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US 9,869,337 B2Granted
Ceramic fastener
AssigneeThe Boeing Company
InventorJulie M. Drexler
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A ceramic fastener is constructed according to a method where the ceramic fastener has an outer shell of a strong ceramic material such as alumina or zirconia, and the outer shell has an interior bore filled with a glass-ceramic material.
Claims20
A fastener comprising:
- a shell creating an exterior of the fastener, the shell having a cylindrical length with an interior bore, the interior bore extends through the shell between a first end of the interior bore and a second end of the interior bore, the shell having a head that extends over the first end of the interior bore, the shell having a shank that extends around the interior bore, the shank being one monolithic piece with the head and the shank extending from the head along the cylindrical length of the shell to the second end of the interior bore, the shell being constructed of ceramic material;
- a core inside the interior bore of the shell, the core having a length that extends from the first end of the interior bore to the second end of the interior bore, the core being constructed of glass-ceramic material;
- the interior bore of the shell being surrounded by an interior surface;
- and,
- the core having an exterior surface that extends around the core, the exterior surface of the core being bonded with the interior surface of the interior bore and pulling the shell in compression around the core.
2 more elements
A fastener comprising:
- a core having a length, the core having a first end and a second end at opposite ends of the length of the core, the core having an exterior surface that extends around the core, the core being constructed of a glass-ceramic material;
- a shell around the core, the shell being constructed of a ceramic material that is not glass-ceramic, the shell having a head that extends around the first end of the core, the shell having a shank that extends around the length of the core, the shank being one monolithic piece with the head, the shank extending from the head along the length of the core to the second end of the core;
- and,
- the shell being bonded with the exterior surface of the core and the core pulling the shell in compression around the core.
1 more element
A method of making a fastener comprising:
- forming a shell of the fastener, the shell having a length with opposite first and second ends, forming a head on the first end of the shell, forming external screw threading on a second end of the shell, forming the shell with a interior bore extending through the length of the shell;
- pouring melted pre-crystalline glass-ceramic into the interior bore of the shell;
- heat treating the melted pre-crystalline glass-ceramic inside the interior bore of the shell and heat treating the shell, causing pre-crystalline glass-ceramic to crystallize to glass-ceramic and bond to the shell and pull the shell in compression to the glass-ceramic.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.