Plural Pools Patents (Class 118/411)
  • Patent number: 6440217
    Abstract: The present invention provides a method and apparatus for dispensing a small volume of a selected liquid, such as a biological sample or reagent, onto a substrate. The device includes a tube adapted to contain the liquid. An elongate fiber is disposed within the tube for axial movement therein between raised and lowered positions. Upon shifting or oscillating the fiber between its raised and lowered positions, a liquid spot can be formed at a selected position on the substrate. The device is readily adaptable for the production of micro-arrays having a great number of individual spots.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2001
    Date of Patent: August 27, 2002
    Assignee: PE Corporation (NY)
    Inventors: Charles S. Vann, Zbigniew Bryning
  • Patent number: 6432202
    Abstract: A textile yarn slashing system having a foam applicator disposed therein for pre-wetting the sheet of yarns prior to passing through the size box. The foam is delivered under pressure and a resilient hold down member opposes the slot to create a space for foam on the opposite side of the yarn sheet from the slot for application of foam to both sides of the yarn sheet. A flexible cover sheet covers the surface of the hold down member and is shifted to replace a worn portion with an unworn portion opposite the slot. A valve assembly is incorporated in the applicator to close off the passage to the slot and permit bypass flow of the foam. End seal blocks have rigid metallic outer chamber engaging surfaces and resilient material interior of the surfaces to press the surfaces against the sides of the chamber adjacent the slot. A plurality of horizontal tubes may be used as an alternate to the slot with one or more yarns traveling through each tube.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 20, 1998
    Date of Patent: August 13, 2002
    Assignee: Gaston Systems, Inc.
    Inventor: Christoph W. Aurich
  • Publication number: 20020100414
    Abstract: An apparatus is disclosed for fabricating a laminate product having a pair of sheet materials spaced by a plurality of flexible parallel vanes which are secured to the sheet material so that planar movement of the sheet materials in opposite directions cause the vanes to shift between open and closed positions. The vane material is formed from a web of material by dyeing the material, drying the dyed material, applying spaced longitudinally extending lines of adhesive on opposite faces of the material, and cutting the material into a plurality of side-by-side strips with each strip having a bead of adhesive on each face and along opposite side edges. The cut material with adhesive applied thereto is taken up on a transfer roll and moved to a vane/strip handling station where the strips of material are processed and delivered to a laminating station in parallel overlapping relationship with each other.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 18, 2002
    Publication date: August 1, 2002
    Inventors: Wendell B. Colson, David Hartman
  • Patent number: 6423140
    Abstract: The invention is related to the formation of three different and repeated stripes abbreviate as ABCABC-typed or A_B_C-typed at the die exit. The symbol, “_”, implies that there is no coating between two adjacent stripes. In this invention a guide shim and a guide die are inserted between two coating dies. Three different coating solutions will flow into the die assembly through different inlet positions. Two of which are introduced from the two coating dies will flow through the multiple channels provided in the guide shim and the guide die respectively and then contact with each other and with the third solution introduced from a side of the guide die in the same slot section to form the ABCABC-typed stripes. The coating solutions can also flow through the multiple channels to the same slot section but not contact each other to form the A_B_C-typed stripes at the die exit with a modification of the die assembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 2000
    Date of Patent: July 23, 2002
    Assignee: Formosa Advanced Coating Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Ta-Jo Liu, Yun-Wey Yu
  • Patent number: 6419747
    Abstract: An extrusion die for extruding a chemical functional additive for making a disposable paper product comprises a supply port and a distribution channel in fluid communication with the supply port. The distribution channel terminates with at least one discharge mouth having a passage cross-section therethrough. The discharge mouth comprises an entry orifice having an entry open area Ae, an exit orifice having an exit open area Ax, and a discharge distance defined between the entry orifice and the exit orifice. The exit open area Ax is greater than the entry open area Ae. This ensures that contaminants would pass through the discharge mouth, whereby plugging thereof is substantially avoided. Preferably, the passage cross-section of the discharge mouth continuously and gradually increases from the entry orifice to the exit orifice.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 1999
    Date of Patent: July 16, 2002
    Assignee: The Procter & Gamble Company
    Inventor: Kenneth D. Vinson
  • Patent number: 6410093
    Abstract: A coating method of coating an outer circumferential surface of a cylindrical base with a coater having a supply port, a coating solution chamber, and a slit communicating with the coating solution chamber, the slit being provided around an inner circumferential surface of the coater, comprisse steps of: feeding a coating solution from the supply port to the coating solution chamber so that the coating solution is discharged to the slit; adjusting an absolute pressure P in the coating solution chamber so as to satisfy the following formula: 3×104≦P≦3×106 (mmH2O) and relatively moving the cylindrical base through a hole formed by the inner circumferential surface of the coater so that an outer circumferential surface of the cylindrical base is uniformely coated with the coating solution flowing out from the slit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 31, 1998
    Date of Patent: June 25, 2002
    Assignee: Konica Corporation
    Inventors: Akira Ohira, Junji Ujihara, Nobuaki Kobayashi, Masao Asano
  • Patent number: 6410094
    Abstract: An extrusion coating head comprises an upstream side block (12) and a downstream side block (13) aligned in the conveying direction, and adjusting mechanism. The upstream and downstream side blocks (12, 13) respectively have edge surfaces (12a, 13a) on which the flexible support (1) is pressed. The upstream and downstream side blocks (12, 13) define therebetween a slit (15b) through which a coating composition can be extruded and applied onto the flexible support. The adjusting mechanism adjusts a length (t) of a perpendicular line which is drawn from an upstream end (A) of the edge surface of the downstream side block to a tangential line (L) of the edge surface of the downstream side block which is drawn from a downstream end of the edge surface of the upstream side block, to thereby adjust a distribution of a coating thickness on the flexible support in the width direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 17, 1999
    Date of Patent: June 25, 2002
    Assignee: Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Toshihiro Mandai, Norio Shibata
  • Patent number: 6399157
    Abstract: Apparatus and method for depositing controlled short intervals of electrostatic charge on a moving web substrate to be coated, including a mathematical model that estimates the charging performance of the apparatus. The model is constructed via benchtop characterization of the apparatus. The model is implemented in coating production via an algorithm comprising a best-fit equation representing the model predictions over a range of relevant input parameter values such as web speed, web capacitance, and desired web voltage. The apparatus includes an electrical charging apparatus, a power supply for powering the charging apparatus, and a controller programmed with the algorithm for automatically setting and controlling the intensity and duration of the output of the power supply to yield the optimal electrostatic potential on the charging apparatus. In operation, run-specific variables including web type and coating speed are also provided as inputs to the controller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 28, 2000
    Date of Patent: June 4, 2002
    Assignee: Eastman Kodak Company
    Inventor: Mark C. Zaretsky
  • Patent number: 6387179
    Abstract: Resin impregnation of fiber bundles for use in making a composite material is described. The impregnated fiber bundles are suitable for use as a prepreg tape or for inline use in extrusion, pultrusion and filament winding operations. The improvements of the disclosed method and impregnation head enable high fiber take-off speeds without excessive damage or fraying of the fiber bundles. Encapsulated air or voids in the impregnated product are consistently less than 1% by volume of the impregnated product and decrease with increased take-off speed. These improvements are achieved by passing the fiber bundles through a multi-chambered impregnation head in which the resin is injected into a downstream chamber. The cross sectional area of the fiber bundles, the velocity of the fibers bundles, the size of the openings to the chamber, the viscosity of the resin and the pressure at which the resin is pumped into the downstream chamber all control the pressure within the downstream chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 19, 1998
    Date of Patent: May 14, 2002
    Assignee: Hydril Company
    Inventors: Roger A. Anderson, Thomas J. Walsh, Charles P. Peterman, Harris A. Reynolds, Jr.
  • Patent number: 6382128
    Abstract: An apparatus is disclosed for fabricating a laminate product having a pair of sheet materials spaced by a plurality of flexible parallel vanes which are secured to the sheet material so that planar movement of the sheet materials in opposite directions cause the vanes to shift between open and closed positions. The vane material is formed from a web of material by dyeing the material, drying the dyed material, applying spaced longitudinally extending lines of adhesive on opposite faces of the material, and cutting the material into a plurality of side-by-side strips with each strip having a bead of adhesive on each face and along opposite side edges. The cut material with adhesive applied thereto is taken up on a transfer roll and moved to a vane/strip handling station where the strips of material are processed and delivered to a laminating station in parallel overlapping relationship with each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 6, 2000
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2002
    Assignee: Hunter Douglas Inc.
    Inventors: Wendell B. Colson, David Hartman
  • Patent number: 6383292
    Abstract: In one aspect, the invention includes a method of encapsulating a semiconductor device, comprising: a) providing a semiconductor device; b) providing a dispensing apparatus having a plurality of dispensing orifices proximate the semiconductor device; and c) dispensing a liquid encapsulating material through the plurality of orifices and over the semiconductor device. In another aspect, the invention includes a method of forming an electronic package, comprising: a) providing a circuit board having a circuit pattern; b) joining a plurality of semiconductor devices to the circuit board in electrical connection with the circuit pattern; c) providing a dispensing apparatus having a plurality of dispensing orifices proximate the semiconductor devices; d) simultaneously dispensing liquid encapsulating material through at least two of the plurality of orifices and over at least two of the semiconductor devices; and e) curing the liquid encapsulating material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 11, 2000
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2002
    Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Joseph M. Brand, Scott Gooch
  • Patent number: 6376012
    Abstract: A process of producing an elongated coated strip article having a layer of coating material on each opposite surface of the strip article, in which the ratio of layer thicknesses on opposite sides of the strip article may be set or varied. The process comprises simultaneously applying layers of solidifiable liquid coating materials on the opposite sides of the strip article by advancing the strip article in a direction along a path between opposed coating heads, at least one of which is a floating coating head, having material delivery slots and metering lands for delivery and metering of the liquid coating materials to the opposite surface to form the layers. The ratio of the layer thicknesses may be adjusted when required by varying the path of strip article advance between the floating coating heads to cause changes in angles formed between the strip surfaces and adjacent metering lands on opposite sides of the strip article. The invention also provides apparatus for carrying out the process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 12, 2000
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2002
    Assignee: Alcan International Limited
    Inventors: Robert Arthur Innes, Melville Douglas Ball
  • Patent number: 6364952
    Abstract: A coating apparatus for a traveling web comprising two coating heads and a traveling path changing roller is disclosed. A bar coater is arranged close to a pass roller. The bar coater is fixed at such a position as to contact the web when the pass roller is moved down. An extrusion coater is arranged below a backup roller in such a manner as to move up and down. If the pass roller moves up and bends up the traveling path of the web, the web separates from the bar coater. Then, if the extrusion coater moves up, the web is coated with the coating solution by the extrusion coater. If the pass roller and the extrusion coater move down, the web is coated with the coating solution by the bar coater.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2000
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2002
    Assignee: Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yasuhito Naruse, Atsushi Kakumoto
  • Patent number: 6361828
    Abstract: In a coating method, a coating film is provided in the state where 10 to 80% of the discharge amount of a first coating composition is made to overflow through a gap formed between an above-mentioned support and an above-mentioned front edge surface. Accordingly, even if the amount of the overflow of the first coating composition is reduced to a minimum requirement, not only unsteady vibration causing coating unevenness failure is restrained from being generated but also the entrained air and foreign matters to a web are effectively prevented from invading the coating film, so that the coating film can be kept in an extremely stable state, and the thickness of the coating film can be reduced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 8, 2000
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2002
    Assignee: Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Mikio Tomaru, Kazunori Komatsu
  • Patent number: 6355104
    Abstract: An apparatus, method and control system involve treating articles in one or more of a plurality of liquid treatment bath chambers. The apparatus includes one or more article raising and lowering devices and a plurality of treatment bath chambers, preferably having separate heaters, temperature and level monitors, filling and draining devices, and devices for keeping treatment bath components in suspension. The method preferably includes treating articles, preferably eyeglass lenses, by supporting the articles on an arm and dipping them into one or more of the plurality of treatment bath chambers, which may separately contain assorted coating liquids such as tint coatings, UV protection coatings, scratch resistance coatings, neutralizing liquids for removing tinting, and rinsing liquids.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 1998
    Date of Patent: March 12, 2002
    Inventor: Louis S. Polster
  • Patent number: 6350318
    Abstract: A versatile, multiple-slot, dual cavity, slide/extrusion hopper for assembling and coating a composite layer comprising a plurality of highly uniform, superposed compositions, and a method for determining the dimensions of the hopper are disclosed. The hopper is suitable for photographic applications and other applications requiring highly uniform layers. The hopper is versatile in that it can accommodate coating compositions that range from Newtonian to substantially shear thinning and in that fewer than the total number of elements may be supplied; the slide offsets between elements are suitable for both merging layers and for the top layer alone. The height of the secondary slot is preferably greater than the height of the primary slot. The method provides optimal cross-sectional shapes for the cavities. Versatility is achieved without greatly increasing the height or thickness of the elements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 1998
    Date of Patent: February 26, 2002
    Assignee: Eastman Kodak Company
    Inventors: Kenneth J. Ruschak, Daniel J. Suter, Steven J. Weinstein
  • Patent number: 6344088
    Abstract: A stripe coating applicator for coating at least two stripes having a plurality of slit outlets provided at a nozzle edge and a pair of block edges forming said slit outlets. Stripe partitions partition and define the plurality of slit outlets formed at the pair of block edges. Notches are formed on at least one of said block edges toward a direction of the coating fluid to be discharged and correspond to the positions of the stripe partitions. Movable parts are formed at the at least one of said block edges where the notches are provided. The notches and thin parts form the movable parts. A slit gap adjustment means is provided for adjusting slit gaps by moving the movable parts.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 1999
    Date of Patent: February 5, 2002
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Nobuyuki Kamikihara, Masaru Watanabe
  • Publication number: 20020009549
    Abstract: To stably coat a surface of a web with multiple coating liquids containing polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) to simultaneously form multiple layers on the surface of the web by means of a slide-hopper coating apparatus, a polymerization degree of PVA contained in one of the coating liquids forming the bottom layer among the multiple layers is within the range between 1000 and 4000, and a density of PVA contained in the coating liquid forming the bottom layer is at most 4% by weight, and a viscosity of at least one of the coating liquids that forms one of the layers other than the bottom layer is higher than a viscosity of the coating liquid forming the bottom layer. Alternatively, the polymerization degree of PVA contained in the coating liquid forming the bottom layer is within the range between 1000 and 4000, and an additive used to increase viscosity is added to the coating liquid forming the bottom layer within the range between 0.05% and 0.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 21, 2000
    Publication date: January 24, 2002
    Inventor: Shotaro Ogawa
  • Publication number: 20020009548
    Abstract: There is provided a coating method in which an extrusion-type coating head having a plurality of doctor edge surfaces is pressed onto a flexible support laid and running between pass rollers so as to coat the flexible support with a coating composition ejected from a slit, the method comprising the steps of: preparing a lower-layer coating composition so as to have a viscosity of not less than 1 P at rest and a viscosity of not more than 50 cP at a shear rate of 10,000 sec−1; excessively applying the lower-layer coating composition to a surface of the support; scraping a surplus of the lower-layer coating composition by the coating head so that a lower layer is formed; and applying an upper-layer coating composition, which is ejected from the slit, onto the lower layer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 7, 1999
    Publication date: January 24, 2002
    Inventors: MIKIO TOMARU, SHINSUKE TAKAHASHI, NORIO SHIBATA
  • Publication number: 20020006471
    Abstract: A coating method of coating an outer circumferential surface of a cylindrical base with a coater having a supply port, a coating solution chamber, and a slit communicating with the coating solution chamber, the slit being provided around an inner circumferential surface of the coater, comprisse steps of: feeding a coating solution from the supply port to the coating solution chamber so that the coating solution is discharged to the slit; adjusting an absolute pressure P in the coating solution chamber so as to satisfy the following formula: 3×104≦P≦3×106 (mmH2O) and relatively moving the cylindrical base through a hole formed by the inner circumferential surface of the coater so that an outer circumferential surface of the cylindrical base is uniformely coated with the coating solution flowing out from the slit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 31, 1998
    Publication date: January 17, 2002
    Inventors: AKIRA OHIRA, JUNJI UJIHARA, NOBUAKI KOBAYASHI, MASAO ASANO
  • Patent number: 6334900
    Abstract: An apparatus for applying a gel onto a sheet of material for production of disposable undergarments, the sheet moving in a predetermined direction of manufacture at a predetermined rate of travel, the apparatus comprising: a container positioned to contain a supply of the gel; a shoe comprising a body having a lower surface, a proximal end positioned to receive the sheet of material as the sheet travels in the predetermined direction of manufacture, and a distal end, an inlet conduit positioned within the body to receive the gel therein, a chamber connected to the inlet conduit and positioned within the body, a groove extending along the lower surface of the proximal end of the body and a plurality of spaced-apart outlet conduits each extending from the chamber to the groove so that the gel is delivered onto the sheet of material in a pattern of substantially parallel lines; and a gel delivery controller positioned in fluid communication with the container and with the shoe, for providing a variably controlle
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 1, 1998
    Date of Patent: January 1, 2002
    Inventors: John M. Tharpe, Jr., William L. Meadow
  • Patent number: 6325016
    Abstract: A food material dispensing apparatus for adding a sauce to a target food is claimed. The dispensing comprises a pump, a supply manifold, and a dispensing manifold. The pump draws a quantity of sauce from a source into the supply manifold and forces the sauce through the dispensing manifold to the target food. The supply manifold receives the sauce from the source. The sauce is transferred to the dispensing manifold through which the sauce material is transferred to the target food. A baffle suspended in the dispensing manifold. The baffle has a peripheral edge and a central portion displaced a distance from a substantially horizontal plane defined by the peripheral edge by a positioning portion which connects the central portion to the peripheral edge. A pattern plate is positioned downstream from the baffle and has a plurality of apertures for delivering the predetermined quantity of sauce in a predetermined pattern to the target food.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 24, 2000
    Date of Patent: December 4, 2001
    Assignee: Rota Skipper Corp.
    Inventors: Clifford E. Fitch, Jr., Clifford E. Fitch, III, James N. Egan, Michael Anderson
  • Publication number: 20010043993
    Abstract: A running web is coated with a coating liquid containing polyvinyl alcohol by means of a slide hopper that has a slide surface of which the inclining angle with respect to a horizontal plane is within a range between 5° and 30°; a thickness T [mm] of the coating liquid on the running web is smaller than a thickness S [mm] of the coating liquid flowing down along the slide surface; a bead clearance CL [mm] between the end of the slide surface and the running web at the bead part is determined in accordance with the thickness T [mm] of the coating liquid on the running web in an inequality, T+0.05<CL<2T+0.1; and a bead back pressure P [mmH2O] reduced at a bottom of the bead part with respect to an atmospheric pressure is determined in accordance with the bead clearance CL [mm] in an inequality, 2/CL+20<P<10/CL+20.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 21, 2000
    Publication date: November 22, 2001
    Inventor: Shotaro Ogawa
  • Patent number: 6251484
    Abstract: An application method of forming a precoat and at least one type of coat sequentially in a wet condition on an application face of a support with an extrusion type coating head of non-pressurizing type having a front edge 3 positioned in the upstream with respect to a move direction of the support and a back edge 4 positioned in the downstream with respect to the support move direction and having an acute-angle tip formed so as to recede in the direction opposite to the support from the tip of the front edge. The difference between values of solubility parameters at application temperature of solvents contained in both the precoat 70 and the coat 50 contiguous to the precoat is made 1.5 or less.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 15, 1994
    Date of Patent: June 26, 2001
    Assignee: Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Akihiro Suzuki, Norio Shibata, Shinsuke Takahashi, Mikio Tomaru
  • Patent number: 6200641
    Abstract: A method for reducing coating defects caused by strikethrough when simultaneously slide coating a first fluid layer, a second fluid layer, and a third fluid layer. The method includes preparing the first, second, and third fluids such that the first solute is incompatible with the second and third solutes and such that the first fluid minimizes strikethrough of at least one of the second and third fluids to a slide surface when the first fluid is positioned between the slide surface and the second and third fluids. The present invention is useful in preparing imaging, data storage, and other media.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 15, 1999
    Date of Patent: March 13, 2001
    Assignee: 3M Innovative Properties Company
    Inventors: Aparna V. Bhave, Robert A. Yapel, Lawrence B. Wallace, Thomas M. Milbourn
  • Patent number: 6197379
    Abstract: A multilayer coating method is disclosed. The viscosity of an uppermost layer coating composition is adjusted to at least 0.1 Pa.s during coating, while the viscosity of the other layer coating composition is adjusted to at least 0.03 Pa.s, and a plurality of organic solvent-based coating compositions are coated onto a support employing wet on wet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 1999
    Date of Patent: March 6, 2001
    Assignee: Konica Corporation
    Inventor: Daiki Minamino
  • Patent number: 6194034
    Abstract: A method of coating a coating solution onto a base member by a coater while conveying the base member, wherein the base member has a coating starting point from which the coating solution is coated onto the base member, comprise steps of feeding the coating solution to the coater at a flow rate lower than a regular coating flow rate; and increasing the lower flow rate to the regular coating flow rate in accordance with the conveyed position of the coating starting point of the base member when the coating starting point of the base member is conveyed to the coater.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 1998
    Date of Patent: February 27, 2001
    Assignee: Konica Corporation
    Inventors: Yasuo Nishi, Tomohiko Sakai, Nobuhiro Ueno, Nobuyuki Kimura, Fumio Kimura
  • Patent number: 6152069
    Abstract: A coater head for contacting a liquid coating material with a traveling web of paper or fabric. The coater head includes at least two chambers and an extended outflow bubble to increase the zone of contact between coating liquid and the traveling web. Improved, coating quality also results from controlled flow characteristics through the coater head having a feed zone length-to-depth ratio of four or more.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 6, 1998
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2000
    Assignee: Beloit Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Alfred C. Li, James R. Burns, Gerald R. Garde, Rex A. Becker
  • Patent number: 6153265
    Abstract: Coating equipment 20 with an extrusion type coating head comprising a back edge 6 having a top side which slopes away from a support from the height of the top of a front edge 5, a coating fluid spouting slot 4 defined by both the edges, and guide plates for regulating the width of a coating fluid spouted from the slot tip on both side ends of the slot for applying the coating fluid to the support surface from the slot 4 in a non-pressurized condition. The nearest point to the support surface in the slot corresponding portion of the upper edge of the guide plate 7 is positioned slightly upstream from the center line of the width of the slot along the support running direction and the area given by the product of the distance between the nearest point and the support surface and the width of the slot is made a specific value or less.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 1994
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2000
    Assignee: Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Mikio Tomaru, Norio Shibata, Shinsuke Takahashi, Akihiro Suzuki
  • Patent number: 6143076
    Abstract: Heat sinks and electrical components pre-coated with a layer of a material such as thermal grease are disclosed. Contamination and migration of the thermal grease is substantially reduced by covering the coated areas with a release liner that is removed prior to the assembly of the heat sink into a circuit board or other assembly. By providing a pre-coated heat sink, productivity can be enhanced by increasing accuracy with which the thermal grease is applied, thus eliminating waste and clean up. Methods for pre-coating either a heat sink or the release liner with thermal grease are also disclosed. In preferred embodiments areas of the heat sink can be either fully coated, or portions electively coated, and the coating is most preferably accomplished by pushing grease through an applicator head that has numerous small nozzles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 1997
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2000
    Assignee: Thermalloy Inc.
    Inventors: Jay Rasmussen, Matthew C. Smithers
  • Patent number: 6106900
    Abstract: A method of applying a multi-layer coating to a surface of an elongated strip article (10) of variable thickness or surface height. The method involves applying at least two layers (12a, 12b,) of different coating materials in the form of solidifiable fluids directly onto the surface (10a, 47, 48) of the elongated metal strip article and reducing the layers to a desired thickness by causing the applied coating materials to encounter at least one coating surface (27) that is movable substantially perpendicularly relative to the strip article and is urged towards the strip article in opposition to hydrodynamic force generated by the coating materials on the at least one coating surface. Differences of thickness or surface height of the strip article are therefore accommodated unduly varying the coating thickness.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 20, 1999
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2000
    Assignee: Alcan International Limited
    Inventors: Robert Arthur Innes, Neil Louis Brockman, Melville Douglas Ball, Carl Arlen Wollam
  • Patent number: 6059919
    Abstract: There are described a method and a device for uniform chemical detachment of layers of resist in the form of easily-filtered particles from plate-shaped surfaces of a material for electroplating. The method is preferably used in horizontal continuous systems in printed circuit board technology. According to prior art, spraying and squirting processes are used for resist stripping. Disadvantageous among other things is the short service life of the bath due to the resist which cannot be entirely filtered out of the solution due to dissolution. According to the invention, the resist is detached from the surfaces of the printed circuit boards with only moderately flowing treatment liquids. In the first process stage a large quantity of treatment liquid is applied in a wave for swelling to the surfaces of the printed circuit boards by means of longitudinally-extended wave nozzles. in the second stage, for film detachment, wave nozzles having pressure in suction areas are preferably used.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 28, 1998
    Date of Patent: May 9, 2000
    Assignee: Atotech Deutschland GmbH
    Inventors: Reinhard Schneider, David T. Baron
  • Patent number: 6033476
    Abstract: A coating apparatus comprises an upstream lip and a downstream lip defining a slot between the two lips through which a coating liquid can be extruded; and a pair of guide rollers disposed on opposite side of the lips for guiding a support to move past the lips such that the coating liquid can be applied thereto, wherein the downstream lip has a coating operation surface facing and curved toward the support and, a curvature k of the curved coating operation surface being given asP.sub.2 /T.ltoreq.k.ltoreq.P.sub.1 /Twhere T represents the tension in the coated portion of the support, and P.sub.1 and P.sub.2 represent the pressures of the coating liquid acting on the support at upstream and downstream ends of said coating operation surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 1996
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2000
    Assignee: Kao Corporation
    Inventors: Junichi Masukawa, Nobuyuki Isshiki, Nobunori Ohji, Eiten Chin, Toshiharu Numata
  • Patent number: 6007874
    Abstract: A method for minimizing coating defects caused by strikethrough when simultaneously slide coating a first fluid layer, a second fluid layer, and a third fluid layer. The method includes preparing the first, second, and third fluids such that the first solute is incompatible with the second and third solutes and such that the first fluid minimizes strikethrough of at least one of the second and third fluids to a slide surface when the first fluid is positioned between the slide surface and the second and third fluids. The present invention is useful in preparing imaging, data storage, and other media.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 28, 1998
    Date of Patent: December 28, 1999
    Assignee: Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company
    Inventors: Aparna V. Bhave, Robert A. Yapel, Lawrence B. Wallace, Thomas M. Milbourn
  • Patent number: 6007627
    Abstract: The present invention comprises an apparatus for making a selectively-coated web. The apparatus comprises a coating means for applying a coating to a web in a plurality of coated regions, the coated regions being in spaced, parallel relationship to a plurality of uncoated regions. The present invention further comprises support means for supporting the web after coating, the support means comprising a plurality of support members, each of the support members being in registry with an uncoated region. In a preferred embodiment the coating of a beneficial emulsion is applied in selected regions by extrusion. A method of forming a coated web without producing buildup of coating material on idler rollers is also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 1997
    Date of Patent: December 28, 1999
    Assignee: The Proceter & Gamble Company
    Inventor: Steven Lee Barnholtz
  • Patent number: 5976252
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for depositing precisely metered quantities of an emulsion on a surface are disclosed. The method and apparatus are particularly useful for assembly of reversible clinical thermometers. The apparatus involves (a) at least one cartridge having a volume containing the emulsion composition; (b) at least one piston associated with each cartridge for collapsing the volume under a controlled pressure; (c) at least one tubular needle for receiving a flow of emulsion composition from each cartridge; (d) a fluid connection between each tubular needle and each cartridge for delivering the emulsion composition from each cartridge to each needle; and (e) a valve for each fluid connection.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 25, 1997
    Date of Patent: November 2, 1999
    Assignee: 3M Innovative Properties Company
    Inventor: Gary Focarino
  • Patent number: 5976611
    Abstract: The present invention relates to an optical fiber coating method and an apparatus therefor which can form high quality coating layer on an optical fiber (12) by preventing non-concentricity of a coating resin (14) applied on the optical fiber (12) and admixing of bubble.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 1997
    Date of Patent: November 2, 1999
    Assignee: Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd.
    Inventors: Kaoru Okuno, Akira Inoue, Kazumasa Oishi, Kohei Kobayashi, Ichiro Tsuchiya
  • Patent number: 5968270
    Abstract: A fountain applicator for applying coating liquid onto a web of paper carried past the applicator, has a coating liquid flow path that includes a curved surface along which a sheet of the coating liquid is flowed to subject the sheet to centrifugal force to cause air entrained in the coating liquid to move away from one side of the sheet that is toward the curved surface, so that the one side is relatively free of entrained air. After being flowed along the curved surface, the sheet of coating liquid is directed toward the web in a free standing jet curtain of coating liquid, to contact the web surface primarily with the one relatively air-free side of the coating liquid sheet to decrease the occurrence of skip coating on the web surface, especially when the web is traveling past the applicator at high speeds. The coating is applied in excess onto the web surface and is metered and leveled to a desired coat weight by a downstream doctor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 12, 1998
    Date of Patent: October 19, 1999
    Assignee: Consolidated Papers, Inc.
    Inventor: Wayne A. Damrau
  • Patent number: 5962075
    Abstract: A method for simultaneously coating multiple thin layers of relatively viscous fluids comprises the relative adjustment of the viscosity of the fluids in order to achieve a viscosity ratio in the optimum range without adversely affecting the adhesive properties of the fluids. In the preferrred method, viscosity is adjusted by varying the temperature of one or both fluids prior to coating and/or by reformulating the liquids to vary their relative viscosities.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 1996
    Date of Patent: October 5, 1999
    Assignee: Avery Dennison
    Inventors: Luigi Sartor, Stephen C. Huff, Craig N. Kishi, Daniel Meyer, Jesse C. Ercillo
  • Patent number: 5922408
    Abstract: A first downstream lip 25 and a second downstream lip 26 are formed with coating work surfaces 34, 35 facing a web 21 and making contact with coating liquid 22A, 22B, a ratio h/G between a gap G defined between the downstream end X of the coating work surface of the first downstream lip and the web. A film thickness h of a lower layer coating film 33A which is extruded from a fist slot part 27 located upstream from the first downstream lip, and which has not yet been dried, is set in the following range:0.4<h/G<0.5.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 4, 1997
    Date of Patent: July 13, 1999
    Assignee: Kao Corporation
    Inventors: Yutaka Nakama, Eiten Chin
  • Patent number: 5882407
    Abstract: A coating die is disclosed, in which a slit-like spacing 29 is formed between a pair of die elements 25, 27 arranged in opposed relation to each other. A band-shaped electrode sheet 23 is movable along the length of the spacing 29. The sides of the slit-like spacing along the width of the electrode sheet 23 are enclosed. An electrode piling agent is supplied from an external source into the die element pair 25, 27 through supply flow paths 47, 49. Discharge ports 47a, 49a of the supply flow paths 47, 49 are open to the slit-like spacing 29. The portion of the spacing 29 downstream of the discharge ports 47a, 49a in the direction of movement of the electrode sheet 23 has a thickness equivalent to the thickness of the electrode sheet 23 plus the thickness of the electrode piling agent coated on the two sides of the electrode sheet 23. The portion of the spacing 29 upstream of the discharge ports 47a, 49a has a thickness substantially equal to the thickness of the electrode sheet 23.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 2, 1996
    Date of Patent: March 16, 1999
    Assignees: Toshiba Battery Co., Ltd., Toshiba Kikai Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kazuta Takeno, Takeo Ito, Shigeo Kasahara, Gen Takayama, Hiroshi Kaneko, Yoshiyuki Sakai, Toshihiko Kusago, Katsuhiko Iguchi
  • Patent number: 5863607
    Abstract: A coating hopper (10) for coating a radiation-sensitive emulsion on a photographic support (24) is fabricated from hopper bars (12) comprising an inlet slot (16) and a discharge slot (18), said bar (12) comprising a body and hopper lip (22), wherein the body of the bar comprises a metal or metal alloy and the lip area comprises a ceramic insert (30) with a high elastic modulus and low density. The hopper with the ceramic insert prevents the formation of streaks in the emulsion coating layer or layers on the support.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 3, 1997
    Date of Patent: January 26, 1999
    Assignee: Eastman Kodak Company
    Inventors: Syamal K. Ghosh, Dilip K. Chatterjee, Edward P. Furlani
  • Patent number: 5863332
    Abstract: The invention involves a fluid treatment device and fluid treatment method to solution or melt coat or impregnate a resin or polymer to a predetermined, metered thickness into a substrate. The invention is effective in impregnating or coating various substrates in both a continuous or batch process on one side, two sides, or in the case of a porous substrate, penetration and complete saturation is possible. The invention offers significant advantages and benefits over existing methods and equipment and allows the coating or impregnation process to be performed at lower cost and higher efficiency with increased environmental safety.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 1996
    Date of Patent: January 26, 1999
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Elizabeth Foster, Jeffrey Curtis Hedrick, Robert Maynard Japp, Kostas Papathomas, Stephen Leo Tisdale, Alfred Viehbeck
  • Patent number: 5861195
    Abstract: A method for minimizing coating defects caused by strikethrough when simultaneously slide coating a first fluid layer, a second fluid layer, and a third fluid layer. The method includes preparing the first, second, and third fluids such that the first solute is incompatible with the second and third solutes and such that the first fluid minimizes strikethrough of at least one of the second and third fluids to a slide surface when the first fluid is positioned between the slide surface and the second and third fluids. The present invention is useful in preparing imaging, data storage, and other media.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 21, 1997
    Date of Patent: January 19, 1999
    Assignee: Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company
    Inventors: Aparna V. Bhave, Robert A. Yapel, Lawrence B. Wallace, Thomas M. Milbourn
  • Patent number: 5858096
    Abstract: The invention relates to an application unit for the direct or indirect application of a liquid or pasty medium (12) onto a moving material web, in particular consisting of paper or board, comprising a dosing gap formed as a free jet nozzle, the dosing gap being formed between a leading lip (4) and a trailing lip (8), and at least one feed channel (14) leading to the dosing gap. The application unit is characterized in that the dosing gap is subdivided in a comb-like manner and has a plurality of defined through-gaps (32) for the liquid or pasty medium (12).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 1996
    Date of Patent: January 12, 1999
    Assignee: Voith Sulzer Papiermaschinen GmbH
    Inventors: Zygmunt Madrzak, Manfred Ueberschar, Benjamin Mendez, Michael Trefz, Ingo Gottwald, Martin F. Kustermann
  • Patent number: 5858097
    Abstract: A knife coater for the application of one or more magnetizable dispersions located one on top of the other to a moving flexible substrate by means of a plurality of coater slots which are arranged essentially horizontally and parallel to one another in a multipart block and are fed from reservoirs is described, the outlet orifices of the coater slots being essentially opposite the summit of a concave support surface for the substrate, the substrate transporting the applied layers, the outlet surfaces of the coater block which are opposite the support surface being adapted to the radius of the roll and the inflow gap being larger than the outflow gap.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 15, 1996
    Date of Patent: January 12, 1999
    Assignee: Emtec Magnetics GmbH
    Inventors: Volker Richter, Peter Nagel, Hans-Gunter Wagner, Werner Lenz, Norbert Gilbert
  • Patent number: 5853482
    Abstract: Apparatus and method for applying a coating solution to a running substrate using a slot die having two die lips forming a gap therebetween. The gap also defines an outlet for releasing the coating solution to the substrate. The lips have plurality of manifold chambers communicating with gas feeder and coating solution feeder provided in the die lips. The manifold chambers communicate with the outlet. The width of the coating solution is adjustable with the gas pressure applied to the gas feeder.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 19, 1996
    Date of Patent: December 29, 1998
    Assignee: AGFA-Gervaert AG
    Inventors: Uwe Gartmann, Hermann Idstein, Guenter Hultzsch
  • Patent number: 5851289
    Abstract: An applicator in which a coating can be applied to a base material at high speed, a coating film can be thinned and a desired coating film can be obtained when the coating films of two or more layers are simultaneously formed. A die 2 is provided with a slit 5 for a lower layer and a slit 15 for an upper layer which respectively serve to extrude a coating 6 for the lower layer and a coating 16 for the upper layer to the base material. The coatings 6 and 16 are respectively extruded from these slits 5 and 15 to the continuously running base material 1 so that the coating films of two layers are formed. Lower layer lips 4 forming the lower layer slit 5 are provided so as to be not in contact with the base material 1. Upper lips 14 forming the upper layer slit 15 are provided so as to abut on the base material 1. When a magnetic coating is used as the coating 6 for the lower layer, a magnet part may be opposed to the lips 4 for the lower layer by sandwiching the base material 1 therebetween.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 1996
    Date of Patent: December 22, 1998
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Shogo Sato, Osamu Maniwa
  • Patent number: 5846599
    Abstract: A process and apparatus for coating a surface of an elongated strip article, e.g. aluminum sheet, with a layer of solid polymer material. The process involves heating the polymer to produce a melt having a viscosity of at least 1000 centipoise when measured according to ASTM D4440 at 1 radian per second, extruding the melt onto a moving surface of the strip article through an elongated slot in a coating head having an extended surface adjacent to the slot arranged at an angle to the moving surface to form a coating gap converging in the direction of movement, thereby forming a coating on the strip article, and pushing the coating head towards the surface of the strip article as the melt is extruded as the coating onto the surface from the slot to reduce the coating thickness to a desired range by pressing the extended surface of the coating head onto the coating as the coating is formed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 8, 1996
    Date of Patent: December 8, 1998
    Assignee: Alcan International Limited
    Inventors: Robert Arthur Innes, Neil Louis Brockman
  • Patent number: 5843530
    Abstract: A method for minimizing waste resulting from defects caused at the edges of a coating on a substrate which was applied to the substrate by a slide coater. A first fluid flows through the first slot main portion at a first flow rate and through the first slot end portions at flow rates which differ from the first flow rate. A second fluid flows through a second slot onto a second slide surface positioned relative to the first slide surface and oriented such that the second coating fluid flows from the second slide surface onto the first coating fluid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 21, 1997
    Date of Patent: December 1, 1998
    Assignee: Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company
    Inventors: Glen A. Jerry, Robert A. Yapel, Aparna V. Bhave, Lawrence B. Wallace