Expanding blade for use in manufacturing micro-expanded metal mesh foils and methods of fabricating the same
AssigneeACS Industries, Inc.
InventorGeorge Greenwood
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present disclosure relates to the manufacture of expanded metal mesh, and more particularly to a novel expanding blade which may be used for micro-expanding very thin metal mesh foil sheets (12.5µm to 50µm thickness) with a mesh pore size of about 5µm to about 50µm and a porosity (mesh open area) of 10-50%. The expanding blade may have a blade tooth pitch of 15µm to 75µm (400 – 1440 teeth per inch). The disclosure further relates to laser ablation and wire EDM methods of fabricating an expanding blade with the identified tooth pitch and characteristics.
Claims14
An expanding blade for use in micro-expanding a metal foil sheet having a thickness of 12.5µm to 50µm thickness, the expanding blade comprising:
- a generally rectangular tungsten carbide body having a length, width and depth,
- said body including a plurality of expanding teeth with a tooth pitch of about 15µm to about 75µm, a trough depth between teeth of about 34µm to about 130µm, and a tooth end width of about 4µm to about 19µm,
- wherein said expanding blade is capable of producing a metal expanded mesh foil with a mesh pore size of about 5µm to about 50µm, and a porosity (mesh open area) of about 10-50%.
A method of fabricating an expanding blade for use in micro-expanding a metal foil sheet having a thickness of 12.5µm to 50µm thickness, the method comprising the steps of:
- providing a generally rectangular tungsten carbide body having a length, width and depth;
- and
- ablating material from the tungsten carbide body using a green wavelength femtosecond fiber laser to produce a plurality of expanding teeth with a tooth pitch of about 15µm to about 75µm, a trough depth between teeth of about 34µm to about 130µm, and a tooth end width of about 4µm to about 19µm.
A method of fabricating an expanding blade for use in micro-expanding a metal foil sheet having a thickness of 12.5µm to 50µm thickness, the method comprising the steps of:
- providing a generally rectangular tungsten carbide body having a length, width and depth;
- and
- removing material from the tungsten carbide body using an Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM) wire to produce a plurality of expanding teeth with a tooth pitch of about 37µm to about 75µm.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.