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US5316739A
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Method and apparatus for surface treatment
Assignee: ET Inc
•
Filing: 1992-08-19
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Granted: 1994-05-31
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Expires: 2012-08-19
Abstract
Abstract Disclosed herein is a method for surface treatment which comprises subjecting an object for surface treatment to an atmospheric pressure plasma while rolling or floating said object in an insulating vessel fed with a prescribed gas and provided on the outside thereof or on both the outside and inside thereof with electrodes for voltage application and grounding, said atmospheric pressure plasma occurring upon application of a voltage to said electrodes. This method permits simple, certain, and uniform surface treatment of any objects in the form of lump or sphere. The surface treatment by the atmospheric pressure plasma does not need the apparatus to be evacuated. Therefore, it can be carried out in a simple apparatus without causing the object for surface treatment to release volatile matters. Disclosed also herein is a method for the surface treatment of vulcanized rubber with an atmospheric pressure plasma in the presence of an oxygen-containing gas and halogen containing gases. This method is simple and permits the surface treatment of vulcanized rubber in a clean environment. The surface treatment by this method provides the vulcanized rubber with a surface having better adhesion properties than the surface treatment with a low-pressure glow plasma. Moreover, the surface treatment is limited only to a very thin surface layer, with the vulcanized rubber itself remaining intact.
Inventors
- 👤 Masato Yoshikawa
- 👤 Yukihiro Kusano
- 👤 Setsuo Akiyama
- 👤 Kazuo Naito
- 👤 Satiko Okazaki
- 👤 Masuhiro Kogoma
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 07:42
CPC Classifications
H; H01; H01J; H01J37/00; H01J37/32; H01J37/32431; H01J37/32733; H01J37/32752; H01J37/32761; B; B29; B29C; B29C59/00; B29C59/14; H01J37/32009; H01J37/32082; B29C2059/145; B29K; B29K2021/00; H01J2237/00; H01J2237/32; H01J2237/33; H01J2237/336; H05; H05H; H05H1/00; H05H1/24; H05H1/2406; H05H1/2443; H05H1/246; H05H1/2465; H05H2245/00; H05H2245/40
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 48
Claim 1
Independent Claim
88 words
An apparatus for treatment of an object, comprising: an insulating vessel in which an object to be treated is placed; a plasma generator, connected to the insulating vessel including: a gas inlet on said insulating vessel; an electric source; and electrodes mounted to said insulating vessel and connected to the electric source; and means for rolling the object which is in the insulating vessel such that a surface of the objected is uniformly treated by plasma from the plasma generator as the object rolls in the insulating vessel.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
88 words
An apparatus for treatment of an object, comprising: an insulating vessel in which an object to be treated is placed; a plasma generator, connected to the insulating vessel including: a gas inlet on said insulating vessel; an electric source; and electrodes mounted to said insulating vessel and connected to the electric source; and means for rolling the object which is in the insulating vessel such that a surface of the objected is uniformly treated by plasma from the plasma generator as the object rolls in the insulating vessel.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
15 words
An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: said plasma generator is an atmospheric plasma generator.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
28 words
An apparatus according to claim 2, wherein: said electrodes comprise voltage application electrodes and grounding electrodes, both of which are mounted on the outside of the insulating vessel.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
33 words
An apparatus according to claim 2, wherein: said electrodes comprise electrodes which are mounted on the outside of the insulating vessel and electrodes which are mounted on the inside of the insulating vessel.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
21 words
An apparatus according to claim 4, wherein: said outside electrodes comprise voltage application electrodes; and said inside electrodes comprise grounding electrodes.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
21 words
An apparatus according to claim 4, wherein: said outside electrodes comprise grounding electrodes; and said inside electrodes comprise voltage application electrodes.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
16 words
An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: said plasma generator is an atmospheric glow plasma generator.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
24 words
An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: said electrodes comprise two arched outer electrodes which are mounted to opposite sides of said insulating vessel.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
47 words
An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: said electrodes comprise a plurality of annular outer electrodes which surround said insulating vessel, at least one of said plurality of annular electrodes being a voltage application electrode and at least another of said annular electrodes being a grounding electrode.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
20 words
An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: said electrodes comprise two electrodes which are spirally wound around said insulating vessel.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
45 words
An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said electrodes comprise: an arched outer electrode; and an arched inner electrode mounted to a side of the insulating vessel which is opposite to a side of the insulating vessel to which the arched outer electrode is mounted.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
50 words
An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said electrodes comprise: two arched outer electrodes which are arranged on opposite sides of said insulating vessel; and two inner arched electrodes which are arranged opposite to each other; wherein the outer and inner electrodes are shifted 90° with respect to each other.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
27 words
An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: said electrodes comprise three elongated outer electrodes arranged at regular intervals and three elongated inner electrodes arranged at regular intervals.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
27 words
An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: said electrodes comprise nine elongated outer electrodes arranged at regular intervals and nine elongated inner electrodes arranged at regular intervals.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
32 words
An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: said electrodes comprise a cylindrical outer electrode surrounding said insulating vessel and an elongated inner electrode arranged at a center portion of said insulating vessel.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
23 words
An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: said electrodes comprise a cylindrical outer electrode and three elongated inner electrodes arranged at regular intervals.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
34 words
An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: said electrodes comprise an elongated outer electrode spirally wound around said insulating vessel and an elongated inner electrode arranged at a center portion of said insulating vessel.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
29 words
An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said electrodes comprise a plurality of annular electrodes and an elongated inner electrode arranged at a center portion of said insulating vessel.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
41 words
An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said electrodes comprise a cylindrical outer electrode and at least two elongated inner electrodes arranged such that a golf ball can roll on said at least two elongated inner electrodes at a same time.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
23 words
An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: said electrodes comprise a cylindrical outer electrode and five elongated inner electrodes arranged at regular intervals.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
42 words
An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said electrodes comprise: a plurality of outer annular electrodes and a plurality of inner annular electrodes wherein the outer annular electrodes and the inner annular electrodes are alternated along a length of said insulating vessel.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
46 words
An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said electrodes comprise: a plurality of oblique outer annular electrodes and a plurality of oblique inner annular electrodes wherein the oblique outer annular electrodes and the oblique inner annular electrodes are alternated along a length of said insulating vessel.
Claim 24
Independent Claim
88 words
An apparatus for treatment of an object, comprising: an insulating vessel in which an object to be treated is placed; a plasma generator, connected to the insulating vessel including: a gas inlet on said insulating vessel; an electric source; and electrodes mounted to said insulating vessel and connected to the electric source; and means for floating the object which is in the insulating vessel such that a surface of the objected is uniformly treated by plasma from the plasma generator as the object floats in the insulating vessel.
Claim 25
Independent Claim
88 words
An apparatus for treatment of an object, comprising: an insulating vessel in which an object to be treated is placed; a plasma generator, connected to the insulating vessel including: a gas inlet on said insulating vessel; an electric source; and electrodes mounted to said insulating vessel and connected to the electric source; and means for floating the object which is in the insulating vessel such that a surface of the objected is uniformly treated by plasma from the plasma generator as the object floats in the insulating vessel.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
17 words
An apparatus according to claim 23, wherein: said means for floating floats the object using a fluid.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
21 words
An apparatus according to claim 23, wherein: said means for floating floats the object using a gas from said gas inlet.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
15 words
An apparatus according to claim 25, wherein: said plasma generator is an atmospheric plasma generator.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
33 words
An apparatus according to claim 25, wherein: said electrodes comprise electrodes which are mounted on the outside of the insulating vessel and electrodes which are mounted on the inside of the insulating vessel.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
21 words
An apparatus according to claim 27, wherein: said outside electrodes comprise voltage application electrodes; and said inside electrodes comprise grounding electrodes.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
21 words
An apparatus according to claim 27, wherein: said outside electrodes comprise grounding electrodes; and said inside electrodes comprise voltage application electrodes.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
16 words
An apparatus according to claim 25, wherein: said plasma generator is an atmospheric glow plasma generator.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
40 words
An apparatus according to claim 25, wherein the object to be treated is spherical and said means for floating comprises a cylindrical tube, a diameter of which is approximately equal to a diameter of the spherical object to be treated.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
24 words
An apparatus according to claim 23, wherein: said electrodes comprise two arched outer electrodes which are mounted to opposite sides of said insulating vessel.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
47 words
An apparatus according to claim 23, wherein: said electrodes comprise a plurality of annular outer electrodes which surround said insulating vessel, at least one of said plurality of annular electrodes being a voltage application electrode and at least another of said annular electrodes being a grounding electrode.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
20 words
An apparatus according to claim 23, wherein: said electrodes comprise two electrodes which are spirally wound around said insulating vessel.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
45 words
An apparatus according to claim 23, wherein said electrodes comprise: an arched outer electrode; and an arched inner electrode mounted to a side of the insulating vessel which is opposite to a side of the insulating vessel to which the arched outer electrode is mounted.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
50 words
An apparatus according to claim 23, wherein said electrodes comprise: two arched outer electrodes which are arranged on opposite sides of said insulating vessel; and two inner arched electrodes which are arranged opposite to each other; wherein the outer and inner electrodes are shifted 90° with respect to each other.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
27 words
An apparatus according to claim 23, wherein: said electrodes comprise three elongated outer electrodes arranged at regular intervals and three elongated inner electrodes arranged at regular intervals.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim
27 words
An apparatus according to claim 23, wherein: said electrodes comprise nine elongated outer electrodes arranged at regular intervals and nine elongated inner electrodes arranged at regular intervals.
Claim 41
Dependent Claim
32 words
An apparatus according to claim 23, wherein: said electrodes comprise a cylindrical outer electrode surrounding said insulating vessel and an elongated inner electrode arranged at a center portion of said insulating vessel.
Claim 42
Dependent Claim
23 words
An apparatus according to claim 23, wherein: said electrodes comprise a cylindrical outer electrode and three elongated inner electrodes arranged at regular intervals.
Claim 43
Dependent Claim
34 words
An apparatus according to claim 23, wherein: said electrodes comprise an elongated outer electrode spirally wound around said insulating vessel and an elongated inner electrode arranged at a center portion of said insulating vessel.
Claim 44
Dependent Claim
29 words
An apparatus according to claim 23, wherein said electrodes comprise a plurality of annular electrodes and an elongated inner electrode arranged at a center portion of said insulating vessel.
Claim 45
Dependent Claim
39 words
An apparatus according to claim 23, wherein said electrodes comprise a cylindrical outer electrode and two elongated inner electrodes arranged such that a golf ball can roll on said at least two elongated inner electrodes at a same time.
Claim 46
Dependent Claim
23 words
An apparatus according to claim 23, wherein: said electrodes comprise a cylindrical outer electrode and five elongated inner electrodes arranged at regular intervals.
Claim 47
Dependent Claim
42 words
An apparatus according to claim 23, wherein said electrodes comprise: a plurality of outer annular electrodes and a plurality of inner annular electrodes wherein the outer annular electrodes and the inner annular electrodes are alternated along a length of said insulating vessel.
Claim 48
Dependent Claim
46 words
An apparatus according to claim 23, wherein said electrodes comprise: a plurality of oblique outer annular electrodes and a plurality of oblique inner annular electrodes wherein the oblique outer annular electrodes and the oblique inner annular electrodes are alternated along a length of said insulating vessel.
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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) | 1997-05-30 | 1997-11-29 | 1998-05-31 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2001-05-30 | 2001-11-29 | 2002-05-31 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2005-05-30 | 2005-11-29 | 2006-05-31 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |