Patents Examined by Melody Tsui
  • Patent number: 10766986
    Abstract: Rotomolded polyethylene containers that are used to store sulfuric acid can become discolored on the interior surface which is in contact with the acid. This problem may be mitigated by the use of an additive package that contains two primary antioxidants.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 2, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 8, 2020
    Assignee: NOVA Chemicals (International) S.A.
    Inventors: Henry Hay, Derek Wasylenko, Tony Tikuisis, Gilbert Arnould
  • Patent number: 10759230
    Abstract: A pneumatic vehicle tire has at least a tread with an outer tread cap with a profiled tread surface, an inner tread base and at least one electrically conductive conductivity strip. The conductivity strip extends in a radial direction from the tread base, through the tread cap, to the tread surface. The tire further includes an electrically non-conductive belt bandage arranged under the tread base and the belt bandage has a multiplicity of gaps, a multi-ply belt, a carcass and side walls. The gaps in the belt bandage are filled with an electrically conductive material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 17, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2020
    Assignee: CONTINENTAL REIFEN DEUTSCHLAND GMBH
    Inventors: Axel Binder, Gerrit Bolz
  • Patent number: 10759100
    Abstract: An injection molding machine is equipped with a screw having a spline shaft formed with a spline on an outer circumferential surface, a bush having a spline hole formed with a spline on an inner circumferential surface, a linear motion motor for moving the bush in an axial direction of the screw, a rotational motion motor for rotating the bush about an axis of the screw, and a motor control unit which, in the case of fitting the spline shaft in the spline hole, controls the linear motion motor to advance the bush in a direction approaching the screw in a state that the bush and the screw are separated, and which controls the rotational motion motor to rotate the bush when the acquired output torque becomes equal to or larger than a first predetermined torque.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2020
    Assignee: FANUC CORPORATION
    Inventor: Mitsuhiro Ono
  • Patent number: 10758978
    Abstract: An additive manufacturing apparatus includes a platform, one or more supports positioned above the platform, an actuator, a first powder dispenser that is attached to and moves with a first support from the one or more supports and is configured to selectively dispense a first powder onto the build area, a first binder material dispenser configured to selectively dispense a first binder material on a voxel-by-voxel basis to an uppermost layer of powder in the build area to form a volume of the layer having powder and binder material and corresponding to a cross-sectional portion of a part being built, a third dispensing system configured to deliver a densification material to the layer of powder or the combined layer of powder and binder material, and an energy source configured to emit radiation toward the platform so as to solidify the binder material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 21, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2020
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Hou T. Ng, Nag B. Patibandla, Daihua Zhang
  • Patent number: 10744823
    Abstract: A tire comprises a tread portion having an outboard tread edge To and an inboard tread edge Ti. The tread portion is provided with: an outboard shoulder main groove extending continuously in the tire circumferential direction; an outboard crown main groove extending continuously in the tire circumferential direction and disposed between the outboard shoulder main groove and a tire equator; and outboard lateral grooves extending from the outboard crown main groove to the outboard tread edge To. The groove width of each of the outboard lateral grooves is decreased toward the outboard crown main groove 4.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 5, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 18, 2020
    Assignee: SUMITOMO RUBBER INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventor: Yuki Fujimoto
  • Patent number: 10745828
    Abstract: A process for preparing a PANOX fiber comprising: obtaining an acrylonitrile copolymer, wherein the copolymer contains at least about 2% by weight itaconic acid comonomer; forming a spin dope from the copolymer; wet spinning the spin dope to obtain gelled filaments; contacting the gelled filaments with ammonia activator in an aqueous imbibation bath; bundling the gelled filaments to obtain a fiber; removing solvent from the fiber; drawing the fiber; densifying the fiber by heating the fiber up to about 400 degrees C. for a time of about 15 minutes in a rapid densification zone; and withdrawing a PANOX fiber from the densification zone.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 18, 2020
    Assignee: International Fibers, LTD
    Inventor: W. Kenneth Wilkinson
  • Patent number: 10737411
    Abstract: A system for fabricating composite parts efficiently. Pre-impregnated (prepreg) composite material is drawn as a sheet from a roll and fed by advancement rollers into a stamping and molding station in which a piece of the prepreg material is cut, on a mold, from the sheet. Pressure is applied to cause the prepreg material to conform to a surface of the mold, and the prepreg is cured with ultraviolet light. Additional layers of prepreg may be cut and cured on any layers that have already been cured on the mold. The complete part may be removed from the mold with ejector pins. Scrap prepreg may be recycled in a recycling station that separates reinforcing fiber from uncured resin.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 29, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 11, 2020
    Assignee: HRL Laboratories, LLC
    Inventors: Jacob M. Hundley, Eric C. Clough, Zak C. Eckel
  • Patent number: 10730240
    Abstract: An additive manufacturing apparatus includes a platform, a dispenser to dispense a plurality of layers of feed material on a top surface of the platform, and an energy delivery system. The energy deliver system includes a light source to emit a light beam, and a reflective member having a plurality of reflective facets. The reflective member is positioned in a path of the light beam to receive the light beam and redirect the light beam toward the top surface of the platform to deliver energy to an uppermost layer of the layers of feed material to fuse the feed material. The reflective member is rotatable such that sequential facets sweep the light beam sequentially along a path on the uppermost layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 4, 2020
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Hou T. Ng, Nag B. Patibandla, Ajey M. Joshi, Raanan Zehavi, Jeffrey L. Franklin, Kashif Maqsood
  • Patent number: 10730782
    Abstract: Provided is a method that can manufacture a glass material having excellent homogeneity by containerless levitation. A block (12) of glass raw material is heated and melted by irradiation with a plurality of laser beams with the block (12) of glass raw material held levitated, thus obtaining a molten glass, and the molten glass is then cooled to obtain a glass material. The plurality of laser beams include a first laser beam (13A) and a second laser beam (13B). A size (?) of an angle formed between the first laser beam (13A) and the second laser beam (13B) is 0° or more but less than 180°. A center (C1) of a spot (S1) of the first laser beam (13A) on the surface of the block (12) of glass raw material and a center (C2) of a spot (S2) of the second laser beam (13B) on the surface of the block 12 of glass raw material are different from each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 4, 2020
    Assignee: NIPPON ELECTRIC GLASS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Tomoko Yamada, Fumio Sato
  • Patent number: 10723177
    Abstract: A pneumatic tire having a carcass and a belt reinforcing structure, the belt reinforcing structure comprising: a zigzag belt reinforcing structure formed of a strip of one or more reinforcement cords, the strip of one or more reinforcement cords being inclined at 5 to 30 degrees relative to the centerplane of the tire extending in alternation to turnaround points at each lateral edge, wherein the zigzag strip of cords is formed from two different reinforcement cords made of different materials, and a low angle belt of the tire has a higher EPI than the zigzag belt.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2016
    Date of Patent: July 28, 2020
    Assignee: The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
    Inventors: Joanne Elizabeth Shaw, Frank Anthony Kmiecik, Leonard James Reiter
  • Patent number: 10723063
    Abstract: An apparatus for manufacturing a molded body assembly includes: a to-be-molded body holder configured to hold a to-be-molded body placed thereon; a raw material roll placement portion in which a mold raw material roll is placed; a mold holder configured to hold a leading edge portion of an uncut mold extending from the mold raw material roll, and to move relative to the to-be-molded body holder; a transfer unit configured to transfer a fine transfer pattern of the uncut mold to the to-be-molded body placed on and held by the to-be-molded body holder, a cutting unit; and a controller configured to control the to-be-molded body holder, the mold holder, the transfer unit, and the cutting unit configured to cut the uncut mold at a predetermined position in a longitudinal direction thereof, thereby manufacturing a mold body assembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 1, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 28, 2020
    Assignee: TOSHIBA KIKAI KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Mitsunori Kokubo, Yuki Sugiura, Toru Suzuki, Terukatsu Kuboki
  • Patent number: 10717266
    Abstract: A filament cutting device for a three-dimensional (3D) printer, the 3D printer including an extruder assembly that is configured to extrude filament onto a printing platform, the filament cutting device including: a first portion attached to the extruder assembly of the 3D printer and a second portion, where each of at least one of the first and second portions includes a respective cutting edge for cutting the filament.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 2016
    Date of Patent: July 21, 2020
    Assignee: Robert Bosch Tool Corporation
    Inventor: Bennet Hoffman
  • Patent number: 10710415
    Abstract: A tire includes a tread portion being provided with a circumferentially and continuously extending outboard shoulder main groove, a circumferentially and continuously extending outboard crown main groove disposed between the outboard shoulder main groove and a tire equator, and an outboard middle land portion disposed between the outboard shoulder main groove and the outboard crown main groove. The outboard middle land portion is provided with a plurality of first outboard middle lug grooves extending from the outboard crown main groove and terminating within the outboard middle land portion, and a plurality of second outboard middle lug grooves extending from the outboard shoulder main groove and terminating within the outboard middle land portion, wherein the second outboard middle lug grooves are larger than the first outboard middle lug grooves in length in a tire axial direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 14, 2020
    Assignee: SUMITOMO RUBBER INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventors: Tomoyuki Mukai, Naoya Nagahara, Shingo Nobukuni, Eiki Osawa
  • Patent number: 10710291
    Abstract: A front panel for on-board liquid crystal displays has a high hardness resin composition (B) on at least one side of a layer containing a resin (A) having a polycarbonate resin (a1). The front panel satisfies the following conditions (i) to (iv): (i) the thickness of the layer containing a high hardness resin composition (B) is 10 to 250 ?m, and the total thickness of the layer containing a resin (A) comprising a polycarbonate resin (a1) and the layer containing a high hardness resin composition (B) is 100 to 3,000 ?m; (ii) the high hardness resin composition (B) consists of any one of specific resin compositions (B1) to (B3); (iii) the retardation of the front panel is 3,000 nm or more; and (iv) the standard deviation of the second derivative of the irregular shape of the hard coat layer having irregularities is 0.1 or more.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 14, 2020
    Assignees: MITSUBISHI GAS CHEMICAL COMPANY, INC., MGC FILSHEET CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Hirokazu Takenaka, Yasuo Oose, Takuya Goto
  • Patent number: 10703122
    Abstract: A method for matching and tracking workpieces in laser etching operation includes generating by the computer a label image that uniquely identifies the workpiece, moving a laser head to the workpiece, setting the laser head to a first power level by a power controller, etching the product image on the workpiece using a laser beam emitted from the laser head, wherein the laser beam is modulated at the first power level in accordance with a product image in a pixel wise fashion across the workpiece, moving the laser head to the label by the transport mechanism, setting the laser head to a second power level by the power controller, etching the label image on the workpiece using a laser beam emitted from the laser head, wherein the laser beam is modulated at the second power level in accordance with the label image in a pixel wise fashion across the label.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 6, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 7, 2020
    Assignee: Shutterfly, LLC
    Inventors: David Lynn Hall, Michael Lane Polk, Gregory Lee Franklin
  • Patent number: 10696099
    Abstract: A pneumatic tire includes first and second circumferential grooves, an intermediate land portion, wedge portions, intermediate land portion lug grooves, and a circumferential narrow groove. The circumferential grooves are provided in a tread surface. The intermediate land portion is formed between the circumferential grooves. The wedge portions are provided in the tire circumferential direction at the second circumferential groove and incline in the tire circumferential direction. The intermediate land portion lug grooves are provided with ends in communication with the circumferential grooves and divide the intermediate land portion into block portions in the tire circumferential direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 18, 2016
    Date of Patent: June 30, 2020
    Assignee: The Yokohama Rubber Co., LTD.
    Inventor: Naoko Suzuki
  • Patent number: 10688717
    Abstract: A 3-D printer includes build and support material development stations that electrostatically transfer build material and support material to an ITB. The ITB transfers a layer of build and support material to a platen each time the platen contacts one of the layers on the ITB, to successively form a freestanding stack of the layers on the platen. A sensor is positioned to generate a topographic measurement of the layer on the platen, and an aerosol applicator is positioned to propel build and support material on to the layer on the platen. The aerosol applicator controls the build and support material being propelled, based on the topographic measurement from the sensor through a feedback loop, to adjust the amount and location of the build material and the support material propelled on to the layer, and thereby control the flatness of surface topology of the layers in the freestanding stack on the platen.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 27, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 23, 2020
    Assignee: Xerox Corporation
    Inventors: William J. Nowak, Jorge A. Alvarez, Robert A. Clark, Michael F. Zona, Chu-heng Liu, Paul J. McConville
  • Patent number: 10688597
    Abstract: A system uses a femtosecond laser beam to polish a surface of an optical element to optical smoothness. The system includes a fixture, a laser system, and a controller. The fixture holds the optical element. The laser system generates the femtosecond laser beam. The femtosecond laser beam includes converging laser pulses with a pulse duration less than 900 femtoseconds. The controller controls relative positioning of the surface of the optical element and the femtosecond laser beam so that a waist of the femtosecond laser beam is outside the optical element and 0.5-2.0 Rayleigh ranges away from the surface of the optical element. Also, an intensity of the femtosecond laser beam at the surface of the optical element is sufficient to ablate the surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 23, 2020
    Assignee: Tectus Corporation
    Inventor: Gregory David Miller
  • Patent number: 10678215
    Abstract: A three dimensional printing method and a three dimensional printing apparatus are provided. Layer information of a three dimensional object is obtained, wherein the three dimensional object includes at least one layer object and the layer information includes a plurality of coordinate point locations of the at least one layer object. A geometry parameter is calculated according to the coordinate point locations, and whether the layer object includes at least one small-area object is determined according to the geometry parameter. If the layer object includes the at least one small-area object, a feed-material output amount associated with the small-area object is reduced. A printing module is controlled to print the small-area object according to the reduced feed-material output amount.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 14, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 9, 2020
    Assignees: XYZprinting, Inc., Kinpo Electronics, Inc., Cal-Comp Electronics & Communications Company Limited
    Inventors: Yu-Chuan Chang, Hsin-Ta Hsieh
  • Patent number: 10661516
    Abstract: A method is described for making frame components for spectacles, including: superimposing within a first mold, in the following order, at least a first film of plastic material, at least one semi-finished element pre-impregnated with resin, and at least a second film of plastic material; closing and heating the first mold, the temperature and pressure being applied and maintained until the resin is fully polymerized, in order to produce an intermediate component containing the semi-finished product); opening the first mold and extracting the intermediate component from the first mold. The method also includes: placing the intermediate component in a second mold; closing the second mold and forming a layer of polymer material on the intermediate component, resulting in mutual adhesion; opening the second mold and extracting an article produced by the molding step in the second mold and cutting the article to define the final profile of the component.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 7, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 26, 2020
    Assignee: SAFILO SOCIETÀ AZIONARIA FABRICA ITALIANA LAVORAZIONE OCCHIALI S.P.A.
    Inventors: Giorgio Manera, Nicola Belli, Filippo Broccardo