Process for thermal treatment of a plastically moldable workpiece and device for such a thermal treatment
AssigneeOraMetrix, Inc.
InventorsRudger Rubbert, Friedrich Riemeier
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A process for heat treatment of a plastically moldable workpiece, by plastically molding the workpiece at a first temperature to form a shape, mechanically restraining the workpiece by means of form-fitting, bringing the workpiece to a second temperature and subjecting it at least partially to a heat treatment, and removing the workpiece, wherein mechanically restraining the workpiece by means of form-fitting is accomplished by embedding the workpiece in a densely packed pourable embedding material located in a container, wherein the embedding material is stressed. The invention also includes an apparatus for practicing the process.
Claims7
A system for heat treatment of a plastically moldable electrically conductive workpiece comprising:
- a container comprising a bed (for completely embedding the workpiece in) a densely packed pourable electrically nonconductive embedding medium and for mechanically restraining the workpiece molded to a shape at a first temperature;
- a current source and electrically conductive contact elements connectable to the molded workpiece for applying an electical current through the workpiece to heat the workpiece to a second temperature to at least partially subject the workpiece to a heat treatment;
- and
- a controller connected to the current source for controlling the second temperature by changng the current applied to the conductive contact elements from the current source, the second temperature being precisely controlled in accordance with a control loop for comparing set points to actual values, thereby enabling implementation of numerous treatment processes.
A system for heat treatment of a plastically moldable electrically conductive workpiece, the workpiece being composed of a shape memory alloy, comprising:
- a container comprising a bed for completely embedding the workpiece in a densely packed pourable electrically nonconductive embedding medium and for mechanically restraining the workpiece molded to a shape at a first temperature;
- a current source and electrically conductive contact elements connectable to the molded workpiece for applying an electical current through the workpiece to heat the workpiece to a second temperature to at least partially subject the workpiece to a heat treatment;
- and
- a controller connected to the current source for controlling the second temperature by changing the current applied to the conductive contact elements from the current source, the second temnperature being precisely controlled in accordance with a control loop for comparing set points to actual values, such that the second temperature is controlled to correspond to a temperature that imprints the restrained shape in the workpiece, thereby enabling implementation of numerous treatment processes.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.