Patents Examined by Janelle Combs Morillo
  • Patent number: 6544354
    Abstract: The object of the present invention is to provide high-strength steel sheets exhibiting high impact energy absorption properties, as steel sheets to be used for shaping and working into such parts to front side members which absorb impact energy upon collision, as well as a method for their production.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 28, 1999
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2003
    Assignee: Nippon Steel Corporation
    Inventors: Osamu Kawano, Junichi Wakita, Yuzo Takahashi, Hidesato Mabuchi, Manabu Takahashi, Akihiro Uenishi, Yukihisa Kuriyama, Riki Okamoto, Yasuharu Sakuma
  • Patent number: 6537392
    Abstract: There is claimed an aerospace alloy having improved corrosion resistance performance, particularly intergranular corrosion resistance. The alloy consisting essentially of: about 0.6-1.15 wt. % silicon, about 0.6-1.0 wt. % copper, about 0.8-1.2 wt. % magnesium, about 0.55-0.86 wt. % zinc, less than about 0.1 wt. % manganese, about 0.2-0.3 wt. % chromium, the balance aluminum, incidental elements and impurities. While it is preferably made into sheet or plate product forms, it can also be extruded. Products made from this alloy exhibit at least about 5% greater yield strength and about 45% or greater resistance to intergranular corrosion attack than their 6013-T6 counterparts, as measured by average depth of corrosion after 24 hours exposure to an aqueous NaCl—H2O2 solution per ASTM Standard G110 (1992).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 2001
    Date of Patent: March 25, 2003
    Assignee: Alcoa Inc.
    Inventors: Paul E. Magnusen, Edward L. Colvin, Roberto J. Rioja
  • Patent number: 6533876
    Abstract: Process for producing a steel strip or sheet, in which liquid steel is cast in a continuous-casting machine to form a thin plate and, while making use of the casting heat, is fed through a furnace device, is roughed in a roughing stand to a pass-over thickness and is rerolled in a finishing rolling stand to form a steel strip or sheet of the desired final thickness, in which (a) to produce a ferritically rolled steel strip, the strip, the plate or a part thereof is fed without interruption at least from the furnace device, at speeds which essentially correspond to the speed of entry into the roughing stand and the following reductions in thickness, from the roughing stand to a processing device which is disposed downstream of the finishing rolling stand, the strip coming out of the roughing stand being cooled to a temperature at which the steel has an essentially ferritic structure; (b) to produce an austenitically rolled steel strip, the strip coming out of the roughing roll is brought to or held at a temper
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 3, 1999
    Date of Patent: March 18, 2003
    Assignee: Corus Staal
    Inventors: Marcus Cornelis Maria Cornelissen, Aldricus Maria Groot, Huibert Willem Den Hartog
  • Patent number: 6533877
    Abstract: High strength foil having dead fold foil characteristics is produced without the rolling and other production problems encountered with prior high strength foils by controlling manganese content, interannealing temperatures and, optionally, final annealing temperatures. The alloy contains 0.05 to 0.15 %, preferably 0.095 to 0.125%, manganese by weight. Cold worked sheet is interannealed at a temperature of about 200° C. to about 260° C., preferably 230° to 250 ° C., to produce substantially fully recrystallized sheet while maintaining most of the manganese in solid solution. The interannealed sheet is rolled to final gauge and finally annealed, preferably at a temperature of about 250° C. to about 325° C., more preferably about 260° C. to about 325° C., to produce dead fold aluminum foil with a yield strength of at least 89.6 MPa (13 ksi), and ultimate tensile strength of at least 103.4 MPa (15 ksi) and a Mullen rating of at least 89.6 kPa (13 psi) at a gauge of 0.0015 cm (0.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 2000
    Date of Patent: March 18, 2003
    Assignee: Alcan International Limited
    Inventors: Thomas L. Davisson, Luc M. Montgrain, Sadashiv Nadkarni
  • Patent number: 6533875
    Abstract: A surface of a nickel-base article such as an internal surface of a gas turbine airfoil is protected with a donor layer of aluminum and at least one other element. To form the protective layer, a donor alloy is contacted to the protected surface of the article, and simultaneously the article and the donor alloy are heated to a coating temperature that is greater than about 0.7 of the absolute solidus temperature of the donor alloy but is such that the donor alloy remains in the form of a condensed phase contacting the protected surface of the article. The donor alloy is thereafter interdiffused into the protected surface of the article.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 20, 2000
    Date of Patent: March 18, 2003
    Assignee: General Electric Co.
    Inventors: Jeffrey Allan Pfaendtner, Joseph David Rigney, Michael James Weimer
  • Patent number: 6531092
    Abstract: A master alloy for modification and grain refining of hypoeutectic and eutectic Al—Si based foundry alloys is described. In addition to unavoidable contaminants the alloy contains nucleating and modifying additions of Ti, B and Sr, wherein the content of Ti is between 0.5 and 2.0% by weight, the content of B is between 0.5 and 2.0% by weight and the content of Sr is between 3.0 and 12.0% by weight, with the ratio Ti/B between 0.8 and 1.4. A method for the preparation of said master alloy is also described.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2001
    Date of Patent: March 11, 2003
    Assignee: Hydelko AS
    Inventors: Trond Sagstad, Eivind Bondhus
  • Patent number: 6531006
    Abstract: An aluminum alloy foil is formed from an alloy containing about 1.2 to 1.7% by weight iron, about 0.4 to 0.8% by weight silicon and about 0.07 to 0.20% by weight manganese, with the balance aluminum and incidental impurities. The alloy is continuously strip cast, e.g. on a belt caster, to form a strip having a thickness of less than about 25 mm, which is then cold rolled to interanneal gauge followed by interannealing at a temperature of about 280 to 350° C. The interanneal strip is cold rolled to final gauge and further annealed to form the final foil product, having high strength and excellent quality.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 2001
    Date of Patent: March 11, 2003
    Assignee: Alcan International Limited
    Inventors: Iljoon Jin, Kevin Gatenby, Christopher Gabryel
  • Patent number: 6531004
    Abstract: Weldable, high-magnesium-content aluminum-magnesium alloy consisting of at least 5-6% w/w magnesium (Mg), 0.05-0.15% w/w zirconium (Zr), 0.05-0.12% w/w manganese (Mn), 0.01-0.2% w/w titanium (Ti), 0.05-0.5% w/w of one or more elements from the scandium group and/or terbium (Tb), wherein at least scandium (Sc) is included, 0.1-0.2% w/w copper (Cu) and/or 0.1-0.4% w/w zinc (Zn), along with aluminum (Al), and unavoidable contamination does not exceed 0.1% w/w silicon (Si).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 18, 2000
    Date of Patent: March 11, 2003
    Assignee: EADS Deutschland GmbH
    Inventors: Blanka Lenczowski, Viktor Yelagin, Rainer Rauh, Valeri Zakharov, Yuri Filatov
  • Patent number: 6527878
    Abstract: A thixocast casting material is formed of an Fe—C—Si based alloy in which an angle endothermic section due to the melting of a eutectic crystal exists in a latent heat distribution curve and has a eutectic crystal amount Ec in a range of 10% by weight<Ec<50% by weight. This composition comprises 1.8% by weight≦C≦2.5% by weight of carbon, 1.4% by weight≦Si≦3% by weight if silicon and a balance of Fe including inevitable impurities.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 25, 2000
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2003
    Assignee: Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Takeshi Sugawara, Haruo Shiina, Masayuki Tsuchiya, Kazuo Kikawa, Isamu Takagi
  • Patent number: 6524410
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a method for fabricating lightweight alloy feedstock for welded structures. Specifically, the method for producing the tubular stock proposed in the present invention enables a bicycle manufacturer to readily weld a lightweight yet high strength bicycle frame. The properties attained in the final product allow the bicycle manufacturer to reduce the overall weight of the bicycle without sacrificing durability.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 10, 2001
    Date of Patent: February 25, 2003
    Assignee: Tri-Kor Alloys, LLC
    Inventors: Lawrence Stevenson Kramer, William Troy Tack
  • Patent number: 6521058
    Abstract: An amorphous Zr alloy has a composition expressed as Zr—Ala—Nib—Cuc—Md. M is one or more elements selected from Ti, Nb and Pd. The a, b, c, and d are amounts in atomic %, and satisfy the following formulas. 5≦a≦0; 30≦b+c≦50; b/c≦1/3; and 0<d≦7. The remainder are Zr and inevitable impurities. The alloy contains a non-crystalline phase of 90% or higher by volume. Also, the amorphous alloy indicates an excellent glass-forming ability with a supercooled liquid range over 100° C. (indicated by a difference between the crystallization temperature and the glass transition temperature) and which has a thickness of 1 mm or thicker. Further, it has excellent strength and toughness indicated by the following mechanical characteristics: tensile strength of 1800 MPa or higher; flexural strength of 2500 MPa or higher; Charpy impact value of 100 kJ/m2 or higher; and fracture toughness value of 50 MPa*m1/2 or higher.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2000
    Date of Patent: February 18, 2003
    Assignee: Japan Science and Technology Corporation
    Inventors: Akihisa Inoue, Tao Zhang
  • Patent number: 6517646
    Abstract: A method for manufacturing aluminum alloy strips with a thickness less than or equal to 12 &mgr;m, by obtaining an alloy with composition (weight %): Si:0.15-0.40; Fe: 1.10-1.70; Mg<0.02; Mn:0.30-0.50; other elements <0.05 each and total <0.15; remainder aluminum; continuously casting between rolls a strip of this alloy with a thickness between 2 and 10 mm; homogenizing this strip at a temperature between 450 and 620° C. with a duration between 8 and 40 hrs; cold-rolling of the homogenized strip; intermediate annealing of this cold-rolled strip to a temperature between 200 and 400° C., and with a duration between 8 and 15 hrs; cold-rolling of the annealed strip up to the final thickness less than or equal to 12 &mgr;m; and final annealing of the strip at a temperature between 200 and 300° C., with a duration of at least 50 hrs. The method is notably applied to the manufacturing of strips for aseptic food packages of the brick type.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 13, 2001
    Date of Patent: February 11, 2003
    Assignee: Pechiney Rhenalu
    Inventors: Philippe Tavernier, Jacques Gagniere, Herve Gehanno, Sylvain Henry, Regine Debreux, Bruno Chenal
  • Patent number: 6511553
    Abstract: The present invention provides a steel for steel sheets excellent in workability and showing significantly decreased formation of surface defects, and a method of deoxidizing molten steel for the steel for steel sheets which prevents nozzle clogging during continuous-casting the molten steel. That is, the steel for steel sheets excellent in workability, comprises, based on weight, 0.0001 to 0.0030% of C, up to 0.03% of Si, 0.05 to 0.30% of Mn, up to 0.015% of P, 0.001 to 0.015% of S, up to 0.008% of Al, 0.02 to 0.08% of Ti, 0.0005 to 0.0020% of Ca, 0.0005 to 0.01% of N, optionally containing at least one of 0.001 to 0.02 wt % of Nb and 0.0001 to 0.0010 wt % of B, and the balance of Fe and unavoidable impurities.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 15, 1999
    Date of Patent: January 28, 2003
    Assignee: Nippon Steel Corporation
    Inventors: Junji Nakashima, Takashi Sawai, Mitsuo Uchimura, Wataru Yamada, Shigenori Tanaka, Yasuharu Sakuma, Akinobu Murasato
  • Patent number: 6511633
    Abstract: A free-machinable eutectic Al—Si alloy including 3.0-5.0 wt % Cu, 10.0-13.0 wt % Si, 0.2-0.5 wt % Fe, 2.5-5.0 wt % Bi, 0.1-0.3 wt % Sb, up to 0.1 wt % Mg, up to 0.1 wt % Ni and up to 0.5 wt % total sum of other elements, with the balance of the alloy being Al. The eutectic Al—Si alloy is advantageous in light of excellent machinability, easy cutting operation, extended lifetime of cutting tools and improved smoothness of cutting faces. In addition, the alloy has an excellent elongation ratio and abrasion resistance and good formability, while maintaining mechanical properties such as impact strength, tensile strength, yield strength and hardness which can be applied to compressor piston for air conditioner in motorcars, and thus can be applied to abrasion resistance-requiring applications, for example, piston of compressors for automotive air conditioners, without any surface treatment including anodizing or Sn plating.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 2002
    Date of Patent: January 28, 2003
    Assignee: Foosung Precision Ind., Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Young Sek Yang
  • Patent number: 6511555
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a cylinder head and motor block casting and a method of making the same, including an aluminum alloy having the following composition: Si 6.80-7.20, Fe 0.35-0.45, Cu 0.30-0.40, Mn 0.25-0.30, Mg 0.35-0.45, Ni 0.45-0.55 Zn 0.10-0.15, Ti 0.11-0.15 with the remainder being aluminum as well as unavoidable impurities with a maximum content of 0.05 each, but not more than a maximum of 0.15 impurities in all.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 12, 2001
    Date of Patent: January 28, 2003
    Assignee: Vaw Aluminium AG
    Inventors: Franz Josef Feikus, Leonhard Heusler
  • Patent number: 6491866
    Abstract: Hydrogen propelled vehicles and fundamentally new magnesium-based hydrogen storage alloy materials which for the first time make it feasible and practical to use solid state storage and delivery of hydrogen to power internal combustion engine or fuel cell vehicles. These exceptional alloys have remarkable hydrogen storage capacity of well over 6 weight % coupled with extraordinary absorption kinetics such that the alloy powder absorbs 80% of its total capacity within 10 minutes at 300° C. and a cycle life of at least 500 cycles without loss of capacity or kinetics.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 5, 2000
    Date of Patent: December 10, 2002
    Assignee: Energy Conversion Devices, Inc.
    Inventors: Stanford R. Ovshinsky, Rosa T. Young
  • Patent number: 6488073
    Abstract: A method of adding boron to a tungsten, or tantalum, containing titanium aluminide alloy to form a boride dispersion in the tungsten, or tantalum, containing titanium aluminide. A molten tungsten, or tantalum, containing titanium aluminide alloy is formed and tungsten, or tantalum, boride is added to the molten tungsten, or tantalum, containing titanium aluminide alloy to form a molten mixture. The molten mixture is cooled and solidified to form a tungsten, or tantalum, containing titanium aluminide alloy having a uniform dispersion of tungsten, or tantalum, boride particles substantially without the formation of clusters of tungsten, or tantalum, boride. The titanium aluminide alloy comprises between 0.5 at % and 2.0 at % boron.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2000
    Date of Patent: December 3, 2002
    Assignee: Rolls-Royce plc
    Inventors: Paul A. Blenkinsop, Alastair B. Godfrey
  • Patent number: 6485682
    Abstract: A hardened aluminum alloy, for use in the manufacture of printed circuit boards, having elevated levels of manganese and magnesium and produced as a sheet by a cold rolling process to a specified thickness.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 6, 2000
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2002
    Inventor: Dieter Backhaus
  • Patent number: 6485583
    Abstract: A dispersion strengthened mechanically alloyed aluminium based alloy is provided which is prepared by mechanical alloying and is characterized by improved isotropic strength, fracture toughness and corrosion resistance. The alloy system contains by weight 1.2 to 1.6% lithium, 4.0 to 6.0% magnesium, 0.15 to 0.7% carbon, up to 1% oxygen and up to 2.0% in total of one or more grain controlling elements to provide microstructural optimization and control, the balance aluminium save for incidental impurities.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 2001
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2002
    Assignee: Qinetiq Limited
    Inventors: Wendy J Vine, Andrew D Tarrant
  • Patent number: 6485584
    Abstract: This invention relates to a method of manufacturing an improved ferritic or martensitic alloy based on iron and chromium strengthened by a dispersion of oxides, commonly called an Oxide Dispersion Strengthened or ODS alloy, and, more particularly to a method of manufacturing a ferritic or martensitic ODS alloy with large grains based on iron and chromium which has a single phase ferritic or martensitic matrix having an isotropic microstructure and a grain size that is sufficient to guarantee mechanical strength compatible with a use of this alloy at high temperature and/or under neutron irradiation. According to the invention, the method comprises slow cooling of an austenite at a cooling rate less than or equal to the critical cooling rate for transformation of this austenite into ferrite.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 6, 1999
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2002
    Assignee: Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique
    Inventors: VĂ©ronique Lambard, Ana Alamo, Jean-Louis Seran