The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 24, 2004
Filed:
Feb. 05, 2002
John Samuel Batchelder, Somers, NY (US);
Other;
Abstract
A method and an apparatus for detecting removable particulates initially on a test surface or surface to be inspected. The removable particles are transferred to a portion of a tacky surface on a carrier by adhering and then removing the portion of the tacky surface from the test surface. The carrier is received by a positioning means and passed through the field of view of a surface inspection means guided by a controller. Signals from the surface inspection means are combined with coordinates from the controller to produce particle coordinates, which indicate particulates initially on the test surface. Particle coordinates on the tacky surface measured before the tacky surface is adhered and removed from the test surface can be compared with particle coordinates measured after the tacky surface is adhered and removed from the test surface. Several test surfaces can be sequentially inspected using the same carrier by storing particle coordinates after each measurement and comparing the most recent measurement with the cumulative previous measurements. The tacky surface and the associated particle coordinates can be conveyed to other analytical instruments for subsequent analysis.