Heat treating assembly and method
AssigneeFederal-Mogul World Wide, Inc.
InventorsWarran Lineton, Christopher Bagnall
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The subject invention provides a heat treating assembly. The heat treating assembly comprises a laser, a substrate, and a tool. The laser emits laser energy directed toward the substrate and the tool. The substrate absorbs the laser energy and produces heat energy within the substrate that alters the substrate. The tool is disposed in removable contact with the substrate to conduct the heat energy away from the substrate to limit the altering of the substrate. Preferably, the tool has a thermal conductivity greater than that of the substrate and is more preferably a copper material, a gold material, a silver material, or an aluminum material.
Claims33
A heat treating assembly comprising:
- a laser operative to emit laser energy;
- a substrate having a defined area exposed to said laser energy to alter said defined area of said substrate;
- and
- a tool disposed in removable contact with said substrate adjacent said defined area and having a thermal conductivity greater than that of said substrate to conduct heat energy away from said defined area.
A method of altering a defined area of a substrate with laser energy from a laser, said method comprising the steps of:
- providing a substrate having a defined area exposed to the laser energy;
- providing a tool having a thermal conductivity greater than that of the substrate;
- and
- disposing the tool in removable contact with the substrate and adjacent the defined area to conduct heat energy away from the defined area and to limit the altering of substrate beyond the defined area.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.