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US 6,387,312 B1Granted
Molding a polishing pad having integral window
AssigneeRodel Holdings, Inc.
InventorsJohn V. H. Roberts, Barry Scott Pinheiro, David B. James
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A polishing pad is formed by solidifying a flowable polymeric material at different rates of cooling to provide a polishing pad with a transparent region and an adjacent opaque region. Types of polymeric material suitable for making the polishing pad include a single thermoplastic material, a blend of thermoplastic materials, and a reactive thermosetting polymer.
Claims5
A method of making a polishing pad comprising:
- molding a flowable polymeric material to the shape of a polishing pad in a mold cavity of a molding apparatus, wherein the flowable polymeric material is transparent in a flowable state;
- cooling the flowable polymeric material in a first region of the mold cavity at a relatively rapid rate, to solidify the polymeric material in the first region to a relatively transparent state, and
- cooling the flowable polymeric material in an adjacent region of the mold cavity at a relatively slower rate, to solidify the polymeric material in the adjacent region to a relatively opaque state.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.