Patent application number | Description | Published |
20120142795 | HIERARCHICAL THERMOPLASTIC SURFACE TEXTURES FORMED BY PHASE TRANSFORMATION AND METHODS OF MAKING - Method for treating thermoplastic to make a surface thereof superhydrophobic. The method includes exposing the thermoplastic to a specific solvent for a selected time period. It is preferred that the treatment time be in the range of one minute to approximately five hours and more preferably in the range of one minute to 15 minutes. Thermoplastics and solvents having a similar solubility parameter interact with one another to form hydrophobic hierarchical surfaces. | 06-07-2012 |
20130220813 | ARTICLES AND METHODS FOR MODIFYING CONDENSATION ON SURFACES - The articles and methods described herein provide a way to manipulate condensation on a surface by micro/nano-engineering textures on the surface and filling the spaces between the texture features with an impregnating liquid that is stably held therebetween or therewithin. The articles and methods allow droplets of water, or other condensed phases, even in micrometer size range, to easily shed from the surface, thereby enhancing contact between a condensing species and the condensing surface. It has been found that dropwise condensation is enhanced by the use of an impregnating (secondary) liquid that has a relatively high surface tension, and, even more preferably, an impregnating liquid that has both a high surface tension and a low viscosity. | 08-29-2013 |
20130251769 | SELF-LUBRICATING SURFACES FOR FOOD PACKAGING AND FOOD PROCESSING EQUIPMENT - In certain embodiments, the invention relates to an article having a liquid-impregnated surface. The surface includes a matrix of solid features (e.g., non-toxic and/or edible features) spaced sufficiently close to stably contain a liquid therebetween or therewithin, wherein the liquid is non-toxic and/or edible. The article may contain, for example, a food or other consumer product, such as ketchup, mustard, or mayonnaise. | 09-26-2013 |
20130251942 | Hydrophobic Materials Incorporating Rare Earth Elements and Methods of Manufacture - This invention relates generally to an article that includes a base substrate and a hydrophobic coating on the base substrate, wherein the hydrophobic coating includes a rare earth element material (e.g., a rare earth oxide, a rare earth carbide, a rare earth nitride, a rare earth fluoride, and/or a rare earth boride). An exposed surface of the hydrophobic coating has a dynamic contact angle with water of at least about 90 degrees. A method of manufacturing the article includes providing the base substrate and forming a coating on the base substrate (e.g., through sintering or sputtering). | 09-26-2013 |
20130251946 | LIQUID-ENCAPSULATED RARE-EARTH BASED CERAMIC SURFACES - Described herein are non-wetting surfaces comprising rare-earth containing ceramics. Furthermore, the surfaces include liquid impregnated within a matrix of micro- or nano-engineered features on the surface. The surfaces are non-wetting and can resist liquid impalement, ice formation, scale formation, hydrate formation, and/or have antifouling properties. | 09-26-2013 |
20130251952 | SELF-LUBRICATING SURFACES FOR FOOD PACKAGING AND FOOD PROCESSING EQUIPMENT - In certain embodiments, the invention relates to an article having a liquid-impregnated surface. The surface includes a matrix of solid features (e.g., non-toxic and/or edible features) spaced sufficiently close to stably contain a liquid therebetween or therewithin, wherein the liquid is non-toxic and/or edible. The article may contain, for example, a food or other consumer product, such as ketchup, mustard, or mayonnaise. | 09-26-2013 |
20130333789 | APPARATUS WITH A LIQUID-IMPREGNATED SURFACE TO FACILITATE MATERIAL CONVEYANCE - Described herein are conduits for conveying fluids and/or solids, the conduits having an interior surface that provide a high-slip boundary condition, thereby facilitating the flow of material therethrough. In some embodiments, the conduit has an interior surface with an impregnating liquid and a plurality of micro-scale and/or nano-scale solid features spaced sufficiently close to stably contain the impregnating liquid therebetween. The impregnating liquid fills spaces between the solid features, the interior surface stably contains the impregnating liquid between the solid features, and the impregnating liquid is substantially held in place between the plurality of solid features regardless of orientation of the interior surface and regardless of flow, passage, or removal of fluids and/or solids through, into, or out of the conduit. | 12-19-2013 |
20130335697 | CONTACT LENS WITH LIQUID-IMPREGNATED SURFACE - Described herein is a contact lens with high lubricity to eye tissue/fluid and inhibited nucleation on its surface. The contact lens has a surface textured to form a matrix of micro-scale and/or nano-scale solid (e.g., gel) features spaced sufficiently close to stably contain an impregnating liquid therebetween. The impregnating liquid fills spaces between the solid features, the surface stably contains the impregnating liquid between the solid features, and the impregnating liquid is substantially held in place between the plurality of solid features regardless of orientation of the surface and despite contact with the eye tissue during normal wear, insertion, and removal of the contact lens. | 12-19-2013 |
20130337027 | Medical Devices and Implements with Liquid-Impregnated Surfaces - Described herein are medical devices and medical implements with high lubricity to flesh (or biological fluid) and/or inhibited nucleation on its surface. The device has a surface comprising an impregnating liquid and a plurality of micro-scale and/or nano-scale solid features spaced sufficiently close to stably contain the impregnating liquid therebetween. The impregnating liquid fills spaces between said solid features, the surface stably contains the impregnating liquid between the solid features, and the impregnating liquid is substantially held in place between the plurality of solid features regardless of orientation of the surface. | 12-19-2013 |
20140314982 | GRAFTED POLYMER SURFACES FOR DROPWISE CONDENSATION, AND ASSOCIATED METHODS OF USE AND MANUFACTURE - Presented herein are articles and methods featuring substrates with thin, uniform polymeric films grafted (e.g., covalently bonded) thereupon. The resulting coating provides significant reductions in thermal resistance, drop shedding size, and degradation rate during dropwise condensation of steam compared to existing coatings. Surfaces that promote dropwise shedding of low-surface tension condensates, such as liquid hydrocarbons, are also demonstrated herein. | 10-23-2014 |
20150066152 | Orthopaedic Joints Providing Enhanced Lubricity - The present disclosure provides, among other things, prosthetic joint components having textured surface(s) for improving lubrication and increasing the useful life of the prosthetic joint components. The textured surface includes solid features configured to stably contain a biological fluid or a synthetic biological fluid therebetween or therewithin for a non-zero residence time. | 03-05-2015 |
Patent application number | Description | Published |
20110035651 | Apparatus and method for creating literary macrames - By the use of program scripts, databases, and other software elements, taking as input a set of text files making up a work of literature of substantial size, converting the files to an electronically-readable form, linking the files to each other to provide readers with a rich set of associations to be explored within the work, muting the presentation of the links in order to preserve the immersive character of the reading process, and simplifying the user browsing interface to limit distractions that vitiate the immersive reading experience. By the richness and simplicity of carefully-designed outputs, offering the author a new range of opportunities for engaging the reader, offering the publisher a new opportunity for succeeding in purveying electronic literature, and presenting the reader with an “electronic literary macramé”: a new class of work permitting a level of immersive reading practice obtainable only in the world of electronic text. | 02-10-2011 |
20110173562 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR DISPLAY NAVIGATION - A method for facilitating window navigation on an electronic display including the steps of rendering at least one elongated strip on opposing sides of a first window wherein the strips are selectable by a user through a user interface device, associating at least one strip with a second window and at least one strip with a third window wherein the strips are each configured to transition one of the second and third windows to the forefront of the electronic display upon selection of the respective strip by the user through the user interface device. | 07-14-2011 |
20110179344 | KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER TOOL: AN APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER - A method for transferring knowledge including the steps of organizing an author's source documents including presentation and reference material into units of presentation and units of reference, establishing one or more sets of rules of presentation of the units, defining one or more components of presentation, preparing one or more sequences of presentation of the units, storing the units of presentation, units of reference, sequences of presentation, component definitions, and sets of rules in a knowledge database on a source computing system, and generating, based on the sets of rules, a collection of interlinked browser-ready electronic document pages. | 07-21-2011 |
20120072818 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ELECTRONIC LITERARY MACRAME COMPONENT REFERENCING - An expansion of the construction and organization of the electronic literary macramé (ELM), the knowledge transfer tool (KTT), or any document of similar type to enrich the connections and associations for their readers, providing for manual author- or editor-defined links and directives for hypertext handling and navigation, easy-to-use indexing capabilities, structuring and presentation of information in a visually-organized form such as a table, list, matrix, tree, pyramid, or other two-dimensional arrangement, with all features integrated into an unobtrusive, and enriched referencing mechanism to assist authors, editors and readers of an ELM, KTT, or other electronic document of similar type. | 03-22-2012 |
Patent application number | Description | Published |
20140069885 | Infant Cup With Rotating Straw - An infant cup includes a container, a lid, and an elbow straw. The container is configured to receive and hold a fluid and contains an opening at the top of the container. Furthermore, the lid is sealingly engaged with the container and includes an outlet configured to output the contents of the container. Moreover, the elbow straw is rotatably coupled to the lid and configured to sit and rotate within the container when the lid is coupled to the container. Additionally, the straw is weighted and thus, no matter what direction a child tips the infant cup, the tip of the straw will always rotate to be in contact with the fluid within the container. The elbow straw is also removable from the lid for ease of cleaning. The container may also contain handles attached to the outside of the container. | 03-13-2014 |
20140069946 | Cup With Repositionable Insert - An infant cup includes a container, a lid removably coupled to the container and having an opening, and an insert removably coupled to the lid. The insert is capable of providing various types of fluid flow outlets that control the amount of fluid that flow out of the infant cup. At least two types of outlets are disposed on the insert. Furthermore, the insert is capable of being repositioned with respect to the lid so the desired outlet is used on the infant cup. Each outlet may be designed to be used by children of certain ages, allowing continuing use of the infant cup as the child grows. Finally, the container of the cup may include an insulation layer and the lid may include a cover to sealingly engage the outlet on the insert. | 03-13-2014 |
20140074165 | Feeding Kit - A feeding kit forming a storage and preparation assembly for infant feeding implements that includes a receptacle to receive a teether and a plurality of wells to form food/drink inserts for the teether. The teether includes a lid that is removably coupled to a feeding portion, such that the inserts may be inserted into the feeding portion, a portion which includes a feeding member with a plurality of apertures. | 03-13-2014 |