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. 10, 2004
Filed:
Feb. 16, 2001
Robert Allan Bourne, Mt. Vernon, IN (US);
Dennis Joseph Coyle, Clifton Park, NY (US);
Kenneth L. Lilly, West Chester, OH (US);
Robert Morrow, Mt. Vernon, IN (US);
Brian Scott Schenk, Evansville, IN (US);
Russell Wayne Wildeman, Mt. Vernon, IN (US);
General Electric Company, Pittsfield, MA (US);
Abstract
An apparatus for producing a thermoplastic film having low-birefringent, low stress and at least one polished surface for optical media applications as well as low stress film for non-optical applications using a continuous extrusion process. The apparatus consists of a novel calendering roll in a calendering roll stack wherein, at least one roll consists of an inner steel shell, a resilient covering over the inner steel roll and a multi-layer metal sleeve outer covering of at least two layers. The metal sleeve preferably consists of three layers. The inner layer of the multi-layer outer sleeve is preferably nickel, the intermediate layer is preferably copper and the outer layer is preferably chrome with a highly polished surface. The film produced by the process has a retardation value (birefringence times thickness) of less than about 100 nanometers and a surface roughness of less than about 4 microinches. The process is a continuous extrusion process for producing such film or sheet and does not require any further finishing operations.