Patents Examined by Benjamin R. Padgett
  • Patent number: 4481034
    Abstract: Disclosed is a process for forming a new group of cobalt-based alloys containing 3-18% hafnium carbide (HfC), the HfC having a particle size finer than about three microns. The class of alloys exhibits excellent tensile strength characteristics at very low temperatures, exhibits very good time-temperature stability, and shows excellent oxidation characteristics even at temperatures above about 1000.degree. C. In addition, the alloy is attractive for use in the wrought state because of its ductility and low-temperature toughness characteristics.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 1982
    Date of Patent: November 6, 1984
    Assignee: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    Inventors: Nicholas J. Grant, Ramon K. Robinson
  • Patent number: 4481129
    Abstract: Bleach compositions comprising a peroxide compound contain manganese (II) in an amount of 0.005 to 5% by weight and a carbonate compound which delivers carbonate ions in aqueous solution in an amount of 1 to 50% by weight of carbonate ions.The bleach compositions are suitable for bleaching fabrics at substantially all washing temperatures.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 2, 1982
    Date of Patent: November 6, 1984
    Assignee: Lever Brothers Company
    Inventor: John Oakes
  • Patent number: 4481135
    Abstract: The invention relates to a process for the treatment of basic aqueous effluents containing plutonium and possibly uranium.According to this process, the effluents are concentrated by evaporation under reduced pressure, at a temperature such that plutonium precipitation is substantially avoided. Advantageously, the effluents are evaporated at a temperature of 50.degree. to 80.degree. C. for a time such that a concentration factor of at least 6 is obtained.Application to the treatment of aqueous effluents obtained by the alkaline washing of organic solvents used in installations for the reprocessing of irradiated nuclear fuels.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 1982
    Date of Patent: November 6, 1984
    Assignee: Commissariat A L'Energie Atomique
    Inventors: Alain Aspart, Bernard Guillaume, Jean-Paul Moulin
  • Patent number: 4481298
    Abstract: An immunoassay process for the detection of an antigen in a sample, which comprises: (a) forming a mixture of the sample with (1) a preformed complex of a primary antibody and a secondary binding macromolecule therefor, wherein the primary antibody is present at low concentrations and has substantial specificity for the antigen, the secondary binding macromolecule has substantial affinity for the Fc portion of the primary antibody, and the second binding macromolecule is affinity purified; and with (2) a detectably labeled form of the antigen; (b) incubating the mixture formed in step (a) for a time sufficient to allow the antigen and the detectably labeled antigen to competitively bind to the primary antibody of the preformed complex; (c) detecting the separated complex or the separated suspension medium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 19, 1982
    Date of Patent: November 6, 1984
    Assignee: AMF Incorporated
    Inventors: Robert O. Cone, Jr., Charles R. Carpenter
  • Patent number: 4479795
    Abstract: The present invention relates to medical polymers and devices made therefrom, and is based on the discovery that certain carboxylate antimicrobial agents can be releasably incorporated into permeable polymers. The walls of medical devices such as catheters can be fashioned from such polymers. In use, the antimicrobial agent diffuses from the walls to the surface of the device to form an antimicrobial barrier on the surface of the device and a zone of microbial inhibition on tissue surfaces surrounding the device, thereby effectively supplementing the body's own natural microbial barriers where they have been compromised. The bacterial contamination-resistant carboxylate-plus-polymer compositions herein can be used in the manufacture of a wide variety of medical devices, especially urinary catheters, intravenous catheters, wound dressings, and the like.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 27, 1982
    Date of Patent: October 30, 1984
    Assignee: The Procter & Gamble Company
    Inventors: Robert V. Mustacich, Donald S. Lucas, Roger L. Stone
  • Patent number: 4479889
    Abstract: A method and composition for degrading foodstuff comprising spraying said odstuff with a physiological agent comprising a purgative, an emetic, an internal vesicant, an hallucinogen and a convulsant.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 9, 1968
    Date of Patent: October 30, 1984
    Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army
    Inventors: Vincent J. DiPaola, William H. Collins, Louis M. Sherman
  • Patent number: 4480040
    Abstract: A rapid and sensitive method for diagnosing plant viroid diseases and viruses. Plant sap is bound to a solid support and the bound sample probed with a radioactively labelled DNA that is complementary to the viroid or to the nucleic acid of the virus being diagnosed. The radioactively labelled cDNA hybridizes with that viroid or virus RNA or DNA for which it is specific. DNA-RNA and DNA-DNA hybrids are detected by autoradiographic examination of the hybridized material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 1981
    Date of Patent: October 30, 1984
    Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of Agriculture
    Inventors: Robert A. Owens, Theodor O. Diener
  • Patent number: 4479490
    Abstract: Cast padding for use in forming a cast on a patient's extremity comprising, an elongated sleeve having a cavity and an opening communicating with the cavity. The sleeve has an outwardly turned edge extending peripherally around the opening against which plaster is wrapped during formation of the cast. The padding may also have an inner sleeve of stretchable fabric having an end section extending past the opening for placement around the edge into the plaster.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 17, 1978
    Date of Patent: October 30, 1984
    Inventor: Richard G. Dedo
  • Patent number: 4478222
    Abstract: An in vivo electrochemical monitoring device is formed by a catheter-like member which terminates in a closed end having a wall with a fixed opening to admit fluid to be tested, such as blood in an artery. An electrochemical sensor, such as an ISFET device for monitoring the concentration of a particular ion in blood, is mounted inside the tube at a fixed location below the opening preferably a larger sensing chamber. an infusion channel in the tube is arranged to flood the sensor with a fluid of known chemical properties so that the sensor output can be calibrated. Under pressure the calibration fluid expels the test fluid out of the tube or chamber via the fixed opening. A method of constructing a suitable chamber on an ISFET wafer is also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 10, 1981
    Date of Patent: October 23, 1984
    Assignee: Cordis Europa N.V.
    Inventors: Gerrit Koning, Piet Bergveld
  • Patent number: 4478596
    Abstract: A system for the controlled delivery of a physiologically active agent to a fluid environment having a semipermeable sheath with a plurality of pores, the sheath being imperforate except for the plurality of pores and defining a fully enclosed cavity for holding a physiologically active agent. A physiologically active agent is contained in the fully enclosed cavity for delivery to a fluid environment, with the plurality of pores being of a size to permit both the flow of fluid from the fluid environment through the semipermeable sheath into the cavity and the flow of fluid and physiologically active agent in solution out of the cavity into the fluid environment whereby the physiologically active agent is delivered from the semipermeable sheath exclusively through the plurality of pores.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 26, 1982
    Date of Patent: October 23, 1984
    Inventor: Paul E. Michelson
  • Patent number: 4478946
    Abstract: The invention provides an immuno-reactant, being either an antigen or an antibody covalently bonded to a cross-linked film, more particularly composed of cross-linked protein or peptides, enveloping a carrier body, e.g. a solid, non-porous glass bead of 6 mm diameter. The immuno-logically active parts of the immuno-reactant are present on the surface in a form in which they are available for immunosorption. If the immuno-reactant is a protein, e.g. an antibody, it can provide all or part of the film-forming material. In a particular embodiment the film carries antibodies against a second type of antibody which is captured immunosorptively to form a "double layer" carrier-bound immunosorbent, the antigen capturing sites of the second type of antibody providing the immunosorption sites of the product. The immunosorbents are used, for example, for RIA or ELISA assays.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 25, 1982
    Date of Patent: October 23, 1984
    Assignee: South African Inventions Development Corporation
    Inventors: Kirsten J. Van der Merwe, Alfred Polson
  • Patent number: 4478789
    Abstract: An object of ceramic or metallic material is manufactured by isostatic pressing of a body preformed from a powder of the metallic or ceramic material, the preformed body (10) then being embedded in glass, for example in a mass of glass particles (16) in a vessel (15) which is resistant to the temperature at which the sintering of the metallic or ceramic material is carried out, the material embedding the preformed body being transferred to a melt having a surface limited by the walls of the vessel, below which surface the preformed body is located, and a pressure necessary for the isostatic pressing of the preformed body then being applied on the melt by a gaseous pressure medium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 22, 1984
    Date of Patent: October 23, 1984
    Assignee: ASEA AB
    Inventors: Jan Nilsson, Hans Larker, Bertil Mattsson, Jan Nilsson
  • Patent number: 4476590
    Abstract: Surgical implants, especially endoprosthetic orthopaedic implants and sutures, are rendered antimicrobial by the presence of a bioerodible metallic silver component, especially a surface coating, which provides in vivo a sustained release of silver ions in a concentration sufficient to provide a localized antimicrobial effect but insufficient to cause significant damage to connective tissue. Latently bioerodible silver components of an implant can be activated by, for example, abrasion, heating to above about 180.degree. C. or, especially, contact with hydrogen peroxide.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 23, 1981
    Date of Patent: October 16, 1984
    Assignee: National Research Development Corporation
    Inventors: John T. Scales, Michael J. Wilkinson
  • Patent number: 4477576
    Abstract: A method of determining the concentration of an antigen in a sample solution comprising(a) coating an antigen-protein conjugate onto a solid matrix,(b) conjugating an enzyme to an antibody specific for said antigen,(c) to a known quantity of a solution containing the antibody-enzyme conjugate of (b) adding a specified quantity of a sample containing an unknown amount of the antigen whose content is to be determined,(d) contacting the coated solid matrix of (a) with the solution (c) and incubate so as to effect binding between the antibody and antigen, some of the antigen being that from the sample and some being that on the solid matrix,(e) removing the solid matrix from the solution and washing,(f) immersing the solid matrix in a solution containing a known amount of an enzyme-substrate which is acted upon by the enzyme so as to effect reaction between the enzyme and enzyme-substrate to produce a product, and then separating the solid matrix from the solution of enzyme-substrate, and(g) then measuring the so
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 26, 1982
    Date of Patent: October 16, 1984
    Assignee: Mex Research Associates
    Inventors: Alice Deutsch, Harvey Brandwein, Herbert Platt, Dianne M. Hunter, Andrew Dubitsky, Susan M. Durham
  • Patent number: 4477367
    Abstract: Crystalline 2-layer LiOH.2Al(OH).sub.3.nH.sub.2 O, preferably supported by a porous substrate, is prepared by treating crystalline 2-layer LiX.2Al(OH).sub.3.nH.sub.2 O, where X is anion, with a LiOH solution or other hydroxide ion source. The so-formed crystalline 2-layer LiOH.2Al(OH).sub.3.nH.sub.2 O is particularly suitable for exchange of the OH ion with larger X' ions to produce other crystalline 2-layer LiX'.2Al(OH).sub.3.nH.sub.2 O.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 1982
    Date of Patent: October 16, 1984
    Assignee: The Dow Chemical Company
    Inventor: John L. Burba, III
  • Patent number: 4475916
    Abstract: An osmotic drug (or other beneficial substance) delivery system comprises a compartment with one or more chambers in series formed by an external shell and chamber-dividing walls of a microporous material and successive overlayers of semipermeable membranes completely covering the outer shell of all but one chamber and substantially covering the outer shell of that one chamber, each successive overlayer completely covering all but one more chamber and substantially covering that one more chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 18, 1982
    Date of Patent: October 9, 1984
    Assignee: Merck & Co., Inc.
    Inventor: Kenneth J. Himmelstein
  • Patent number: 4474684
    Abstract: Elastomers with corrosion-inhibiting properties, characterized by containing a reaction product of an amine of the formula: ##STR1## wherein X represents a number from 5 to 30,R denotes hydrogen or C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkyl, andR.sub.1 denotes C.sub.1 -C.sub.18 alkyl, C.sub.5 -C.sub.6 cycloalkyl or C.sub.7 -C.sub.8 aralkyl,with an aromatic carboxylic acid and optionally a fatty acid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 17, 1982
    Date of Patent: October 2, 1984
    Assignee: Bayer Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Ernst Roos, Sigurd Behr
  • Patent number: 4474732
    Abstract: An alloy steel is provided along with a method of making the same. The alloy is heat, wear, corrosion and oxidation resistant, and is preferably made utilizing powder metallurgy techniques. The method involves the addition of carbon and silicon to an iron base alloy containing chromium to improve the properties of the steel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 24, 1979
    Date of Patent: October 2, 1984
    Assignee: Amsted Industries Incorporated
    Inventor: Jean C. Lynn
  • Patent number: 4474893
    Abstract: Antibodies having binding affinity for two desired antigens, hereinafter "recombinant monoclonal antibodies"; recombinant monoclonal antibodies produced by a quadroma cell or a trioma cell; and methods for producing recombinant monoclonal antibodies by means of a quadroma cell or a trioma cell, wherein a quadroma cell is the fusion product of a hybridoma cell which produces an antibody having specific binding affinity to one desired antigen and a hybridoma cell which produces an antibody having specific binding affinity for another desired antigen, and wherein a trioma cell is the fusion product of a hybridoma cell which produces an antibody having specific binding affinity to one desired antigen and a lymphocyte which produces an antibody having specific binding affinity to another desired antigen.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 1, 1981
    Date of Patent: October 2, 1984
    Assignee: The University of Texas System Cancer Center
    Inventor: Christopher L. Reading
  • Patent number: 4474688
    Abstract: A method is disclosed of immobilizing actinide metal oxide ions. A liquid composition is prepared of the actinide metal oxide ions and a monomer which is capable during electropolymerization of complexing with the actinide metal ions. An optional polar solvent may be included in the composition if it is necessary to dissolve a solid monomer. The monomer is then electropolymerized to form a polymeric complex with the actinide metal oxide ion. The polymeric complex can be separated from the remainder of the liquid composition by the addition of a non-solvent for the polymeric complex which results in its precipitation. Vinylimidazoles have been found to be suitable monomers for use in this process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 18, 1981
    Date of Patent: October 2, 1984
    Assignee: Westinghouse Electric Corp.
    Inventors: Peter M. Castle, James D. B. Smith, D. Colin Phillips