With Ageing, Solution Treating (i.e., For Hardening), Precipitation Hardening Or Strengthening Patents (Class 148/685)
  • Patent number: 6063217
    Abstract: High strength, high conductivity copper alloy wire and a cable therefrom and method for manufacturing same, wherein the copper alloy contains chromium from 0.15-1.30%, zirconium from 0.01-0.15% and the balance essentially copper. The alloy wire is heat treated, cold worked to an intermediate gage, heat treated, cold worked to final gage, and finally heat treated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 9, 1998
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2000
    Assignee: Fisk Alloy Wire, Inc.
    Inventors: Joseph Saleh, Eric Fisk
  • Patent number: 6059905
    Abstract: A treatment process is provided for a copper-beryllium alloy comprising from about 0.2% to about 0.7% beryllium, no greater than 3.5% of cobalt and/or nickel, no greater than 0.5% of titanium and/or zirconium and at least 90% copper, wherein the alloy has been cold worked to a ready-to-finish gauge, comprising the steps of annealing the cold worked ready-to-finish gauge copper-beryllium alloy at a temperature from about 1500.degree. F. to about 1685.degree. F., cold working the annealed copper-beryllium alloy to reduce its gauge to a range of from about 20% to about 60%, and age hardening the copper-beryllium alloy at a temperature of from about 700.degree. F. to about 950.degree. F. for about 1 to about 7 hours. The alloy is characterized by satisfactory levels of strength and electrical conductivity as well as enhanced levels of formability, particularly in the direction parallel to the direction of rolling the alloy.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 1995
    Date of Patent: May 9, 2000
    Assignee: NGK Metals Corporation
    Inventors: Sam Friedman, Sherwood Goldstein, Yoshio Ito
  • Patent number: 5893953
    Abstract: A copper base alloy consisting essentially of tin in an amount from about 0.1 to about 1.5% by weight phosphorous in an amount from about 0.01 to about 0.35% by weight, iron in an amount from about 0.01 to about 0.8% by weight, zinc in an amount from about 1.0 to about 15% by weight, and the balance essentially copper, including phosphide particles uniformly distributed throughout the matrix, is described. The alloy is characterized by an excellent combination of physical properties. The process of forming the copper base alloy described herein includes casting, homogenizing, rolling, process annealing and stress relief annealing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 16, 1997
    Date of Patent: April 13, 1999
    Assignee: Waterbury Rolling Mills, Inc.
    Inventor: Ashok K. Bhargava
  • Patent number: 5846346
    Abstract: This invention relates to a high strength, high electrical conductivity copper alloy having excellent mechanical and physical properties, including thermal softening resistance, in which precipitate particles are finely dispersed (growth of the precipitate is suppressed), and the production process. The alloy is the precipitation suppressed copper alloy consisted of 0.5.about.4.0 wt % nickel, 0.1.about.1.0 wt % silicon, 0.05.about.0.8 wt % tin (Sn) and balance copper and inevitable impurities, wherein sizes of precipitate particles are below 0.5 .mu.m. The production process includes the steps of melting and casting raw materials, surface machining and cold rolling of the ingot, subjecting the cold rolled ingot to a precipitation process at a temperature ranging 450.about.520 deg. C. for 5.about.12 hours, cold rolling the precipitation processed material, and subjecting the cold rolled material to a tension annealing process at a temperature ranging 350.about.550 deg. C. for below 90 seconds.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 26, 1996
    Date of Patent: December 8, 1998
    Assignee: Poongsan Corporation
    Inventors: Dong Woo Lee, In Dal Kim
  • Patent number: 5824167
    Abstract: In the present invention, in order to minimize the amount of deformation due to heat treatment, the content of Be is lowered than the conventional ones, and the decrease in strength accompanied by decreasing Be, is compensated by dissolving strengthening of Si and Al, and precipitation strengthening of intermetallic compounds NiBe and CoBe. Further, by precipitating such intermetallic compounds, workability and heat resistance are also improved simultaneously and aging treatment conditions are also made flexible. Thus, according to the present invention, a beryllium-copper alloy having excellent strength, workability and heat resistance, can be provided economically, and particularly as for aging materials, users' burden can be markedly decreased.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 1995
    Date of Patent: October 20, 1998
    Assignee: NGK Insulators, Ltd.
    Inventors: Shuhei Ishikawa, Hiroyuki Hiramitsu, Yoshihisa Ishiguro, Kazumasa Yashiro
  • Patent number: 5814168
    Abstract: High-strength, high-electroconductivity copper alloys are produced by preparing an ingot of a copper alloy containing 0.05-0.40 wt % Fe, 0.05-0.40 wt % Ni, 0.01-0.30 wt % P, and optionally a total of 0.03-0.50 wt % of either Sn or Zn or both and a total of 0.05-0.50 wt % of at least one element of Ag, B, Mn, Cr, Si, Ti or Zr, with the balance being Cu and incidental impurities, heating the ingot to 800.degree. to 950.degree. C. and hot working it by a reduction ratio of 50% or more, quenching the hot worked material from 600.degree. C. or above to 300.degree. C. or below at a cooling rate of at least 1.degree. C./sec, heat treating the quenched material at 380.degree. to 520.degree. C. for 60 to 600 minutes without performing cold working, and cold working and heat treating it at 450.degree. C. or below, to precipitate an Fe--Ni--P system intermetallic compound in the Cu matrix as uniform and fine grains not larger than 50 nanometers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 1996
    Date of Patent: September 29, 1998
    Assignee: Dowa Mining Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Koichi Hatakeyama, Akira Sugawara, Toshihiro Kanzaki
  • Patent number: 5798008
    Abstract: A method for producing copper alloy materials for molds for continuous steel casting and molds as produced by the method. The molds are highly resistant to thermal fatigue and are hardly cracked. To produce the materials, cast ingots of a copper-based chromium-zirconium alloy comprising from 0.2 to 1.5% by weight of Cr and from 0.02 to 0.2% by weight of Zr are heated at between 900.degree. C. and 1000.degree. C. for 30 minutes or longer and then rolled, while hot, at a reduction ratio of 60% or more to be at 850.degree. C. or higher at which the hot rolling is finished , and immediately after the hot rolling, these are rapidly cooled to 400.degree. C. or lower at a cooling rate of 10.degree.C./sec or more, and then aged at between 400.degree. C. and 520.degree. C. for from 1 hour to 5 hours.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 15, 1996
    Date of Patent: August 25, 1998
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Materials Corporation
    Inventors: Keishi Nogami, Masato Koide, Takashi Morimoto, Yutaka Koshiba
  • Patent number: 5651844
    Abstract: In accordance with one aspect of the present invention is the metamorphic processing of a beryllium-copper alloy. The alloy is (i) thermodynamically treated for greater than about 10 hours at a temperature generally within a range of 900.degree. to 1500.degree. F., (ii) warm worked at greater than about 30% strain at a strain rate greater than or equal to about (2.210.times.10.sup.7)/exp[(2.873.times.10.sup.4)/(T+459.4.degree.)], where T is in .degree. F., at the temperature, (iii) annealed at a temperature between 1375.degree. and 1500.degree. F. for about 15 minutes to about 3 hours, (iv) water quenched, and (v) thermal hardened at a temperature generally within a range of about 480.degree. and 660.degree. F. Grain size is reduced with concomitant improvements in ultimate strength, toughness, total elongation, % reduction in area and ultrasonic inspectability.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 7, 1996
    Date of Patent: July 29, 1997
    Assignee: Brush Wellman Inc.
    Inventor: Edward B. Longenberger
  • Patent number: 5443665
    Abstract: A method of manufacturing an improved conductor wire, especially for use as wiring in audio/video devices is disclosed. The conductor consists of copper having a high purity of at least 99.9 wt. %. High purity copper starting material is formed as a rod which is then heat treated at a temperature in the range of 400.degree. C. to 700.degree. C. for 1 minute to 24 hours. The heat treated rod is then cold worked with a reduction in area of at least 65%. This method provides an electrical conductor wire which avoids irregularities of electron density and thereby eliminates phase differences in a high frequency signal, such as an audio or video signal, passing through the wire to obtain clear transmission and reproduction of an audio sound or video image. The method of the invention increases the residual resistance ratio of the conductor wire to at least 179 or by at least 20% as compared to a conventional conductor which is not heat treated according to the invention.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 1994
    Date of Patent: August 22, 1995
    Assignee: Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd.
    Inventors: Tadanori Sano, Kazuo Sawada, Yoshihiro Nakai, Kenji Miyazaki
  • Patent number: 5407499
    Abstract: A tubular blank made of an age-hardening copper alloy is annealed and quenched; whereupon a mandrel of the final shape and size of the interior cavity of the mold to be made is inserted; whereupon the blank is forced onto the mandrel primarily by drawing, but also rolling, forging, electrodynamically or hydrostatically shaping, or a combination thereof is considered.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 14, 1993
    Date of Patent: April 18, 1995
    Assignee: KM Kabelmetal A.G.
    Inventor: Horst Gravemann
  • Patent number: 5391243
    Abstract: A wire for electric railways comprises a copper alloy which consists essentially, by weight percent, of 0.1 to 1.0% Cr, 0.01 to 0.3% Zr, and 10 ppm or less O, and if required, further contains at least one element selected from the group consisting of 0.01 to 0.1% Si and 0.001 to 0.05% Mg, with the balance being Cu and inevitable impurities. The wire is manufactured by hot working a copper alloy billet having the above composition, immediately quenching the hot worked billet to prepare an element wire, cold working the element wire at least once, and subjecting the cold worked element wire to aging treatment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 28, 1993
    Date of Patent: February 21, 1995
    Assignees: Mitsubishi Materials Corporation, Railway Technical Research Institute
    Inventors: Motoo Goto, Shizuo Kawakita, Yoshiharu Mae, Takuro Iwamura, Yutaka Koshiba, Kenji Yajima, Syunji Ishibashi, Hiroki Nagasawa, Atsushi Sugahara, Sumihisa Aoki, Haruhiko Asao
  • Patent number: 5370753
    Abstract: A process for cladding precious metals to precipitation hardenable materials. In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, are the steps of (i) placing a precious metal layer of a first selected thickness atop a selected beryllium-copper alloy base metal strip of a second selected thickness to approximate a desired final product thickness, (ii) cold rolling the layer and strip to reduce their respective thicknesses by generally more than 50%, (iii) heating the layer and strip to a first selected temperature generally within a range of 1000.degree.-1300.degree. F., (iv) maintaining the first temperature for a first selected time to promote metallic bonding of the layer to the strip while softening the base metal, (v) pickling the layer and strip to remove surface oxides, (vi) cold rolling the layer and strip to a thickness generally 11% greater than that of the desired final product thickness, (vii) heating the layer and strip to a second selected temperature generally within a range of 1250.degree.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 1993
    Date of Patent: December 6, 1994
    Assignee: Brush Wellman Inc.
    Inventors: Philip W. Lees, William S. Loewenthal
  • Patent number: 5354388
    Abstract: A process for producing the beryllium-copper alloy comprises the steps of casing a beryllium-copper alloy composed essentially of 1.00 to 2.00% by weight of Be, 0.18 to 0.35% by weight of Co, and the balance being Cu, rolling the cast beryllium-copper alloy, annealing the alloy at 500.degree. to 800.degree. C. for 2 to 10 hours, then cold rolling the annealed alloy at a reduction rate of not less than 40%, annealing the cold rolled alloy again at 500.degree. to 800.degree. C. for 2 to 10 hours, thereafter cold rolling the alloy to a desired thickness, and subjecting the annealed alloy to a final solid solution treatment. The beryllium-copper alloy obtained by this producing process is also disclosed, in which an average grain size is not more than 20 .mu.m, and a natural logarithm of a coefficient of variation of the grain size is not more than 0.25.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 11, 1993
    Date of Patent: October 11, 1994
    Assignee: NGK Insulators, Ltd.
    Inventors: Keigo Nojiri, Takaharu Iwadachi
  • Patent number: 5248351
    Abstract: A copper alloy for an electronic device comprises 2.0 wt% -8 wt% of Ni, 0.1 wt% -0.8 wt% of P, 0.06 wt% -1 wt% of Si and the rest being Cu and unavoidable impurities.The rest may include 0.03 wt% -2.0 wt% of Zn. The copper allow has an oxygen content of 20 ppm or less.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 18, 1992
    Date of Patent: September 28, 1993
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kenji Kubozono, Takashi Nakagima, Takefumi Itou, Kimio Hashizume, Shinichi Iwase
  • Patent number: 5198044
    Abstract: Process for the preparation of a substantially homogeneous alpha phase copper-nickel-tin alloy comprising copper and 4-18% by weight of nickel and 3-13% by weight of tin, comprising atomizing a molten alloy having the before-indicated composition and collecting atomized particles on a collecting surface in such a way that solid collected material is obtained having a temperature, of at least 700.degree. C., followed by quick cooling of the collected material to a temperature below 300.degree. C.The alloy thus obtained may be hardened, preferably after shaping, by spinodal decomposition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 9, 1991
    Date of Patent: March 30, 1993
    Assignee: Shell Research Limited
    Inventors: Jeroen Colijn, Gerrit J. H. Mol, Piet Krahmer, Allan D. Steele
  • Patent number: 5196074
    Abstract: A method is disclosed for manufacturing a finished product which consists at least partially of a copper nickel and tin based alloy which has undergone spinodal decomposition. A liquid bath of the Cu Ni Sn based alloy is prepared containing also titanium and possibly lead. A semi-finished product is formed by spray-deposition of this alloy onto a backing then transformed with an annealing stage followed by rapid tempering. The product obtained after transformation of the semi-finished product is subjected to a heat annealing treatment in order to carry out spinodal decomposition of the part of the said product which is constituted by Cu Ni Sn based alloy, to obtain a finished product. A semi-finished product or product is obtained by this method. Connectors and machinable products based on Cu Ni Sn and of high and homogeneous hardness are manufactured.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 6, 1991
    Date of Patent: March 23, 1993
    Assignee: Trefimetaux
    Inventors: Jean-Marie Welter, Pierre Naudot