Patents Examined by Richard Weisberger
  • Patent number: 6270883
    Abstract: Reinforced composites containing cellulosic pulp fibers dispersed in a matrix, wherein the matrix comprises a thermoplastic polymeric material melting above 180° C. and the cellulosic pulp fibers have an alpha-cellulose purity greater than 80% by weight. Methods of making and using the reinforced composites.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 9, 1998
    Date of Patent: August 7, 2001
    Assignees: The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of Agriculture, Rayonier Inc.
    Inventors: Karl D. Sears, Rodney E. Jacobson, Daniel F. Caulfield, John Underwood
  • Patent number: 6270869
    Abstract: Cold-formable laminate film, for example, for manufacturing push-through or blister packs or the base parts and for forms of packaging or shaped parts for packaging medical instruments and applicators, containing a barrier layer that is impermeable to water vapor and gases and a plastic layer on both sides of the barrier layer. The laminate film exhibits a layered structure containing in the following order: (a) a plastic layer in the form of a film of the following type, namely, polychloride, polyester, polypropylene, cycloolefin-copolymer or a cast film of polyvinyl-chloride or polypropylene; (b) a metal foil such as an aluminium foil; and (c) an oriented polyamide film having a thickness of 25 to 2 &mgr;m. The free sides of the first and/or the second plastic film may feature a sealing layer or the first and/or the second plastic films may be sealable. The laminate films may, for example, be processed into forms of packaging by a deepening process such as stretch drawing, i.e.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 24, 1999
    Date of Patent: August 7, 2001
    Assignee: Alusuisse Technology & Management Ltd.
    Inventors: Patrik Zeiter, Erwin Pasbrig, Hans Peter Breitler
  • Patent number: 6268042
    Abstract: A high strength, low density fiber board panel for use in the furniture industry is provided, including mineral wool, a lightweight aggregate material, cellulosic fiber, a binding agent and gypsum. The mineral wool makes up approximately 0% to 33%, the lightweight aggregate material approximately 25% to 41%, the cellulosic fiber approximately 20% to 35%, the binding agent approximately 5% to 9%, and the gypsum approximately 0% to 23%, of the dry solids weight of the panel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 11, 1999
    Date of Patent: July 31, 2001
    Assignee: United States Gypsum Company
    Inventor: Mirza A. Baig
  • Patent number: 6265046
    Abstract: An electrical component including: a plurality of long fibers and a matrix, wherein at least one of the fibers is electrically conductive, wherein the plurality of long fibers includes a first fiber group extending in a manner generally parallel to a first axis, and a second fiber group extending in a manner generally parallel to a different second axis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 30, 1999
    Date of Patent: July 24, 2001
    Assignee: Xerox Corporation
    Inventor: Joseph A. Swift
  • Patent number: 6263936
    Abstract: A complex object, such as a spar for a tilt-rotor aircraft rotor blade, is manufactured from fiber composite materials. Unbroken fiber strips are laid along the length of the spar to maximize the number of full length fibers used in the spar. Cross-sectional areas along the length of the spar can change in both shape and area. The fibers are laid to accommodate and form these variable shapes. The locations for the fibers are determined by defining locations for the strips for each cross-section, then connecting corresponding points together to specify where the strips are to be laid down.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 1999
    Date of Patent: July 24, 2001
    Assignee: Bell Helicopter Textron Inc.
    Inventors: Robert A. Moore, Ronald J. Measom
  • Patent number: 6265066
    Abstract: A wet friction material contains a fibrous base, a filler, a friction adjuster and a binder. The binder contains a material having siloxane bond. For example, the binder is a product of hardening of a hydrolytic solution of a silicon alkoxide.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 16, 1999
    Date of Patent: July 24, 2001
    Assignee: NSK-Warner Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Makoto Suzuki, Masahiro Mori, Hirokazu Yagi
  • Patent number: 6258737
    Abstract: Small diameter silicon carbide-containing fibers are provided in a bundle such as a fiber tow that can be formed into a structure where the radii of curvature is not limited to 10-20 inches. An aspect of this invention is directed to impregnating the bundles of fibers with the slurry composition to substantially coat the outside surface of an individual fiber within the bundle and to form a complex shaped preform with a mass of continuous fibers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 1998
    Date of Patent: July 10, 2001
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: James D. Steibel, Gregory S. Corman, Robert C. Schikner, Andrew Szweda
  • Patent number: 6251214
    Abstract: The invention provides a fibre reinforced composite, such as a glass-fibre composite in which one or more layers (4) carry an image or design. The image or is preferably printed onto one or more layers (4) of the composite which are then formed into the article required. By utilising the fibre reinforcement to carry the image or design, it is possible to create articles with complex curved surfaces having an image as part of the structure and without using a foreign layer to carry the image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 1998
    Date of Patent: June 26, 2001
    Assignee: Minera Pty Limited
    Inventor: Bruce John Ritchie
  • Patent number: 6248677
    Abstract: A ceramic fiber blanket is inserted into a mold, and ceramic fiber slurry, preferably made with refractory ceramic fibers, binders, and water, is deposited on the blanket. Vacuum pressure is created under the blanket to pull the fibers of the slurry toward the fibers of the blanket to entangle them together. The slurry and blanket is then dried to form a rigid yet surface compliant ceramic fiber composite product with superior thermal insulating and acoustic dampening properties.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 1998
    Date of Patent: June 19, 2001
    Assignee: Rex Roto Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Leroy D. Dowding, Steven R. Schenck, John D. Vandermark, Robert W. Price
  • Patent number: 6245420
    Abstract: A transfer belt for use on an electrostatographic duplicator. The belt has a body defining an image transfer surface. The body is made up of a rubber composition including a combination of epichlorohydrin-ethyleneoxide copolymer and hydrogenated nitrile rubber, to which a metallic salt of an unsaturated carboxylic acid and an organic peroxide are added.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 1999
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2001
    Assignee: Mitsuboshi Belting Ltd.
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Nishio, Kazutoshi Ishida, Toshimichi Takada, Yorifumi Hineno, Arata Hasegawa
  • Patent number: 6245424
    Abstract: This invention relates to a process comprising the steps of: a) providing a fiber preform comprising a non-oxide ceramic fiber with at least one coating, the coating comprising a coating element selected from the group consisting of carbon, nitrogen, aluminum and titanium, and the fiber having a degradation temperature of between 1400° C. and 1450° C., b) impregnating the preform with a slurry comprising silicon carbide particles and between 0.1 wt % and 3 wt % added carbon c) providing a cover mix comprising: i) an alloy comprising a metallic infiltrant and the coating element, and ii) a resin, d) placing the cover mix on at least a portion of the surface of the porous silicon carbide body, e) heating the cover mix to a temperature between 1410° C. and 1450° C. to melt the alloy, and f) infiltrating the fiber preform with the melted alloy for a time period of between 15 minutes and 240 minutes, to produce a ceramic fiber reinforced ceramic composite.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 10, 1998
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2001
    Assignee: Saint-Gobain Industrial Ceramics, Inc.
    Inventors: Sai-Kwing Lau, Salvatore J. Calandra, Roger W. Ohnsorg
  • Patent number: 6242096
    Abstract: The invention relates to varnished metal wires with one or more electrically insulating varnish coatings, at least one of the electrically insulating varnish coatings representing an organically modified silicic acid (hetero) polycondensate, which has been obtained by partial or total hydrolytic condensation of one or more hydrolytically condensable compounds of silicon and if necessary other elements from the group B, A1, P, Sn, Pb, the transition metals, the lanthanides and actinides, and/or from precondensates derived from the abovenamed compounds, if necessary in the presence of a catalyst and/or of a solvent by the action of water and moisture.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 28, 1998
    Date of Patent: June 5, 2001
    Assignee: Fraunhofer Gesellschaftzur Forderung der Angewandten Forsch{overscore (u)}ng E.V.
    Inventors: Herbert Wolter, Werner Storch, Karl Deichmann
  • Patent number: 6239050
    Abstract: A matrix for use in a method of photocatalytically decomposing organic compounds in a fluid includes a fiber glass mat substrate carrying a photocatalytic material. The fiber glass mat is made of randomly oriented glass fibers that have been substantially filamentized and needled whereby the filaments are interlocked. Adhesion of the photocatalytic material to the substrate is provided without requiring heat cleaning of the fiber glass by controlling the organic content of the fiber glass mat to be less than 1.0 percent by weight as measured by loss on ignition. This is achieved by using sizing compositions that preferably have little or no film forming polymer content.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 1998
    Date of Patent: May 29, 2001
    Assignee: PPG Industries Ohio, Inc.
    Inventors: Kami Lammon-Hilinski, Anastasia Morfesis, Thomas P. Unites
  • Patent number: 6235359
    Abstract: A rocket motor assembly is insulated or thermally protected with a rocket motor ablative material formed from a prepreg. The prepreg contains at least an impregnating resin matrix and, as a precursor prior to carbonization, carded and spun staple cellulosic fibers. When patterned and carbonized, the rocket motor ablative material can be lined or otherwise placed into a rocket motor assembly, such as between the solid propellant and case, in the bulk area of the exit nozzle liner, or at susceptible portions of a re-entry vehicle, such as the nose cone.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 19, 1999
    Date of Patent: May 22, 2001
    Assignee: Cordant Technologies Inc.
    Inventors: Kenneth P. Wilson, John K. Shigley, Allan P. Thompson
  • Patent number: 6231947
    Abstract: A method of forming a wood-veneered product. The method includes (1) providing a veneer having a main portion formed of wood and an edge portion joined to the main portion, the edge portion being formed of a material different from the wood of the main portion, (2) providing a core having an edge portion and a surface for receiving the veneer, (3) affixing the veneer to the surface of the core, so that the edge portion of the veneer is adjacent the edge portion of the core, and (4) shaping the veneer and core, so that the edge portion of the veneer is removed, to form the wood-veneered product. The method reduces waste, because it reduces the amount of wood required for the main portion of the veneer. The core and veneer may include various materials of various sizes. The core and veneer may be formed and joined in various ways. The invention also provides a wood-veneered product constructed in accordance with limitations (1)-(3).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 1999
    Date of Patent: May 15, 2001
    Inventor: David A. Hill
  • Patent number: 6228786
    Abstract: A yarn is formed from discontinuous parallel fibers which are not twisted and which are held together by a covering yarn of sacrificial material wound around the fibers. The fibers comprise an intimate mixture of fibers of at least two different natures selected from carbon fibers or pre-oxidized polyacrylonitrile based carbon precursor fibers, or anisotropic or isotropic pitch based carbon precursor fibers, or phenolic or cellulosic based carbon precursor fibers, and ceramic fibers or ceramic precursor fibers. The mixture of fibers comprises, in its carbon state, at least 15% by weight of high strength fibers, having a tensile strength of at least 1500 MPa and a modulus of at least 150 MPa, and at least 15% by weight of fibers with a low Young's modulus of at most 100 GPa.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 21, 2000
    Date of Patent: May 8, 2001
    Assignee: Societe Nationale d'Etude et de Construction de Moteurs d'Aviation
    Inventors: Pierre Olry, Dominique Coupe, Renaud Duval, Amina Zerdouk
  • Patent number: 6228492
    Abstract: A process for preparing fibers containing intrinsically conductive polymers comprises extruding two or more filaments, applying a coating formulation containing a salt of an intrinsically conductive polymer to at least one of the filaments to form a coated filament, combining the filaments to form a filament bundle, and processing the bundle into a fiber. A filament coated with an intrinsically conductive polymer and a fiber comprising at least one coated filament are also provided which are useful in preparing textiles and other materials which exhibit conductivity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 1997
    Date of Patent: May 8, 2001
    Assignee: Zipperling Kessler & Co. (GmbH & Co.)
    Inventors: Patrick J. Kinlen, Yiwei Ding, W. Keith Fisher
  • Patent number: 6224973
    Abstract: A multi-layer sheet suitable as sealable or peelable sheet specially used for closing foodstuff containers or blisters. This multi-layer sheet comprises a tie-layer between a substrate layer and a seal or a peel-seal layer comprising a polyolefin with acid or anhydride, grafted or copolymerized. The tie-layer has a thickness equivalent to 1-7 g/m2. The seal layer comprises a polyolefin. The total thickness of the combination of tie-layer and seal layer is equivalent to 3-20 g/m. This multilayer sheet is prepared by extrusion or coextrusion coating.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 8, 1999
    Date of Patent: May 1, 2001
    Assignee: E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company
    Inventor: Yves Trouilhet
  • Patent number: 6218011
    Abstract: Polyolefin fibers and polyolefin yarns of high strength and elongation and textile fabrics produced therefrom. Polyolefin fibers and polyolefin yarns of high strength and elongation and textile fabrics produced therefrom, which consist of modified propylene polymers, unmodified propylene polymers and adjuvants, are produced by melting the polyolefin mixtures in the extruder, transferring the melt by extrusion pumps to the spinnerets and drawing off the extruded filaments by high-speed galettes and/or winders. The polyolefin fibers and polyolefin yarns of high strength and elongation and the textile fabrics produced therefrom are suitable for the production of textiles for the home, multilayered textiles, industrial textiles, nonwoven materials in medicine and hygiene and elastic hygiene articles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 29, 1998
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2001
    Assignee: Borealis GmbH
    Inventors: Manfred Raetzsch, Ulf Panzer, Achim Hesse, Norbert Reichelt, Manfred Kirchberger, Peter Niedersuess, Anton Wolfsberger
  • Patent number: RE37186
    Abstract: A panel which comprises a substrate of transparent or translucent material having applied to one or both sides a design superimposed on, or forming part of, an opaque pattern so that the design on one side of the panel cannot be seen from the other side. This is a Reissue of a Patent which was the subject of a Reexamination Certificate No. B1 4,673,609, dated Jul. 25, 1995, Request No. 90/003,201, Sep. 21, 1993.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 31, 1996
    Date of Patent: May 22, 2001
    Assignee: Contra Vision Limited
    Inventor: George Roland Hill