Method for the manufacture of hard surface layer on the automatic freight car coupler part

Abstract

The invention relates to the field of heat treatment of metals and may be used for hardening the railway transport automatic coupler parts. The hardening method includes induction heating of the automatic coupler and its subsequent cooling. The induction heating is performed within the automatic coupler part working surface area. The heated surface is cooled by water fed through openings in the coil body.

1 - 7 . (canceled) 
     
     
         8 . A method of creating a hard surface layer comprising the steps of:
 induction heating a section of a surface of a metallic part by moving a power coil proximate to the section of the surface;   cooling the section that was heated with liquid emitted from a feed that is disposed proximate to the power coil and moves in concert with the power coil.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising the steps of:
 scanning the section of the surface of the metallic part with a scanning device prior to the induction heating step;   controlling the moving of the power coil and feed with an automatic control system that determines the moving at least in part based upon the scanning.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the power coil is moved at a constant distance of 1 mm to 3 mm from the section of the surface. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein metallic part is a train car coupler and the section of the surface that is heated and cooled is a working surface of the coupler. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the working surface that is heated and cooled does not include the edge proximate to the working surface and that edge is 5 mm to 10 mm wide. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11  where in the working surface is a pulling surface of a large tooth of the coupler. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11  where in the working surface is a pulling surface of a small tooth of the coupler. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the power coil is a high frequency power coil. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the power coil is a ferrite copper tube. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the feed comprises openings in the power coil body. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the openings in the power coil body are at an angle to a bottom of the power coil to direct the liquid towards the surface heated by the power coil. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the induction heating temperature at the surface is in the range between 910 degrees Celsius and 1150 degrees Celsius. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the induction heating temperature at a depth of 3 mm is in the range between 880 degrees Celsius and 910 degrees Celsius. 
     
     
         21 . An apparatus for creating a hard surface layer comprising:
 a movable power coil comprising a tube that includes holes, wherein the power coil is capable of heating a surface and the holes are capable of feeding a liquid to the surface that was heated;   an automatic control system capable of scanning the surface and directing motion of the power coil over the surface based upon the scanning.   
     
     
         22 . The apparatus of  claim 21 , wherein openings of the holes are angled to direct the liquid towards the heated surface. 
     
     
         23 . An apparatus of  claim 21 , wherein the power coil is a square ferrite copper tube. 
     
     
         24 . A train car coupler comprising:
 a large tooth and a small tooth coupled to one another;   wherein a section of a working surface of at least one of the large tooth or the small tooth is hardened to a range of 40.5 HRC to 50.0 HRC.   
     
     
         25 . The train car coupler part of  claim 24 , where the section of the working surface that is hardened comprises a layer with a martensite structure with carbon content in the range of 0.17% to 0.25%. 
     
     
         26 . The train car coupler part of  claim 24 , where in the hardened section of the working surface does not include the edge of the working surface. 
     
     
         27 . The train car coupler of  claim 26 , wherein a width of the edge is in the range of 5 mm to 10 mm.