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US 4,904,537 AGranted
Copper-lead composite bearing material having fine lead size and method of producing same
AssigneeFederal-Mogul Corporation
InventorMichael D. Lytwynec
Life of this patent
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AssigneeFederal-Mogul Corporation
InventorMichael D. Lytwynec
Estimating the term…
An improved process and an improved composite bearing material produced thereby comprising a hard metal backing strip having leaded-bronze bearing lining tenaciously bonded to at least one face surface thereof and wherein the bearing lining is characterized by having the lead constituent thereof substantially uniformly distributed throughout the lining matrix in the form of extremely fine-sized particles providing improved operating characteristics to the bearing materials fabricated therefrom. In accordance with the process aspects of the present invention, the steel backing strip is provided with a metallic plating composed predominantly of nickel to at least the face on which a prealloyed leaded-bronze powder of a controlled composition is applied and is thereafter sintered at a controlled temperature for a short period of time sufficient to effect a liquid phase sintering of the powder together and the formation of a bond between the powder layer and the metallic plating on the face of the backing strip whereafter the sintered composite strip is cooled and is compacted usually at temperatures below about 300.degree. F. to effect a substantially complete densification of the powder layer. The composite strip is again reheated at a controlled temperature and for a brief period of time sufficient to further enhance the physical properties of the bearing lining and to further enhance the strength of the bond between the lining and backing strip under controlled conditions to inhibit growth of the fine-sized lead particles into undesirable larger particles. The composite strip is thereafter again cooled and may be subjected to a further compaction at moderate warm temperatures to achieve still further densification and to improve the physical properties and sizing of the composite strip.
A composite bearing material comprising a steel backing strip having a leaded-bronze bearing lining tenaciously bonded to at least one face thereof, said composite bearing material further characterized as having a phase composed predominantly of nickel interfacing the bond between said backing strip and said bearing lining, said bearing lining being substantially fully dense and containing about 8 percent to about 35 percent lead, up to about 10 percent tin and the balance essentially all copper, said bearing lining further characterized by the lead constituent thereof being substantially uniformly distributed throughout the bearing lining in the form of fine-sized lead particles having an average size less that about 8 microns.
A process for making a composite bearing material comprising a steel backing strip having a leaded-bronze bearing lining tenaciously bonded to at least one face thereof which comprises the steps of:
A process for making a composite bearing material comprising a steel backing strip having a leaded-bronze bearing lining tenaciously bonded to at least one face thereof which comprises the steps of:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.