality of mixing tanks arranged in series; introducing feed water into the wash system in a countercurrent flow relative to the SCM; discharging washed SCM from the wash system, the washed SCM having a lower salinity compared to the SCM that is initially introduced into the wash system; and discharging brine from the wash system, the brine being generated in a mixing tank that initially receives the SCM into the wash system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 4, 2023
    Date of Patent: March 25, 2025
    Assignee: CHEVRON U.S.A. INC.
    Inventors: Joonkyoung Han, John B. Trenery, Jr.
  • Patent number: 12261026
    Abstract: Methods for revitalizing components of a plasma processing apparatus that includes a sensor for detecting a thickness or roughness of a peeling weakness layer on a protective surface coating of a plasma processing tool and/or for detecting airborne contaminants generated by such peeling weakness layer. The method includes detecting detrimental amounts of peeling weakness layer buildup or airborne concentration of atoms or molecules from the peeling weakness layer, and initiating a revitalization process that bead beats the peeling weakness layer to remove it from the component while maintaining the integrity of the protective surface coating.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 25, 2025
    Assignee: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY, LTD.
    Inventors: Chi-Hsing Lin, Chen-Fon Chang, Chun-Yi Wu, Shi-Yu Ke, Chih-Teng Liao
  • Patent number: 12251736
    Abstract: Proposed is a POD cleaning process including: separating an introduced POD into an inner POD and an outer POD; cleaning a separation POD, which results from the separation, within a cleaning sub-chamber; drying the separation POD, which undergoes the cleaning, within a drying chamber; vacuum-processing the separation POD undergoing the drying; and assembling the inner POD and the outer POD that undergo the vacuum processing, in which the cleaning and the drying are separately performed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 16, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 18, 2025
    Assignee: STI Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Young Soo Park, Dong Geun Hur, Ki Man Lee
  • Patent number: 12251743
    Abstract: Methods of screening a glass container for storing a pharmaceutical formulation for susceptibility to lamellar silica formation includes filling the container with a buffer for the pharmaceutical formulation, storing the container with the buffer and optically analyzing the buffer after storage for one or more particles in the buffer. The one or more particles can be analyzed to determine a morphology and chemical composition and the interior surface of the container, once emptied, can be analyzed for delamination type deformation. The presence of particles in the buffer having a chemical comprising silicon, oxygen, and carbon and the absence of delamination type deformation is indicative of susceptibility to lamellar silica formation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 2024
    Date of Patent: March 18, 2025
    Assignee: AMGEN INC.
    Inventors: Yasser Nashed-Samuel, Jeremy Gastwirt
  • Patent number: 12246358
    Abstract: A substrate cleaning apparatus includes an upper holding device holding an outer peripheral end of a substrate, and a lower surface brush contacting a lower surface of the substrate to clean the lower surface. The lower surface brush moves between a contact position where the lower surface brush contacts the lower surface of the substrate held by the upper holding device and a separation position where the lower surface brush is separated from the substrate held by the upper holding device by a certain distance. At the separation position, the lower surface brush rotates at a first rotation speed. At the contact position, the lower surface brush rotates at a second rotation speed higher than the first rotation speed at a time point when the lower surface brush contacts the lower surface and a time point when the lower surface brush is separated from the lower surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 2023
    Date of Patent: March 11, 2025
    Assignee: SCREEN Holdings Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kazuki Nakamura, Yoshifumi Okada, Nobuaki Okita
  • Patent number: 12246363
    Abstract: A method for cleaning the interior of pipes using a cleaning device and a cleaning device. The cleaning device has a tube and an advancing unit for moving the tube along a main axis (H) of the advancing unit. The advancing unit has a drive which is frictionally connected to the tube and by which the tube is moved in an axial direction along the main axis (H). The advancing unit is set into a rotational movement about the main axis (H) during the axial movement of the tube, and the drive transmits the rotational movement to the tube.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 27, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 11, 2025
    Assignee: Lobbe Industrieservice GmbH & Co KG
    Inventors: Adrian Bernard, Bodo Skaletz, Reinhard Eisermann
  • Patent number: 12249513
    Abstract: The present invention provides a means capable of sufficiently removing a residue containing inorganic oxide abrasive grains present on the surface of a polished object to be polished containing silicon nitride. One aspect of the present invention relates to a surface treatment method for reducing a residue containing inorganic oxide abrasive grains on a surface of a polished object to be polished containing silicon nitride using a composition for surface treatment, wherein the composition for surface treatment contains a zeta potential adjusting agent having a negatively charged functional group and having a viscosity of an aqueous solution having a concentration of 20% by mass at 25° C. of 10 mPa·s or more and a dispersing medium, and the surface treatment method includes controlling a zeta potential of the silicon nitride and a zeta potential of the inorganic oxide abrasive grains each to ?30 mV or less using the composition for surface treatment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 4, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 11, 2025
    Assignee: FUJIMI INCORPORATED
    Inventors: Tsutomu Yoshino, Yasuto Ishida
  • Patent number: 12247343
    Abstract: A method of operating a household appliance having a treating chamber and a single-use dispenser with a siphon. The method comprising fluidly coupling the siphon to the treating chamber when supplying water to the single-use dispenser, and fluidly coupling the siphon to a bulk treating chemistry reservoir when water is not supplied to the single-use dispenser.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 28, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 11, 2025
    Assignee: Whirlpool Corporation
    Inventor: Sayer J. Murphy
  • Patent number: 12241157
    Abstract: A system and method for cleaning a preclean process chamber in between wafer processing. The internal pressure of the preclean process chamber is reduced to a first pressure and a first gas that consists of oxygen and an inert or noble gas, is introduced into the chamber. Plasma is generated within the preclean process chamber using the first gas at the first pressure. Internal pressure is then reduced to a second pressure, less than the first, and the first gas is continued into the chamber. Plasma is then generated using the first gas at the second pressure. Thereafter, a second gas, consisting of an oxygen-free inert or noble gas, is introduced into the chamber at the second pressure, following which plasma is generated within the chamber using only the second gas.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2025
    Assignee: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY, LTD.
    Inventors: Yu-Ting Tsai, Hung-Chih Wang, Hong-Ming Lo, Shao-Shuo Wu, Su-Yu Yeh
  • Patent number: 12234561
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a method for the cleaning and/or anti-corrosion pretreatment of a plurality of components in series, in which the components of the series are at least partially composed of zinc-coated (ZM) steel. After a cleaning stage and before further cleaning and/or anti-corrosion pretreatment, the components pass through a treatment stage for improving the wettability of the zinc-coated (ZM) steel surfaces in which at least the surfaces of the zinc-coated (ZM) steel of the components are brought into contact with an aqueous medium which contains at least one builder which is a salt of a Lewis acid-base pair in which the Lewis acid is selected from Li+, Na+, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+ or Al3+, and the Lewis base is selected from anions of a polyprotic Brønsted acid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2024
    Date of Patent: February 25, 2025
    Assignee: Henkel AG & Co. KGaA
    Inventors: Ralf Posner, Kristof Wapner, Christian Kolt, Silvia Schmidt
  • Patent number: 12237186
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus for cleaning tooling parts in a substrate processing tool are provided herein. In some embodiments, a method of cleaning tooling parts in a substrate processing tool includes placing one or more dirty tools on a holder in a bonding chamber of a multi-chamber processing tool; transferring the holder from the bonding chamber to a cleaning chamber of the multi-chamber processing tool; cleaning the one or more dirty tools in the cleaning chamber to produce one or more cleaned tools; inspecting the one or more cleaned tools in an inspection chamber of the multi-chamber processing tool; and transferring the one or more cleaned tools to the bonding chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 15, 2022
    Date of Patent: February 25, 2025
    Assignee: APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.
    Inventors: Ruiping Wang, Ying Wang, Guan Huei See, Ananthkrishna Jupudi, Praveen Kumar Choragudi
  • Patent number: 12221694
    Abstract: A method for cleaning one or more interior surfaces of a processing chamber includes removing a processed substrate from the processing chamber, and introducing a first cleaning chemistry into the processing chamber to generate a first internal pressure of greater than 1.1 atm within the processing chamber and remove deposited contaminants from the one or more interior surfaces of the processing chamber. The method further comprises removing the cleaning chemistry from the processing chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 14, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 11, 2025
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Pramit Manna, Swaminathan T. Srinivasan, Timothy J. Franklin
  • Patent number: 12198947
    Abstract: A substrate cleaning method includes: supplying a gas mixture of a cluster forming gas for forming a cluster by adiabatic expansion and a carrier gas having a smaller molecular weight or atomic weight than the cluster forming gas to a nozzle; forming the cluster by injecting the gas mixture from the nozzle; removing particles adhering to the substrate by the cluster; and continuously supplying the carrier gas to the nozzle for a set time period from an end time of the supply of the cluster forming gas to the nozzle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 12, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 14, 2025
    Assignee: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventor: Hiroki Ohno
  • Patent number: 12186784
    Abstract: An automated method of cleaning trays used in handling circuit device packages includes the steps of: placing a plurality of trays on a tray loading station of an automated tray cleaning machine; lowering in an automated manner a first tray of the plurality of trays onto a conveyor; conveying in an automated manner the first tray from the tray loading station into a cleaning chamber; automatically applying pressurized air in the cleaning chamber to one or more surfaces of the first tray to remove debris from the first tray; conveying in an automated manner the first tray out of the cleaning chamber and to a tray unloading station; and raising in an automated manner the first tray above the conveyor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 11, 2023
    Date of Patent: January 7, 2025
    Assignee: Skyworks Solutions, Inc.
    Inventors: Daniel Orozco Mariscal, Raul Jacobo Cazares, Edgar Antonio Martinez Silva, Josue Roberto Garcia Ayala
  • Patent number: 12172198
    Abstract: There is provided a gas cluster processing device for performing a predetermined process on a workpiece by irradiating the workpiece with a gas cluster, including: a processing container in which the workpiece is disposed; a gas supply part configured to supply a gas for generating the gas cluster; a flow rate controller configured to control a flow rate of the gas supplied from the gas supply part; a cluster nozzle configured to receive the gas for generating the gas cluster at a predetermined supply pressure, spray the gas into the processing container maintained in a vacuum state, and convert the gas into the gas cluster through an adiabatic expansion; and a pressure control part provided in a pipe between the flow rate controller and the cluster nozzle and including a back pressure controller configured to control a supply pressure of the gas for generating the gas cluster.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 2022
    Date of Patent: December 24, 2024
    Assignees: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED, IWATANI CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kazuya Dobashi, Takehiko Orii, Yukimasa Saito, Kunihiko Koike, Takehiko Senoo, Koichi Izumi, Yu Yoshino, Tadashi Shojo, Keita Kanehira
  • Patent number: 12151133
    Abstract: Disclosed herein is a method of remediating chromated copper arsenate (CCA) treated timber. Particularly, the method comprises contacting the CCA timber with an oxidative solvent and an acidic solvent which provides remediated timber and a variety of extracts containing amongst other things the metals of concern. One or more of the steps is conducted using continuous counter current extraction (CCE).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2024
    Assignee: Treated Timber Remediation Pty. Ltd
    Inventors: Peter John Waters, Timothy Ralston Lang