Patents by Inventor Thomas Westerhoff

Thomas Westerhoff 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).

  • Publication number: 20200049868
    Abstract: A mirror, a mirror substrate, a method for producing are provided. The mirror substrate is made of a material having a coefficient of mean linear thermal expansion of less than or equal to 1*10?6/K. The mirror substrate includes at least one feature selected from a group consisting of: a ratio of a lateral dimension to a maximum thickness of at least 100, a ratio of the lateral dimension to the maximum thickness of at least 150, a ratio of the lateral dimension to the maximum thickness of at least 200, a ratio of the lateral dimension to the maximum thickness of at least 300, a weight per unit area of 100 kg/m2 or less, a weight per unit area of 50 kg/m2 or less, a weight per unit area of 30 kg/m2 or less, a weight per unit area of 15 kg/m2 or less, a mirror surface with a roughness (Ra) of at most 3.5 ?m, and a mirror surface with a roughness (Ra) of less than 1.2 ?m.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 8, 2019
    Publication date: February 13, 2020
    Applicant: SCHOTT AG
    Inventors: Martin Schaefer, Marco Weisenburger, Volker Seibert, Thomas Westerhoff
  • Publication number: 20150053836
    Abstract: In a substrate, particularly in a substrate for a mirror support, in which recesses are introduced in one surface, preferably in the back side of the substrate, as a result of which, in particular, bridging pieces are defined between the recesses, in order to achieve the situation that despite a reduced weight, a high rigidity still remains, which means only a slight sagging after its correct uptake in a holding device provided for it, it is provided that at least one first portion of the bridging pieces has a width that is different than a second portion of the bridging pieces.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 30, 2014
    Publication date: February 26, 2015
    Inventors: Martin Schaefer, Thorsten Doehring, Volker Seibert, Thomas Westerhoff, Hans-Joachim Nowak
  • Patent number: 8911098
    Abstract: In a substrate, particularly in a substrate for a mirror support, in which recesses are introduced in one surface, preferably in the back side of the substrate, as a result of which, in particular, bridging pieces are defined between the recesses, in order to achieve the situation that despite a reduced weight, a high rigidity still remains, which means only a slight sagging after its correct uptake in a holding device provided for it, it is provided that at least one first portion of the bridging pieces has a width that is different than a second portion of the bridging pieces.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 20, 2009
    Date of Patent: December 16, 2014
    Assignee: Schott AG
    Inventors: Martin Schaeffer, Thorsten Doehring, Volker Seibert, Thomas Westerhoff, Hans-Joachim Nowak
  • Patent number: 8864324
    Abstract: A monolithic substrate of glass or glass ceramics and methods for manufacturing are provided, where the substrate has a lightweight structure. The lightweight structure includes recesses that are delimited by webs, such webs forming tetragonal or four-corner-shaped pockets. Due to the lightweight structure, the weight of the substrate can be significantly reduced, and at the same time a high rigidity can be ensured. The substrate can be used as a mirror support or a mirror and can be employed terrestrially and/or extra-terrestrially.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 19, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 21, 2014
    Assignee: Schott AG
    Inventors: Volker Seibert, Martin Schaefer, Thomas Westerhoff, Ralf Reiter, Ralf Jedamzik
  • Publication number: 20120182636
    Abstract: A monolithic substrate of glass or glass ceramics and methods for manufacturing are provided, where the substrate has a lightweight structure. The lightweight structure includes recesses that are delimited by webs, such webs forming tetragonal or four-corner-shaped pockets. Due to the lightweight structure, the weight of the substrate can be significantly reduced, and at the same time a high rigidity can be ensured. The substrate can be used as a mirror support or a mirror and can be employed terrestrially and/or extra-terrestrially.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 19, 2012
    Publication date: July 19, 2012
    Applicant: SCHOTT AG
    Inventors: Volker Seibert, Martin Schaefer, Thomas Westerhoff, Ralf Reiter, Ralf Jedamzik
  • Publication number: 20100182711
    Abstract: A substrate and methods of making is provided. The substrate is made of glass or glass ceramic and finds use as a mirror support having a light-weight structure. The substrate includes recesses and is reinforced with covers in the region of bearing points for rigidification.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 19, 2010
    Publication date: July 22, 2010
    Inventors: Thomas Westerhoff, Martin Schaefer, Peter Thomas, Ralf Reiter, Volker Seibert
  • Publication number: 20100103546
    Abstract: In a substrate, particularly in a substrate for a mirror support, in which recesses are introduced in one surface, preferably in the back side of the substrate, as a result of which, in particular, bridging pieces are defined between the recesses, in order to achieve the situation that despite a reduced weight, a high rigidity still remains, which means only a slight sagging after its correct uptake in a holding device provided for it, it is provided that at least one first portion of the bridging pieces has a width that is different than a second portion of the bridging pieces.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 20, 2009
    Publication date: April 29, 2010
    Inventors: Martin Schaefer, Thorsten Doehring, Volker Seibert, Thomas Westerhoff, Hans-Joachim Nowak