Patents Examined by Andrés E. Behrens, Jr.
  • Patent number: 10995029
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method for shaping a glass sheet comprising the steps (i) heating the glass sheet to a temperature suitable for shaping; (ii) depositing the glass sheet on a first bending tool for supporting the glass sheet thereon, the glass sheet being in a first position relative to the first bending tool; (iii) contacting an edge portion of the glass sheet such that the glass sheet is moved to a second position relative to the first bending tool; and (iv) shaping the glass sheet on the first bending tool. Positioning devices for moving a hot glass sheet during the method of the invention are described. A glass shaping line for carrying out the method is also described.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 27, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 4, 2021
    Assignee: Pilkington Group Limited
    Inventors: John Stephan Tomik, John Mark Welling
  • Patent number: 10995038
    Abstract: A method for producing an acoustic attenuation panel from a composite material with a ceramic oxide matrix is provided that includes draping a plurality of plies having fibrous reinforcements including fibers of ceramic material in a mold to define a first skin, depositing blocks made of fugitive material on the first skin such that a space between two blocks is defined, and draping a second plurality of plies on a surface formed by the blocks such that a second skin is defined. Rounded corners of the blocks define radii for connecting the first and second skins with walls of a honeycomb core of the acoustic panel. The method further includes using a liquid medium to infiltrate the skins and spaces with a precursor of a ceramic phase, removing the liquid medium by evaporation or polymerization, and sintering to consolidate the ceramic oxide material and removal the fugitive material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 24, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 4, 2021
    Assignee: Safran Nacelles
    Inventors: Arnaud Delehouze, Sylvain Sentis, Bertrand Desjoyeaux, Marc Versaevel, Frédéric Fosse
  • Patent number: 10988398
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a forming material for three-dimensional (3D) printing, a forming method for 3D printing, and a formed object, wherein, while being based on an amorphous glass powder shaped irregularly, the forming material for 3D printing ensures excellent flowability and sinterability such that it enables the formation of high-quality products at high speed. The forming material for 3D printing consists of a parent glass powder in the form of an unmelted powder irregularly shaped by crushing amorphous glass; and a spherical nanopowder that has an average particle diameter equal to or less than 1/50th of the average particle diameter of the parent glass powder and is mixed in such a way that it can be disposed on a surface of the parent glass powder to enhance the flowability of the irregularly shaped parent glass powder during the formation of an object by 3D printing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 31, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 27, 2021
    Assignee: Inha University Research and Business Foundation
    Inventors: Hyungsun Kim, Daeyong Jeong, Sunghwan Cho, Yeongjun Seo
  • Patent number: 10968139
    Abstract: A moldable green-body composite includes milling silicon nitride powder with a solvent and adding a surface modifier to the milled slurry to modify a surface of the silicon nitride particles. A polysiloxane in a solvent and a binder are also added to create a green body slurry. The solvents may be polar or non-polar solvents. A sintering aid, such as yttria-alumina, may be added to the slurry as well. A reduced density silicon nitride ceramic is made from the moldable green-body composite by molding the moldable green-body composite in a mold and curing at a curing temperature to convert the moldable green-body composite to a converted composite. The converted composite can then be sintered to form a reduced density silicon nitride ceramic that has a smooth surface finish and requires no post machining or polishing. The reduced density silicon nitride ceramic may also have very good dielectric properties.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 18, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 6, 2021
    Assignee: ATC Materials, Inc.
    Inventor: Mark Hawthorne
  • Patent number: 10960467
    Abstract: A forming device for producing moulded bodies by selectively hardening powder material to form connected regions, including a process chamber having a powder inlet and a powder outlet. A powder supply apparatus is connected to the powder inlet for providing powder material to the process chamber. A powder recovery apparatus is connected to the powder outlet for receiving and recycling excess powder material from the process chamber. The powder supply and powder recovery apparatuses form a subassembly designed as an interchangeable module. The interchangeable module includes input and output connection interfaces connection-compatible with connection interfaces of the powder inlet and powder outlet. Excess powder is fed from the process chamber through the powder outlet to the powder recovery apparatus via an input interface of the interchangeable module.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 18, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 30, 2021
    Assignee: REALIZER GMBH
    Inventors: Daniel Golz, Matthias Fockele
  • Patent number: 10954169
    Abstract: A method of fabricating a composite material part includes injecting under pressure a slurry containing a powder of refractory ceramic particles into a fiber texture; and draining the liquid of the slurry that has passed through the fiber texture, while retaining the powder of refractory ceramic particles within the texture to obtain a fiber preform filled with refractory ceramic particles. The injection tooling includes a porous material mold including an internal housing in which the fiber texture is placed, the slurry being injected into the fiber texture via an injection port in the injection tooling and leading into the internal housing of the mold. The tooling includes a rigid material enclosure in which the porous material mold is held while the slurry is injected under pressure and while the liquid of the slurry is drained, the liquid of the slurry being discharged via a vent present in the enclosure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 4, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 23, 2021
    Assignees: SAFRAN AIRCRAFT ENGINES, SAFRAN
    Inventors: Nicolas Droz, Ludovic Philippe Liais, Adrien Paixao, Michael Podgorski, Sofia Haifi
  • Patent number: 10934200
    Abstract: Disclosed is an apparatus for conditioning molten glass. The apparatus includes a connecting tube assembly having a conduit for conveying the molten glass, the conduit including at least two flanges and a sealing member disposed between the at least two flanges around an outer peripheral region of the flanges, thereby forming an enclosed volume between an outer wall of the conduit, the at least two flanges and the sealing member. An atmosphere within the volume may be controlled such that a predetermined partial pressure of hydrogen or a predetermined partial pressure of oxygen may be maintained within the volume. A current may be established between the at least two flanges to heat the conduit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 25, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 2, 2021
    Assignee: CORNING INCORPORATED
    Inventors: Gilbert De Angelis, Pierre Laronze
  • Patent number: 10926291
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a process for producing a silicon carbide-containing body (100), characterized in that the process has the following process steps: a) providing a mixture (16) comprising a silicon source and a carbon source, the silicon source and the carbon source being present together in particles of a solid granular material; b) arranging a layer of the mixture (16) provided in process step a) on a carrier (12), the layer of the mixture (16) having a predefined thickness; and c) treating the mixture (16) arranged in process step b) over a locally limited area with a temperature within a range from ?1400° C. to ?2000° C. according to a predetermined three-dimensional pattern, the predetermined three-dimensional pattern being selected on the basis of the three-dimensional configuration of the body (100) to be produced. Such a process allows simple and inexpensive production even of complex structures from silicon carbide.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 23, 2021
    Assignee: Universität Paderborn
    Inventor: Siegmund Greulich-Weber
  • Patent number: 10906842
    Abstract: A method of processing a CMC component includes preparing a fiber preform having a predetermined shape, and positioning the fiber preform with tooling having holes facing one or more surfaces of the fiber preform. After the positioning, a clamping pressure is applied to the tooling to force portions of the one or more surfaces of the fiber preform into the holes, thereby forming protruded regions of the fiber preform. During the application of the clamping pressure, the fiber preform is exposed to gaseous reagents at an elevated temperature, and a matrix material is deposited on the fiber preform to form a rigidized preform including surface protrusions. After removing the tooling, the rigidized preform is infiltrated with a melt for densification, and a CMC component having surface bumps is formed. When the CMC component is assembled with a metal component, the surface bumps may reduce diffusion at high temperatures.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 18, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 2, 2021
    Assignees: ROLLS-ROYCE HIGH TEMPERATURE COMPOSITES INC., ROLLS-ROYCE CORPORATION
    Inventors: Jun Shi, Sungbo Shim
  • Patent number: 10882797
    Abstract: Disclosed are a micrometer/nanometer silver-loaded barium titanate foam ceramic and a preparation method therefor. An organic additive is used as an auxiliary; deionized water is used as a solvent; nanometer barium titanate is used as a ceramic raw material; and same are mixed and ground so as to form a slurry. A pre-treated polymer sponge is impregnated in the slurry for slurry coating treatment and a barium titanate foam ceramic blank is obtained after drying; and then a barium titanate foam ceramic is obtained through sintering. Through dopamine modification, micrometer/nanometer silver is in-situ deposited on a skeleton surface so as to obtain a modified micrometer/nanometer silver-loaded barium titanate foam ceramic. The modified micrometer/nanometer silver-loaded barium titanate foam ceramic is then put into a newly prepared Tollens' reagent for further reduction so as to obtain a micrometer/nanometer silver-loaded barium titanate foam ceramic with a three-dimensional network skeleton structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 5, 2021
    Assignee: SOOCHOW UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: Guozheng Liang, Longhui Zheng, Aijuan Gu, Tiekuang Ding, Li Yuan
  • Patent number: 10870229
    Abstract: A mold stack for a mold comprises a mold core configured for reception in a mold cavity plate with an outer molding surface. The mold core comprises an inner core with a first tapered guide surface and an outer core with a second tapered guide surface. The inner core is received through a passage in the outer core. A spacer slidably supports the outer core on the inner core. The outer core is movable relative to the inner core between a molding position in which the inner and outer cores define a mold cavity with the outer molding surface, and an open position in which the outer core is extended relative to the inner core. In the molding position, the first and second tapered guide surfaces engage one another to align the inner and outer cores.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 22, 2020
    Assignee: HUSKY INJECTION MOLDING SYSTEMS LTD.
    Inventor: Arnold Heinz Mai
  • Patent number: 10832877
    Abstract: A keycap forming method includes the following steps. Firstly, a stabilizer bar is formed through a first male mold and a first female mold according to an injection molding process, and a keycap is formed through a second male mold and a second female mold according to the injection molding process. Then, the stabilizer bar is fixed on the first male mold, and the keycap is fixed on the second female mold. Then, the first male mold and the second female mold are stacked on each other, so that the stabilizer bar and the keycap are combined together. Then, the first male mold and the second female mold are separated from each other, so that the stabilizer bar is detached from the first male mold. By using the keycap forming method, it is not necessary to manually assemble the stabilizer bar with the keycap.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 25, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 10, 2020
    Assignee: PRIMAX ELECTRONICS LTD
    Inventors: Che-An Li, Sheng-Fan Chang
  • Patent number: 10822278
    Abstract: Disclosed are a barium titanate foam ceramic/thermosetting resin composite material and a preparation method therefor. An organic additive is used as an auxiliary; deionized water is used as a solvent; nanometer barium titanate is used as a ceramic raw material; and all of same are mixed and ground so as to form a slurry with a certain solid content. A pre-treated polymer sponge is impregnated into the slurry for slurry coating treatment, and then redundant slurry is removed and the polymer sponge is dried so as to obtain a barium titanate foam ceramic blank, and same is then sintered so as to obtain a barium titanate foam ceramic. A resin, being in a molten state and thermosettable, submerges the pores of the barium titanate foam ceramic, and a barium titanate foam ceramic/thermosetting resin composite material is obtained after a thermosetting treatment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 3, 2020
    Assignee: SOOCHOW UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: Guozheng Liang, Longhui Zheng, Aijuan Gu, Pengfei Zhang, Li Yuan
  • Patent number: 10774005
    Abstract: A method for forming a hole within a ceramic matrix composite component includes forming a first core portion for a ceramic matrix composite component; embedding a hollow member into the first core portion at a desired location; wrapping the first core portion with a first ceramic matrix composite material; inserting a rod through the hollow member and into the first core portion; removing the hollow member; assembling a second core portion to the first core portion such that the rod extends into the second core portion; and wrapping the first core portion and the second core portion with a second ceramic matrix composite material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 5, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 15, 2020
    Assignee: Raytheon Technologies Corporation
    Inventor: Tracy A. Propheter-Hinckley
  • Patent number: 10759707
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a process for producing a ceramic article, the process comprising the steps of providing a printing sol, the printing sol comprising solvent, nano-sized particles, radiation curable monomer(s) and photoinitiator, the printing sol having a viscosity of less than 500 mPa*s at 23° C., processing the printing sol as construction material in an additive manufacturing process to obtain a 3-dim article being in a gel state, the 3-dim article having a Volume A, transferring the 3-dim article being in a gel state to a 3-dim article being in an aerogel state, heat treating the 3-dim article to obtain a sintered 3-dim ceramic article, the ceramic article having a Volume F, Volume A of the 3-dim article in a gel state being more than 500% of Volume F of the ceramic article in its sintered state. The invention also relates to a ceramic article obtainable according to such a process. The ceramic article can have the shape of a dental or orthodontic article.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 18, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2020
    Assignee: 3M INNOVATIVE PROPERTIES COMPANY
    Inventors: Helmar B. Mayr, Malte Korten, Christine M. Andres, Brant U. Kolb, Holger Hauptmann, Gallus Schechner, Michael Jahns, Kathleen M. Humpa, Melissa A. Lackey
  • Patent number: 10734656
    Abstract: A method for forming tubular solid oxide cells is described. The methods include co-extrusion of an electrode precursor and a sacrificial material to form a multi-layered precursor followed by phase inversion and sintering to remove the sacrificial layer and form an electrode substrate for use in a tubular solid oxide cell. Upon phase inversion and sintering of the precursor, a micro-channel array can be generated in the electrode that is generally perpendicular to the tube surface. The open pored micro-scale geometry of the porous electrode substrate can significantly reduce resistance for fuel/gas transport and increase effective surface area for electrochemical reactions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 14, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 4, 2020
    Assignee: University of South Carolina
    Inventors: Xingjian Xue, Chunlei Ren
  • Patent number: 10717116
    Abstract: A method of slurry infiltration and cleaning to fabricate a ceramic matrix composite (CMC) component with an internal cavity or bore comprises inserting a number of rods into a hollow portion of a porous fiber preform, thereby forming a rod arrangement substantially filling the hollow portion. Each of the rods has a low-friction surface comprising a coefficient of static friction of about 0.1 or less. The porous fiber preform is exposed to a slurry comprising particulate solids in a liquid carrier, and the slurry infiltrates the porous fiber preform. Some fraction of the particulate solids is deposited within interstices of the porous fiber preform to form an impregnated fiber preform, and another fraction of the particulate solids is deposited within the hollow portion as excess slurry. After slurry infiltration, the rods are withdrawn from the hollow portion, and at least some of the excess slurry is removed with the rods.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 30, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 21, 2020
    Assignee: ROLLS-ROYCE HIGH TEMPERATURE COMPOSITES INC.
    Inventor: Christopher Barrett
  • Patent number: 10714249
    Abstract: A three-dimensional printing device includes a movable unit with a superconductor and a printing head arrangement for printing a printing material, a magnetic field generator adapted to generate a magnetic field, and a control device. The magnetic field generator and the movable unit are adapted for coupling in a force-locking manner by means of frozen magnetic flux, and the controlling device is adapted to control a magnetic field strength of the magnetic field generator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 19, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 14, 2020
    Assignee: Airbus Operations GmbH
    Inventors: Matthias Hegenbart, Peter Linde
  • Patent number: 10632701
    Abstract: A manufacturing method of a honeycomb structure includes a forming step of preparing a forming raw material containing a cordierite forming material and an inorganic binder, and kneading and forming the prepared forming raw material to have a honeycomb shape; and a firing step of firing the prepared formed body. In the forming step, as the inorganic binder, smectite is used in which at least parts of interlayer metal cations are ion-exchanged with non-metal cations. In the smectite, a total amount of sodium to be contained in the smectite is 1.6 mass % or less in terms of oxides to 100 mass % of the smectite. A content ratio of the smectite in the forming raw material is 0.5 parts by mass or more and 4.0 parts by mass or less to 100 parts by mass of the cordierite forming material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 11, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 28, 2020
    Assignee: NGK Insulators, Ltd.
    Inventors: Takayoshi Shibayama, Hideki Oka, Shuji Ueda, Hiroyuki Suenobu
  • Patent number: 10611694
    Abstract: Various implementations include systems and methods for simultaneously applying an electric field and localized energy from an energy source to ceramic particles on a layer by layer basis to form a ceramic workpiece using additive manufacturing. The workpiece may be freely removed from the unsintered ceramic particles. In some implementations, the workpiece is partially densified when removed from the unsintered ceramic particles, but it may be heated until fully densified. According to some implementations, these systems and methods remove or reduce the need for binders and reduce manufacturing time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 15, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 7, 2020
    Assignee: Board of Regents, The University of Texas System
    Inventors: Joseph Beaman, Desiderio Kovar, David Bourell, Deborah Hagen