The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jan. 24, 1995
Filed:
Sep. 13, 1993
Anthony J Armini, Manchester, MA (US);
Stephen N Bunker, Wakefield, MA (US);
Implant Sciences, Corporation, Wakefield, MA (US);
Abstract
A method is disclosed for ion beam coating orthopaedic parts by ion implanting the parts with zirconium ions while the parts are immersed in an oxygen-containing background gas. A highly adherent surface layer of zirconium oxide is formed which provides a low friction, low wear graded interface for the articulating surface. The graded interface is characterized by a blackish color and a transition between pure zirconia and pure substrate material that extends over a thickness of hundreds of Angstroms. In an alternative embodiment, the thickness of the zirconia coating may be increased by also adding a simultaneous evaporation of zirconium metal on the parts.