Appeal No. 95-4020
Application No. 08/096,337
The subject matter on appeal relates to a method of
carburizing ferrous metal parts in a furnace having a process
chamber which comprises: providing an endothermic carrier gas
formed by partial reaction of fuel gas and air in an externally
heated catalyst filled chamber and feeding the carrier gas into
the process chamber so as to provide a furnace atmosphere having
a carbon potential of at least about .5%; and providing a source
of air and a source of enriching gas and feeding the air and the
enriching gas simultaneously to the process chamber so as to
raise the carbon potential of the furnace atmosphere by at least
about .1%. This appealed subject matter is adequately
illustrated by independent claim 1 which reads as follows:
1. A method of carburizing ferrous metal parts in a
furnace having a process chamber in which the ferrous metal parts
are carburized comprising the steps of:
i) heating the process chamber to a temperature in excess
of about 1100EF;
ii) charging the ferrous parts to be carburized into the
process chamber;
iii) providing a carrier gas comprising an endothermic
carrier gas formed by partial reaction of fuel gas and air in an
externally heated catalyst filled chamber, and feeding the
carrier gas into the process chamber so as to provide a furnace
atmosphere in the process chamber having a dew point and having a
carbon potential of at least about .5%;
iv) providing a source of air and a source of enriching gas
and feeding the air and the enriching gas simultaneously to the
2
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007