Patents Examined by Alexander Polyansky
  • Patent number: 8882941
    Abstract: An aspect of the present disclosure relates to an alloy composition, which may include 52 atomic percent to 68 atomic percent iron, 13 to 21 atomic percent nickel, 2 to 12 atomic percent cobalt, 10 to 19 atomic percent boron, optionally 1 to 5 atomic percent carbon, and optionally 0.3 to 16 atomic percent silicon. The alloy may include 5 to 95% by volume of one or more spinodal microconstituents, wherein the microconstituents exhibit a length scale less than 50 nm in a glass matrix.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 16, 2009
    Date of Patent: November 11, 2014
    Assignee: The NanoSteel Company, Inc.
    Inventors: Daniel James Branagan, Jeffrey E. Shield, Alla V. Sergueeva
  • Patent number: 8876934
    Abstract: An apparatus for electromagnetic stirring of the steel melt in an electrical arc furnace includes two electromagnetic stirrer units, a current supply, and a control unit. The two stirrers are mounted on an outer bottom surface of the electrical arc furnace at opposites sides of a central position of the bottom surface, the current supply is operatively connected to the two electromagnetic stirrer units, and the control unit is operatively connected to the current supply to control the operation of the two electromagnetic stirrer units.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 4, 2014
    Assignee: ABB Research Ltd.
    Inventors: Jan-Erik Eriksson, Mohamed Ali Rahmani, Ola Widlund, Olof Hjortstam, Rebei Bel Fdhila, Shiva Sander-Tavallaey, Ulf Sand, Xiaojing Zhang, Tord Kroon
  • Patent number: 8863999
    Abstract: A casting nozzle suited to manufacture a casting material of pure magnesium or magnesium alloy is provided. A nozzle 1 is utilized to manufacture a casting material 100 by supplying molten metal to a portion between rolls 10 which become a casting die, and arranged so that a pouring port 4 is located between a pair of rolls 10 opposed to other. This nozzle 1 includes a main body 1a formed of oxide material such as alumina, and a coating layer 3 which is provided on the inner surface of the main body 1a which comes into contact the molten metal, and formed of material that does not include oxygen substantially. Since the main body 1a does not come into direct contact with the molten metal due to the coating layer 3, it is possible to prevent oxygen included in the main body 1a from reacting with the molten metal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 20, 2006
    Date of Patent: October 21, 2014
    Assignee: Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd.
    Inventors: Masatada Numano, Yoshihiro Nakai, Toshiya Ikeda, Mitsuyuki Kobayashi
  • Patent number: 8858741
    Abstract: A method for treating high-strength, low-alloy steel includes controlling material responses, such as the crystal structure of the steel, through various processing steps. More specifically, the method includes cold treating the steel to achieve predictable increases in a minimum ultimate tensile strength or desired changes in the crystal structure of the steel. In one embodiment, cold treating the steel operates to controllably increase the minimum ultimate tensile strength of the steel within increasing a specified maximum ultimate tensile strength of the steel. Stated otherwise, cold treating the steel may reduce or narrow a minimum-to-maximum ultimate tensile strength range such that the minimum ultimate tensile strength is closer to the specified maximum ultimate tensile strength.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 6, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 14, 2014
    Assignee: Goodrich Corporation
    Inventor: Edward B. Evans
  • Patent number: 8840738
    Abstract: A cold-rolled steel sheet of the present invention which has a composition containing, in terms of % by mass, C: 0.05-0.30%, Si: 3.0% or less (including 0%), Mn: 0.1-5.0%, P: 0.1% or less (including 0%), S: 0.010% or less (including 0%), and Al: 0.001-0.10%, and remainder being mainly iron, and which has a structure comprising, in terms of area ratio, 10-80% ferrite, less than 5% (including 0%) of the sum of retained austenite and martensite, and a hard phase as the remainder. The steel sheet gives a KAM value frequency distribution curve in which the relationship between the proportion of frequency having a KAM value ?0.4, XKAM?0.4°, and the area ratio of ferrite, V? satisfies XKAM?0.4°/V??0.8 and the proportion of frequency having a KAM value in the range of 0.6-0.8, XKAM=0.6-0.8° is 10-20%. In the hard phase adjoining the ferrite, cementite, grains having an equivalent circle diameter of 0.1 ?m or larger exist so that three or less such cementite grains are dispersed per ?m2 of the hard phase.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 2, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 23, 2014
    Assignee: Kobe Steel, Ltd.
    Inventors: Toshio Murakami, Akira Ibano, Hideo Hata, Kenji Saito
  • Patent number: 8801876
    Abstract: [Problem to be Solved] A Ni-based alloy product consisting of, by mass percent, C: 0.03 to 0.10%, Si: 0.05 to 1.0%, Mn: 0.1 to 1.5%, Sol.Al: 0.0005 to 0.04%, Fe: 20 to 30%, Cr: not less than 21.0% and less than 25.0%, W: exceeding 6.0% and not more than 9.0%, Ti: 0.05 to 0.2%, Nb: 0.05 to 0.35%, and B: 0.0005 to 0.006%, the balance being Ni and impurities, the impurities being P: 0.03% or less, S: 0.01% or less, N: less than 0.010%, Mo: less than 0.5%, and Co: 0.8% or less, wherein a value of effective B (Beff) defined by the formula, Beff (%)=B?(11/14)×N+(11/48)×Ti, is 0.0050 to 0.0300%, and the rupture elongation in a tensile test at 700° C. and at a strain rate of 10?6/sec is 20% or more. This alloy may contain one or more kinds of Cu, Ta, Zr, Mg, Ca, REM, and Pd.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 12, 2014
    Assignee: Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation
    Inventors: Atsuro Iseda, Hiroyuki Hirata, Hirokazu Okada, Hiroyuki Semba
  • Patent number: 8795442
    Abstract: The invention provides a high strength cold rolled steel sheet having excellent chemical conversion treatment property stably even Mo is added aiming high strengthening. The surface property of the cold rolled steel sheet satisfies that the characteristic of 10 ?m or more of the maximum depth (Ry) of the unevenness and 30 ?m or less of the average spacing (Sm) of the unevenness, and that either one or more preferably both of, the characteristic of the load length ratio (tp40) of the unevenness of the surface is 20% or less, and the characteristic of the difference of the load length ratios (tp60) and (tp40) is 60% or more, is satisfied, and the crack of 3 ?m or less width and 5 ?m or more depth does not exist on the surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2007
    Date of Patent: August 5, 2014
    Assignee: Kobe Steel, Ltd.
    Inventors: Yoichi Mukai, Shinji Kozuma, Masahiro Nomura
  • Patent number: 8784579
    Abstract: A process of grain refining magnesium metal or magnesium based alloy including the step of a) providing a melt of the magnesium metal or magnesium based alloy, said melt including a grain refining agent in an amount effective to induce grain refinement of said magnesium or magnesium based alloy upon solidification, wherein the grain refining agent is vanadium metal, where said grain refinement comprises a reduction in average grain size of at least 50% (percent) as compared with the average grain size without addition of said grain refining agent.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 20, 2009
    Date of Patent: July 22, 2014
    Inventor: Joka Buha
  • Patent number: 8784730
    Abstract: Nickel-based alloy consisting of (in % by mass) Si 0.8-2.0%, Al 0.001-0.1%, Fe 0.01-0.2%, C 0.001-0.10%, N 0.0005-0.10%, Mg 0.0001-0.08%, O 0.0001-0.010%, Mn max. 0.10%, Cr max. 0.10%, Cu max. 0.50%, S max. 0.008%, balance Ni and the usual production-related impurities.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 2011
    Date of Patent: July 22, 2014
    Assignee: Outokumpu VDM GmbH
    Inventor: Heike Hattendorf
  • Patent number: 8758528
    Abstract: The present invention provides a high-strength steel plate having excellent resistance to cutting crack, excellent Charpy absorbed energy, excellent DWTT properties, a low yield ratio, and a tensile strength of 900 MPa or more, a method of producing the steel plate, and a high-strength steel pipe using the steel plate. As solving means, a steel plate contains, by % by mass, 0.03 to 0.12% of C, 0.01 to 0.5% of Si, 1.5 to 3% of Mn, 0.01 to 0.08% of Al, 0.01 to 0.08% of Nb, 0.005 to 0.025% of Ti, 0.001 to 0.01% of N, and at least one component of 0.01 to 2% of Cu, 0.01 to 3% of Ni, 0.01 to 1% of Cr, 0.01 to 1% of Mo, and 0.01 to 0.1% of V; wherein the contents of Ca, O, and S satisfy the equation below; the microstructure includes ferrite and a second hard phase, the area fraction of ferrite being 10 to 50%; cementite in the second phase has an average grin size of 0.5 ?m or less; and the total amount of Nb and the like contained in carbides thereof present in steel is 10% or less of the total content in steel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2006
    Date of Patent: June 24, 2014
    Assignee: JFE Steel Corporation
    Inventors: Junji Shimamura, Shigeru Endo, Mitsuhiro Okatsu
  • Patent number: 8753420
    Abstract: A method with which americium may be selectively recovered from a nitric aqueous phase containing americium, curium and fission products including lanthanides and yttrium, but which is free of uranium, plutonium and neptunium or which only contains these three last elements in trace amounts. The method is applicable for treatment and recycling of irradiated nuclear fuels, in particular for removing americium from raffinates stemming from methods for extracting and purifying uranium and plutonium such as the PUREX and COEX™ methods.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 26, 2010
    Date of Patent: June 17, 2014
    Assignees: Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives, Areva NC
    Inventors: Xavier Heres, Pascal Baron, Christian Sorel, Clément Hill, Gilles Bernier
  • Patent number: 8753418
    Abstract: A nanopowder and a method of making are disclosed. The nanopowder may be in the form of nanoparticles with an average size of less than about 200 nm and contain a reactive transition metal, such as hafnium, zirconium, or titanium. The nanopowder can be formed in a liquid under sonication by reducing a halide of the transition metal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 11, 2010
    Date of Patent: June 17, 2014
    Assignee: The United States of America, as represented by the Secretary of the Navy
    Inventors: Albert Epshteyn, Andrew P Purdy
  • Patent number: 8747572
    Abstract: A carbonitriding method that allows the permeating rate of nitrogen to be increased to improve the efficiency of the carbonitriding process is directed to carbonitriding a workpiece formed of steel containing at least 0.8 mass % of carbon, including an atmosphere control step of controlling the atmosphere in a heat treatment furnace, and a heating pattern control step of controlling the temperature history applied to a workpiece. The atmosphere control step includes an undecomposed ammonia concentration control step of controlling the undecomposed ammonia concentration in the heat treatment furnace, and a partial pressure control step of controlling the partial pressure of at least one of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide in the heat treatment furnace.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 15, 2006
    Date of Patent: June 10, 2014
    Assignee: NTN Corporation
    Inventor: Chikara Ohki
  • Patent number: 8741061
    Abstract: A method between a diffusion and a quenching process including normalizing by step cooling including alternating temperature lowering and temperature keeping treatment for a temperature history that satisfies a predetermined condition; after normalizing, maintaining the temperature of the whole workpiece so that the whole workpiece becomes the predetermined temperature, thereby producing fine crystal grains in the workpiece; then reheating the workpiece to raise its temperature to the second temperature. There is uniformity in temperature between the surface and the inside of a workpiece, and crystal grains are prevented from being coarse.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 22, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 3, 2014
    Assignee: IHI Corporation
    Inventor: Kazuhiko Katsumata
  • Patent number: 8728256
    Abstract: A heat-resistant aluminum alloy material with high strength and preparation method thereof are provided. The aluminum alloy material comprises (by weight %): Cu: 1.0˜10.0, Mn: 0.05˜1.5, Cd: 0.01˜0.5, Ti: 0.01˜0.5%, B: 0.01˜0.2 or C: 0.0001˜0.15, Zr: 0.01˜1.0, R: 0.001˜3 or (R1+R2): 0.001˜3, RE: 0.05˜5, and balance Al:, wherein, R, R1, and R2 include Be, Co, Cr, Li, Mo, Nb, Ni, W. The Al alloy has the advantages of narrow quasi-solid phases temperature range of alloys, low hot cracking liability during casting improved high temperature strength and high heat resistance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 4, 2010
    Date of Patent: May 20, 2014
    Assignee: Guizhou Hua-Ke Aluminum-Materials Engineering Research Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yun Che, Zhongke Zhang, Sanquan Men, Xinmeng Chen, Guangyou Xu, Xiang Li
  • Patent number: 8721812
    Abstract: A heat treatment technique may include heating an alloy component to a temperature above a transition temperature of the alloy or heating an alloy component to a temperature below the transition temperature of the alloy. The heat treatment technique further may include cooling a first portion of the alloy component at a first cooling rate, and cooling a second portion of the alloy component at a second cooling rate different than the first rate. The first cooling rate may result in formation of a plurality of first precipitate phase domains comprising a first average size in the first portion, and the second cooling rate may result in formation of a plurality of second precipitate phase domains comprising a second average size in the second portion. The average size of the first precipitate phase domains may be different than the average size of the second precipitate phase domains.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 6, 2010
    Date of Patent: May 13, 2014
    Assignee: Rolls-Royce Corporation
    Inventors: David U. Furrer, Randolph C. Helmink
  • Patent number: 8709176
    Abstract: A method and an apparatus confer full superelastic properties to the active surface of a mechanical component constructed of a superelastic material prior to service. A compressive load is applied to the active surface of the mechanical component followed by removing the compressive load from the active surface whereby substantially all load strain is recoverable after applying and removing of subsequent compressive loads.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 29, 2014
    Assignee: The United States of America as Represented by the Administrator of National Aeronautics and Space Administration
    Inventor: Christopher DellaCorte
  • Patent number: 8696785
    Abstract: A method for recycling a battery pack includes steps of: roasting the battery pack that houses a battery assembly that is in a charged condition, as it is, dismantling the roasted battery pack and separating the battery pack into unit cells and parts other than the unit cells, comminuting the unit cells obtained by separation, washing and screening the comminuted cells, dehydrating a slurry below a sieve after screening and recovering metals used for positive and negative electrodes, and recovering metal containing nickel by magnetically separating metal remaining on the sieve after screening, using a magnet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 19, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 15, 2014
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Shuji Iida
  • Patent number: 8696786
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a new method for preparing anisotropic metal nanoparticles with high aspect ratios and different types of structures by means of catalysis by Atomic Quantum Clusters (AQCs).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 15, 2014
    Assignees: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Nanogap Sub-NM Powder, Sociedad Anonima
    Inventors: Manuel Arturo Lopez Quintela, Jose Rivas Rey
  • Patent number: 8691343
    Abstract: Composite structures having a reinforced material interjoined with a substrate and methods of creating a composite material interjoined with a substrate. In some embodiments the composite structure may be a line or a spot or formed by reinforced material interjoined with the substrate. The methods typically include disposing a precursor material comprising titanium diboride and/or titanium monoboride on at least a portion of the substrate and heating the precursor material and the at least a portion of the substrate in the presence of an oxidation preventative until at least a portion of the precursor material forms reinforced material interjoined with the substrate. The precursor material may be disposed on the substrate as a sheet or a tape or a slurry or a paste. Localized surface heating may be used to heat the precursor material. The reinforced material typically comprises a titanium boron compound, such as titanium monoboride, and preferably comprises ?-titanium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 16, 2008
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2014
    Assignee: Babcock & Wilcox Technical Services Y-12, LLC
    Inventors: Roland D Seals, Edward B Ripley, Russell L Hallman