Coating method
First Claim
1. A process of coating parts comprising:
- (a) positioning a plurality of parts on a work transport;
(b) introducing said plurality of parts with said work transport into a coating chamber maintained under vacuum;
(c) subjecting said plurality of parts to cleaning by ion beam milling in an inert gas environment;
(d) providing a negative bias to said plurality of parts in said coating chamber;
(e) exposing said plurality of negatively biased parts within said coating chamber to a beam of ions extracted from an rf excited plasma acting on a feed as introduced into a second chamber adjacent and contiguous with said coating chamber for a time period not exceeding sixty minutes; and
(f) progressively increasing the beam energy of said beam of ions from about 300 electron-volts to about 1200 electron-volts while said plurality of negatively biased parts are being exposed thereto.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A coating apparatus and method for coating industrial cutting and turning tools of any desired shape and configuration and the like significantly to improve the tools'"'"' working properties. The coating is formed of cubic boron nitride, with a preferred thickness not exceeding ten microns.
The coating apparatus includes an rf excited plasma source chamber having a gas feed ring for ionizing a gas admitted into the chamber via the ring. The preferred feedgas is a borazine and benzene vapor mixture. A coating chamber is mounted adjacent to and contiguous with the plasma source chamber via a neck portion. The coating chamber includes a vacuum interlock to permit the entry and removal of a tool transport. At least one vacuum pump is operatively connected to the chamber. Preferably, a plurality of permanent magnets and electron supply filaments are arranged circumferentially about the plasma source chamber. Preferably, the tool transport is rotatable during coating. Preferably, the apparatus is microprocessor controlled.
18 Citations
13 Claims
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1. A process of coating parts comprising:
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(a) positioning a plurality of parts on a work transport; (b) introducing said plurality of parts with said work transport into a coating chamber maintained under vacuum; (c) subjecting said plurality of parts to cleaning by ion beam milling in an inert gas environment; (d) providing a negative bias to said plurality of parts in said coating chamber; (e) exposing said plurality of negatively biased parts within said coating chamber to a beam of ions extracted from an rf excited plasma acting on a feed as introduced into a second chamber adjacent and contiguous with said coating chamber for a time period not exceeding sixty minutes; and (f) progressively increasing the beam energy of said beam of ions from about 300 electron-volts to about 1200 electron-volts while said plurality of negatively biased parts are being exposed thereto. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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Specification