Capillary drying of substrates
View Patent ↗An apparatus and method for drying substrates. The inventive apparatus comprises: an object support member for supporting at least one substrate in a process tank having one or more support sections comprising capillary material. The inventive method is a method of removing liquid from a wet substrate in a process tank comprising contacting the wet substrate with capillary material. In another aspect, the invention is a method of drying at least one substrate having a surface in a process tank comprising: submerging the substrate in a liquid having a liquid level; supporting the submerged substrates in the process tank; supplying a drying vapor above the liquid level; lowering the liquid level or raising the substrate so that the liquid level is below the substrate, thereby removing a major portion of liquid from the substrate surface; and removing remaining liquid from the substrate surface with capillary material.
1. An apparatus for use in drying at least one substrate comprising:
an object support member for supporting at least one substrate in a process tank having one or more support sections comprising cellular capillary material, the object support member comprising a core constructed of cellular capillary material and a shell constructed of non-capillary material, the object support member further comprising grooves extending through the shell and exposing the cellular core.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein all of the one or more support sections comprise cellular capillary material.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the object support member is constructed entirely of cellular capillary material.
4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the grooves have angled walls.
5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the non-capillary material is a non-porous flouropolymer.
6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the non-porous flouropolymer is selected from the group consisting of PP, PTFE, and PVDF.
7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the support sections are adapted to support substrates by contact with the cellular capillary material exclusively.
8. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a drain fluidly connected to the cellular capillary material.
9. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the object support member comprises two outside lifters, a center lifter, and a base plate; the outside lifters and center lifter extending upward from the base plate; the center lifter being shorter than the two outside lifters; the outside lifters and center lifter being positioned on the base plate so that the outside lifters and center lifter can engage and support the at least one substrate.
10. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the object support member is adapted to contact and support a plurality of substrates.
11. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the object support member is in a fixed position at or near the bottom of the process tank.
12. An apparatus for use in drying at least one substrate comprising:
an object support member for supporting at least one substrate in a process tank having one or more support sections comprising cellular capillary material; and
wherein the cellular capillary material is a porous fluoropolymer.
13. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein the porous flouropolymer is selected from the group consisting of PP, PTFE, and PVDF.
14. A method of drying at least one substrate having a surface in a process tank comprising:
submerging the substrate in a liquid having a liquid level;
supporting the submerged substrates in the process tank with an object support member having one or more support sections comprising cellular capillary material;
supplying a drying vapor above the liquid level;
lowering the liquid level or raising the substrate so that the liquid level is below the substrate, thereby removing a major portion of liquid from the substrate surface; and
removing remaining liquid from the substrate with the cellular capillary material;
wherein the cellular capillary material is a porous fluoropolymer.
15. The method of claim 14 wherein the step of removing liquid with cellular capillary material comprises contacting the substrate surface with the cellular capillary material subsequent to said lowering or raising step.
16. The method of claim 14 further comprising sealing the process tank.
17. A method of claim 14 wherein the drying vapor comprises isopropyl-alcohol.
18. The method of claim 14 further comprising draining liquid that is drawn into the cellular capillary material at atmospheric pressure.
19. The method of claim 14 wherein the liquid is de-ionized water.
20. The method of claim 14 wherein the porous flouropolymer is selected from the group consisting of PP, PTFE, and PVDF.
21. The method of claim 14 wherein the object support member comprises a core constructed of cellular capillary material and a shell constructed of non-capillary material wherein the support member comprises grooves extending through the shell and exposing the cellular core.