Inventor's Corner
09/01/2000
Electrically charged filter media
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This filter medium can be used to make HEPA, aerosol and other cleanroom particle filters as well as personal-protection masks. The nonwoven filter material is made from numerous long, hollow polyester and nylon fibers that have internal cavities. The internal cavities contain electrically charged powder containing Teflon or other halogenated hydrocarbons, which allow the fibers to trap and retain particles.
Patent number: 6,048,614
Dated granted: April 11, 2000
Inventors: Ronald P. Rohrbach, Gordon W. Jones, Peter D. Unger, Daniel E. Bause, Lixin Xue, Russell A. Dondero, of Allied Signal, Inc. (Morristown, NJ)
Cleanroom ceiling
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The ceiling grid provides a mounting system for cleanroom filters, eliminating the misalignment of filters and problematic installation. It includes multiple rows of filters, mounting brackets, surrounding frames, sealing ribs and suspension rods. The bracket and fastener assembly, although fixed, is outfitted with adjustable supports to accommodate varying sizes of filters as well as system arrangement.
Patent number: 6,070,383
Date granted: June 6, 2000
Inventor: Peter Jeanseau, HEPA Corp. (Anaheim, CA)
Particle-measuring device
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The particle-measuring device is used in a semiconductor cleanroom. It includes a funnel-shaped collector that facilitates the measurement of the particle level of an air sample. The particle measurer is arranged so that a narrow end part of the funnel-shaped collector is connected to an intake of the device. A wide end of the funnel-shaped connector receives the air sample through a pipe. A pump is used for suctioning the air sample through the intake of the counter and for discharging the air sample through an exhaust.
Patent number: 6,082,179
Date granted: July 4, 2000
Inventors: Jae Kang Jeon, Joung Sun Lee, Jae Heung Choi and Dong Young Kim, Samsung Electronics Co. (Suwon, Korea)
Gas handler
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The gas-handling device has an elongated track with a pair of laterally spaced and longitudinally extending channels extending along the length of the track. The device has several gas-handling units, which can slide along the length of the track without requiring altering the track or the units. Spool pieces and supports are fastened to the first and last gas-handling units mounted on the track to establish a link with field tubing to deliver and remove a flow of process gas to and from the units.
Patent number: 6,076,543
Date granted: June 20, 2000
Inventor: Paul W. Johnson, United States Filter Corp. (Palm Desert, CA)
Beverage packing
The invention outlines a system and method that forms plastic beverage containers and fills them in a sterile environment. The containers are formed from a blow molding process in which the containers reach elevated temperatures sufficient enough to sterilize the interiors of the containers. Immediately following the formation of the containers, they are filled with sterile beverages in the same sterile environment. This method eliminates the need for heavy use of such sterilizing fluids as hydrogen peroxide for the plastic containers.
Patent number: 6,076,334
Date granted: June 20, 2000
Inventor: Nobuya Kitahora and Osamu Aoyagi, The Coca-Cola Co. (Atlanta, GA)
Modular fan filter
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The modular fan filter unit supplies process control air to mini-enclosure cleanrooms in semiconductor fabs. According to the inventor, it is easy to remove, repair and replace. It has a readily accessible filter mounted across the bottom surface and an internal variable-frequency drive fan. The fan pushes air through the filter into the cleanroom. Multiple modular fan filter units may be connected.
Patent number: 6,050,774
Dated granted: April 18, 2000
Inventor: James F. LeBaron, of Huntair Inc. (Tigard, OR)
Send your inventions
Information on the patents highlighted above 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. Send a brief description of the invention along with a detailed drawing to Mark A. DeSorbo, associate editor, CleanRooms, 98 Spit Brook Road, Nashua, NH 03062, or e-mail at [email protected].
A special panel of inventors featured in Inventor's Corner will be presented at CleanRooms West, October 2-4, 2000 in Portland, OR. For more information, call (603) 891-9267 or visit www.cleanrooms-conference.com.