Patents Examined by Holly C Rickman
  • Patent number: 6071363
    Abstract: A single-cast, thin wall structure capable of withstanding impinging gases at temperatures of 4300.degree. F. and higher, and method of making the same.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 3, 1996
    Date of Patent: June 6, 2000
    Assignee: Allison Engine Company, Inc.
    Inventors: Kurt Francis O'Connor, James Paul Hoff, Donald James Frasier, Ralph Edward Peeler, Heidi Mueller-Largent, Floyd Freeman Trees, James Rodney Whetstone, John Henry Lane, Ralph Edward Jeffries
  • Patent number: 6071621
    Abstract: A metallized film comprises an opaque, continuous layer of metal on an aliphatic polyurethane substrate. The polyurethane substrate displays a glass transition temperature of about 25.degree. to 110.degree. C. and a melting temperature greater than or equal to 200.degree. C. Decorative articles can be made with the metallized film.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 11, 1993
    Date of Patent: June 6, 2000
    Assignee: 3M Innovative Properties Company
    Inventors: Dennis O. Falaas, Howard C. Raschke
  • Patent number: 6063332
    Abstract: The method of making the metal fiber sintered body includes making a coiled material by coiling a thin sheet of Fe--Cr--Al--La, Fe--Cr--Al--Y or Fe--Cr--Al--Ce stainless steel; making a tow of Fe--Cr--Al--La, Fe--Cr--Al--Y or Fe--Cr--Al--Ce continuous fibers by lathe turning an end face of the coiled material at a tool feed speed of from 5 to 40 .mu.m/rev; extending the tow in a width direction and cutting the tow with a roller type cutting assembly to form Fe--Cr--Al--La, Fe--Cr--Al--Y or Fe--Cr--Al--Ce stainless steel fibers having a fiber length of 20 to 200 mm; feeding the Fe--Cr--Al--La, Fe--Cr--Al--Y or Fe--Cr--Al--Ce stainless steel fibers having the fiber length of 20 to 200 mm to a conveyor; dropping the stainless steel fibers onto the conveyor and dispersing the stainless steel fibers by making an air current act on the stainless steel fibers; transporting the resulting sheet-shaped accumulation on the conveyor and compressing it to form a web and sintering the web.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 25, 1996
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2000
    Assignee: Sintokogio, Ltd.
    Inventors: Masato Imamura, Kiichi Nakajima, Akira Yanagisawa, Masao Kaneko
  • Patent number: 6045929
    Abstract: A plain bearing having a metal backing, a bearing lining secured to the backing and an overlay plated to an interlayer, which is itself plated onto the bearing lining, is disclosed. The bearing lining is formed from an alloy based on aluminum or copper. The overlay is formed of an alloy of zinc with 0.5 to 25% by weight of a metal selected from nickel, cobalt and iron, and the material of the interlayer is selected from nickel and copper.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 27, 1998
    Date of Patent: April 4, 2000
    Assignee: T&N Technology Limited
    Inventors: David Raymond Eastham, Charan Preet Singh Johal
  • Patent number: 6042953
    Abstract: A bi-layer bump comprises a base layer composed of sprayed aluminum thick film having a thickness of about 20 .mu.m formed to cover the periphery of the passivation film formed on each pad electrode, a surface layer composed of sprayed copper thick film having a thickness of about 30 .mu.m formed on the base layer. According to the above-mentioned structure, a substrate on which bumps are formed which has an excellent electric property and connecting reliability, wherein an interlayer insulating layer, an active layer and a multi-layer wiring can be provided under the pad electrode can be obtained.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 18, 1997
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2000
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kazufumi Yamaguchi, Tsutomu Mitani, Mitsuo Asabe
  • Patent number: 6040044
    Abstract: A decorative material including a substrate and an abrasion-resistant coating layer formed thereon. The abrasion-resistant coating layer includes spherical particles (A) having an average particle diameter of 3 to 50 micrometers, and a binder (B) including crosslinkable resins. The amount of the spherical particles (A) is from 5% to 50% by weight of the total amount of the components (A) and (B). The hardness of the spherical particles (A) is higher than of the binder (B), and The average particle diameter d (micrometers) of the spherical particles (A) fulfills the following inequality (1):0.3t.ltoreq.d.ltoreq.3.0t (1)wherein "t" is an average thickness (micrometers) of the coating layer.Thus, the relationship between the average thickness of the coating layer and the average particle diameter of the spherical particles is strictly controlled, so that a decorative material which is excellent in both flexibility and abrasion resistance (scratch resistance) can be successfully obtained.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 1998
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2000
    Assignee: Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kazuhiro Takahashi, Toshitake Kobayashi, Masataka Takemoto, Takashi Matano, Haruo Ono
  • Patent number: 6040067
    Abstract: The invention provides a coated Cu alloy and a process for producing the coated Cu alloy having a surface which has a low coefficient of friction and a high resistance to abrasion and is suitable for fabricating connectors, charging-sockets of electric automobiles etc. The coated Cu alloy is produced by coating the surface of a copper alloy with Sn and heat treating the coated Cu alloy at a temperature in the range of 100-450.degree. C. for 0.5-24 hours. The Cu alloy which is coated with Sn consists of 1-41 wt % Zn with the balance being Cu and incidental impurities. By using the coated Cu alloy, the force of insertion, resistance to abrasion and resistance to corrosion of connectors can be significantly improved.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 9, 1997
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2000
    Assignees: Dowa Mining Co., Ltd., Yazaki Corporation
    Inventors: Akira Sugawara, Yoshitake Hana, Takayoshi Endo, Osamu Sugiyama
  • Patent number: 6036744
    Abstract: A method of making metallic iron in which a compact, containing iron oxide such as iron ore or the like and a carbonaceous reductant such as coal or the like, is used as material, and the iron oxide is reduced through the application of heat, thereby making metallic iron. In the course of this reduction, a shell composed of metallic iron is generated and grown on the surface of the compact, and slag aggregates inside the shell. This reduction continues until substantially no iron oxide is present within the metallic iron shell. Subsequently, heating is further performed to melt the metallic iron and slag. Molten metallic iron and molten slag are separated one from the other, thereby obtaining metallic iron with a relatively high metallization ratio.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 1997
    Date of Patent: March 14, 2000
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Kobe Seiko Sho
    Inventors: Takuya Negami, Kazuo Kunii, Shinichi Inaba, Masataka Shimizu, Isao Kobayashi, Yoshimichi Takenaka, Toshihide Matsumura, Akira Uragami, Takashi Kujirai, Osamu Tsuchiya, Kimio Sugiyama, Shuzo Ito, Shoichi Kikuchi
  • Patent number: 6033755
    Abstract: A base plate wherein the inner barrel of the base plate hub is comprised of two distinct zones. The first zone is an inner diameter sized for use with standard tooling pins in an assembly process as a metric for size control. The second zone is a taper for distributing tension swage force and plastic strain toward the rear part of the hub by making the hub stiffer as the swage ball proceeds downward through the barrel, and for distributing compression swage force and plastic strain toward the rear of the hub by relieving stiffness as the swage ball proceeds upward. A back side slope is provided to prevent washed metal from creating added swage force and plastic strain during swaging in the compression direction. The base plate has a minimal counter bore, a lead-in chamfer which is shallower than typical, a second lead-in chamfer which is very steep and upon which the ball begins to swage, a small inner diameter region to allow for tooling during assembly, and a tapered backside to reduce unneeded material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 16, 1997
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2000
    Assignee: Intri-Plex Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Kevin Hanrahan, Ryan Schmidt
  • Patent number: 6030710
    Abstract: Aluminum alloy sheet is provided with a primer layer comprising a reaction product of aluminum oxide or hydroxide and a vinylphosphonic acid-acrylic acid copolymer, coated with a polymer coating composition containing polyvinyl chloride or an epoxy. The polymer coated aluminum alloy sheet is shaped into container bodies for food containers or container end panels for aluminum food and beverage containers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 1997
    Date of Patent: February 29, 2000
    Assignee: Alcoa Inc.
    Inventors: Gary A. Nitowski, Joseph D. Guthrie, Joseph P. Harenski, Daniel C. Johnson
  • Patent number: 6030709
    Abstract: The invention relates to an electronic component manufactured in thick film technology, thin film technology or silicon technology and then provided with an electrically insulating layer which is covered by an amorphous metal layer. The amorphous metal layer protects the component, even with the smallest of layer thicknesses, from external influences and directly transmits heating and force effects.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 11, 1997
    Date of Patent: February 29, 2000
    Assignee: Grundfos A/S
    Inventors: Niels Due Jensen, Tina Romedahl Brown, Karsten Dyrbye, Per Ellemose Andersen
  • Patent number: 6027821
    Abstract: A contact material for a vacuum interrupter including, a conductive component including at least Cu, and an arc-proof component including at least one selected from the group consisting of carbides of W, Zr, Hf, V and Ti. An amount of the conductive component in the contact material is 40-50 vol %, an amount of the arc-proof component in the contact material is 50-60 vol %, and a grain size of the arc-proof component is 3 .mu.m or less. A total amount of a sintering activator including at least one selected from the group consisting of Co, Fe and Ni melted in the conductive component is 0.1% or less of the amount of the conductive component.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 1996
    Date of Patent: February 22, 2000
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Atsushi Yamamoto, Tsuneyo Seki, Takashi Kusano, Tsutomu Okutomi
  • Patent number: 6027823
    Abstract: A molded article of metal matrix composite (MMC) includes a preform infilted in a casting process with metal or metal alloy, with the preform comprised of a plurality of spaced preform plates arranged in mosaic disposition in at least one plane, or stacked in several planes above one another, and formed with bores. The spacing between neighboring preform plates and the spacing between overlying planes of preform plates are filled with infiltration metal or metal alloy, without permeation of infiltration metal into the bores.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 8, 1996
    Date of Patent: February 22, 2000
    Assignee: Electrovac, Fabrikation elektrotechnischer Specialartikel Ges. m.b.H.
    Inventor: Theodore Nicolas Schmitt
  • Patent number: 6025056
    Abstract: A laminate for can-making is disclosed, comprising a metal sheet and a thermoplastic resin layer provided on the surface of the metal sheet. The thermoplastic resin layer comprises a laminate film layer comprising a polyester-base resin intermediate layer (A) containing 10 wt % or more of coloring agent particles, a polyester-base resin outer surface layer (B) and a polyester-base resin backing layer (C). The outer surface layer (B) and the backing layer (C) each contains the coloring agent particles in an amount of 20 wt % or less and at the same time, in an amount less than that contained in the intermediate layer (A). Also disclosed is a process for making a can using the laminate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 29, 1997
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2000
    Assignee: Toyo Seikan Kaisha, Ltd.
    Inventors: Sachiko Machii, Yoshiki Takesue, Kazuhiro Sato, Tetsuo Miyazawa, Katsuhiro Imazu, Toshio Sue
  • Patent number: 6022632
    Abstract: The invention includes a low activity localized aluminide coating for a metallic article made by positioning a coating material, preferably in the form of a tape, on a portion of the article. The coating material comprises a binder, a halide activator, an aluminum source, and an inert ceramic material. The coating material and the article are heated in an inert atmosphere between about 1800.degree. F. (982.degree. C.) and about 2050.degree. F. (1121.degree. C.) for between about four and about seven hours thereby producing a low activity localized aluminide coating having an outward diffusion aluminide coating microstructure characterized by two distinct zones, an inner diffusion zone and an outer zone including between about 20-28 percent, by weight, aluminum.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 18, 1996
    Date of Patent: February 8, 2000
    Assignee: United Technologies
    Inventors: Walter E. Olson, Norman Pietruska, Peter Jon Draghi
  • Patent number: 6020074
    Abstract: Process for depositing at least one thread or tape (3a, . . . 3d), generally a metal thread or tape, in particular made of magnetic material having a high permeability for an antitheft protection system, on a thin sheet (2) especially a plastic, paper or aluminum sheet, this sheet (2) being able to be joined to another sheet (1) with the thread or tape (3a, . . . 3d) sandwiched between them, the sheet (2) thus furnished with the thread or tape being intended subsequently to be wound up into a reel. The thread or tape (3a. . . 3d) is placed on the sheet (2) along a line (S) which is sinuous with respect to the longitudinal direction (D) of the sheet, the parameters (p, a) of the sinuosity being chosen so that, in a reel formed with the sheet, in one and the same plane passing through the axis of the reel, the thread or tape sections lying in two adjacent turns in the reel and in one and the same plane passing through the axis of the reel are offset transversely.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 1997
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2000
    Assignee: Soplaril S.A.
    Inventors: Salvatore Scandagliato, Didier Seigneur
  • Patent number: 6020077
    Abstract: The invention relates to a transparent substrate, in particular glass substrate, provided with a thin-film stack including at least one metal film with properties in the infrared, in particular a low-emissivity one, arranged between two coatings which each include at least one anti-reflection film based on dielectric material, and at least one protective film based on a sacrificial metal or a partially or fully oxidized sacrificial metal or a sacrificial metal alloy placed between the said metal film and one of the said coatings. According to the invention, the film placed directly below and/or above the said metal film contains at least one of the noble metals Pd, Au, Ir, Pt and Rh. The low-level addition of one or more of these metals to the others, namely the film placed below and/or above the metal film, leads to an increase in the chemical stability and the hardness of the thin-film stack.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 7, 1997
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2000
    Assignee: Saint-Gobain Vitrage
    Inventors: Heinz Schicht, Wulf Haussler, Herbert Schindler, Gerhard Ditzel, Uwe Schmidt, Wilfried Kaiser
  • Patent number: 6020076
    Abstract: A joined ceramic structure including a ceramic member and a metallic joining member joined to each other through a joining layer made of a brazing material wherein a metallic member is buried in the ceramic member in the state that a metal-exposed portion is formed through partial exposure of the metallic member from such a joining surface of the ceramic member as contacting said joining layer, and the ceramic member and the metal-exposed portion are also joined to the joining layer along the joining surface of the ceramic member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 2, 1996
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2000
    Assignee: NGK Insulators, Ltd.
    Inventors: Tomoyuki Fujii, Ryusuke Ushikoshi
  • Patent number: 6017643
    Abstract: In order to provide a hot-dip aluminized steel sheet with increased peeling resistance of the coating layer, the thickness of the Fe--Al--Si alloy-layer is set to be 1-5 .mu.m, while the maximum differential unevenness of thickness of the Fe--Al--Si alloy layer is set to be 0.5-5 .mu.m. The hot-dip aluminized steel sheet is manufactured by controlling an elapsed time from the beginning of immersion of the basemetal steel sheet into the aluminizing bath to the completion of solidification of the coating-metal layer which has passed through the bath. In addition another elapsed time is controlled from the time after the base-metal steel sheet has been guided out over the bath to the completion of solidification of the coating-metal layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 1996
    Date of Patent: January 25, 2000
    Assignee: Nisshin Steel Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Masayuki Kobayashi, Takashi Saori, Masaki Okano
  • Patent number: 6015628
    Abstract: This invention provides an organic composite coated steel sheet comprising, as the base, a zinc or zinc alloy coated steel sheet, which can be used in automobile bodies and electric appliances. The coated steel sheet has excellent press formability with oil, while having excellent perforation corrosion resistance and excellent corrosion resistance in a rust-contaminated environment. The coated steel sheet comprises a zinc or zinc alloy plated steel sheet having, on its surface, a chromate layer and an organic film formed in that order, in which the organic film has a thickness of from 0.1 to 3.0 .mu.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 1997
    Date of Patent: January 18, 2000
    Assignee: NKK Corporation
    Inventors: Kazuya Urata, Naoto Yoshimi, Takahiro Kubota, Masaaki Yamashita, Yasuhiko Haruta