Patents Examined by Jeremy Jones
  • Patent number: 9920403
    Abstract: A high-strength magnesium alloy member is suitable for products in which at least one of bending stress and twisting stress primarily acts. The member has required elongation and 0.2% proof stress, whereby strength and formability are superior, and has higher strength and large compressive residual stress in the vicinity of the surface of a wire rod. In the magnesium alloy member formed as a wire rod in which at least one of bending stress and twisting stress primarily acts, the wire rod includes a surface portion having the highest hardness of 170 HV or more in the vicinity of the surface and an inner portion having a 0.2% proof stress of 550 MPa or more and an elongation of 5% or more, and the wire rod has the highest compressive residue stress in the vicinity of the surface of 50 MPa or more.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 20, 2018
    Assignee: NHK SPRING CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yuji Araoka, Tohru Shiraishi, Yoshiki Ono
  • Patent number: 9893347
    Abstract: Provided is an alloy powder for an electrode which enables an alkaline storage battery to have both excellent discharge characteristics and excellent life characteristics. The alloy powder includes a hydrogen storage alloy including an element L, Mg, Ni, Al, and an element Ma. The element L is at least one selected from the group consisting of group 3 elements and group 4 elements of the periodic table (excluding Y). The element Ma is at least two selected from the group consisting of Ge, Y, and Sn. A molar proportion x of Mg in a total of the element L and Mg is 0.008?x?0.54. A molar proportion y of Ni, a molar proportion ? of Al, and a molar proportion ? of the element Ma, per the foregoing total is 1.6?y?4, 0.008???0.32, and 0.01???0.12, respectively.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 2013
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2018
    Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hideaki Ohyama, Shinichi Sumiyama, Akiko Okabe, Yasushi Nakamura, Kiyoshi Hayashi, Fumio Kato
  • Patent number: 9884464
    Abstract: A press comprises a press frame, at least one upper punch plate with at least one upper press punch held on it and/or at least one lower punch plate with at least one lower press punch held on it. A die plate has at least one receiver for powdered material to be pressed by the press punches. At least two upper drives are mechanically coupled in the operation of the press, engaging at the upper punch plate for moving the upper press punch in the vertical direction and/or at least two lower drives mechanically coupled in the operation of the press, engaging on the lower punch plate and/or the die plate for moving the lower press punch and/or the die plate in the vertical direction. A method for setting up and operating the press for producing a pellet made of the powdered material, in particular metal powder, is described.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 15, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2018
    Assignee: Fette Compacting GmbH
    Inventors: Andreas Groth, Andreas Teetzen
  • Patent number: 9879335
    Abstract: This welded structure comprises a weld metal which contains C, Si, Mn, Cr, Mo, V, Nb, N and O in prescribed amounts respectively with the balance being Fe and unavoidable impurities and which exhibits an A value of 200 or more and a Z value of 0.05 or more. The A value is calculated from the element contents of the weld metal according to the formula: A value=([V]/51+[Nb]/93)/{[V]×([Cr]/5+[Mo]/2)}×104. The Z value is calculated according to the formula: Z value=N×[insol. V] [wherein N (particles/?m) is the number density of carbide particles present in a prior austenite grain boundary per unit grain boundary in the stress-relief annealed weld metal, and [insol. V] is the concentration of compound-type V as determined by analyzing an extraction residue of the stress-relief annealed weld metal].
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 3, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2018
    Assignee: Kobe Steel, Ltd.
    Inventors: Hidenori Nako, Ken Yamashita, Minoru Otsu, Mikihiro Sakata, Genichi Taniguchi
  • Patent number: 9868154
    Abstract: A method for creating a dynamic mold from a ferrofluid substrate in or adjacent to curable molding material is disclosed. A combination of magnetic elements is used to create a magnetic field that is capable of concentrating a ferrofluid substrate in a 3-D space. The ferrofluid substrate shapes a molding material to effect its shape. The ferrofluid, under the influence of a magnetic field, is capable of creating surface features and internal features in the molding material. Once cured or partially cured, the ferrofluid may be removed, resulting in features that are difficult to form by conventional methods.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 15, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2018
    Assignee: Hummingbird Nano, Inc.
    Inventor: Eleanor Augusta Hawes
  • Patent number: 9847156
    Abstract: A reactor 1 of the present invention includes a coil 2 and a magnetic core 3 disposed inside and outside the coil 2 to form a closed magnetic path. At least part of the magnetic core 3 is made of a composite material containing a magnetic substance powder made of an identical material and a resin containing the powder being dispersed therein. In the particle size distribution of the magnetic substance powder, a plurality of peaks are present. That is, the magnetic substance powder contains both a fine powder and a coarse powder at high frequencies. Since the composite material contains the fine powder, it can reduce the eddy current loss, and hence achieves to be a low-loss material. Thanks to the mixed powder including the fine powder and the coarse powder, the packing density of the magnetic substance powder is increased. Thus, the composite material exhibits a high saturation magnetic flux density.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 19, 2017
    Assignee: Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd.
    Inventor: Kazuhiro Inaba
  • Patent number: 9847520
    Abstract: Various embodiments include methods of fabricating an interconnect for a fuel cell stack. Methods for controlled pre-oxidation of an interconnect include oxidizing in a nitride-inhibiting environment to inhibit the formation of nitrides.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 11, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 19, 2017
    Assignee: BLOOM ENERGY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Shivanand Majagi, Harald Herchen, Sanjiv Kapoor, Michael Gasda, Chung-Dee Pong, Avinash Verma
  • Patent number: 9823624
    Abstract: A method for producing a timepiece spring includes a step for producing, by casting, a metallic glass raw material constituted of a metallic glass; a step for heating the metallic glass raw material to achieve a superplastic state; and a step for rolling the metallic glass raw material in a superplastic state to produce a sheet material. A timepiece spring is characterized by being obtained by the method for producing a timepiece spring.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 4, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 21, 2017
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Kazuhiro Tsuchiya, Masao Takeuchi, Masatoshi Moteki, Shoichi Nagao
  • Patent number: 9816192
    Abstract: A method to extract and refine metal products from metal-bearing ores, including a method to extract and refine titanium products. Titanium products can be extracted from titanium-bearing ores with TiO2 and impurity levels unsuitable for conventional methods.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2017
    Assignee: UNIVERSAL TECHNICAL RESOURCE SERVICES, INC.
    Inventors: James R. Cox, Chanaka L. DeAlwis, Benjamin A. Kohler, Michael G. Lewis
  • Patent number: 9790567
    Abstract: A coated dual-phase steel and process for producing the coated dual-phase steel is provided. The process includes providing a steel slab with a desired chemistry, soaking the slab at an elevated temperature and then hot rolling the slab to produce hot-rolled strip. The hot-rolled strip is coiled and has a ferrite-pearlite microstructure. The coiled hot-rolled strip is cold-rolled into cold-rolled sheet with at least a 60% reduction in thickness compared to the thickness of the coiled hot-rolled strip. The cold-rolled sheet is subjected to an intercritical anneal followed by rapid cooling with the absence of an isothermal heat treatment or hold after rapid cooling near the molten metal pot temperature—during which, before or after which the steel is coated. The coated steel sheet has a dual-phase ferrite-martensite microstructure, a yield strength of at least 310 MPa, a tensile strength of at least 580 MPa and a total elongation to failure of at least 18%.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2017
    Assignee: Thyssenkrupp Steel USA, LLC
    Inventors: Ranbir Jamwal, Joseph Frimpong, Bertram Wilhelm Ehrhardt, Harald Van Bracht, Roger Dale Boggs, Stanley Wayne Bevans
  • Patent number: 9790577
    Abstract: There is provided a Ti—Al-based alloy ingot having ductility at room temperature, in which the Ti—Al-based ingot has a lamellar structure in which ?2 phases and ? phases are arranged sequentially and regularly, and a thickness ratio ?/?2 of the ? phase to the ?2 phase is equal to or more than 2. There is also provided a Ti—Al-based alloy ingot having ductility at room temperature, in which the Ti—Al-based alloy ingot has a lamellar structure in which ?2 phases and ? phases are arranged sequentially and regularly, the ? phase has a thickness of 100 nm to 200 nm, and the ?2 phase has a thickness of 100 nm or less.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 27, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2017
    Assignee: KOREA INSTITUTE OF MACHINERY & MATERIALS
    Inventors: Seong Woong Kim, Seung Eon Kim, Young Sang Na, Jong Taek Yeom
  • Patent number: 9783875
    Abstract: The invention relates to a cast iron material with lamellar graphite formation. It further relates to a motor vehicle part made of the cast iron material. In order to create a ferritic cast iron material having a higher thermal conductivity, it is proposed according to the invention that, in addition to Fe, the cast iron material contains 3.9 to 4.2 wt. % C, 0.3 to 0.9 wt. % Si and 2.0 to 7 wt. % Al. It has been demonstrated within the scope of the invention that not only the thermal conductivity but also the wear resistance and corrosion resistance of the material are increased in comparison to known cast iron materials.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 5, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2017
    Assignees: Ford-Werke GmbH, Neue Halberg-Guss GmbH
    Inventors: Uemit Ursavas, Matthias Warkentin, Maik Broda, Dirk Radebach, Frank Ungerbuehler, Christoph Michels
  • Patent number: 9780011
    Abstract: To provide a brazing material for maintaining bonding strength between ceramic substrate and metal plate at a conventionally attainable level, while addition amount of In is reduced, and a brazing material paste using the same. A mixture powder provided by mixing alloy powder composed of Ag, In, and Cu, Ag powder, and active metal hydride powder, the mixture powder containing active metal hydride powder with a 10-to-25-?m equivalent circle average particle diameter by 0.5 to 5.0 mass %, the equivalent circle average particle diameters for the alloy powder, Ag powder, and active metal hydride powder having a relationship: alloy powder?active metal hydride powder>Ag powder, and the powder mixture having a particle size distribution of d10 of 3 to 10 ?m, d50 of 10 to 35 ?m, and d90 of 30 to 50 ?m, and in the frequency distribution, a peak of the distribution existing between d50 and d90.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 2, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2017
    Assignee: HITACHI METALS, LTD.
    Inventors: Hisayuki Imamura, Suguru Fujita, Junichi Watanabe
  • Patent number: 9770786
    Abstract: As electronic equipment has become smaller in size, printed circuit boards which cannot be subjected to cleaning have been developed, and a no-clean lead-free solder paste is becoming necessary. In order for a solder paste not to require cleaning, it is necessary that the color of the residue be transparent and that the residue be non-tacky. A maleated rosin, which is a rosin suited for no-clean paste, has a high acid value so it is not suitable for a flux for lead-free solder. As a means of suppressing a reaction between a flux containing a maleated rosin and a Sn—Ag—Cu based solder alloy powder, a Sn—Ag—Cu—Sb based solder alloy powder is used which adds 1-8 mass % of Sb to a Sn—Ag—Cu based solder alloy. As a result, it is possible to provide a solder paste which has the excellent effect that the solder paste does not easily undergo changes over time and has a long pot life.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 26, 2017
    Assignee: SENJU METAL INDUSTRY CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yoshitaka Toyoda, Fumihiro Imai
  • Patent number: 9752217
    Abstract: In a hot-rolled steel sheet, an average pole density of an orientation group {100}<011> to {223}<110>, which is represented by an arithmetic mean of pole densities of orientations {100}<011>, {116}<110>, {114}<110>, {112}<110>, and {223}<110> is 1.0 to 4.0 and a pole density of a crystal orientation {332}<113> is 1.0 to 4.8, in a thickness center portion which is a thickness range of ? to ? from the surface of the steel sheet; an average grain size in the thickness center portion is less than or equal to 10 ?m and a grain size of cementite precipitating in a grain boundary of the steel sheet is less than or equal to 2 ?m; and an average grain size of precipitates containing TiC in grains is less than or equal to 3 nm and a number density per unit volume is greater than or equal to 1×1016 grains/cm3.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 13, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 5, 2017
    Assignee: NIPPON STEEL & SUMITOMO METAL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Tatsuo Yokoi, Hiroshi Shuto, Riki Okamoto, Nobuhiro Fujita, Kazuaki Nakano, Takeshi Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 9734937
    Abstract: Provided are a soft dilute-copper alloy wire and soft dilute-copper alloy twisted wire which have high electrical conductivity and high bending life and can limit disconnection during use compared with oxygen-free copper wire, and also provided are an insulated wire, coaxial cable, and composite cable using the soft dilute-copper alloy wire and soft dilute-copper alloy twisted wire. The soft dilute-copper alloy wire is subjected to annealing treatment by elongation processing of soft dilute-copper alloy material comprising copper and an additive element selected from the group consisting of Ti, Mg, Zr, Nb, Ca, V, Ni, Hf, Fe, Mn and Cr, with inevitable impurities as the balance, wherein the soft dilute-copper alloy wire has an average grain size that is 20 ?m or less in a surface layer having a depth of 50 ?m from the surface, and an elongation value that is at least 1% higher than the average elongation value of oxygen-free copper wire that has been subjected to the aforementioned annealing treatment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 16, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2017
    Assignee: HITACHI METALS, LTD.
    Inventors: Seigi Aoyama, Toru Sumi, Hiromitsu Kuroda, Hideyuki Sagawa
  • Patent number: 9718129
    Abstract: A method for forming a three-dimensional article, said method comprising the steps of: providing a predetermined amount of powder for forming a first powder layer on a start plate, distributing said predetermined amount of powder with a powder distributor for forming said first powder layer, directing an energy beam over said start plate causing said first powder layer to fuse in selected locations according to a model to form a first cross section of said three-dimensional article. At least one image of the powder to be distributed is captured with a camera at least one time during said distribution of said powder on said start plate for forming said first powder layer and at least one value of at least one parameter in said image detected with said camera is compared with a reference parameter value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 18, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 1, 2017
    Assignee: Arcam AB
    Inventors: Ulric Ljungblad, Martin Wildheim
  • Patent number: 9700941
    Abstract: A removed damaged portion of a fully consolidated turbine engine component is replaced with a powder coupon that includes powder particles that are at most partially sintered or are bonded together with a binder. A bonding agent is applied to the component and/or the powder coupon. The powder coupon is then positioned over the component and heat is applied to fully sinter the powder particles, thus causing the powder coupon to shrink onto the component. The heat also activates the bonding agent to bond the shrunken powder coupon to the component, but the heat does not sinter the material forming the fully consolidated component.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 3, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 11, 2017
    Assignee: SIEMENS ENERGY, INC.
    Inventors: Allister W. James, Zafir A. M. Abdo, Ahmed Kamel
  • Patent number: 9689067
    Abstract: Provided is a method by which a low-oxygen and high-density molybdenum target can be efficiently obtained, while fully utilizing the characteristics of each molybdenum (Mo) starting material powder. The present invention provides a method for producing a molybdenum target, wherein a mixed powder that is obtained by mixing a molybdenum powder A, which is prepared by reducing molybdenum oxide and then crushing the resulting so as to have an average particle diameter of 2-15 ?m, and a molybdenum powder B, which is prepared by crushing a molybdenum bulk starting material having a density of not less than 6.64×10 (kg/m3) so as to have an average particle diameter of 50-2,000 ?m, is sintered under pressure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2017
    Assignee: HITACHI METALS, LTD.
    Inventors: Kazuya Saitoh, Tomoyuki Hata, Masashi Kaminada, Hiroshi Takashima
  • Patent number: 9670569
    Abstract: This is a cold-rolled steel sheet includes, by mass %, C: 0.02% to 0.4%, Si: 0.001% to 2.5%, Mn: 0.001% to 4.0%, and Al: 0.001% to 2.0%. The sum of the Si content and the Al content is 1.0% to 4.5%. An average pole density of an orientation group from {100}<011> to {223}<110> is 1.0 to 6.5, and a pole density of a crystal orientation {332}<113> is 1.0 to 5.0. A microstructure includes, by an area ratio %, 5% to 80% of ferrite, 5% to 80% of bainite, and 2% to 30% of retained austenite. In the microstructure, by an area ratio %, martensite is limited to 20% or less, pearlite is limited to 10% or less, and tempered martensite is limited to 60% or less.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 6, 2017
    Assignee: NIPPON STEEL & SUMITOMO METAL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Takayuki Nozaki, Manabu Takahashi, Nobuhiro Fujita, Hiroshi Yoshida, Shinichiro Watanabe, Takeshi Yamamoto