Jig and method for isostatic-pressing ceramics

Abstract: A jig for isostatic-pressing ceramics comprises a mold having a cavity (2) in the center thereof and pressure-medium diaphragms (4) arranged on both sides of the cavity. Ceramic feed granules (9) filled in the cavity are isostatically pressurized through the diaphragms: Further, the jig has pressure-transfer plates (5,5′) with holes placed on the outer surface of the pressure-medium diaphragms (4) for transferring outside pressure. In addition, a method for isostatic-pressing ceramics, in which ceramic feed materials are filled in the cavity of the jig as described above, and shaping is conducted by applying pressure isostatically from outside after air-tight seal has been established between the pressure-medium diaphragms and the mold. A large sized shaped ceramic can be easily produced in a single stage of isostatic-pressing with excellent dimensional accuracy.

Description: The present invention relates to jigs and methods for isostatic-pressing ceramics. More particularly, this invention relates to jigs for isostatic-pressing ceramics using cavity molds for the formation of plates and methods of use thereof. In manufacturing ceramics, there are a variety of shaping methods available in accordance with the desired shape and the purpose of use of products. Pressing by use of metal molds is one of the shaping methods that are suitable for mass-production since it can be mechanically operated to form shaped products with excellent dimensional accuracy. In the pressing by use of metal molds, wet, semi-wet or dry raw materials for ceramics are filled into the metal mold, and pressurized to form products of a desired shape. Pressure is applied with a hand press, friction press, and hydrostatic press. Since the density is low for the product obtained with pressing using metal molds, isostatic-pressing has increasingly been employed in which said product is further compacted by applying higher hydrostatic pressure after it has been sealed with an air-tight rubber diaphragm. In the conventional method for the production of plates by means of pressing, pressures of 5⊘ to 2⊘⊘ kgf/cm² are generally applied in metal molds. When higher density of products is desired, isostatic-pressing in which higher hydrostatic pressures of more than 3⊘⊘ kgf/cm² are applied on the pre-pressing material in a pressure bag such as a soft, elastic rubber tube or an ice bag is followed after preliminary pressing in metal molds at pressures of 5⊘ to 2⊘⊘ kgf/cm². When large size products such as ceramic plates are produced by the conventional pressing method, pressures of 5⊘ to 2⊘⊘ kgf/cm² obtained by a metal dye pressing are too low to give sufficient strength to the shaping green body, thus often resulting in damage or destruction of the green body during the pressing operation especially when the product is removed from the mold, so that the shaped product is not obtainable. Namely, pressures of around 5⊘ to 2⊘⊘ kgf/cm² applied normally in the conventional metal dye pressing method are not enough to obtain a large size ceramic green body because they can not give sufficient strength to the green body to avoid damage or destruction during the removing operation and the followed handling. Therefore, it is necessary to compress even the feed powder at high pressures of more than 3⊘⊘ kgf/cm² in order to provide large strength to the green body necessary for avoiding damage during pressing operation. However a large and costly system, which is industrially unpractical, is required in order to achieve the pressure higher than 300 kgf/cm² in metal dye pressing method. SU-A-171538 shows a mold for making a laminate for slabs, panels, sheeting etc. The mold is not suitable for isostatic-pressing of ceramic material. Elastic membranes on opposite sides of the laminate apply pressure of compressed air fed to two cavities outside the membranes. US-A-3656946 discloses molds in which pressure is applied by means of rubber diaphragms to powder material. These moulds are not intended for immersion in a pressurizing fluid. It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved ceramics shaping jig and method in which large size plates can be formed in a single stage of the isostatic-pressing and is based on the fact that the isostatic-pressing method is advantageous to obtain high pressure easily through pressure media such as gases and liquids. According to the present invention, there is provided a jig for the production of ceramics by means of isostatic-pressing as set out in claim 1. A method for the production of ceramics by means of isostatic-pressing is also provided, as set out in claim 5. With the present invention, high pressures of more than 3⊘⊘ kgf/cm² can be applied on the ceramic feed powder by means of isostatic-pressing using a mold having a cavity. Therefore, since large size ceramic green body with higher strength than produced by conventional metal mold press can be obtained, the problems of damage, destruction, etc. during the removing operation and the followed handling of the green body can be solved. The present invention is advantageous especially for the production of large size ceramic plates with excellent dimensional accuracy. This method provides minimum product loss and can be operated only in a single stage of isostatic-pressing without the use of the metal mold press. Much higher pressure can be applied to the jig of the present invention for the production of large size plates compared with those conventional metal mold press. In conventional isostatic-pressing methods, the whole of the mold with the shape of desired products has been pressurized in a pressure vessel, or hydrostatic pressure is applied from the whole outer circumference of the mold made of a flexible, pressure-transferable material such as rubber capable of maintaining its shape. On the other hand, the jig according to the present invention, which has newly been developed in particular to produce large size shaping ceramics, especially ceramic plates, is constructed in such a way as described beforehand and only the cavity in the center part of the mold is isostatically pressurized. Fig. 1 is a sketch drawing to illustrate an embodiment of a jig for isostatic-pressing according to the present invention. Detail of the present invention is explained below with reference to a specific embodiment. However it is to be noted that the description is illustrative and the invention is not limited by it. Referring to Fig. 1, a mold 1 surrounds a cavity 2 having a depth of a constant value, the shape of which can be rectangular, circle or any other shape. There are multiple holes 6 for use in bolts along the outer perimeter 3 of the mold. Holes 6' for use in bolts are also made on the supporting plates 5 and 5' to fasten the mold 1 with bolts. The mold 1 may be made of organic materials such as urethane rubber and nylon as well as inorganic materials such as stainless steel and aluminum. When pressures of more than 5⊘⊘ kgf/cm² are required for isostatic-pressing, the mold made of common materials with low Young's modulus such as rubber and plastics can be replaced with a mold which is made of a material with a Young's modulus of more than 5 x 1⊘³ kgf/cm² so that no deformation develops on the mold and large size shaping plate without any crack can be produced with excellent dimensional accuracy. However, when Young's modulus for the mold is less than 5 x 1⊘⁵ kgf/cm², the mold fails to maintain the shape of its cavity at pressures of more than about 5⊘⊘ kgf/cm², resulting in poor dimensional accuracy and defective products. In addition, upon relaxation after pressing, the mold unpreferably compacts the shaping product, often resulting in cracks on its surface. In manufacturing shaping products, after the lower side of the mold 1 has been arranged in such a way as will be described hereinafter, the feed powder 9, which has been added with a plasticizer, if necessary, is introduced to fill the cavity 2 of the mold. A protective sheet 7 is then placed on the filled powder as necessary. The sheet is then covered with a pressure diaphragm 4, for example, of soft rubber, on which a supporting plate 5 having perforated holes 8 is placed. At the lower side of the cavity 2, the supporting plate 5' similarly has holes 8 and is covered by a diaphragm identical to the diaphragm 4. Pressure is transferred from the pressure medium through the holes 8. The supporting plates 5 and 5' are made of steel, for example. The mold, including the diaphragms 4, is clamped between the supporting plates 5,5' which are in turn fastened with bolts through holes 6 for the mold and holes 6' for the supporting plates 5 and 5'. In this manner the jig of the present invention is sealed to obtain air-tightness. The protective sheet 7 is used for preventing the filled feed powder from scattering as well as providing a uniform packing of the powder. Plastics such as nylon and acrylate is a preferred material for the sheet. Since it is used only for operational efficiency as mentioned above, the protective sheet can be omitted for the shaping purpose itself. Any desired shaping product can be manufactured using a well-knob isostatic pressure device and the jig of the present invention arranged in such a manner as described above for isostatic-pressing. As used herein, the term "ceramics" is intended to mean conventional clay ceramics, and oxide, carbide and nitride ceramics, and includes oxide ceramic superconductor such as Y-Ba-Cu-O and Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O systems. The present invention relates to a jig and method for the production of plate shaping from feed powder and can be operated only in a single stage of isostatic-pressing without the use of the stage of metal mold press. This invention can eliminate damage and wreckage of shaping products during shaping operation as often encountered in the prior art, and can produce large size ceramic shaping products, in particular large size ceramic plate with excellent dimensional accuracy and high strength. Example 1 In a jig illustrated in Fig. 1, a soft rubber diaphragm was fixed on one side of a Type 3⊘4 stainless (SUS 3⊘4) metal mold 1 having a square cavity 2 with a dimension of 36⊘ x 36⊘ x 5 mm. After grinding in an aqueous solvent, granulated alumina powder was filled into the cavity 2. The filled cavity was covered on both sides with soft rubber diaphragms, and placed between two supporting plates 5 and 5' made of Type 3⊘4 stainless steel and having random-arranged perforated holes with a diameter of 1⊘ mm. Those supporting plates 5 and 5' and the metal mold 1 were fastened with bolts through holes 6 to be held together. In this manner, the assembly thus obtained was pressurized to seal for air-tightness. A pressure of ⊘.5 tons/cm² was applied with an cold hydrostatic press on the jig assembly filled with alumina powder. Then, the jig was disassembled to separate the supporting plates and the soft rubber diaphragm from the metal frame, from which a square, plate-like shaping product with a dimension of 36⊘ x 36⊘ x 5 mm was removed. The resultant shaping product was then sintered in an electric oven at a temperature of up to 165⊘°C to form a sintered product of 32⊘ x 32⊘ x 4 mm. The density and condition of the shaping products are shown in Table 1. The product density as shown in Table 1 is a relative density or the ratio, as expressed in percent, of its density to that of a shaping product made only of the oxide produced from the feed itself. Examples 2 - 6 According to the same method as that of Example 1, shaping products were obtained using feed powder as shown in Table 1. No damage or deformation was observed in those shaping products. The density and condition of the product are shown in Table 1. Examples 7 - 11 Y₂O₃, BaCO₃, and CuO in a mole ratio of 1/2 : 2 : 3 were blended in a rotating mill and then dried in a spray dryer. The resultant blended powder was calcined at a temperature of 92⊘°C for 1⊘ hours. The calcined bulk was then crushed and mixed with an organic solvent. The resultant slurry was fed to a spray dryer to obtain granules which were then filled in the jig shown in Fig. 1 in a manner similar to Example 1. High pressure as given in Table 1 was applied with a cold hydrostatic press on the jig assembly filled with the above particles. Thus, shaping plate were formed as shown Table 1. The resultant shaping was then sintered in an electric oven at a temperature of up to 96⊘°C to form a sintered product of about 32⊘ x 32⊘ x 4 mm. No curvature or calcining crack was found in those sintered products. The density and condition of the product thus obtained are shown in Table 1. The sintered products thus obtained in these examples displayed the Meissner effect in liquid nitrogen. Examples 12 - 14 Shaping process was conducted according to the same procedure as in Example 1 except for the materials of molds, shaping sizes and isostatic pressures as shown in Table 1. No curvature or calcining crack was found in those sintered products. The density and condition of the shaping product thus obtained are shown in Table 1. Comparative Example The same alumina particles as used in Example 1 were filled in a mold of 36⊘ x 36⊘ x 1⊘ mm. A press was used to produce a shaping product at a pressure of ⊘.2 tons/cm². The resultant shaping was so low in strength that a satisfactory shaping product could not be formed. The product was wrecked when it was removed from the mold.

Claims: A jig for use in isostatic-pressing of ceramics powder to obtain a planar pressed product by isostatic-pressing from opposite sides, which comprises: a mold (1) having a plate-shaped molding cavity (2) in the center thereof with the mold defining the periphery of said cavity; pressure-medium diaphragms (4) arranged at both faces of said cavity (2)); and clamping means (5,5') for clamping said diaphragms (4) to said mold (1) so as to prevent passage of the pressurizing fluid between the mold (1) and the diaphragms (4) into the cavity (2) . A jig according to claim 1, in which said mold is made of a material with a Young's modulus of more than 5 x 10⁵ kgf/cm². A jig according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein said clamping means comprises pressure-transfer plates (5,5') each having at least one aperture for said pressurising fluid placed on the outer surface of said pressure-medium diaphragms (4). A jig according to claim 3, wherein said clamping means further comprises fastening means for fastening said pressure-transfer plates (5,5') to said mold (1), so as to clamp said diaphragms (2) to said mold (1). A method for pressing ceramics to obtain a planar pressed product by isostatic-pressing from opposite sides, which comprises: filling ceramic feed materials in powder form in a plate-shaped cavity (2) of a jig adapted for isostatic-pressing of ceramics, said jig comprising a mold (1) defining the periphery of said cavity and pressure-medium diaphragms (4) for both faces of said cavity (2); providing tight sealing between said pressure-medium diaphragms (4) and said mold (1) so as to prevent pressurizing fluid passing between the mold (1) and said diaphragms (4) into the cavity (2); and shaping said material into said product by applying pressure isostatically from outside said jig by means of pressurizing fluid. A method according to claim 5, in which protective sheets (7) are arranged on both sides of the ceramic feed material between the feed material and the diaphragms (4). A method according to claim 5 or claim 6 wherein sealing between said diaphragms (4) and said mold (1) is effected by pressure-transfer plates (5,5') each having at least one aperture for said pressurizing fluid, which clamp said pressure-medium diaphragms (4) to the mold (1).

Inventors: SHIMIZU HIDEKI NGK ICHIOKA-RYO, WATANABE KEIICHIRO E COOPERATI, SHIMIZU, HIDEKI, NGK ICHIOKA-RYOU, 38-2, WATANABE, KEIICHIRO, 4E COOPERATIVE NAKANOMACHI
Applicants: NGK INSULATORS LTD, NGK INSULATORS, LTD.
Application year: 1990
Main classification: B28B3
IPC codes: B30B5, H01B12, H01B13, B28B3, B30B11