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US 6,743,384 B2Granted
Anisotropic heat diffuser plate
AssigneeHoneywell International Inc.
InventorsKen S. Lukas, Chenglung E. Yen
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AssigneeHoneywell International Inc.
InventorsKen S. Lukas, Chenglung E. Yen
Estimating the term…
A method and apparatus for ensuring uniform temperature regulation of a mold cavity (90) during a mold process is disclosed. An anisotropic diffuser member(s) (100) is/are utilized for rapid providing heat transfer in preferred directions. An anisotropic diffuser member (100) is arranged within or along a mold cavity (90) to ensure that heat is transferred uniformly and rapidly along the target wall of the mold cavity (90). The anisitropic diffuser member (100) may be manufactured from a lay up of graphite fiber reinforced composites that have individual fibers (101) arranged in a uniform direction, e.g., having a characteristic grain. Since heat travels faster along the length (grain) of the individual fibers (101) of the diffuser member (100) than at angles opposed to it, an operator can manipulate heat transfer to ensure that heat is spread evenly along mold cavity (90) walls in a manner that avoids undesirable temperature gradients or hot spots.
A method of controlling process temperatures in a molding apparatus, said method comprising the steps of:
A mold assembly for a molding process comprising:
A mold assembly for a molding process comprising:
An anisotropic diffuser plate for a mold assembly, said diffuser plate comprising a fibrous composite having a plurality of discontinuous fibers each having a respective length, said fibers arranged in a lay-up with said length of each fiber being discontinuously arranged in a lay-up plane to achieve a substantially uniform heat transfer within said diffuser member, wherein said diffuser member permits a rapid transfer of heat along said length of each fiber within said lay-up plane.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.