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US 11,109,948 B2Granted
Workpiece unit and method of producing same
AssigneeKuraray Noritake Dental Inc.
InventorsYoshihisa Ito, Tetsuo Yamada
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Disclosed herein is a workpiece unit containing a workpiece body, and a holding member which is arranged at least at a part of an outer circumferential portion of the workpiece body and directly contacts with at least a part of the outer circumferential portion.
Claims17
A workpiece unit, comprising:
- a workpiece body formed from a first material with a first thermal expansion coefficient;
- and
- a holding member formed from a second material with a second thermal expansion coefficient, the second thermal expansion coefficient being larger than the first expansion coefficient,
- wherein the workpiece body has a first face, a second face arranged opposite to the first face, and outer circumferential sidewalls between the first face and the second face;
- wherein the holding member has a first holding face, a second holding face opposite to the first face, and inner circumferential sidewalls between the first holding face and the second holding face, the inner circumferential sidewalls sized and shaped to surround the workpiece body and substantially match at least a portion of the outer circumferential sidewalls;
- wherein the holding member is configured to thermally expand by heating to allow the workpiece to be inserted inside the holding member and thermally contract with the removal of heat and secure the inner circumferential sidewalls to at least a portion of the outer circumferential sidewall with contraction stress of the holding member against the workpiece body without adhesive;
- and
- wherein the holding member is configured to be removable from the workpiece body by thermally expanding the holding member by heating both the holding member and the workpiece body.
5 more elements
A method of producing a workpiece unit, the workpiece unit, comprising:
- a workpiece body formed from a first material with a first thermal expansion coefficient;
- and a holding member formed from a second material with a second thermal expansion coefficient, the second thermal expansion coefficient being larger than the first expansion coefficient, wherein the workpiece body has a first face, a second face arranged opposite to the first face, and outer circumferential sidewalls between the first face and the second face;
- wherein the holding member has a first holding face, a second holding face opposite to the first face, and inner circumferential sidewalls between the first holding face and the second holding face, the inner circumferential sidewalls sized and shaped to surround the workpiece body and substantially match at least a portion of the outer circumferential sidewalls;
- wherein the holding member is configured to thermally expand by heating to allow the workpiece to be inserted inside the holding member and thermally contract with the removal of heat and secure the inner circumferential sidewalls to at least a portion of the outer circumferential sidewall with contraction stress of the holding member against the workpiece body without adhesive;
- and wherein the holding member is configured to be removable from the workpiece body by thermally expanding the holding member by heating both the holding member and the workpiece body, the method comprising:
- expanding the holding member by heating, said holding member of a ring shape;
- inserting the workpiece body into the ring of the holding member;
- and
- mounting the holding member at the outer circumferential sidewalls of the workpiece body by contracting the holding member by cooling.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.