Patents Examined by Michael R. Lusignan
  • Patent number: 4740282
    Abstract: This invention relates to a process for the treatment of synthetic plastic, hydrophobic, transparent, intraocular lenses to avoid trauma which causes protein adhesion to occur on the surface of the lens thereby causing endothelial cell damage and corneal deterioration. The process includes the first step of cross-linking the surface of the synthetic plastic, hydrophobic, transparent, intraocular lens by treating the lens with a stream of gas containing from about 5-100% by weight hydrogen of a low pressure of about 0.5-5 Torr in the presence of an A.C. electrical discharge. The second step involves treating such cross-linked surface with hydroxyl radicals, thereby to hydrophilize the surface. The hydrogen may be pure or a component of an inert gas mixture, e.g. in helium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 31, 1986
    Date of Patent: April 26, 1988
    Inventors: Hyman D. Gesser, Robert E. Warriner
  • Patent number: 4738878
    Abstract: In situ wood preservative treatment of a wooden railroad tie. The method includes the steps of injecting a paste-like preparation having a water soluble fungicide into one or more unoccupied spike holes in the rail supporting tie plate. The preparation lodges in crevices and recesses in communication with the spike hole, killing existing decay fungi. Over a period of time the fungicide follows existing or subsequently developed paths of moisture to more remote decay sites.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 1987
    Date of Patent: April 19, 1988
    Assignee: Osmose Wood Preserving, Inc.
    Inventors: H. E. Anderson, Steve Jandl, Michael E. Rider
  • Patent number: 4738866
    Abstract: An automatic method and apparatus for determining whether adequate size has been applied to yarn ends includes at least one photo-optic detector for counting the number of frays or hairs at various locations of a warp beam made up of yarn ends, comparing the count to a predetermined upper limit of acceptable frays or hairs and displaying the result. An alarm is enabled whenever the detected amount of frays of hairs exceeds the predetermined acceptable upper limit. A feedback control loop provides for the control of yarn transport speed, pressure roll force and/or size pump speed to maintain the amount of applied size within an acceptable range of values.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 1987
    Date of Patent: April 19, 1988
    Assignee: Burlington Industries, Inc.
    Inventors: Delano M. Conklin, Robert H. Best
  • Patent number: 4738877
    Abstract: A coating material is transferred to the surface of a spreader-roll from a spreader-mechanism. The spreader-roll is partly wrapped by a strip of material. In the location where the said strip of material is lifted off the spreader-roll, a doctor-element, comprising a doctor-blade, is arranged to rest tangentially on the spreader-roll. The doctor-element thereby forms a rubbing distributing surface which faces the strip of material and ensures a smooth and uniform coating of the coating material on the strip of material. The strip of material is then carried away over a sharp tear-off edge on the doctor-element at an angle of less than 20.degree.. In this way a coating of any desired thickness may be applied to a strip of material, more particularly as a coating for a strip of paper.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 18, 1987
    Date of Patent: April 19, 1988
    Assignee: J. M. Voith, GmbH
    Inventor: Franz Krautzberger, deceased
  • Patent number: 4737200
    Abstract: Disclosed is a process for treating the surface of super alloys, notably nickel-base alloys, with thin cross sections, in preparation for brazing processes. The super alloy is heat treated in a partial pressure of oxygen at a temperature less than about 1975.degree. F. but above the engineering solvus temperature of gamma prime intermetallics followed by a rapid cooling step. The resultant alloy is thereby provided with a surface that has improved brazability.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 18, 1986
    Date of Patent: April 12, 1988
    Assignee: Haynes International, Inc.
    Inventor: Robert B. H. Herchenroeder
  • Patent number: 4737378
    Abstract: Prior to starting, the size of a clearance, defined on a second end side of a roll when an end of a coating roll is brought into contact with a first end side of a doctor or back-up roll, is measured and stored as data in a memory. After starting, the amounts of movement of both ends of the rolls are controlled in driving of the doctor or back-up roll to be in contact with/separated from the coating roll so that the second end side of the roll is moved by a distance larger by the clearance size than the first end side of the roll on the basis of the clearance size data. Thus, the clearance size is corrected so that the outer peripheral surfaces of the rolls driven to be in contact with/separated from each other are continuously retained parallel in arbitrary moving positions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 1987
    Date of Patent: April 12, 1988
    Assignee: Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Katsunaga Narita, Eiichiro Hayashi
  • Patent number: 4737383
    Abstract: A resin-impregnated sheet material is manufactured by passing a sheet material through a vacuum space of a reduced pressure sufficiently different from ambient atmospheric pressure for sufficiently deaerating the sheet material at the vacuum space, and impregnating the thus deaerated sheet material with a resin varnish while utilizing the pressure difference between the atmosphere and the vacuum space, the sufficiently deaerated sheet material being impregnated quickly and reliably with the resin varnish to provide the resin-impregnated sheet material of high quality.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 1986
    Date of Patent: April 12, 1988
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Works, Ltd.
    Inventors: Toshiyuki Matsumae, Kunji Nakashima, Hajime Kojima
  • Patent number: 4737413
    Abstract: A chemorepellant compound is disclosed having a general formula ##STR1## where R.sub.1 is H or an alkyl group in the range C.sub.1 to C.sub.6, and R.sub.2 is H or an appropriate hydroxyl protecting group, and pharmaceutically acceptable salts and esters thereof. A preferred form of the compound where R.sub.1 is hydrogen and R.sub.2 is hydrogen is made by incubating linoleic acid with soyabean lipoxygenase or with cytosol associated endothelial cell derived lipoxygenase. The chemorepellant compound can be bound to a prosthetic surface via an intermediate linking species such as a protein and studies have shown that platelet adhesion onto in the vicinity of a thrombogenic surface is greatly reduced in comparison to non-chemorepellant coated surfaces.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 1986
    Date of Patent: April 12, 1988
    Assignee: Canadian Patents and Development Limited
    Inventor: Michael R. Buchanan
  • Patent number: 4737384
    Abstract: A process of depositing thin film onto a substrate using super-critical fluids.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 1, 1985
    Date of Patent: April 12, 1988
    Assignee: Allied Corporation
    Inventors: Andiappan K. S. Murthy, Alex Y. Bekker, Kundanbhai M. Patel
  • Patent number: 4735702
    Abstract: A process for modifying an oxide surface of a semi-conductor material, for example included in an ISFET, wherein a coating of a polymer is applied to the oxide surface. The polymer is chemically bonded to the oxide surface. Optionally a second coating can comprise metal ion complexing groups. The process can be used for manufacturing an ISFET.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 19, 1985
    Date of Patent: April 5, 1988
    Assignee: Stichting Centrum Voor Micro-Electronica Twente
    Inventors: David N. Reinhoudt, Marcel L. M. Pennings, Auke G. Talma
  • Patent number: 4735869
    Abstract: Process of forming a titanium dioxide film with controlled optical thickness on a surface comprising a pretreating step, at least one film-forming step and optionally a nucleation step between the pretreating and film-forming step, and articles coated with such a film.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 18, 1986
    Date of Patent: April 5, 1988
    Assignee: Merck Patent Gesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung
    Inventor: Yoshio Morita
  • Patent number: 4735805
    Abstract: A bisectable drug tablet having an elongated tablet body with a length greater than its width. The tablet body also has top and bottom surfaces with a concavity being provided in each thereof. A breaking groove is formed in at least one of the concavities and extends laterally across the width of the tablet at an apex of the one cavity. Thus, upon application of a downward pressure to either the top or bottom surfaces of the tablet, when the other of the top and bottom surfaces faces downwardly and the opposite longitudinal ends of the tablet rest on a support surface, the tablet will fracture along the groove, the fracture occurring irrespective of whether the breaking groove faces toward or away from the support surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 1987
    Date of Patent: April 5, 1988
    Assignee: The Upjohn Company
    Inventors: Phillip F. Ni, Larry F. Odar
  • Patent number: 4734298
    Abstract: A viscous printing paste is imprinted on a reverse surface of a foundation fabric of a surface-type fastener, and then the paste while being viscous is drawn by a suction force to penetrate the foundation fabric from the reverse surface to an obverse surface from which a multiplicity of interlocking elements project. Upon setting of the printing paste, a distinctive mark is produced on the obverse surface of the foundation fabric. With the foregoing processing steps, a large mark can be provided on the surface-type fastener without effecting negative influence on the shape and function of the interlocking elements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 14, 1986
    Date of Patent: March 29, 1988
    Assignee: Yoshida Kogyo K.K.
    Inventor: Norio Kikukawa
  • Patent number: 4734387
    Abstract: A gas mixture containing phosphine and R.sub.1 R.sub.2 R.sub.3 In X R.sub.4 R.sub.5 R.sub.6 or R.sub.1 R.sub.2 In X R.sub.4 R.sub.5 where the Rs are alkyl groups is passed over a semiconductor substrate comprising indium and phosphorus so as to deposit a semiconductor material comprising indium and phosphorus, and the exposure of the substrate to phosphine is controlled to avoid or reduce transport of the substrate material.Thus, for example, indium phosphide may be grown onto corrugations in gallium indium arsenide phosphide, the corrugations being non-deformed during this growth. Such a growth step may be used in the production of distributed feedback semiconductor lasers operating near 1.55 .mu.m.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 1985
    Date of Patent: March 29, 1988
    Assignee: British Telecommunications plc
    Inventors: Andrew W. Nelson, Leslie D. Westbrook
  • Patent number: 4733746
    Abstract: A vacuum treating method and apparatus wherein preliminary vacuum chambers which are charged with and discharged therefrom materials to be treated are arranged on both sides of a vacuum treating chamber such that the preliminary vacuum chambers are switchingly communicated with and disconnected from the vacuum treating chamber; the materials are alternately moved between both the preliminary vacuum chambers and the vacuum treating chamber and are subject to vacuum treatment for a predetermined period of time in the vacuum treatment for a predetermined period of time in the vacuum treating chamber; wherein when a material to be treated has been charged from one preliminary vacuum chamber to the vacuum treating chamber and a treated materiala has been discharged from the vacuum treating chamber to the other preliminary chamber, the vacuum treating chamber and both the preliminary vacuum chambers are disconnected from each other, then the pressure within the vacuum treating chamber is reduced to a required degre
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 16, 1986
    Date of Patent: March 29, 1988
    Assignee: Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Hiroyoshi Nozaki, Hiroo Ebisawa, Hirofumi Hara
  • Patent number: 4734451
    Abstract: Solid films are deposited, or fine powders formed, by dissolving a solid material into a supercritical fluid solution at an elevated pressure and then rapidly expanding the solution through a short orifice into a region of relatively low pressure. This produces a molecular spray which is directed against a substrate to deposit a solid thin film thereon, or discharged into a collection chamber to collect a fine powder. The solvent is vaporized and pumped away. Solution pressure is varied to determine, together with flow rate, the rate of deposition and to control in part whether a film or powder is produced and the granularity of each. Solution temperature is varied in relation to formation of a two-phase system during expansion to control porosity of the film or powder. A wide variety of film textures and powder shapes are produced of both organic and inorganic compounds. Films are produced with regular textural feature dimensions of 1.0-2.0 .mu.m down to a range of 0.01 to 0.1 .mu.m.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 1986
    Date of Patent: March 29, 1988
    Assignee: Battelle Memorial Institute
    Inventor: Richard D. Smith
  • Patent number: 4732817
    Abstract: Wood which is relatively poorer in connection with its ability to resist weathering, rotting, insect attack, etc., is made more resistant to such factors by a two-step process. The first step is to impregnate the poorer quality wood with an aqueous solution of tannin extract taken from a plant species which has superior weathering and other resistance properties. The wood treated with the tannin extract is then further treated with an aqueous solution of a fixative to prevent leaching of the extract during use of the wood, e.g., in exterior applications. The process of the present invention not only results in preservation of the wood, but can also be used for purposes of coloring the initial wood product. Abundant and relatively cheap woods can then be converted into wood products having qualities more closely like those of more expensive woods. In addition to the above-noted advantages, the present invention also uses treating substances which are non-hazardous and which are not damaging to the environment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 21, 1986
    Date of Patent: March 22, 1988
    Inventors: W. Robert Lotz, Donald F. Hollaway
  • Patent number: 4732776
    Abstract: An apparatus and a method for controlling the thickness of coatings on webs at a plurality of cross-directional positions while a coating procedure is taking place. The deflection of the metering element is controlled automatically in response to measurements of the uncoated and coated web that determine the thickness of the coating being applied at a plurality of cross-directional positions. In one preferred embodiment, a bimetallic member having a plurality of separated tongue-like extensions corresponding to cross-directional positions along the blade is used, the tongue-like extensions pressing on the back of the blade at their ends in response to heat applied dependent upon the determined thickness of the coating being applied. In another embodiment, pneumatic actuators whose pressure may be varied in response to the determined thickness are used to adjust the position of the metering element at a plurality of cross-directional positions to locally vary the thickness of the applied coating.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 1987
    Date of Patent: March 22, 1988
    Assignee: Measurex Corporation
    Inventor: Matt Boissevain
  • Patent number: 4732858
    Abstract: An improved method for improving the adhesion of microelectronic coatings to substrates uses a new silane adhesion promoter and hydroxylic solvent combination. An improved silane adhesion promoter contains an aqueous solvent composition containing a hydroxylic solvent.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 17, 1986
    Date of Patent: March 22, 1988
    Assignee: Brewer Science, Inc.
    Inventors: Terry Brewer, Tony D. Flaim, Mary G. Moss
  • Patent number: 4731265
    Abstract: A method of manufacturing a modified wood material, wherein a raw wood material is processed in a first bath of a first solution containing metallic ions high in the affinity and showing insoluble and non-flammable properties within the wood material, and then in a second bath of a second solution containing negative ions which produces an insoluble, non-flammable inorganic composition upon reaction with the metallic ions, whereby the obtained modified wood material is made to have the insoluble, non-flammable inorganic composition produced and fixed therein to allow the material to hold a good flame retardancy and excellent rotproof and mothproof properties.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 15, 1986
    Date of Patent: March 15, 1988
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Works, Ltd.
    Inventors: Shozo Hirao, Ayumu Yasuda, Yoshihiro Ohta, Takashi Nakai, Kazuo Seto