ALEXANDRIA, Va., Aug. 12 -- United States Patent no. 12,703,666, issued on Aug. 11, was assigned to SAINT-GOBAIN CENTRE DE RECHERCHES ET D'ETUDES EUROPEEN (Courbevoie, France).
"Magnetic ball" was invented by David Bouttes (Avignon, France) and Emmanuel Nonnet (Saint Saturnin les Avignon, France).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A sintered ball is provided with the following crystallized phases, in mass percentages based on crystallized phases and for a total of 100%: stabilized zirconia: remainder up to 100%; monoclinic zirconia: less than equal to20%; 4% less than equal tomagnetic component less than equal to22%; crystallized phases other than stabilized zirconia, monoclinic zirconia and magne...