Patents Examined by Jodi C Franklin
  • Patent number: 10577271
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a device and method for bending at least one glass pane. The device includes: a gravity bending mould with a supporting surface, which is suitable for arranging at least one glass pane thereon; an upper shaping tool arranged opposite the supporting surface, the upper shaping tool being suitable for producing an overpressure on a surface of the at least one glass pane arranged on the supporting surface, and the surface of the at least one glass pane faces away from the supporting surface. The shaping tool has a cover that forms a hollow space open in the direction of the gravity bending mould and is equipped with a sealing lip arranged on an edge section of the cover for making contact with the surface of the at least one glass pane, and the shaping tool is equipped with means for introducing a gas into the hollow space in order to produce the overpressure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 26, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 3, 2020
    Assignee: SAINT-GOBAIN GLASS FRANCE
    Inventors: Jean-Marie Le Ny, Michael Balduin, Guenther Schall
  • Patent number: 10570045
    Abstract: The invention includes systems and methods for melting materials to make glass and other materials subject to electric melting that improve the capacity of the melters and/or the melt quality and/or the melting costs and/or the life of tank melters. These systems and methods use one or more of boosting with one or more streams of super hot melt coming from one or more boosting melters, cooling one or more components of one or more of the melters normally cooled using water with a high temperature cooling fluid or fluid suspension and protecting the normally high wear areas of refractory linings by covering those high wear areas with one or more strips of a corrosion and oxidation resistant metal or alloy useful above 2400 degrees F.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 2, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 25, 2020
    Inventor: John Hart Miller
  • Patent number: 10570047
    Abstract: A method of continuously processing glass ribbon having a thickness ?0.3 mm. The method includes providing a glass processing apparatus having a first processing zone, a second processing zone and a third processing zone. The glass ribbon is continuously fed from the first processing zone, through the second processing zone to the third processing zone. The feed rate of the glass ribbon is controlled through each processing zone using a global control device. A first buffer zone is provided between the first processing zone and the second processing zone in which the glass substrate is supported in a first catenary between two, spaced-apart, payoff positions. A second buffer zone is provided between the second processing zone and the third processing zone in which the glass substrate is supported in a second catenary between two, spaced-apart, payoff positions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 7, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 25, 2020
    Assignee: Corning Incorporated
    Inventors: Tomohiro Aburada, Jeffrey Robert Amadon, Douglas Edward Brackley, Gautam Narendra Kudva, Gary Edward Merz, Eric Lee Miller, Michael Yoshiya Nishimoto, Ian David Tracy, Matthew Daniel Trosa, Rui Zhang
  • Patent number: 10562272
    Abstract: A strengthened glass article (100), such as a substrate for a p-Si based transistors, includes first and second glass cladding layers (104, 106) and a glass core layer (102) disposed therebetween. A coefficient of thermal expansion [CTE] of each cladding layer (104, 106), which can be made of the same glass, is at least 1×10?7° C.?1 less than that of the core layer (102). Each of the core and cladding layers has a strain point less than 700° C. A compaction of the glass article (100) is at most about 20 ppm [see FIG. 1]. A method includes forming a glass article and/or heating a glass article to a first temperature of at least about 400° C. The glass article has a glass core layer (102) and a glass cladding layer (104, 106) adjacent to the core layer. The glass article is maintained at a temperature within a range of from 400° C. to 600° C. for a holding period from 30 to 90 minutes and subsequently cooled to a temperature of at most 50° C. over a cooling period from 30 seconds to 5 minutes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 18, 2020
    Assignee: Corning Incorporated
    Inventors: Timothy James Kiczenski, Samuel John Koseba, Natesan Venkataraman
  • Patent number: 10562803
    Abstract: A tool for holding at least one glass pane by means of suction in a bending process, comprising a frame-like, convex contact surface and a cover having a peripheral air guide plate that surrounds the contact surface at least in regions is described. The tool is suitable for generating a first, reduced pressure in a first pressure region between the air guide plate and the contact surface; a second pressure in a second pressure region, which is arranged in a central region inside the contact surface, wherein the second pressure is greater than the first pressure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 8, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 18, 2020
    Assignee: SAINT-GOBAIN GLASS FRANCE
    Inventors: Michael Balduin, Jean-Marie Le Ny, Guenther Schall
  • Patent number: 10544056
    Abstract: A method and apparatus are provided for producing a tube of glass by zonewise heating and softening of a hollow cylinder by a movable heating zone while rotating about its rotation axis. The glass tube is continuously formed by radial expansion of the softened region under action of centrifugal force and/or internal overpressure applied in the hollow-cylinder bore. The method and apparatus make it possible to deform the hollow cylinder in a single or a small number of forming steps into a glass tube having a larger outer diameter and high dimensional accuracy by determining a circumferential position at which the wall thickness is comparatively small, and during heating and softening of the rotating hollow cylinder a coolant is dispensed from a coolant source onto the deformation zone only when or predominantly when the circumferential position having the comparatively small wall thickness passes the coolant source.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 26, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 28, 2020
    Assignee: Heraeus Quarzglas GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventors: Boris Gromann, Matthias Söhn, Alexander Blumenau
  • Patent number: 10543704
    Abstract: A method of coding containers including applying particles to the containers so that the particles bonds with the containers to form unique optically readable patterns.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 1, 2012
    Date of Patent: January 28, 2020
    Assignee: Owens-Brockway Glass Container Inc.
    Inventor: Jessica Rose Bryant
  • Patent number: 10538023
    Abstract: A hot runner injection molding apparatus, and method of use, is disclosed in which strain gauges are provided in the temperature zones of the hot runner injection molding apparatus and a hot runner controller creates a target strain profile, detects deviations from the target strain profile in any temperature zone based on the strain readings provided by the strain gauges in each temperature zone, and instructs correction of deviations from the target strain profile in any deviating temperature zone by adjusting the heat produced by a heater or heaters in the deviating temperature zone. The target strain profile may be based on a median or average of strain readings provided over time by the strain gauges in each temperature zone. A hollow installation tube for placing the strain gauges in the hot runner injection molding apparatus is also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 7, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2020
    Assignee: IMFLUX INC.
    Inventors: William Francis Lawless, III, Rick Alan Pollard, Gene Michael Altonen, Brian Matthew Burns
  • Patent number: 10526232
    Abstract: Methods and systems are provided for automated shaping of a glass sheet. The methods comprise preheating the glass, bending the glass through selective, and focused beam heating through the use of an ultra-high frequency, high-power electromagnetic wave, and computer implemented processes utilizing thermal and shape (positional) data obtained in real-time, and cooling the glass sheet to produce a glass sheet suitable for use in air and space vehicles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 7, 2020
    Assignee: PPG Industries Ohio, Inc.
    Inventors: Yu Jiao, Russell W. Schrier, Chao Yu
  • Patent number: 10518589
    Abstract: The interval along the tire circumferential direction between sipes adjacent in the tire circumferential direction is 2 to 10 times the depth of the sipes. In the depth direction of the sipes, the sipes each have at least three sipe portions divided by at least two bent portions, and a bent portion angle formed between adjacent sipe portions with one of the bent portions therebetween is greater at the tread surface side than at the sipe bottom side.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 25, 2015
    Date of Patent: December 31, 2019
    Assignee: BRIDGESTONE CORPORATION
    Inventors: Fumitaka Kobayashi, Hiroaki Fujiwara
  • Patent number: 10494287
    Abstract: A device for manufacturing hollow glass articles, namely an IS machine, includes a plurality of adjacent stations (3), which form a row and respectively accommodate at least one blank mold that encloses a mold cavity, the inner walls of which have to be coated with a lubricant in accordance with a defined spray pattern by means of a spraying device (8) that can be moved along the row during the course of the glass forming operation. In order to ensure a reproducible spray pattern, a calibration station (10) is provided and equipped with a test mold (12), wherein the spraying device (8) can be displaced up to an inspection position, in which it is arranged opposite of the calibration station (10), in order to verify the correct function of a lubrication process based on a spray pattern in the test mold (12) and, if necessary, to correct the lubrication process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 9, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 3, 2019
    Assignee: HEYE INTERNATIONAL GMBH
    Inventor: Bernard Vorspel
  • Patent number: 10486472
    Abstract: A pneumatic tire whose position when mounted on a vehicle is specified so that the tread portion 2 has an outside tread edge Te1 and an inside tread edge Te2. The tread portion 2 comprises an outside land region 4A provided with first sipes 10 extending across the entire width of the outside land region. The first sipe 10 comprises a v-shaped portion 13 formed by a first oblique segment 11 and a second oblique segment 12. The v-shaped portion 13 has an apex 15 located on the outside-tread-edge side of a widthwise center of the outside land region 4A. The maximum depth d2 in the second oblique segment 12 is smaller than the maximum depth d1 in the first oblique segment 11.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2019
    Assignee: SUMITOMO RUBBER INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventor: Masahiro Nagase
  • Patent number: 10479142
    Abstract: A pneumatic tire is provided in the tread portion with zigzag middle main grooves 4 and shoulder main grooves 5 to define middle land regions 7 therebetween. The middle main groove is composed of alternately-arranged, oppositely-inclined long first oblique segments 11 and short second oblique segments 12. The middle land regions are provided with middle transverse grooves 20 shallower than the middle main grooves. The first oblique segments are inclined axially outwardly toward the opposite direction to the intended tire rotational direction R. The middle transverse grooves are inclined to the same direction as the first oblique segments or in parallel with the tire axial direction. The axially inner end of each of the middle transverse grooves is connected to one of the second oblique segments so as to include at least a part of an axially outwardly protruding outside corner portion 4A of the middle main groove.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2019
    Assignee: SUMITOMO RUBBER INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventor: Takashi Ishibashi
  • Patent number: 10472278
    Abstract: A method of treating a substrate in a pressure vessel that includes the steps: preparing an ion-exchange bath with a bath composition that comprises a polar solvent and a plurality of ion-exchanging ions in a vessel; submersing a substrate having an outer region containing a plurality of exchangeable ions in the bath; pressurizing the bath in the vessel to a predetermined pressure substantially above ambient pressure; heating the bath in the vessel to a predetermined temperature; and treating the substrate for a predetermined ion-exchange duration at the predetermined pressure and temperature such that a portion of the plurality of exchangeable ions is exchanged with a portion of the ion-exchanging ions. The substrate can consist essentially of a glass, glass-ceramic or ceramic substrate composition, and the predetermined ion-exchange duration, temperature and pressure can each be selected based at least in part on the substrate composition and the bath composition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 7, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2019
    Assignee: CORNING INCORPORATED
    Inventors: Arthur Winston Martin, Carlton Maurice Truesdale
  • Patent number: 10464378
    Abstract: A run-flat radial tire having a tire cross-section height of 115 mm or greater including: a carcass spanning between a pair of bead portions; a vehicle mounting direction outer side side-reinforcing rubber layer that is provided to a tire side portion at a vehicle mounting direction outer side and that extends in a tire radial direction along an inner face of the carcass; and a vehicle mounting direction inner side side-reinforcing rubber layer that is provided to a tire side portion at a vehicle mounting direction inner side and that extends in the tire radial direction along an inner face of the carcass, a tire radial direction outer side end portion of the vehicle mounting direction inner side side-reinforcing rubber layer being closer to a tire equatorial plane than a tire radial direction outer side end portion of the vehicle mounting direction outer side side-reinforcing rubber layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 19, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 5, 2019
    Assignee: BRIDGESTONE CORPORATION
    Inventor: Masafumi Yokoyama
  • Patent number: 10464838
    Abstract: A deposition system for depositing a chemical vapor onto a workpiece is disclosed, including a deposition chamber having a plurality of components for performing chemical vapor deposition on the workpiece. The workpiece is held by a lathe that rotates the workpiece relative to chemical burners that deposit silica soot on the workpiece. The deposition system has a gas panel for regulating the flow of gases and vapors into the deposition chamber, and a computer for controlling operation of the gas panel and the components in the deposition chamber. Multiple sets of chemical burners are disposed longitudinally along the length of the workpiece. Each set of burners is separated from other sets, such that each set of burners deposit silica particles onto generally different portions of a workpiece. The respective portions include an overlap segment in which one or more burners from one burner set will deposit silica particles on the same portion of the workpiece as one or more burners from another set.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 13, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 5, 2019
    Assignee: ASI/SILICA MACHINERY, LLC
    Inventor: David McDonald Stirling
  • Patent number: 10465436
    Abstract: A method of producing a vacuum insulated glass (VIG) unit comprising, providing first and second substantially parallel glass panes, a plurality of pillars, and a peripheral seal between the first and second glass panes; providing an evacuation hole in the first glass pane for evacuating a void through the evacuation hole to a pressure less than atmospheric pressure; covering the evacuation hole with an evacuation head, wherein the evacuation head is configured to have a substantially hermetic contact to a surface of the first glass pane; evacuating the void through the evacuation head, wherein the evacuation head comprises a ceramic heating element; and heating the ceramic heating element and sealing an evacuation tube tip of an evacuation tube disposed in the evacuation hole.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 22, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 5, 2019
    Assignee: VKR HOLDING A/S
    Inventors: Peter Sønderkær, Thomas Sejer Mikkelsen
  • Patent number: 10449808
    Abstract: In a pneumatic tire, a tread rubber includes a vehicle inner side region, a vehicle outer side region, first stereoscopic sipes, and second stereoscopic sipes. The first stereoscopic sipe has a sipe wall surface of a shape bent in a sipe width direction as viewed in cross section perpendicular to a sipe length direction, the first stereoscopic sipe having a fixed sipe width over a sipe depth direction. The second stereoscopic sipe has large width portions having a sipe width wider than a sipe width of the second stereoscopic sipe on a surface of the tread rubber in the inside of the tread rubber. Rubber hardness of the tread rubber in the vehicle outer side region is larger than rubber hardness of the tread rubber in the vehicle inner side region. Accordingly, it is possible to enhance dry steering stability performance while suppressing lowering of ice braking performance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 3, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 22, 2019
    Assignee: TOYO TIRE CORPORATION
    Inventor: Aya Satoi
  • Patent number: 10442252
    Abstract: A tire having a pair of high strength sidewalls lying opposite one another, wherein each sidewall has a plurality of plies that are shaped during manufacture to have a series of pleats or corrugations formed therein and stretching from the tire beads radially outward along the sidewalls. Each of the series of sidewall corrugations includes a pattern of alternating inwardly extending depressions and outwardly extending projections that extend continuously around the tire. The corrugations provide the sidewalls with an integral structural reinforcement, whereby the tire is advantageously capable of providing run flat support and avoiding damage to the rim on which the tire is mounted. According to a preferred embodiment, the tire herein disclosed is ideally suited for use on a motorcycle rim.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 8, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2019
    Inventor: Jeffrey P Douglas
  • Patent number: 10442720
    Abstract: Disclosed is a method of forming a hole in a glass substrate by using a pulsed laser, the method including (1) preparing the glass substrate including a first surface and a second surface that face each other; (2) forming a concave portion on the first surface by irradiating, with a first condition, the pulsed laser onto the first surface of the glass substrate through a lens; and (3) forming the hole by irradiating the pulsed laser onto the concave portion with a second condition such that energy density of the pulsed laser is less than or equal to a processing threshold value of the glass substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2019
    Assignee: AGC Inc.
    Inventors: Kohei Horiuchi, Motoshi Ono