Patents Examined by Margery S. Phipps
  • Patent number: 5580402
    Abstract: Disclosed is an aluminum alloy sheet having a chemical composition of an Si-containing Al--Mg--CU alloy. The aluminum alloy sheet exhibits a streak-shaped modulated structure at a diffraction grating points of an Al--Cu--Mg--system compound in the electron beam diffraction grating image. The above mentioned streak can be generated efficiently when the alloy essentially consists of 1.5 to 3.5% by weight of Mg, 0.3 to 1.0% by weight of Cu, 0.05 to 0.6% by weight of Si, and the balance of Al and inevitable impurities, and the ratio of Mg/Cu is in the range of 2 to 7. The alloy contains 0.01-0.50% of at least one element selected from the group consisting of Sn, Cd, and In.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 19, 1993
    Date of Patent: December 3, 1996
    Assignee: NKK Corporation
    Inventors: Takeshi Fujita, Masakazu Niikura, Shinji Mitao, Masataka Suga, Kohei Hasegawa
  • Patent number: 5573861
    Abstract: The aluminum conductor having increase of its electric resistivity kept small at ultra low temperature of 30.degree. K. or lower even after cyclic strain is given at ultra low temperature, by controlling the crystal structure of the high purity aluminum conductor with purity of 99.9-99.9999 wt %. The crystal structure consist of (i) a veritable single or a substantially single crystal consisting of a bundle of sub-grains which have their crystal axes in the same direction or in the directions within a couple of degrees of deviation as a whole which has a specific crystal axis of <111> or <100> or the crystal axes close thereto in the longitudinal direction of the aluminum conductor, or (ii) a polycrystal most of which grains have respective specific crystal axes of <111> and/or <100>, or the crystal axes close thereto with respect to each grain in the longitudinal direction of the aluminum conductor, and have specific grain size of 0.01 mm to 3.0 mm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 6, 1993
    Date of Patent: November 12, 1996
    Assignees: Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd., The Texas A & M University Systems
    Inventors: Akihiko Takahashi, Hitoshi Yasuda, Karl T. Hartwig, Lacy C. McDonald, Hong Zou
  • Patent number: 5571344
    Abstract: An element for thermally protecting a substrate is deposited on the substrate and comprises a quasicrystalline aluminum alloy having a thermal diffusivity lower than 2.5.times.10.sup.-6 m.sup.2 /s at room temperature and a thermal diffusivity, within the temperature range 650.degree.-750.degree. C., which does not exceed its thermal diffusivity at room temperature by a factor greater than 3. The element may be used to provide heat barriers or bonding layers for substrates. The heat protection element, used in the form of a heat barrier or in the form of a bond coat for neat barriers, exhibits good thermal insulation properties, good mechanical properties, a low specific mass, good resistance to corrosion, and great ease of processing. Further, the invention is useful in limiting heat transfer towards or from parts and components of fittings in many household and industrial devices, for example, heating or cooking devices, smoothing irons, automobile components, and in aeronautic components.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 9, 1993
    Date of Patent: November 5, 1996
    Assignee: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
    Inventors: Jean-Marie Dubois, Pierre Archambault, Bernard Colleret
  • Patent number: 5571345
    Abstract: A method is provided for obtaining a uniform grain size on the order of about ASTM 5 or coarser in at least a portion of an article formed from a .gamma.' precipitation strengthened nickel-base superalloy. The method comprises forming an article by: providing a billet, preheating the billet above 2000.degree. F. for at least 0.5 hours, working at least a portion to near-net shape at working conditions including a first strain rate of less than about 0.01 per second and at a subsolvus temperature at or near the recrystallization temperature, supersolvus heating to form a grain size in the portion of at least 5 ASTM, and cooling to reprecipitate .gamma.' within the article. The method can be utilized to form a .gamma.' precipitation strengthened nickel-base superalloy article whose grain size varies uniformly between portions thereof, so as to yield a desirable microstructure and property gradient in the article in accordance with the in-service temperature and stress-state gradient experienced by the article.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 1994
    Date of Patent: November 5, 1996
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Swami Ganesh, Eric S. Huron
  • Patent number: 5558833
    Abstract: A silver alloy having a reduced porosity surface after it has been cast in a mold is disclosed. The silver alloy consists of silver in a range from 92.50 to 99.00 percent by weight, indium in a range from 0.01 to 7.40 percent by weight, molybdenum in a range from 0.001 to 0.10 percent by weight, and the balance of copper. In one embodiment, the silver alloy consists of 93.50 percent by weight silver, 1.00 percent by weight indium, 0.05 percent by weight molybdenum, and the balance copper. A process for casting the silver alloy is also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 9, 1995
    Date of Patent: September 24, 1996
    Inventor: Marek R. Zamojski
  • Patent number: 5556594
    Abstract: An age hardenable nickel base chromium, molybdenum, alloy as well as intermediate products and articles made therefrom are disclosed which, in the solution treated and age hardened condition, have a 0.2% yield strength greater than 100 ksi combined with resistance to pitting and crevice corrosion and to stress corrosion cracking in chloride and sulfide environments at elevated temperatures up to about 500.degree. F. without requiring working below the recrystallization temperature of the alloy. Broad and preferred ranges are disclosed as follows:______________________________________ Broad (w/o) Preferred (w/o) ______________________________________ C 0.1 Max. 0.03 Max. Mn 5 Max. 2 Max. Si 1 Max. 0.5 Max. P 0.03 Max. 0.015 Max. S 0.03 Max. 0.010 Max. Cr 16-24 18-22 Mo 7-12 7.5-11 W 4 Max. -- Nb 2-6 2.75-4.25 Ti 0.50-2.5 0.75-1.5 Al Trace-1 0.05-0.35 B 0.02 Max. 0.001-0.006 Zr 0.50 Max. 0.08 Max. Co 5 Max. -- Cu 0-3 0.5 Max. N 0.04 Max. 0.01 Max. Fe 20 Max.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 30, 1986
    Date of Patent: September 17, 1996
    Assignee: CRS Holdings, Inc.
    Inventors: Richard B. Frank, Terry A. DeBold, Sunil Widge, James W. Martin
  • Patent number: 5552110
    Abstract: A magnesium alloy includes 0.1 to 6.0% by weight of Al, 0.25 to 6.0% by weight of Zn, 0.1 to 4.0% by weight of rare earth element (hereinafter referred to as "R.E."), and balance of Mg and inevitable impurities. Preferably, it includes 1.0 to 3.0% by weight of Al ("a"), 0.25 to 3.0% by weight of Zn ("b") and 0.5 to 4.0% by weight of R.E.: wherein when "b" is in a range, 0.25.ltoreq."b".ltoreq.1.0, "a" and "c" satisfy a relationship, "c".ltoreq."a"+1.0; and when "b" is in a range, 1.0.ltoreq."b".ltoreq.3.0, "a," "b" and "c" satisfy a relationship, "c".ltoreq."a"+"b".ltoreq.(1/2)"c"+4.0; in order to further improve creep properties at elevated temperatures while maintaining enhanced tensile strength at room temperature and up to 100.degree. C. at least.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 1994
    Date of Patent: September 3, 1996
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Hideki Iba, Chikatoshi Maeda, Tadashi Takeuchi, Yasuyuki Suzuki
  • Patent number: 5549767
    Abstract: An improved method is described for repairing Co-base superalloy gas turbine engine components by applying a mixture of base alloy powder and base alloy powder with a melting point depressant to the surface of the component and heating at 2250.degree.-2300.degree. F. to diffuse the melting point depressant isothermally into the base alloy. A protective coating is then applied, during which a heating cycle which ages the base material is used. The resultant component has high temperature creep properties which are significantly better than achieved using the prior art process. The same temperature cycle is also useful in the initial heat treatment of Co-base superalloys, and can also be used for rejuvenation of components which have experienced extensive exposure to engine operating conditions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 26, 1994
    Date of Patent: August 27, 1996
    Assignee: United Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Norman Pietruska, S. Michael Kurpaska
  • Patent number: 5547523
    Abstract: A method of forging to impart a critical amount of retained strain is described for Ni-base superalloys, particularly those which comprise a mixture of .gamma. and .gamma.' phases, and most particularly those which contain at least about 40 percent by volume of .gamma.'. This forging method harnesses nucleation-limited recrystallization, a phenomenon which has been known in the past to produce uncontrolled, non-uniform Critical grain growth, to produce forged articles having a uniform average grain size in the range of about 90-120 microns. The method comprises the selection of a forging preform formed from a Ni-base superalloy. Isothermal subsolvus forging is then used to form a precursor forging which has a near-net shape. The precursor forging is then forged using relatively high strain rate techniques, such as hammer forging, hot die forging or room temperature forging, to impart all or some portion of it with a critical amount of retained strain energy.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 3, 1995
    Date of Patent: August 20, 1996
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Charles P. Blankenship, Jr., Michael F. Henry
  • Patent number: 5540790
    Abstract: This invention relates to a single crystal casting to be used under high stress, high temperature conditions up to about 2030.degree. F., characterized by an increased resistance to creep under such conditions. The casting is made from a nickel-based superalloy consisting essentially of the following elements in percent by weight: from 6.2 to 6.8 percent rhenium, from 1.8 to 2.5 percent chromium, from 1.5 to 2.5 percent cobalt, from 8 to 9 percent tantalum, from 3.5 to 6 percent tungsten, from 5.5 to 6.1 percent aluminum, from 0.1 to 0.5 percent titanium, from 0.01 to 0.1 percent columbium, from 0.25 to 0.60 percent molybdenum, from 0 to 0.05 percent hafnium, from 0 to 0.04 percent carbon, from 0 to 0.01 percent boron, from 0 to 0.01 percent yttrium, from 0 to 0.01 percent cerium, from 0 to 0.01 percent lanthanum, from 0 to 0.04 percent manganese, from 0 to 0.05 percent silicon, form 0 to 0.01 percent zirconium, from 0 to 0.001 percent sulfur, from 0 to 0.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 1994
    Date of Patent: July 30, 1996
    Assignee: Cannon-Muskegon Corporation
    Inventor: Gary L. Erickson
  • Patent number: 5538685
    Abstract: A bonding wire for a semiconductor device contains high purity Pd or Pd alloy as a base metal and 25-10000 atppm of low boiling element III having a boiling point lower than a melting point of the base metal and soluble in Pd, or contains high purity Pd or Pd alloy as a base metal and 5-500 atppm of low boiling point element IV having a boiling point lower than a melting point of the base metal and insoluble in Pd, or high purity Pd or Pd alloy as a base metal, and 5-10000 atppm of low boiling point element III and low boiling point element IV, the low boiling point element III having a boiling point lower than a melting point of the base metal and being soluble in Pd, the low boiling point element IV having a boiling point lower than a melting point of the base metal and being insoluble in Pd, the low boiling elements III and IV being present in a concentration so that (content of the low boiling point element III)/25 + (content of the low boiling element IV)/5.gtoreq.1.gtoreq.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 30, 1995
    Date of Patent: July 23, 1996
    Assignee: Tanaka Denshi Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Katsuyuki Toyofuku, Ichiro Nagamatsu, Shinji Shirakawa, Hiroto Iga, Takeshi Kujiraoka, Kensei Murakami
  • Patent number: 5534087
    Abstract: A method for producing a Cu--Ag alloy based conductive material containing about 10% to about 20% at % Ag, that involves the steps of continuously casting the alloy into a rod followed by quickly cooling the rod, cold-working the rod to a reduction in area of 80% or more, then heat treating the cold-worked rod at a temperature of 250.degree. C. to 350.degree. C. for 1 hour or more to form a heat-treated rod, and thereafter cold-working the heat-treated rod to a reduction in area of 90% or more as defined based on the cast rod to produce conductive material having a high strength of 700 MPa or more and conductivity of 75% IACA or more.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 15, 1993
    Date of Patent: July 9, 1996
    Assignees: Showa Electric Wire & Cable Co., Ltd., General Director of National Research Institute for Metals
    Inventors: Tooru Hirota, Akira Imai, Tomoyuki Kumano, Masamitsu Ichihara, Yoshikazu Sakai, Kiyoshi Inoue, Hiroshi Maeda
  • Patent number: 5529642
    Abstract: A nickel-based alloy which is excellent not only in anti-corrosion properties but also in workability is disclosed. The alloy contains 15 to 35 weight % of chromium; 6 to 24 weight % of molybdenum; wherein the sum of chromium plus molybdenum is no greater than 43 weight %; 1.1 to 8 weight % of tantalum; and balance nickel and unavoidable impurities. The alloy may optionally include no greater than 0.1 weight % of nitrogen; no greater than 0.3 weight % of magnesium, no greater than 3 weight % of manganese, no greater than 0.3 weight % of silicon, no greater than 0.1 weight % of carbon, no greater than 6 weight % of iron, no greater than 0.1 weight % of zirconium, no greater than 0.01 weight % of calcium, no greater than 1 weight % of niobium, no greater than 4 weight % of tungsten, no greater than 4 weight % of copper, no greater than 0.8 weight % of titanium, no greater than 0.8 weight % of aluminum, no greater than 5 weight % of cobalt, no greater than 0.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 19, 1994
    Date of Patent: June 25, 1996
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Materials Corporation
    Inventors: Katsuo Sugahara, Hideo Kitamura, Saburo Wakita, Koji Toyokura, Yoshio Takizawa, Tsutomu Takahashi
  • Patent number: 5529643
    Abstract: A method is provided for obtaining uniform grain growth within .gamma.' precipitation strengthened nickel-base superalloys. The method includes forming a billet having a very fine grain size in order to achieve optimum superplasticity of the superalloy during forging. The article is then heated to a pre-working hold temperature in a manner which prevents coarsening of the microstructure and a loss of superplasticity. The article is then worked, such as by forging, at a temperature below the .gamma.' solvus temperature of the alloy, so as to maintain local strain rates within the article below a critical strain rate for random grain growth, and so as to maintain the strain rate gradient throughout the article below a critical upper limit. After working, the article is subjected to annealing at a temperature which is less than the .gamma.' solvus temperature of the alloy, and for a duration which is sufficient to remove accumulated metallurgical strain in the article.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 17, 1994
    Date of Patent: June 25, 1996
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Duk Y. Yoon, Aldo E. Murut, Michael F. Henry, Renee M. Rohling, Charles P. Blankenship, Mark G. Benz, Edward L. Raymond, Eric S. Huron
  • Patent number: 5527403
    Abstract: A method of heat treating articles cast of a superalloy, comprising a nickel-base alloy capable of forming a chromium carbide precipitate, such as INCONEL 939.TM.. The method includes selective heating of the article to cause chromium and carbon nuclei in the lattice of the crystals in the superalloy to go into solution, and selective cooling of the article to cause the formation of discrete chromium carbide nuclei along the grain boundary of the crystals. Additional heating steps may be performed to enhance the size of the chromium carbide nuclei. Articles so treated have improved mechanical properties.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 27, 1995
    Date of Patent: June 18, 1996
    Assignee: United Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: John J. Schirra, John A. Miller, Robert W. Hatala
  • Patent number: 5522945
    Abstract: A method for making triniobium tin superconductor with improved critical current density is disclosed where an annealed niobium-base substrate is passed through a tin alloy bath containing tin, copper, and bismuth, to coat the substrate with tin and then annealing the coated substrate to form triniobium tin superconductor. A tin alloy bath containing up to twenty weight percent copper and up to one weight percent bismuth is disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 1, 1994
    Date of Patent: June 4, 1996
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Melissa L. Murray, Mark G. Benz, Bruce A. Knudsen
  • Patent number: 5516355
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method of preparing a dental amalgam that is devoid of harmful free mercury, to be used as a filler for dental cavities. In particular the invention relates to processes by which two separate compositions characterized as treated silver and silver-mercury compound are formed, which are then used in a mixture with mercury to form the dental amalgam.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 21, 1994
    Date of Patent: May 14, 1996
    Inventor: Subramaniam Radhakrishnan
  • Patent number: 5516380
    Abstract: A NiAl intermetallic alloy and article is provided with improved high temperature strength, particularly stress rupture strength, through the generation of a multiphase microstructure comprising a beta matrix and at least one precipitate phase. The strength properties and microstructure are the result of alloying with at least two elements selected from Ga, Hf, and optionally Ti, Zr, Ta, Nb, and V, in defined ranges. Preferred are at least two of the elements Ga, Hf, and Ti, and specifically preferred are all three. A specifically preferred form of the invention, in atomic percent, is about 45-59% Ni, about 0.02-0.5% Ga, about 0.2 to less than 1% Hf, about 0.1-10% Ti, with the balance A1 and incidental impurities.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 14, 1994
    Date of Patent: May 14, 1996
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Ramgopal Darolia, James R. Dobbs, Robert D. Field, Edward H. Goldman, David F. Lahrman, William S. Walston
  • Patent number: 5509980
    Abstract: The present invention is directed to a pre-weld overageing heat treatment for nickel-based superalloys, where the alloy is heated to solutionization temperature for a time sufficient to dissolve the gamma prime phase of the alloy microstructure, then slowly cooled with periods of intermittent heating, so that the gamma prime phase reprecipitates as coarse equiaxed particles, and the presence of fine sized gamma prime phase particles is substantially avoided. The present invention is also directed to a welding method wherein said pre-weld overageing treatment is used.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 17, 1994
    Date of Patent: April 23, 1996
    Assignee: National University of Singapore
    Inventor: Leong-Chew Lim
  • Patent number: 5487868
    Abstract: The invention is a solder alloy which can alleviate the fatigue rupture which occurs at a soldered joint due to a heat cycle. The solder alloy also shows effective use of the addition of Cu. This solder alloy comprises 57 to 65% Sn, 0.1 to 0.5% Sb, 0.002 to 0.05% Te and the balance being lead, wherein all percentages are by weight. The solder alloy of the present invention also supplements the base composition with 0.001 to 0.05% by weight Ga and/or 0.1 to 0.3% by weight Cu.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 28, 1994
    Date of Patent: January 30, 1996
    Assignee: Nihon Superior Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Tetsuro Nishimura