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. 09, 2011
Filed:
Apr. 21, 2003
James G. Fleming, Albuquerque, NM (US);
Carol Fleming, Legal Representative, Burbank, CA (US);
Jeffry J. Sniegowski, Tijeras, NM (US);
Stephen Montague, Albuquerque, NM (US);
James G. Fleming, Albuquerque, NM (US);
Carol Fleming, legal representative, Burbank, CA (US);
Jeffry J. Sniegowski, Tijeras, NM (US);
Stephen Montague, Albuquerque, NM (US);
Sandia Corporation, Albuquerque, NM (US);
Abstract
A cutting blade is disclosed fabricated of micromachined silicon. The cutting blade utilizes a monocrystalline silicon substrate having a {211} crystalline orientation to form one or more cutting edges that are defined by the intersection of {211} crystalline planes of silicon with {111} crystalline planes of silicon. This results in a cutting blade which has a shallow cutting-edge angle θ of 19.5°. The micromachined cutting blade can be formed using an anisotropic wet etching process which substantially terminates etching upon reaching the {111} crystalline planes of silicon. This allows multiple blades to be batch fabricated on a common substrate and separated for packaging and use. The micromachined cutting blade, which can be mounted to a handle in tension and optionally coated for increased wear resistance and biocompatibility, has multiple applications including eye surgery (LASIK procedure).