Patents Examined by Samuel M. Heinrich
  • Patent number: 10220470
    Abstract: Method of producing equipment for marking products by laser, comprising the steps of: having at least one base plate; having various types of modules in which equipment components are grouped; having casings, rear covers and front covers that can be attached to said base plate; selecting modules from each of the different module types; removably attaching the selected modules to the base plate; attaching the casing, rear cover and front cover to the base plate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 12, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2019
    Assignee: MACSA ID, S.A.
    Inventors: Francesc Bravo Montero, Sven Alexander Vogler, Joan Camps Claramunt
  • Patent number: 10221895
    Abstract: A method of manufacturing an outer joint member of a constant velocity universal joint includes forming cup and shaft members using medium carbon steel, preparing, as the cup member, a cup member having cylindrical and bottom portions integrally formed, and a joining end surface formed on an outer surface of the bottom portion, preparing, as the shaft member, a shaft member having a joining end surface to be joined to the bottom portion of the cup member, and bringing the joining end surfaces of the cup and shaft members into abutment against each other. The method also includes welding the cup and shaft members from an outer side of the cup member to an abutment portion between the cup and shaft members in a radial direction of the cup member under a state in which a hollow cavity portion is formed inside the abutment portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 20, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2019
    Assignee: NTN CORPORATION
    Inventors: Shintaro Suzuki, Yoshiya Mano, Tsuneaki Hiraoka, Tatsuro Sugiyama, Masazumi Kobayashi
  • Patent number: 10213868
    Abstract: A method of manufacturing an outer joint member of a constant velocity universal joint includes forming cup and shaft members of medium carbon steel, the cup member being manufactured by preparing a cup member having cylindrical and bottom portions being integrally formed, and a fitting hole formed in a thick portion of the bottom portion, the shaft member being manufactured by preparing a shaft member having a fitting outer surface formed at an end portion of the shaft member to be joined to the bottom portion of the cup member, and fitting the fitting hole of the cup member to the fitting outer surface of the shaft member. The method also includes welding the cup and shaft members from an inner side of the cup member to a fitted portion between the cup and shaft members.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 20, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 26, 2019
    Assignee: NTN CORPORATION
    Inventors: Naoki Nakagawa, Shintaro Suzuki
  • Patent number: 10213872
    Abstract: A processing head (1) for surface processing by means of a laser beam is disclosed. The processing head (1) comprises a through passage (2) for a laser having a longitudinal axis (A), at least one powder supply passage (3) and a cooling passage (4) for cooling the processing head (1). The processing head (1) is at least configured of two parts and comprises a body (5) and a sleeve (6). The sleeve (6) is suitable for the arrangement at the body (5). The through passage (2) of the laser and the powder feed channel (3) are configured in the body (5). The body (5) at least partly forms a first sidewall of the cooling passage (4). The sleeve (6) at least partly forms a second sidewall of the cooling passage (4).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 26, 2019
    Assignee: OERLIKON METCO AG, WOHLEN
    Inventors: Thomas Peters, Tobias Leuppi, Andreas Gisler
  • Patent number: 10207364
    Abstract: A method for determining a laser welding condition of the present disclosure includes a first step, a second step, and a third step. In the first step, workpiece information indicating characteristics of a workpiece is input. In the second step, laser information indicating characteristics of laser light is input. In the third step, a first welding condition is calculated based on the workpiece information and the laser information, and then displayed. The first welding condition is any one of a recommended laser power of the laser light, a recommended welding speed, a recommended welding pattern, an estimated strength of a welded portion, and an estimated weld depth of the welded portion. Furthermore, the workpiece information includes a joint shape of the workpiece. Thus, an optimum weld condition can be set while considering a shape of a joint in welding.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 19, 2019
    Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Atsuhiro Kawamoto, Yasushi Mukai, Junji Fujiwara, Tatsuyuki Nakagawa, Tatsuya Ikeda
  • Patent number: 10207362
    Abstract: A laser beam irradiation unit of laser processing apparatus includes a pulse laser beam oscillating unit, a condenser that condenses a pulse laser beam and emits the beam to a workpiece held by a chuck table, a dichroic mirror disposed between the pulse laser beam oscillating unit and the condenser, a strobe light irradiation unit that emits light to a path on which the dichroic mirror and the condenser are disposed, a beam splitter disposed between the strobe light irradiation unit and the dichroic mirror, and an imaging unit disposed on the path of light split by the beam splitter. A controller actuates the strobe light irradiation unit and the imaging unit according to the timing of the pulse laser beam, and detects the width of a laser-processed groove immediately after emission of the pulse laser beam on the basis of an image signal from the imaging unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 8, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 19, 2019
    Assignee: Disco Corporation
    Inventors: Wataru Odagiri, Taku Iwamoto, Kentaro Odanaka, Hironari Ohkubo, Shuichiro Tsukiji, Kouichi Nehashi, Joel Koerwer
  • Patent number: 10211028
    Abstract: Apparatus, methods and systems for nano/micro machining. A lathe head has a microscopic pivot aperture for seating a conical tip. The conical tip is carried on a turnable part at one end thereof and is polished down to a microscopic apex. The microscopic pivot aperture is dimensioned for seating the concentric tip in the pivot aperture such that an apex of the conical tip protrudes through and beyond the aperture to a position in close proximity with the aperture. A driver system can comprise a rotator for axially rotating the turnable part, including the conical tip seated in the pivot aperture, and a forward pressure applicator for concurrently applying forward pressure to the conical tip in the direction of the pivot aperture. A light/particle beam system can be utilized to machine the rotating conical tip and the rotating turnable part, including the tip, can be easily removed after machining.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 3, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 19, 2019
    Assignee: NORSAM TECHNOLOGIES INC.
    Inventor: Patrick J Deshaye
  • Patent number: 10207611
    Abstract: A method for targeted influencing of the deformation behavior of a wall-like structure, in particular a rear wall structure of a vehicle seat, which structure is heated in at least one region at least section by section by means of a laser light source. According to the invention at least one region which influences a strength and/or a tension of the wall-like structure is selectively chosen and is lasered for increasing the strength of the wall-like structure and/or for reducing tensions within the wall-like structure. The wall-like structure is characterized in that in a selectively chosen region the structure has at least one laser-welded seam which is generated by a laser light source of a laser device, increases the strength of the wall-like structure and/or reduces tensions in the wall-like structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 30, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 19, 2019
    Assignee: SITECH SITZTECHNIK GMBH
    Inventors: Dawid Rutkowski, Robert Sulowski
  • Patent number: 10201878
    Abstract: A laser cutting head includes a controllable collimator with movable collimator lenses for controlling beam diameter and/or focal point location. The laser cutting head may be used in a laser cutting system with a control system for controlling the position of the movable collimator lenses. The lenses may be moved, for example, to adjust the beam spot size for cutting different types of material or material thicknesses. The lenses may also be moved to adjust a focal point back to the workpiece after changing the distance of the laser cutting head relative to the workpiece.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 12, 2019
    Assignee: IPG Photonics Corporation
    Inventors: Yuri Grapov, Felix Stukalin, Nikhit Nair
  • Patent number: 10205130
    Abstract: The laser sintering device includes a laser sintering head configured to output a laser beam toward a material to be sintered on a device to be sintered, so as to sinter the material to be sintered, and a heating unit configured to, prior to and/or subsequent to sintering the material with the laser sintering head, heating the material to be sintered and/or the sintered material. The material to be sintered is preheated by the heating unit prior to sintering the material to be sintered, and/or the sintered material is annealed by the heating unit subsequent to sintering the material to be sintered, so as to reduce a difference between a temperature before the sintering and a temperature during the sintering, and/or reduce a cooling rate after the sintering, thereby to reduce a shrinkage stress applied to the material to be sintered and the device to be sintered.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 12, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 12, 2019
    Assignees: BOE TECHNOLOGY GROUP CO., LTD., ORDOS YUANSHENG OPTOELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Ang Xiao
  • Patent number: 10195689
    Abstract: A method of laser welding a workpiece stack-up that includes at least two overlapping metal workpieces is disclosed. The method includes advancing a beam spot of a laser beam relative to a top surface of the workpiece stack-up and along a beam travel pattern to form a laser weld joint, which is comprised of resolodified composite metal workpiece material, that fusion welds the metal workpieces together. And, while the beam spot is being advanced along the beam travel pattern, between a first point and a second point, which may or may not encompass the entire beam travel pattern, at least one of the following laser beam parameters is repeatedly varied: (1) the power level of the laser beam; (2) the travel speed of the laser beam; or (3) the focal position of the laser beam relative to the top surface of the workpiece stack-up.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 11, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 5, 2019
    Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: David Yang, Wu Tao
  • Patent number: 10189115
    Abstract: Provided is a laser processing apparatus provided with: a first optical system including a first prism and a second prism; a second optical system including a third prism and a fourth prism; a condensing optical system that condenses laser light to guide the condensed laser light to a workpiece; a first driving device that rotates the first prism and rotates the second prism synchronously with the first prism; a second driving device that rotates the third prism and rotates the fourth prism synchronously with the third prism; and a controller that controls the first driving device and the second driving device such that the workpiece is irradiated with the laser light while the laser light turns.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 29, 2019
    Assignee: MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventors: Kiyotaka Nakagawa, Yoshihito Fujita, Tsugumaru Yamashita
  • Patent number: 10188519
    Abstract: An apparatus and method for laser-assisted machining (LAM) of bone without raising the temperature of the surrounding bone is discussed. The method of LAM of bone involves determining a target bone needing to be machined an then scanning a high power density laser beam along the bone at a machining rate that produces low-heat affected zones (HAZ) on the target bone. The process and apparatus is advantageous over conventional technologies because it provides a chemically clean, coherent, and monochromatic beam to the region to be machined.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 29, 2019
    Assignee: UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS
    Inventors: Narendra B Dahotre, Soundarapandia Santhanakrishnan
  • Patent number: 10189114
    Abstract: A process and apparatus for free form fabrication of a three-dimensional work piece comprising (a) feeding raw material in a solid state to a first predetermined location; (b) depositing the raw material onto a substrate as a molten pool deposit under a first processing condition; (c) monitoring the molten pool deposit for a preselected condition; (d) comparing information about the preselected condition of the monitored molten pool deposit with a predetermined desired value for the preselected condition of the monitored molten pool deposit; (e) solidifying the molten pool deposit; (f) automatically altering the first processing condition to a different processing condition based upon information obtained from the comparing step (d); and repeating steps (a) through (f) at one or more second locations for building up layer by layer a three-dimensional work piece.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 29, 2019
    Assignee: SCIAKY, INC.
    Inventor: Scott Stecker
  • Patent number: 10194533
    Abstract: A method for processing a PCBa panel to individualize the PCBa's on the PCBa panel and depanel the PCBa panel in substantially one step is described. The PCBa panel initially comprises a number of PCBa's having components and traces common to a number of different product SKUs. During processing, the PCBa panel is loaded into a machine containing a first and second laser. The first laser severs extra traces on each PCBa to individualize the PCBa's for specific SKUs and the second laser cuts the links between each PCBa, thereby depaneling the PCBa panel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 20, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 29, 2019
    Assignee: SMART WAVE TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
    Inventors: Scott Arthur McMullen, Peter Zosimadis
  • Patent number: 10179377
    Abstract: A process for manufacturing a turbine engine component includes the steps of: providing a powder containing gamma titanium aluminide; and forming a turbine engine component from said powder using a direct metal laser sintering technique.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 30, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 15, 2019
    Assignee: United Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Gabriel L Suciu, Gopal Das, Ioannis Alvanos, Brian D Merry, James D Hill, Allan R Penda
  • Patent number: 10179471
    Abstract: A method of marking a holographic matrix. The method includes forming the holographic matrix, which is designed to produce holograms by printing. At least one anti-copy mark on the holographic matrix is formed and at least one copy-robust mark on the holographic matrix is formed. At least one of the steps for forming at least one mark on the holographic matrix uses laser-structuring of the holographic matrix surface. Preferably, the anti-copy mark represents a message and a plurality of redundancies of the message carried by the anti-copy mark. Also, preferably, a picosecond laser is used to form the anti-copy mark is formed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 27, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 15, 2019
    Assignee: ADVANCED TRACK & TRACE
    Inventors: Jean-Pierre Massicot, Alain Foucou, Zbigniew Sagan
  • Patent number: 10173283
    Abstract: A method for heat treating a hand tool wherein generally conical or pyramidal shaped laser beams are generated and have respective apexes or focal points of different thermal energies operably disposed with respect to differently configured portions and masses of the hand tool for simultaneous different effective heat treatment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 4, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 8, 2019
    Assignee: CHANNELLOCK, INC.
    Inventor: Daniel Kritikos
  • Patent number: 10166631
    Abstract: A laser processing head apparatus with a camera monitor includes a light source for illumination having a near-infrared laser diode that generates a near-infrared laser beam of which upper limit value is a wavelength of a laser beam for processing, and out of processing point-emitted light, a processing point-reflected laser beam and illumination light for imaging, which have passed through a condensed lens and a laser beam reflection mirror and are directed to the camera respectively. An optical filter blocks transmission of the processing point-emitted light and the processing point-reflected laser beam, and transmits the illumination light for imaging.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 1, 2019
    Assignee: MITSUBISHI ELECTRONIC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kazuki Kuba, Naoyuki Nakamura, Akihiro Ueno
  • Patent number: 10166633
    Abstract: A laser beam machine has a laser head (3) for emitting a laser beam onto a workpiece which is to be treated, and a movement unit (1, 2, 9) for physically moving the laser head (3), which movement unit has a linearly moving machine portal (1) and a transverse carriage (2) which is held such that it can be moved on said machine portal in a transverse manner, wherein a flexible fiber cable (10) with a minimum permissible bending radius enters at an inlet point on the upper laser head end for transmitting the laser beam, and wherein a cable guidance system (12, 13) is provided in order to guide the fiber cable (10) at least over a portion of its length.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 1, 2019
    Assignee: Messer Cutting Systems GmbH
    Inventors: Tobias Wolf, Robert Schröder, Thomas Dünzkofer, Ingo Göller