Patents Examined by Lisa Herring
  • Patent number: 9181126
    Abstract: A glass layer fixing method for manufacturing a glass layer fixing member by fixing a glass layer to a first glass member, includes the steps of disposing the glass layer on the first glass member along a region to be fused, the glass layer containing a glass powder and a laser-absorbing material and irradiating the region to be fused therealong with a first laser beam, so as to melt the glass layer, fix the glass layer to the first glass member, and increase a laser absorptance of the glass layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 6, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 10, 2015
    Assignee: HAMAMATSU PHOTONICS K.K.
    Inventors: Satoshi Matsumoto, Toshimitsu Wakuda
  • Patent number: 9169151
    Abstract: A manufacturing method that enables stably making a high-quality optical fiber is provided. The manufacturing method of the present invention comprises: a softened portion falling step in which an optical fiber preform is heated in a heating furnace and a dropping part of softened portion of the preform thus heat-softened is allowed to drop; and a drawing step for drawing the preform such that the softened glass is drawn into a fiber by applying a tension with a take-up means after the softened portion falling step, whereas the preform is rotated about its axis at the softened portion falling step.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 27, 2015
    Assignee: SUMITOMO ELECTRIC INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventors: Yuji Abe, Ryutaro Miyazaki
  • Patent number: 9162918
    Abstract: An apparatus for manufacturing an optical fiber is provided. The apparatus includes a spindle having a bore for receiving a preform of the optical fiber along a longitudinal axis defined by the spindle. A plurality of work holding devices are positioned apart from each other along the longitudinal axis of the spindle and configured to secure the preform against the spindle at two or more distinct positions when the preform is spinning. The plurality of work holding devices comprises any combination of chucks, collets, cams, set screws, or shims. A position of at least one of the work holding device is adjustable to shift the preform away from the longitudinal axis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 20, 2015
    Assignee: OFS FITEL, LLC
    Inventor: Roy M. Ortiz
  • Patent number: 9150451
    Abstract: A glass layer fixing method for manufacturing a glass layer fixing member by fixing a glass layer to a first glass member, includes the steps of disposing the glass layer on the first glass member along a region to be fused, the glass layer containing a glass powder and a laser-absorbing material and irradiating the region to be fused therealong with a first laser beam, so as to melt the glass layer, fix the glass layer to the first glass member, and increase a laser absorptance of the glass layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 6, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 6, 2015
    Assignee: HAMAMATSU PHOTONICS K.K.
    Inventors: Satoshi Matsumoto, Toshimitsu Wakuda
  • Patent number: 9139470
    Abstract: The invention relates to a chemical process for obtaining glass with a total or partial satin/matte finish, comprising immersion in an acid solution, for the simultaneous and continuous production of one or more parts and/or sheets of glass having standard, special or variable dimensions, thicknesses, colours, uses and applications. The inventive process can be used to obtain glass with a total or partial satin/matte finish in a simultaneous and continuous manner either on one or both sides of the glass (atmospheric side and tinned side) or of several glass sheets and/or parts at the same time, with different thicknesses, measurements, colours, uses, specifications and characteristics, said process being performed simultaneously by means of immersion. According to the invention, containers of glass sheets are immersed in containers of chemical solutions using a variable-speed transport immersion crane.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2005
    Date of Patent: September 22, 2015
    Inventor: Juan Luis Rendon Granados
  • Patent number: 9108876
    Abstract: Manufacturing an optical fiber by using an outside vapor deposition technique for making a substrate, applying one or more layers to the substrate using a radial pressing technique to form a soot blank, sintering the soot blank in the presence of a gaseous refractive index-modifying dopant, and drawing the sintered soot blank, provides a more efficient and cost effective process for generating complex refractive index profiles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 27, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 18, 2015
    Assignee: Corning Incorporated
    Inventors: Steven Bruce Dawes, Dominick Fiordimalva, Timothy Leonard Hunt, Douglas Hull Jennings
  • Patent number: 9108877
    Abstract: Provided is a glass base material elongation method for elongating a glass base material with a large diameter to manufacture a glass rod with a smaller diameter, the method comprising, when elongating a glass base material that has a transparent glass tapered portion at one end of a trunk portion and a glass tapered portion including a non-transparent glass portion at the other end of the trunk portion, prior to the elongation, fusing a hanging dummy to an end of the transparent glass tapered portion, setting the hanging dummy in communication with a feeding mechanism, inserting the glass base material into a heating furnace beginning with the other end, and performing elongation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 18, 2015
    Assignee: Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Tetsuya Otosaka
  • Patent number: 9108873
    Abstract: A glass-substrate manufacturing method according to an aspect of the invention is a method for manufacturing glass substrates by employing a down-draw process. In down-draw processing, a molten glass is made to overflow from a forming member and formed into a sheet glass and the sheet glass is then cooled while being drawn in a downward-flow direction. In this glass-substrate manufacturing method, after the sheet glass has separated from the forming member and when the temperature of the sheet glass is within a temperature region ranging from a temperature higher than the softening point to a temperature near the annealing point, the sheet glass is cooled by maintaining the viscosity of side sections of the sheet glass within a range of 109.0-1014.5 poise while applying a tension toward the side sections.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 18, 2015
    Assignee: AvanStrate Inc.
    Inventors: Nobuhiro Maeda, Hiroyuki Kariya
  • Patent number: 9102566
    Abstract: A method of manufacturing a reinforced plate glass by which glass surface strength is sufficiently increased, and a stable quality reinforced plate glass is manufactured at high production efficiency. The reinforced plate glass is formed of an inorganic oxide glass, and is provided with a compression stress layer by chemical reinforcement on plate surfaces opposed to each other in a plate thickness direction. Plate end faces have regions where a compression stress is formed and regions where no compression stress is formed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 11, 2015
    Assignee: NIPPON ELECTRIC GLASS CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Masahiro Sawada
  • Patent number: 9096464
    Abstract: This optical fiber manufacturing method includes: forming a bare optical fiber by drawing an optical fiber preform; forming an intermediate optical fiber by providing a coating layer, which is formed of resin, on the outer periphery of the bare optical fiber; performing primary curing of the coating layer which forms the intermediate optical fiber; pressing the outer periphery of the intermediate optical fiber; and performing secondary curing of the pressed coating layer of the intermediate optical fiber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 4, 2015
    Assignee: FUJIKURA LTD.
    Inventor: Kenji Okada
  • Patent number: 9096455
    Abstract: The present invention is generally directed to a photonic bad gap fiber and/or fiber preform with a central structured region comprising a first non-silica based glass and a jacket comprising a second non-silica based glass surrounding the central structured region, where the Littleton softening temperature of the second glass is at least one but no more than ten degrees Celsius lower than the Littleton softening temperature of the first glass, or where the base ten logarithm of the glass viscosity in poise of the second glass is at least 0.01 but no more than 2 lower than the base ten logarithm of the glass viscosity in poise of the first glass at a fiber draw temperature. Also disclosed is a method of making a photonic bad gap fiber and/or fiber preform.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 4, 2015
    Assignee: The United States of America, as represented by the Secretary of the Navy
    Inventors: Daniel J. Gibson, Jasbinder S. Sanghera, Frederic H. Kung, Ishwar D. Aggarwal
  • Patent number: 9096452
    Abstract: Methods and systems for de-stabilizing foam produced in submerged combustion melters. A molten mass of glass and bubbles is flowed into an apparatus downstream of a submerged combustion melter. The downstream apparatus includes a floor, a roof and a wall connecting the floor and roof, but is devoid of submerged combustion burners and other components that would increase turbulence of the molten mass. The molten mass has foam on at least a portion of a top surface of the molten mass. Certain methods include imposing a de-stabilizing force directly to the foam or to the molten mass and foam, where the de-stabilizing force may be a vibratory force, an acoustic wave force, a particulate-based force, or a non-particulate-based mechanical force. Systems for carrying out the methods are described.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 3, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 4, 2015
    Assignee: Johns Manville
    Inventors: Mark William Charbonneau, Aaron Morgan Huber
  • Patent number: 9090503
    Abstract: Methods of manufacturing and coating a glass container by applying an aminofunctional silane coating composition to an exterior surface of the glass container, and then curing the silane coating composition to form a crosslinked siloxane coating on the exterior surface of the glass container.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 28, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 28, 2015
    Assignee: Owens-Brockway Glass Container Inc.
    Inventors: Pramod K. Sharma, Scott Cooper, Michael P. Remington, Jr., Carol A. Click
  • Patent number: 9085480
    Abstract: There is provided a method of manufacturing a vitreous silica crucible having a suitably controlled inner surface property. The present invention provides a method of manufacturing a vitreous silica crucible by heating and fusing a silica powder layer in a rotating mold by arc discharge generated by carbon electrodes including: a preparation process for determining optimal fusing temperatures during heating and fusing the silica powder layer at plural points of different heights of the silica powder layer; a temperature measuring process for measuring actual temperatures during heating and fusing the silica powder layer at the plural points; a temperature controlling process for controlling the actual temperatures at the plural points so that the actual temperatures matches the optimal fusing temperatures at the respective points.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 27, 2011
    Date of Patent: July 21, 2015
    Assignee: JAPAN SUPER QUARTZ CORPORATION
    Inventors: Toshiaki Sudo, Eriko Suzuki
  • Patent number: 9086524
    Abstract: A method for manufacturing an optical fiber preform, including: a) providing a lining tube as a substrate tube, and doping and depositing by a PCVD or an MCVD process; b) in the reacting gas of silicon tetrachloride and oxygen, introducing a fluorine-containing gas for fluorine doping, introducing germanium tetrachloride for germanium doping, ionizing the reacting gas in the lining tube through microwaves to form plasma, depositing the plasma on the inner wall of the lining tube in the form of glass; c) after the completion of deposition, processing the deposited lining tube into a solid core rod by melting contraction through an electric heating furnace; d) sleeving the solid core rod into a pure quartz glass jacketing tube and manufacturing the two into an optical fiber preform; and e) allowing the effective diameter d of the optical fiber preform to become between 95 and 205 mm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 4, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 21, 2015
    Assignee: Yangtze Optical Fibre and Cable Joint Stock Limited Company
    Inventors: Chen Yang, Qingrong Han, Weijun Tong, Jie Luo, Yongtao Liu
  • Patent number: 9085482
    Abstract: In order to provide a glass base material elongating apparatus that can safely elongate a glass base material in an extendable top chamber without damaging a flange, provided is a glass base material elongating apparatus comprising a heating furnace; an extendable top chamber formed of a multilayer cylinder disposed above the heating furnace; a glass base material hanging mechanism that hangs a glass base material into the heating furnace and the extendable top chamber; and a top chamber lifting mechanism. A flange is formed on a top portion of an outermost tube of the multilayer cylinder, and the top chamber lifting mechanism includes a cylinder support member that supports the flange from below and a cylinder lifting member that lifts up the cylinder support member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 1, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 21, 2015
    Assignee: Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Tetsuya Otosaka
  • Patent number: 9086538
    Abstract: A method for fusion splicing of a holey optical fiber with a cladding having a large number of air holes along the axis thereof to another optical fiber includes the use of arc discharge heating. First, the method uses arc discharge heating such that the temperature of a position rearward of an end surface of the holey optical fiber is higher than the temperature of the end surface, thereby making a tip portion of the holey optical fiber transparent. Next, the cores are aligned with one another. Then the method includes performing fusion splicing by second arc discharge heating. The first arc discharge heating is performed between discharge electrodes positioned rearward of the end surface of the holey optical fiber. The arc heating time of the first arc discharge heating is preferably 200 to 400 milliseconds.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 7, 2011
    Date of Patent: July 21, 2015
    Assignee: SEI Optifrontier Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Soichi Endo, Osamu Ikejima, Kazunari Hattori
  • Patent number: 9073774
    Abstract: Glass manufacturing apparatuses with particulate removal devices and methods for using the same are disclosed. In one embodiment, a fusion draw machine for forming a glass web from molten glass includes an enclosure and a first pull roll and a second pull roll rotatably positioned in an interior of an enclosure. The first pull roll and the second pull roll cooperate to draw a glass web in a draw direction. A particulate removal device for removing particulate matter from the interior of the enclosure is fluidly coupled to the enclosure and includes a vacuum nozzle disposed in the interior of the enclosure and fluidly coupled to a vacuum source with a vacuum line. A particulate filter is fluidly coupled to the vacuum nozzle and the vacuum source and traps particulate matter exhausted from the interior of the enclosure through the vacuum nozzle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 7, 2015
    Assignee: Corning Incorporated
    Inventors: Robert Delia, Ahdi El Kahlout
  • Patent number: 9061935
    Abstract: A method for producing synthetic quartz glass comprises providing a liquid SiO2 feedstock material containing mainly octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane D4, vaporizing the SiO2 feedstock material into a feedstock vapor, converting the feedstock vapor into SiO2 particles, depositing the SiO2 particles on a deposition surface while forming a porous SiO2 soot body. and vitrifying the SiO2 soot body while forming the synthetic quartz glass. To produce large—volume cylindrical soot bodies with outer diameters of more than 300 mm of improved material homogeneity. the liquid feedstock material contains additional components comprising hexarnethylcyciotrisilxane D3 and its linear homolog with a weight fraction mD3, dodecamethylcyclohexasiloxane D6 and its linear homolog with a weight fraction mD6, and tetradecamethylcycloheptasiloxane D7 and/or hexadecamethylcyclooctasiloxane D8 and its linear homologs with a weight fraction mD7+. The weight ratio mD3/mD6 is in a range between 0.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 23, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 23, 2015
    Assignee: Heraeus Quarzglas GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventor: Heinz Fabian
  • Patent number: 9038416
    Abstract: A glass-substrate manufacturing method which includes a forming step and a cooling step. In the forming step, a molten glass is formed into a sheet glass by a down-draw process. In the cooling step, the sheet glass is cooled. The cooling step includes first, second and third coating steps as defined herein.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 26, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 26, 2015
    Assignee: AvanStrate Inc.
    Inventor: Hiroyuki Kariya