US 2019/0054508 A1Published application

Cleaning flat objects with a pulsed-liquid jet

AssigneePlanar Semiconductor, Inc.

InventorRubinder S. Randhawa

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Abstract

Various embodiments include cleaning flat objects with pulsed jets, based on a principle of enhancing formation of droplets of a liquid cleaning-medium by increasing the boundary surface-area between spray jets emitted from nozzles of the cleaning unit and the surrounding atmosphere. In various embodiments, droplet-formation enhancement means are located inside and at or near outlets of nozzles and comprise, for example, a jet splitter, threaded grooves on an inner surface of the nozzle body, or a thin tube to supply gas into the flow of the liquid cleaning-medium to form gas bubbles in the medium. Other factors considered include a mass ratio between the droplets and the contaminant particles, a velocity of the droplets, organization and sequence of jets that impinges on various surfaces of the flat object, and flows that rinse separated particles and other contaminants. Other methods and apparatuses are disclosed.

Claims28

Dependent claims

A method for cleaning contaminants from a vertically-oriented flat object with a pulsed-liquid jet, the method comprising:

providing a cleaning unit comprising:
a plurality of pulsed-jet nozzles to emit at least one of a turbulent flow and a laminar flow of at least one type of cleaning fluid as pulsed jets in a pulsed mode;
droplet-formation enhancement means installed in the pulsed-jet nozzles;
a fluid pump coupled to each of at least some of the plurality of pulsed-jet nozzles to supply the at least one type of cleaning fluid;
a controller coupled to each pump to control an output of the controller-coupled pump;
and
a processing unit electrically coupled to the controllers to define operational sequences and operational modes of the controllers;
arranging the vertically-oriented flat object to be cleaned opposite to the the plurality of pulsed-jet nozzles;
and
cleaning the flat object by directing the pulsed jets onto the flat object through the plurality of pulsed-jet nozzles and enhancing discontinuity of the pulsed jets by intensifying a formation of droplets with the use of the droplet-formation enhancement means, the formed droplets each having an approximate pre-calculated amount of kinetic energy and approximate physical dimensions, the pre-calculated amount of kinetic energy being based on a mass of the formed droplets and a velocity of the formed droplets, the mass of the formed droplet being pre-calculated to have a mass approximate to a particle to be removed from the flat object.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 16/168,578Filed 23 Oct 2018
Priority: 7 Feb 2005
Published: 21 Feb 2019
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification12 codes

B08B 3/024
Cleaning by the force of jets or sprays: cleaning by means of spray elements moving over the surface to be cleaned
B05B 1/044
In flat form, e.g. fan-like, sheet-like: slits, e.g. narrow openings defined by two straight and parallel lips; Elongated outlets for producing…
B05B 1/06
Designed to produce a jet, spray, or other discharge of particular shape or nature, e.g. in single drops, or having an outlet of particular shape:…
B05B 1/341
To produce swirl: before discharging the liquid or other fluent material, e.g. in a swirl chamber upstream the spray outlet

Family

Application60/650,572Us provisional application · filed 7 Feb 2005
Application11/299,134Division · filed 12 Dec 2005
Application16/168,578Division
US 10,179,351 B2Related patent
US 10,828,677 B2Related patent
US 2006/0174920 A1Published application
US 2019/0054508 A1This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.