Inventor's Corner
10/01/2001
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Particle material transfer
The patent is for an apparatus and method of transferring a particle material in a non-contact manner for use in the production of spherical semiconductor devices. The apparatus' driving device includes a nozzle curved surface fitted to the transfer pipe to join with the inner wall surface of the pipe. The diameter of the curved surface continuously increases from the inner wall surface. The driving device also includes an annular gap-forming member that forms a nozzle gap between it and the nozzle curved surface. A fluid flows into the transfer pipe to form a buffer layer of a spiral flow in the vicinity of the inner wall surface, keeping the particle material in a non-contact state.
Patent number: 6,200,071
Date granted: March 13, 2001
Inventor: Yukihiko Karasawa, Applied Science Karasawa Lab. & Co., Ltd. (Ohmiya, Japan)
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Molecular contamination control system
The system and method for molecular contamination control permits purging a SMIF pod to desired levels of relative humidity, oxygen or particles. The SMIF pod includes an inlet port that has a check valve and filter assembly for supplying a clean, dry gaseous working fluid to maintain low levels of moisture, oxygen and particle content around materials contained within. The outlet port, which also includes a check valve and filter assembly, is connected with an evacuation system.
Flow of purge gas inside the SMIF pod can be directed with one or more nozzle towers to encourage laminar flow inside the pod. One or more outlet towers, having a function similar to that of the inlet tower, may also be provided. The purge gas can be dried by exposure to a desiccant, heated to temperatures between about 100 degrees Celsius and 120 degrees Celsius, and can be tested for baseline constituent levels prior to or after introduction into a SMIF pod. Multiple SMIF pods also can be purged by a single contamination-control base unit.
Patent number: 6,221,163
Date granted: April 24, 2001
Inventors: Glenn A. Roberson, Jr., Robert M. Genco, Robert B. Eglinton, Wayland Comer, and Gregory K. Mundt, Semifab Inc. (Hillister, CA)
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Detecting base contaminants in gas
The system for detecting contaminant gases comprises a converter, a detector, a primary channel for delivering a target gas sample through the converter to the detector and at least two scrubbing channels for delivering a reference gas sample through the converter to the detector. Each scrubbing channel includes a scrubber for removing basic nitrogen compounds from the reference gas sample, while the primary channel transmits the target gas sample without scrubbing. Gaseous nitrogen compounds in the target gas sample are converted to an indicator gas, such as nitric oxide, and a control system directs the flow of a gas sample among the primary channel and the scrubbing channels.
The basic-nitrogen-compound concentration can be measured by comparing the concentration of the indicator gas detected in the reference sample with the detected indicator-gas concentration in the target sample. Multiple scrubbing channels enables the detector to operate continuously, because each scrubber can be alternately purged while another is scrubbing.
Patent number: 6,207,460
Date granted: March 27, 2001
Inventors: Oleg P. Kishkovich and William M. Goodwin, Extraction Systems Inc. (Franklin, MA)
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Wafer processing
The system includes a work cell that has a number of processing stations for wafers and at least one processing/cleaning station for receiving and delivering wafers to and from a wafer cassette. It also includes a transfer mechanism for moving the wafers between the processing stations and the cleaning station. The cleaning station may have an exterior door, an exhaust, an interior door and gas nozzles for delivering a sweeping gas over the wafer cassette. The cleaning process can also be done with a loaded cassette that is unloaded before cleaning.
Patent number: 6,202,318
Date granted: March 20, 2001
Inventors: Richard L. Guldi and Jimmie Brooks, Texas Instruments Inc. (Dallas)
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Floor mat
In one embodiment of this invention, the floor mat includes a transparent cleanable portion. It may also include a water-absorbing component, customized graphics, an antibacterial composition, an antifungal composition and a fragrance. Additionally, the cleanable portion may be erodible and may include a number of cleanable reusable layers.
Patent number: 6,219,876
Date granted: April 24, 2001
Inventor: Ronald B. Blum, Tech Mats, L.L.C. (Roanoke, VA)
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Cleanroom air purifier
This air purifying filter comprises an ion-exchange fiber filter and a high- or ultrahigh-performance filter made of glass fibers. The ion-exchange fiber filter preferably comprises a fibrous substrate and ion-exchange groups and hydrophilic groups, which are chemically bound to the surface of the substrate.
Patent number: 6,228,135
Date granted: May 8, 2001
Inventors: Takanobu Sugo, Kunio Fujiwara, Hideaki Sekiguchi, Takeshi Takai and Atsushi Kobayashi, Ebara Corporation, Japan Atomic Research Institute (Tokyo)
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Storage box
The invention relates to a storage box for an object (such as silicon wafers) that is to be protected from physicochemical contamination. The storage box is intended to have low weight, good mechanical strength and a good electrical condition with a low degassing rate in time with prevention of diffusion of gasses from the external atmosphere into the interior of the box. The inner and outer wall surfaces are coated with at least one protective layer.
Patent number: 6,214,425
Date granted: April 10, 2001
Inventors: Philippe Spinelli, Claude Doche, Jean-Christophe Rostaing, Francois Coeuret and Sylvain Scotto D'Apolinia, Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique; Air Liquide (Paris)
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].