Patents Examined by Erin Saad
  • Patent number: 9067279
    Abstract: The apparatus for joint sealing using tube expansion and friction welding includes a friction welding apparatus including a clamping assembly and a tube expansion apparatus. A tube having a beveled edge is inserted into an aperture in a tube sheet. The tube expansion apparatus expands the end of the tube with the beveled edge to swage the tube to the sheet. A tube sleeve having an edge beveled at an angle complementary to the beveled edge of the tube is clamped to the spindle of the friction welding apparatus. The tube sleeve is abutted to the beveled edge of the tube with the application of pressure and the spindle is rotated or oscillated to friction weld the tube sleeve to the tube and the tube sheet, forming a sealed joint. The process may be repeated to form a heat exchanger tube assembly having sealed joints.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 1, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 30, 2015
    Assignees: KING FAHD UNIVERSITY OF PETROLEUM AND MINERALS, KING ABDULAZIZ CITY FOR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
    Inventors: Abdelrahman Nasr Shuaib, Nesar Merah, Fadi A. A. Al-Badour, Abdelaziz Bazoune
  • Patent number: 9061370
    Abstract: A probe for friction stir welding MMCs, ferrous alloys, non-ferrous alloys, and superalloys, as well as non-ferrous alloys, the probe including a shank, a shoulder, and a pin disposed through the shoulder and into the shank, wherein the pin and the shoulder at least include a coating comprised of a superabrasive material, the pin and shoulder being designed to reduce stress risers, disposing a collar around a portion of the shoulder and the shank to thereby prevent movement of the shoulder relative to the shank, and incorporating thermal management by providing a thermal flow barrier between the shoulder and the shank, and between the collar and the tool.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 11, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 23, 2015
    Assignees: BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY, MEGASTIR TECHNOLOGIES LLC
    Inventors: Tracy W. Nelson, Carl D. Sorenson, Scott M. Packer, Paul Allen Felter
  • Patent number: 9056369
    Abstract: A method for joining, assembling, at least two parts comprising silicon carbide-based materials is provided. The parts are contacted with a non-reactive brazing composition, the assembly having the parts and the brazing composition is heated to a brazing temperature sufficient to melt the brazing composition, and the parts and the brazing composition are cooled so that, after solidification of the brazing composition, a moderately refractory joint is formed. The brazing composition is a binary alloy consisting, in atomic percentages, of 60% to 66% silicon and 34% to 40% nickel. Prior to contacting the parts with the brazing composition, a reinforcement is added. A composition comprising the brazing composition and a reinforcement is provided. A brazing paste, suspension comprising a powder of the brazing composition, a reinforcement, and an organic liquid cement, binder, or an organic viscous gel is provided. A joint and assembly obtained by the foregoing method is provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 16, 2015
    Assignee: COMMISSARIAT A L'ENERGIE ATOMIQUE ET AUX ENERGIES ALTERNATIVES
    Inventors: Valérie Chaumat, Jean-François Henne
  • Patent number: 9056370
    Abstract: In one aspect of the disclosure, an article for filling an opening in an object includes a plug having a body, a first flange, and a second flange. The plug has a trailing end. The first flange is in contact with the body and extends away from the body. The second flange is in contact with the first flange and extends away from the first flange and the body. The second flange is configured to deform toward the body upon installation of the plug into the opening. This deformation of the second flange rotationally and translationally secures the plug in the opening and consolidates the plug in the opening.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 1, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 16, 2015
    Assignee: The Boeing Company
    Inventors: Mike P. Matlack, Amy M. Helvey, Randy A. Card
  • Patent number: 9050688
    Abstract: A friction stir welding apparatus having a new cooling system that can cool a portion required to be cooled accurately and uniformly with a simple configuration, while suppressing unnecessary thermal expansion of a mounting jig includes a holding mechanism 20 having a holding member 22a movable with respect to a processing target member W so as to freely hold the processing target member W, in which the holding member 22a and a portion of a mounting jig 12 that can freely face the holding member 22a become paired, and a coolant supply source S that can freely supply a coolant to the paired holding member 22a and the portion of the mounting jig 12.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 9, 2015
    Assignees: F-TECH INC., HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Hiroyasu Yamaguchi, Yukio Shoji, Mitsuru Sayama, Tsutomu Kobayashi
  • Patent number: 9048245
    Abstract: A method including providing a fixture comprising a trap ring, a base plate having a recess adapted to receive a laminate substrate, the base plate including an opening and an adjustable height center button disposed in the opening, the opening being located within the recess and located in a center of the laminate substrate, characterizing the laminate substrate for warpage characteristics by using one of room temperature techniques and elevated temperature techniques, determining a horizontal plane distortion based on the warpage characteristics, and placing the laminate substrate into the fixture with an adjustment to correct the horizontal plane distortion, the adjustment is provided by the adjustable height center button, wherein the adjustable height center button contacts the laminate substrate. The method further includes fluxing the laminate substrate, placing a chip onto the laminate substrate, and placing the fixture into a reflow furnace to join the chip and the laminate substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 5, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 2, 2015
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Edmund Blackshear, Thomas E. Lombardi, Donald A. Merte, Steven P. Ostrander, Thomas Weiss, Jiantao Zheng
  • Patent number: 9033205
    Abstract: A method for friction stir welding is provided. The method may include determining the temperature of one or both parts being welded. The parts may then be heated to a desired temperature and then friction stir welded together. By preheating the parts, the friction required to plasticize the parts during welding may be reduced. Thereby, the rotational speed of the friction stir welding tool may be reduced, and thus the tool life may be extended without decreasing the rate at which welds are created. Additionally, the cooling rate of the weld may be regulated with a thermal control device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 27, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 19, 2015
    Inventors: Alfredo Castillo, Umakaran Nemallan
  • Patent number: 9027822
    Abstract: An adhesive layer forming step of forming an adhesive layer on a surface of a substrate; a solder layer forming step of forming a solder layer on the adhesive layer by loading plural solder powders with in-between spaces; and a filler supplying step of supplying fillers to the in-between spaces of the solder powders that have been formed on the adhesive layer are included.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 25, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 12, 2015
    Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Daisuke Sakurai
  • Patent number: 9027821
    Abstract: A process of assembly by direct bonding of a first and second element, each having a surface including copper portions separated by a dielectric material, the process includes: polishing the surfaces such that the surfaces to be assembled allow assembly by bonding; forming a diffusion barrier selectively in copper portions of the first and second elements, wherein the surface of the diffusion barrier of the first and second elements is level with the surface, to within less than 5 nanometers; and bringing the two surfaces into contact, such that the copper portions of one surface cover at least partly the copper portions of the other surface, and such that direct bonding is obtained between the surfaces.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 21, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 12, 2015
    Assignee: Commissariat a l'energie atomique et aux energies alternatives
    Inventors: Lea Di Cioccio, Pierric Gueguen
  • Patent number: 9016549
    Abstract: A weld stack includes a horn having a weld end, a polar mount adapted to receive a portion of the horn therein, a first adjustment ring coupled to the polar mount at a pre-determined distance from the weld end of the horn, and a second adjustment ring coupled to the polar mount adjacent the first adjustment ring, wherein the second adjustment ring includes a fine adjustment device for adjusting a relative position of the first adjustment ring and the second adjustment ring.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 28, 2015
    Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC
    Inventors: Edgar M. Storm, Paul F. Spacher
  • Patent number: 9016551
    Abstract: The invention relates to a mounting device in an aircraft. In one aspect of the invention, a method is disclosed for assembling a metal securement member of the mounting device. In another aspect of the invention, a mounting device is disclosed. In another aspect of the invention, a method is disclosed for installing and using a mounting device in an aircraft.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 2006
    Date of Patent: April 28, 2015
    Assignee: The Boeing Company
    Inventors: Brad L. Kirkwood, Paul S. Gregg, Gerry D. Miller, Jeff D. Will, David W. Evans
  • Patent number: 9016550
    Abstract: A welding tool for friction welding a workpiece, the tool including: a probe having a core including a ceramic material, the probe having a surface coating including a metallic material covering at least part of a contact zone of the probe.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 4, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 28, 2015
    Assignee: Rolls-Royce PLC
    Inventors: Andrew Robert Walpole, Daniel Clark
  • Patent number: 9010614
    Abstract: According to an embodiment, a welding target position measuring device comprises: a groove wall welding part detection means for detecting a groove wall welding part based on a result of the calculation performed by a groove shape change amount calculation means; a weld bead end detection means for detecting a weld bead end based on a result of the calculation performed by a groove shape difference amount calculation means; and a welding target position selection means for obtaining a welding pass number of a subsequent pass in a welding information stored in a welding information recording means and selecting a welding target position of the subsequent pass which differs depending on welding positions based on results of the detection of the groove wall welding part and the weld bead end.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 21, 2015
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Tatsuya Ohdake, Tetsuro Aikawa, Yoshinori Satoh, Kazuo Aoyama
  • Patent number: 9010616
    Abstract: A method is provided for the forming of a metallic solder joint without a liquid flux to create a solder joint that has minimal voids and can be reflowed multiple times without void propagation. This process can be done for any solder alloy, and is most specifically used in the application of first level thermal interface in a IC or micro processor or BGA microprocessor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 30, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 21, 2015
    Assignee: Indium Corporation
    Inventors: Jordan Peter Ross, Amanda M. Hartnett
  • Patent number: 9004343
    Abstract: In a reflow soldering apparatus, air heated by heaters is blown by fans onto a printed circuit board. Temperature controllers that control temperature of the heaters supply operation amount thereof to a calculation unit that calculates consumed electric energy of soldering apparatus. Inverters that control revolution of fans supply a value of current to the calculation unit. A control unit supplies a coefficient of the consumed electric energy to the calculation unit. The calculation unit calculates a total amount of consumed electric energy of the reflow soldering apparatus based on the operation amount, value of current and coefficient of the consumed electric energy thus obtained. A display unit displays on an operation screen the total amount of consumed electric energy of the reflow soldering apparatus, which has been calculated by the calculation unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 8, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 14, 2015
    Assignee: Senju Metal Industry Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Inoue, Tadayoshi Ohtashiro
  • Patent number: 8998065
    Abstract: A method for the friction stir welding of two components, in particular of two shell components of a fuselage structure of an aircraft and spacecraft, said method comprising the following method steps: positioning the two components relative to one another in such a way that a connection region is formed between the two components; friction stir welding the two components by means of a friction stir welding tool which penetrates the connection region in order to produce a weld which permeates the connection region with the formation of an unpenetrated weld edge portion of the connection region; and introducing internal compressive stresses, at least in the weld edge portion of the connection region. Further a device for the friction stir welding of two components, in particular of two shell components of a fuselage structure of an aircraft and spacecraft is provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 7, 2015
    Assignee: Airbus Operations GmbH
    Inventors: Domenico Furfari, Marco Pacchione
  • Patent number: 8991679
    Abstract: A solder piece that has a rectangular parallelepiped shape formed by a punching process. Any one of the four surfaces of the rectangular parallelepiped other than the surface on which the shear droop portion generated by the punching process is formed and a surface opposite to the surface on which the shear droop portion is formed is sucked surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 31, 2015
    Assignee: Senju Metal Industry Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Masahiko Abe, Koji Watanabe, Hideaki Takahashi, Masahiko Kanno, Masaya Ito
  • Patent number: 8991681
    Abstract: A die bonder and a bonding method are disclosed which make it possible to provide high-quality products, particularly even if a die is rotated through predetermined degrees relative to an already-bonded die and then laminated. In the die bonder and bonding method in which a die is picked up from a wafer by a pick-up head which then places the die on an alignment stage, and the die is picked up from the alignment stage by a bonding head which then bond the die onto a substrate or an already-bonded die, a posture of the die is rotated through predetermined degrees on a plane parallel to a plane on which the bonding is performed, before the bonding head picks up the die from the alignment stage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 6, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 31, 2015
    Assignee: Hitachi High-Tech Instuments Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hiroshi Maki, Masayuki Mochizuki, Yukio Tani, Takehito Mochizuki
  • Patent number: 8978959
    Abstract: A Ni—Fe-based alloy brazing filler material is provided comprising, in mass %, Fe: 21 to 40%; Cr: 10 to 30%; P: 7 to 11%; B: 0 to 5%; Si: 0 to 4.5%; V: 0 to 5%; Co: 0 to 5%; Mo: 0 to 5%; the balance being Ni and unavoidable impurities, wherein the mass ratio of Fe to P (Fe/P) is in a range of 2.6 to 5. The present invention provides a Ni—Fe-based alloy brazing filler material having a low melting temperature and a superior corrosion resistance and comprising raw materials that are relatively easily available, for use in manufacture of stainless-steel heat exchangers or the like.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 26, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 17, 2015
    Assignees: Sanyo Special Steel Co., Ltd., Tokyo Braze Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Toshiyuki Sawada, Shingo Fukumoto, Kotaro Matsu
  • Patent number: 8973808
    Abstract: A method for making a cellular seal member for a turbine is disclosed. The method includes, in sequence, forming a diffusion aluminide coating on a surface of a cellular seal to form a coated cellular seal. The method also includes brazing the coated cellular seal to a seal substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 5, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 10, 2015
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Dechao Lin, Dennis William Cavanaugh, Yan Cui, Srikanth Chandrudu Kottilingam, Brian Lee Tollison