Patent US4019062A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
US4019062A
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US
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Unit for treatment of substrate with ultraviolet radiation
Assignee: Individual
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Filing: 1975-09-11
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Granted: 1977-04-19
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Expires: 1995-09-11
Abstract
Abstract A system, designed to cure an ultraviolet sensitive coating on a substrate that is moving in a direction transverse to the radiation emitted from the system, which includes a plurality of arrays of short-arc ultraviolet lamps, each array located in a suitable housing. The arc of each lamp in a given array is located at the focus of an associated paraboloidal reflector mounted within the housing so that at least half of the ultraviolet radiation emanating from the arc is reflected by the paraboloidal reflector to produce a collimated beam of ultraviolet radiation directed toward a concave spherical reflector whose center is located axially with the paraboloidal reflector. As measured between the two reflectors, the axis of the spherical reflector normally forms a (45°) angle with respect to the axis of the paraboloidal reflector to reflect the collimated beam toward the substrate. Because of the concave surface of the spherical reflector, the radiant energy is focused to a small area on the substrate. This area is adjustable over a wide range depending on the focal lengths of the spherical and paraboloidal reflectors which are chosen so as to arrive at the most desirable intensity of radiation for the particular sensitivity of the coating being treated. Each array produces a set of disconnected high intensity image areas on the substrate, with the totality of arrays providing complete coverage across the width of the substrate. Within each array, the spherical reflectors are mounted to an assembly within the housing for pivotal movement into a position to reflect the focused beam 180° from its normal direction so that no energy strikes the substrate when it is not in motion.
Inventors
- 👤 Eric H. Rongren
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-29 21:43
CPC Classifications
F; F26; F26B; F26B3/00; F26B3/28; B; B01; B01J; B01J19/00; B01J19/08; B01J19/12; B01J19/122; B01J19/123; B05; B05D; B05D3/00; B05D3/06; B05D3/061; B05D3/065; B05D3/067; B41; B41F; B41F23/00; B41F23/04; B41F23/0403; B41F23/0406; B41F23/0409
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 19
Claim 1
Independent Claim
152 words
A unit for treating a substrate with ultraviolet radiation, said unit comprising: a housing spaced from the substrate; at least one radiation producing source carried by said housing; a paraboloidal reflector carried by said housing adjacent each of said sources, with said source being located substantially at the focus of said paraboloidal reflector so that the reflector produces a generally collimated beam of radiation oriented generally parallel to the substrate; a concave, spherical reflector carried by said housing for each of said paraboloidal reflectors, said spherical reflector being spaced away from said source and said paraboloidal reflector and intercepting said collimated beam and reflecting the same so that the rays of said beam converge toward each other upon progressing toward said substrate to thereby concentrate the radiation intensity of said beam which strikes said substrate, said spherical reflector having a focal length substantially greater than the focal length of said paraboloidal reflector.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
152 words
A unit for treating a substrate with ultraviolet radiation, said unit comprising: a housing spaced from the substrate; at least one radiation producing source carried by said housing; a paraboloidal reflector carried by said housing adjacent each of said sources, with said source being located substantially at the focus of said paraboloidal reflector so that the reflector produces a generally collimated beam of radiation oriented generally parallel to the substrate; a concave, spherical reflector carried by said housing for each of said paraboloidal reflectors, said spherical reflector being spaced away from said source and said paraboloidal reflector and intercepting said collimated beam and reflecting the same so that the rays of said beam converge toward each other upon progressing toward said substrate to thereby concentrate the radiation intensity of said beam which strikes said substrate, said spherical reflector having a focal length substantially greater than the focal length of said paraboloidal reflector.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
20 words
A unit as defined in claim 1 wherein each of said radiation producing sources comprises a short arc ultraviolet lamp.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
24 words
A unit as defined in claim 1 including means for moving said spherical reflector so that it directs said beam away from said substrate.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
76 words
A unit as defined by claim 1 wherein said paraboloidal reflector includes an axis extending generally parallel with the substrate so the generally collimated beam produced by said paraboloidal reflector is directed toward said spherical reflector and follows a path extending generally parallel with the substrate, said spherical reflector having an axis normally forming an acute included angle with respect to the axis of said paraboloidal reflector to reflect and focus said beam toward said substrate.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
74 words
A unit defined by claim 4 wherein said spherical reflector is mounted pivotally within said housing to swing from a first position with the axis of said spherical reflector extending in one direction so as to form said acute angle with respect to the axis of said paraboloidal reflector and a second position with the axis of said spherical reflector extending in another direction thereby to keep from reflecting said beam toward said substrate.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
40 words
A unit as defined by claim 5 wherein said means for selectively moving said reflector includes a motor mounted on said housing and drivingly connected with said spherical reflector to pivot said reflector selectively between said first and second positions.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
50 words
A unit as defined by claim 6 including hollow mountings supporting said spherical and paraboloidal reflectors within said housing, said reflectors being formed of a thermally conductive material, said mountings being adapted to be connected to a source of liquid coolant for circulation therethrough to cool said reflectors during use.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
46 words
A unit as defined by claim 7 including enclosures formed in said housing around the opposite end portions of said lamp, said enclosures being adapted to be connected to a source of cooling gas for circulating cool gas therethrough to cool the lamp socket during use.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
276 words
Apparatus for treating a substrate with ultraviolet radiation, said apparatus comprising a cluster of units spaced from each other along a predetermined path, each of said units including a housing, an array of short arc, ultraviolet lamps mounted within said housing and spaced from each other generally laterally across said path, a paraboloidal reflector associated with each of said lamps, said relectors being mounted within said housing with the arc of said associated lamps being located at the foci of said reflectors so that the radiation reflected from each of said reflectors forms a generally collimated beam, a generally spherical, concave reflector associated with each of said paraboloidal reflectors, said spherical reflectors being mounted within said housing generally at the same distance from said substrate as their associated paraboloidal reflectors, spaced from their associated paraboloidal reflectors and normally positioned to receive the beams from their associated paraboloidal reflectors and reflect said beams toward said substrate, each of said spherical reflectors having a focal length substantially longer than the focal length of its associated paraboloidal reflector so as to magnify the radiating area of the lamp arc into a larger image area of radiation focused on the substrate but with the image area representing a small percentage of the total substrate surface to be treated, said lamps within each unit of said cluster being staggered with respect to the lamps of the other units so the image areas of the reflected beams cover in overlapping fashion the total surface area of the substrate to be treated, and means for selectively pivoting said spherical reflectors within each of said units to deflect the beams away from the substrate.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
276 words
Apparatus for treating a substrate with ultraviolet radiation, said apparatus comprising a cluster of units spaced from each other along a predetermined path, each of said units including a housing, an array of short arc, ultraviolet lamps mounted within said housing and spaced from each other generally laterally across said path, a paraboloidal reflector associated with each of said lamps, said relectors being mounted within said housing with the arc of said associated lamps being located at the foci of said reflectors so that the radiation reflected from each of said reflectors forms a generally collimated beam, a generally spherical, concave reflector associated with each of said paraboloidal reflectors, said spherical reflectors being mounted within said housing generally at the same distance from said substrate as their associated paraboloidal reflectors, spaced from their associated paraboloidal reflectors and normally positioned to receive the beams from their associated paraboloidal reflectors and reflect said beams toward said substrate, each of said spherical reflectors having a focal length substantially longer than the focal length of its associated paraboloidal reflector so as to magnify the radiating area of the lamp arc into a larger image area of radiation focused on the substrate but with the image area representing a small percentage of the total substrate surface to be treated, said lamps within each unit of said cluster being staggered with respect to the lamps of the other units so the image areas of the reflected beams cover in overlapping fashion the total surface area of the substrate to be treated, and means for selectively pivoting said spherical reflectors within each of said units to deflect the beams away from the substrate.
Claim 12
Independent Claim
214 words
A method for utilizing ultraviolet radiation to treat a substrate while moving relative to the radiation along a preselected path, said method comprising the steps of projecting onto the surface of the substrate a plurality of lateral rows of image areas of high intensity radiation from an equal number of radiation sources of predetermined size, with the image areas in each row being spaced equally from each other and with the image areas in each of the rows being staggered with respect to the image areas in each of the other rows, said projecting of each of said image areas from their associated sources being achieved by forming a generally collimated beam of ultraviolet radiation from one of the sources with a paraboloidal reflector, directing said collimated beam from said paraboloidal reflector toward a spherical reflector spaced from and located approximately the same distance from said surface as said paraboloidal reflector and focusing the beam on the surface of the substrate with the spherical reflector to produce the image area of intense radiation which is magnified in range of about 3 to about 30 times over the dimensions of the source, said magnification being determined by the ratio of the focal length of said spherical reflector to the focal length of said paraboloidal reflector.
Claim 13
Independent Claim
214 words
A method for utilizing ultraviolet radiation to treat a substrate while moving relative to the radiation along a preselected path, said method comprising the steps of projecting onto the surface of the substrate a plurality of lateral rows of image areas of high intensity radiation from an equal number of radiation sources of predetermined size, with the image areas in each row being spaced equally from each other and with the image areas in each of the rows being staggered with respect to the image areas in each of the other rows, said projecting of each of said image areas from their associated sources being achieved by forming a generally collimated beam of ultraviolet radiation from one of the sources with a paraboloidal reflector, directing said collimated beam from said paraboloidal reflector toward a spherical reflector spaced from and located approximately the same distance from said surface as said paraboloidal reflector and focusing the beam on the surface of the substrate with the spherical reflector to produce the image area of intense radiation which is magnified in range of about 3 to about 30 times over the dimensions of the source, said magnification being determined by the ratio of the focal length of said spherical reflector to the focal length of said paraboloidal reflector.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
54 words
A method of treating a substrate as defined by claim 10 including the step of moving said substrate along a path at a preselected speed relative to said beam while keeping the surface of said substrate generally within the plane of said image area to expose the length of said substrate to said radiation.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
190 words
A unit for treating a substrate with ultraviolet radiation as the substrate moves along a generally planar path, comprising: at least one short-arc ultraviolet lamp for producing ultraviolet radiation; a paraboloidal reflector for each of said lamps, said paraboloidal reflector having a first focal length, the arc of said lamp being located substantially at the focal point of said paraboloidal reflector so as to produce a generally collimated beam in a direction generally parallel with said substrate; a concave spherical reflector for each of said paraboloidal reflectors and having a second focal length, said spherical reflectors being in position to receive and deflect said rays of said beam toward said substrate, said spherical reflector causing the rays to converge toward each other as they progress toward said substrate to thereby concentrate the radiation intensity of said beam which strikes said substrate; said second focal length being substantially greater than said first focal length, the dimensions of the area of said beam striking said substrate bearing in relation to the dimensions of the arc of said lamp equal to the ratio of the second focal length to said first focal length.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
190 words
A unit for treating a substrate with ultraviolet radiation as the substrate moves along a generally planar path, comprising: at least one short-arc ultraviolet lamp for producing ultraviolet radiation; a paraboloidal reflector for each of said lamps, said paraboloidal reflector having a first focal length, the arc of said lamp being located substantially at the focal point of said paraboloidal reflector so as to produce a generally collimated beam in a direction generally parallel with said substrate; a concave spherical reflector for each of said paraboloidal reflectors and having a second focal length, said spherical reflectors being in position to receive and deflect said rays of said beam toward said substrate, said spherical reflector causing the rays to converge toward each other as they progress toward said substrate to thereby concentrate the radiation intensity of said beam which strikes said substrate; said second focal length being substantially greater than said first focal length, the dimensions of the area of said beam striking said substrate bearing in relation to the dimensions of the arc of said lamp equal to the ratio of the second focal length to said first focal length.
Claim 17
Independent Claim
143 words
A method of treating a substrate with ultraviolet radiation of a predetermined intensity, comprising the steps of: normally moving said substrate along a predetermined path at a predetermined speed; emitting ultraviolet radiation from at least one source of predetermined area; capturing said ultraviolet radiation from each of said sources with a paraboloidal reflector and reflecting said ultraviolet radiation into a generally collimated beam generally parallel with said substrate; reflecting each of said collimated beams toward said substrate with a spherical reflector spaced from said substrate a distance so as to produce an imaging area of ultraviolet radiation generally at the elevation of the substrate, the dimensions of the imaging area of said ultraviolet radiation being magnified with respect to the source dimensions in proportion to the ratio of the focal length of said spherical reflector to the focal length of said paraboloidal reflector.
Claim 18
Independent Claim
143 words
A method of treating a substrate with ultraviolet radiation of a predetermined intensity, comprising the steps of: normally moving said substrate along a predetermined path at a predetermined speed; emitting ultraviolet radiation from at least one source of predetermined area; capturing said ultraviolet radiation from each of said sources with a paraboloidal reflector and reflecting said ultraviolet radiation into a generally collimated beam generally parallel with said substrate; reflecting each of said collimated beams toward said substrate with a spherical reflector spaced from said substrate a distance so as to produce an imaging area of ultraviolet radiation generally at the elevation of the substrate, the dimensions of the imaging area of said ultraviolet radiation being magnified with respect to the source dimensions in proportion to the ratio of the focal length of said spherical reflector to the focal length of said paraboloidal reflector.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
43 words
A method as defined in claim 13 further including the step of rotating said spherical reflector to direct said beam out of contact with said substrate in the event said substrate stops moving, so that said substrate is not subjected to excessive radiation.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1980-04-18 | 1980-10-18 | 1981-04-19 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1984-04-18 | 1984-10-18 | 1985-04-19 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1988-04-18 | 1988-10-18 | 1989-04-19 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |