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US 7,887,608 B2Granted
Agglomerate abrasive grains and methods of making the same
Assignee3M Innovative Properties Company
InventorsMark G. Schwabel, Dwight D. Erickson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An abrasive agglomerate includes a plurality of abrasive grains bonded together in a three-dimensional structure by a substantially continuous, non-porous inorganic binder, wherein the abrasive grains have an average size of between about 0.5 microns and about 1500 microns, the inorganic binder is less than about 75 percent, by weight, of the abrasive agglomerate, and the bulk density of the abrasive agglomerate is less than about 90 percent of the bulk density of the abrasive grains.
Claims11
A method of making a plurality of abrasive agglomerates comprising:
- providing a plurality of glass bodies comprising glass fibers, each glass body having a defined shape, said glass bodies having a softening temperature;
- providing a plurality of abrasive grains;
- mixing said plurality of glass bodies with said plurality of abrasive grains to form a mixture;
- the mixture comprising 0 grams of water or a temporary liquid binder, or the mixture comprising about 1 gram to about 5 grams of water or a temporary liquid binder per 100 grams of abrasive grains;
- heating said mixture to said softening temperature so that said glass bodies soften while substantially retaining said defined shape, wherein said abrasive grains adhere to said softened glass bodies to form a plurality of abrasive agglomerates wherein a majority of each adhered abrasive grain is exposed and not encapsulated within said softened glass bodies;
- and
- cooling said abrasive agglomerates so that said glass bodies harden.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.