Patents Examined by Geoffrey S. Evans
  • Patent number: 11338388
    Abstract: Disclosed is a laser keyhole welding structure and a keyhole welding method of an aluminum material which stably suppress the generation of sputtering to ensure a reliable electrical connection and obtain a mechanically strong connection. To achieve this, a laser keyhole welding structure of an aluminum material is formed by welding an aluminum material element constituting an electronic component by irradiating a laser beam to the electronic component, in which a tapered portion spread angle (?) of an upper portion of a welding nugget to be formed is 45° or less. Also disclosed is a laser keyhole welding structure of an aluminum material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2022
    Assignee: NIPPON CHEMI-CON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kazuhide Hayakawa, Fumito Odashima, Tatsuo Kubouchi
  • Patent number: 11311971
    Abstract: An optical device that is intended for laser treatment of internal surfaces of a covering part of the leading-edge type, including a collimator that is intended to be connected to a laser source via an optical fibre to produce a laser beam having a collimated and flat spatial pulse profile, a cylindrical lens that is configured to focus the laser beam along a spatial line that is transverse to the propagation of the laser beam thus forming a line-laser-beam, a reflecting optical component that is configured to be able to be introduced into the interior of the covering part and to uniformly reflect the line-laser-beam onto at least one internal surface of the covering part and in directions of incidence that are almost normal to at least one internal surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 16, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2022
    Assignee: SAFRAN
    Inventors: Magali Melanie Coulaud, Nicolas Cuvillier, Mathieu Loic Ducousso
  • Patent number: 11311954
    Abstract: A core moving device is provided, including a core adsorption holding part for adsorbing and moving a core cut out of a workpiece with a magnetic force of a magnet. The core adsorption holding part includes: a rod member, a distal end portion of which is constituted of the magnet; a bottomed cylindrical member which has a bottom surface on a distal end portion side and into which the rod member is inserted from a base end portion side; and a cylindrical member drive part which moves the bottomed cylindrical member forward, wherein the bottomed cylindrical member, on one hand, moves backward to adsorb the core to the magnet and, on the other hand, moves forward to remove the core adsorbed to the magnet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 8, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2022
    Assignee: SODICK CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Masashi Sakaguchi
  • Patent number: 11298766
    Abstract: A control device for a wire electric discharge machine includes: a shape analysis portion which looks ahead a machining program, and analyzes a machined shape of a workpiece; a machining path creation portion which creates machining paths of identical circular arc shape offsetting from a machined shape analyzed, wherein the offset value differs for the machining paths, and shape of a corner part are identical circular arc shape; a machining path creation portion which creates machining paths of concentric circle shape offsetting from a machined shape analyzed, wherein the offset value differs for the machining paths, and shape of a corner part are concentric circle shape; and a machining path selection portion which selects either of the machining paths of identical circular arc shape and concentric circle shape, based on at least one among the machining program, machined shape analyzed, and the machining paths of identical circular arc shape and concentric circle shape.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 11, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 12, 2022
    Assignee: FANUC CORPORATION
    Inventor: Kenichiro Shirai
  • Patent number: 11286543
    Abstract: Some variations provide an additively manufactured aluminum alloy comprising from 84.5 wt % to 92.1 wt % aluminum; from 1.1 wt % to 2.1 wt % copper; from 1.8 wt % to 2.9 wt % magnesium; from 4.5 wt % to 6.1 wt % zinc; and from 0.5 wt % to 2.8 wt % zirconium. The additively manufactured aluminum alloy is in the form of a three-dimensional component. The zirconium functions as a grain-refiner element within the additively manufactured aluminum alloy. The additively manufactured aluminum alloy may be characterized by an average grain size of less than 10 microns. The additively manufactured aluminum alloy may have a substantially crack-free microstructure with equiaxed grains.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2022
    Assignee: HRL Laboratories, LLC
    Inventors: John H. Martin, Brennan Yahata
  • Patent number: 11285556
    Abstract: A core moving device includes a core adsorption holding part which adsorbs a core cut out of a workpiece with a magnet and moves the core, in which the core adsorption holding part includes a rod member in which a distal end portion thereof is constituted of the magnet, a cylindrical member into which the rod member is inserted and which, on one hand, moves backward to expose a distal end surface of the rod member so that the core is adsorbed to the distal end surface of the rod member and, on the other hand, moves forward to protrude from the distal end surface of the rod member so that the core is removed from the distal end surface of the rod member, and a cylindrical member drive unit which at least moves the cylindrical member forward.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 25, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2022
    Assignee: Sodick Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Masashi Sakaguchi
  • Patent number: 11273520
    Abstract: A system and method for automated laser ablation includes an end effector for performing laser ablation at a location with restricted access. The systems and methods of the present disclosure specifically provide for a miniature laser end effector which may be inserted through a port or bore in order to ablate the surface of an internal component of a complex assembly. In several embodiments of the present subject matter, the end effector is mounted on an automated machine and coupled to a laser system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 31, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2022
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: David Scott Diwinsky, Michael Dean Fullington, Herbert Chidsey Roberts, Jacob Cole Hay, Stanley Louis Ream, Craig Thompson Walters
  • Patent number: 11273508
    Abstract: EDM assemblies mount on a machining surface and discharge rotating sub-electrodes against the surface. The sub-electrodes can also revolve about another shared axis while discharging. Rotation and revolution may be achieved with planetary gears fixed with the sub-electrodes and meshing with a stationary sun gear. Several sub-electrodes can be used in a single assembly. Downward movement of the sub-electrodes from a central shaft on the mount allows several inches of the surface to be machined. Assemblies are usable in a nuclear reactor during a maintenance period to machine a hole for a replacement manway cover underwater in the flooded reactor. The differing rotational movements and vertical movement can be independently controlled with separate motors in the assembly. Power and controls may be provided remotely through an underwater connection.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 31, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2022
    Assignee: GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas LLC
    Inventors: Jack T. Matsumoto, Mark D. Sumner, Christopher M. Welsh
  • Patent number: 11267079
    Abstract: Methods and systems for cutting or perforating webs are disclosed. A method of cutting or perforating a web can include providing a web including a film. The film can include a polyolefin polymer and a plurality of particles. The film can include a width and length defining a surface. The method can further include stretching the film to provide a stretched film. Stretching the film can provide a plurality of voids in the stretched film. The method can additionally include providing a laser assembly. The method can include directing abeam of light from the laser assembly upon the surface of the web to cut or perforate the web in at least one location.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 8, 2022
    Assignee: Kimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc.
    Inventors: Peiguang Zhou, Paul Milbrodt, Wade R. Thompson, Vikram S. Kaul, Wen Yuan
  • Patent number: 11260471
    Abstract: A method for monitoring a joining seam, in particular during joining by a laser beam, wherein in the processing direction before a processing point a joining site is measured in order to detect the position and geometry thereof, at least one position of a joining seam is determined from the position of the joining point, and in the processing direction after the processing point the joining seam is measured in order to detect the geometry thereof at the determined position. A device is also provided for carrying out said method and to a laser processing head equipped with such a device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 10, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2022
    Assignee: PRECITEC GMBH & CO. KG
    Inventors: Joachim Schwarz, Stefan Birmanns
  • Patent number: 11260470
    Abstract: A laser machining device which condenses a laser light inside a wafer and forms modified regions in a plurality of layers in the wafer, includes an infrared imaging optical system configured to face one surface of the wafer. In a case where a modified region positioned on a side of another surface opposite to the one surface of the wafer is defined as a first modified region and another modified region is defined as a second modified region, among the modified regions in the plurality of layers, the infrared imaging optical system has a focusing range that includes the first modified region and the another surface, and simultaneously images the first modified region and the another surface, and the second modified region is positioned outside the focusing range.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 6, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2022
    Assignee: TOKYO SEIMITSU CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Takashi Shimanuki, Masanobu Koyata, Shuhei Oshida
  • Patent number: 11253952
    Abstract: A laser processing apparatus includes a light source configured to generate a laser beam, and a light converging optical system configured to converge laser beam to a focal point at an object to be processed, the light converging optical system including a through-hole optical element and a composite optical element under the through-hole optical element, wherein the through-hole optical element includes a first recess portion configured as a concave mirror at a lower surface of the through-hole optical element, and wherein an upper surface of the composite optical element is convex and includes a first region configured to reflect the laser beam and a second region configured to transmit the laser beam.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 9, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 22, 2022
    Assignee: Samsung Display Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Akifumi Sangu, Alexander Voronov, Hyoung-Joo Kim, Eun Sun Choi, Emil Aslanov, Gyoo Wan Han
  • Patent number: 11253953
    Abstract: A method and a device for processing a unidirectional flow surface, the method includes: generating a grayscale map having gradually changed grayscale values; generating a holographic phase map having a bionic light spot with gradually changed energies based on the grayscale map; loading the holographic phase map onto a spatial beam shaper; and focusing a laser beam on a surface of an object to be processed after the laser beam passes through the spatial beam shaper, to process structural units having unidirectional flow characteristics on the surface of the object to be processed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 28, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 22, 2022
    Assignee: BEIJING INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
    Inventors: Lan Jiang, Xiaozhe Chen, Xin Li, Xiaojie Li, Misheng Liang
  • Patent number: 11247932
    Abstract: The liquid-assisted micromachining methods include methods of processing a substrate made of a transparent dielectric material. A working surface of the substrate is placed in contact with a liquid-assist medium that comprises fluorine. A focused pulsed laser beam is directed through a first substrate surface and through the opposite working surface to form a focus spot in the liquid-assist medium. The focus spot is then moved over a motion path from its initial position in the liquid-assist medium through the substrate body in the general direction from the working surface to the first surface to create a modification of the transparent dielectric material that defines in the body a core portion. The core portion is removed to form the substrate feature, which can be a through or closed fiber hole that supports one or more optical fibers. Optical components formed using the processed substrate are also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 25, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2022
    Assignee: Corning Incorporated
    Inventors: Jeffery Alan DeMeritt, Davide Domenico Fortusini, Andrey Kobyakov, David Mark Lance, Leonard Thomas Masters, Ulrich Wilhelm Heinz Neukirch, Alexander Mikhailovich Streltsov, James Scott Sutherland
  • Patent number: 11247250
    Abstract: A tool includes a head that extends form the flexible section, an emitter within the head; and a nozzle to eject a cooling fluid therefrom. A method of additively manufacturing a component including delivering series of thermal shocks to a conglomerated powder within an internal passage of an additively manufactured component to facilitate removal of the conglomerated powder.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2022
    Assignee: Raytheon Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Joe Ott, Wendell V. Twelves, Jr., Lexia Kironn, Evan Butcher
  • Patent number: 11247282
    Abstract: An electric discharge machining apparatus includes a tool electrode that performs electric discharge machining to a workpiece, a housing in which the tool electrode is inserted, a compressed gas supplying device for supplying compressed gas into a mist generating region which is provided between an inner wall of the housing and the tool electrode, a first flow path through which the compressed gas flows and connecting the compressed gas supplying device with the mist generating region, a pressurized working fluid supplying device for supplying pressurized working fluid into the mist generating region, and a second flow path through which the pressurized working fluid flows and connecting the pressurized working fluid supplying device with the mist generating region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2022
    Assignee: Sodick Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Jun Takahashi
  • Patent number: 11241749
    Abstract: An electrical discharge machining method includes selectively immersing only a portion of a workpiece in an electrical discharge machining liquid such that a machining object portion included in the portion of the workpiece is opposed to an electrode immersed in the electrical discharge machining liquid and applying an electrical discharge machining to the machining object portion by applying a voltage between the electrode and the workpiece in a state where the portion of the workpiece is selectively immersed in the electrical discharge machining liquid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 17, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 8, 2022
    Assignee: MITSUBISHI POWER, LTD.
    Inventors: Takuro Hashimoto, Koichi Akagi, Naoya Fujita, Takanobu Ogata
  • Patent number: 11241758
    Abstract: Laser cutting systems and methods are described herein. One or more systems include a laser generating component, an optical component, a fixture for holding a support with a part positioned on the support, and a control mechanism for adjusting at least one of the laser generating component, the optical component, and the fixture such that a ratio of a laser energy applied to the part and a part material thickness is maintained within a predetermined acceptable range at each point along a cut path to cut through the part while maintaining the integrity of the support. Other systems and methods are disclosed herein.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 22, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 8, 2022
    Assignee: Align Technology, Inc.
    Inventor: James C. Culp
  • Patent number: 11241750
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to an electrical discharge machining (EDM) device, and a method for machining a workpiece by the EDM device. The EDM device includes a spindle, a guide structure including a plurality of guideways, and a plurality of electrodes, the electrode coupled to the spindle via a flexible link, and slidably engaged with a respective one of the plurality of guideways.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 17, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 8, 2022
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Renwei Yuan, Lei Li, Yuanyuan Guo, Peng Hu, Nouman Usmani
  • Patent number: 11235403
    Abstract: An electrical discharge machining (EDM) electrodes and associated methods are provided. An EDM electrode includes a holder rotatable about a rotation axis and a plurality of electrode elements attached to the holder and circumferentially arranged around the rotation axis. Respective positions of the electrode elements are radially adjustable relative to the rotation axis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2022
    Assignee: PRATT & WHITNEY CANADA CORP.
    Inventors: Michel Frederick, Greg Maccaul