Patent 7507297 was granted and assigned to Panasonic on March, 2009 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
A cleaning effect is improved by cleaning a component that has a recess structure by using a cleaning medium of a liquefied gas or a supercritical fluid. By the cleaning method of removing adhering substances adhering to at least the surface of the recess structure of the component that has the recess structure, cleaning is carried out by using the supercritical gas or the liquefied gas so that the cleaning medium spreads over the surface of the recess structure.