Vacuum~volume 42/numbers 8/9/pages 601 to 604/1 991 0042-207X/91 $3.00+.00 Printed in Great Britain Pergamon Press plc

NEW PATENTS

This Section contains abstracts and, where appropriate, illustrations of recently issued United States patents and published patent applications filed from over 30 countries under the Patent Cooperation Treaty. This information was obtained from recent additions to the Pergamon PATSEARCH ® online database in accordance with interest profiles developed by the Editors. Further information about Pergamon PATSEARCH ~ can be obtained from Pergamon Orbit InfoLine Inc., 8000 Westpark Drive, McLean, Virginia 22102, U.S.A.

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4953497

APPARATUS FOR COATING C O N T I N U O U S WEBS

Hans Kessler, Hanau, Federal Republic Of Ger- many assigned to Leybold Aktiengesellschaft

An apparatus for vacuum coating continuous web materials has a housing with a removable cover disposed on at least one side for the her- metic closure of the housing, and a winding means having pulley cylinders, tension measuring cylinders, stretching cylinders and tightening cylinders journaled between two plates, plus at least one coating cylinder and at least one take-up roll and at least one feed roll, as well as a coating source held stationary in the housing. The two plates together with the cylin- ders and rolls are able to travel as a unit on a run- ning gear for the purpose of loading and unloading, to such an extent that all cylinders are freely accessible from without. A transport means which can move transversely to the tracks of the running gear is provided with pairs of arms journaled on the running gear. The common pivot axis of the pairs of arms is disposed parallel to the tracks. The free ends of the pairs of arms are equipped with supporting eyes for holding one fresh roll and one take-up roll.

4954047

EVACUATION APPARATUS

Nobuhisa Okuyama, Shiuichi Goto, Tsugio Enomoto, Chiba, Japan assigned to Toyo Engineering Corporation; Mikuni Jukogyo Co Ltd

An evacuation apparatus comprising (1) a reciprocating vacuum pump, the piston rings and piston shaft sealing material of which are made of a self-lubricating material at least on the surface and in which metallic bellows is or are used to seal between the piston shaft outside the cylinder and the outer face of the cylinder end wall, and (2) a turbomolecular pump in which a casing, stationary blades mounted on the casing, a rotor, and moving blades provided on the rotor are arranged coaxially, and in which the delivery o~aening of the reciprocating vacuum pump is open to the atmosphere and the suction opening of the turbomolecular pump is joined to an ap- paratus to be evacuated.

4954166

P R O D U C T I O N OF SPONGE METAL FROM SPONGE METAL

FINES

Hani A M Abodishish, Randy Wahlquist, Dale A Lopez assigned to Westinghouse Electric Corp

The pyrophoric fines inevitably resulting from the crushing of zirconium and/or hafnium or other exotic metal fines, such as titanium and uranium, are brought into contact with molten magnesium or a molten mixture of magnesium and magnesium chloride in the usual vacuum distillation furnace so that their surfaces are wet- ted by the molten material, after which furnace temperature is dropped to solidify the molten material about the fines. Furnace temperature is then raised to that required to vaporize the magnesium and magnesium chloride, whereupon sintering of the fines takes place over a period of time.