Did You Know...
...that while attempting to develop a super strong glue, 3M employee Spencer Silver accidentally developed a glue that was so weak it would barely hold two pieces of paper together? However, his colleague Art Fry needed the glue. Fry sang with his church choir and marked the pages of his hymnal with small scraps of paper that often fell out. He used Silver's glue to hold the papers in place. Today we call this invention Post-it Notes.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7217312 | Method of recycling metallic coated scrap pieces A method of recycling metallic coated scrap pieces wherein the coating layer liquidus temperature is lower than the core layer solidus temperature, such as brazing sheet scrap pieces, or metallic coated scrap pieces wherein the upper part of the melting range of the... | 05/15/2007 |
| 7022155 | Plasma arc reactor for the production of fine powders A plasma arc reactor and process for producing a powder from a solid feed material, for example aluminium, is provided. The reactor comprises: (a) a first electrode (5), (b) a second electrode (10) which is adapted to be spaced apart from the first ele... | 04/04/2006 |
| 6824585 | Low cost high speed titanium and its alloy production A method for refining a titanium metal containing ore such as rutile or ilmenite or mixtures to produce titanium ingots or titanium alloys and compounds of titanium involves production of titanium tetrachloride by processing the ore with a chlorinating procedure and... | 11/30/2004 |
| 6821500 | Thermal synthesis apparatus and process An apparatus for thermal conversion of one or more reactants to desired end products includes an insulated reactor chamber having a high temperature heater such as a plasma torch at its inlet end and, optionally, a restrictive convergent-divergent nozzle at its outl... | 11/23/2004 |
| 6600127 | Method and apparatus for direct electrothermal-physical conversion of ceramic into nanopowder A process for synthesizing nanosized powders utilizes a hybrid exploding wire device containing a solid metal wire fuse in the bore of a tube that is open at each end. The ends of the fuse are connected to electrodes on the ends of the tube. The electrode... | 07/29/2003 |
| 6361580 | Method for production of aluminum A continuous process for the production of elemental aluminum is described. Aluminum is made from aluminum oxide and a reducing gas such as a light hydrocarbon gas or other reducing gas, for example hydrogen. In the process, a feed stream of the aluminum ... | 03/26/2002 |
| 6096109 | Chemical component recovery from ligated-metals A method for converting a ligated-metal into chemical components of the ligated-metal includes forming an ionized zone that can convert the ligated-metal to a reduced ligated-metal intermediate. The ligated-metal is directed into the ionized zone, whereby... | 08/01/2000 |
| 5994610 | Method of suppressing thermite reactions in plasma arc waste destruction system A method of preventing thermite reactions during the high temperature incineration (slag temperature greater than 1200° C.) of waste material streams containing aluminum and iron (steel) by mixing a low melting SiO2 containing material such as... | 11/30/1999 |
| 5935293 | Fast quench reactor method A fast quench reaction includes a reactor chamber having a high temperature heating means such as a plasma torch at its inlet and a means of rapidly expanding a reactant stream, such as a restrictive convergent-divergent nozzle at its outlet end. Metal ha... | 08/10/1999 |
| 5749937 | Fast quench reactor and method A fast quench reaction includes a reactor chamber having a high temperature heating means such as a plasma torch at its inlet and a restrictive convergent-divergent nozzle at its outlet end. Reactants are injected into the reactor chamber. The resulting h... | 05/12/1998 |
| 5613996 | Process for treatment of reactive fines A process for treatment of aluminum dross residue (NMP) having available aluminum nitride (AlN) and/or free aluminum (Al) and/or aluminum chlorides (AlCl3) having a particle size within the range of 0.3 to 300 microns, i.e., "fines" to produce ... | 03/25/1997 |
| 5540752 | Method for recovery of non-ferrous metals from scrap and dross A process and apparatus are disclosed for recovering a non-ferrous metal, preferably aluminum and aluminum alloys, in molten coherent form from a charge of material to be processed containing the metal. The charge is introduced into a sealable furnace whi... | 07/30/1996 |
| 5460701 | Method of making nanostructured materials A method and system for synthesizing nanocrystalline material. A system includes a chamber, a nonconsumable cathode shielded against chemical reaction by a working gas not including an oxidizing gas, but including an inert gas, a consumable anode vaporiza... | 10/24/1995 |
| 5447548 | Process for recovery of free aluminum from aluminum dross or aluminum scrap using plasma energy with oxygen second stage treatment A process for recovering free aluminum and aluminum compounds such as aluminum oxide from aluminum dross and aluminum scrap in a furnace heated with a plasma arc torch followed by oxygen injection after significant aluminum separation has occurred is desc... | 09/05/1995 |
| 5421850 | Method and apparatus for recovery of non-ferrous metals from dross A method and apparatus for treating non-ferrous metal drosses in order to recover the free metal contained therein. The dross is heated by a plasma torch in a rotary furnace, preferably to a temperature above 800° C. The plasma heating and rotary motion ... | 06/06/1995 |
| 5308375 | Process for recovery of free aluminum from aluminum dross or aluminum scrap using plasma energy with oxygen second stage treatment A process for recovering free aluminum and aluminum compounds such as aluminum oxide from aluminum dross and aluminum scrap in a furnace heated with a plasma arc torch followed by oxygen injection after significant aluminum separation has occurred is desc... | 05/03/1994 |
| 5245627 | Use of a radiating arc furnace for treating a dross containing a metal in order to recover this metal A process is disclosed, for treating dross containing a metal such as aluminum, in order to recover this metal, In this process, the dross to be treated is introduced into a rotary or oscillating furnace, in which it is heated to a temperature above the m... | 09/14/1993 |
| 5244488 | Direct smelting process with a thermal plasma The present invention relates to a process for directly smelting ores, metal oxides or the like with a thermal plasma. The direct smelting process of the invention can be practiced easily by simple equipment regardless of the form of the material to be smelted... | 09/14/1993 |
| 5201939 | Method of modifying titanium aluminide composition A method of altering the composition of an alloy deposited by plasma-spray processing is disclosed. It has been found that the composition of a powder can be altered by selective vaporization of the more volatile components of the alloy. In order to do th... | 04/13/1993 |
| 5135565 | Recovery of aluminum from dross using the plasma torch A process and apparatus for recovering aluminum from a solid dross containing the same comprising: (a) continuously introducing the dross and lime flux into an inert gas DC transferred arc plasma torch furnace, (b) heating the mixture to above the slag me... | 08/04/1992 |
| 5132246 | Process for using dross residues to produce refractory products A process for using nitride-containing aluminum dross residues to produce refractory products. The process involves mixing a dross residue which contains AlN, without prior conversion of the aluminum nitride in the dross to aluminum oxide or hydroxide, wi... | 07/21/1992 |
| 5122181 | Process and apparatus for melting contaminated metalliferrous scrap material A process and apparatus for melting contaminated metalliferous scrap material are disclosed. The process comprises introducing the contaminated material into a melting furnace, heating the material by means of a plasma at a temperature below the melting p... | 06/16/1992 |
| 5030273 | Furnace-plasma arc torch-supervisory control system for recovery of free aluminum from aluminum dross An assembly for the recovery of aluminum metal from aluminum dross comprising a rotary furnace, a plasma arc torch, and a supervisory control system for tying together and automatically controlling the operation of the rotary furnace and plasma arc torch ... | 07/09/1991 |
| 5021084 | Process for improving high-temperature alloys This invention is the electron beam evaporation and deposition(EBED) process which produces high purity and ultrafine grain size in high-temperature and reactive metal alloys. These properties are important in metals used in aircraft gas turbine component... | 06/04/1991 |
| 4997476 | Recovery of free aluminum from aluminum dross using plasma energy without use of a salt flux A process for recovering free aluminum and aluminum compounds such as aluminum oxide from aluminum dross in a rotary furnace heated with a plasma arc torch wherein air is preferably utilized as the arc gas is described. The use of the rotary furnace heate... | 03/05/1991 |
| 4960460 | Recovery of non-ferrous metals from dross using plasma torch A method and apparatus for treating non-ferrous metal drosses in order to recover the free metal contained therein. The dross is heated by a plasma torch in a rotary furnace, preferably to a temperature above 800° C. The plasma heating and rotary motion ... | 10/02/1990 |
| 4959100 | Recovery of non-ferrous metals from dross A method and apparatus for treating non-ferrous metal drosses in order to recover the free metal contained therein. The dross is heated by a plasma torch in a rotary furnace, preferably to a temperature above 800° C. The plasma heating and rotary motion ... | 09/25/1990 |
| 4952237 | Method and apparatus for recovery of non-ferrous metals from dross A method and apparatus for treating non-ferrous metal drosses in order to recover the free metal contained therein. The dross is heated by a plasma torch in a rotary furnace, preferably to a temperature above 800° C. The plasma heating and rotary motion ... | 08/28/1990 |
| 4877448 | Process for recovery of free aluminum from aluminum dross or aluminum scrap using plasma energy A process for recovering free aluminum and aluminum compounds such as aluminum oxide from aluminum dross and aluminum scrap in a furnace heated with a plasma arc torch wherein air is utilized as the arc gas is described. The use of air as the arc gas prov... | 10/31/1989 |
| 4491472 | Carbothermic reduction and prereduced charge for producing aluminum-silicon alloys Disclosed is a method for the carbothermic reduction of aluminum oxide to form an aluminum alloy including producing silicon carbide by heating a first mix of carbon and silicon oxide in a combustion reactor to an elevated temperature sufficient to produc... | 01/01/1985 |
| 4486229 | Carbothermic reduction with parallel heat sources Disclosed are apparatus and method of carbothermic direct reduction for producing an aluminum alloy from a raw material mix including aluminum oxide, silicon oxide, and carbon wherein parallel heat sources are provided by a combustion heat source and by a... | 12/04/1984 |
| 4481031 | Manufacture of aluminium-silicon alloys In a method of manufacturing aluminium-silicon alloy from natural mineral containing alumina and silica and carbon powder, the natural mineral in powder form is injected together with a reducing agent in the form of a carbon carrier, with the aid of a car... | 11/06/1984 |
| 4246022 | Processing metal chlorides Metal may be recovered from metal chlorides, for example a mixed metal chloride residue from the fluidized bed chlorination of a titaniferous ore in the presence of carbon to produce titanium tetrachloride by heating, in the presence of a scavenging agent... | 01/20/1981 |
| 4224054 | Process for the production of aluminium A process for the production of aluminium in two steps: and Reaction (ii) takes place in a materials addition chamber and reaction (iii) in a high temperature chamber. Slag is circulated between the chambers via conduits and is promoted by gas supplied from a... | 09/23/1980 |
| 4177060 | Reduction of stable oxides In a process for the carbothermal reduction of alumina, carbon and alumina are supplied to a molten reaction bed in a hearth in the floor of a reactor. The reaction bed is supplied with energy by contact with plasma or with plasma effluents. For this purp... | 12/04/1979 |
| 3938988 | Method for producing aluminum metal from its salts Aluminum metal in the gaseous state may be produced by breaking down of its salts at temperatures of at least 2500° to 5500°C. These very high temperatures may be reached in various ways, e.g., by producing a thermal plasma by means of a plasma arc or a... | 02/17/1976 |
| 3932171 | Process for high temperature treatment of materials A continuous electrical discharge arc column is moved bodily through a closed arcuate path. Particulate material is fed into the moving column at an angle such that the particles of the material travel through the column in substantially spiral paths. Aft... | 01/13/1976 |
