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US 5,846,352 AGranted
Heat treatment of a platinum-gallium alloy for jewelry
OwnerSteven Kretchmerinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A platinum alloy containing 1 to 9 percent gallium and minor amounts of property enhancing additives, eg. up to 3% Pd. This alloy can be heat-treated to a Vickers hardness that is increased by at least over 25% beyond its initial, untreated value and typically to at least over 300 HV. The heat-treatment process includes the steps of solution-treating the alloy, followed by quenching and a hardening heat-treatment to achieve the desired hardness and strength. The alloy is useful as a component of jewelry, art objects or related articles.
Claims11
A method for making jewelry, which comprises:
- formulating a platinum alloy which consists essentially of at least about 95 weight percent platinum, about 1 to 5 weight percent gallium, and an additional alloying element of palladium in an amount effective as a property enhancing agent but less than about 3 weight percent, said alloy having an initial Vickers hardness;
- heat-treating the alloy to increase the Vickers hardness by at least about 25% but to not greater than a Vickers hardness of 385;
- and
- utilizing the heat-treated alloy as a component of jewelry.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.