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US 10,241,850 B2Granted
Non-magnetodielectric flux concentrator
AssigneeGrid Logic Incorporated
InventorMatthew J. Holcomb
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The invention also provides a heating apparatus including a holder capable of holding at least one part, an electric current generator and a flux concentrator electrically connected to the electric current generator, the flux concentrator being made of a non-magneto-dielectric material and having a coil with at least one turn forming an inductor to generate an alternating magnetic field that is driven by the alternating electric field, the alternating magnetic field resonating at a frequency of at least 1 MHz in response to the alternating electric current.
Claims23
A heating method comprising:
- holding a flux concentrator and at least one part in proximity to one another;
- and
- generating an alternating electric current, the flux concentrator comprising a plate of non-magnetodielectric material, the plate having a slot and a hole at an end of the slot, the hole defining the single turn having a diameter of less than 10 mm forming an inductor to generate an alternating magnetic field that is driven by the alternating electric current, the alternating magnetic field resonating at a high frequency of at least 1 MHz that is selected such that d/δ is at least 4, wherein
- δ
- =
- ρ
- π
-
- f
-
- μ
- ρ is the resistivity and μ is the permeability of the material,
- μ is the permeability of the material;
- f is the frequency of the magnetic field, and
- d is an outer dimension of the part.
12 more elements
A heating method comprising:
- holding a flux concentrator and at least one part in proximity to one another;
- and
- generating an alternating electric current, the flux concentrator being made of a non-magnetodielectric material and having a coil with at least one turn having a diameter of less than 10 mm forming an inductor to generate an alternating magnetic field that is driven by the alternating electric current, the alternating magnetic field resonating at a high frequency of at least 1 MHz that is selected such that d/δ is at least 4, wherein
- δ
- =
- ρ
- π
-
- f
-
- μ
- ρ is the resistivity and μ is the permeability of the material,
- μ is the permeability of the material;
- f is the frequency of the magnetic field, and
- d is an outer dimension of the part;
- and
- monitoring coupling of the alternating magnetic field to the part by monitoring a normalized voltage standing wave (VSWR) ratio θ as:
- θ
- =
- 1
- -
- (
- V
-
-
- S
-
-
- W
-
-
- R
- K
- >
- 0
- V
-
-
- S
-
-
- W
-
-
- R
- K
- =
- 0
- )
- where VSWRK>0 is the VSWR of circuit having the coil when it is coupled to the powder bed, and VSWRK=0 is the VSWR of the circuit when it is completely de-coupled from the powder bed.
47 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.