Roll or roller – Concentric layered annulus – Specific composition
Reexamination Certificate
1998-12-10
2001-09-18
Bryant, David P. (Department: 3725)
Roll or roller
Concentric layered annulus
Specific composition
Reexamination Certificate
active
06290632
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to a single or plurality of engineered textured rolls for treating aluminum, its alloys, other metals and their alloys, composites and laminates, to provide an inventive textured surface for holding, bonding, or adhering a variety of materials thereto.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
It is axiomatic that in the field of rolling metals that as rolls the roll, so rolls the metal product. As simple as that sounds, the art is filled with methods and apparatus that are designed to provide some property or characteristic that points the finished product towards an improved product to attract the ultimate consumer.
The present invention is directed to improving the surface of metals and their alloys, particularly aluminum and aluminum alloys, so that a variety of materials may be bonded, attached, adhered, mated, held, either permanently or temporarily, to the surface of the finished product which may be a foil sheet, a plate, a composite or laminate. Such useful products as used in lithography, for flexographic plates, computer-to-plate lithography, weldable products for the construction or building of things, rigid containers to hold other things, lighting materials to shed light on these things, vehicles, such as cars, boats, and airplanes, all can benefit from the surface treatments that are a part of this invention.
That others have been working in this field and pointed in various ways is illustrated by the following reference materials. U.S. Pat. No. 5,025,547 is directed to a method of providing textures on material by rolling. In this instance, the patent tells how to retain lubricant on the surface and reduce wear debris generated during rolling operations. U.S. Pat. No. 4,847,112 is directed to surface treatment of a rolling mill roll which uses a laser to treat the roll surface. U.S. Pat. No. 4,850,089 is similarly directed to treating rolling mill rolls only in this instance metal coatings are used. Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,552,235 is directed to embossed cold rolled steel for use in corrosion resistance, paintability, and appearance. While the above is not an exhaustive list of the various fields in this art, it is representative of a portion thereof.
Attention is drawn to U.S. Ser. No. 08/607,541 filed Feb. 27, 1996 entitled “Texture Rolled Lithosheet” that is presently pending before the U.S. Patent Office. While this application is pending, the now abandoned PCT related application, WO 97/31783, was published on Sep. 4, 1997, which is herein incorporated by reference.
The aluminum alloys of particular interest are those that have been registered with the Aluminum Association. As those skilled in this art appreciate, those registrations are found in the 1000, 2000, 3000, 5000, 6000, 7000, and 8000 series aluminum alloys. By reference to the series hereinabove, includes the individual registrations throughout each series represented by such alloys as 1050, 2524, 3103, 5183, 6013, 7055, 8079 etc. The surfaces of these alloys benefit from treatment under the inventive rolls hereof and can be designed for an intended purpose in the beneficial use of aluminum alloys.
That this field is important to various human endeavors is not questioned since there is a resplendent historical significance attached to the Age of Metallurgy, such as the Bronze Age, thus helping to pull cave persons into the light, possibly aiding in walking upright, and certainly central in the conquering of worlds. Importantly, for today's world, improvements in the surfaces of metals and their alloys provides improved products and services to a variety of industries, such as printing, lighting, building and construction, packaging, and the vehicular trades.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to a single or plurality of surfaces of rolls treated with a texturing means to provide an extended surface area to said roll surfaces to provide a single or plurality of treated roll surfaces wherein said treated roll surfaces are placed in a single or plurality of roll sets, said roll sets communicate with a work piece such as metal, metal alloys, composites, and/or laminates whereby the texture of the treated roll imparts a substantially uniform topography wherein said topography is substantially uniform in the rolling and cross-rolling directions of the work piece, which may be a treated sheet or plate product, and comprising an Ra value of about 5 to 45 microinches wherein the Ra ratio of rolling to cross-rolling is about 0.8 to 1.2. The texturing means can be effected by electron discharge texturing, laser texturing, electron beam, shot peening, mechanical texturing, and chemical etching and some combination thereof, preferably arc texturing, electron discharge texturing and shot peening and most preferably electron discharge texturing.
The invention hereof conveniently lends itself to a pre and post treatment of the roll and/or the work piece, either prior to texturing or thereafter. For either the pre or post treatment, a roll or work piece is cleaned with a suitable cleaning means such as discussed below, incorporated hereof, and then roughened. Roughening may be achieved by mechanical roughening of the work piece and/or roll with a system of rotating brushes and an abrasive slurry applied at a force substantially normal to the substrate surface. In another embodiment, chemical roughening of the work piece and/or roll with a solution which comprises a single or plurality of inorganic acids, or alkaline compounds, which ever is appropriate, and/or organic acids, esters, or other active end groups, including but not limited to imides, amides, and inorganic electrolytes, moieties, mixed complexes, and some combination thereof. In a preferred method of treating the work piece or roll surface, electrochemical roughening of the substrate is effected with a solution comprised of inorganic acids, organic acids, esters, and/or other active end groups including but not limited to imides, amides, and inorganic electrolytes, moieties, mixed complexes and some combination thereof. It is found especially advantageous in electrochemical roughening to apply a single or plurality of alternating currents or by applying a direct current thereby causing electrochemical roughening of the surface. Alternating current is preferred.
In the event that a roll has been plated additional means is available to treat the plated surface to effect an alternative cornucopia of textures. These include but are not limited to electron discharge, arc discharge, shot peen texturing, and some combination thereof. Other texturing means either aforementioned or hereafter are included here by reference. In terms of plating the roll that is discussed elsewhere hereof as to the means and the plating metals, and is incorporated herein as valuable plating means and plating material. It is contemplated that the work piece may also be affected by these means and metals as well, as discussed below. As another embodiment, should the work piece itself be textured by some means after texturing by a textured roll, this textured surface may be additionally textured by the means disclosed hereof.
Typically, the roll is comprised of an iron derived alloy, usually steel and any one of the alloys thereof. Extending the surface of the treated roll means to increase the surface area of the roll to about 0.05 to 50%, preferably 1 to about 50%, most preferably 10 to about 50% when compared to an untreated roll. Up to and about 50% includes all of the percentages below 50%, such as 45%, 40%, 35%, 30%, 29%, 28%, 22%, 20%, 19%, 10%, 5%, 2%, 1.5%, etc. down to 0.05%. The increase in the surface area is substantially orthogonal to the length of the roll. For the most part an untreated roll has elongated troughs. By texturing the roll submicron craters and/or indentations are created thereon the negative image thereof can subsequently be transferred at least in-part to the surface of the foil sheet or plate thereby increasing the overall and the working surface area. Treated rolls may also me
Blake Sallie L.
Mackin J. David
Skiles Jean Ann
Alcoa Inc.
Bryant David P.
Buckwalter Charles Q.
Butler Marc W.
Meder Julie W.
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