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:
Nov. 17, 1998
Filed:
May. 16, 1997
Jeffrey Scott Meth, Newark, DE (US);
Stephen John Bennison, Wilmington, DE (US);
E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, Wilmington, DE (US);
Abstract
An infrared laser is used to irradiate a sample, which preferably comprises a substrate, onto which an opaque basecoat is applied, which basecoat in turn is coated with a clearcoat. The laser pulse photoablates the basecoat at an interface between the basecoat and the clearcoat, and a blister forms in the clearcoat due to an increase in pressure from the ablation. The irradiation can be done a number of times on fresh areas of the sample and with increased laser energy. A critical energy value is determined which is the energy where a crack begins to propagate from the blister formed. Another laser is used to measure the amount of light reflected off the top surface of the blister which passes through the middle of an aperture. These values, along with others such as the size of the blister and the modulus of the clearcoat, are used to determine the adhesion strength at the interface of the basecoat and clearcoat.