Patent news.

Polymer alloys with balanced heat
storage capacity and engineering
attributes and applications thereof
U.S. patent: 6,488,865
Issued: December 3, 2002
Inventor: Parviz Soroushian
Assigned: Technova
Keywords: A thermoplastic polymer is
blended with thermosets, elastomers
and thermoplastics of high melt temperature
to produce a polymer blend
which absorbs relatively high quantities
of latent heat without melting of major
loss of characteristics as temperature is
raised above the melting temperature of
low-melt temperature thermoplastic.

Railway vehicle wheel with
improved damping characteristics
U.S. patent: 6,488,324
Issued: December 3, 2002
Inventors: Eustathios Ioannides and
Henning Hans Wittmeyer
Assigned: SKF Engineering &
Research Centre B.V.
Keywords: A thin viscoelastic layer
placed between the tire and the connecting
disc or ring improves damping
through shearing action.

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Method of manufacturing a sport
ball having a self-contained inflation
mechanism
U.S. patent: 6,491,595
Issued: December 10, 2002
Inventors: Brian P. Feeney, Richard
F. Terrazzano, Joseph E. Stahl, Eric
K. Litscher, Andrew C. Harvey, Malcolm
E. Taylor, Peter M. de Bakker,
Robert C. Sykes and Charles Keane
Assigned: Spalding Sports Worldwide

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Process for improved coupling of
rubbery polymers
U.S. patent: 6,489,403
Issued: December 3, 2002
Inventors: Adel Farhan Halasa and
Wen-Liang Hsu
Assigned: Goodyear Tire & Rubber
Keywords: Coupling efficiency can be
improved by conducting the coupling
reaction in the presence of a lithium
salt of a saturated aliphatic alcohol.

Power transmission belt
U.S. patent: 6,491,598
Issued: December 10, 2002
Inventor: Jay Ahren Rosenboom
Assigned: Goodyear Tire & Rubber
Keywords: A free radically cured
elastomer and acrylate polybutadiene.

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Electrically connectable adhesive
agent for semiconductor
U.S. patent: 6,492,438
Issued: December 10, 2002
Inventor: Kazuhiro Nomura
Assigned: Nagase Chemtex
Keywords: An epoxy resin, an acid
anhydride curing agent, a curing
accelerator and a butadiene-acrylonitrile
rubber obtaining a carboxyl
group.

Device for detecting pressure and
passage of a vehicle wheel on a
pavement using a conductive rubber
and method for installing same
U.S. patent: 6,492,604
Issued: December 10, 2002
Inventors: Claude Maeder and Regis
Rollin
Assigned: Electornique Controle
Mesure

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Method for producing microbial
polyester
U.S. patent: 6,492,147
Issued: December 10, 2002
Inventors: Takeshi Imamura, Tetsuya
Yano, Shin Kobayashi, Sakai Suda
and Tsutomu Honma
Assigned: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
Keywords: Producing a microbial
polyester by culturing a microorganism
capable of producing a poly
hydroxyalkanoate polyester in a culture
medium containing 1-hexene as a
sole carbon source.

Process for producing high quality
natural rubber
U.S. patent: 6,492,447
Issued: December 10, 2002
Inventors: Lee Craig Chestnutt and
Adam Christian Quentin James
Assigned: Goodyear Tire & Rubber
Keywords: (1) Removing foreign
material; (2) reducing the particle
size: (3) coagulating the natural rubber
latex; (4) mixing the cleaned cup-lump
rubber with the latex rubber
coagulum; (5) reducing the particle
size of the blend; and (6) mixing of an
antioxidant into the rubber blend.

Reaction of carbon black with
diazonium salts, resultant carbon
black products and their uses
U.S. patent: 6,494,946
Issued: December 17, 2002
Inventors: James A. Belmont, Robert
M. Amici and Collin P. Galloway
Assigned: Cabot
Keywords: Diazonium salt reacts with
a carbon black to reduce the diazonium
salt.

UV curable elastomer composition
U.S. patent: 6,495,213
Issued: December 17, 2002
Inventor: Christian Ruepping
Assigned: DuPont Dow Elastomers
Keywords: Ethylene copolymers,
acrylate, nitrile, fluoroelastomer and
chlorinated elastomers are curable by
UV radiation for hot melt gasketing in
place seals.

Fluidtight zip fastener
U.S. patent: 6,497,014
Issued: December 24, 2002
Inventor: Horst Gotthard Neugebauer
Assigned: YKK

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Rubber composition prepared with
CIS-1,4-polyisoprene and
phthalimide disulfide and articles,
including tires, having at least one
component comprised thereof
U.S. patent: 6,495,619
Issued: December 17, 2002
Inventors: Lawson Gibson Wideman
and Paul Harry Sandstrom
Assigned: Goodyear Tire & Rubber
Keywords: The phthalimide disulfide
enhances stiffness.

Pneumatic tire having tread made
of foam rubber composition
U.S. patent: 6,497,261
Issued: December 24, 2002
Inventors: Yasuo Fukushima and
Daisuke Nohara
Assigned: Bridgestone
Keywords: Closed cells formed by a
foaming agent and a foaming assistant
containing sodium benzenesulfinate
and urea.

Friction surface coating for a
friction material of a brake system
U.S. patent: 6,497,307
Issued: December 24, 2002
Inventors: Norbert Schoo, Uwe
Schwarz, Hansjorg Grimme and
Thomas Pfannebecker
Assigned: Allied Signal Bremsbelag
GmbH
Keywords: Composed of phenolic
resin, aluminum oxide, silicium oxide,
interlacing agent, elastomer and filler.

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Interior automotive trim member
having improved scratch resistance
and a method of making the same
U.S. patent: 6,497,947
Issued: December 24, 2002
Inventors: Edmund Joseph Blals,
Joseph C. Cassatta, Jeffrey Hampton
Helms and Mo-Fung Cheung
Assigned: Ford Global Technologies
Keywords: A backing substrate, a
layer of elastomeric material bonded
to and overlying the backing substrate
and a soft skin formed of polyolefinic
material. Electron beam radiation
cure.