Patents by Inventor Thomas E. Shank

Thomas E. Shank 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).

  • Patent number: 5824276
    Abstract: An apparatus and method for uniformly contacting an article with a treatment solution. Preferred embodiments are methods of uniformly tinting of contact lenses or uniformly surface modifying contact lenses. The method involves suspending the lens in the treatment solution by application of fluid flow, preferably sinusoidal or pulsed, in a direction opposite the stagnant force (i.e., sum of buoyancy and gravity forces) on the article. The fluid flow prevents the lens from contacting the container structure for periods sufficient to cause non-uniform treatment conditions, while continuously mixing the treatment solution to maintain uniform concentrations throughout.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 8, 1996
    Date of Patent: October 20, 1998
    Assignee: CIBA Vision Corporation
    Inventors: Robert A. Janssen, Barbara L. Heyl, Roger J. Hoffman, Thomas E. Shank
  • 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
  • Patent number: 5665420
    Abstract: An apparatus and method for uniformly contacting an article with a treatment solution. Preferred embodiments are methods of uniformly tinting of contact lenses or uniformly surface modifying contact lenses. The method involves suspending the lens in the treatment solution by application of fluid flow, preferably sinusoidal or pulsed, in a direction opposite the stagnant force (i.e., sum of buoyancy and gravity forces) on the article. The fluid flow prevents the lens from contacting the container structure for periods sufficient to cause non-uniform treatment conditions, while continuously mixing the treatment solution to maintain uniform concentrations throughout.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 1994
    Date of Patent: September 9, 1997
    Assignee: Ciba Vision Corporation
    Inventors: Robert A. Janssen, Barbara L. Heyl, Roger J. Hoffman, Thomas E. Shank