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. 20, 1998
Filed:
Jun. 27, 1996
John S Staral, Woodbury, MN (US);
Claire A Jalbert, Cottage Grove, MN (US);
William A Tolbert, Woodbury, MN (US);
Martin B Wolk, Woodbury, MN (US);
Allan R Martens, Lake Elmo, MN (US);
Thomas A Isberg, Apple Valley, MN (US);
Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, St. Paul, MN (US);
Abstract
Process and materials are described for selectively placing uniform spacers on a receptor. Spacer elements are placed on a receptor by selectively irradiating a thermal transfer donor sheet comprising a transferable spacer layer. The transferable spacer layer may include particles or fibers to form a composite. The particles may have a spacing dimension either greater than or less than the thickness of the transferable layer. When the spacing dimension of the particle is greater than the thickness of the transferable layer, then the spacing dimension of the particles control the spacing distance. The process and materials are useful in the manufacture of flat panel displays, particularly, liquid crystal display devices.