Back to results
US 4,360,956 AGranted
Piston having at least one piston ring groove
AssigneeSteigerwald Strahltechnik GmbH
InventorWalther Hiller
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Loading patent…
Loading patent…
AssigneeSteigerwald Strahltechnik GmbH
InventorWalther Hiller
Estimating the term…
A piston made of an aluminum alloy has at least one piston ring groove defined by two side walls and a bottom wall. At least one preferably both side walls of the piston ring groove(s) are formed or defined by a zone, which has been hardened by an energy beam remelting process. The remelted zone may comprise alloy elements other than or more concentrated than the alloy elements comprised in the other portion of the piston, said additional alloy elements being introduced into said zone in the course of the remelting process. Each piston ring groove side wall may be formed by an individual remelted zone, or both sidewalls of a piston ring groove may be formed by the same remelted zone. The additional alloy elements may be applied in the form of a layer or a wire to the location of the surface of the piston, where subsequently a remelted zone is formed by the energy beam. The energy beam is preferably an electron beam, however, ion and laser beams may also be used.
A method of forming a piston formed with a body of aluminum alloy, which after being formed has an essentially cylindrical side surface with at least one piston ring annular groove exhibiting two side walls, with at least one side wall of said piston ring annular groove formed by application of at least one additional alloy element which is alloyed with said body of aluminum alloy and hardened by an energy beam process;
A method of reinforcing an aluminum alloy piston ring groove, wherein an annular wear-resistant weld is formed by fusing the piston body to a certain depth around the periphery thereof in the zone where a ring groove is to be cut, with simultaneous introduction of an alloying addition into the molten piston alloy, whereupon the ring groove is cut in the periphery of said weld.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.