Patents Examined by Michael Colaianni
  • Patent number: 6669877
    Abstract: This invention provides a method which makes it possible to reliably detect malfunctions during the ejecting step without rendering the injection molding machine more complicated. An ejector pin is incorporated in the movable die. This ejector pin is connected, via an ejector plate, a connecting rod, a connecting plate and a feed screw, with a servo motor. The force for ejecting the ejector pin pushing a molded product is measured from the driving torque of a servo motor. In this invention, the relationship between driving torque and elapsed time from the initiation of ejection of the molded product is stored as a reference pattern. The tolerance limit and monitoring interval of driving torque are preset relative to the reference pattern. When the value of driving torque falls outside the tolerance limit during the ejecting step, it is judged as a malfunction, and an alarm is generated to stop the machine in a safe state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 6, 2001
    Date of Patent: December 30, 2003
    Assignee: Toshiba Machine Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Haruyuki Matsubayashi, Akira Kanda, Takamitsu Yamashita, Takashi Yamazaki, Yukio Iimura, Yutaka Yamaguchi, Masamitsu Suzuki
  • Patent number: 6669891
    Abstract: An apparatus and method for producing a sheet of brake lining material utilizes a mold which has a mold base and a mold frame. The mold frame is slidingly received on the mold base. The sliding relationship between the mold frame and the mold base results in a mold cavity which has a variable volume. The variable volume of the mold cavity allows the cavity to adjust to the size of material initially placed in the mold cavity thereby eliminating any mold flash and/or scrap material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 2, 1999
    Date of Patent: December 30, 2003
    Assignee: Midwest Brake Bond Company
    Inventor: Keith F. Barnhardt
  • Patent number: 6669876
    Abstract: A method of preparing a smooth watertight concrete in-ground pool surface that eliminates the use of a plaster outer surface layer that includes allowing the concrete pool body to cure for at least thirty days at which time a grinder is used to grind the surface to a smoothness and depth that is watertight and that exposes aggregates within the pool surface resulting in an aesthetically desirable permanently finished pool surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2000
    Date of Patent: December 30, 2003
    Inventor: Bruce Torrance
  • Patent number: 6668588
    Abstract: A method for molding a chalcogenide glass lens includes providing a mold. A preformed lens of chalcogenide glass is placed within the mold. The lens has a top surface and a bottom surface. An amount of chalcogenide glass is deposited within the mold and on the top surface of the preformed lens. The mold is heated, such that the chalcogenide glass on the top surface of the preformed lens softens, melts, and bonds to the top surface of the preformed lens. A lens surface is formed in the melted chalcogenide glass to form a molded lens which is bonded to the top surface of the preformed lens. The molded lens and preformed lens assembly is then removed from the mold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 2002
    Date of Patent: December 30, 2003
    Assignee: Amorphous Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Albert Ray Hilton, II, Albert Ray Hilton, III, William S. Thompson
  • Patent number: 6663813
    Abstract: The present invention is related to a rotary cooling station to be used in conjunction with a high output injection molding machine and a robot having a take-out plate. More particularly, the present invention teaches a high speed robot that transfers warm preforms onto a separate rotary cooling station where they are retained and internally cooled by specialized cores. The preforms may also be simultaneously cooled from the outside to speed up the cooling rate and thus avoid the formation of crystallinity zones. Solutions for the retention and ejection of the cooled preforms are described. The rotary cooling station of the present invention may be used to cool molded articles made of a single material or multiple materials.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 16, 2001
    Date of Patent: December 16, 2003
    Assignee: Husky Injection Molding Systems Ltd.
    Inventor: Witold Neter
  • Patent number: 6660205
    Abstract: A fabric-covered shoe welt, and methods of making such a welt and using it to make shoes. The welt is an extruded polymer, and has fabric attached to at least one surface. The fabric is then bonded to the sole of the shoe. The fabric is selected to adhere well to both welt and sole, usually by allowing liquid to wick into the fabric before solidification.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 2000
    Date of Patent: December 9, 2003
    Assignee: Rextrude Co.
    Inventor: Daniel C. Harkins, Sr.
  • Patent number: 6651461
    Abstract: A conveyor belt including a series of predefined sections and elevated support structures at the edges of each section for supporting items on the belt above the belt at each section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 2001
    Date of Patent: November 25, 2003
    Assignee: 3M Innovative Properties Company
    Inventor: Paul J. Richter
  • Patent number: 6641766
    Abstract: A positive displacement extruder for a viscous material, such as unvulcanized rubber, includes a feed member arranged in a chamber of a main body and driven for rotation so that the viscous material charged into the chamber is extruded from its outlet. A mouthpiece has an inlet that is spaced in a circumferential direction from the outlet of the main body and, in communication therewith, an extrusion nozzle. At least one cylinder device is rotatable about a center axis of the extruder so that the cylinder is alternately bought into communication with the outlet of the main body and the inlet of the mouthpiece. The viscous material is charged from the chamber of the main body into the cylinder device and discharged from the cylinder device into the mouthpiece, as the cylinder device is rotated about the center axis of the extruder and the piston of the cylinder device is driven by a cam device to reciprocate in the cylinder.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2000
    Date of Patent: November 4, 2003
    Assignee: Bridgestone Corporation
    Inventor: Takashi Ishiwatari
  • Patent number: 6634186
    Abstract: A U-shaped groove is formed in a glass sheet along a cutting line and the sheet is cut by breaking along the groove. The groove is formed by heating a sheet portion including the cutting line by a laser beam, cooling it to lower its density, and etching that portion to dissolve it. Every surface exposed by cutting the sheet has a pair of edges which are properly beveled and rounded.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 7, 2001
    Date of Patent: October 21, 2003
    Assignee: Nippon Sheet Glass Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Koichi Abe
  • Patent number: 6634189
    Abstract: A method of making chalcogenide glass which utilizes liquid encapsulation to prevent the evaporation loss of low boiling point or high vapor pressure glass components while the glass melt is being processed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 11, 2000
    Date of Patent: October 21, 2003
    Assignee: Raytheon Company
    Inventors: James Jay Hudgens, John Michael Trombetta, William David Autery, Gregory Stewart Tyber
  • Patent number: 6631627
    Abstract: A process for fabricating a face plate for a flat-panel display such as a field emission cathode type display is disclosed, the face plate having integral spacer support structures. Also disclosed is a product made by the aforesaid process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 14, 2000
    Date of Patent: October 14, 2003
    Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
    Inventor: Jason B. Elledge
  • Patent number: 6629436
    Abstract: The present invention is directed to an apparatus for thermal treatment of glass and method and thermally treated glass therefrom. The apparatus is capable of supporting the glass during thermal treatment such as tempering, annealing, bending, and/or shaping which can include any cooling or quenching to remove heat or any combination of these. The apparatus is a support member like a ring or outline mold with a horizontal surface suitable for contacting the glass. The support member has at least a surface with or without a coating for contact with the glass of one or more metals having a thermal conductivity such that the glass heated for shaping cools at a rate not much slower than the cooling rate of unsupported sections of the glass. Suitable metals include those with a thermal conductivity of greater than around 16 BTU/(hour×feet×° F.).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 3, 2000
    Date of Patent: October 7, 2003
    Assignee: PPG Industries Ohio, Inc.
    Inventors: W. Jason Skeen, Rudolph A. Karlo, Steven M. Horcicak, Mark M. Savka, Lawrence S. Letzkus, Irvin A. Wilson, Michael Zibert, DeWitt W. Lampman
  • Patent number: 6626010
    Abstract: A method of floating glass gobs by means of a gas flow. A method of manufacturing glass gobs by floating a molten glass gob and simultaneously cooling it. A method of manufacturing glass spheres by floating a softened glass gob and simultaneously rendering it spherical. These methods employ a device having a depression for floating and holding a glass gob or the like, with a gas flow being supplied along all or part of the inner surface of the depression from the opening side of the depression toward the bottom. A manufacturing method comprising the steps of adjusting a glass gob to a temperature suited to press molding while floating said glass gob by means of a gas flow injected along part or all of the depression-shaped forming surface of a lower mold from the opening side of the lower mold toward the bottom of the lower mold; and a step of press forming the glass gob.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 2000
    Date of Patent: September 30, 2003
    Assignee: Hoya Corporation
    Inventor: Masahiro Yoshida
  • Patent number: 6622524
    Abstract: Foodstuffs filled in glass containers undergo a change in taste under the influence of light. In order to combat such changes in taste the glass according to the invention contains vanadium pentoxide. Since pure vanadium pentoxide is relative expensive, the invention proposes a way of using a mixture of vanadium pentoxide and phosphorous oxide which is available as an economical aggregate. This type of glass is preferably used to accomodate foodstuffs. The glass containing vanadium pentoxide and phosphorous oxide is particularly suited for bottles to hold beer. Such bottles exhibit particularly effective light protection properties when they are made of so-called white glass.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 20, 2001
    Date of Patent: September 23, 2003
    Assignee: Nienburger Glas GmbH
    Inventors: Hans-Jürgen Barklage-Hilgefort, Wolfgang Cieleback
  • Patent number: 6622523
    Abstract: The present invention provides a two stage process of thermal separation of CFCs and HCFCs followed by vitrification of the waste into a commercially viable glass. In the first stage, the hydrogenated compounds are reacted at elevated temperature with water and a metal oxide such as calcium oxide to form a halide salt and carbon dioxide. In the second stage of the process, the brine slag is reacted at elevated temperature with the carbon dioxide from stage one and glass-forming raw materials such as silicon dioxide to produce a glass. The final glass product incorporates the halide into the glass.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2001
    Date of Patent: September 23, 2003
    Inventors: Christopher J. Ludwig, Frederic M. Schwartz
  • Patent number: 6619074
    Abstract: An apparatus for the production of a porous optical fiber preform preventing cracks in the preform and stabilizing quality over the longitudinal direction. The apparatus includes a reaction portion, a feed port for introducing a stream of gas, and a main exhaust port. A rotating mechanism is provided for mounting, rotating, and pulling up a seed rod for forming the porous optical fiber preform. A first burner emits a flame carrying fine particles of glass forming the core portion, and a second burner emits a flame carrying fine particles of glass forming the cladding portion. A portion adjusts the flow of the stream from the feed port to the main exhaust port so that the flames carrying the glass particles are not disturbed by the stream and so that the stream does not directly contact a fine glass particle deposit formed at a bottom end of the seed rod.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2000
    Date of Patent: September 16, 2003
    Assignee: The Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Wada, Toshihiro Mikami, Akihiro Kanao, Yukio Kohmura
  • Patent number: 6615613
    Abstract: In a method of grinding side end surfaces of substrates, spacers are interposed between the substrates to form a stack of the substrates and the spacers. The spacers are slightly smaller in size than the substrates. The stack of the substrates and the spacers are ground by a rotatable brush or pad on the side end surfaces of the substrates so as to smooth chamfered portions of the substrates together with the side end surfaces.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 2, 2000
    Date of Patent: September 9, 2003
    Assignee: Hoya Corporation
    Inventors: Shozo Iwabuchi, Masahiro Katagiri
  • Patent number: 6612133
    Abstract: A method for shifting the absorption peak wavelength in the wavelength range 900-1600 nm of an infrared radiation absorbing glass from less than 1100 nm to 1100 nm or longer without substantially changing the tint of the glass, comprising the step of irradiating with ultraviolet light of 400 nm or shorter at an energy density of 1.0×106 J/m2/hr or more to increase the content of FeO in the irradiated glass by reducing Fe (III) to Fe (II), the ultraviolet light irradiated glass thereby comprising 0.02 wt. % or more FeO in terms of Fe2O3. The glass to be irradiated comprises, in % by weight: 65 to 80% SiO2, 0 to 5% Al2O3, 0 to 10% MgO, 5 to 15% CaO, 10 to 18% Na2O, 0 to 5% K2O, 5 to 15% MgO+CaO, 10 to 20% Na2O+K2O, and 0 to 5% B2O3; 0.02% or more total iron oxide (T-Fe2O3) in terms of Fe2O3, 0 to 2.0% CeO2, 0 to 1.0% TiO2, 0 to 0.005% CoO, and 0 to 0.005% Se.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 2001
    Date of Patent: September 2, 2003
    Assignee: Nippon Sheet Glass Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Koichi Sakaguchi, Hiromitsu Seto, Yukihito Nagashima
  • Patent number: 6604388
    Abstract: A method and apparatus are disclosed for the manufacture of an optical fiber preform having incorporated therein a comparatively high concentration of rare earth dopant material, and which thus can be drawn and processed into an optical fiber having low numerical aperture, low core attenuation, and high pumping power absorption. The high concentrations of rare earth dopant material are accomplished through either the “hybrid vapor processing” (HVP) method or a “hybrid liquid processing” (HLP) method, each capable of being practiced in combination or independently of one another. The HVP method involves the vaporization of a rare earth halogen by the exposure thereof to a sufficiently elevated temperature, independently, or contemporaneously with the transport of the resultant rare earth halogen laden vapor, into a glass forming oxidation reaction zone on a flowing stream of essentially an unreactive inert gas, such as helium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2000
    Date of Patent: August 12, 2003
    Assignee: JDS Uniphase Corporation
    Inventors: Ying-Hua Zhang, Brian M. Laliberte, Ray F. Robinson
  • Patent number: 6601410
    Abstract: The device (1) comprises a transfer mechanism (7) which is attached to the free ends of two parallel piston rods (13, 14). The associated piston-cylinder units (15, 16) are attached to a support structure (17) and can be pivoted therewith in a reciprocating manner about a vertical axis (18) by an angle of approximately 105° between a dead plate (3) and a conveyor belt (5). Compressed air nozzles (11) for the purpose of producing negative pressure in corners (10) of the transfer mechanism (7) are supplied with compressed air from a first advance chamber (22) by way of a supply duct (12) of the transfer mechanism (7) and one (13) of the piston rods and the associated piston (21). This is performed by way of a first directional control valve (29) from a first compressed air source (31) of relatively low pressure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 2000
    Date of Patent: August 5, 2003
    Inventors: Hermann Bögert, Raimund Malek