Patents Examined by Sharidan Carrillo
  • Patent number: 11769660
    Abstract: A method for removing particles from a semiconductor wafer surface is disclosed. A wafer is being spun on a spin coater contained within a condensing environment. Liquid vapor is then infused into the condensing environment to allow some of the liquid vapor to be condensed onto a surface of the wafer on which particles may adhere while the wafer is being spun. Next, a set of light pulses is applied to the surface of the spinning wafer. Finally, an air stream is utilized to carry the particles off the surface of the wafer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 26, 2023
    Assignee: PulseForge, Inc.
    Inventors: David Alex Rose, Kurt A. Schroder
  • Patent number: 11764081
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to an apparatus for wafer cleaning. The apparatus includes an enclosure made of a noncombustible material, a wafer holder, a cleaning nozzle, at least one sensor, and an exhaust unit. The wafer holder can hold and heat a wafer. The cleaning nozzle can supply a flow of a cleaning fluid onto a surface of the wafer. The at least one sensor can detect attributes of the wafer. The exhaust unit can expel a vapor generated by the cleaning fluid in the enclosure. The exhaust unit can include a rinse nozzle to rinse the vapor passing through the exhaust unit with a mist.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2023
    Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Jieh-Chau Huang, Bi-Ming Yen, Hung-Lung Hu, Ying Ting Hsia, Ping-Jung Huang, Pei Yen Hsia
  • Patent number: 11753714
    Abstract: A method for cleaning a semiconductor fabrication equipment part having gas holes used in single-wafer type semiconductor fabrication equipment for processing semiconductor wafers, wherein the semiconductor fabrication equipment part having gas holes is formed of aluminum or an aluminum alloy, and has a distribution plate having a plurality of gas holes, the method including: a step (1) of scanning a gas injection surface of the distribution plate, which is a surface facing the wafer, with a laser beam; and a step (2) of bringing the gas injection surface and insides of the gas holes into contact with a cleaning liquid containing an inorganic acid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 18, 2022
    Date of Patent: September 12, 2023
    Assignee: Shinryo Corporation
    Inventors: Tomohiro Matsumura, Akihiro Matsumoto
  • Patent number: 11745231
    Abstract: A cleaning method includes: supplying a cleaning gas in a processing container while continuously increasing a pressure in the processing container in a stepwise manner at a plurality of time points, thereby executing a cleaning of the processing container by removing a film deposited in the processing container; and detecting an end point of the cleaning based on time-dependent data of a concentration of a predetermined gas generated during the executing the cleaning, for each pressure of the plurality of time points. The executing the cleaning is implemented when the time-dependent data of the concentration of the predetermined gas generated in the continuously increasing the pressure changes from an increasing state to a decreasing state after exceeding a threshold value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 26, 2022
    Date of Patent: September 5, 2023
    Assignee: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventors: Masami Oikawa, Tomoya Hasegawa, Koji Sasaki
  • Patent number: 11738374
    Abstract: Laser cleaning equipment and a cleaning method for a shaft component are provided. The equipment includes: a supporting base assembly; two driving wheel structures on the supporting base assembly, driving wheels of each of which is configured for being close to or away from each other, and the shaft component to be cleaned is placed between the two driving wheel structures; a friction wheel structure that is tangent to driving wheel structure(s) and uses a friction force thereof to drive driving wheel structure(s) to rotate; a connection shaft assembly that coaxially passes through the friction wheel structure; a power driving mechanism, one end of which that faces toward the connection shaft assembly is in drive connection with the connection shaft assembly and is configured to drive the connection shaft assembly to rotate; and a laser cleaning mechanism configured for performing laser cleaning on the shaft component to be cleaned.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 19, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2023
    Assignee: Harbin Institute of Technology
    Inventors: Bin Guo, Jie Xu, Donghe Zhang, Hui Wang, Debin Shan
  • Patent number: 11742196
    Abstract: In an embodiment, a method includes: receiving a wafer from a first dilution tank; immersing the wafer in a deionization tank, wherein the deionization tank comprises a tank solution that comprises a deionizing solution; determining a metal ion concentration within the tank solution; performing remediation within the deionization tank in response to determining that the metal ion concentration is greater than a threshold value; and moving the wafer to a second dilution tank.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 24, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2023
    Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Chih-Wei Chao, Shu-Yen Wang
  • Patent number: 11708257
    Abstract: A method of cleaning and sterilizing a drink filling apparatus that includes drink supply piping that feeds a drink sterilized in a heating sterilization part into a filling machine includes performing a cleaning in place (CIP), in which a cleaner is circulated in the drink supply piping to remove a drink residue or the like on an interior of the drink supply piping, raising a temperature of the cleaner to a temperature required for a sterilizing in place (SIP), which is performed in succession to the CIP to sterilize the interior of the drink supply piping, from an early stage or middle stage of the CIP, then performing the SIP for the interior of the drink supply piping, and washing the cleaner away with aseptic water heated and sterilized in the heating sterilization part.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 11, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 25, 2023
    Assignee: Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Atsushi Hayakawa
  • Patent number: 11710011
    Abstract: A cleaning card for cleaning a media transport device includes a substantially planar surface. At least one of the raised surface elements includes at least one scraping element. Optionally, at least one of the raised surface elements also include surface slits that cause asymmetrical deformation of the raised surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 11, 2022
    Date of Patent: July 25, 2023
    Assignee: KICTeam, Inc.
    Inventors: Joshua Lee Larsen, John Condon
  • Patent number: 11685881
    Abstract: A method of automatic dishwashing of dishware, including electrolytically generating a bleaching species, washing the dishware with a composition comprising the bleaching species, and washing the dishware with a composition including an enzyme. The invention also includes an automatic dishwasher including a wash tank, an electrochemical cell, and a first reservoir containing a composition including an enzyme, wherein the electrochemical cell contains a solution including an alkali metal chloride salt, wherein the dishwasher is configured to electrolyze the solution, and to dose the electrolyzed solution into the wash tank before dosing the composition including the enzyme into the wash tank. The invention also includes a kit for use in the method of automatic dishwashing of dishware.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 28, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2023
    Assignee: Reckitt Benckiser Finish B.V.
    Inventors: Alias Younis Al-Bayati, Callum Couser, Gerhard Kammerer, Jorg Peter Pflug
  • Patent number: 11685993
    Abstract: There is provided a technique that includes a first annealing step of annealing the reaction tube; a first cleaning step of cleaning an inner surface of the reaction tube, after the first annealing step, with a liquid including a fluorine compound having a first concentration; a first rinsing step of washing away the fluorine compound used in the first cleaning step with pure water; a second annealing step of annealing the reaction tube; a second cleaning step of cleaning the inner surface of the reaction tube, after the second annealing step, with a liquid including a fluorine compound having a second concentration higher than the first concentration; and a second rinsing step of washing away the fluorine compound used in the second cleaning step with pure water.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 22, 2021
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2023
    Assignees: KOKUSAI ELECTRIC CORPORATION, SHIN-ETSU QUARTZ PRODUCTS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Shinya Morita, Toru Nakada, Hiroyuki Kimura, Toru Segawa
  • Patent number: 11673230
    Abstract: A method of removing a conformal coating from a circuit board coated with said conformal coating, the method comprising: subjecting the circuit board to a jet comprising dry-ice ejected from a nozzle, to remove said conformal coating from said circuit board.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 13, 2023
    Inventor: Ebrahim Ghanbari
  • Patent number: 11666952
    Abstract: Methods of semiconductor processing may include performing a process on a semiconductor substrate. The semiconductor substrate may be seated on a substrate support positioned within a processing region of a semiconductor processing chamber. The methods may include flowing a first backside gas through the substrate support at a first flow rate. The methods may include removing the semiconductor substrate from the processing region of the semiconductor processing chamber. The methods may include performing a plasma cleaning operation within the processing region of the semiconductor processing chamber. The methods may include flowing a second backside gas through the substrate support at a second flow rate. At least a portion of the second backside gas may flow into the processing region through accesses in the substrate support.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 6, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 6, 2023
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Stephen D. Prouty, Martin Perez-Guzman, Sumanth Banda, Rajinder Dhindsa, Alvaro Garcia de Gorordo
  • Patent number: 11642705
    Abstract: A method for removing powder from a component or part produced by a powder bed additive manufacturing system is provided. The method includes providing a part, the part having at least one internal cavity with at least one external opening, the at least one cavity being at least partly filled with powder grains, the powder grains being connected to each other and to the walls of the cavity by mechanical, frictional, electrical, physical, or chemical forces. The method further includes adding medium in liquid phase to the at least one cavity of the part, the liquid having the property that it expands in phase transition from liquid to solid phase; transforming added medium to solid phase to loosen and break up at least a fraction of the powder grains connections from each other; and removing powder from the at least one internal cavity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 8, 2022
    Date of Patent: May 9, 2023
    Assignee: Freemelt AB
    Inventor: Robin Stephansen
  • Patent number: 11642509
    Abstract: A cleaning device is configured access and remove fluid from and dry a moat region defined by a hub of a medical connector, thereby minimizing the potential for bacterial growth in the hub. The cleaning device takes the form of an absorbent block which can be inserted into the moat by extending about a central male fitting and into a gap between the male fitting and the inner wall of a female hub of the medical connector. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the block takes the form of a tubular cylinder particularly configured for use on ENFit medical connectors wherein the absorptive feature of the cleaning device can be employed alone or in combination with another cleaning tool used to first remove any existing dried and caked solution in the hub before removing residual cleaning fluid from the moat.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 9, 2023
    Assignee: TRADEMARK MEDICAL L.L.C.
    Inventor: Phillip Peter Digasbarro
  • Patent number: 11638518
    Abstract: A method for reconditioning an endoscope in a reconditioning apparatus, the method including: connecting an interior of the endoscope to a leakage tester of the reconditioning apparatus; supplying the interior with a fluid at a predefined pressure; carrying out a reconditioning process using a rinsing liquid; monitoring the pressure in the interior of the endoscope during the reconditioning process; and identifying the endoscope as defective if a profile of the pressure deviates from a predefined pressure profile; wherein the predefined pressure profile is determined according to process parameters of the reconditioning process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 2, 2023
    Assignee: OLYMPUS WINTER & IBE GMBH
    Inventor: Jan Batista Andrade
  • Patent number: 11624566
    Abstract: Disclosed are methods for cleaning of devices, such as heat exchangers, in particular to methods wherein machine learning systems, such as trained neural networks are used for indicating the fouling status the during the cleaning processes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 5, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2023
    Assignee: ALTUM TECHNOLOGIES OY
    Inventors: Edward Hæggström, Ari Salmi, Arto Klami, Petri Myllymäki, Timo Rauhala
  • Patent number: 11612916
    Abstract: Pulse dosing is used to administer a cleaning formulation into a fluid process stream flowing through structural components of a processing facility. The fluid process stream may contain corn, corn-derived products, or a combination thereof, or the fluid process stream may contain a process condensate, a rinse fluid, a cleaning fluid or any combination thereof. The processing facility may be an ethanol processing plant, a protein processing plant, a corn oil processing plant, an ethanol and corn oil processing plant, an ethanol and protein processing plant, or an ethanol, corn oil and protein processing plant. Pulse dosing may include administering the cleaning formulation into the fluid process stream for a period of x seconds every y minutes, with no administration of the cleaning formulation between the periods of x seconds.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2023
    Assignee: Phibro Animal Health Corporation
    Inventor: David Fowlie
  • Patent number: 11610773
    Abstract: Embodiments described herein relate to a high pressure processing system with a condenser and methods for utilizing the same. The processing system includes a process chamber, a boiler, a condenser, and one or more heat exchangers. The boiler generates a fluid, such as a vapor or supercritical fluid, and delivers the fluid to the process chamber where a substrate is processed. After processing the substrate, the system is depressurized and the fluid is delivered to the condenser where the fluid is condensed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 26, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2023
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventor: Jean Delmas
  • Patent number: 11600500
    Abstract: A substrate processing method includes forming, by supplying a chemical liquid onto a central portion of a substrate while rotating a rotary table at a first speed, a liquid film of the chemical liquid having a first thickness; forming, by supplying the chemical liquid onto the central portion while rotating the rotary table at a second speed lower than the first speed after the forming of the liquid film having the first thickness, a liquid film of the chemical liquid having a second thickness larger than the first thickness; and heating, by heating the rotary table in a state that the rotary table is rotated at a third speed lower than the second speed or in a state that the rotating of the rotary table is stopped after the forming of the liquid film having the second thickness, the substrate and the liquid film of the chemical liquid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 9, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventors: Kouzou Tachibana, Katsuhiro Morikawa, Kouichi Mizunaga
  • Patent number: 11600499
    Abstract: A substrate cleaning method according to an aspect of the present disclosure includes: supplying a film-forming treatment liquid containing a volatile component to a substrate to form a film on the substrate; supplying a peeling treatment liquid, which peels off a treatment film from the substrate, to the treatment film formed by solidifying or curing the film-forming treatment liquid on the substrate due to volatilization of the volatile component; and supplying a hydrophobic liquid, which hydrophobizes the substrate, to the substrate to which the peeling treatment liquid has been supplied.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventor: Meitoku Aibara