Patents Examined by Alex Efta
  • Patent number: 9155365
    Abstract: A method for applying an image onto a surface (or substrate) of most any material, including thermoplastic, thermoset plastic, metal, metal alloys, wood, cellulose material, polymer, synthetic fabric, natural fabric, glass, ceramic, and combinations thereof, includes the steps of preparing a substrate for application of an image, placing the transfer sheet onto the prepared substrate, applying heat to the substrate and image sufficient to sublimate the image, allowing the image to absorb into the prepared substrate, and then curing the imaged substrate. Multiple substrates may be individually imaged and joined, if desired. One or more of the substrates may be at least partially transparent (e.g., clear, transparent or translucent) such that portions of other images, substrates or objects placed behind the one or more substrates are at least partially visible through the one or more substrates.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 10, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 13, 2015
    Assignee: Uncommon LLC
    Inventors: John Hong, Scott Wilson, Dustin Brown, Jon Godston
  • Patent number: 9150377
    Abstract: A tape dispenser, joining and dispensing a double-sided tape from two rolls of single-sided tape, includes a base having upper and lower sides, first and second spaced apart guide elements mounted to the upper side at first and second positions. First and second tape dispensing wheels, having rolls of single-sided tape mounted thereto, are mounted to the rearward portion of the upper side of the base. A handle extends from the lower side. A tape application roller is mounted to the forward portion of the base and extends above the upper side. A tape cutoff blade, or first and second cutoff blades, can be mounted to the base and extend above the upper side. An extension handle extending transversely to the handle, which can be at least 2 feet long or at least 4 feet long, can be removably mountable to the base plate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 9, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 6, 2015
    Inventor: Shadrach J. Gibson
  • Patent number: 9150000
    Abstract: A method for making a transparent conductive element includes providing a carbon nanotube film. The carbon nanotube film includes a number of carbon nanotube wires in parallel with and spaced from each other and a number of carbon nanotubes in contact with adjacent two of the carbon nanotube wires. The carbon nanotube film is placed on a surface of a softened polymer substrate. The polymer substrate and the carbon nanotube film are stretched. The softened polymer substrate is solidified to maintain the stretched state of the carbon nanotube film.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 24, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 6, 2015
    Assignees: Tsinghua University, HON HAI PRECISION INDUSTRY CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Kai-Li Jiang, Qun-Qing Li, Yang Wei, Shou-Shan Fan
  • Patent number: 9132619
    Abstract: Embodiments of the present invention provide high durability joints between ceramic articles, particularly between beta-silicon carbide (?-SiC) articles, and methods of making and using the same. In one embodiment, a joint between first and second articles each comprising a ceramic polymorph comprises a matrix comprising the ceramic polymorph and extending between the first and second articles; a plurality of inclusions comprising the ceramic polymorph and being distributed throughout the matrix; and a sealing layer comprising the ceramic polymorph and being respectively disposed on the first and second articles and the matrix.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 4, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 15, 2015
    Assignee: General Atomics
    Inventors: Hesham Ezzat Khalifa, Christian Peter Deck, Christina Allyssa Back
  • Patent number: 9120955
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a double-sided pressure-sensitive adhesive tape or sheet, containing a heat-releasable pressure-sensitive adhesive layer containing a heat-expandable microsphere on one side of a substrate, and a pressure-sensitive adhesive layer for temporary fixing on another side of the substrate, in which the pressure-sensitive adhesive layer for temporary fixing has a tensile pressure-sensitive adhesive strength of 2.0 to 20 N/20 mm in width and an amount of displacement of 0.3 mm/20 mm in width or less, and the pressure-sensitive adhesive layer for temporary fixing is crosslinked with an isocyanate or epoxy crosslinking agent.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 17, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2015
    Assignee: NITTO DENKO CORPORATION
    Inventor: Yukio Arimitsu
  • Patent number: 9120638
    Abstract: A tape dispenser includes a first arm, a second arm, a holder, a roller, a retaining device, a blade, spring(s) and one or more guides. The tape dispenser is positioned on a tape roll by positioning the holder on the inside of the tape roll and positioning the roller and retaining device on the outside of the tape roll. Tape is able to be pulled through the tape dispenser and then cut using the blade. After the tape is cut, the tape on the roll remains on the retaining device for easy access. The tape dispenser is also removable for use with many tape rolls.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2015
    Assignee: WAGIC, INC
    Inventors: Kenneth R. Johnson, Yugen Patrick Lockhart, Steven Simas Escobar
  • Patent number: 9111692
    Abstract: A method for manufacturing a laminated ceramic electronic component, which includes the steps of preparing a laminate chip having opposed end edges of internal electrodes exposed at opposed side surfaces of the laminate chip; forming a first insulator section and a second insulator section, respectively, on opposed side surfaces of the laminate chip by pressing against a metal plate with a volume of grooves filled with a paste, and swinging the metal plate in any direction when pulling the laminate chip away from the metal plate; and firing the laminate chip with the first insulator section and second insulator section formed thereon. The paste has a viscosity of 500 Pa·s to 2500 Pa·s, and a content C (vol %) of an inorganic solid satisfies a predetermined condition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 18, 2015
    Assignee: MURATA MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Kenichi Hamanaka, Eiji Ito, Yasuharu Yamashita, Kenichi Okajima, Togo Matsui
  • Patent number: 9103162
    Abstract: A device for applying an elastoplastic spacer tape as a spacer during the production of insulating glass panes has at least two supply reels for spacer tapes, several driven tape guide rollers, and a movable application head for the selected spacer tape, with whose assistance the spacer tape is pressed onto a glass pane. For coating one or the other spacer tape, a coating station with two coating nozzles is provided, from which adhesive glue is sprayed on the lateral surfaces of the selected spacer tape. The spacer tape that is unneeded in each case is stopped in the application head in such a way that one or the other of the spacer tapes as desired, depending on which spacer tape is required for the production of a special insulating glass pane, is applied to the glass pane. Thus, the laborious threading and unthreading of spacer tapes is not necessary.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 14, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 11, 2015
    Assignee: LISEC AUSTRIA GMBH
    Inventors: Leopold Mader, Leopold Karner
  • Patent number: 9099228
    Abstract: The manufacturing method of the honeycomb structure includes a step of coating a surface of each of releasing sheets with a paste for an electrode, to prepare electrode forming sheets in which the releasing sheets are provided with electrode paste films; a formed honeycomb body with the electrode forming sheets forming step of attaching the electrode forming sheets to a side surface of a tubular formed ceramic honeycomb body which is the curved surface to prepare a formed honeycomb body with the electrode forming sheets; and a honeycomb structure forming step of firing the formed honeycomb body, or removing releasing sheets from the formed honeycomb body to form the formed honeycomb body with the pastes for the electrodes, and then firing the formed honeycomb body with the pastes for the electrodes, to obtain a honeycomb structure having a side surface provided with the electrodes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 4, 2015
    Assignee: NGK Insulators, Ltd.
    Inventors: Toru Ogawa, Shuhei Fujita, Shinya Yoshida
  • Patent number: 9089993
    Abstract: The present invention provides a ceramic green sheet with a thin flat plate shape obtained by molding and solidifying a ceramic slurry, which contains a ceramic powder, dispersion medium, and gelling agent, into a thin flat plate. The ceramic green sheet partially includes a body that is obtained by molding and solidifying a conductor paste, which becomes a conductor later, and the body is exposed on a part of each of the both surfaces of the sheet. Plural ceramic green sheets described above are produced. The plural ceramic green sheets are successively stacked and press-bonded in the thickness direction in such a manner that the bodies included in the respective sheets are connected to each other for all combinations of the adjacent two sheets. As a result, a ceramic green sheet laminate is formed, which includes one body that is obtained by connecting the bodies included in the respective sheets.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 3, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 28, 2015
    Assignee: NGK Insulators, Ltd.
    Inventors: Kunihiko Yoshioka, Koji Kimura, Satoshi Ishibashi
  • Patent number: 9079741
    Abstract: A tape applicator to apply tape onto a vertical face of a carton with the tape roll mounted for rotation on a horizontal axis and including a tape deforming device position on a tape path between the tape roll and the point of application of the tape to the carton. The tape deforming device twists the plane of the tape through 90° from horizontal when leaving the tape roll to vertical for application to the vertical face of the carton. The tape applicator can adjust the position of the tape at the point of application to the carton vertically.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 14, 2015
    Assignee: LAMUS ENTERPRISES INC.
    Inventor: Joe Augustine Lam
  • Patent number: 9057126
    Abstract: When an oxide semiconductor is deposited by a sputtering method, there is a difference in composition between a sputtering target and a film deposited using the sputtering target in some cases depending on a material of the oxide semiconductor. In manufacturing a sputtering target containing zinc oxide, a crystal which contains zinc oxide is formed in advance, the crystal is crushed, and then a predetermined amount of zinc oxide is added and mixed. After that, the resulting object is sintered to form the sputtering target. The composition of the sputtering target is adjusted by setting the proportion of zinc in the sputtering target higher than that of zinc in a film having a desired composition which is obtained at last, in consideration of the amount of zinc which is reduced at the time of deposition by a sputtering method, the amount of zinc which is reduced at the time of sintering, and the like.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 15, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 16, 2015
    Assignee: Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Shunpei Yamazaki, Tetsunori Maruyama
  • Patent number: 9039858
    Abstract: A composite strip and a method of manufacturing a pre-cured composite strip. A pre-cured composite strip having a thermoset resin may be placed on a surface of a portion of a composite component where a caul plate seam may be expected. Caul plates may be placed on the composite component after placing the pre-cured composite strip to form the caul plate seam. The composite component may be cured after placing the caul plates on the composite component.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 26, 2015
    Assignee: THE BOEING COMPANY
    Inventors: Kenneth M. Dull, William H. Ingram
  • Patent number: 9033019
    Abstract: Devices, methods and systems disclosed herein relate to the application of a protective film on a surface of an electronic device that instantly reduces air bubbles and eliminates the waiting time usually required when using a wet fluid solution. In one embodiment, a flange may be configured to couple to the protective film. The flange may aid in the accurate application of the protective film to the electronic device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 19, 2015
    Assignee: Superior Communications, Inc.
    Inventors: Shraddha Patel, Charlie LaColla, Vivian Chou
  • Patent number: 9010396
    Abstract: Devices, methods and systems disclosed herein relate to the application of a protective film on a surface of an electronic device that instantly reduces air bubbles and eliminates the waiting time usually required when using a wet fluid solution. In one embodiment, a well apparatus graspable by a user's hand for receiving any of a plurality of mobile communication device inserts is provided. Each of the plurality of mobile communication device inserts may have a mobile communication device receiving cavity of a different shape or size configured to receive a mobile communication device of a particular shape and size. After inserting a mobile communication device insert into the well apparatus, a user may insert a mobile communication device into the receiving cavity and apply a protective layer with a roller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 21, 2015
    Assignee: Superior Communications, Inc.
    Inventors: Shraddha Patel, Charlie LaColla, Vivian Chou
  • Patent number: 9011620
    Abstract: The invention is directed to effective means for joining materials having dissimilar coefficients of thermal expansion, such as advanced ceramics with metallic compounds. Moreover, the present invention relates to furnace tubes and methods of fabricating a joint between two different materials, which is compositionally graded to provide a substantially graded coefficient of thermal expansion between the joint materials.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 11, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 21, 2015
    Assignee: Technip Process Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: John Andrew Fernie, Martyn David Roberts, Yong Wang, Narayanan Rajesh Kavilveedu, David J. Brown
  • Patent number: 9005383
    Abstract: A ceramic member in which the metal layers with high void ratio are sufficiently sintered to lower a residue of resin is produced. The method for manufacturing a ceramic member which comprises a step of forming a stacked compact from a plurality of metallic paste layers containing a metal component M1 that are stacked one on another via ceramic green sheets, and a step of firing the stacked compact, wherein at least one of plural metallic paste layers is formed as a second metallic paste layer that has the mass percentage X higher than that of the metallic paste layer that adjoin therewith in the stacking direction, the mass percentage X being the proportion of the metal component M1 to the total metal content in the metallic paste layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 14, 2015
    Assignee: Kyocera Corporation
    Inventors: Takeshi Okamura, Tomohiro Kawamoto, Shigenobu Nakamura
  • Patent number: 9005382
    Abstract: A method for forming a ceramic matrix composite (CMC) component for gas turbine engines. The method contemplates replacing a plurality of plies with insert material. The insert material can be partially cured or pre-cured and applied in place of a plurality of small plies or it may be inserted into cavities of a component in the form of a paste or a ply. The insert material is isotropic, being formed of a combination of matrix material and chopped fibers, tow, cut plies or combinations thereof. The use of the insert material allows for features such as thin edges (650) with thicknesses of less than about 0.030 inches and small radii such as found in corners (680, 710). The CMC components of the present invention replace small ply inserts cut to size to fit into areas of contour change or thickness change, and replace the small ply inserts with a fabricated single piece discontinuously reinforced composite insert, resulting in fewer defects, such as wrinkles, and better dimensional control.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 4, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 14, 2015
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: James Dale Steibel, Douglas Melton Carper, Suresh Subramanian, Stephen Mark Whiteker
  • Patent number: 8999091
    Abstract: To provide a material for use at high temperatures of several 100° C. which is simple and quick to produce, the invention provides a composite having a layer structure and a process for producing it, which comprises the following steps: a) provision of at least two plates which each have at least one main area of extension, b) stacking of the plates in such a way that a main area of extension of one plate is essentially opposite a main area of extension of the subsequent plate in the stack, c) joining of the stacked plates to form a block using a sinterable composition, d) carrying out a heat treatment on the block so that at least sintering of the sinterable composition occurs and a strong composite body is formed from the block.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 22, 2008
    Date of Patent: April 7, 2015
    Assignee: Schott AG
    Inventors: Manfred Borens, Karsten von Westernhagen, Stefano Merolla
  • Patent number: 8991464
    Abstract: A method of peeling an electronic component. The method includes a step of, when the electronic component is adhered onto a first main surface of a tape member, bringing a bellowphragm into contact with a second main surface, which is the other main surface of the tape member; and a step of, after the bellowphragm is brought into contact with the second main face, deforming the bellowphragm and the tape member by supplying a fluid to the bellowphragm to thereby peel the electronic component from the tape member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 17, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 31, 2015
    Assignee: Fujitsu Semiconductor Limited
    Inventors: Yoshito Konno, Yutaka Yamada