Cermet Tooling Assembly With Magnetic Chip Detectability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Ceramic tooling is unsuitable for food and pharmaceutical production due to its brittleness and difficulty in detecting and removing chips or fragments, which can contaminate products.
Innovation Solution
Development of cermet compositions with a ceramic matrix and metallic phase, allowing for the creation of sintered ceramic bodies that are both strong and detectable by conventional metal detection techniques, enabling the production of tooling with enhanced safety features.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If ceramic tooling is used, then compression strength and wear resistance are improved, but detectability of chips and fragments deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies composite materials by combining ceramic material with ferromagnetic particles to create a cermet composition. This composite structure allows the tooling to maintain the compression strength and wear resistance of ceramic while gaining the magnetic detectability of ferromagnetic particles, thereby resolving the contradiction between strength and detectability.
2Duration of action of stationary object
If ceramic tooling is used, then wear resistance is improved, but reliability deteriorates due to brittleness and chipping
Solution Approach 1:
The cermet composition combines the wear resistance of ceramic with the toughness and chip detectability of ferromagnetic particles. The composite structure reduces brittleness while maintaining wear resistance, improving reliability without sacrificing durability.
3Difficulty of detecting and measuring
If metal tooling is used, then detectability of chips is improved, but compression strength deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses composite materials to combine the best properties of both metal and ceramic. The ferromagnetic particles provide detectability like metal, while the ceramic matrix provides compression strength, creating a material that outperforms either pure metal or pure ceramic.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The cermet tooling offers improved safety through enhanced detection and removal of small contaminants, increased durability, and reduced maintenance requirements, while maintaining the benefits of ceramic materials such as compression strength and wear resistance.
Implementation Method 1
a theoretically dense sintered ceramic tooling body that exhibits strong paramagnetic and/or ferromagnetic properties
Data Source
AI summary
A tooling assembly, including a cermet tooling body and a plastic support structure operationally connected to the cermet tooling body. The plastic support structure at least partially encapsulates the cermet tooling body. The plastic support structure includes a plastic matrix portion and a plurality of high magnetic permeability metallic particles distributed throughout the plastic matrix portion. Each respective high magnetic permeability metallic particle has a magnetic permeability of at least 0.0001 H/m and each respective high magnetic permeability metallic particle has a relative magnetic permeability of about 8000. The plastic matrix portion is selected from the group consisting of high molecular mass polymers, thermoplastics, thermosetting polymers, amorphous plastics, crystalline plastics, resin-based materials, and combinations thereof.