Inventor’s Corner

Analysis system
The analysis system and method for a cleanroom environment has a condenser that is made up of several tubes that take in, cool and vaporize cleanroom air so that it can be analyzed.

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A fluid or gas is used to cool the air, while a controlling compressor within the condenser maintains a desired condensation temperature of 0 to 10 degrees Celsius. A vacuum pressure generator is outfitted with air suction pipes, a vacuum pump and a flow controller, which pull the air samples through condensing tubes. The condenser is connected to an analyzing unit that measures and analyzes the water-soluble contaminants received from the condensing unit.
Patent number: 6,295,864 B1
Date granted: October 2, 2001
Inventors: Nam-hee You, Soon-young Lee, Jung-sung Hwang, Kwang-young Kim, of Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd (Suwon, Korea)


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UV lamp fabrication method
The invention is a solgel-coating technique-based method for fabricating UV lamps for treating air and waste gases. A solution is prepared of photo-catalytic materials comprising of anatase titanium and/or other semi-conductive components such as tin or iron and coated on a glass-fiber-cloth.

A cloth is then impregnated with an oxidation catalyst of precious metal such as palladium (Pd), gold (Au), praseodymium (Pr) or silver (Ag), or a transition metal oxide of molybdenum (Mo), niobium (Nb), vanadium (V), cerium (Ce) or chromium (Cr). The impregnated cloth is then wrapped on a UV lamp tube.

The UV lamp treats waste gas by irradiating the UV light onto the surface of the photocatalytic materials to generate free electron and electron hole pairs, which can decompose waste gases such as organic or inorganic pollutants in the air into safe gases.
Patent number: 6,336,998 B1
Date granted: January 8, 2002
Inventor: Wei-Hong Wang, of Chung Shan Institute of Science and Technology and the Taiwan Fluorescent Lamp Co. Ltd (Taipei).


Anti-static products and method
Anti-static products have a coating of conductive pyrrole polymers, which decreases surface resistance. The anti-static properties are achieved by depositing conductive polymers onto the non-conductive substrate surface.

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The anti-static material is made by immersing it in an aqueous solution containing polymerizable monomers, an oxidizing agent and a counter ion. After the material is mixed sufficiently, the material is removed, rinsed and dried, resulting in anti-static material.

The anti-static products include wipers, stationery products, like polyethylene notebooks, which are impregnated with silica, writing instruments, garments and polyurethane foam-tipped swabs. The invention also includes plastic anti-static gloves.
Patent number: 6,235,660 B1
Date granted: May 22, 2001
Inventors: Himansu R. Bhattacharjee and Edward Paley, of The Texwipe Co. LLC (Upper Saddle River, NJ)


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Filter package
The invention is a method of packaging and sanitizing a filter and a liquid.

After sanitizing, the container may be hermetically sealed to enclose the sanitized liquid and filter. The container may be vented during sanitizing to allow vapor of the liquid to exit from the container and prevent pressure from building up. The container may be either rigid or flexible. The package enables a filter to be maintained in a wet state during shipment and storage.
Patent number: 6,338,798 B2
Date granted: January 15, 2002
Inventors: Scott D. Hopkins, Daniel W. Spencer, Joseph A. Peri, Pall Corp. (East Hill, NY)


Medical-device packaging system
A housing assembly is provided for a locally-controlled environment that maintains a clean work area better than or equal to ISO Class 5 cleanliness without the maintenance of a conventional cleanroom. The housing assembly includes a HEPA filter that is attached to an air inlet that filters air entering the housing. An air blower is attached to the air inlet to feed filtered air into the housing assembly to maintain positive air pressure within the housing and to prevent unfiltered outside air from entering.

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Pre-fill medical containers, such as syringe barrels and tip closures are introduced into the housing assembly where the syringe barrels and tip closures are cleaned with filtered, ionized air and the tip closures are attached to barrels. A thin coating of a lubricant is applied to the inner surface of each syringe barrel. The syringe barrels can be filled with a substance. While still in the housing assembly, syringe barrels can be formed into an array and placed in a clean container.

A cover is then attached to the tub to completely enclose the array of syringe barrels followed by an outer wrap. The syringe barrels either filled or packaged in the array can be sterilized. The syringe barrels may be of a cyclic polyolefin copolymer or polypropylene.
Patent number: 6,250,052 B1
Date granted: June 26, 2001
Inventors: Donald J. Porfano, James C. Kropatsch, Mark A. German, and Robert B. Odell, of Becton, Dickinson and Co. (Franklin Lakes, NJ)


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Material delivery system
The invention can serve many functions. It can be a work area in a cleanroom and store parts that are used at the work area. The system can serve as a transporter that includes an elevator for stacking parts to a desired level. It also has a detachable cover that is connected to a body to form an enclosed material storage area.

An assembly is provided to lock the cover down onto the body with a gasket to appropriately seal this interconnection. The assembly lifts the cover up and away from the body so as to not damage this gasket. Finally, this same assembly also allows the cover to be rolled off of the body without exposing the gasket to any shear-like forces so as to further reduce the potential for damage to the gasket during removal of the cover from the body.
Patent number: 6,305,500 B1
Date granted: October 23, 2001
Inventors: John D. McCrandall, Tom McMunigal, Richard E. Rupp Jr., of Maxtor, Corp. (Longmont, CO)

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