Metal Coating Method

Abstract

This invention discloses a metal coating method whereby an abrasion resistant and wear resistant coating is first applied to the metal object, the coated metal object is then fused onto the metal object, followed by cooling in a press quench machine, and the resulting coated metal object is more abrasion resistant and wear resistant while retaining the metal object's original shape.

Description

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable

REFERENCE TO SEQUENCE LISTING, A TABLE, OR A COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTING COMPACT DISC

Not Applicable

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention discloses a metal coating method whereby an abrasion resistant and wear resistant coating is first applied to the metal object, the coating is then fused onto the metal object such that the resulting coated metal object is more abrasion resistant and wear resistant while retaining the metal object's original shape, and the coated metal object is then cooled in a press quench machine.

Background of the Invention

This application is a continuation in part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/173,059 filed Feb. 5, 2014, which was a conversion of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/818,436 filed May, 2013. The benefit of the earlier filing dates of the aforementioned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/173,059 and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/818,436 is hereby claimed.

Metal objects such as disks and blades are used in the agricultural and construction industries to breakup soil and other materials. During the use of these metal objects, they are exposed to abrasive conditions that cause the objects to wear out. Several attempts have been made to extend the life of the objects by affixing abrasive resistant and wear resistant coatings onto the metal objects, which would then decrease maintenance time and replacement costs. Pasted on abrasive resistant and wear resistant coatings scrape off during use of the metal object. Well known fusing techniques deform the metal object and change the hardness properties of the metal due to heating involved in the application techniques. This metal coating method discloses a fusing technique that allows an abrasive resistant and wear resistant coating to be fused to a metal object while insuring that the metal object retains its initial shape and hardness with the use of a specially designed press quench machine.

In U.S. Pat. No. 7,631,702 Hansen claims a fused hard-faced double coated rotary tempered metal harrow disk blade, which, because it is concave, by its nature retains its shape upon cooling. The metal coating method described herein is for applying a durable coating to a tempered metal object that is not concave. The coating may be applied to one side or both sides of the metal object to result in a metal object that is abrasion and wear resistant. And when cooled after the fusing technique, the original shape of the metal object is preserved.

In U.S. Pat. No. 6,264,886 Mizuta teaches a method of fusing metallic powder into a solid with a predetermined shape by pouring the metallic powder into a mold and then heating until the powder is fused into a solid, whereas the present disclosure reveals a method of fusing a metallic coating onto a metal object while retaining the shape and hardness of said metal object.

In U.S. Pat. No. 9,347,110 Hill, teaches the press quench machine used in this application comprising a collection of stops and die plates that hold the coated metal object in the coated metal object's original shape and a plurality of nozzles that spray coolant directly at the coated metal object for the purpose of cooling heated metal objects while holding the metal object under pressure to ensure that the shape of the metal object before heating is retained herein incorporated by reference and hereafter identified as the “press quench machine”.

In U.S. Patent Application 61/818,436 Hill teaches of a wear coating and method of application to a flat agricultural disk.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A method of applying an abrasive resistant and wear resistant coating to metal objects where the metal object is first cleaned to remove rust, dirt and other foreign material from the surface of the metal object, followed by coating all or a portion of the metal object with an abrasive resistant and wear resistant coating, the coated metal object then being thermally treated in an atmosphere controlled furnace to fuse the abrasive resistant and wear resistant coating to the metal object producing a coated metal object. The coated metal object is then removed from the atmosphere-controlled furnace and inserted into a press quench machine as revealed in U.S. Pat. No. 9,347,110.

The press quench machine is designed with a pressure assembly with a plurality of stops and plurality of upper vertical die plates and a plurality lower vertical die plates. Said stops, upper vertical die plates and lower vertical die plates designed to form the structure of a metal object such that when the metal object is heated and then inserted into the pressure assembly, pressure is placed on the metal object to ensure that as the metal object cools it retains its original shape. The press quench machine further consists of a quenchant bath to facilitate the cooling of the heated metal object.

After cooling, the coated metal object can be tempered to ensure proper hardness.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a one-line drawing of the method of coating a metal object;

FIG. 2 is a display of the press quench machine, which comprises a pressure assembly, a quenchant bath and a recirculation tank;

FIG. 3 is a display of the pressure assembly, including the upper base plate, lower base plate, a plurality of upper vertical die plates extending downward from the upper base mount, a plurality of lower vertical die plates extending upward from the lower base plate, a plurality of stops, and a plurality of nozzles that spray quenchant onto the metal object;

FIG. 4A displays the out of phase nature of the vertical die plate when the metal object is not flat;

FIG. 4B is a display of the vertical die plates and stops associated with the shape of the metal object; and

FIG. 5 is a display of the recirculation tank, including heat exchanger.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A method of coating a metal object 1 that makes the resulting coated metal object more resistant to abrasion and wear while retaining the metal object's original shape and hardness comprising first a means of cleaning 2 the metal object with the use of abrasives, then a means of coating 3 the metal object with the abrasive resistant and wear resistant coating. The abrasive resistant and wear resistant coating being applied by any one or a combination of the methods including but not limited to pouring, brushing, spraying, or dipping onto the surface of the metal object in the area to be coated. Once the abrasive resistant and wear resistant coating is applied, the coated metal object is dried 4 and then inserted into an atmosphere controlled furnace 5 to fuse the coating to the metal object. The coated metal object is then removed from the atmosphere-controlled furnace 5, inserted into a press quench machine 6.

The press quench machine 6 comprises a pressure assembly 8, a quenchant bath 9 and a recirculation tank 10.

The pressure assembly 8 is that portion of the press quench machine that holds and applies pressure to a metal object 11 and comprises a plurality of stops 12, an upper base mount 13 with a plurality of upper vertical die plates 14 extending downward from the upper base mount 13, a lower base mount 15 with a plurality of lower vertical die plates 16 extending upward from the lower base mount 15. The plurality of stops 12 located around the upper base mount 13 and lower base mount 15 ensure that when the metal object 11 is inserted into the pressure assembly 8, between the upper base mount 13 and the lower base mount 15, the metal object 11 is properly oriented relative to the plurality of upper vertical die plates 14 and the plurality of lower vertical die plates 16. The plurality of upper vertical die plates 14 extend downward from the upper base mount and the plurality of lower vertical die plates 16 extend upward from the lower base mount and the plurality of upper vertical die plates 14 and the plurality of lower vertical die plates 16 are designed so that the ends opposite the respective upper base mount and lower base mount form a framework that along with the plurality of stops 12, create a framework that conforms to the original shape of the metal object 11 so that when the upper vertical dies plates 14 and lower vertical die plates 16 are pressed against the metal object 11 the combined upper vertical die plates 14, lower vertical die plates 16 and plurality of stops 12 apply pressure to the metal object 11 so that as the metal object 11 is cooled, the metal object 11 retains its original shape. The height of the upper base mount 13 relative to the lower base mount 15 is adjustable so that when a metal object 11 is inserted between the upper base mount 13 and the lower base mount 15, the upper base mount 13 can be lowered onto the metal object 11 to exert pressure on the metal object 11. There is also a plurality of nozzles 20 attached to the pressure assembly 8.

The height of the pressure assembly 8 is adjustable such that the pressure assembly 8 can be lowered into the quenchant bath 9. The quenchant bath 9 is of sufficient size so that the quenchant bath 9 can be filled with sufficient quenchant to cool the metal object 11 held by the pressure assembly 8, allow the pressure assembly 8 to be completely submerged during cooling, and does not allow the quenchant to overflow the quenchant bath 9.

The recirculation tank 10 holds additional quenchant, comprises a heat exchanger 17, is connected to the quenchant bath 9 by a plurality bath hoses 18 and the recirculation tank 10 is connected to the pressure assembly 8 by separate plurality of cooling hoses 19. There is also a means of transferring the hot quenchant from the quenchant bath 9 to the recirculation tank 10 through the bath hoses 18 and a means of transferring cooled quenchant from the recirculation tank 10 to the nozzles of the pressure assembly 8 through the cooling hoses 19. The bath hoses 18 from the quenchant bath 9 to the recirculation tank 10 transfers heated quenchant from the quenchant bath 9 to the recirculation tank 10. The heat exchanger 17 within the recirculation tank then extracts excess heat from the heated quenchant. The cooled quenchant can then be transferred from the recirculation tank 10 through the cooling hoses 19 to the pressure assembly 8. At the pressure assembly 8, the cooling hoses are connected to a plurality of nozzles 20 that spray the cooled quenchant on the metal object 11 as the metal object 11 is being submerged and while the metal object 11 is being submerged and directing the spray evenly across the metal object while submerged such that the spray ensures the metal object 11 evenly cools.

In one preferred embodiment of the press quench machine 1, the metal object 11 is a flat circular disk so that the pressure assembly 8 is set up so that the plurality of stops 12, upper vertical die plates 14 and lower vertical die plates 16 are set to accept, apply pressure to and ensure the retention of the original shape of said flat circular disk.

In a second preferred embodiment of the press quench machine 1, the metal object 11 is an undulating circular disk so that the pressure assembly 8 is set up so that the plurality of stops 12, upper vertical die plates 14 and lower vertical die plates 16 are set to accept, apply pressure to and ensure the retention of the original shape of said undulating circular disk.

The press quench machine 6 is then activated so that the coated metal object 11 is held and submerged into a quenchant bath 9 of the press quench machine 6, said quenchant bath 9 being comprised of oil quenchant or synthetic quenchant, and the coated metal object 11 remains submerged until the coated metal object 11 is cooled. After cooling, the coated metal object 11 can be tempered 21 to ensure proper hardness.

One preferred embodiment of the method of coating a metal object 1 involves affixing the wear resistant and abrasion resistant coating 3 along the outside perimeter of a flat circular blade surface, fusing said coating to the flat circular blade in an atmosphere controlled furnace 5, removing said coated flat circular blade from the atmosphere controlled furnace 5 at the appropriate temperature, and inserting said coated flat circular blade into a press quench machine 6 to cool while ensuring that the coated flat circular blade retains its original shape, and then tempering the coated flat circular blade.

A second preferred embodiment of the method of coating a metal object 1 involves affixing the wear resistant and abrasion resistant coating along the outside perimeter of an undulating circular blade, fusing said coating to the undulating circular blade in an atmosphere controlled furnace, removing the coated undulating circular blade from the furnace at the appropriate temperature, and inserting said coated undulating circular blade into a press quench machine to cool while ensuring that the coated undulating circular blade retains its original shape, and then tempering the coated undulating circular blade.

Claims

1. A method of increasing the durability of metal objects by applying a coating onto the metal object's surface, said method comprising: cleaning the metal object with the use of abrasives to remove dirt, rust and other foreign material;coating the metal object by pouring, spraying, dipping, or brushing an abrasion resistant and wear resistant coating onto the surface of the metal object in the area to be coated;fusing the abrasion resistant and wear resistant coating to the coated metal object in an atmosphere-controlled furnace;removing the coated metal object from the atmosphere-controlled furnace; inserting the coated metal object into a press quench machine;wherein said press quench machine designed to apply pressure on a metal object that has been heated above its curing point such that the applied pressure assures that as the metal object cools the metal object retains its original shape comprising: a pressure assembly, a quenchant bath and a recirculation tank;said pressure assembly comprising a plurality of stops, an upper base mount with a plurality of upper vertical die plates associated with and extending downward from the upper base mount, a lower base mount with a plurality of lower vertical die plates associated with and extending upward from the lower base mount;said plurality of stops, said plurality of upper vertical die plates, and said plurality of lower vertical die plates are designed to hold a heated metal object under pressure so that while the heated metal object cools the metal object retains its original shape; the height of the upper base mount and the associated plurality of stops and upper vertical die plates being adjustable so as to be able to raise or lower the upper base mount relative to the lower base mount and the associated plurality of stops and plurality of lower vertical dies plates; the height of the pressure assembly being adjustable such that the pressure assembly is capable of being raised or lowered into and out of the quenchant bath;a plurality of nozzles to spray quenchant on a metal object held by the pressure assembly as the metal object is being submerged and directing the spray evenly across the metal object while submerged to evenly cool the metal object;said press quench machine is then activated so that the press quench machine applies pressure to the coated metal object so as to ensure the coated metal object maintains its original shape, followed by submerging the coated metal object in a quenchant bath of the press quench machine until the coated metal object is cooled; andtempering the coated metal object.

2. The method of increasing the durability of metal objects of claim 1 wherein the quenchant bath is comprised of oil quenchant or synthetic quenchant.

3. The method of increasing the durability of metal objects of claim 1 whereby the recirculation tank comprises a heat exchanger, a plurality of bath hoses, and a plurality of cooling hoses, such that hot quenchant can be transferred from the quenchant bath to the recirculation tank; a means of transferring quenchant from the quenchant bath to the recirculation tank through the plurality of bath hoses; the plurality of cooling hoses, that can transfer cooled quenchant form the recirculation tank to the nozzles on the pressure assembly; anda means of transferring quenchant from the recirculation tank to the nozzles of the pressure assembly through the cooling hoses.

2. The method of increasing the durability of metal objects of claim 1 wherein the quenchant bath is comprised of oil quenchant or synthetic quenchant.