Patents by Inventor Richard D. Auten

Richard D. Auten has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Process for graft polymerization on surfaces of preformed substates to modify surface properties
    Patent number: 5805264
    Abstract: The invention relates to a process for modifying the surface characteristics of a preformed polymer substrate to impart altered properties thereto by graft polymerization on the substrate which includes: placing the polymer substrate in a plasma to form free radicals on the substrate; contacting the substrate having free radicals with oxygen to form hydroperoxy groups on the surface of the substrate; and graft polymerizing an ethylenically unsaturated monomer onto the surface of the polymer substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 1994
    Date of Patent: September 8, 1998
    Assignee: CIBA Vision Corporation
    Inventors: Robert A. Janssen, Ellen M. Ajello, Richard D. Auten, Glenn S. Nomura, Thomas E. Shank
  • Process for sterilizing articles and providing sterile storage environments
    Patent number: 5618492
    Abstract: A process for producing a sterile article in a sealed container during a continuous production process. In a preferred embodiment, a contact lens is immersed in an ozone-containing solution within a container during a continuous lens packaging process, and the lens and container are subsequently subjected to ultraviolet radiation. This process sterilizes the contact lens and lens container in order to maintain the contact lens in a sterile environment during shipping, handling, and storage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 5, 1996
    Date of Patent: April 8, 1997
    Inventors: Richard D. Auten, Barbara L. Heyl
  • Method for tinting a hydrophilic contact lens
    Patent number: 5266077
    Abstract: A method of tinting an unhydrated contact lens involves the steps of providing an unhydrated contact lens; providing a dyestuff solution; providing a printing block comprising a hydrophilic polymer material containing a dye complexing agent capable of noncovalently bonding the dyestuff; placing the dyestuff solution onto the printing block; contacting the unhydrated contact lens and the printing block for a time sufficient to allow the dyestuff solution to diffuse to the lens; and removing the lens from the printing block.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 9, 1992
    Date of Patent: November 30, 1993
    Assignee: Ciba-Geigy Corporation
    Inventors: Richard D. Auten, Robert A. Janssen, Leslie F. Stebbins, Richard C. Turek