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The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.

The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.

Patent No.:

US 12305924 B1

PDFFull Text
Date of Patent:
May. 20, 2025

Filed:

Jan. 03, 2022

Method and apparatus for hardening mold grids using clamp quenching

Applicant:

Columbia Machine, Inc., Vancouver, WA (US);

Inventor:

Josef Ott, Hagerstown, MD (US);

Assignee:

Columbia Machine, Inc., Vancouver, WA (US);

Attorney:

Schaffer IP Law, LLC

Primary Examiner:

Steven S Anderson, Ii

Assistant Examiner:

Kurt J Wolford

Int. Cl.
CPC ...
F27B 9/24 (2006.01); C21D 1/63 (2006.01); C21D 1/673 (2006.01); C21D 9/00 (2006.01); F27B 9/02 (2006.01); F27B 9/04 (2006.01); F27B 9/12 (2006.01); F27D 3/00 (2006.01); F27D 5/00 (2006.01); F27D 7/06 (2006.01); F27D 9/00 (2006.01); F27D 99/00 (2010.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
F27B 9/24 (2013.01); C21D 1/63 (2013.01); C21D 1/673 (2013.01); C21D 9/0018 (2013.01); C21D 9/0025 (2013.01); C21D 9/0062 (2013.01); F27B 9/02 (2013.01); F27B 9/045 (2013.01); F27D 5/0012 (2013.01); F27D 5/0018 (2013.01); F27B 2009/026 (2013.01); F27B 2009/124 (2013.01); F27D 2003/0012 (2013.01); F27D 2005/0093 (2013.01); F27D 2007/063 (2013.01); F27D 2009/0081 (2013.01); F27D 2009/0089 (2013.01); F27D 2099/0096 (2013.01);
Abstract

A method and apparatus for treating a workpiece such as a mold grid includes moving the workpiece laterally along a conveyor assembly into a furnace for heating in a carbon-rich atmosphere to form a heated workpiece. The heated workpiece is then received from the furnace onto the conveyor assembly in an enclosed vestibule whereupon it is clamped under pressure between an overhead mechanical press and the conveyor assembly to form a clamped assembly. The clamped assembly, including a portion of the conveyor, is then lowered into a quenching bath via an elevator assembly until the heated workpiece is quenched, whereupon the clamped assembly is raised out of the bath and the clamping force released. This clamping during quenching acts to maintain the workpiece in a planar orientation while reducing warpage during the quenching process.

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