Patents Examined by Rebecca Lee
  • Patent number: 9972837
    Abstract: A multi-phase hydrogen storage alloy comprising a hexagonal Ce2Ni7 phase and a hexagonal Pr5Co19 phase, where the Ce2Ni7 phase abundance is ?30 wt % and the Pr5Co19 phase abundance is ?8 wt % and where the alloy comprises a mischmetal where Nd in the mischmetal is <50 at % or a multi-phase hydrogen storage alloy comprising one or more rare earth elements, a hexagonal Ce2Ni7 phase and a hexagonal Pr5Co19 phase, where the Ce2Ni7 phase abundance is from about 30 to about 72 wt % and the Pr5Co19 phase abundance is ?8 wt % have improved electrochemical performance. The alloys are useful in an electrode in a metal hydride battery, a fuel cell or a metal hydride air battery.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 13, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 15, 2018
    Assignees: BASF Corporation, FDK Corporation
    Inventors: Kwo Young, Taihei Ouchi, Jean Nei, Diana Wong, Shigekazu Yasuoka
  • Patent number: 9896384
    Abstract: A method of forming a sintered ?-phase tantalum carbide can include assembling a particulate mixture including a tantalum hydride powder and a carbon source powder. The particulate mixture can be sintered to form a tantalum carbide having at least 70 wt. % of a ?-phase with at least about 90% densification. After sintering, the tantalum carbide can be cooled to substantially retain the ?-phase.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2018
    Assignee: University of Utah Research Foundation
    Inventors: Dinesh K. Shetty, Raymond A. Cutler, Michael Sygnatowicz
  • Patent number: 9885102
    Abstract: The present invention provides colored pure titanium or titanium alloy having low susceptibility to discoloration in an atmospheric environment exhibiting a superior resistance to discoloration even when the titanium is used in an environment of harsh acid rain such as a roof or wall material and free from deterioration of the aesthetic appearance over a long period of time, that is, colored pure titanium obtained by the anodic oxidation method, that is, colored pure titanium or titanium alloy having low susceptibility to discoloration in an atmospheric environment characterized by having an average phosphorus content in a range of 40 nm from a surface of a titanium oxide layer formed on the titanium surface of 5.5 atomic % or less and by having an average carbon concentration in a range of a depth of 100 nm from the titanium surface of 3 to 15 atomic %.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 25, 2006
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2018
    Assignee: NIPPON STEEL & SUMITOMO METAL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Michio Kaneko, Kiyonori Tokuno, Takao Wada, Mitsuyuki Hasegawa, Kazuo Yamagishi
  • Patent number: 9869008
    Abstract: The disclosure provides for wrought products made of Al—Cu—Mg aluminum alloy composed as follows, as a percentage by weight, Cucorr: 2,6-3.7; Mgcorr: 1.5-2.6, Mn: 0.2-0.5; Zr: ?0.16; Ti: 0.01-0.15; Cr?0.25; Si?0.2; Fe?0.2; other elements <0.05 the rest aluminum; with Cucorr>?0.9(Mgcorr)+4.3 and Cucorr<?0.9(Mgcorr)+5.0; where Cucorr=Cu?0.74(Mn?0.2)?2.28 Fe and Mgcorr=Mg?1.73(Si?0.05) for Si?0.05 and Mgcorr=Mg for Si<0.05 and their manufacturing process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 13, 2012
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2018
    Assignee: CONSTELLIUM ISSOIRE
    Inventors: Gaelle Pouget, Christophe Sigli
  • Patent number: 9869003
    Abstract: A method of processing a workpiece to inhibit precipitation of intermetallic compounds includes at least one of thermomechanically processing and cooling a workpiece including an austenitic alloy. During the at least one of thermomechanically working and cooling the workpiece, the austenitic alloy is at temperatures in a temperature range spanning a temperature just less than a calculated sigma solvus temperature of the austenitic alloy down to a cooling temperature for a time no greater than a critical cooling time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2018
    Assignee: ATI PROPERTIES LLC
    Inventors: Robin M. Forbes Jones, Erin T. McDevitt
  • Patent number: 9863015
    Abstract: A manufacturing method for strip casting 550 MPa-grade high strength atmospheric corrosion-resistant steel strip, comprising the following steps: 1) smelting, where the chemical composition of a molten steel is that: C is between 0.03-0.08%, Si?0.4%, Mn is between 0.6-1.5%, P is between 0.07-0.22%, S?0.01%, N?0.012%, Cu is between 0.25-0.8%, Cr is between 0.3-0.8%, and Ni is between 0.12-0.4%, additionally, also comprised is at least one micro-alloying element among Nb, V, Ti, and Mo, where Nb is between 0.01-0.08%, V is between 0.01-0.08%, Ti is between 0.01-0.08%, and Mo is between 0.1-0.4%, and where the remainder is Fe and unavoidable impurities; 2) strip casting, where a 1-5 mm-thick cast strip is casted directly; 3) cooling the strip, where the cooling rate is greater than 20° C./s; 4) online hot rolling the cast strip, where the hot rolling temperature is between 1050-1250° C.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 18, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2018
    Assignee: Baoshan Iron & Steel Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Xiufang Wang, Yuan Fang, Yan Yu, Jianchun Wu, Bo Qin
  • Patent number: 9856548
    Abstract: The invention relates to a hot-rolled steel sheet having a tensile strength of greater than 1200 MPa, an Re/Rm ratio of less than 0.75 and an elongation at break of greater than 10%, the composition of which contains, the contents being expressed by weight: 0.10%?C?0.25%; 1%?Mn?3%; Al?0.015%; Si?1.985%; Mo?0.30%; Cr?1.5%; S?0.015%; P?0.1%; Co?1.5%; B?0.005%; it being understood that 1%?Si+Al?2%; Cr+(3×Mo)?0.3%, the balance of the composition consisting of iron and inevitable impurities resulting from the smelting, the microstructure of the steel consisting of at least 75% bainite, residual austenite in an amount equal to or greater than 5% and martensite in an amount equal to or greater than 2%.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 14, 2007
    Date of Patent: January 2, 2018
    Assignee: ArcelorMittal France
    Inventors: Sebastien Allain, Audrey Couturier, Thierry Iung, Christine Colin
  • Patent number: 9845520
    Abstract: A beryllium-free high-strength copper alloy includes, about 10-30 vol % of L12-(Ni,Cu)3(Al,Sn), and substantially excludes cellular discontinuous precipitation around grain boundaries. The alloy may include at least one component selected from the group consisting of: Ag, Cr, Mn, Nb, Ti, and V, and the balance Cu.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2009
    Date of Patent: December 19, 2017
    Assignee: Questek Innovations LLC
    Inventors: James A. Wright, Abhijeet Misra
  • Patent number: 9834833
    Abstract: An aluminum alloy material exhibiting excellent bendability can be produced without performing a straightening step, and can be bent without developing orange peel. The aluminum alloy material is a T4-tempered material formed of an Al—Cu—Mg—Si alloy including 1.0 to 2.5 mass % of Cu, 0.5 to 1.5 mass % of Mg, and 0.5 to 1.5 mass % of Si, with the balance being aluminum and unavoidable impurities, a matrix that forms an inner part of the aluminum alloy material having a microstructure formed by recrystallized grains having an average crystal grain size of 200 ?m or less, and the aluminum alloy material having a ratio of tensile strength/yield strength determined by a tensile test of 1.5 or more.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 6, 2011
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2017
    Assignee: UACJ CORPORATION
    Inventors: Tadashi Minoda, Yasuhiro Nakai
  • Patent number: 9827605
    Abstract: A task of the present invention is to provide a Ti—Mo alloy material which can be improved in the yield stress at room temperature by the precipitation of an aged omega phase in the Ti—Mo alloy while maintaining large ductility at room temperature, and a method for producing the same. Provided is a Ti—Mo alloy collectively having an Mo content of 10 to 20 mass %, wherein the Ti—Mo alloy has a winding belt-like or swirly segregation portion having a width of 10 to 20 ?m in the plane of a backscattered electron image (BEI) or an energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) image of the Ti—Mo alloy, as examined under a scanning electron microscope, in which Mo content is larger than the collective Mo content of the Ti—Mo alloy. When generally observing the entire plane examined, a segregation structure in a swirly form can be observed. Further, provided is the Ti—Mo alloy which has been subjected to aging treatment so that an aged omega phase is precipitated along the segregation portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 23, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2017
    Assignee: NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR MATERIALS SCIENCE
    Inventors: Satoshi Emura, Koichi Tsuchiya
  • Patent number: 9822422
    Abstract: A process for reducing flatness deviations in an alloy article is disclosed. An alloy article may be heated to a first temperature at least as great as a martensitic transformation start temperature of the alloy. A mechanical force may be applied to the alloy article at the first temperature. The mechanical force may tend to inhibit flatness deviations of a surface of the alloy article. The alloy article may be cooled to a second temperature no greater than a martensitic transformation finish temperature of the alloy. The mechanical force may be maintained on the alloy article during at least a portion of the cooling of the alloy article from the first temperature to the second temperature.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 24, 2009
    Date of Patent: November 21, 2017
    Assignee: ATI PROPERTIES LLC
    Inventors: Glenn J. Swiatek, Ronald E. Bailey
  • Patent number: 9797024
    Abstract: In a hot-rolled steel sheet, an average pole density of an orientation group of {100}<011> to {223}<110>, which is represented by an arithmetic average of pole density of each orientation of {100}<011>, {116}<110>, {114}<110>, {112}<110>, and {223}<110> in a center portion of a sheet thickness which is a range of the sheet thickness of ? to ? from a surface of the steel sheet, is 1.0 or more and 4.0 or less, the pole density of a crystal orientation of {332}<113> is 1.0 or more and 4.8 or less, an average grain size in a center in the sheet thickness is 10 ?m or less, and a microstructure includes, by a structural fraction, pearlite more than 6% and ferrite in the balance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 17, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2017
    Assignee: NIPPON STEEL & SUMITOMO METAL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Tatsuo Yokoi, Hiroshi Shuto, Riki Okamoto, Nobuhiro Fujita, Kazuaki Nakano, Takeshi Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 9790566
    Abstract: A manufacturing method for strip casting 700 MPa-grade high strength atmospheric corrosion-resistant steel, comprising the following steps: 1) smelting, where the chemical composition of a molten steel in terms of weight percentage is that C is between 0.03-0.1%, Si?0.4%, Mn is between 0.75-2.0%, P is between 0.07-0.22%, S?0.01%, N?0.012%, Cu is between 0.25-0.8%, Cr is between 0.3-0.8%, and Ni is between 0.12-0.4%, additionally, also comprised is at least one micro-alloying element among Nb, V, Ti, and Mo, where Nb is between 0.01-0.1%, V is between 0.01-0.1%, Ti is between 0.01-0.1%, and Mo is between 0.1-0.5%, and where the remainder is Fe and unavoidable impurities; 2) strip casting, where a 1-5 mm-thick cast strip is casted directly; 3) cooling the cast strip, where the cooling rate is greater than 20° C./s; 4) online hot rolling the cast strip, where the hot rolling temperature is between 1050-1250° C.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 18, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2017
    Assignee: Baoshan Iron & Steel Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Xiufang Wang, Yuan Fang, Yan Yu, Jianchun Wu, Bo Qin
  • Patent number: 9765415
    Abstract: A cold-rolled and annealed ferritic steel sheet is provided. The steel has a composition comprising, expressed by weight: 0.001?C?0.15%; Mn?1%; Si?1.5%; 7.5%?AI?10%; 0.020%?Ti?0.5%; S?0.050%; and P?0.1%. A balance of the composition includes iron and inevitable impurities resulting from the smelting. The structure includes kappa (?) precipitates and equiaxed ferrite, an average grain size d? of the equiaxed ferrite is less than 50 microns, and a linear fraction f of intergranular ? precipitates is less than 30%. The linear fraction f is defined by f = ? ( A ) ? di ? ( A ) ? Li . ?(A)di denotes the total length of grain boundaries containing ? precipitates relative to an area (A) and ?(A)Li denotes the total length of the grain boundaries relative to the area (A). A content of carbon in solid solution is less than 0.005% by weight, and the cold-rolled and annealed ferritic steel sheet has a thickness between 0.6 mm and 1.5 mm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2017
    Assignee: ArcelorMittal France
    Inventors: Astrid Perlade, Olivier Bouaziz, Xavier Garat, Josée Drillet, Jean-Louis Uriarte
  • Patent number: 9765420
    Abstract: Processes for forming an article from an ?+? titanium alloy are disclosed. The ?+? titanium alloy includes, in weight percentages, from 2.90 to 5.00 aluminum, from 2.00 to 3.00 vanadium, from 0.40 to 2.00 iron, and from 0.10 to 0.30 oxygen. The ?+? titanium alloy is cold worked at a temperature in the range of ambient temperature to 500° F., and then aged at a temperature in the range of 700° F. to 1200° F.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 25, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2017
    Assignee: ATI PROPERTIES LLC
    Inventor: David J. Bryan
  • Patent number: 9745639
    Abstract: The invention relates to a steel sheet having a tensile strength of 1180 MPa or more, which excels in workability and cold brittleness resistance. The high-strength steel sheet contains 0.10% to 0.30% of C, 1.40% to 3.0% of Si, 0.5% to 3.0% of Mn, 0.1% or less of P, 0.05% or less of S, 0.005% to 0.20% of Al, 0.01% or less of N, 0.01% or less of O, as well as Fe and inevitable impurities. The steel sheet has: (i) a ferrite volume fraction of 5% to 35% and a bainitic ferrite and/or tempered martensite volume fraction of 60% or more; (ii) a MA constituent volume fraction of 6% or less (excluding 0%); and (iii) a retained austenite volume fraction of 5% or more.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 5, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2017
    Assignee: Kobe Steel, Ltd.
    Inventors: Sae Mizuta, Yuichi Futamura, Yukihiro Utsumi
  • Patent number: 9738961
    Abstract: The invention includes a copper-nickel-zinc alloy with the following composition in weight %: Cu 47.0 to 49.0%, Ni 8.0 to 10.0%, Mn 0.2 to 0.6%, Si 0.05 to 0.4%, Pb 1.0 to 1.5%, Fe and/or Co up to 0.8%, the rest being Zn and unavoidable impurities, wherein the total of the Fe content and double the Co content is at least 0.1 weight % and wherein mixing silicides containing nickel, iron and manganese and/or containing nickel, cobalt and manganese are stored as spherical or ellipsoidal particles in a structure consisting of an ?- and ?-phase. The invention further relates to a method for producing semi-finished products from a copper-nickel-zinc alloy.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2017
    Assignee: WIELAND-WERKE AG
    Inventors: Hans-Achim Kuhn, Rudolf Liebsch
  • Patent number: 9728312
    Abstract: A non-oriented electrical steel sheet containing: in mass %, C: 0.005% or less; Si: 0.1% to 2.0%; Mn: 0.05% to 0.6%; P: 0.100% or less; and Al: 0.5% or less, in which 10 pieces/?m3 or less in number density of non-magnetic precipitate AlN having an average diameter of 10 nm to 200 nm are contained, and an average magnetic flux density B50 in a rolling direction and in a direction perpendicular to rolling is 1.75 T or more. This non-oriented electrical steel sheet can be manufactured by two methods of a method of performing hot rolling annealing at a temperature of 750° C. to an Ac1 transformation point and a method of setting a coil winding temperature to 780° C. or higher and performing self annealing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 9, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 8, 2017
    Assignee: Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation
    Inventors: Masahiro Fujikura, Yoshiyuki Ushigami, Tesshu Murakawa, Shinichi Kanao, Makoto Atake, Takeru Ichie, Kojiro Hori
  • Patent number: 9711280
    Abstract: A rare earth sintered magnet is prepared from a corresponding alloy powder, using a mold comprising a die, an upper punch, and a lower punch which is divided into a plurality of punch segments which are independently movable within the die. The method comprises the steps of filling the mold cavity with the alloy powder when one or more selected punch segments are moved to a higher position than the remaining punch segments; moving the selected punch segments down to the position where the selected and remaining punch segments assume the normal shape of the lower punch during the compression step; compressing the alloy powder between the upper and lower punches under a magnetic field while the normal shape of the lower punch is maintained, for thereby molding a compact; and heat treating the compact.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 3, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2017
    Assignee: SHIN-ETSU CHEMICAL CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Eiji Uesaka, Osamu Kohno, Kenji Imamura, Yoshihiro Umebayashi, Takahiro Hashimoto
  • Patent number: 9708704
    Abstract: A method for the low-pressure carbonitriding of steel parts, in particular parts used in the manufacture of automobiles, comprises a heating step that includes a simple heating phase (M) followed by an initial nitridation phase (Ni) from a temperature between 700° C. to 750° C. to a temperature between 860° and 1000° C. and carried out using a reduced temperature gradient relative to the simple heating phase. Additionally, alternate cementing (C1-Cn) and nitridation (N1-Nn) steps are performed at constant temperature, wherein the final nitridation step is accompanied with a decrease in temperature immediately before quenching (T).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 8, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2017
    Assignee: ECM Technologies
    Inventors: Philippe Lapierre, Jerome Lardinois, Yves Giraud, Alfred Rallo