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US 4,459,145 AGranted
Fabrication of glass microspheres with conducting surfaces
AssigneeThe United States of America as represented by the United States Department of Energy
InventorWilliam E. Elsholz
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method for making hollow glass microspheres with conducting surfaces by adding a conducting vapor to a region of the glass fabrication furnace. As droplets or particles of glass forming material pass through multiple zones of different temperature in a glass fabrication furnace, and are transformed into hollow glass microspheres, the microspheres pass through a region of conducting vapor, forming a conducting coating on the surface of the microspheres.
Claims14
A method for fabricating hollow glass microspheres with conducting surfaces comprising;
- dropping liquid droplets or dried gel frits of glass forming material through a glass forming vertical oven having multiple regions of preselected temperature and length to form hollow glass microspheres;
- and
- introducing a mist of conducting vapor into at least one region of the oven where the glass forming material has fused into glass to produce an atmosphere of conducting vapor through which the microspheres pass during the fabrication process to produce a conducting coating on the microspheres as part of the microsphere fabrication process.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.