US Patent Issued to Align Technology on May 19 for "Weak covalent crosslinks in thermoset materials for increased toughness" (California Inventor)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., May 19 -- United States Patent no. 12,630,734, issued on May 19, was assigned to Align Technology Inc. (San Jose, Calif.).

"Weak covalent crosslinks in thermoset materials for increased toughness" was invented by Michael Christopher Cole (San Jose, Calif.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "This disclosure provides polymeric materials comprising weak crosslinking covalent bonds and/or weak crosslinking units comprising a weak covalent bond. Weak covalent bonds can be used in place of hydrogen bonds present in traditional polymeric materials (e.g., polyurethanes). Advantageously, the toughness can be controlled by varying the strength of weak covalent bonds and/or by varying the nu...