Abrading – Abrading process
Reexamination Certificate
1999-10-28
2001-11-27
Hail, III, Joseph J. (Department: 3723)
Abrading
Abrading process
C451S051000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06322424
ABSTRACT:
The present invention relates to an electrolytic integrated polishing method for metal workpieces using a special abrasive material.
As mirror finishing methods for metallic surfaces, the prior art provides widely known conventional mechanical abrasion methods such as abrasion using a stationary grindstone, polishing using free abrasive grains, and buffing using non-woven fabric abrasive materials.
However, a mechanical abrasion using these abrasive materials causes abrasive grains to fall out of the abrasive materials during abrasion. Especially for soft metals such as aluminium, removed abrasive grains stick on a metal surface and remain there.
Accordingly, when a mirror-finished workpiece on a surface of which abrasive grains remain is further used for surface processing, for example, when a hard anodized aluminium finish is applied to a surface of an aluminium workpiece, as shown in
FIG. 4
(A), a grain particle T remaining on the surface prevents development of an anodized aluminium layer A, causing more remarkable surface roughness after the hard anodized aluminium finish than surface roughness before the hard anodized aluminium finish. In other words, a value of the maximum height of the profile Ry (JIS B-0601:1994) becomes greater.
The anodized aluminium finish is used for improving a corrosion resistance and an abrasion resistance of aluminium products. An ordinary hard anodized aluminium finish develops a coating thickness of 25 to 30 &mgr;m. One third of this thickness corresponds to an anodic oxide film of aluminium as a base. The remainder, two thirds of the coating thickness, is a volume increase of a porous film in anodized aluminium.
For an aluminium alloy used for cylindrical workpieces such as a hydropneumatic cylinder, it is known that it is desirable to keep the surface roughness before finishing approximately 0.5 &mgr;mRy for appropriate anodized aluminium finishing in consideration for an uptake of the above-mentioned volume increase. When the anodized aluminium finish is applied to a clean surface whose roughness is approximately 0.5 &mgr;mRy before finishing, the finished surface provides the surface roughness of approximately 2.0 &mgr;mRy. This satisfies the surface roughness of 3.2 &mgr;mRy required for hydropneumatic cylinders after the anodized aluminium finish. Accordingly, it is important to finish a metal workpiece surface before the anodized aluminium finish so cleanly that the surface should leave no foreign substances such as residual abrasive grains.
Meanwhile, as means for finely abrading a surface of an extruded hollow aluminium article used for hydraulic cylinders, air cylinders, and the like, the inventors of this invention found an electrolytic integrated polishing technique for abrasive finishing composed of an elution action using electrolytic solutions and an abrasive action using abrasive materials and submitted the patent application (Japanese Patent Application No. Hei 9-325215) thereof. When conventional abrasive materials are used for finishing abrasion, however, we found a problem of undesirable surface roughness due to residual abrasive grains on the aluminium alloy in the hard anodized aluminium finish as a next process similarly to the aforesaid mechanical abrasion.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an electrolytic integrated polishing method for metal workpieces using a special abrasive material in order to eliminate residual abrasive grains from surfaces of soft metals such as the aluminium alloy, allow high-precision abrasion, and provide an optimal effect on the surface treatment at the next process such as the anodized aluminium finish.
In accomplishing this object, a subject matter of the present invention is to provide electrolytic integrated polishing using a sheet-form abrasive material which is prepared by uniformly dispersing short fibers including abrasive grains which is prepared by cutting an abrasive grains containing fiber into a specified length and synthetic fibers as a base material, processing them into a sheet, and hardening it with a thermosetting resin such as a polyurethane resin, an epoxy resin, and the like as an adhesive material.
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Hail III Joseph J.
Nissin Unyu Kogyo Co., Ltd.
Nixon & Peabody LLP
Safran David S.
Shanley Daniel
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