TWO-COMPONENT POLYURETHANE U.S. Patent 6,184,332. Feb. 6, 2001 A.M. Dos Santos, assignor to Synthopol Chemie Dr. rer. pol. Koch GmbH & Co. KG, Buxtehude, Germany

Polyester polyols and their use as the polyol component in two- component polyurethane paints.

NOZZLE ASSEMBLY U.S. Patent 6,186,422. Feb. 13, 2001 H. Hubner and E. Paultre, assignors to Air Techniques, Hicksville, N.Y.

A nozzle assembly for delivering an abrasive-laden air s tream to a surface to be abraded.

ABRASIVE ARTICLE U.S. Patent 6,186,866. Feb. 13, 2001 J.J. Gagliardi, assignor to 3M Innovative Properties Co., St. Paul, Minn.

An abrasive article with sepa- rately formed front surface pro- t rusions containing a grinding aid.

POWDER COATING CABIN U.S. Patent 6,187,098. Feb. 13, 2001 E. Kri~mer and M. Kr~mer, assignors to Nordson Corp., Westlake, Ohio

A powder coating cabin compris- ing a housing defining an interior space between a ceiling and a but- tom; a coating unit arranged on the housing for spraying powder onto an object; and a unit for cleaning inner wall surfaces of the housing.

GALVANIZ ING PROCESS U.S. Patent 6,187,116. Feb. 13, 2001 M. Gilles, assignor to N.V. Union Minere S.A., Brussels, Belgium

A process for component galvaniz- ing of steel products, which may contain silicon and/or phosphorus comprising providing a molten bath of a tin- and bismuth-con- taining zinc alloy; and dipping the steel product in the molten bath to galvanize the product.

PLATING MONITOR U.S. Patent 6,187,153. Feb. 13, 2001 D.M. Drew and P.R. Moehle, assignors to Texas Instruments Inc., Dallas

A comparator for monitoring the deposition of an electrically con- ductive material on a leadframe to warn of improper operation of a leadframe electroplating process.

COATING PLATE-SHAPED SUBSTRATES U.S. Patent 6,187,158. Feb. 13, 2001 M. Schuhmacher et al., assignors to Leybold Systems GmbH, Hanau, Germany

A device for coating plate-shaped substrates by cathodic sputtering.

ELECTROPLATING SYSTEM U.S. Patent 6,187,166. Feb. 13, 2001 P.R. Moehle et al., assignors to Texas Instruments Inc., Dallas

A process for electroplating metal coating onto a continuous article from a series of plating baths hav- ing the same or compatible plat- ing solutions comprising immers- ing the article in plating solution, passing DC current by way of a rotat ing contact main ta ined in continuous electrical contact by a non-rotating contact; cooling the contact by using plating solution; and t r a n s p o r t i n g the a r t ic le through each of the series of plat- ing baths having the same compo- sition using the same process for electrical contact and cooling.

REPAIRING COATING DEFECTS U.S. Patent 6,187,375. Feb. 13, 2001 K. Alders et al., assignors to Audi AG, Ingolstadt, Germany

A process for repairing a coating defect on a surface coating of a flat part by a plurality of repair tools comprising removably mounting the plurality of repair tools and an optical calibration device on a holder; positioning and calibrat- ing the holder by the optical cali- bration device; moving and using the plurality of repair tools in suc-

cession into their correct working posi t ions; pe r fo rming first a coarse calibration; and perform- ing second a fine calibration.

IMPROVING ADHESION OF A REPAIR COATING U.S. Patent 6,187,376. Feb. 13, 2001 D.H. Campbell and M.A. Gessner, assignors to BASF Corp., Southfield, Mich.

A method for improving the adhe- sion of a repair coating to a coated substrate comprising applying at leas t one coat ing composi t ion comprising film forming compo- nent; an adhesion improving ad- ditive comprising one or more compounds conta in ing Sn(IV); and a catalyst.

PROTECTIVE FILM FOR AUTOMOBILES U.S. Patent 6,187,377. Feb. 13, 2001 H. Tojo et al., assignors to Honda Giken Kogyo KK, Tokyo

A process for forming a protective film of a strippable paint onto a coated surface of an automobile to temporar i ly protect the coated surface.

PLATING OPTICAL FIBERS U.S. Patent 6,187,378. Feb. 13, 2001 J.J. Donesecz, assignor to Lucent Technologies Inc., Murray Hill, N.J.

An a u t o m a t e d s y s t e m and method for electroless plating of optical fibers.

WATERBORNE COATING U.S. Patent 6,187,384. Feb. 13, 2001 G. Wilke et al., assignors to BASF Coatings AG, Muenster-Hiltrup, Germany

An aqueous b inder d ispers ion useful for producing hardly yel- lowing, highly glossy coatings.

POLYURETHANE COATING U.S. Patent 6,187,444. Feb. 13, 2001 R.J. Bowles et al., assignors to PPG Industries Ohio Inc., Cleveland

An article comprising, in combi- nation, a substrate and a polyure-

96 Metal Finishing