EP0378378A1
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Making diamond composite coated cutting tools.
Assignee: Ford-Werke GmbH
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Filing: 1990-01-10
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2010-01-10
Abstract
Abstract Method of making a composite coated article by the steps of: (a) initiating chemical vapor deposition of separated diamond or diamond-like particles (50) onto a nondiamond or nondiamond-like substrate (49) surface by use of low pressure metastable deposition of carbon in the presence of atomic hydrogen and at a temperature (i.e., 600-950°C) that favors the nucleation of such particles, the substrate being selected to retain its strength related properties after said chemical vapor deposition (i.e., SiAlON, Si₃N₄, SiC, Si, Ti, Co cemented WC, TiC, Ni-Mo cemented TiCN); (b) substantially suppressing nucleation of additional particles (heating to above about 1000°C) before formation of a contiguous film of said particles (50) while permitting the existing particles to grow to a predetermined maximum crystal size consistent with separated crystals; and (c) depositing a mechanically tough, diamond and substrate-wetting metal binding material (51) (i.e., Ti, Ni, Co, Mn, Cr, Mo, Fe) onto and across said separated particles and exposed substrate (49) surface to form the composite coated article. Chemical vapor deposition comprises thermal decomposition (i.e., microwave plasma, discharge, filament heating) of a hydrocarbon gas containing hydrogen, with or without diamond seeding. The binding material preferably contains a brazing agent (i.e., Cu, Ag, Sn).
Inventors
- 👤 Robert Corbly Mccune
- 👤 Ronald Joseph Baird
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-06 03:56
CPC Classifications
C; C23; C23C; C23C16/00; C23C16/22; C23C16/26; C23C16/27; C23C16/274; C22; C22C; C22C26/00; C23C16/278; C23C16/56; C22C2204/00; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S427/00; Y10S427/103
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 17
Claim 1
Independent Claim
156 words
A method of making a composite coated article by the steps of: (a) initiating chemical vapor deposition of separated diamond or diamond-like particles (50) onto a nondiamond or nondiamond-like substrate (49) surface by use of low pressure metastable deposition of carbon in the presence of atomic hydrogen and at a temperature that favors the nucleation of such particles, the substrate (49) being selected to facilitate such diamond or diamond-like deposition and to retain its strength related properties after said chemical vapor deposition; (b) substantially suppressing nucleation of additional particles before formation of a contiguous film of said particles (50) while permitting the existing particles to grow to a predetermined maximum crystal size consistent with separated crystals; and (c) adhering a mechanically tough, diamond and substrate-wetting, metal binding material (51) onto and across said separated particles (50) and exposed substrate surface to form the composite coated article with little or no graphitization or dissolution of said particles.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
156 words
A method of making a composite coated article by the steps of: (a) initiating chemical vapor deposition of separated diamond or diamond-like particles (50) onto a nondiamond or nondiamond-like substrate (49) surface by use of low pressure metastable deposition of carbon in the presence of atomic hydrogen and at a temperature that favors the nucleation of such particles, the substrate (49) being selected to facilitate such diamond or diamond-like deposition and to retain its strength related properties after said chemical vapor deposition; (b) substantially suppressing nucleation of additional particles before formation of a contiguous film of said particles (50) while permitting the existing particles to grow to a predetermined maximum crystal size consistent with separated crystals; and (c) adhering a mechanically tough, diamond and substrate-wetting, metal binding material (51) onto and across said separated particles (50) and exposed substrate surface to form the composite coated article with little or no graphitization or dissolution of said particles.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
45 words
A method as claimed in claim 1, in which said chemical vapor deposition of step (a) comprises thermal decomposition of a hydrocarbon gas containing hydrogen, and step (c) comprises physical deposition at a substrate temperature that does not exceed 500°C for longer than three minutes.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
29 words
A method as claimed in claim 1, in which said particles of step (a) are heterogeneously arranged as a result of diamond seeding to carry out chemical vapor deposition.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
38 words
A method as claimed in claim 1 in which said particles of step (a) are homogeneously arranged as a result of carburizing nucleation to carry out chemical vapor deposition, each nucleus comprising four-coordinated carbon atoms with sp³ bonding.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
19 words
A method as claimed in claim 2, in which thermal decomposition is facilitated by filament heating or plasma discharge.
Claim 7
Independent Claim
34 words
A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which said temperature favoring nucleation is in the range of 600-950°C with said low pressure being in the range of 50-100 Torr.
Claim 8
Independent Claim
21 words
A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which said binding material is a refractory carbide former.
Claim 9
Independent Claim
32 words
A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which suppression of step (b) comprises raising the temperature of said substrate during chemical vapor deposition to at least 1000°C.
Claim 10
Independent Claim
63 words
A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which said substrate is selected from the group consisting of Si₃N₄, SiAlON, SiC, Si, W, Ti, Co cemented WC, and TiC, Ni-Mo alloy cemented TiCN, said binding material is Ni, Co, Mn, Cr, Mo, W, Zr, Ta, Si, Hf, and Fe, or and an alloy selectd from either Ti-Ni-Cu or Ni-Mn-Sn-Ti.
Claim 11
Independent Claim
29 words
A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which said binding material comprises a brazing agent to make the material more brazeable at lower temperatures.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
22 words
A method as in claim 10, in which said brazing agent is selected from the group consisting of Cu, Ag, and Sn.
Claim 13
Independent Claim
52 words
A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the density of nucleation of step (a) is reduced by controlling the substrate temperature during CVD to the lower end of the temperature range of 600-950°C and/or by treating the surface of the substrate to have less defect sites.
Claim 14
Independent Claim
229 words
A method of making a diamond composite coated tool, comprising the steps of: (a) providing a tool substrate selected from materials that retain at least 90% of their strength related properties after exposure to processing temperatures up to 1050°C for up to 20 hours; (b) initiating chemical vapor deposition of substantially separated single crystal diamond nucleation particles onto a surface of said substrate, said deposition being (i) by use of a low pressure surrounding gas containing about 1% by volume methane and the remainder essentially hydrogen, (ii) at a substrate temperature of 800-950°C, and (iii) for a period of 2-4 hours; (c) substantially suppressing further nucleation of additional particles before formation of a contiguous film of said particles by increasing the substrate temperature to a temperature of 1000°C or greater for a period of 1-4 hours that permits the existing particles to grow to a crystal size consistent with said separation; (d) cooling said coated tool substrate under vacuum to evolve hydrogen from the tool substrate; (e) depositing a mechanically tough, diamond and tool wetting material onto and across said separated particles and exposed substrate surface, said deposited material comprising an alloy selected from the group consisting of the alloy families of Ti-Ni-Cu and Ni-Mn-Sn-Ti; and (f) either during step (e) or thereafter, heating said deposited material to form a chemical and mechanical bond with diamond and tool substrate.
Claim 15
Independent Claim
229 words
A method of making a diamond composite coated tool, comprising the steps of: (a) providing a tool substrate selected from materials that retain at least 90% of their strength related properties after exposure to processing temperatures up to 1050°C for up to 20 hours; (b) initiating chemical vapor deposition of substantially separated single crystal diamond nucleation particles onto a surface of said substrate, said deposition being (i) by use of a low pressure surrounding gas containing about 1% by volume methane and the remainder essentially hydrogen, (ii) at a substrate temperature of 800-950°C, and (iii) for a period of 2-4 hours; (c) substantially suppressing further nucleation of additional particles before formation of a contiguous film of said particles by increasing the substrate temperature to a temperature of 1000°C or greater for a period of 1-4 hours that permits the existing particles to grow to a crystal size consistent with said separation; (d) cooling said coated tool substrate under vacuum to evolve hydrogen from the tool substrate; (e) depositing a mechanically tough, diamond and tool wetting material onto and across said separated particles and exposed substrate surface, said deposited material comprising an alloy selected from the group consisting of the alloy families of Ti-Ni-Cu and Ni-Mn-Sn-Ti; and (f) either during step (e) or thereafter, heating said deposited material to form a chemical and mechanical bond with diamond and tool substrate.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
16 words
A method as claimed in claim 13, in which said substrate material is Ni-Mo cemented TiCN.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
28 words
A method as claimed in claim 13 or 14, in which deposition is carried out by microwave plasma deposition at a deposition chamber pressure of about 50-100 Torr.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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