US 8640498

Here is a concise summary of US Patent 8640498:

US Patent 8640498

• Title: Fining of boroalumino silicate glasses
• Assignee: Corning Inc.
• Inventor: Adam J. G. Ellison
• Filing Date: 2010-12-10
• Issue Date: 2014-02-04
• Abstract: The patent discloses glasses suitable for use as substrates in flat panel display devices, such as active matrix liquid crystal displays (AMLCDs). These glasses are characterized by MgO concentrations ranging from 1.0 to 3.0 mole percent and Σ[RO]/[Al2O3] ratios greater than or equal to 1.00 (where [Al2O3] is the mole percent of Al2O3 and Σ[RO] is the sum of the mole percents of MgO, CaO, SrO, and BaO). These compositional features are stated to improve the melting properties of batch materials, enabling the use of more environmentally friendly fining agents like tin, as an alternative to arsenic and/or antimony.

Plain-Language Overview of Independent Claims:

• Claim 1: This claim describes a method for manufacturing alkali-free glass sheets using a downdraw process. The method involves carefully selecting, melting, and fining raw materials (batch materials) to produce glass sheets with specific compositional and property characteristics.
  • Compositional Requirements: The glass sheets must contain silicon dioxide (SiO2), aluminum oxide (Al2O3), boron oxide (B2O3), magnesium oxide (MgO), and calcium oxide (CaO). Specifically, the total amount of alkaline earth oxides (MgO, CaO, SrO, and BaO) divided by the amount of aluminum oxide (Σ[RO]/[Al2O3]) must be 1.0 or greater, and the glass must contain at least 1.0 mole percent of MgO.
  • Fining Process and Agents: The fining process must be performed without substantial amounts of arsenic or antimony, meaning the final glass sheets contain at most 0.005 mole percent of As2O3 and at most 0.005 mole percent of Sb2O3. Tin oxide (SnO2) must be used for fining, with the finished glass containing at least 0.01 mole percent SnO2.
  • Glass Property: The resulting glass sheets must exhibit a liquidus viscosity of at least 100,000 poise.

USPTO Database Search:
The patent information provided above is directly from the authoritative Google Patents entry for US8640498B2, which reflects the USPTO record. No conflicting information was found from the general USPTO search results provided.

CAFC 2026 Dockets Search:
A search of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) 2026 dockets, specifically the "Scheduled Cases – May 2026" document, did not reveal any cases explicitly mentioning patent number US8640498.