Patents by Inventor E. Darrell Erikson

E. Darrell Erikson has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 4006268
    Abstract: An improved method is disclosed for coating substrates, such as turbine engine parts, at high rates by a physical vapor deposition process. The substrate to be coated and a vapor source, such as a metal alloy, heated by an electron beam, are placed in a chamber in which a gas pressure of greater than about 5 mT is maintained. When the source material is evaporated at a very high rate, such as greater than about 0.1 g/s or 13 g/s.m.sup. 2, the vapor is collimated and the collimation increases as the gas pressure or the evaporation rate increases. Collimation of the vapor allows a much higher deposition rate for a given evaporation power. Further, a much higher fraction of the evaporated material is deposited on the substrate. Despite the collimation, evaporated material deposits on areas of the substrate which are not in line-of-sight of the vapor source. If desired a substrate bias can be applied to bombard the substrate with ions before and during coating.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 1975
    Date of Patent: February 1, 1977
    Assignee: Airco, Inc.
    Inventors: Kurt D. Kennedy, E. Darrell Erikson, Glen R. Scheuermann