High pressure, high temperature window assembly and method of making the same

US6212989A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army · US

Inventors

• Richard A. Beyer · Baltimore, US
• Gregory Burke · Piermont, US
• John J. O'Reilly · Montague, CA
• David C. Smith · Columbia, US
• Henry Kerwien · Augusta, US
• Mark Todaro · Cohoes, US

Key dates

• Filing date: May 4, 1999
• Grant date: Apr 10, 2001
• Expiry date: May 4, 2019

Classification

• Technology area (CPC F): Mechanical Engineering; Lighting; Heating
• CPC primary: F41H5/263
• WIPO field: Other special machines
• WIPO sector: Mechanical engineering

Abstract

A window assembly for transmitting light into and from a vessel containing a high pressure, high temperature, highly reactive environment includes a truncated conical window which is substantially transparent to radiation, a truncated conical metal seal which circumferentially engages the window, and a case to which the window and the seal are secured. To facilitate automatic cleaning of the window, the surface of the window which is exposed to the high-pressure environment is seated substantially flush with the high-pressure surface of the case. By initially seating the window assembly by means of mechanical pressing, then subjecting the window assembly to a series of successively higher transient combustion pressures, a window assembly can be fabricated which can withstand prolonged service in a harsh environment such as that encountered in a large caliber artillery cannon or equivalent scientific and industrial applications.