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Monitor and driving control system
The invention is a monitor and driving control system for fan filter units within a semiconductor cleanroom. The monitor has switches within each fan filter unit that apply electricity to one of several terminals. Switches respond to air streams introduced by the fan filter unit. Displays in each fan filter unit are connected to the terminals, providing signals, indicative of a normal or abnormal state.
Patent number: 6,098,023
Date granted: August 1, 2000
Inventors: Jung-sung Hawang, Jae-heung Choi, Yo-han Ahn, Dong-joo Lee, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (Suwon, Korea)
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Cleanroom conveyor
The conveyor for an ISO Class 3 (Class 1) cleanroom includes a roller with a wide-open surface path for moving objects in the downward flow of air from an above clean air source. Slippable rollers have guiding flanges to resist lateral movement of objects. The conveyor includes skirts with smooth surfaces and minimal horizontal surfaces that hinder lateral flow of the clean air. The conveyor also includes a powered transfer mechanism for moving objects from one conveyor to another. The transfer mechanism is enclosed to prevent particles from escaping into the cleanroom. The driving mechanism, motor and electrical components are also enclosed.
Patent number: 6,098,786
Date granted: August 8, 2000
Inventors: Christopher A. Brumm; Breton C. Ranc; Brent R. Howard; Christopher L. Cramer, of Shuttleworth Inc. (Huntington, IN)
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Microporous film
The film has a microbial barrier inhibiting viruses, bacteria, cysts and nematodes, but still allows the passage of water vapor. The film has first and second surfaces and has at least one microporous passageway, making it breathable. The film material can be polyolefins, polymides, polyesters, copolymers or blends. The film is geared toward single-use items such as protective apparel, surgical drapes and gowns, bandages and diapers.
Patent number: 6,110,479
Date granted: August 29, 2000
Inventors: Carol Ann Blaney, William Francis Cartwright, David Craig Strack, Kimberly-Clark Worldwide Inc. (Neenah, WI)
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Personal air-filtering and delivery system
An air filter unit contains a filter made of two layers of submicron media such as HEPA or ULPA material sandwiches a layer of electrostatic filter media. A layer of electrostatic filter material is also provided on the upstream side of the submicron filter. A personal delivery system for filtered air includes air delivery tubes and outlets. Filtered air forms a curtain around the user to breath. The delivery system includes a canopy that is draped over the area where filtered air is supplied. While the drawing depicts the technology in a hospital environment, the same technology can be adapted so that users can receive filtered air by wearing a hands-free telephone-like apparatus.
Patent number: 6,119,689
Date granted: September 19, 2000
Inventor: David J. Korman (Henderson, NV)
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Enclosure and mechanical interface
The invention is a system for vacuum-processing objects such as electronic integrated circuit wafers and uses a carrier for transporting wafers under vacuum within a cassette. The cassette is supported on a movable wall that serves as the carrier's bottom cover. A processing machine with a transfer chamber is also maintained under vacuum. The transfer chamber has a stage that elevates and closes, forming a seal within the transfer chamber. There is also a small closed interface chamber extending between movable walls when the cassette is mounted onto the machine. A vacuum pump empties the interface chamber in order to lower the cassette into the transfer chamber by an elevator mechanism.
Patent number: 6,082,948
Date granted: July 4, 2000
Inventors: Boris Fishkin; Seiji Sato; and Robert B. Lowrance, of Applied Materials Inc. (Santa Clara, CA)
Cleanroom air filter
The filter is made of a synthetic-paraffin and does not contain aliphatic hydrocarbon, allowing it to trap gaseous and organic substances. A non-silicone-type water repellent is used to treat filter fibers that form a cloth-like medium. A carboxylic acid ester is used as a plasticizer and a phenolic compound is used as an antioxidant, which is added to the non-silicon treatment and the sealing material. The combination keeps gaseous organic substances out of numerous types of controlled environments, including semiconductor, food-processing and biotechnology cleanrooms.
Patent number: 6,106,586
Date granted: August 22, 2000
Inventors: Sadao Kobayashi, Masayuki Imafuku, Yoshihide Wakayama, Taisei Corp. (Tokyo)
Send your inventions
Information on the patents highlighted was obtained through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Inventors who have been granted patents within the last six months for new cleanroom and contamination technology are encouraged to submit them to CleanRooms magazine for publication. Contact Mark DeSorbo at [email protected].