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:
Aug. 29, 2000
Filed:
Dec. 12, 1996
Steven T Cho, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Alfred S Conte, Hollister, CA (US);
Paul N Ludwig, Livermore, CA (US);
Anthony P Schmid, Solana Beach, CA (US);
Theodore S Fahlen, San Jose, CA (US);
Robert J Pressley, Cupertino, CA (US);
Candescent Technologies Corporation, San Jose, CA (US);
Abstract
Portions (40 and 44) of a structure, such as a flat-panel device, are sealed together by a gap-jumping technique in which a sealing area (40S) of one portion is positioned near a matching sealing area (44S) of another portion such that a gap (48) at least partially separates the two sealing areas. The gap typically has an average height of 25 .mu.m or more. With the two portions of the structure so positioned, energy is initially transferred locally to material of a specified one of the portions along part of the gap while the two portions are in a non-vacuum environment to cause material of the two portions to bridge that part of the gap and partially seal the two portions together along the sealing areas. Energy is subsequently transferred locally to material of the specified portion of the structure along the remainder (48A) of the gap while the two portions are in a vacuum environment to cause material of the two portions to bridge the remainder of the gap and complete sealing of the two portions together along the gap. A laser (56) is typically employed in performing at least one of the gap-jumping steps.