Patents Examined by Michael P. Colaianni
  • Patent number: 6132512
    Abstract: A vapor-phase film growth apparatus includes a substrate holder for holding a substrate, a gas ejection head, and a radiant heat shield device. The substrate holder has a substrate heater therein, and the gas ejection head has a gas injection surface for ejecting a material gas toward a substrate held by the substrate holder. The radiant heat shield device is disposed between the substrate holder and the gas injection head in confronting relationship to the gas injection surface of the gas ejection nozzle. The substantially planar radiant heat shield device is permeable to gases and has a heating capability.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 8, 1998
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2000
    Assignee: Ebara Corporation
    Inventors: Kuniaki Horie, Tsutomu Nakada, Takeshi Murakami, Hidenao Suzuki, Masahito Abe, Yuji Araki
  • Patent number: 6131412
    Abstract: A method and equipment for adjusting the temperature of glass sheets in a tempering furnace. The tempering furnace (1) comprises rollers (3) for conveying and oscillating the glass sheets (4) during heating, and resistors (5, 6) for heating the glass sheets (4) from above and from below. The temperature of the glass sheets (4) is measured inside the tempering furnace (1) during heating and the dwell time of the glass sheets (4) in the furnace is adjusted based on the temperature measurements. This enables exact control of the final temperature of the glass from the beginning, and the temperature can be kept uniform independently of the measures taken by the operator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 1999
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2000
    Assignee: Uniglass Engineering Oy
    Inventor: Jukka Vehmas
  • Patent number: 6131410
    Abstract: An improved apparatus and method for vacuum fusion bonding of large, patterned glass plates. One or both glass plates are patterned with etched features such as microstructure capillaries and a vacuum pumpout moat, with one plate having at least one hole therethrough for communication with a vacuum pumpout fixture. High accuracy alignment of the plates is accomplished by a temporary clamping fixture until the start of the fusion bonding heat cycle. A complete, void-free fusion bond of seamless, full-strength quality is obtained through the plates; because the glass is heated well into its softening point and because of a large, distributed force that is developed that presses the two plates together from the difference in pressure between the furnace ambient (high pressure) and the channeling and microstructures in the plates (low pressure) due to the vacuum drawn.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 16, 1998
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2000
    Assignee: The Regents of the University of California
    Inventors: Steve P. Swierkowski, James C. Davidson, Joseph W. Balch
  • Patent number: 6128929
    Abstract: A multi-component fiberizing disk for fiberizing a molten fiberizable material in a rotary fiberization process includes: an annular sidewall having fiberizing holes therein through which a molten fiberizable material passes to fiberize the molten fiberizable material; an upper annular flange; and a base having an annular outer peripheral edge. The annular sidewall, the upper annular flange and the base are made from at least two separate components and, preferably, from three separate components. The separate components are secured to together as the fiberizing disk by fasteners, such as bolt and nut fasteners, that permits the separate components of the fiberizing disk to be disassembled after service. The different components can be made of different metal alloys and a distribution manifold can be incorporated into the fiberizing disk for distributing the molten fiberizable material(s) within the fiberizing disk and to make bi-component fibers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 2, 1998
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2000
    Assignee: Johns Manville International, Inc.
    Inventors: Michael Dean Peterson, Stephen Edward Gross
  • Patent number: 6125658
    Abstract: The invention relates to the electric melting technique, in which the melting energy is dissipated in the bath of melted glass as a result of the Joule effect by means of electrodes which dip through the surface of the bath. According to the invention, the electrodes dip into a bath of melted glass which has a height h below 800 mm and a surface S such that the ratio h/S is lower than 0.5 m/m.sup.2. According to another aspect, the exchange surface between the electrodes and the bath is above 0.075 m.sup.2 /m.sup.3 of glass.The invention is used in the manufacture of glass-based products, such as insulating materials based on glass fiber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 7, 1999
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2000
    Assignee: Isover Saint-Gobain
    Inventors: Stephane Maugendre, Tanguy Massart, Francois Szalata
  • Patent number: 6120606
    Abstract: The present invention provides a gas vent system for a vacuum chamber. The particle placed onto the wafer after loading out from a vacuum chamber can be greatly reduced by the system design. The gas vent system has a gas supply, an anti-vibrating tube, a gas regulator, a first line, a second line, a vent valve, and a filter. The anti-vibrating tube is connected after the gas supply for transferring gas without introducing vibration. The gas regulator is connected after the anti-vibrating tube for controlling a flow rate of the gas. The first line is connected after the gas regulator and has a first metering valve. The second line is connected after the gas regulator and is also connected in parallel with the first line. The second line has a second metering valve and an in-line valve in series. The vent valve is connected after the first line and the second line. The filter is connected between the vent valve and the vacuum chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 1998
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2000
    Assignee: Acer Semiconductor Manufacturing Inc.
    Inventor: Ming-Tang Peng
  • Patent number: 6116055
    Abstract: Disclosed is a synthetic silica-glass fabricating method in which the doping of chlorine into silica glass made by using a flame hydrolysis or thermal oxidation is increased. The process comprises the steps of producing a porous deposit of silica-glass particles through treatment of gaseous silicon compounds by the flame hydrolysis or the thermal oxidation process; and consolidating the porous deposit by a heat treatment in an atmosphere including an inert gas and silicon tetrachloride (SiCl.sub.4) gas.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 1998
    Date of Patent: September 12, 2000
    Assignee: Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd.
    Inventors: Shinji Ishikawa, Masashi Onishi
  • Patent number: 6109062
    Abstract: This apparatus is a furnace for heating molten material which employs oxygen-fuel burner assemblies. Preferably, the assemblies are submerged in the molten material. They are water cooled top down units with burner nozzles being off-set from the supply column. The apparatus utilizes one or more burners for each top down supply column. The supply column and attached burners can be rotated or moved in a manner to avoid the open chimney effect seen with fixed air-fuel burners of the prior art. These burners with an off-set nozzle like the letter L are rotated at high speed or oscillated to distribute the combustion in the form of gas bubbles or a gas curtain. In another embodiment, the oxy-fuel burners are not submerged. The nozzles are aimed at unmelted batch or the upper surface of the molten material for controlled splashing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 5, 1997
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2000
    Inventor: Raymond S. Richards
  • Patent number: 6110284
    Abstract: A semiconductor processing system comprising a semiconductor processing chamber, a light, a temperature detector, and a member. The light is positioned to heat the confines of the chamber. The temperature detector measures the temperature at the location within the chamber. The member has a translucent quartz shell and opaque core and shields the location from light emanating from the light source.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 9, 1998
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2000
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Chen-An Chen, Henry Ho, Steven A. Chen
  • Patent number: 6105395
    Abstract: In a method for molding glass products having a fine structure as of an optical fiber holder with a high size precision, a mold used for the molding has the fine structure in a size such that a size difference occurring when the glass product is cooled down to a room temperature where at the end of molding with a pressure a size of the fine structure of the mold for glass product and a size of a fine structure of the glass product formed by transfer of the fine structure of the mold are the same as one another is so adjusted that a size of the fine structure of the completed glass product falls within a permissive size precision range. The mold may has a size satisfying, as a size of a fine structure at a room temperature, a formula [1+(.alpha.g-.alpha.m).times..DELTA.T+.alpha.g'.times..DELTA.T'].times.Sg, wherein Sg denotes a size of a fine structure of thc glass product at the room temperature; .alpha.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 24, 1997
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2000
    Assignee: Hoya Corporation
    Inventors: Masahiro Yoshida, Teruo Yamashita, Lihong Zhang, Yoshiatsu Yokoo
  • Patent number: 6101845
    Abstract: A process for forming a glass sheet, which is a process for continuously forming a glass sheet, and which comprises a step of introducing a vapor film-forming agent, which is not vapor at least around room temperature and which is vapor at a temperature above the glass transition point of the glass, into a support composed of a structure or a material capable of internally containing liquid, and a step of sliding the support and the glass of which temperature is above the glass transition point against each other via a thin layer of a vaporized vapor film-forming agent.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 1998
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2000
    Assignee: Asahi Glass Company Ltd.
    Inventors: Gen Kojima, Tsutomu Koyama, Akira Takada, Masao Unoki, Kiyoshi Matsumoto
  • Patent number: 6103177
    Abstract: A mastering apparatus for recording optical information onto a glass master 6, includes an objective lens 3, a slider 5 for controlling the movement of the objective lens 3 in the tracking direction, a turn table 7 for rotating the glass master 6, a spindle motor 8 for controlling the rotation of the turn table 7, a positioning beam generator 9, a positioning beam detector 10 for detecting a positioning beam reflected and/or diffracted by positioning units 16 and 17 and a slider controller 11 for moving the slider 5 based on the result of reception of a beam at the positioning beam detector 10. The positioning unit 16 is mounted on the vicinity of the objective lens 3, and the positioning unit 17 is mounted on the upper surface of a spindle stationary portion 13. Since the position of the positioning unit 17 is always stable, relative positional deviation between the positioning units 16 and 17 can be accurately detected by detecting the beam diffracted by the positioning units 16 and 17.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 2, 1998
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2000
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Jun Nishida, Nobutaka Kikuiri
  • Patent number: 6101846
    Abstract: A process for fabricating a face plate for a flat panel display such as a field emission cathode type display, the face plate having integral spacer support structures is disclosed. Also disclosed is a product made by the aforesaid process. The support structures are designed to be load bearing so as to prevent implosion of a planar, transparent face plate toward a parallel spaced-apart base plate when the space between the face plate and the base plate is sealed at the edges of the display to form a chamber, and the chamber is evacuated in the presence of atmospheric pressure outside the chamber. Unlike most spacer support structures proposed for such flat panel displays, the support structures are made from the same material as the substrate from which the face plate is fabricated. For a preferred embodiment of the process, a perforated laminar template is sealably sandwiched between a laminar silicate glass substrate and a manifold block to form a temporary sandwich assembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 1997
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2000
    Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
    Inventor: Jason B. Elledge
  • Patent number: 6098427
    Abstract: A neck ring arm assembly for a glass container forming machine of the individual section type comprising a horizontally extending invert shaft and a vertically extending cylinder with a rack that engages a spur gear attached to the invert shaft to oscillate the invert shaft. The invert shaft has an inner annular sleeve keyed to it, and the inner annular sleeve has a polygonal exterior, preferably a hexagonal exterior. First and second outer annular sleeves surround the inner annular sleeve to be oscillatable therewith, but reciprocable with respect thereto. Each of the first and second outer annular sleeves has a polygonal interior which is complementary to the polygonal exterior of the inner annular sleeve, and each is provided with a plurality of replaceable wear pads each of which is adjustable toward a surface of the polygonal exterior of the inner annular sleeve to provide for close, low backlash engagement of the inner annular sleeve by the outer annular sleeves over a prolonged duration.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 1998
    Date of Patent: August 8, 2000
    Assignee: Owens-Brockway Glass Container Inc.
    Inventor: Thomas R. Kirkman
  • Patent number: 6099649
    Abstract: A hot trap converts unreacted organic metal-film precursor from the exhaust stream of a CVD process. The converted precursor forms a metal film on the surface of the hot trap, thereby protecting hot vacuum pump surfaces from metal build up. A cold trap downstream from the hot trap freezes effluents from the exhaust stream. The metal captured by the hot trap and the effluents captured by the cold trap may then be recycled, rather than being released as environmental emissions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 1997
    Date of Patent: August 8, 2000
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: John Vincent Schmitt, Ling Chen, George Michael Bleyle, Yu Cong, Alfred Mak, Mei Chang
  • Patent number: 6098426
    Abstract: The present invention is directed to an apparatus and method for forming glass article from sheet glass. More specifically the apparatus comprises a mold, a plunger being cooperative alignment with the mold, wherein the mold and the plunger form a cavity exhibiting the shaped of the glass article, an outer trimmer for separating the glass article from the surrounding excess sheet glass, and an inner trimmer for forming the aperture in the glass article, and the method involves forming the aperture during the hot-forming process, therefore eliminating a post-formation step.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 13, 1999
    Date of Patent: August 8, 2000
    Assignee: Corning Incorporated
    Inventors: James G. Anderson, Edwin Q. Giles
  • Patent number: 6095151
    Abstract: A flat base anchored to any hard, smooth surface by two suction cups. Upon this flat base, two shafts rise perpendicular. The base supports a housing which fits over the base shafts. The housing has an opening which accommodates a standard pack of cigarettes, which are placed in the opening top or filter first. Two springs are located above the housing on the base shafts to create tension. Rubber caps at the top of the base shafts, aided with epoxy, contains the springs and housing to the base of the invention so that once the housing is pulled upward by one's hand the housing then is forced down toward the base from the tension of the springs and consequently "packing" the cigarettes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 2, 1998
    Date of Patent: August 1, 2000
    Inventor: Richard Randal Arthur
  • Patent number: 6089238
    Abstract: The invention relates to a coaxial cigarette including a coaxial tobacco rod comprising a rod core, a rod core wrapping, a rod jacket and a rod jacket wrapping and a multi-part ventilated filter wherein the filter comprises a filter wrapping as well as at least two longitudinal segments of which at least one is a coaxial filter segment having a core element, a core element wrapping and a jacket element and wherein the ratio of the resistance to draw of the rod core to the resistance to draw of the rod jacket is greater than unity and preferably in the range of 2 to 4.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 19, 1998
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2000
    Assignee: Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation
    Inventors: Werner Schneider, Adolf Schluter, Erwin Kausch, Volker Heemann, Ursula Kopke, Wolfgang Metzner, Bernd-Henrik Muller, Heiner Ritter
  • Patent number: 6082368
    Abstract: A nicotine candy is provided for consumption in small volumes and in a cigarette shaped package. Each portion of the candy is obtained by removing it from a cigarette shaped package from the end. In a first embodiment, standard paper is used to wrap the a series of linearly disposed candy portions. In a second embodiment, the package is made of edible rice paper, and may be torn off of the end in a single piece. The formulation of the candy preferably uses a food grade Beta-pyridyl-alpha-N-methylpyrrolidine dissolved into any standard hard sugar candy. This material is water soluble and is admixed into the sugar candy composition during candy formation. Preferably, the candy composition is available in a range of strengths which further enables users to regulate their doses. One or two or three pieces can be ingested simultaneously to enable control of the intake, in addition to the availability of the composition in different strengths.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 1997
    Date of Patent: July 4, 2000
    Inventor: Graham H. Brown
  • Patent number: 6082140
    Abstract: An improved vacuum fusion bonding structure and process for aligned bonding of large area glass plates, patterned with microchannels and access holes and slots, for elevated glass fusion temperatures. Vacuum pumpout of all the components is through the bottom platform which yields an untouched, defect free top surface which greatly improves optical access through this smooth surface. Also, a completely non-adherent interlayer, such as graphite, with alignment and location features is located between the main steel platform and the glass plate pair, which makes large improvements in quality, yield, and ease of use, and enables aligned bonding of very large glass structures.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 16, 1999
    Date of Patent: July 4, 2000
    Assignee: The Regents of the University of California
    Inventors: Harold D. Ackler, Stefan P. Swierkowski, Lisa A. Tarte, Randall K. Hicks