Oven Support Fixture With Varying Ribs For Uniform Heating
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing support fixtures for heating or firing processes, such as those used for ceramic parts, often result in non-uniform heating due to insulation by sand, leading to temperature differentials and defects like cracking, and hinder gas release, causing voids or pressure issues.
Innovation Solution
A support fixture with a plurality of support ribs and a connecting element, where the ribs have varying lengths and widths, with ventilation holes and textured surfaces to facilitate even heating and gas release, allowing for better fluid flow and reduced contact with the part, thereby preventing deformation and defects.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If parts are laid on a bed of sand in the oven, then the parts are supported and heat is radiated toward the parts, but the sand insulates a large portion of the parts against contact with convecting gas, resulting in non-uniform heating and temperature differentials that cause cracking or defects
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the harmful sand bedding from the heating process and replaces it with a fixture comprising support ribs and support elements. This removal eliminates the insulating barrier that prevented uniform convective heating, allowing hot gas to contact all surfaces of the part uniformly while maintaining structural support.
Solution Approach 2:
The fixture acts as an intermediary between the part and the oven environment. The support ribs and support elements provide structural mediation, enabling the part to be supported without sand bedding, thereby facilitating uniform convective heat transfer from all directions while preventing direct contact with harmful sand particles.
2Object-generated harmful factors
If sand contacts a large surface area of the parts, then the parts are supported, but this contact inhibits gas release from the parts, causing trapped gases to create voids or build pressure that causes cracks or defects
Solution Approach 1:
The invention removes the sand bedding that was trapping gases within the parts. By replacing sand with a open-structure fixture composed of support ribs and support elements, gas pathways are opened, allowing volatiles and decomposition gases to escape freely during heating processes, preventing void formation and pressure-related defects.
Solution Approach 2:
The fixture employs a porous, open-structure design with support ribs and support elements that create channels and pathways for gas flow. This porous configuration allows trapped gases to permeate through and escape from the part surfaces, preventing gas accumulation and associated defects during thermal processing.
3Use of energy by stationary object
If a bed of sand is used to support parts, then heating can occur, but the sand insulates the parts and prevents uniform heating across all surfaces
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the insulating sand bedding that created non-uniform temperature distribution and replaces it with a thermally non-interfering fixture. The support ribs and support elements minimize thermal interference, allowing uniform convective heating from all directions and eliminating the temperature differentials that previously caused cracking and defects.
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 support fixture ensures uniform heating, reduces the risk of cracking and voids, and enhances gas release, resulting in improved part quality and efficiency in heating processes.
Implementation Method 1
The parts are laid on a bed of sand in the oven, which serves to support the parts and to radiate heat toward the parts. The bed of sand also detrimentally insulates a large portion of the parts against contact with convecting gas within the oven.
Implementation Method 2
The parts are laid on a bed of sand in the oven, which serves to support the parts and to radiate heat toward the parts.
Data Source
AI summary
In one embodiment, a fixture for supporting a body in an oven includes a plurality of support ribs to support the body, and a support element to support and connect the plurality of support ribs. Each support rib has a length, a width, a thickness, and a first end. The length extends from the support element to the first end, and the width extends perpendicular to the length. The length varies across the width of at least one support rib. In another embodiment, a fixture for supporting a body in an oven includes a plurality of connected support ribs to support the body. Each support rib is spaced from at least one other support rib. The length differs for at least a first support rib of the plurality of support ribs with respect to at least a second support rib of the plurality of support ribs.