Patents Represented by Attorney Kees van der Sterre

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  • Microlaminated composites and method
    Patent number: 5350637
    Abstract: Microlaminated composite articles are made by combining one or more sheets of flexible sintered crystalline ceramic foil with one or multiple inorganic substrate layers, e.g., of metal foil, to form a stack which is then heated below the melting temperatures of the foil and substrate layers, and under slight or moderate pressure, to provide a well-bonded composite article which is essentially free of interlaminar cementing or sealing materials.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 1992
    Date of Patent: September 27, 1994
    Assignee: Corning Incorporated
    Inventors: Thomas D. Ketcham, Leroy S. Share, Dell J. St. Julien
  • Sintered inorganic composites comprising co-sintered tape reinforcement
    Patent number: 5338598
    Abstract: Composite articles sintered polycrystalline ceramic reinforcing members in a co-sintered, inorganic, preferably ceramic matrix, formed by disposing arrays of green reinforcement precursor structures in a matrix preform and then consolidating the preform by compacting, debindering, and pressureless sintering, the resulting co-sintered composites exhibiting zero open porosity, high density, and improved work-of-fracture characteristics, are described.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 1992
    Date of Patent: August 16, 1994
    Assignee: Corning Incorporated
    Inventor: Thomas D. Ketcham
  • Batch compositions for cordierite ceramics
    Patent number: 5332703
    Abstract: Ceramic products consisting principally of cordierite and a method for making them are provided, the method employing batches comprising a mineral component and a chemical component, the mineral component comprising clay and talc and the chemical component consisting essentially of a combination of the powdered oxides, hydroxides, or hydrous oxides of magnesium, aluminum and silicon. Ceramics made by extrusion and firing of the batches can exhibit low porosity, high strength and low thermal expansion coefficients.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 1993
    Date of Patent: July 26, 1994
    Assignee: Corning Incorporated
    Inventor: David L. Hickman
  • Polymer membranes for separation processes
    Patent number: 5328613
    Abstract: Semi-permeable microporous polymer bodies, such as porous plates or membranes for separation processes, are provided, these being made of durable high-temperature thermoplastics, eg., a liquid crystal polymer, by a process comprising melt-mixing the polymer with high loadings of leachable glass and then leaching the glass from the polymer to leave a continuous relict polymer network, the network typically demonstrating pore volumes of 50 percent or more and average pore diameters in the 0.1-10 micron range.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 21, 1993
    Date of Patent: July 12, 1994
    Assignee: Corning Incorporated
    Inventors: George H. Beall, Kishor P. Gadkaree, Thomas P. Grandi, Candace J. Quinn
  • Shaped-tube electrolytic machining process
    Patent number: 5322599
    Abstract: A process of electrolytic machining holes of uniform diameter in a conductive workpiece, particularly one having a slotted lower portion. Drilling is accomplished electrochemically by providing a conductive tube, passing an electrolytic fluid through the tube to the workpiece, and passing a DC current between the tube and the workpiece through the electrolyte. The DC current causes material from the workpiece to "deplate" into the electrolyte, resulting in the formation of the hole. Hole diameter is made uniform by maintaining the supplied DC current constant, despite sudden changes in the conductivity of the electrolyte, the workpiece or both.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 19, 1993
    Date of Patent: June 21, 1994
    Assignee: Corning Incorporated
    Inventor: W. Neil Peters
  • Shaped-tube electrolytic polishing process
    Patent number: 5320721
    Abstract: The present invention is directed to a shaped-tube electrolytic polishing process which involves providing a workpiece with at least one hole. The hole is polished by advancing a metal tube electrode through the hole while passing an electrolyte through the tube and into the hole and while passing electric current between the metal tube and the workpiece through the electrolyte. As a result of such polishing, reduced surface roughness is imparted to the hole. It is particularly desirable to provide the hole in the workpiece by a shaped-tube electrolytic drilling process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 19, 1993
    Date of Patent: June 14, 1994
    Assignee: Corning Incorporated
    Inventor: W. Neil Peters
  • Method and apparatus for fiber cooling
    Patent number: 5314515
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for cooling a glass optical fiber drawn from a glass preform, prior to applying a protective coating to the fiber, wherein the fiber is transported through a cooling zone containing coolant consisting of a solid or liquid dispersion of a condensible gas, the gas being a chemical element or compound having a vapor pressure of at least 1 atmosphere at 25.degree. C. such that rapid coolant vaporization at ambient temperatures is insured, are provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 14, 1992
    Date of Patent: May 24, 1994
    Assignee: Corning Incorporated
    Inventor: Michael B. Cain
  • Method for extruding honeycombs
    Patent number: 5314650
    Abstract: An extrusion die is used for producing ceramic honeycomb materials. It is particularly useful in producing such extrudates in sheet form by configuring the die in the form of a cylinder and providing a cutting device proximate to the exterior of the cylinder so that when relative rotation is imparted between the cutter and the cylinder, a honeycomb sheet is removed. A cover can be provided over the exterior surface of the cylindrically-shaped die to permit formation of honeycomb extrudates in pellet form.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 23, 1993
    Date of Patent: May 24, 1994
    Assignee: Corning Incorporated
    Inventors: Meryle D. W. Adler, Rodney D. Bagley, Rodney I. Frost, John G. Lanning, H. Gordon Shafer, Jr.
  • Glass-doped ceramic matrix composites
    Patent number: 5284806
    Abstract: Fiber-reinforced glass-ceramic matrix composites exhibiting substantially increased resistance to stress failure above the microcrack point in a hot oxidizing environment are provided by introducing into the composite a matrix additive consisting of a stable, refractory, chemically compatible glass. The glass is disposed as an intergranular glass phase in the crystalline aluminosilicate glass-ceramic matrix of the composite, which may further comprise a whisker addition to the matrix to increase the high-temperature viscosity of the intergranular glass.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 7, 1993
    Date of Patent: February 8, 1994
    Assignee: Corning Incorporated
    Inventor: Kishor P. Gadkaree
  • Method for making semi-permeable polymer membranes
    Patent number: 5275766
    Abstract: A method for making a semi-permeable microporous polymer sheet, useful as a separation membrane or the like, including extruding a melt-blended mixture of a high-temperature thermoplastic polymer and a leachable glass to form sheet and then leaching the glass from the sheet to leave a microporous relict polymer network, wherein the permeability of the sheet is improved by plasma-etching the surface of the sheet before or after leaching. Hydrophilic or hydrophobic porous membranes may be provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 1992
    Date of Patent: January 4, 1994
    Assignee: Corning Incorporate
    Inventors: Kishor P. Gadkaree, Leroy S. Hersh
  • Solid electrolyte fuel cells
    Patent number: 5273837
    Abstract: Thermal-shock-resistant fuel cell designs comprising flat and corrugated ceramic sheets combined to form channeled structures, the sheets being provided as thin, flexible ceramics and being particularly effective when used as components of compliant electrolyte substructures incorporating the flexible ceramics with fuel cell electrodes and/or current conductors bonded thereto, are described.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 1992
    Date of Patent: December 28, 1993
    Assignee: Corning Incorporated
    Inventors: Bruce G. Aitken, Margaret K. Faber, Thomas D. Ketcham, Dell J. St. Julien
  • Molded lens with integral mount and method
    Patent number: 5274502
    Abstract: Sealed precision optical assemblies are provided by a mold-in-place (MIP) process wherein a glass preform for a lens or other optical element is molded and sealed directly into a one-piece metal support for the element in a single precision molding step. The product is a sealed glass/metal assembly incorporating a non-interlocking mechanical seal, the seal being hermetic yet free of supplemental sealing materials, and the optical axis of the glass element being at a precise predetermined location and in a predetermined alignment relative to one or more reference surfaces on the metal support.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 1991
    Date of Patent: December 28, 1993
    Assignee: Corning Incorporated
    Inventors: Jefferey A. Demerritt, Mark L. Morrell, Robert V. Vandewoestine
  • Method for making ceramic matrix composites
    Patent number: 5250243
    Abstract: A method for making a ceramic matrix composite article wherein a dispersion of a ceramic matrix powder in a wax-containing thermoplastic vehicle is applied to an inorganic fiber reinforcement material to form a prepreg material such as a prepreg tow, and the tow is collected and formed into a preform for the article which is then subjected to binder burnout and consolidation, wherein the prepreg material is heated to a temperature sufficient to evaporate at least about 50% by weight of the wax component therefrom prior to the collection and forming of the material into the preform.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 2, 1991
    Date of Patent: October 5, 1993
    Assignee: Corning Incorporated
    Inventors: Roger A. Allaire, Victor F. Janas
  • Method of making laminated hybrid ceramic matrix composites
    Patent number: 5223064
    Abstract: A method for producing a laminated ceramic composite article with improved transverse and interlaminer shear strength. The method includes the steps of forming a laminated preform by interlaminating toughened green ceramic matrix layers which include a randomly oriented toughening phase with green layers of aligned fiber-reinforced ceramic matrix material and thereafter forming the ceramic composite article from the laminated preform.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 1990
    Date of Patent: June 29, 1993
    Assignee: Corning Incorporated
    Inventor: Kishor P. Gadkaree
  • Athermal optical transmitter and method
    Patent number: 5216730
    Abstract: A transmitter optical subassembly (TOSA) for transmitting an optical signal into the end of an optical fiber connected thereto comprises a mounting tube containing a convergent lens adapted to focus light from a solid state light source at one end of the tube to an optical fiber terminating at a fiber endface in a fiber receiver at the other end of the tube, the lens being formed of a glass having thermal characteristics compatible with those of the mounting tube and other metal components of the subassembly and the fiber receiver being mounted on the tube at attachment points substantially coplanar with the plane of the fiber endface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 1991
    Date of Patent: June 1, 1993
    Assignee: Corning Incorporated
    Inventors: Jeffery A. Demeritt, Mark L. Morrell
  • Moisture resistant optical fiber coatings with improved stability
    Patent number: 5199098
    Abstract: Moisture-resistant UV-curable acrylate resin coated optical fibers are described, the coating compositions comprising a phosphite stabilizing agent in combination with an acrylate-terminated polyurethane oligomer wherein the urethane groups are the reaction product of an aliphatic isocyanate and a predominantly saturated, predominantly nonpolar aliphatic diol. The coating compositions offer improved curing speed while maintaining excellent thermal stability.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 9, 1991
    Date of Patent: March 30, 1993
    Assignee: Corning Incorporated
    Inventors: Kelly J. Nolan, Emily M. Squires, Eric H. Urruti
  • Coated inorganic fiber reinforcement materials and ceramic composites comprising the same
    Patent number: 5198302
    Abstract: Silicon nitride reinforcing fibers provided with a protective surface coating comprising a boron nitride base layer and, optionally, an alumina overcoating, and fiber-reinforced ceramic matrix composite products incorporating the protectively-coated fibers, are disclosed. The composites offer significantly improved high temperature strength in combination with low dielectric constant and low dielectric loss characteristics.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 1990
    Date of Patent: March 30, 1993
    Assignee: Corning Incorporated
    Inventors: Kenneth Chyung, Steven B. Dawes, Dale R. Wexell
  • Method for making ceramic matrix composites
    Patent number: 5177039
    Abstract: Fiber-reinforced ceramic matrix composite articles of complex shape are made with improved physical integrity and control over fiber alignment by a process wherein prepreg comprising fibers and powdered matrix is treated to shorten the average length of the fibers, then configured without binder removal into a preform of selected shape and fiber orientation, and finally consolidated with heat and pressure into a dense ceramic matrix composite article. Fiber breakage during the consolidation process is thereby avoided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 1990
    Date of Patent: January 5, 1993
    Assignee: Corning Incorporated
    Inventors: Roger A. Allaire, Victor F. Janas
  • Sinterable ceramic compositions
    Patent number: 5175132
    Abstract: Hard crystalline sintered ceramic products, and a method for making them at substantially reduced sintering temperatures, are disclosed, the products being manufactured by the sintering of mixtures comprising one or more ceramic powders selected from among zirconia, stabilized zirconia, partially stabilized zirconia, alumina, mullite, cordierite, and MgAl.sub.2 O.sub.4 spinal together with a combination sintering aide including TiO.sub.2 and at least one transition metal oxide selected from the group consisting of copper oxide, manganese oxide, cobalt oxide and zinc oxide, the mixture comprising at least about 3.5 mole percent TiO.sub.2, at least about 1.3 percent of transition metal oxides, about 4.8-50 mole percent total of TiO.sub.2 +transition metal oxides, and the remainder ceramic powder. Sintering of these mixtures at temperatures typically 200.degree.-350.degree. C.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 19, 1991
    Date of Patent: December 29, 1992
    Inventors: Thomas D. Ketcham, Leroy S. Share
  • Fiber reinforced ceramic matrix composites exhibiting improved high-temperature strength
    Patent number: 5164341
    Abstract: Fiber-reinforced ceramic matrix composite products comprising boron-nitride-coated reinforcing silicon carbide fibers disposed in a substantially non-porous alkaline earth aluminosilicate glass-ceramic matrix are disclosed, the matrix comprising triclinic anorthite (CaO,SrO.Al.sub.2 O.sub.3.2SiO.sub.2) as the principal crystal phase and the products exhibiting unexpectedly good resistance to high-temperature degradation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 3, 1988
    Date of Patent: November 17, 1992
    Assignee: Corning Incorporated
    Inventors: Kenneth Chyung, John L. Stempin, Dale R. Wexell