Patent ID: 7951244
Filing Date: 2011-05-31
Classification: B08B,H05K

Abstract:
1. A method of cleaning printed circuit boards, the method comprising: providing a cleaning apparatus with a housing having a conveyance mechanism for carrying horizontally oriented printed circuit boards through the housing, the cleaning apparatus having at least a prewash station, a wash station and a final rinse station therein; carrying horizontally oriented printed circuit boards on the conveyance mechanism to the prewash station; utilizing a plurality of fluidic oscillator nozzles of the prewash station to direct liquid onto the horizontally oriented printed circuit boards, each fluidic oscillator nozzle outputs a stream of liquid with an instantaneous direction that oscillates back and forth relative to a nozzle axis over time, including using a first multiplicity of fluidic oscillator nozzles arranged below the conveyance mechanism to direct liquid streams upward onto the horizontally oriented printed circuit boards and using a second multiplicity of fluidic oscillator nozzles arranged above the conveyance mechanism to direct liquid streams downward onto the horizontally oriented printed circuit boards, where the second multiplicity of fluidic oscillator nozzles located less than about six inches from an upper side of the conveyance system and wherein a liquid delivery pressure to the first multiplicity of fluidic oscillator nozzles is lower than a liquid delivery pressure to the second multiplicity of fluidic oscillator nozzles.