Patents by Inventor Keith Humphries Betscher

Keith Humphries Betscher 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).

  • Electron beam physical vapor deposition apparatus
    Patent number: 6946034
    Abstract: An electron beam physical vapor deposition (EBPVD) apparatus for producing a coating material (e.g., a ceramic thermal barrier coating) on an article. The EBPVD apparatus generally includes a coating chamber that is operable at elevated temperatures and subatmospheric pressures. An electron beam gun projects an electron beam into the coating chamber through an aperture in a wall of the chamber and onto a coating material within a coating region defined within the chamber, causing the coating material to melt and evaporate. An article is supported within the coating chamber so that vapors of the coating material deposit on the article. The operation of the EBPVD apparatus is enhanced by the inclusion within the coating chamber of a second chamber that encloses the aperture so as to separate the aperture from the coating region. The second chamber is maintained at a pressure lower than the coating region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 19, 2003
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2005
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Robert William Bruce, Antonio Frank Maricocchi, Christopher Lee Lagemann, John Douglas Evans, Sr., Keith Humphries Betscher, Rudolfo Viguie, David Vincent Rigney, David John Wortman, William Seth Willen
  • Method of operating an electron beam physical vapor deposition apparatus
    Patent number: 6863937
    Abstract: An electron beam physical vapor deposition (EBPVD) apparatus and a method for using the apparatus to produce a coating material (e.g., a ceramic thermal barrier coating) on an article. The EBPVD apparatus generally includes a coating chamber that is operable at elevated temperatures and subatmospheric pressures. An electron beam gun projects an electron beam into the coating chamber and onto a coating material within the chamber, causing the coating material to melt and evaporate. An article is supported within the coating chamber so that vapors of the coating material deposit on the article. The operation of the EBPVD apparatus is enhanced by the inclusion or adaptation of one or more mechanical and/or process modifications, including those necessary or beneficial when operating the apparatus at coating pressures above 0.010 mbar.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 19, 2002
    Date of Patent: March 8, 2005
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Robert William Bruce, Antonio Frank Maricocchi, Christopher Lee Lagemann, John Douglas Evans, Sr., Keith Humphries Betscher, Rudolfo Viguie, David Vincent Rigney, David John Wortman, William Seth Willen
  • Electron beam physical vapor deposition apparatus and method of using
    Publication number: 20040018303
    Abstract: An electron beam physical vapor deposition (EBPVD) apparatus and a method for using the apparatus to produce a coating material (e.g., a ceramic thermal barrier coating) on an article. The EBPVD apparatus generally includes a coating chamber that is operable at elevated temperatures and subatmospheric pressures. An electron beam gun projects an electron beam into the coating chamber and onto a coating material within the chamber, causing the coating material to melt and evaporate. An article is supported within the coating chamber so that vapors of the coating material deposit on the article. The operation of the EBPVD apparatus is enhanced by the inclusion or adaptation of one or more mechanical and/or process modifications, including those necessary or beneficial when operating the apparatus at coating pressures above 0.010 mbar.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 19, 2002
    Publication date: January 29, 2004
    Inventors: Robert William Bruce, Antonio Frank Maricocchi, Christopher Lee Lagemann, John Douglas Evans, Keith Humphries Betscher, Rudolfo Viguie, David Vincent Rigney, David John Wortman, William Seth Willen