Glass, Silica, Quartz, Or Optical Material (e.g., Contact Lenses, Etc.) Patents (Class 205/769)
  • Patent number: 9045364
    Abstract: A glass container and a process for chemically modifying a surface portion of a glass container using an ion-exchange process. At least a portion of the glass container is immersed in or in contact with an aqueous electrolyte solution comprising salts of at least one group IA alkali metal and having a temperature of about 75 degrees Celsius such that exchangeable alkali metal ions in a surface portion of the glass container are exchanged or replaced by alkali metal ions in the electrolyte solution. The alkali metal ions that replace the exchangeable ions in the surface portion of the glass container have either a smaller or a larger atomic radius than the exchangeable ions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 2, 2015
    Assignee: Owens-Brockway Glass Container Inc
    Inventors: Pramod K Sharma, Carol A Click
  • Patent number: 8999173
    Abstract: An electrochlorination and electrochemical system for the on-site generation and treatment of municipal water supplies and other reservoirs of water, by using a custom mixed oxidant and mixed reductant generating system for the enhanced destruction of water borne contaminants by creating custom oxidation-reduction-reactant chemistries with real time monitoring. A range of chemical precursors are provided that when acted upon in an electrochemical cell either create an enhanced oxidation, or reduction environment for the destruction or control of contaminants. Chemical agents that can be used to control standard water quality parameters such as total hardness, total alkalinity, pH, total dissolved solids, and the like are introduced via the chemical precursor injection subsystem infrequently or in real time based on sensor inputs and controller set points.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2008
    Date of Patent: April 7, 2015
    Assignee: Global Water Holdings, LLC
    Inventors: David T. Schwartzel, Michael L. Fraim
  • Patent number: 8142624
    Abstract: The present invention provides a manufacturing method of normal saline solution and cleansing apparatus for contact lens, more particularly, a cleansing apparatus for contact lens comprising: a lens receiver for accommodating lenses, at least one electrode unit including a negative electrode and a positive electrode which set apart from the negative electrode each other, a power supply for supplying electric current to the negative electrode and the positive electrode, thereby effectively disinfecting and sterilizing viruses and bacteria and to remove foreign substances within the short time and protein on contact lenses in the lens receiver by oxidants generated by electrolysis in the electrode unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 25, 2006
    Date of Patent: March 27, 2012
    Inventor: Chil-Young Kim
  • Publication number: 20110024361
    Abstract: An electrochlorination and electrochemical system for the on-site generation and treatment of municipal water supplies and other reservoirs of water, by using a custom mixed oxidant and mixed reductant generating system for the enhanced destruction of water borne contaminants by creating custom oxidation-reduction-reactant chemistries with real time monitoring. A range of chemical precursors are provided that when acted upon in an electrochemical cell either create an enhanced oxidation, or reduction environment for the destruction or control of contaminants. Chemical agents that can be used to control standard water quality parameters such as total hardness, total alkalinity, pH, total dissolved solids, and the like are introduced via the chemical precursor injection subsystem infrequently or in real time based on sensor inputs and controller set points.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 4, 2008
    Publication date: February 3, 2011
    Inventors: David T. Schwartzel, Michael L. Fraim
  • Publication number: 20100084284
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a method and system for electrolytic fabrication of cells. A cell can be formed of a silicon layer (cathode) sandwiched between layers of glass. One or more holes are formed in the silicon layer. An alkali metal enriched glass material is placed in or associated with the one or more holes. Electrolysis is used to make the alkali metal ions in the alkali metal enriched glass material combine with electrons from the silicon cathode to form neutral alkali metal atoms in the one or more holes.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 2, 2006
    Publication date: April 8, 2010
    Inventors: William Happer, Yuan-Yu Jau, Fei Gong, Katharine Estelle Jensen
  • Patent number: 7326330
    Abstract: Method and apparatus for electrolytically controlling the formation of scale and biofilm in water purification and other systems. An anode is deposited on or disposed on or adjacent to a surface, such as that of a quartz UV tube, providing a low pH environment which inhibits the formation of carbonate scale and biofilm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 9, 2005
    Date of Patent: February 5, 2008
    Assignees: MIOX Corporation, ABQ UV Pollution Solutions, Inc.
    Inventors: Rodney E. Herrington, Michael Fraim
  • Patent number: 6811660
    Abstract: Various kinds of wastewater and water such as methane fermentation digestion liquids, domestic wastewater, sewage, service water, culture pond water, wastewater defined by an active sludge law and wastewater from food industries are decomposed, cleaned and treated with a high efficiency with oxygen radicals, hydroxyl radicals and diphenyl para picrihydoral radicals, and injurious materials are decomposed, cleaned and treated by oxidizing and reducing functions. An apparatus for cleaning dissolved organic matters and a trace amount of injurious materials consisting of a anode which is formed or welded by coating clay or glass with a material prepared by mixing 2 to 15% by weight of a transition metal with 1 to 10% of an oxidized transition metal and sintering the glass within a range from 800 to 1500° C.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 11, 2002
    Date of Patent: November 2, 2004
    Inventor: Takaaki Maekawa
  • Patent number: 6576116
    Abstract: Joule (ohmic) heating and electro-osmosis are combined in a hybrid process for removal of both water-soluble contaminants and non-aqueous phase liquids from contaminated, low-permeability soil formations that are saturated. Central to this hybrid process is the partial desaturation of the formation or layer using electro-osmosis to remove a portion of the pore fluids by induction of a ground water flow to extraction wells. Joule heating is then performed on a partially desaturated formation. The joule heating and electro-osmosis operations can be carried out simultaneously or sequentially if the desaturation by electro-osmosis occurs initially. Joule heating of the desaturated formation results in a very effective transfer or partitioning of liquid state contaminants to the vapor phase. The heating also substantially increases the vapor phase pressure in the porous formation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 1997
    Date of Patent: June 10, 2003
    Assignee: The Regents of the University of California
    Inventors: Charles R. Carrigan, John J. Nitao
  • Patent number: 6077417
    Abstract: A method and system for cleaning the silicon microlenses in an electron-beam microcolumn in situ. The microlenses individually are heated by passing a current through each microlens. The current is utilized to heat the microlens to at least two hundred degrees Centigrade to prevent contamination and occasionally to a temperature on the order of six to seven hundred degrees Centigrade to remove any builtup or potential contamination.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 19, 1998
    Date of Patent: June 20, 2000
    Assignee: Etec Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Kim Y. Lee, T. H. Philip Chang, Ho-Seob Kim
  • Patent number: 6056868
    Abstract: The present invention discloses the doping of rare earth elements into porous silicon, resulting in enhancement of luminescence. The doping is an electro-chemical process using constant voltage bias across the two electrodes in which the anode is porous silicon and the cathode is platinum. The doping process involves a well-defined solution of electrolytes that controls the conductivity of the solution, and set values of constant voltages that selectively allow the desired rare earth elements being doped into porous silicon.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 22, 1998
    Date of Patent: May 2, 2000
    Inventors: Kok Wei Cheah, Wai Kwok Wong, Meng Lian Gong, Wan Han Zheng
  • Patent number: 5964913
    Abstract: The invention relates to a single phase vitreous material and to its production from a melt of a glass-forming multi-component feed mix. The process includes the preparation of a single phase melt in which there are mobile cations from a glass forming feed mix. The melt in passed in contacting relationship with and sequentially between devices made of low electrical resistance material from device to device. These devices are in and complete with the melt and a direct current voltage source an electric circuit. A voltage is regulated in the electrical circuit so that a direct electrical current is created in it and the concentration of the mobile cations in the melt is lowered thereby with reduction on the cathode of the metals of the same kind as the mobile cations. The melt, lowered concentration of the mobile cations, is cooled to produce the material as a structural article. In another embodiment, the anode is separated from the melt by a medium which is substantially inert with respect to the melt.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 19, 1997
    Date of Patent: October 12, 1999
    Assignee: Dynelec Corporation
    Inventors: Nikolai Fydorovich Titov, Sergei Vladimirovich Polyakov, Vitaly Romanovich Barabash, Alexander Georgievich Kolesnikov, Alexander Ivanovich Golovchenko, Pavel Vladimirobich Polyakov, Valerian Markovich Sobolev, Vasilly Sergeevich Skachko, Roy Donald Baldwin, Igor Mikhailovich Dunaev, Boris Petrovich Burylyov
  • Patent number: 5900135
    Abstract: A method of producing components, which include a metal film on a carrier, comprises the following steps: applying a metal film to a first carrier; structuring the metal film; reducing an adherence between the first carrier and the metal film by electrically conductive contacting of the metal film; immersing the first carrier with the metal film in an aqueous electrolyte solution; immersing an electrode in the aqueous electrolyte solution; and applying a voltage between the metal film and the electrode; applying a second carrier to the metal film; and removing the second carrier with the metal film from the first carrier.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 1996
    Date of Patent: May 4, 1999
    Assignee: Sensotherm Temperatursensorik GmbH
    Inventor: Heinrich Zitzmann
  • Patent number: 5859397
    Abstract: A process for producing a photovoltaic element, said process comprising the steps of: providing a photovoltaic element comprising a lower electrode layer comprising a metallic layer comprising aluminum or an aluminum compound and a transparent and electrically conductive layer, a photoelectric conversion semiconductor layer, and a transparent electrode layer stacked in the named order on an electrically conductive surface of a substrate, and immersing said photovoltaic element in an electrolyte solution to passivate an short-circuited current path defect present in said photovoltaic element by the action of an electric field, wherein said electrolyte solution has a chlorine ion content of 0.03 mol/l or less.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 16, 1997
    Date of Patent: January 12, 1999
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Hirofumi Ichinose, Akio Hasebe, Tsutomu Murakami, Satoshi Shinkura, Yukie Ueno
  • Patent number: 5672259
    Abstract: An electrolytic cell, system and method for producing excess heat for use and for deactivation an actinide series metal by electrolysis in an aqueous media. The electrolytic cell includes a non-conductive housing having an inlet and an outlet and spaced apart first and second conductive grids positioned within the housing. A plurality of preferably cross linked polymer non-metallic cores each having an improved conductive exterior metallic surface formed of one or more of the actinides or daughter elements therefrom to form a bed of conductive beads are positioned within the housing in electrical contact with the first grid adjacent the inlet. The non-conductive cores are preferably sulfonated and then evaporation loaded with an actinide salt solution, dried and fired at decomposition temperature of the salt. An electric power source in the system is operably connected across the first and second grid whereby electrical current flows between the grids within the aqueous media flowing through the cell.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 24, 1996
    Date of Patent: September 30, 1997
    Inventor: James A. Patterson
  • Patent number: 5641392
    Abstract: A method of purifying nonmetallic, crystalline semiconducting materials useful for room temperature radiation detecting devices by applying an electric field across the material. The present invention discloses a simple technology for producing purified ionic semiconducting materials, in particular PbI.sub.2 and preferably HgI.sub.2, which produces high yields of purified product, requires minimal handling of the material thereby reducing the possibility of introducing or reintroducing impurities into the material, is easy to control, is highly selective for impurities, retains the stoichiometry of the material and employs neither high temperatures nor hazardous materials such as solvents or liquid metals. An electric field is applied to a bulk sample of the material causing impurities present in the sample to drift in a preferred direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 19, 1995
    Date of Patent: June 24, 1997
    Inventors: Ralph B. James, John M. Van Scyoc, III, Tuviah E. Schlesinger