Wall member useful in quenching
AssigneeROLLS-ROYCE plc
InventorsGangshu Shen, Nathan J. Cooper, Nathan Wesley Ottow, Robert Louis Goetz, John F. Matlik
Life of this patent
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Abstract
In some examples, an apparatus includes a pallet supporting a plurality of workpieces, the pallet including through-holes structured to pass a quenching fluid. In some examples, the apparatus further includes a reservoir of quenching fluid configured to provide the quenching fluid, and a plurality of upturned wall portions extending from the pallet and substantially surrounding the exteriors of the plurality of workpieces. The plurality of upturned wall portions may be located in relative orientation to the plurality of workpieces to regulate heat transfer coefficients of the plurality of workpieces during a quenching operation.
Claims9
A method comprising:
- loading a pallet with a workpiece, the pallet including through-holes structured to pass a quenching fluid;
- locating the workpiece proximate to an upturned portion of a wall member that extends from the pallet and substantially surround the exterior of the workpiece to control a heat transfer coefficient of the workpiece, wherein the relative orientation of the wall member and the workpiece slows circulation of quenching fluid in a region between the wall member and the workpiece to affect a heat transfer coefficient in the region;
- indexing the workpiece relative to the upturned portion of the wall member to define a gap distance between the workpiece and the upturned portion of the wall member;
- moving the pallet with the workpiece to a furnace for a heat treatment process;
- and
- after the heat treatment process, immersing the wall member and the workpiece within a quenching fluid as part of a quenching operation.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.