Method of thermally drawing structured sheets
AssigneeEverix, Inc.
InventorEsmaeil Banaei
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of drawing a material into sheet form includes forming a preform comprising at least one material as a large aspect ratio block wherein a first transverse dimension of the preform is much greater than a second transverse dimension substantially perpendicular to the first transverse dimension. A furnace having substantially linearly opposed heating elements one spaced from the other is provided and the heating elements are energized to apply heat to the preform to create a negative thermal gradient from an exterior surface along the first transverse dimension of the preform inward toward a central plane of the preform. The preform is drawn in such a manner that the material substantially maintains its first transverse dimension and deforms across its second transverse dimension.
Claims14
A method of drawing a material into sheet form, the method comprising the steps of:
- providing a first preform section comprising a first plurality of layers, each layer of the first plurality of layers having a refractive index different from the refractive index of a neighboring layer,
- applying heat to the first preform section to create a thermal gradient from an exterior surface through a thickness of the first preform section inward toward a center plane of the first preform section with a more uniform temperature distribution along a width of the first preform section than along the thickness;
- feeding the first preform section into a furnace;
- drawing the first preform section in such a manner that the first plurality of layers deforms less across the width than across the thickness;
- providing a second preform section comprising a second plurality of layers, each layer of the second plurality of layers having a refractive index different from the refractive index of a neighboring layer,
- applying heat to the second preform section to create a thermal gradient from an exterior surface through a thickness of the second preform section inward toward a center plane of the second preform section with a more uniform temperature distribution along a width of the second preform section than along the thickness;
- feeding the second preform section into the furnace;
- drawing the second preform section in such a manner that the second plurality of layers deforms less across the width than across the thickness;
- stacking the first preform section and the second preform section on each other to form a combined preform,
- applying heat to the combined preform to create a thermal gradient from an exterior surface through a thickness of the combined preform inward toward a center plane of the combined preform with a more uniform temperature distribution along a width of the combined preform than along the thickness;
- feeding the combined preform into the furnace;
- drawing the combined preform through the furnace in such a manner that the first plurality of layers and the second plurality of layers deforms less across the width than across the thickness to form a flattened structure.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.