Patents Assigned to Nippon Light Metal Co., Ltd.
  • Patent number: 9695495
    Abstract: An aluminum alloy sheet for motor vehicles is produced by casting a melt, containing 3.0-3.5 mass % Mg, 0.05-0.3 mass % Fe, 0.05-0.15 mass % Si, and less than 0.1 mass % Mn, a balance substantially being inevitable impurities and Al, into a slab having a thickness of 5 to 15 mm in a twin-belt caster so that cooling rate at ¼ depth of thickness of the slab is 20 to 200° C./sec; winding the cast thin slab into a coiled thin slab subjected to cold rolling with a roll having a surface roughness of 0.2 to 0.7 ?m Ra at a cold rolling reduction of 50 to 98%; subjecting the cold rolled sheet to final annealing either continuously in a CAL at a holding temperature of 400 to 520° C. within 5 minutes or in a batch annealing furnace at a holding temperature of 300 to 400° C. for 1 to 8 hours; and subjecting the resulting sheet to straightening with a leveler.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 4, 2017
    Assignee: NIPPON LIGHT METAL CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Pizhi Zhao, Toshiya Anami, Kazumitsu Mizushima, Akira Goto, Hitoshi Kazama, Kunihiro Yasunaga
  • Publication number: 20150114523
    Abstract: An aluminum alloy sheet for motor vehicles is produced by casting a melt, containing 3.0-3.5 mass % Mg, 0.05-0.3 mass % Fe, 0.05-0.15 mass % Si, and less than 0.1 mass % Mn, a balance substantially being inevitable impurities and Al, into a slab having a thickness of 5 to 15 mm in a twin-belt caster so that cooling rate at ¼ depth of thickness of the slab is 20 to 200° C./sec; winding the cast thin slab into a coiled thin slab subjected to cold rolling with a roll having a surface roughness of 0.2 to 0.7 ?m Ra at a cold rolling reduction of 50 to 98%; subjecting the cold rolled sheet to final annealing either continuously in a CAL at a holding temperature of 400 to 520° C. within 5 minutes or in a batch annealing furnace at a holding temperature of 300 to 400° C. for 1 to 8 hours; and subjecting the resulting sheet to straightening with a leveler.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 29, 2014
    Publication date: April 30, 2015
    Applicant: NIPPON LIGHT METAL CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Pizhi ZHAO, Toshiya ANAMI, Kazumitsu MIZUSHIMA, Akira GOTO, Hitoshi KAZAMA, Kunihiro YASUNAGA
  • Patent number: 8691031
    Abstract: An aluminum alloy sheet is manufactured by preparing a slab having a thickness of 5 to 15 mm with a continuous casting machine by a continuous casting process using molten alloy containing 0.40% to 0.65% of Mg, 0.50% to 0.75% of Si, 0.05% to 0.20% of Cr, and 0.10% to 0.40% of Fe, a remainder being Al; winding the slab into a coil; cold-rolling the slab into a sheet; subjecting the sheet to solution heat treatment in such a manner that the sheet is heated to a temperature of 530° C. to 560° C. at a heating rate of 10° C./sec or more and then maintained at the temperature for five seconds or more; quenching the sheet with water; coiling up the sheet; maintaining the sheet at a temperature of 60° C. to 110° C. for 3 to 12 hours; and then cooling the sheet to room temperature.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2014
    Assignees: Nippon Light Metal Co., Ltd., Honda Motor Co., Ltd., Novelis Inc.
    Inventors: Pizhi Zhao, Toshiya Anami, Ichiro Okamoto, Hitoshi Kazama, Kunihiro Yasunaga, Noboru Hayashi, Kevin Gatenby, Simon Barker, Edward Luce
  • Patent number: 8434662
    Abstract: A method of welding that realizes enhancements of airtightness and watertightness at a weld area and a method of welding and method of friction stir welding that attain an enhancement of welding operation efficiency/speed. There is provided a method of welding including the first primary welding step of carrying out a friction stir welding on the abutting portion (J1) of metal members (1,1) from the surface (12) side of metal member (1) and the second primary welding step of carrying out a friction stir welding on the abutting portion (J1) from the reverse face (13) side of the member (1), wherein in the second primary welding step, the friction stir welding is performed while penetrating a stirring pin (B2) of rotation tool (B) in plasticized region (W1) formed in the first primary welding step.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 5, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2013
    Assignee: Nippon Light Metal Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hayato Sato, Hisashi Hori
  • Patent number: 8425698
    Abstract: An aluminum alloy sheet having excellent press formability and stress corrosion cracking resistance, comprises 3.3 to 3.6 percent by weight of Mg and 0.1 to 0.2 percent by weight of Mn, furthermore, 0.05 to 0.3 percent by weight of Fe and 0.05 to 0.15 percent by weight of Si, and the remainder comprises Al and incidental impurities, wherein the sizes of intermetallic compounds is 5 ?m or less, the recrystallized grain size is 15 ?m or less in the region at a depth of 10 to 30 ?m below the sheet surface, and the surface roughness is Ra 0.2 to 0.7 ?m.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2004
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2013
    Assignees: Nippon Light Metal Co., Ltd, Novelis Inc., Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Pizhi Zhao, Toshiya Anami, Ichiro Okamoto, Hitoshi Kazama, Kunihiro Yasunaga, Noboru Hayashi, Kevin Gatenby, Mark Gallerneault, Simon Barker
  • Publication number: 20120291924
    Abstract: An aluminum alloy sheet is manufactured by preparing a slab having a thickness of 5 to 15 mm with a continuous casting machine by a continuous casting process using molten alloy containing 0.40% to 0.65% of Mg, 0.50% to 0.75% of Si, 0.05% to 0.20% of Cr, and 0.10% to 0.40% of Fe, a remainder being Al; winding the slab into a coil; cold-rolling the slab into a sheet; subjecting the sheet to solution heat treatment in such a manner that the sheet is heated to a temperature of 530° C. to 560° C. at a heating rate of 10° C./sec or more and then maintained at the temperature for five seconds or more; quenching the sheet with water; coiling up the sheet; maintaining the sheet at a temperature of 60° C. to 110° C. for 3 to 12 hours; and then cooling the sheet to room temperature.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 6, 2012
    Publication date: November 22, 2012
    Applicants: NIPPON LIGHT METAL CO., LTD., NOVELIS INC., HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Pizhi ZHAO, Toshiya ANAMI, Ichiro OKAMOTO, Hitoshi KAZAMA, Kunihiro YASUNAGA, Noboru HAYASHI, Kevin GATENBY, Simon BARKER, Edward LUCE
  • Patent number: 8246763
    Abstract: A high strength aluminum alloy casting obtained by casting an aluminum alloy comprised of 7.5 to 11.5 wt % of Si, 3.8 to 4.8 wt % of Cu, 0.45 to 0.65 wt % of Mg, 0.4 to 0.7 wt % of Fe, 0.35 to 0.45 wt % of Mn, and the balance of Al and not more than 0.2 wt % of unavoidable impurities, wherein this aluminum alloy has 0.1 to 0.3 wt % of Ag added to it or contains 0.1 to 1.0 wt % of at least one element selected from the group of second additive elements comprised of Rb, K, Ba, Sr, Zr, Nb, Ta, V, and Pd and rare earth elements, and a method of production of a high strength aluminum alloy casting comprising the steps of filling a melt of an aluminum alloy in a mold to obtain a casting, taking out the aluminum alloy casting from the mold, solubilizing the high strength aluminum alloy casting by heating in a temperature range of 495 to 505° C.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 1, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 21, 2012
    Assignees: Denso Corporation, Nippon Light Metal Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kouji Yamada, Tomoyuki Hatano, Susumu Miyakawa, Hiromi Takagi, Hiroshi Horikawa, Akio Hashimoto
  • Publication number: 20110308759
    Abstract: A hot-top is disclosed that continuously casts an ingot by pouring molten metal down into a cylindrical space in a continuous casting mold from a molten metal flow-down port. The inner shape of a flow-down port forming part corresponds to the inner shape of a cylindrical space forming part. The hot-top forms an annular groove about the molten metal flow-down port, and has a barrier between the annular groove and the flow-down port.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 31, 2010
    Publication date: December 22, 2011
    Applicants: NIPPON LIGHT METAL CO., LTD., TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Takehito Kobayashi, Noriyuki Ueno, Ryuuichi Masuda, Kaoru Sugita
  • Patent number: 7854886
    Abstract: A method of producing an aluminum matrix composite material is described that comprises the steps of: mixing an aluminum powder and a ceramic powder to prepare a mixed powder; providing a lower casing made of aluminum and formed in a hollow rectangular parallelepiped shape having an open top, and a closing member made of aluminum and formed in a shape adapted to hermetically close the open top of the lower casing; packing the mixed powder into the lower casing; closing the open top of the lower casing filled with the mixed powder, by the closing member, to prepare a pre-rolling assembly having the mixed powder hermetically sealed therein; preheating the pre-rolling assembly; and rolling the preheated assembly to obtain the aluminum matrix composite material, where the aluminum matrix composite material includes a pair of metal plates having the mixed powder therebetween.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 2007
    Date of Patent: December 21, 2010
    Assignees: Nippon Light Metal Co., Ltd., Nikkeikin Aluminum Core Technology Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yuichi Tamaki, Kazuto Sanada, Toshimasa Nishiyama
  • Patent number: 7854887
    Abstract: A method of producing an aluminum matrix composite material is described that comprises the steps of: mixing an aluminum powder and a ceramic powder to prepare a mixed powder; providing a lower casing made of aluminum and formed in a hollow rectangular parallelepiped shape having an open top, and a closing member made of aluminum and formed in a shape adapted to hermetically close the open top of the lower casing; packing the mixed powder into the lower casing; closing the open top of the lower casing filled with the mixed powder, by the closing member, to prepare a pre-rolling assembly having the mixed powder hermetically sealed therein; preheating the pre-rolling assembly; and rolling the preheated assembly to obtain the aluminum matrix composite material, where the aluminum matrix composite material includes a pair of metal plates having the mixed powder therebetween.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 2007
    Date of Patent: December 21, 2010
    Assignees: Nippon Light Metal Co., Ltd., Nikkeikin Aluminum Core Technology Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Toshimasa Nishiyama, Kazuto Sanada, Hideki Honmou
  • Publication number: 20100307645
    Abstract: An aluminum alloy sheet for motor vehicles is produced by casting a melt, containing 3.0-3.5 mass % Mg, 0.05-0.3 mass % Fe, 0.05-0.15 mass % Si, and less than 0.1 mass % Mn, a balance substantially being inevitable impurities and Al, into a slab having a thickness of 5 to 15 mm in a twin-belt caster so that cooling rate at ¼ depth of thickness of the slab is 20 to 200° C./sec; winding the cast thin slab into a coiled thin slab subjected to cold rolling with a roll having a surface roughness of 0.2 to 0.7 ?m Ra at a cold rolling reduction of 50 to 98%; subjecting the cold rolled sheet to final annealing either continuously in a CAL at a holding temperature of 400 to 520° C. or in a batch annealing furnace at a holding temperature of 300 to 400° C.; and subjecting the resulting sheet to straightening with a leveler.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 6, 2008
    Publication date: December 9, 2010
    Applicant: Nippon Light Metal Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Pizhi Zhao, Toshiya Anami, Kazumitsu Mizushima, Akira Goto, Hitoshi Kazama, Kunihiro Yasunaga
  • Publication number: 20100192888
    Abstract: A high strength aluminum alloy casting obtained by casting an aluminum alloy comprised of 7.5 to 11.5 wt % of Si, 3.8 to 4.8 wt % of Cu, 0.45 to 0.65 wt % of Mg, 0.4 to 0.7 wt % of Fe, 0.35 to 0.45 wt % of Mn, and the balance of Al and not more than 0.2 wt % of unavoidable impurities, wherein this aluminum alloy has 0.1 to 0.3 wt % of Ag added to it or contains 0.1 to 1.0 wt % of at least one element selected from the group of second additive elements comprised of Rb, K, Ba, Sr, Zr, Nb, Ta, V, and Pd and rare earth elements, and a method of production of a high strength aluminum alloy casting comprising the steps of filling a melt of an aluminum alloy in a mold to obtain a casting, taking out the aluminum alloy casting from the mold, solubilizing the high strength aluminum alloy casting by heating in a temperature range of 495 to 505° C.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 1, 2010
    Publication date: August 5, 2010
    Applicants: DENSO CORPORATION, Nippon Light Metal Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kouji Yamada, Tomoyuki Hatano, Susumu Miyakawa, Hiromi Takagi, Hiroshi Horikawa, Akio Hashimoto
  • Patent number: 7537821
    Abstract: A winding liner for an unvulcanized rubber material includes a belt-shape inextensible loading member for loading an unvulcanized rubber material and spacers provided at both widthwise direction sides of one surface of the loading member along a lengthwise direction of the loading member. The loading member and the spacers are made of metal and are formed into a plate shape having flexibility. The spacers have protruding portions protruding from the one surface of the loading member, the protruding portions being disposed at predetermined intervals in the lengthwise direction of the loading member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 2, 2004
    Date of Patent: May 26, 2009
    Assignees: The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., Nippon Light Metal Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Shinji Kashima, Takeshi Moriyama, Goichi Hatakeyama
  • Publication number: 20090081072
    Abstract: An aluminum alloy sheet is manufactured by preparing a slab having a thickness of 5 to 15 mm with a continuous casting machine by a continuous casting process using molten alloy containing following components: 0.40% to 0.65% of Mg, 0.50% to 0.75% of Si, 0.05% to 0.20% of Cr, and 0.10% to 0.40% of Fe, remainder being Al, the components being essential elements, and optionally up to 0.15% Cu, 0.10% Ti; winding the slab into a coil; hot-rolling or directly coiling up the slab; cold-rolling the slab into a sheet; subjecting the sheet to solution heat treatment with a continuous annealing furnace; and then pre-aging the sheet. The aluminum alloy sheet has the same composition as the molten alloy, has a grain size of 10 to 25 ?m, is superior in bake hardenability, bendability, and surface quality (orange peel), and can be manufactured with low cost.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 25, 2005
    Publication date: March 26, 2009
    Applicants: NIPPON LIGHT METAL CO., LTD, HONDA MOTOR., LTD., NOVELIS INC.
    Inventors: Pizhi Zhao, Toshiya Anami, Ichiro Okamoto, Hitoshi Kazama, Kunihiro Yasunaga, Noboru Hayashi, Kevin Gatenby, Simon Barker, Edward Luce
  • Publication number: 20090007994
    Abstract: An aluminum alloy sheet having excellent press formability and stress corrosion cracking resistance, comprises 3.3 to 3.6 percent by weight of Mg and 0.1 to 0.2 percent by weight of Mn, furthermore, 0.05 to 0.3 percent by weight of Fe and 0.05 to 0.15 percent by weight of Si, and the remainder comprises Al and incidental impurities, wherein the sizes of intermetallic compounds is 5 ?m or less, the recrystallized grain size is 15 ?m or less in the region at a depth of 10 to 30 ?m below the sheet surface, and the surface roughness is Ra 0.2 to 0.7 ?m.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 30, 2004
    Publication date: January 8, 2009
    Applicants: NOVELIS INC., NIPPON LIGHT METAL CO., LTD., HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Pizhi Zhao, Toshiya Anami, Ichiro Okamoto, Hitoshi Kazama, Kunihiro Yasunaga, Noboru Hayashi, Kevin Gatenby, Mark Gallerneault, Simon Barker
  • Publication number: 20060137774
    Abstract: The present invention provides an aluminum alloy for die castings that has superior castability and corrosion resistance. The amounts of Mn, Fe and Cu contained in the aluminum alloy components for die castings were determined to have a considerable effect on the corrosion resistance of the aluminum alloy. Therefore, the aluminum alloy for die castings of the present invention contains 9.0 to 12.0% by weight of Si, 0.20 to 0.80% by weight of Mg, and 0.7 to 1.1% by weight of Mn+Fe, the Mn/Fe ratio is 1.5 or more, the amount of Cu as impurity is controlled to 0.5% by weight or less, and the remainder is composed of aluminum and unavoidable impurities.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 27, 2005
    Publication date: June 29, 2006
    Applicants: DENSO Corporation, Nippon Light Metal Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Takeshi Nagasaka, Tomoyuki Hatano, Hiromi Takagi, Yoshiki Tan, Masatoshi Koumura, Hiroshi Horikawa
  • Publication number: 20050284551
    Abstract: A process for producing an aluminum alloy substrate for a lithographic printing plate is provided, wherein an excellent grained surface can be realized even when the heat treatment time and alkali etching are shortened. The method includes the steps of preparing an ingot composed of specific ranges of Fe, Si, Cu, Ti, B, and unavoidable impurities; subjecting the ingot to a homogenization treatment composed of the first stage of holding at 510° C. to 560° C. for 30 minutes to 2 hours and the latter stage of holding at 460° C. to 500° C. for 30 minutes to 2 hours; starting hot rolling, followed by finishing at 360° C. or more; conducting cold rolling; conducting intermediate annealing at a heating temperature of X° C. for a holding time of Y sec in an inert gas atmosphere, where X is 400° C. to 620° C. and Y?2×108×exp(?0.0284X) is satisfied; and conducting final cold rolling.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 16, 2005
    Publication date: December 29, 2005
    Applicants: Nippon Light Metal Co., Ltd., Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Masayuki Saeki, Hideki Suzuki, Kazumitsu Mizushima, Hirokazu Sawada, Akio Uesugi
  • Patent number: 6866085
    Abstract: The newly proposed cast aluminum alloy product has the composition consisting of 6.5-8.0% Si, 0.25-0.45% Mg, 0.08-0.40% Fe, 0.001-0.01% Ca, P less than 0.001%, 0.02-0.1% Ti, 0.001-0.01% B, optionally one or two of 0.05-0.3% Cr and 0.05-0.2% Mn, and the balance being Al except inevitable impurities. It has the metallurgical structure that an ?-Al phase in a surface layer is of average grain size different by 50 ?m or less from an ?-Al phase in an inner part, and that a maximum size of eutectic Si particles is 400 ?m or smaller. It is manufactured by injecting a molten aluminum alloy into metal dies at an injection speed of 0.05-0.25 m/second, and then cooling the injected alloy at a cooling speed of 20° C./or higher in a temperature range between liquidus and solidus curves in a state charged with a pressure of 30 MPa or higher. Since the cast product is good of ductility, it is used as a member for coupling another member therewith by calking or the like.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 13, 2002
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2005
    Assignees: Nippon Light Metal Co., Ltd., Denso Corporation
    Inventors: Akio Hashimoto, Takaaki Ikari, Hiromi Takagi, Sumi Yoshikawa
  • Patent number: 6743308
    Abstract: The present invention provides an aluminum alloy structural plate excelling in strength and corrosion resistance, in particular, resistance to stress corrosion cracking, and a method of manufacturing the aluminum alloy plate. This aluminum alloy structural plate includes 4.8-7% Zn, 1-3% Mg, 1-2.5% Cu, and 0.05-0.25% Zr, with the remaining portion consisting of Al and impurities, wherein the aluminum alloy structural plate has a structure in which grain boundaries with a ratio of misorientations of 3-10° is 25% or more at the plate surface. The aluminum alloy structural plate is manufactured by: homogenizing an ingot of an aluminum alloy having the above composition; hot rolling the ingot; repeatedly rolling the hot-rolled product at 400-150° C. so that the degree of rolling is 70% or more to produce a plate with a specific thickness, or repeatedly rolling the hot-rolled product at a material temperature of 400-150° C. in a state in which rolls for hot rolling are heated at 40° C.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 2001
    Date of Patent: June 1, 2004
    Assignees: Kabushiki Kaisha Kobe Seiko Sho., Sumitomo Light Metal Industries, Ltd., Nippon Light Metal Co., Ltd., The Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd., Mitsubishi Aluminum Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hiroki Tanaka, Hiroki Esaki, Tadashi Minoda
  • Patent number: 6739378
    Abstract: A controlling member (a controlling pin 10) is inserted through an insertion hole 7 of a mold 1 and projected into a cavity 6. After a pipe P as an insert member is arranged at a predetermined position in the cavity 6, the pipe P is held in the cavity 6 by inserting a tip of the controlling pin 10 into a hole h of the pipe P at the end p1, or by inserting the end p1 of the pipe P into a cave 21 of the controlling member. A molten aluminum alloy is then poured through a gate 5 into the cavity 6 under such the condition, to enclose the pipe P with the aluminum alloy. Dislocation of the pipe P caused by kinetic and thermal energies of the poured aluminum alloy is suppressed by the controlling pin 10 or block 20 at the end p1. Since the enclosed pipe P has its end p1 opened at a predetermined position, a cast product obtained in this way can be used as a brake caliper or the like having an inner hydraulic circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 9, 2001
    Date of Patent: May 25, 2004
    Assignees: Nippon Light Metal Co., Ltd., Sumitomo (SEI) Brake Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Kaoru Sugita, Yoshihiro Tajima, Masayuki Yasuda, Tetsuo Ishikawa, Masahide Hamada, Yoshiki Matsuzaki