Patents Examined by G. A. Blackwell-Rudasill
  • Patent number: 6994910
    Abstract: A coated article is provided so as to include a solar control coating having an infrared (IR) reflecting layer sandwiched between at least a pair of dielectric layers. The IR reflecting layer includes niobium nitride (NbxNy). The use of niobium nitride enables the coated article to have good corrosion resistance to acid(s), good mechanical performance such as scratch resistance, and/or good color stability (i.e., a low ?E* value(s)) upon heat treatment (HT). The coated article may be heat treated (e.g., thermally tempered) in certain example embodiments of the invention.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 9, 2003
    Date of Patent: February 7, 2006
    Assignee: Guardian Industries Corp.
    Inventor: Grzegorz Stachowiak
  • Patent number: 6991860
    Abstract: Interference pigment flakes and foils are provided which have color shifting properties. The pigment flakes can have a symmetrical coating structure on opposing sides of a reflector layer, can have an asymmetrical coating structure with all of the layers on one side of the reflector layer, or can be formed with encapsulating coatings around a core reflector layer. The coating structure of the flakes and foils includes a reflector layer, a dielectric layer on the reflector layer, and a titanium-containing absorber layer on the dielectric layer. The pigment flakes and foils exhibit a discrete color shift so as to have a first color at a first angle of incident light or viewing and a second color different from the first color at a second angle of incident light or viewing. The pigment flakes can be interspersed into liquid media such as paints or inks to produce colorant compositions for subsequent application to objects or papers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 14, 2003
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2006
    Assignee: JDS Uniphase Corporation
    Inventors: Roger W. Phillips, Charlotte R. LeGallee, Paul T. Kohlmann, Vladimir Raksha, Alberto Argoitia
  • Patent number: 6967060
    Abstract: A coated article is provided so as to include a coating (e.g., low-E coating, or the like) having at least one layer of or including niobium zirconium (NbZr). The NbZr layer may be metallic in certain example embodiments. Alternatively, an oxide and/or nitride of NbZr may be provided in other example embodiments. The NbZr inclusive layer may be provided as any suitable layer of the multi-layer coating, but in certain example instances may be used as a contact layer adjacent to an infrared (IR) reflecting layer. Coated articles herein may be used in the context of insulating glass (IG) window units, laminated windows, architectural or residential monolithic window units, vehicle window units, and/or the like.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 9, 2003
    Date of Patent: November 22, 2005
    Assignee: Guardian Industries Corp.
    Inventor: Grzegorz Stachowiak
  • Patent number: 6964808
    Abstract: A wall is formed by adding a predetermined amount of binding agent and water to volcanic ash sediment, which is comprised of mineral silicate including at least silicic acid and aluminum oxide, kneading them, and applying to an arbitrary plane. Through a natural reaction of positive ions included within mineral silicate and moisture included within the atmospheric air, thereby exchanging ions, minus ions are generated on an application plane. The amount of minus ions generated is, in a unit volume, between three and six times as many as that of the minus ions generally included in the atmospheric air. The combination of this application plane and humidity control apparatus is used as a minus ion generation system through adjustment of amount of moisture included within the atmospheric air so as to control the ion exchanging rate. In the case where said volcanic ash sediment includes titanium oxide, it reacts with hydrogen or oxygen generating active oxygen species or oxygen free radical.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2001
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2005
    Assignee: Takachiho Corporation
    Inventor: Masahiro Shintome
  • Patent number: 6951691
    Abstract: This invention relates to a surface treatment method comprising the steps of providing a treating solution containing a specific ammonium compound or aqueous ammonia, and magnesium silicofluoride, heating the treating solution to a temperature of 70 to 100° C., and soaking aluminum or an aluminum alloy in the treating solution; a piston having a surface coated with a film consisting of a mixture of NH4MgAlF6 and MgAlF5.1.5H2O or a mixture of NH4MgAlF6 and MgAl2F8.2H2O; and a sliding member made of aluminum or the like wherein the whole surface of the sliding member or the sliding surface thereof is coated with a film which consists of either of the aforesaid mixtures, has a cubic crystal structure, and shows no crystalline orientation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 2003
    Date of Patent: October 4, 2005
    Assignee: Suzuki Motor Corporation
    Inventors: Masaya Nomura, Yoshinobu Ozaki
  • Patent number: 6949286
    Abstract: A radiation-absorbing layer for a thermopile radiation detector highly absorbs incident radiation within a predetermined band of wavelengths. The layer comprises a solid construction of a mixture of an oxide of silicon and separate and/or linked particles of at least one material selected for absorbing incident radiation within the predetermined band.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 18, 2002
    Date of Patent: September 27, 2005
    Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yasushi Nakajima, Masaki Hirota
  • Patent number: 6949284
    Abstract: The present invention provides an application material capable of forming a thin layer of high quality having controlled refractive index, a coating layer formed by using said application material, an antireflection coating using said coating layer, an antireflection film and image display to which said antireflection coating is applied. A coating layer formed from a coating composition comprising (1) rutile type titanium oxide coated with an inorganic compound decreasing or eliminating a photocatalyst activity and an organic compound and/or organometal compound having an anionic polar group, and having a primary particle size in the range from 0.01 to 0.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 15, 2002
    Date of Patent: September 27, 2005
    Assignee: Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Toshio Yoshihara, Seiji Shinohara, Satoshi Shioda, Hiroko Suzuki
  • Patent number: 6942925
    Abstract: The invention belongs to polarizing devices and can be used in lighting equipment, manufacturing construction-material glasses, and in displays. The proposed dichroic polarizer includes a substrate and at least one layer dichroically absorbing electromagnetic radiation, into which two reflecting coatings are introduced, at least one of which is made partially transmitting. The layer dichroically absorbing electromagnetic radiation is located between the reflecting coatings. The materials and thicknesses of layers of both the dichroically absorbing electromagnetic radiation and the reflecting coatings are selected from the requirements to obtain, at the exit of the dichroic polarizer, an interference minimum for the absorbing component of electromagnetic radiation for, at least, one wavelength value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 3, 1998
    Date of Patent: September 13, 2005
    Assignee: Optiva, Inc.
    Inventors: Pavel Ivanovich Lazarev, Alexandr Alexandrovich Miroshin, Nikolai Vladimirovich Malimonenko, Sergei Vasilievich Belyaev
  • Patent number: 6942923
    Abstract: Coated articles are provided with an anti-reflection system(s) which enables high visible transmission and/or low visible reflection. Neutral color is also attainable in certain example embodiments. In certain example embodiments, the anti-reflection system(s) is used in conjunction with a double silver (Ag) layer stack which provides low sheet resistance and/or emissivity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 2002
    Date of Patent: September 13, 2005
    Assignee: Guardian Industries Corp.
    Inventor: Grzegorz Stachowiak
  • Patent number: 6942920
    Abstract: The invention relates to glass-ceramic plates, hotplates incorporating them and their fabrication process. The glass-ceramic plate of the invention is of the type having a bottom substrate layer and a top coating layer and is characterized in that the top coating layer covers at least the external top surface of the bottom glass-ceramic layer and is a layer of a hard substrate material chosen from the group constituted by silicon carbide, silicon oxycarbide, silicon nitride, silicon oxynitride and hydrogenated amorphous carbons. The invention finds an application in the fabrication of coated glass-ceramic plates and in particular in the fabrication of glass-ceramic hotplates.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2002
    Date of Patent: September 13, 2005
    Assignee: Eurokera
    Inventors: Alain R. E. Carre, Celine C. Guermeur, Marianne Semjen
  • Patent number: 6942924
    Abstract: A radiation-curable anti-reflective coating is disclosed. The coating may be deposited on a substrate by spinning, dipping or rolling. The anti-reflective coating may have two layers in which case the anti-reflective coating has a V-shaped reflectance pattern in the visible wavelength spectrum. The anti-reflective coating may have three layers in which case the anti-reflective coating has a broadband reflectance pattern in the visible wavelength spectrum.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 2001
    Date of Patent: September 13, 2005
    Assignee: Chemat Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Liu He, Sung-Soon Park, Haixing Zheng, Grace Tang, Aylin Vance
  • Patent number: 6939611
    Abstract: A titanium dioxide film (2) having at least photocatalytic activity, whose light linear transmittance corresponding to light having a wavelength of 550 nm is not less than 50% and whose thickness is 0.1 to 5 ?m or so, is formed on a transparent substrate (1) constituted by a glass plate or the like. Preferably, a precoat film (3), which has optical transmissivity and is constituted by a SiO2 film having a thickness of 0.02 to 0.2 ?m or so, is provided between the transparent substrate (1) and the titanium dioxide film (2). Thereby, excellent photocatalytic action and optical transmissivity can be obtained. Moreover, members composing various structures such as a glass window, which are especially required to have optical transparency, can be further provided with photocatalytic activities.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 22, 2002
    Date of Patent: September 6, 2005
    Assignees: Kanagawa Academy of Science and Technology, Nippon Soda Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Akira Fujishima, Kazuhito Hashimoto, Tomokazu Iyoda, Shigemichi Fukayama, Tetsuo Yoshimoto, Tokuyoshi Saitoh
  • Patent number: 6936348
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a method of depositing rutile type titanium dioxide, and a substrate and glass flakes having rutile type titanium dioxide obtained using the method fixed thereto. An object of the present invention is to make heating essentially unnecessary and simplify the manufacturing process, thus reducing costs, and also enable rutile type titanium dioxide to be fixed easily even to a substrate having low heat resistance. This object is attained by depositing rutile type crystals from a titanium-containing solution through a neutralization reaction under conditions of a temperature in a range of 55 to 85° C. and a pH of not more than 1.3.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 10, 2000
    Date of Patent: August 30, 2005
    Assignee: Nippon Sheet Glass Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Shigeru Yanagase
  • Patent number: 6936325
    Abstract: An optical recording medium having at least a recording layer 11 and a light transmitting layer 13 formed on a substrate 10, in which the recording layer 11 is made of an organic material for absorbing an incident light of wavelength of 360 nm to 460 nm, and inducing physical change or chemical change to vary the refractive index, the light transmitting layer 13 is 10 ?m to 177 ?m in thickness, the relation between absorption coefficient “k” and pyrolysis temperature Tdec of organic material is 950(° C.)<(Tdec (° C.)?20)/k<4100° C.??(1), and the absorption coefficient “k” is k>0.0.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2002
    Date of Patent: August 30, 2005
    Assignees: Sony Corporation, Bayer Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Horst Berneth, Friedrich-Karl Bruder, Wilfried Haese, Rainer Hagen, Karin Hassenrück, Serguei Kostromine, Peter Landenberger, Rafael Oser, Thomas Sommermann, Josef-Walter Stawitz, Thomas Bieringer, Yuichi Sabi, Takashi Iwamura, Mitsuaki Oyamada, Hidetoshi Watanabe, Sakuya Tamada, Masanobu Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 6926967
    Abstract: A heat treatable coated article including a solar management layer for reflecting infrared (IR) or the like, is provided between a substrate and an overlying dielectric layer. An underlying dielectric layer between the substrate and solar management layer is optional. In certain embodiments, the solar management layer may include NiCrNx while the dielectric layer(s) may include a nitride such as silicon nitride. By nitriding the solar management layer, it has been found that the resulting coated article is more color stable upon heat treatment (HT). For example, the coated article may have a ?E* value (transmissive and/or glass side reflective) of no greater than 5.0, more preferably no greater than 4.0, and most preferably no greater than 3.0. Coated articles herein may be used in the context of insulating glass (IG) window units, vehicle windows, or the like.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 2004
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2005
    Assignee: Guardian Industries Corp.
    Inventors: George Neuman, Grzegorz Stachowiak, Hong Wang
  • Patent number: 6924037
    Abstract: A transparent substrate including an antireflection coating, made from a stack of thin layers of dielectric material having alternately high and low refractive indices. This stack includes a high-index first layer having a refractive index n, of between 1.8 and 2.2 and a geometrical thickness e1 of between 5 and 50 nm, a low-index second layer having a refractive index n2 of between 1.35 and 1.65 and a geometrical thickness e2 of between 5 and 50 nm, a high-index third layer having a refractive index n3 of between 1.8 and 2.2 and a geometrical thickness e3 of between 70 and 120 nm, and a low-index fourth layer having a refractive index n4 of between 1.35 and 1:65 and a geometrical thickness e4 of at least 80 nm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 17, 2000
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2005
    Assignee: Saint-Gobain Glass France
    Inventors: Laurent Joret, Anne Durandeau, Norbert Huhn, Olaf Stahlschmidt, Ulrich Billert
  • Patent number: 6921578
    Abstract: A low reflection film comprising silica fine particles and a binder in a weight ratio proportion of 60:40 to 95:5 is obtained by mixing starting fine particles comprising at least non-aggregated silica fine particles with a mean particle size of 40-1000 nm and/or linear (chain-like) aggregated silica fine particles with a mean primary particle size of 10-100 nm, a hydrolyzable metal compound, water, and a solvent, hydrolyzing the hydrolyzable metal compound in the presence of the starting fine particles, and then coating the prepared coating solution onto a glass base substrate and subjecting it to heat treatment. The obtained low reflection film is a single-layer low reflection film with low reflectivity, excellent abrasion resistance, high film strength and excellent contamination removal property, and coating of the low reflection film onto glass base substrates can give low reflection glass articles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 11, 2001
    Date of Patent: July 26, 2005
    Assignee: Nippon Sheet Glass Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Toshifumi Tsujino, Hideki Okamoto, Tetsuro Kawahara
  • Patent number: 6921579
    Abstract: A substrate carrying a temporary protective cover and related methods of producing and processing substrates are described. In one embodiment, a substrate has a durable exterior surface bearing a temporary protective cover that protects the durable surface against contamination but that can readily be readily removed from the durable surface by washing with a given washing fluid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 11, 2001
    Date of Patent: July 26, 2005
    Assignee: Cardinal CG Company
    Inventors: Roger D. O'Shaughnessy, Annette J. Krisko, Klaus Hartig
  • Patent number: 6919133
    Abstract: The invention provides thin film coatings that have a transparent base layer. For example, the invention provides low-emissivity coatings with a transparent base layer. In certain embodiments, a silicon dioxide base layer is used. Methods of producing thin film coatings having a transparent base layer are provided as well. In one embodiment, sputter deposition is utilized to produce these coatings.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 1, 2002
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2005
    Assignee: Cardinal CG Company
    Inventors: Klaus Hartig, Annette J. Krisko
  • Patent number: 6919119
    Abstract: An electronic or opto-electronic device or a chemical sensor comprising: an interpenetrating network of a nanostructured high surface area to volume ratio film material and an organic/inorganic material forming a nanocomposite. The high surface area to volume film material is obtained onto an electrode substrate first, such that the nano-scale basic elements comprising this film material are embedded in a void matrix while having electrical connectivity with the electrode substrate. For example, the film material may comprise an array of nano-protrusions electrically connected to the electrode substrate and separated by a void matrix. The interpenetrating network is formed by introducing an appropriate organic/inorganic material into the void volume of the high surface area to volume film material. Further electrode(s) are defined onto the film or intra-void material to achieve a certain device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 2002
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2005
    Assignee: The Penn State Research Foundation
    Inventors: Ali Kaan Kalkan, Stephen J. Fonash