A machine for cleaning containers such as flat media carriers has inside and
outside
arrays of nozzles arranged to spray a cleaning solution onto containers supported
on a spinning rotor in a chamber. The cleaning solution, a mixture of water and
a detergent or surfactant, is prepared by drawing out surfactant directly from
a surfactant bulk storage vessel by means of a metering pump. The flow rate of
the water is measured by a flow meter and in combination with the metering pump,
a proper amount of surfactant is injected into the water line to produce a mixture
with a desired surfactant concentration for removing contaminants. The mixture
is injected into the water line at a mixing control valve to ensure that the water
and surfactant are thoroughly mixed before being injected into the media carrier.
Where the wafer carrier is provided with multiple rinse manifolds for spraying
the carrier, a flow meter and mixing control valve are provided in the water inlet
line for each manifold and a separate metering pump is provided for injecting surfactant
into each water line to ensure that a proper amount of surfactant is injected into
each water line to produce a surfactant/water mixture with a desired surfactant concentration.
