Pressure Sintering Connection With Inert Gas Film Isolation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing pressure-sintering technologies often result in the separating film sticking to the connection partners, and the sintering process is typically conducted in ambient air, which may not be suitable for sintering pastes containing precious and semiprecious metals, limiting the sintering efficiency and quality.
Innovation Solution
An apparatus and method that utilize a frame element and sintering ram to lower onto the connection partners, with a separating film arrangement that allows an inert gas to flush out ambient air, creating a bounded inner region for sintering, and a sintering paste composed of a metallic portion with over 80% semiprecious metal, such as copper or nickel, to form a sintered metal connection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If a separating film is used during pressure sintering, then the connection partners can be protected from direct contact with the sintering ram, but the separating film sticks to the connection partners after sintering
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a two-film system where a first separating film is placed between the sintering ram and the connection partners, and a second separating film is placed between the connection partners and the supporting surface. This dual intermediary film system prevents direct contact while reducing sticking issues by distributing the contact points and allowing gas flow between the films.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes gas flow (inert gas atmosphere) to blow between the separating films during the sintering process. This pneumatic action prevents the films from adhering to the connection partners by maintaining a gas layer between the film surfaces and the heated metal, thereby preventing sticking while still providing mechanical protection.
2Ease of manufacture
If sintering is conducted in ambient air, then the process is simple, but the sintering capability is reduced due to oxidation of precious and semiprecious metals
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs an inert gas atmosphere (such as nitrogen or argon) during the pressure sintering process to prevent oxidation of the precious and semiprecious metals in the sintering paste. This inert environment protects the metallic particles from reacting with oxygen, thereby maintaining sintering capability and connection quality, while the gas is introduced through the separating film structure.
3Reliability
If a frame element is lowered onto the connection partners during sintering, then the sintering process can be contained, but the apparatus complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The frame element serves multiple functions simultaneously: it contains the inert gas atmosphere, supports the separating films, provides structural containment for the sintering process, and facilitates gas flow distribution. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate components, thereby managing apparatus complexity while maintaining reliable process control.
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 solution effectively prevents the separating film from sticking to the connection partners and allows for efficient sintering in an inert gas atmosphere, enhancing the sintering quality and preventing the reduction of sintering capability due to ambient air, resulting in a strong and conductive sintered metal connection.
Implementation Method 1
an injection opening and an outlet opening are arranged in such a manner that a second gas can flush through said inner region from the injection opening to the outlet opening and, in the process, displaces a first gas which is already present
Implementation Method 2
a sintering ram which can be lowered from the normal direction onto the second connection partner and exerts pressure thereon, as a result of which a sintering paste between the connection partners is converted into a sintered metal
Implementation Method 3
a frame element which can be lowered from the normal direction of the supporting surface onto a frame surface surrounding the supporting surface
Data Source
AI summary
A method and an apparatus for the pressure-sintering connection of a first and a second connection provide a frame element lowerable onto a frame surface surrounding the supporting surface, having a sintering ram lowerable lowered from the normal direction onto the second connection partner and exerts pressure thereon, and converting a sintering paste between the connection partners into a sintered metal, and having an auxiliary apparatus for the arrangement of a separating film for the peripheral covering of the frame surface and the connection partners. This arrangement of the separating film produces an inner region bounded by the frame element and bounded by a separating film portion within the frame element and by the supporting surface, and injection opening and an outlet opening allow a second gas to flush through said inner region from the injection opening to the outlet opening and displace a first gas.