Work Moves Past Rotatable Brush Patents (Class 15/88.2)
  • Patent number: 11931462
    Abstract: A method for tracking product in an installation in which powdered product is processed into manufactured items is provided. The method comprises introducing the powdered product into the installation through at least one inlet, obtaining measurement data for the powdered product from at least one mass sensor positioned in the at least one inlet, and dividing the measurement data into mass units of equal size. The progression of the mass units is then tracked through the installation using measurement data from at least one other mass sensor in the installation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 16, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2024
    Assignee: Fette Compacting GmbH
    Inventors: Nicolas Walter, Alexander Evers
  • Patent number: 11910283
    Abstract: Techniques described herein leverage existing localization sensors or V2X devices to detect one or more other vehicles that include wireless systems that can interfere with in-vehicle wireless networks. The localization sensors or V2X devices can provide information to determine a location, a heading, a speed, a size, and a type of other vehicles. This information can be used to determine a probability of network interference and allow the in-vehicle wireless networks to employ one or more techniques to mitigate the effects of the interference. The interference mitigation techniques can include increasing or decreasing transmitter power, changing a frequency or a channel of a wireless transmitter, or activating one or more additional transmitters as relays to improve reliability.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 19, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2024
    Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventors: Dan Vassilovski, Hong Cheng, Shailesh Patil, Sudhir Kumar Baghel, Kapil Gulati
  • Patent number: 11684149
    Abstract: A paint brush cleaning system includes a housing and a paint brush cleaner attached to the housing. The housing contains solvent that helps clean a paint brush. The paint brush cleaner rotates a wire brush against the bristles of the paint brush and actuates a pump to eject solvent drawn from the housing as the paint brush is moved in translation. The wire brush is coupled to a retractable cord, which rotates the wire brush. A holder is simultaneously coupled to the retractable cord and the pump. When force is exerted on the holder, the retractable cord rotates the wire brush and the pump ejects solvent. A user can insert a paint brush handle through the holder, thus actuating the pump and rotating the wire brush by applying force to the handle. The housing attaches to a user's belt, providing easy access to the paint brush cleaning system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2021
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2023
    Inventor: Malcomb Davis
  • Patent number: 11084141
    Abstract: Wheel back cavity groove processing equipment is disclosed in the present application, which includes a lower lifting system, a central brush system, groove brush systems, a synchronous clamping and rotating system, a left brush system, a right brush system, an upper lifting system and the like. The wheel back cavity groove processing equipment not only may be used for removing burrs from wheel back cavity grooves, but also may be used for removing burrs from bolt holes, a center hole, spoke edges and transverse corners, and simultaneously has the characteristics of high automation degree, high removal efficiency, advanced process, strong generality, and high safety and stability.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 10, 2021
    Assignee: CITIC DICASTAL CO., LTD
    Inventors: Zuo Xu, Bowen Xue, Guorui Wu, Xuesong Wang, Jiandong Guo
  • Patent number: 10207384
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides a flexible device for burr removing, which is composed of a frame (1), lower flanges (2), guide posts (3), thrust cylinders (4), guide sleeves (5), thrust shafts (6), sleeves (7), a movable plate (8), upper flanges (9), a dust guard (10), cylinder housings (11) and the like. The flexible device for burr removing in use can meet the requirement for brushing burrs on wheels having two different sizes in one burr brusher, has the characteristics of ideal effect, high efficiency, safety and reliability in work and high degree of automation, and is particularly suitable for batch production on production lines.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 12, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 19, 2019
    Assignee: CITIC DICASTAL CO., LTD
    Inventors: Yao Zheng, Jiandong Guo, Lei Yang, Xiaoguang Huang, Xuesong Wang, Huiying Liu, Zhiyuan Yu, Weimin Cai, Yongwang Zhao
  • Patent number: 10112282
    Abstract: A wheel deburring device. A second motor drives an upper brush to rotate, second cylinders enable the upper brush to fall through third posts, and burrs of a front surface can be removed when the upper brush is in contact with the front surface of a wheel; a first motor enables an outer ring and a first geared ring to rotate through a first belt; a third motor enables an inner ring and a second geared ring to rotate through a second belt, directions of rotation of the inner ring and the second geared ring are opposite to that of the outer ring, and brushes are driven to rotate through a gear; and fourth cylinders enable a lower brush to rise through first guide posts, and burrs of a back cavity of the wheel can be removed when the lower brush is in contact with that back cavity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 30, 2018
    Assignee: CITIC Dicastal CO., LTD
    Inventors: Bowen Xue, Jiandong Guo
  • Patent number: 10010992
    Abstract: The present invention discloses a wheel deburring device, including a rack, gears, gear racks, servo motors, cylinders and hair brushes and the like. In the use of the wheel deburring device, one servo motor can be used for achieving simultaneous rotation of left and right hair brushes and also adjusting the distance between the left and right hair brushes, and a clamping system can automatically adjust the position of radial blocks to make the distance between the left hair brush and the right hair brush adapt to wheels with different sizes; meanwhile, the wheel deburring device has the advantages of high degree of automation, advanced process, strong universality and safe and stable performance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 12, 2016
    Date of Patent: July 3, 2018
    Assignee: CITIC Dicastal CO., LTD
    Inventors: Bowen Xue, Yacong Zhang
  • Patent number: 9673067
    Abstract: A substrate processing apparatus has a substrate rotating device 10, 20 for holding and rotating a substrate W, a cleaning device 41 configured to clean a substrate W which is rotated by the substrate rotating device 10, 20 at predetermined rotating speed, a movement device 42 configured to move the cleaning device 41 between a cleaning position P3 and a separate position P2, and a control unit 64. The control unit 64 controls the movement device 42 so that the cleaning device 41 located at the separate position P2 starts moving toward the cleaning position P3 before a rotating speed of the substrate W held by the substrate rotating device 10, 20 reaches the predetermined rotating speed and the cleaning device 41 reaches the cleaning position P3 after a rotating speed of the substrate W reaches the predetermined rotating speed. Therefore, it is possible to improve the throughput in the substrate cleaning step.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 22, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 6, 2017
    Assignee: EBARA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Toshio Yokoyama, Junji Kunisawa, Mitsuru Miyazaki, Teruaki Hombo, Naoki Toyomura
  • Patent number: 9271614
    Abstract: A portable back scrubbing and massaging device is provided that can be used in and out of the shower for effectively cleaning and massaging a back of an individual. The portable device has brushes that can be removed and replaced with other brushes or massage accessories. This permits an individual to select from a wide variety of brushes and massage accessories that have varying amounts of thickness, softness, firmness and/or length. The brushes can also be reconfigured into different arrangements or patterns that allows a person to get a cleaning or massage that matches the contours of that person's back.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 14, 2008
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2016
    Inventor: Steven V. Rowles
  • Patent number: 8992692
    Abstract: A cleaning apparatus for cleaning a semiconductor wafer includes a rotary brush to be positioned to clean the semiconductor wafer, and an optical sensing device associated with the rotary brush to sense a separation distance between a reference position thereon and the semiconductor wafer. An actuator is coupled to the optical sensing device to position the rotary brush based upon the sensed separation distance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 3, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 31, 2015
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics, Inc.
    Inventor: John H. Zhang
  • Patent number: 8943636
    Abstract: An erasing device of one embodiment includes a conveyance unit that conveys a sheet; a pair of rotating brushes is provided corresponding to both side portions in a width direction perpendicular to a sheet conveyance direction of the sheet conveyed by the conveyance unit, the rotating brushes being provided to oppose to each other, nipping the conveyed sheet, the rotating brushes rotating in the same direction as the sheet conveyance direction such that a circumferential speed of the brush tip has a higher speed than a conveyance speed of the sheet, the rotating brushes rolling and correcting a corner fold portion which occurs on the sheet conveyed by the brush tip portion while rotating; and an erasing unit is provided downstream in the sheet conveyance direction than the rotating brush, the erasing unit erasing an image which is formed on the sheet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 4, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 3, 2015
    Assignees: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Toshiba Tec Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yoichi Yamaguchi, Ken Iguchi, Isao Yahata, Takahiro Kawaguchi, Yoshiaki Sugizaki, Kikuo Mizutani, Hiroyuki Taki, Hiroyuki Tsuchihashi, Chiaki Iizuka, Hidetoshi Yokochi, Toshiaki Oshiro, Hiroyuki Hazu, Hiroyuki Sugiyama, Yuichi Saito, Jun Ishii
  • Patent number: 8778087
    Abstract: A cleaning device for cleaning a substrate is provided. In one aspect, the cleaning device includes a brush including a first end, a second end opposed to the first end, an outer surface, and a hollow bore defined in the brush about a central axis of the brush. The brush defines a first cross-sectional area near the first end and a second cross-sectional area near the second end. Both the first and second cross-sectional areas are generally perpendicular to the central axis and the second cross-sectional area is greater than the first cross-sectional area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 15, 2014
    Assignee: Illinois Tool Works Inc.
    Inventors: Jeffrey J. Tyrrell, Bradley S. Withers
  • Publication number: 20140150192
    Abstract: A golf club cleaning device (10) includes a base member (12) and a brush member (14) secured to the base member (12). The brush member (14) includes bristles arranged around a circular outer edge thereof. One or more straps (26) are provided having hooks (28) at first ends thereof and second ends secured to the base member (12). The hooks (28) engage with a peripheral edge of a rim (18) of the wheel (16) to secure the base member (12) to a side surface of a wheel (16) such that while the wheel (16) is turning, the brush member (14) and the base member (12) rotate so that a face of a golf club (44) can be cleaned by the rotating bristles (39).
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 28, 2012
    Publication date: June 5, 2014
    Applicant: LM GOLF AUSTRALIA PTY LTD.
    Inventors: Phillip Roy Laing, Roberto Angelo Monzu, Edward Joseph Khoury
  • Patent number: 8585826
    Abstract: A method of web cleaning, particularly relatively soft polymeric webs, without using dipping baths or ultrasonic energy. The method includes conveying the web against a backup roller and spraying the web with a high pressure liquid while the web is supported by the backup roller. Thereafter, residual fluid from the high pressure stream is stripped from the web by a gas curtain while the web is supported by the backup roller. In many convenient embodiments, the web is contacted with a cleaning roller while the web is in contact with the backup roller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 16, 2009
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2013
    Assignee: 3M Innovative Properties Company
    Inventors: Brian E. Schreiber, William B. Kolb, Keith R. Bruesewitz
  • Patent number: 8551253
    Abstract: A method for cleaning plated polished disks used in hard drive media is provided. The method includes positioning plated polished disks in a first batch scrubber having multiple first brushes, wherein each of the plated polished disks is positioned between two of the first brushes, and scrubbing the plated polished disks with the first brushes. The method further includes positioning the plated polished disks scrubbed in the first batch scrubber in a second batch scrubber having multiple second brushes, wherein each of the plated polished disks is positioned between two of the second brushes, and scrubbing the plated polished disks with the second brushes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2010
    Date of Patent: October 8, 2013
    Assignee: WD Media, LLC
    Inventors: Nazman Na'im, Yeong Yih Boo
  • Publication number: 20130219639
    Abstract: Semiconductor equipment is provided to include a reaction chamber, a movable frame, and at least one cleaning brush head. The cleaning brush head is configured to operate on at least one dirty portion to be cleaned within the reaction chamber. The movable frame is disposed within the reaction chamber. The movable frame is capable of carrying a susceptor. The cleaning brush head is capable of touching the dirty portion. The cleaning brush head is capable of moving relative to the dirty portion for removing the residue which is attached to the portion to be cleaned.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 3, 2013
    Publication date: August 29, 2013
    Applicant: Hermes-Epitek Corporation
    Inventor: Hermes-Epitek Corporation
  • Patent number: 8496758
    Abstract: A front surface of the wafer is contacted with a straight-shaped front surface cleaning brush, and a pressure is applied on the front surface cleaning brush from both ends to enlarge the diameters in both end portions of the front surface cleaning brush. The front surface cleaning brush rotates with a shaft being an axis. An inner surface of the front surface cleaning brush is directly in contact with a surface of the shaft. The front surface cleaning brush is composed of a single structure made of synthetic resin.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 23, 2011
    Date of Patent: July 30, 2013
    Assignee: Fujitsu Semiconductor Limited
    Inventor: Naoki Idani
  • Publication number: 20130036562
    Abstract: A golf club head cleaning device having a manual driven and/or motor-driven round cleaning brush removabally mounted inside a bucket on one end of a telescope brush shaft which has the other end extends through the side wall of a bucket of which top open area having at least one groove to accommodate golf club shaft heads for cleaning therein, and a handle removably mounted on the other end of the shaft outside the bucket for manually actuation by hand or by an electric motor to rotate the brush for cleaning the club surface therein. The cleaning device may further have an axle assembly to prevent shaft from wobbling when turning handle to rotate the brush, and a bucket lid to prevent water from splashing to the user. The device is easy to manufacture, ergonomic to operate, efficient in cleaning, less expensive in respect of maintenance and manufacturing.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 8, 2011
    Publication date: February 14, 2013
    Inventor: Roger Gordon Smith
  • Patent number: 8356376
    Abstract: To provide a substrate cleaning apparatus capable of effectively removing deposits adhering to at least an end surface of a substrate by means of a sponge-like brush. A substrate cleaning apparatus includes: a spin chuck configured to rotatably hold a substrate W; a motor configured to rotate the substrate W held by the spin chuck; a cleaning-liquid supply mechanism configured to supply a cleaning liquid to the substrate W held by the spin chuck. The cleaning mechanism includes: a brush made of a sponge-like resin, which is brought into contact with at least an end surface of the wafer W during the cleaning; and a brush compressing mechanism configured to compress the brush. The brush is compressed by the compressing mechanism, and cleans at least the end surface of the substrate W.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 27, 2009
    Date of Patent: January 22, 2013
    Assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited
    Inventors: Nobuhiko Mouri, Satoru Tanaka
  • Patent number: 8336148
    Abstract: A system and method for processing a wafer includes a charge neutralization system. The wafer processing system includes a wafer measuring device that can measure characteristics of a surface of the semiconductor wafer. One or more wafer processing stations perform a chemical mechanical polish (CMP) process on the wafer surface. A desica cleaning station can clean and dry the semiconductor wafer. The wafer processing system further includes a charge neutralizing device that can alter a surface charge of the wafer surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2010
    Date of Patent: December 25, 2012
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics, Inc.
    Inventor: John H. Zhang
  • Patent number: 8316497
    Abstract: A substrate processing apparatus includes: a brush for cleaning a substrate; a seesaw member which is swingable with a support member serving as a fulcrum and which has a force point section at one side with respect to the fulcrum and an actuating point section at the other side with respect to the fulcrum; a pushing actuator arranged to give a driving force to the force point section of the seesaw member, thereby to swing the seesaw member around the fulcrum, thus giving, to the seesaw member, a pushing force for pushing the brush to the substrate; and a transmission member which has an affected point section for receiving, from the actuating point section of the seesaw member, a driving force given to the force point section, and which transmits, to the brush, a pushing force for pushing the same to the substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 2009
    Date of Patent: November 27, 2012
    Assignee: Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Jun Shibukawa, Shinji Kiyokawa, Ichiro Mitsuyoshi
  • Patent number: 8286293
    Abstract: A cleaning processing unit includes a spin chuck for horizontally holding a substrate and rotating the substrate around the vertical axis passing through the center of the substrate. A bevel cleaner is disposed outside the spin chuck. The bevel cleaner includes a cleaning brush. The cleaning brush has a shape that is symmetric about its vertical axis, and has an upper bevel cleaning surface, an end surface cleaning surface, and a lower bevel cleaning surface. The end surface cleaning surface is a cylindrical surface having its axis in the vertical direction. The upper bevel cleaning surface extends out from and is inclined upward from the upper end of the end surface cleaning surface, and the lower bevel cleaning surface extends out from and is inclined downward from the lower end of the end surface cleaning surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 2008
    Date of Patent: October 16, 2012
    Assignee: Sokudo Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Koji Nishiyama, Joichi Nishimura, Hiroshi Yoshii
  • Patent number: 8273186
    Abstract: Mat washing device, method of using the mat washing device, and method of washing mats. The mat washing device includes a system that may be transported on a flat bed trailer from one location to another. The mat washing device includes conveying systems, brush systems, rails systems and control mechanisms. The mat washing device may be used by placing mat, on edge, on a conveying system and conveying the mat to a first brushing system and a second brushing system. In one aspect the first brushing system includes a cable brush having a bolt secured at the end of a cable in order to beat or brush material from the mat when the cable brush is spun.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 21, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 25, 2012
    Assignee: Indianhead Pipeline Services, LLC
    Inventors: Randall D. Rubenzer, Robert M. Simons
  • Patent number: 8250695
    Abstract: Embodiments described herein relate to an apparatus and method for a roller assembly that may be utilized in a brush cleaning module. In one embodiment, a roller assembly is described. The roller assembly includes an annular groove having at least two substantially parallel opposing sidewalls adapted to contact the major surfaces of a substrate along a periphery of the substrate, each of the opposing sidewalls comprising a compressible material having a pre-compressed dimension that is less than a thickness of the periphery of the substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 28, 2012
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Lakshmanan Karuppiah, Dan Zhang, Simon Yavelberg, Jim K. Atkinson, Hung Chih Chen, Noel Manto, Jonathan Domin
  • Patent number: 8250697
    Abstract: A cable processing system includes a conveyor that holds cables and conveys the cables in a specified direction. The operation stretches the cables and allows them to be packaged or otherwise coiled. The cable processing system may wash the cables as they pass thereby.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 22, 2007
    Date of Patent: August 28, 2012
    Assignee: Production Resource Group, LLC
    Inventors: Robin Lee, Marc Palmer
  • Patent number: 8245346
    Abstract: Cleaner liquid flow passages for discharging cleaner liquid from a rotatable brush unit are formed in a rotatable brush unit. The cleaner liquid flow passages are formed as passages wherein the cleaner liquid fed to a hollow portion in a rotary shaft flows to openings in brush cleaner circular plates via lateral grooves provided around the outer circumference of a core roller and along the axial direction. A cleaner liquid fed to discs from a cleaner nozzle contains dirt when the discs are cleaned and the dirt is sucked into the cleaner liquid passages and the dirt is discharged from the rotatable brush unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 21, 2012
    Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Noritake Shizawa, Brian Rattray
  • Publication number: 20120186031
    Abstract: A powered scrubbing device includes a portable housing, a source of motive power, and a scrubber member. The source of motive power is coupled to the scrubber member, and the scrubber member is journaled for rotation within a recess of the housing. The recess is sized to accommodate a foot of a user below the scrubber member, and the recess is sized to permit access to an upper surface of the scrubber member.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 20, 2012
    Publication date: July 26, 2012
    Inventor: Jeffrey S. Dombro
  • Publication number: 20120137455
    Abstract: A dusting equipment (1) for dusting a substantially parallelepiped-shaped or prism-shaped item (9), in particular a book. The equipment comprises a dusting station (6), a carriage (4) and motive means (44, 51, 55) adapted to move the carriage (4) with a reciprocating motion along a moving path between a first position for receiving the item (9) and a second end-of-stroke position. The carriage (4) is adapted to move the item (9) through the dusting station (6) during a motion between the first receiving position and the second end-of-stroke position, and vice versa.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 13, 2010
    Publication date: June 7, 2012
    Applicant: ORACLE S.R.L.
    Inventor: Massimo Miani
  • Patent number: 8127391
    Abstract: An inventive substrate treatment apparatus includes a substrate rotation unit which rotates a substrate, a brush to be brought into contact with at least a peripheral edge portion of a front surface of the substrate rotated by the substrate rotation unit, and a peripheral rinse liquid ejection unit which ejects a rinse liquid toward a predetermined rinse liquid applying position on the peripheral edge portion of the front surface of the substrate from a position located radially inward of the predetermined rinse liquid applying position with respect to a rotation radius of the substrate, the predetermined rinse liquid applying position being spaced downstream in a substrate rotation direction from a brush contact area of the peripheral edge portion kept in contact with the brush.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 21, 2008
    Date of Patent: March 6, 2012
    Assignee: Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Masahiro Nonomura, Junichi Ishii
  • Publication number: 20120030888
    Abstract: Mat washing device, method of using the mat washing device, and method of washing mats. The mat washing device includes a system that may be transported on a flat bed trailer from one location to another. The mat washing device includes conveying systems, brush systems, rails systems and control mechanisms. The mat washing device may be used by placing mat, on edge, on a conveying system and conveying the mat to a first brushing system and a second brushing system. In one aspect the first brushing system includes a cable brush having a bolt secured at the end of a cable in order to beat or brush material from the mat when the cable brush is spun.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 21, 2011
    Publication date: February 9, 2012
    Inventors: Randall D. Rubenzer, Robert M. Simons
  • Patent number: 8099817
    Abstract: In a first aspect, an apparatus for cleaning a thin disk is provided. The apparatus includes a support roller for supporting a rotating wafer within a wafer cleaner. The support roller comprises a guide portion, for receiving an edge of a wafer, having an inclined surface comprising a low-friction material and adapted to allow the wafer edge to slide thereagainst; and an edge-trap portion for retaining the edge of the wafer and having a transverse surface comprising a high-friction material and adapted, when in communication with the edge of the wafer, to resist sliding thereagainst. Numerous other aspects are provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 2011
    Date of Patent: January 24, 2012
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Joseph Yudovsky, Anne-Douce Coulin, Leon Volfovski
  • Patent number: 8092610
    Abstract: Disclosed is a cleaning device for cleaning a driver used in a disk drive manufacturing process. The cleaning device includes: a body; a replaceable cleaning pad mounted in the body; and a cover mounted to the body over the cleaning pad, in which, the cover includes an opening to receive the driver and to expose a portion of the cleaning pad to receive and clean the driver. The cleaning device further includes a cleaning pad rotation mechanism mounted in the body that connects to the cleaning pad and rotates the cleaning pad. The cleaning pad rotation mechanism is configured to rotate the cleaning pad such that an unused portion of the cleaning pad is exposed to the opening for receipt of the driver and the cleaning pad rotation mechanism may be activated to rotate the cleaning pad.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2010
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2012
    Assignee: Western Digital Technologies, Inc.
    Inventor: Dean Albert Tarrant
  • Patent number: 8034185
    Abstract: A disk cleaning scrub module comprising a scrub lane and a plurality of brushes that rotates and scrub washes a plurality of disks having a diameter D in the scrub lane, wherein a disk-to-disk center distance for scrub wash of the plurality of the disks is S and a ratio of S/D is greater than 1 and less than 1.6 is disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 23, 2008
    Date of Patent: October 11, 2011
    Assignee: Seagate Technology LLC
    Inventors: Youmin Liu, Rito Ligutom, Kennith Pompliano, Young Bui, Jennifer Hou, James Tuman
  • Patent number: 8020240
    Abstract: A substrate treatment apparatus includes a substrate holding mechanism for holding a substrate, a brush made of an elastically deformable material and having a cleaning surface formed in a shape tapered toward one side in a perpendicular direction perpendicular to one surface of the substrate held by the substrate holding mechanism and inclined with respect to the perpendicular direction, a brush moving mechanism for moving the brush with respect to the substrate held by the substrate holding mechanism, and a control unit for controlling the brush moving mechanism so that the cleaning surface is pushed to a peripheral area on the one surface and a peripheral end face of the substrate held by the substrate holding mechanism.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2007
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2011
    Assignee: Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Nobuyasu Hiraoka, Tsuyoshi Okumura, Akiyoshi Nakano
  • Patent number: 7979942
    Abstract: A substrate treatment apparatus including a substrate holding mechanism for holding a substrate; a first brush made of an elastically deformable material and having a cleaning surface inclined with respect to a perpendicular direction perpendicular to one surface of the substrate held by the substrate holding mechanism; a first brush moving mechanism for moving the first brush with respect to the substrate held by the substrate holding mechanism; a controller for controlling the first brush moving mechanism so that the cleaning surface is made to contact with a peripheral area on the one surface and a peripheral end face of the substrate held by the substrate holding mechanism; and a first pushing pressure holding mechanism for holding a pushing pressure of the first brush in the perpendicular direction to the peripheral area on the one surface of the substrate at a preset pushing pressure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2007
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2011
    Assignees: Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd., Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Nobuyasu Hiraoka, Tsuyoshi Okumura, Akiyoshi Nakano, Hajime Ugajin
  • Patent number: 7913346
    Abstract: A substrate treatment apparatus includes a substrate holding mechanism which holds a substrate, a scrub brush for scrubbing a surface of the substrate held by the substrate holding mechanism to remove foreign matter from the substrate surface, a treatment liquid supplying mechanism which supplies an alkaline treatment liquid to the substrate surface when the substrate is scrubbed with the scrub brush, and an alkaline fluid supplying mechanism which supplies an alkaline fluid to a surface of the scrub brush in a standby period during which no substrate is scrubbed with the scrub brush.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2006
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2011
    Assignee: Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Masaki Iwami, Soichi Nadahara
  • Patent number: 7908698
    Abstract: A wafer on which a CMP processing is completed is rotated. A front surface cleaning brush and a rear surface cleaning brush are made contact both surfaces of the wafer while being rotated. After the front surface cleaning brush and the rear surface cleaning brush are made to contact the wafer, both end portions of the front surface cleaning brush and the rear surface cleaning brush are deformed by means of pressurizing both ends of the front surface cleaning brush and the rear surface cleaning brush by pressure portions. That is, the both end portions of the front surface cleaning brush and the rear surface cleaning brush are compressed to enlarge diameters in the both end portions. As a consequence, the entire front surface of the wafer is made to contact the front surface cleaning brush substantially evenly, even if the wafer is warped into a shape of a mound. Therefore, a cleaning efficiency of the outer peripheral portion of the wafer improves.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 27, 2006
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2011
    Assignee: Fujitsu Semiconductor Limited
    Inventor: Naoki Idani
  • Patent number: 7900311
    Abstract: In a first aspect, an apparatus for cleaning a thin disk is provided. The apparatus includes a support roller for supporting a rotating wafer within a wafer cleaner. The support roller comprises a guide portion, for receiving an edge of a wafer, having an inclined surface comprising a low-friction material and adapted to allow the wafer edge to slide thereagainst; and an edge-trap portion for retaining the edge of the wafer and having a transverse surface comprising a high-friction material and adapted, when in communication with the edge of the wafer, to resist sliding thereagainst. Numerous other aspects are provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 4, 2008
    Date of Patent: March 8, 2011
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Joseph Yudovsky, Anne-Douce Coulin, Leon Volfovski
  • Patent number: 7841035
    Abstract: A disc cleaning mechanism or device has a rotary brush having a rotary shaft on which a plurality of brushes are mounted and, between adjacent brushes of which a plurality of discs is inserted, and a disc revolution stopper for preventing the discs inserted between the brushes from revolving about the rotary shaft by rotation of the rotary brush and allowing the discs to rotate. The disc cleaning mechanism includes a core roller having an uneven inner peripheral portion of the brush as a core of the brush and an uneven outer peripheral portion and a rotary shaft on which a plurality of the core rollers are mounted. The brush and the core rollers constitute a spline joint.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 12, 2006
    Date of Patent: November 30, 2010
    Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Noritake Shizawa, Toshimitsu Shiraishi, Tatsuo Kaneko
  • Patent number: 7823241
    Abstract: A system for cleaning a wafer. At least one first chuck roller is connected to a first roller base and includes a first annular groove. A second roller base opposes the first roller base. At least one second chuck roller is connected to the second roller base and includes a second annular groove. A sensing chuck roller is connected to the second roller base and includes a third annular groove corresponding to the first and second annular grooves. A cleaning member covers the third annular groove. A circumferential edge of the wafer is positioned in the first and second annular grooves and abuts the cleaning member. The first and second chuck rollers rotate the wafer, enabling the circumferential edge thereof to rub against the cleaning member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 22, 2007
    Date of Patent: November 2, 2010
    Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Tien-Chen Hu, Chih-Ming Hsieh, Chien-Chang Lai, Wen-Jin Lee, Da-Hsiang Chen
  • Patent number: 7803230
    Abstract: In a substrate cleaning method and a substrate cleaning method according to the present invention, a brush 3 is brought into contact with a substrate W while rotating the same, and a cleaning position Sb of the brush 3 is moved relative to the substrate W from a center part of the substrate W toward a peripheral part thereof. A process fluid formed of liquid droplets and a gas is sprayed by a two-fluid nozzle 5 onto the substrate W, and a cleaning position Sn of the two-fluid nozzle 5 is moved relative to the substrate W from a center part of the substrate W toward a peripheral part thereof. During the movement of the cleaning position Sb of the brush 3 from the center part of the substrate W toward the peripheral part thereof, the cleaning position Sb of the two-fluid nozzle is positioned nearer to a center P0 than the cleaning position Sb of the brush 3. Since contaminations of the brush are prevented from adhering again to the wafer, it can be avoided that the wafer W is contaminated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 5, 2005
    Date of Patent: September 28, 2010
    Assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited
    Inventors: Masaru Amai, Kenji Sekiguchi, Takehiko Orii, Hiroki Ohno, Satoru Tanaka, Takuya Mori
  • Patent number: 7789735
    Abstract: The invention relates to a device for machining a strip or plate-shaped metal workpiece, which comprises at least one conveying device which is provided with machining elements. The conveying device guides the machining elements at an angle and/or in a transversal manner in relation to the direction of advancement of the workpiece in the region of the workpiece which is to be machined in an at least approximately linear manner. The machining elements are embodied as abrasive paper and support elements are arranged between said abrasive paper.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 2006
    Date of Patent: September 7, 2010
    Assignee: Lissmac Maschinenbau und Diamantwerkzeuge GmbH
    Inventor: Josef Weiland
  • Patent number: 7774887
    Abstract: A scrubber box is provided that includes a tank adapted to receive a substrate for cleaning, supports outside of the tank and adapted to couple to ends of scrubber brushes disposed within the tank, a motor mounted to each of the supports and adapted to rotate the scrubber brushes, a base to which the supports are pivotally mounted via spherical bearings adapted to permit toe-in of the scrubber brushes, a brush gap actuator adapted, via a crank and rocker mechanism, to substantially simultaneously pivot the supports toward or away from each other so as to permit the scrubber brushes to substantially simultaneously achieve or break contact with the substrate, and a toe-in actuator adapted to move two of the spherical bearings toward or away from each other so as to adjust a toe-in angle between the scrubber brushes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 14, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 17, 2010
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Joseph Yudovsky, Avi Tepman, Kenneth R. Reynolds, Younes Achkire, Dan A. Marohl, Steve G. Ghanayem, Alexander S. Polyak, Gary Ettinger, Haochuan Zhang, Hui Chen
  • Patent number: 7725975
    Abstract: A device for cleaning a liquid crystal display panel including at least one pad part cleaning brush removing foreign matters from a pad part of the liquid crystal display panel, a holder holding the pad part cleaning brush, a driving shaft rotating the holder, and a driving motor providing a rotating force to the driving shaft.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 16, 2002
    Date of Patent: June 1, 2010
    Assignee: LG Display Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Choong Un Lee
  • Patent number: 7698770
    Abstract: A system is provided for providing automated washing for debris removal from the skin of a user's hands. At least some embodiments of the present include a friction enhancing structure such as a brush. In at least one embodiment of the invention, the system includes an RFID capability for identifying when at least one component, such as a removable brush, is due to for replacement for sanitation reasons.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 22, 2007
    Date of Patent: April 20, 2010
    Assignee: Resurgent Health & Medical, LLC
    Inventors: Paul R. Barnhill, James Glenn, Timothy Prodanovich
  • Patent number: 7685667
    Abstract: A method and system for cleaning the wafer after CMP is disclosed. A brush module having at least two brushes placed adjacent to each other and having the wafer placed in between. A dummy roller is in contact with an edge of the wafer and follows a rotation of the wafer, wherein when the wafer is rotated, the brushes clean both sides of the wafer, and the dummy roller detects a rotation speed and a rotation direction of the wafer for adjusting the rotation of the wafer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 2005
    Date of Patent: March 30, 2010
    Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Bih-tiao Lin, Jin Lung Linh
  • Patent number: 7673362
    Abstract: A tire-cleaning device for a wheelchair or other wheeled device, such as a scooter, which includes a pair of rotatably-mounted rollers positioned to support at least one wheel of the wheelchair. A rotatably-mounted cleaning brush is positioned between the rollers. The rollers are activated in a direction opposite that to the brush such that the rollers and brush rotate in opposite directions causing the brush to rotate in a direction opposite the tire of the rotating wheel of the wheelchair in order to effect the best cleaning mode. Cleaning fluid is drawn to the tire of the wheelchair by the rotating brush.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 22, 2004
    Date of Patent: March 9, 2010
    Assignee: Matrix Product Development, Inc.
    Inventor: Ronald J. Pulvermacher
  • Publication number: 20090313776
    Abstract: Disclosed is a substrate cleaning apparatus capable of efficiently removing extraneous matters attached on a periphery of the substrate with a brush. The substrate cleaning apparatus includes a spin chuck to rotatably hold a wafer a motor to rotate the wafer held by the spin chuck, a cleaning liquid supplying device to supply cleaning liquid to the wafer held by the spin chuck, and a cleaning device including a brush, a rotating device and a pressing device. The brush includes a periphery cleaning part in contact with a periphery of the wafer during cleaning. The rotating device rotates the brush, and the pressing device pushes the brush to the wafer. The periphery cleaning part includes a changing part. The property of the changing part is changed along a diameter of the periphery cleaning part to distribute cleaning performance.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 18, 2009
    Publication date: December 24, 2009
    Applicant: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventors: Nobuhiko MOURI, Satoru TANAKA
  • Publication number: 20090282629
    Abstract: A produce bin washer for washing produce bins of an open-box type may include a housing and a conveyor for advancing a plurality of empty produce bins along a path of travel through the housing. The produce bin washer may include at least one scrubbing brush within the housing adjacent the conveyor and along the path of travel. The produce bin washer may also include a positioner within the housing for sequentially lifting and rotating each empty produce bin form the conveyor onto the at least one scrubbing brush to scrub the interior, and returning the empty produce bin to the conveyor. A sprayer may be within the housing for spraying a cleaning solution onto the empty produce bins, and a collector may also be within the housing for collecting sprayed cleaning solution.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 16, 2008
    Publication date: November 19, 2009
    Applicant: FMC Technologies, Inc.
    Inventor: Clint P. Arrington
  • Patent number: 7604424
    Abstract: A substrate processing apparatus comprises an indexer block, an edge-cleaning processing block, an anti-reflection film processing block, a resist film processing block, a development processing block, a resist cover film processing block, a resist cover film removal block, a cleaning/drying processing block and an interface block. An exposure device is arranged adjacent to the interface block of the substrate processing apparatus. In the exposure device, exposure processing is applied to a substrate by a liquid immersion method. In the edge-cleaning processing group in the edge-cleaning processing block, an edge of the substrate before exposure processing is cleaned.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 22, 2006
    Date of Patent: October 20, 2009
    Assignee: Sokudo Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kazuhito Shigemori, Koji Kaneyama, Akiko Harumoto, Tadashi Miyagi, Masashi Kanaoka, Shuichi Yasuda