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US 4,975,925 AGranted
Unlubricated bearings for gas lasers
AssigneeThe Spectranetics Corporation
InventorG. Stephan Derrickson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Ceramic bearings and races, each coated or implanted with metal, glass, boron fibers, carbon fibers, jade or horneblende are disclosed as bearings for the fan assembly of a laser. The bearings and races may be silicon nitride implanted with gold and may be used in the laser without potentially contaminating supplemental lubricants.
Claims16
A bearing assembly for a gas laser, comprising:
- a housing for the laser;
- laser gas filling the housing;
- a race disposed in the housing;
- and
- a bearing contacting the race and rotatable relative to the race, one of the race and the bearing at least partially composed of ceramic material implanted or coated with at least one material selected from the group consisting of metal, glass, boron fibers, carbon fibers, jade and horneblende.
2 more elements
A method of manufacturing a laser assembly, comprising the steps of:
- (a) providing a sealable housing having walls, a laser gas circulation fan and a plurality of ceramic fan bearings, coated or implanted with metal, for supporting the gas circulation fan;
- (b) evacuating the air out of said housing;
- (c) baking the housing to remove contaminants from the walls of the housing;
- (d) filling the housing with a laser gas;
- and
- (e) sealing the housing with the gas within the housing.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.