JPMA Award Winners 2014
Effort prize
Sintered oil-less bearing for a valve switching motor for high-temperature operation
Sintered oil-less bearing for a valve switching motor for high-temperature operation (Courtesy JPMA)
Porite Corporation received an effort prize for the development of a sintered oil-less bearing for a valve switching motor. Used in a vehicle electronic throttle system or exhaust gas recirculation system, the sintered bearing replaces a ball bearing.
The bearing has to operate in high-temperatures (180°C to 200°C), as well as have load bearing and vibration resistance characteristics. The existing Cu-Sn material was replaced by an Fe-Cu-Sn material and, by incorporating a solid lubricant, gave the characteristics to support lubrication in the use in which oil film formation was difficult.
As a result, wear and vibration resistance were much improved and the ball bearing at the output side of the valve switching motor could be successfully replaced with a sintered bearing.
Sintered contact strip material, made of carbon fibre reinforced carbon composite impregnated with copper alloy for use on train
Sintered contact strip to be attached to pantographs of trains (Courtesy JPMA)
Fine Sinter Co. Ltd received an award for the development of a sintered contact strip to be attached to pantographs of trains.
Carbon contact strips (composite of graphite and copper or copper alloy), which contribute to the extension of contact wire life, are often adopted in preference to the conventional sintered copper alloy contact strips. Because carbon contact strips use carbon powder as a base material, there have been cases of failure during use, due to brittleness. Moreover, a steel sheet sheath has had to be installed on the contact strip for reinforcement before fixing it onto a pantograph. An improvement to this system was desired.
In this project, a high strength Carbon fibre reinforced Carbon composite (C/C) contact strip was developed by making a composite of copper alloy through a Powder Metallurgy process. In this manufacturing method, the C/C is overlaid with impregnation material made of powdered copper and powdered titanium as a base, formulated only in the amount required for impregnation, and atmospheric impregnation is performed inside a continuous sintering furnace. To enable atmospheric impregnation, wettability was increased by improving the formulation and the spaces between the woven fabrics were used as impregnation paths.
By using high strength C/C composite as a base material, an approximate doubling of the strength of current carbon contact strips has been achieved, resulting in reduced failures during use, and a significant decrease in contact wire wear which contributed to an extension of the contact strip replacement cycle. Thanks to the increased strength, the strip can now be directly threaded and no longer requires reinforcement by a sheath for fixing.
Miniature Tool Set
Miniature tool set, manufactured by MIM (Courtesy JPMA)
Castem Co. Ltd received an award for a miniature tool set, manufactured by Metal Injection Moulding (MIM). There have been many miniature tools, for example for key chains or accessories, but most of these have limited functionality being made from materials such as silver, die-cast aluminium or zinc.
The use of MIM has enabled these tools to be made with complicated three-dimensional moveable parts out of real tool materials, such as stainless steel and tool steel. The set includes 11 miniature tools: Micrometer, Scissors, Needle Nose Pliers, Hacksaw, Water Pump Pliers, Wire Cutters, Machine Vice, Callipers, Adjustable Wrench, Pliers and C Clamp.
Product development for the miniature tool set has been carried out by the company’s experienced engineers who have carefully designed the moulds for the tools. The materials used for the micrometer and callipers are SUS630, equivalent to 17-4. SKD11, equivalent to D2 Tool Steel, was selected for all the other tools.
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