Inventor's Corner
08/01/2001
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Cleanroom floorboard
The floorboard has a support unit and a tile unit. In the support unit, a plate part has a number of engaging holes on its upper surface. A support part is vertically and integrally formed along the edge of the lower surface of the plate part. Reinforcing ribs linearly, regularly and integrally extend on the lower surface of the plate part so that the ribs are integrated with both the plate part and the support part. In the tile unit, a cover part engages with the upper surface of the plate part. Engaging projections are formed on the lower surface of the cover part at positions corresponding to the engaging holes of the support unit. Each engaging projection has a ventilation hole at its central portion.
Patent number: 6,155,013
Date granted: December 5, 2000
Inventor: Chae-Won Kim, Hae Kwang Co., Ltd (Rep. of Korea)
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Wall panels
Self-supporting panels with sterilization, impermeability and thermal characteristics can be assembled quickly and fixed with high structural resistance. They are intended to form different areas that need to be heat and sanitary isolated, including stores and laboratories, hospitals and other sterilized places. The external surfaces are smooth, sterilized and wash resistant. They have a dovetail assembly system and superior-inferior concave round edges to form perfectly hermetic walls, removing edging borders and filtration between ceiling, panels and floor.
Patent number: 6,070,377
Date granted: June 6, 2000
Inventor: Guillermo Guevara Guzman
(Santiago, Chile)
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Air-cleaning filter
The invention relates to an air filter that can be installed in a high-efficiency cleaning apparatus for removing gaseous inorganic and/or organic impurities from the air in a cleanroom where large-scale integrated circuits or liquid crystal displays are being manufactured. The invention also relates to a method for manufacturing the air filter and a high-efficiency air cleaning apparatus for using the filter.
The air filter includes a supporter and an inorganic material layer that is formed by fixing the powder of the fraipontite material to the surface of the supporter, using the powder of an inorganic substance as a binder. The manufacturing method includes immersing a supporter in a suspension in which the powder of the fraipontite mineral and the powder of an inorganic substance as a binder are dispersed as the suspensoid. Then the supporter impregnated with the suspensoid is dried, thereby forming an inorganic material layer fixed to the surface of the supporter. The fraipontite mineral adsorbs and removes gaseous acid or basic impurities in the air, while the inorganic substance as a component of the inorganic material layer works as an adsorbent against gaseous organic impurities contained in the space of the air cleaning apparatus.
Patent number: 6,146,451
Date granted: November 14, 2000
Inventors: Soichiro Sakata, Hideto Takahashi and Katsumi Sato (Kanagawa-ken, Japan)
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Cleanroom wall system
This non-progressive modular wall system is intended for wall heights greater than eight feet. It does not require excessive demolition of adjacent wall panels and framing posts above and below the moment connection, typically at the eight-foot level. The assembly includes framing at the moment connection comprising connector or junction blocks fastened to the ends of the framing posts. The connector blocks abut each other and are fastened at the moment connection. They allow for selective removal of the framing posts.
Patent number: 6,155,014
Date granted: December 5, 2000
Inventor: S. Ross Wagner, Unistrut International Corp. (Wayne, MI)
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Cleanroom wall system
The construction and remodeling of a cleanroom wall system is facilitated with a universal stud design. A variety of wall configurations can be assembled with the same stud. A connector block is used for joining perpendicularly oriented studs or for splicing axially aligned studs. A corner stud is provided as well as a deflection track for connecting the top track of a wall panel to a conventional ceiling grid to allow deflection of the grid relative to the wall and to facilitate access to the portion of the ceiling immediately above the wall panel.
Patent number: 6,209,275
Date granted: April 3, 2001
Inventors: Dennis O. Cates and Roger K. Crawford, Southland Industries (Long Beach, CA)
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Vacuum clean box, transfer method and apparatus
A vacuum clean box includes a box body having a side aperture and a small hole for intake/exhaust, a side lid for closing the side aperture by a pressure difference between inside and outside, and an additional lid for similarly closing the small hole. The vacuum clean box is connected to a gate aperture of a cleanroom. A vacuum changer evacuates a hermetically closed space outside the box body, including the additional lid to cancel the pressure difference between inside and outside of the additional lid, and then opens the small hole for intake/exhaust. After the inside of the vacuum clean box is turned into the atmospheric pressure through the small hole, the side lid is drawn into the cleanroom to make communications between the inside space of the vacuum clean box and the inside of the cleanroom. Objects are then transferred between the vacuum clean box and the cleanroom.
Patent number: US 6,168,364 B1
Date granted: January 2, 2001
Inventor: Toshihiko Miyajima, TDK Corp. (Tokyo)
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Low contaminant wiper
The method described is for manufacturing a polyester textile fabric that has a relatively low level of particle contaminates and high absorbency. The fabric is heat-set at a temperature of 300 degrees Fahrenheit or less.
Patent number: 6,189,189
Date granted: February 20, 2001
Inventors: Brian G. Morin, Daniel T. McBride and Loren W. Chambers, Milliken & Company (Spartanburg, SC)
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Air pump for particle sensing
The invention includes a particle sensor with a particle counter. A regenerative blower pulls ambient air into a flow within the particle counter, and a laser illuminates the flow to generate laser radiation indicative of particles within the flow. A detector detects the laser radiation, and particle-sensing electronics count particles within the flow at a preselected volumetric flow rate. The regenerative blower permits use of a high-efficiency exhaust filter. An aerosol manifold can be connected for fluid communication with an inlet of the particle counter so that the regenerative blower draws air from the manifold at the preselected volumetric flow rate. The manifold samples ambient atmospheric air at a second rate that is greater than the preselected volumetric flow rate. A turbomolecular pump can replace the regenerative blower for high-pressure differential particle sensing environments.
Patent number: 6,167,107
Date granted: December 26, 2000
Inventor: Thomas Bates, Particle Measuring Systems Inc. (Boulder, CO)
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. 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].