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AssigneesHughes Aircraft Company, General Motors Corporation
InventorsJesse N. Matossian, Paul H. Mikkola, John L. Bartelt
Estimating the term…
An article (40), such as a piece of manufacturing tooling, is modified prior to use by treating a portion of its surface (38) to be worn so that the treated surface worn more than a preselected amount has a different appearance than the treated surface worn less than the preselected amount, using a treatment process in which the treated surface is at least as wear resistant as the untreated surface. In one approach, the surface (38) is treated by implanting ions to a preselected depth. The ions are chosen so that the substrate has a different color at depths less than the preselected depth than does the substrate at depths greater than the preselected depth. After wear, the treated surface is visually inspected for color variations that indicate wear to more than the preselected depth. The surface treatment can also be accomplished by ion implanting or ion beam mixing a previously deposited surface coating.
A process for evaluating the extent of wear of manufacturing tooling, comprising the steps of:
A process for evaluating the extent of wear of manufacturing tooling, comprising the steps of:
A process for evaluating the extent of wear of manufacturing tooling, comprising the steps of:
A process for evaluating the extent of wear of a selected article, comprising the steps of:
A process for evaluating the extent of wear of a selected article, comprising the steps of:
A process for evaluation the extent of wear of a selected article, comprising the steps of:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.