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:
Sep. 30, 2014
Filed:
Oct. 12, 2011
Stephen Maginnis, Irvine, CA (US);
George Paskalov, Torrance, CA (US);
Stephen Maginnis, Irvine, CA (US);
George Paskalov, Torrance, CA (US);
James R. Glidewell Dental Ceramics, Inc., Newport Beach, CA (US);
Abstract
Rapid sintering techniques for densifying zirconium dioxide based ceramic materials employing electromagnetic induction heating or inductive coupled plasma, reducing processing time from hours to minutes. In one embodiment a water-cooled coil is connected to a radio frequency power supply. The coil surrounds a susceptor body which in turn surrounds the ceramic to be sintered. The susceptor heats up in response to a magnetic field emanating from the coil as the coil receives electric power. The heat in turn is radiated from the susceptor and heats the ceramic. In another embodiment, the coil is connected to a radio frequency power supply of sufficiently high frequency and power to establish a plasma in the gas which surrounds the ceramic. The plasma then heats the ceramic. The method is especially useful for sintering ceramic dental appliances, in minutes which can lead to in situ fabrication of such appliances while a dental patient waits.