A portfolio of patents for solid film lubricants developed by Ford Motor Co. is among the items being offered tomorrow in an event billed as the worlds first live, multi-lot technology patent auction.
Chicago-based merchant bank Ocean Tomo is hosting the auction at the Ritz-Carlton in San Francisco. The company said one lot will include 36 patents developed by Ford, including several revolutionary lubrication techniques for internal combustion engines and drivetrains.
Ocean Tomo said Ford developed those technologies as part of an effort to create oil-less engines. Other technologies are for non-automotive applications with low lubrication and/or high friction. The bank added that some of the technologies are being used as coatings to protect piston skirts in automotive engines, but that they could also be adapted for aircraft, agricultural equipment, orthopedics and health care equipment.
Ford donated the patents to the National Institute for Strategic Technology Acquisition and Commercialization, a non-profit organization affiliated with Kansas State University.
For further information call (312) 377-4851 or e-mail to auctions@oceantomo.com.