US 11,806,788 B2
Sintering furnace
David Champion, Corvallis, OR (US); Pavan Suri, Corvallis, OR (US); John Liebeskind, Corvallis, OR (US); and Richard Seaver, Corvallis, OR (US)
Assigned to Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P., Spring, TX (US)
Appl. No. 17/059,072
Filed by Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P., Spring, TX (US)
PCT Filed Nov. 26, 2018, PCT No. PCT/US2018/062499
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Nov. 25, 2020,
PCT Pub. No. WO2020/112083, PCT Pub. Date Jun. 4, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2021/0213525 A1, Jul. 15, 2021
Int. Cl. B22F 3/10 (2006.01); F27D 7/02 (2006.01); F27B 5/18 (2006.01); F27D 19/00 (2006.01)
CPC B22F 3/1007 (2013.01) [F27D 7/02 (2013.01); B22F 2998/10 (2013.01); F27D 2019/0006 (2013.01); F27D 2019/0028 (2013.01)] 14 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A sintering system comprising:
a detection gas line to enable gas to flow into a furnace from an external gas supply;
a detection gas port inside the furnace through which gas from the detection gas line is to flow into the furnace;
a registration feature inside the furnace to enable positioning of a token green object proximate the detection gas port;
a gas flow monitor to detect changes in gas flow through the detection gas line when the token green object shrinks during a sintering process in the furnace; and
a controller to determine when the changes in gas flow detected by the gas flow monitor reach a target value that indicates that the token green object and other green objects in the furnace have reached a sintering endpoint.