US5135685A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Method and apparatus for continuous hardening of visible light-curing resins
Assignee: Japan Institute of Advanced Dentistry
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Filing: 1989-12-29
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Granted: 1992-08-04
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Expires: 2009-12-29
Abstract
Abstract A method and apparatus to continuously harden articles made of visible light-curable resins, including continuously moving the articles to be hardened relative to a multiplicity of sources of visible light which are independently controllable to be able to vary the radiation to which the articles is exposed during its passage while independently controlling the temperature at which this takes place; and apparatus to accomplish this such that a large number of the objects to be irradiated passing through the hardening apparatus have the same exposure history to the visible light and to heating or cooling respectively. As the result, there is substantially no variation in the physical properties of these photo-polymerized products.
Inventors
- 👤 Eiichi Masuhara
- 👤 Shigeo Komiya
- 👤 Takeyuki Sawamoto
- 👤 Shusuke Kimura
- 👤 Koji Ozeki
- 👤 Kensuke Nakajima
- 👤 Kiyomi Sanbonmatsu
- 👤 Noboru Nishiyama
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 09:27
CPC Classifications
A; A61; A61C; A61C19/00; A61C19/003; A61K; A61K6/00; A61K6/80; A61K6/884; A61K6/887; B; B01; B01J; B01J19/00; B01J19/08; B01J19/12; B01J19/122; B29; B29C; B29C35/00; B29C35/02; B29C35/0288; B29C35/08; C; C08; C08F; C08F2/00; C08F2/46; C08F2/48; B29C35/0805; B29C2035/0833; B29C35/16; B29C2035/1658; B29L; B29L2011/00; B29L2011/0016
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 15
Claim 1
Independent Claim
189 words
A method to continuously harden at least one shaped article, comprising a resin containing composition which is visible sight curable, which comprises: in an enclosure, providing a multiplicity of aligned sources of visible light in which multiple groups of said sources, each group comprising less than all of them, are independently controllable; providing means to move said shaped article and said light sources continuously relative to each other; moving said article and said light sources relative to each other in relative respective alignment; continuously exposing said article to the radiation of all of the light sources along its path of relative movement; independently controlling said groups of visible light sources sufficient to continuously irradiate said article with visible light to the extent of about 100 to 1,000,000 luxes sufficient to visible light cure and harden said resin; sensing the temperature proximate to said shaped article; independently controlling the temperature of the environment about said shaped article responsive to said sensing, during said irradiation, whereby said environment temperature is controlled independent of said radiation and independent of the curing of said resin; and thus producing a cured hardened resinous article.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
189 words
A method to continuously harden at least one shaped article, comprising a resin containing composition which is visible sight curable, which comprises: in an enclosure, providing a multiplicity of aligned sources of visible light in which multiple groups of said sources, each group comprising less than all of them, are independently controllable; providing means to move said shaped article and said light sources continuously relative to each other; moving said article and said light sources relative to each other in relative respective alignment; continuously exposing said article to the radiation of all of the light sources along its path of relative movement; independently controlling said groups of visible light sources sufficient to continuously irradiate said article with visible light to the extent of about 100 to 1,000,000 luxes sufficient to visible light cure and harden said resin; sensing the temperature proximate to said shaped article; independently controlling the temperature of the environment about said shaped article responsive to said sensing, during said irradiation, whereby said environment temperature is controlled independent of said radiation and independent of the curing of said resin; and thus producing a cured hardened resinous article.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
16 words
A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein a multiplicity of resinous articles are continuously cured.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
21 words
A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein at least some of said groups of light sources comprise one light source.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
14 words
A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said temperature is controlled by cooling.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
14 words
A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said temperature is controlled by heating.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
24 words
A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said groups of light sources are linearly aligned, and said article moves linearly in alignment therewith.
Claim 8
Independent Claim
152 words
An apparatus adapted to visible-light cure and harden at least one shaped article, comprising a resinous composition which is curable by exposure to visible light, which comprises: an enclosure containing a multiplicity of aligned groups of sources of visible light; means to move said shaped article relative to said light sources while maintaining the line of movement of said article aligned with said light source alignment; means to vary the emission of visible light from said groups of light sources; means to continuously irradiate said article with visible light to an extent of about 100 to 1,000,000 luxes sufficient to visible-light cure said article; sensing means to detect the temperature proximate to said shaped article; means to control the temperature of said shaped article responsive to said sensing means during said light curing thereof independent of said radiation and independent of said curing; and means for recovering a cured, hardened shaped article.
Claim 9
Independent Claim
152 words
An apparatus adapted to visible-light cure and harden at least one shaped article, comprising a resinous composition which is curable by exposure to visible light, which comprises: an enclosure containing a multiplicity of aligned groups of sources of visible light; means to move said shaped article relative to said light sources while maintaining the line of movement of said article aligned with said light source alignment; means to vary the emission of visible light from said groups of light sources; means to continuously irradiate said article with visible light to an extent of about 100 to 1,000,000 luxes sufficient to visible-light cure said article; sensing means to detect the temperature proximate to said shaped article; means to control the temperature of said shaped article responsive to said sensing means during said light curing thereof independent of said radiation and independent of said curing; and means for recovering a cured, hardened shaped article.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
23 words
An apparatus as claimed in claim 7 wherein at least one of said groups of sources of light comprises a single light source.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
18 words
An apparatus as claimed in claim 7 wherein said means to control said temperature is a heating means.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
18 words
An apparatus as claimed in claim 7 wherein said means to control said temperature is a cooling means.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
22 words
An apparatus as claimed in claim 7 including means to visible light cure a multiplicity of said articles in a continuous manner.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
15 words
An apparatus as claimed in claim 7 wherein said light source groups are linearly aligned.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
22 words
An apparatus as claimed in claim 11 including means to move said multiplicity of articles relative to spatially fixed light source groups.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1995-08-04 | 1996-02-03 | 1996-08-04 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1999-08-04 | 2000-02-03 | 2000-08-04 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2003-08-04 | 2004-02-03 | 2004-08-04 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |