Patents Examined by Vanessa Luk
  • Patent number: 9679676
    Abstract: A copper wire rod with an excellent surface quality and a magnet wire, in which the occurrence of blister defects is suppressed, are provided. The copper wire rod has a composition consisting of: more than 10 ppm by mass and 30 ppm by mass or less of P; 10 ppm by mass or less of O; 1 ppm by mass or less of H; and the balance Cu and inevitable impurities, wherein hydrogen concentration after performing a heat treatment at 500° for 30 minutes in vacuum is 0.2 ppm by mass or less. The magnet wire includes: a drawn wire material produced by using the copper wire rod; and an insulating film coating an outer periphery of the drawn wire material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 13, 2017
    Assignee: MITSUBISHI MATERIALS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Masato Koide, Eiho Watanabe
  • Patent number: 9669461
    Abstract: Seizure resistance and wear resistance of Cu—Bi—In copper-alloy sliding material are enhanced by forming a soft phase of as pure as possible Bi. Mixed powder of Cu—In cuprous alloy powder and Cu—Bi containing Cu-based alloy powder is used. A sintering condition is set such that Bi moves outside particles of said Cu—Bi containing Cu-based powder and forms a Bi grain-boundary phase free of In, and In diffuses from said Cu—In containing Cu-based powder to said Cu—Bi containing Cu-based powder.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 6, 2017
    Assignee: TAIHO KOGYO CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Hitoshi Wada, Takashi Tomikawa, Daisuke Yoshitome, Hiromi Yokota
  • Patent number: 9668358
    Abstract: A Cu ball that has low ? dose and high sphericity even when containing at least a certain amount of impurity elements other than Cu. Even when the purity thereof is 99.995% or less and U and Th contents are 5 ppb or less in order to suppress any software errors and decrease connection failure, ? dose is 0.0200 cph/cm2 or less. Further, the sphericity of the Cu ball is unexpectedly improved by making the purity not more than 99.995%.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2017
    Assignee: Senju Metal Industry Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hiroyoshi Kawasaki, Takahiro Hattori, Takahiro Roppongi, Daisuke Soma, Isamu Sato
  • Patent number: 9657381
    Abstract: This high-strength steel plate has a component composition including, by mass %, C: 0.02-0.3%, Si: 1-3%, Mn: 1.8-3%, P: 0.1% or less, S: 0.01% or less, Al: 0.001-0.1%, N: 0.002-0.03%, the rest consisting of iron and impurities. Said steel plate has a microstructure including, in terms of area ratio relative to the entire microstructure, each of the following phases: bainitic ferrite: 50-85%; retained ?: 3% or greater; martensite+the aforementioned retained ?: 10-45%; and ferrite: 5-40%. The C concentration (C?R) in the aforementioned retained austenite is 0.3-1.2 mass %, part or all of the N in the aforementioned component composition is solid solution N, and the amount of said solid solution N is 30-100 ppm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 15, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 23, 2017
    Assignee: Kobe Steel, Ltd.
    Inventors: Toshio Murakami, Elijah Kakiuchi, Hideo Hata, Naoki Mizuta, Tatsuya Asai
  • Patent number: 9644372
    Abstract: This H-beam steel contains, in mass %, C, Si, Mn, Al, Ti, N, O, Nb, and B. The H-beam steel has composition in which the amount of Nb and the amount of B satisfy, in mass %, 0.070?Nb+125B?0.155, and has a metal structure in which, in a microstructure, an area fraction of bainite is not less than 70%, a total of an area fraction of pearlite and an area fraction of cementite is not more than 15%, and the remainder is at least one of ferrite and island martensite. The effective crystalline-grain size of the bainite is not more than 40 ?m, and the thickness of a flange falls in a range of 12 to 40 mm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 12, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 9, 2017
    Assignee: NIPPON STEEL & SUMITOMO METAL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kazutoshi Ichikawa, Teruyuki Wakatsuki, Noriaki Onodera, Kohichi Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 9598751
    Abstract: In a high strength cold-rolled steel plate having a specific chemical composition, a soft first phase (ferrite) has an area ratio of 20-50%, the remainder being a hard second phase (tempered martensite and/or tempered bainite), among all the ferrite grains, ferrite grains that have an average grain diameter of 10-25 ?m account for a total area ratio of 80% or more, the number of the cementite grains that have an equivalent circle diameter of 0.3 ?m or more is more than 0.15 piece and 1.0 piece or less per 1 ?m2 of ferrite, and the tensile strength is 980 MPa or more.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 24, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2017
    Assignee: Kobe Steel, Ltd.
    Inventors: Tomokazu Masuda, Katsura Kajihara, Toshio Murakami, Masaaki Miura, Muneaki Ikeda
  • Patent number: 9593395
    Abstract: One aspect of the present disclosure is directed to a metastable ? titanium alloy comprising, in weight percentages: up to 0.05 nitrogen; up to 0.10 carbon; up to 0.015 hydrogen; up to 0.10 iron; greater than 0.20 oxygen; 14.00 to 16.00 molybdenum; titanium; and incidental impurities. Articles of manufacture including the alloy also are disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 14, 2017
    Assignee: ATI PROPERTIES LLC
    Inventors: Victor R. Jablokov, Howard L. Freese
  • Patent number: 9580777
    Abstract: Disclosed are a hypereutectic white iron alloy and articles such as pump components made therefrom. Besides iron and unavoidable impurities the alloy comprises, in weight percent based on the total weight of the alloy, from 3 to 6 C, from 0.01 to 1.2 N, from 0.1 to 4 B, from 3 to 48 Cr, from 0.1 to 7.5 Ni and from 0.1 to 4 Si and, optionally, one or more of Mn, Co, Cu, Mo, W, V, Mg, Ca, rare earth elements, Nb, Ta, Ti, Zr, Hf, Al.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 8, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 28, 2017
    Inventors: Roman Radon, Raphael Radon
  • Patent number: 9566639
    Abstract: A production method for a sintered member includes preparing a raw powder, compacting the raw powder into a green compact having pores at the surface thereof, and sintering the green compact into a sintered compact. The production method also includes sealing the pores exposed at the surface of the sintered compact by at least one of plastically deforming and melting the surface of the sintered compact. The production method further includes forging the sintered compact by using a lubricant after the sealing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 2011
    Date of Patent: February 14, 2017
    Assignee: HITACHI POWDERED METALS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Tomoyuki Kohida, Katsuhiko Ueda, Kenzou Morita
  • Patent number: 9555473
    Abstract: An apparatus for increasing the bulk density of metal powder may include a sealed chamber, a nozzle, and a target. The sealed chamber may include an inert environment. The nozzle may be coupled to an inert gas source and may be configured to introduce raw metal powder into a flow of the inert gas for discharge as a cold spray mixture of the raw metal powder and the inert gas into the chamber. The target may be housed within the sealed chamber and may be configured to receive an impact of the cold spray mixture. The nozzle and the target may be configured to flatten the raw metal particles into flattened metal particles in response to the cold spray mixture impacting the target.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 8, 2011
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2017
    Assignee: The Boeing Company
    Inventor: Kevin Thomas Slattery
  • Patent number: 9550170
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to methods for producing nanoparticles. The nanoparticles may be made using ethanol as the solvent and the reductant to fabricate noble-metal nanoparticles with a narrow particle size distributions, and to coat a thin metal shell on other metal cores. With or without carbon supports, particle size is controlled by fine-tuning the reduction power of ethanol, by adjusting the temperature, and by adding an alkaline solution during syntheses. The thickness of the added or coated metal shell can be varied easily from sub-monolayer to multiple layers in a seed-mediated growth process. The entire synthesis of designed core-shell catalysts can be completed using metal salts as the precursors with more than 98% yield; and, substantially no cleaning processes are necessary apart from simple rinsing. Accordingly, this method is considered to be a “green” chemistry method.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 10, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 24, 2017
    Assignee: Brookhaven Sciecne Associates, LLC
    Inventor: Jia Xu Wang
  • Patent number: 9546412
    Abstract: A powder metal steel alloy composition for high wear and temperature applications is made by water atomizing a molten steel alloy composition containing C in an amount of at least 3.0 wt %; at least one carbide-forming alloy element selected from the group consisting of: Cr, V, Mo or W; an O content less than about 0.5 wt %, and the balance comprising essentially Fe apart from incidental impurities. The high carbon content reduces the solubility of oxygen in the melt and thus lowers the oxygen content to a level below which would cause the carbide-forming element(s) to oxidixe during water atomization. The alloy elements are thus not tied up as oxides and are available to rapidly and readily form carbides in a subsequent sintering stage. The carbon, present in excess, is also available for diffusing into one or more other admixed powders that may be added to the prealloyed powder during sintering to control microstructure and properties of the final part.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 7, 2009
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2017
    Assignee: Federal-Mogul Corporation
    Inventors: Denis B. Christopherson, Jr., Leslie John Farthing, Todd Schoenwetter, Gilles L'Esperance, Philippe Beaulieu
  • Patent number: 9540711
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to an alloy, for hardbanding and/or hard overlay applications, which is abrasion resistant to the order of siliceous earth particles and weldable in crack free state on industrial products. The alloy is a carbon chrome based alloy comprising titanium and vanadium carbides and thus has an extremely low coefficient of friction, high abrasion resistance as welded without working. In tool joints and stabilizers, the alloy achieves an optimum balance between tool joint and stabilizer wear resistance and induced casing wear. The alloy is also self-shielded and therefore does not require external shielding gas.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 27, 2012
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2017
    Inventor: Robin William Sinclair Fifield
  • Patent number: 9539372
    Abstract: We describe herein biocompatible single crystal Cu-based shape memory alloys (SMAs). In particular, we show biocompatibility based on MEM elution cell cytotoxicity, ISO intramuscular implant, and hemo-compatibility tests producing negative cytotoxic results. This biocompatibility may be attributed to the formation of a durable oxide surface layer analogous to the titanium oxide layer that inhibits body fluid reaction to titanium nickel alloys, and/or the non-existence of crystal domain boundaries may inhibit corrosive chemical attack. Methods for controlling the formation of the protective aluminum oxide layer are also described, as are devices including such biocompatible single crystal copper-based SMAs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 15, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2017
    Assignee: Ormco Corporation
    Inventor: Alfred David Johnson
  • Patent number: 9534279
    Abstract: A high-strength cold-rolled steel sheet has a chemical composition including C of 0.05% to 0.30%, Si of greater than 0% to 3.0%, Mn of 0.1% to 5.0%, P of greater than 0% to 0.1%, S of greater than 0% to 0.02%, Al of 0.01% to 1.0%, and N of greater than 0% to 0.01%, in mass percent, with the remainder including iron and inevitable impurities. The steel sheet has a microstructure containing ferrite as a soft primary phase in an area percentage of 20% to 50% with the remainder including tempered martensite and/or tempered bainite as a hard secondary phase. The ferrite grains are adapted to contain cementite particles having an appropriate size in an appropriate number density.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2012
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2017
    Assignee: Kobe Steel, Ltd.
    Inventors: Tomokazu Masuda, Hideo Hata, Katsura Kajihara, Toshio Murakami, Masaaki Miura, Muneaki Ikeda
  • Patent number: 9512509
    Abstract: A duplex stainless steel containing, by mass %: C: not more than 0.03%, Si: not more than 0.3%, Mn: not more than 3.0%, P: not more than 0.040%, S: not more than 0.008%, Cu: 0.2 to 2.0%, Ni: 5.0 to 6.5%, Cr: 23.0 to 27.0%, Mo: 2.5 to 3.5%, W: 1.5 to 4.0%, and N: 0.24 to 0.40%, the balance being Fe and impurities, wherein a ? phase susceptibility index X (=2.2Si+0.5Cu+2.0Ni+Cr+4.2Mo+0.2W) is not more than 52.0; a strength index Y (=Cr+1.5Mo+10N+3.5W) is not less than 40.5; and a pitting resistance equivalent PREW (=Cr+3.3(Mo+0.5W)+16N) is not less than 40. This duplex stainless steel is excellent in corrosion resistance and embrittlement cracking resistance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 6, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2016
    Assignee: NIPPON STEEL & SUMITOMO METAL CORPORTION
    Inventor: Shinnosuke Kurihara
  • Patent number: 9502721
    Abstract: Methods for fabricating an interconnect for a fuel cell system that include forming a metal powder into a preform structure, positioning the preform structure in a die cavity of a press apparatus, and compressing the preform structure in the press apparatus to form the interconnect. Further embodiments include use of thin inserts in the die cavity to provide reduced permeability and/or including filler material in the die cavity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 22, 2016
    Assignee: BLOOM ENERGY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Harald Herchen, Cheng-yu Lin, Michael Lesher
  • Patent number: 9487849
    Abstract: The invention provides ferritic stainless steels exhibiting good weldability and excellent corrosion resistance even under such welding conditions that sensitization is induced. The ferritic stainless steel includes, by mass %, C: 0.001 to 0.030%, Si: more than 0.3 to 0.55%, Mn: 0.05 to 0.50%, P: not more than 0.05%, S: not more than 0.01%, Cr: 19.0 to 28.0%, Ni: 0.01 to less than 0.30%, Mo: 0.2 to 3.0%, Al: more than 0.08 to 1.2%, V: 0.02 to 0.50%, Cu: less than 0.1%, Nb: 0.005 to 0.50%, Ti: 0.05 to 0.50%, and N: 0.001 to 0.030%, the balance being Fe and inevitable impurities, the ferritic stainless steel satisfying Equations (1) and (2).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 28, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2016
    Assignee: JFE STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Tomohiro Ishii, Shin Ishikawa, Hiroyuki Ogata
  • Patent number: 9469893
    Abstract: This document describes a process/strategy for age hardening nickel based alloys to create desirable properties with reduced energy expenditure. The inventive process introduces isolated atom nucleation sites to accelerate the nucleation rate by approximately 36 times, thereby permitting age hardening to occur in significantly less time and with significantly less energy expenditure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 28, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2016
    Assignee: The Florida State University Research Foundation, Inc.
    Inventors: Ke Han, Pingli Mao, Yan Xin
  • Patent number: 9445508
    Abstract: A solder alloy is a tin-silver-copper solder alloy, and contains tin, silver, copper, bismuth, nickel, and cobalt. Relative to the total amount of the solder alloy, the silver content is 2 mass % or more and 4 mass % or less, the nickel content is 0.01 mass % or more and 0.15 mass % or less, and the cobalt content is 0.001 mass % or more and 0.008 mass % or less.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 25, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 13, 2016
    Assignee: HARIMA CHEMICALS, INCORPORATED
    Inventors: Kensuke Nakanishi, Kosuke Inoue, Kazuya Ichikawa, Tetsuyuki Shigesada, Tadashi Takemoto