Patents Examined by Kenneth J. Ramsey
  • ARC tube for discharge lamp unit and method of manufacturing same
    Patent number: 6547619
    Abstract: A method of manufacturing an arc tube for a discharge lamp unit, incorporating a primary pinch-sealing step for mounting an electrode assembly in an open end of a glass tube W with a chamber portion 12. The electrode assembly comprises an electrode rod 6, a connecting foil 7 and a lead wire 8 integrally connected in series. The electrode assembly is inserted into an open end of the glass tube W such that a leading end of the electrode rod projects into the chamber portion 12. A temporary pinch seal region L1 of the glass tube W is pinch-sealed such that a portion of the connecting foil that is connected to the lead wire is contacted by the glass tube W. A vacuum is maintained inside the glass tube and a main pinch seal region L2 of the glass tube is pinch-sealed such that a portion of the connecting foil connected to the electrode rod is contacted by the glass tube.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 23, 2000
    Date of Patent: April 15, 2003
    Assignee: Koito Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Nobuo Ohkawai, Yoshitaka Ohshima, Shinichi Irisawa, Masakazu Nagasawa
  • Method for forming barrier structures on a substrate and the resulting article
    Patent number: 6544090
    Abstract: A method for chemically etching of a foam glass layer to provide at least one cavity pattern in the foam glass layer. The method utilizes a substrate with at least one major surface suitable for receiving a glass layer. At least one layer of a glass paste composition in then applied onto the major surface of the substrate. The substrate and glass paste composition are then heated to a temperature sufficient enough to obtain a foam glass layer bonded to the major surface of the substrate. At least a portion of the foam glass layer is chemically etched to obtain at least one cavity pattern in the foam glass layer. The chemical etching of the foam glass layer results in an anisotropic etching rate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 16, 2000
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2003
    Assignee: E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company
    Inventors: Paul R. Anderson, Charles J. Barnhart, Randall J. Cutcher, Jill M. Wyse
  • Plasma display panel and method of manufacturing the same
    Patent number: 6540576
    Abstract: In a plasma display panel, a partition wall defining a discharge space is formed of a thermal-sprayed film formed by thermal spraying of a partition wall material. A process for forming such a partition wall includes the steps of forming a photosensitive coating layer on a substrate; forming an opening having a prescribed pattern in the photosensitive coating layer; depositing the partition wall material to a prescribed height at least inside the opening by a thermal spraying technique, thereby forming the thermal-sprayed film; removing a portion of the thermal-sprayed film bulging out from a surface of the photosensitive coating layer by polishing; and removing the photosensitive coating layer to obtain the partition wall having a prescribed shape.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2000
    Date of Patent: April 1, 2003
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Taku Watanabe, Yuusuke Takada, Shigeo Suzuki, Masaki Aoki
  • Method of manufacturing electron-beam source and image forming apparatus using same, and activation processing method
    Patent number: 6540575
    Abstract: When manufacturing an electron-beam source, an activation is performed. To generate activation material at a plurality of electron-emitting devices; by dividing the plurality of electron-emitting devices into plural groups and sequentially applying voltage to each group.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 15, 1999
    Date of Patent: April 1, 2003
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Noritake Suzuki, Hidetoshi Suzuki, Eiji Yamaguchi
  • Method of manufacturing barrier ribs of plasma display panel
    Patent number: 6537120
    Abstract: Barrier ribs of a plasma display panel are manufactured by a) forming barrier ribs having predetermined thicknesses on a substrate where electrodes are formed, b) heating the barrier ribs to a maximum baking temperature to bake the barrier ribs, c) cooling the barrier ribs to an intermediate temperature lower than the maximum baking temperature, d) pressing upper portions of the barrier ribs by using a planarization roller at the intermediate temperature so as to make upper surfaces of the barrier ribs plane, and e) cooling the barrier ribs to a room temperature.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 16, 2000
    Date of Patent: March 25, 2003
    Assignee: Samsung SDI Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Min-sun Yoo
  • Methods of manufacturing aperture fluorescent lamp and surface illuminator
    Patent number: 6533633
    Abstract: A relatively small-diameter aperture fluorescent lamp is manufactured easily with high yield and at low cost. An aperture portion is formed in a manner that a thread-like member is inserted into a glass tube having an ultraviolet ray reflection layer and a phosphor layer formed on its inner surface, the glass tube is bent in a predetermined shape by using a bending jig, the thread-like member is pressed to the phosphor layer formed in a predetermined region in the bending member side of the glass tube while both ends thereof are pulled tight, the thread-like member is reciprocated, and phosphor of the phosphor layer in this region is exfoliated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2001
    Date of Patent: March 18, 2003
    Assignee: NEC Corporation
    Inventor: Shin-Ichirou Ono
  • Method of manufacturing spark plug and spark plug
    Patent number: 6533628
    Abstract: A noble metal chip 31′ is superimposed on a surface of a central electrode 3 made of a heat resisting alloy, the main component of which is Ni or Fe, to which the chip is secured so that a superimposed assembly 70 is constituted. A perimeter laser weld portion 10 across the noble metal chip 31′ and a chip securing surface forming portion is formed around the outer surface of the chip of the superimposed assembly 70. Thus, the noble metal chip 31′ is secured to the chip securing surface so that a noble-metal igniting portion 31 is constituted. To form the perimeter laser weld portion 10 which has a maximum outer dimension dmax which is smaller than 2.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 10, 2000
    Date of Patent: March 18, 2003
    Assignee: NGK Spark Plug Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Wataru Matsutani
  • Vacuum device and method of manufacturing plasma display device
    Patent number: 6533630
    Abstract: A vacuum display device for enabling the manufacture of high quality plasma display device with high throughput. A front panel 6 constituting a plasma display device is carried into a film deposition chamber 22; and a MgO thin film is deposited in a vacuum atmosphere. The front panel 6 is then carried into an alignment chamber 11 without being exposed to the atmosphere and aligned with a rear panel 7 that has been subjected to degassing in a vacuum atmosphere. There is no absorption of gas, such as moisture; and the quality of the thin film is not degraded. After alignment, aging processing is carried out without exposure to the atmosphere, followed by gas encapsulation and hermetic sealing, which further increases throughput.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 26, 2000
    Date of Patent: March 18, 2003
    Assignee: Nihon Shinku Gijutsu Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Ryuuichi Terajima, Yukio Masuda, Toshiharu Kurauchi, Ken Momono, Yoshio Sunaga, Hidenori Suwa, Kyuzo Nakamura
  • Method of evacuating and sealing flat panel displays and flat panel displays using same
    Patent number: 6533632
    Abstract: A method of evacuating and sealing the space between the baseplate and the faceplate of a field emission display. A frit bead is formed around the perimeter of the baseplate, and is then heated to a temperature at which a plurality of surface irregularities are formed on the surface of the bead. After the faceplate is placed on top of the frit bead, the panels are placed in a vacuum, and the space between the plates is evacuated through gaps in the frit bead formed by the surface irregularities. After the space between the plates has been evacuated, the frit bead is heated to a temperature that is high enough to allow the frit to at least partially flow. A compressive force applied between the plates compresses the frit bead, thereby bonding the frit bead to the plates. The plates are then allowed to cool before removing the plates from the vacuum.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 18, 1999
    Date of Patent: March 18, 2003
    Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
    Inventor: Danny Dynka
  • Spark plug including a wear-resistant electrode tip made from a co-extruded composite material, and method of making same
    Patent number: 6533629
    Abstract: A method of making a spark plug involves attaching a wear-resistant electrode tip to an electrode, in which the electrode tip incorporates two or more co-extruded metals, in which one of the metals is present in the form of one or more oriented strands disposed in a supportive matrix of the second metal. Preferably, one of the materials used in fabricating the tip is a noble metal, which may be selected from the group consisting of platinum, iridium, and alloys which include one or both of these metals. A wear-resistant spark plug electrode tip according to the invention is preferred to be made in a post or rivet shape, and a rivet is most preferred. A spark plug electrode tip according to the present invention may be attached to the center electrode of a spark plug, to the side electrode, or to both of the center and side electrodes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 1999
    Date of Patent: March 18, 2003
    Assignee: AlliedSignal Inc.
    Inventors: Jeffrey T. Boehler, Gary B. Zulauf
  • Spacers, display devices containing the same, and methods for making and using the same
    Patent number: 6530814
    Abstract: A display device and a method for making and operating the display device are described. The display device comprises a base plate containing at least one emitter, a display screen, and a spacer located between the base plate and display screen, where the spacer has a high concentration of an emitter-cleaning material. The spacer may comprise a xerogel or aerogel material and the emitter-cleaning material may comprise hydrogen. The spacer and a method for making the spacer and using the spacer to clean an emitter are also described. The spacer material cleans the emitter by absorbing gases during fabrication of the display device and desorbing emitter-cleaning gases during operation of the display device. By keeping the emitter clean, the spacer retains the work function of the emitter at a low level, thereby prolonging the usefulness of the display device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2000
    Date of Patent: March 11, 2003
    Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Jim Browning, Surjit S. Chadha
  • Liquid metal ion source and method for producing the same
    Patent number: 6531811
    Abstract: A liquid metal ion source comprises a reservoir storing a metal to be ionized and a needle electrode to which the metal is fed from the reservoir wherein the size of small pits formed in at least a cone surface of the needle electrode is 0.1 &mgr;m-1.5 &mgr;m and the small pits exist in the cone surface of the needle electrode in a density of 5×104 number/mm2-5×106 number/mm2 the small pits being formed by chemically etching.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 28, 2000
    Date of Patent: March 11, 2003
    Assignee: Denki Kagaku Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Naoya Kudo, Katsuyoshi Tsunoda, Yoshinori Terui
  • Process for producing display device
    Patent number: 6524153
    Abstract: An electrophoretic display device distributes an electrophoretic liquid mixture containing electrophoretic particles to respective pixels in substantially equal amounts, thereby obviating a display density fluctuation due to a difference in distributed amount of the electrophoretic particles at the respective pixels. The equal distribution is performed through a process including the use of a temporary adsorbing member carrying the electrophoretic particles in an electrostatically adsorbed form in a pattern corresponding to an arrangement pattern, followed by transfer of the electrophoretic particles to the respective pixels, or a process including distribution of a distribution liquid containing the electrophoretic particles to the respective pixels followed by a step of adding the dispersion liquid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 12, 2000
    Date of Patent: February 25, 2003
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Tsutomu Ikeda, Masahiro Nakanishi
  • Focusing electrode and method for field emission displays
    Patent number: 6524154
    Abstract: A high resolution field emission display includes a faceplate and a baseplate. The faceplate includes a transparent viewing layer, a transparent conductive layer formed on the transparent viewing layer and intersecting stripes of light-absorbing, opaque insulating material formed on the transparent conductive layer. The insulating material defines openings less than one hundred microns wide between the intersecting stripes. The faceplate also includes a plurality of localized regions of cathodoluminescent material, each formed in one of the openings. The cathodoluminescent material includes a metal oxide providing reduced resistivity in the cathodoluminescent material. Significantly, the reduced resistivity of the cathodoluminescent material together with the focusing effect of the insulating material provide increased acuity in luminous images formed on the faceplate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 16, 2002
    Date of Patent: February 25, 2003
    Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Zhongyi Xia, Jimmy J. Browning, Charles M. Watkins, David A. Cathey
  • Cold cathode field emission device, process for the production thereof, and cold cathode field emission display
    Patent number: 6520820
    Abstract: A cold cathode field emission device comprising; (A) a cathode electrode formed on a support, (B) an insulating layer formed on the support and the cathode electrode, (C) a gate electrode formed on the insulating layer, (D) an opening portion which penetrates through the gate electrode and the insulating layer, and (E) an electron emitting portion which is positioned at a bottom portion of the opening portion and has a tip portion having a conical form and being composed of a crystalline conductive material, the tip portion of the electron emitting portion having a crystal boundary nearly perpendicular to the cathode electrode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 5, 2001
    Date of Patent: February 18, 2003
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Shinji Kubota, Kazuo Kikuchi, Hiroshi Sata
  • Device package and device encapsulation method
    Patent number: 6520821
    Abstract: In a device encapsulation method, an organic EL device is formed on a substrate. An encapsulation cap is placed on the substrate to surround the device and thereafter an end face of the cap is welded on at least the substrate. A device package is also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 12, 1999
    Date of Patent: February 18, 2003
    Assignee: NEC Corporation
    Inventors: Ikuko Ishii, Yoshikazu Sakaguchi
  • Organic EL panel and method for manufacturing the same
    Patent number: 6520819
    Abstract: For an organic EL panel, whereon partitions are used to separate pixels, transparent electrodes, a charge generation layer and a charge transfer layer are formed in the named order on a substrate. Then, when the charge transfer layer is electrified and the charge generation layer is selectively exposed, an electrostatic latent image having a predetermined pattern is formed on the charge transfer layer. Subsequently, to form the partitions, the electrostatic latent image is developed by using a developing agent and the developing agent is fixed. Following this, emission layers and opposing electrodes to the transparent electrodes are positioned between the thus obtained partitions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 2000
    Date of Patent: February 18, 2003
    Assignee: NEC Corporation
    Inventor: Yoshikazu Sakaguchi
  • Process for forming a film on a substrate having a field emitter
    Patent number: 6517405
    Abstract: A process for forming a film on a substrate having a field emitter is disclosed. The substrate and field emitter are cleaned by hydrogen plasma to remove the impurities. Next, a silicon carbide film is selectively formed over said field emitter. A negative bias voltage of about 150 V to about 300 V is applied to substrate for increasing the nucleation sites of said silicon carbide film. Afterward, the negative bias voltage is stopped so as to grow a carbon-containing film from said silicon carbide film.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 13, 2000
    Date of Patent: February 11, 2003
    Assignee: National Science Council
    Inventors: Huang-Chung Cheng, Fu Gow Tarntair, Wei Kai Hong
  • Method of manufacturing spacer, method of manufacturing image forming apparatus using spacer, and apparatus for manufacturing spacer
    Patent number: 6517399
    Abstract: This invention has as its object to easily form a low-cost spacer having a low-resistance film (electrode) without using any exhaust device. This invention provides a method of manufacturing a spacer interposed between the first substrate having an image forming member and the second substrate having an electron-emitting device, including the steps of preparing a glass preform, stretching part of the glass preform while heating the glass preform by a heater, and cutting the stretched glass preform into a desired length, wherein the stretching step has the step of feeding the glass preform at a velocity v1 toward the heater, and stretching the glass preform heated by the heater in a direction away from the heater at a velocity v2, and the velocities v1 and v2 have different speeds and satisfy a relation: v1<v2.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 21, 1999
    Date of Patent: February 11, 2003
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Nobuhiro Ito, Kunihiro Sakai, Masahiro Fushimi
  • Visual display
    Patent number: 6517403
    Abstract: The apparatus for sealing face plates (753) and cathodes (754) has three stations (701, 702, 703). The first (701) is a preheater, the second (702) is an alignment and irradiation station and the third (703) is a controlled cooling station. Beneath each station, a vacuum pump (710) capable of drawing ultralow pressures is provided. The preheater is equipped with upper and lower banks of radiant heaters and reflectors (712). The upper heaters are Provided above a quartz: window (713) of a chamber (714) constituting the station. The pressure in the preheater is pumped down to that in the alignment and irradiation station prior to opening of the gate valve between them and transfer of the face plate and cathode. At the alignment and irradiation station, further heaters (716) are provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2000
    Date of Patent: February 11, 2003
    Inventors: Anthony John Cooper, Floyd R Pothoven