Apparatus for electrically sintering discrete bodies

Claim 1

APPARATUS FOR SINTERING DISCRETE ELECTRICALLY CONDUCTIVE PARTICLES, COMPRISING A PAIR OF JUXTAPOSED SPACED ELECTRODES; RETAINING MEANS FOR SUPPORTING A MASS OF SAID PARTICLES IN RELATIVELY LIGHT CONTACTING RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SAID ELECTRODES WITH SAID ELECTRODES BEARING ON SAID MASS WITH LIGHT CONTACT; AND CIRCUIT MEANS FOR APPLYING A DIRECT CURRENT ACROSS SAID ELECTRODES THROUGH SAID MASS WHILE SUPERIMPOSING A PERIODIC CURRENT THEREON TO PRODUCE INITIALLY AN IMPULSIVE SPARK DISCHARGE BETWEEN SAID PARTICLES, THEREBY FUSING SAID PARTICLES TOGETHER AND THEREAFTER HEATING SAID MASS BY CONTINUOUS FLOW OF ELECTRIC CURRENT, SAID CIRCUIT MEANS INCLUDING A SOURCE OF DIRECT CURRENT AND CAPACITIVE MEANS IN PARALLEL THEREWITH BRIDGED ACROSS SAID ELECTRODES FOR DELIVERING A SUCCESSION OF PULSES THERETO TO GENERATE SAID SPARK DISCHARGE.