Operating a sintering furnace

1. A method of operating a sintering furnace comprising:

receiving information about a green object load to be sintered in a sintering furnace;

determining a sintering profile based on the information;

performing a sintering process according to the sintering profile;

during the sintering process, accessing a sensor reading from a densification sensor that indicates a degree of densification of a green object in the load; and,

initiating a cool down phase of the sintering process if the sensor reading has reached a target sensor reading.

2. A method as in claim 1 , wherein performing a sintering process according to the sintering profile comprises:

increasing a sintering furnace temperature to a binder burnout temperature specified in the sintering profile;

maintaining the binder burnout temperature for a burnout time specified in the sintering profile; and,

increasing the sintering furnace temperature to a sintering temperature after the burnout time has elapsed.

3. A method as in claim 2 , further comprising:

when the sensor reading has not reached the target sensor reading, accessing a maximum sintering time from the sintering profile; and,

initiating the cool down phase if the sintering furnace temperature has been at the sintering temperature for a time that exceeds the maximum sintering time.

4. A method as in claim 2 , comprising accessing the sensor reading after the sintering furnace temperature has reached the sintering temperature.

5. A method as in claim 2 , further comprising:

as the sintering furnace temperature increases from the binder burnout temperature to the sintering temperature, accessing a pre-sintering sensor reading from the densification sensor to establish a pre-sintering sensory baseline.

6. A method as in claim 1 , further comprising:

prior to performing the sintering process, accessing a pre-process sensor reading from the densification sensor;

comparing the pre-process sensor reading with a pre-process sensor reference; and,

providing a user notification if the pre-process sensor reading is outside of an acceptable range of the pre-process sensor reference.

7. A method as in claim 1 , wherein receiving information about the green object load comprises receiving information selected from a total mass of green objects in the load, a thickness of side walls of the green objects in the load, a type of material forming the green objects in the load, and an amount and type of binder binding the material together in the green objects in the load.

8. A method as in claim 1 , wherein determining a sintering profile comprises:

determining a maximum sintering time;

determining a binder burnout temperature;

determining a burnout time; and,

determining a sintering temperature.

9. A sintering system for operating a sintering furnace, comprising:

a sintering furnace to sinter a load of green objects;

a densification sensor to provide a sensor reading that indicates a degree of densification of a token green object being sintered in the sintering furnace; and,

a controller to compare the sensor reading with a target sensor value and to initiate a furnace cool down phase when the sensor reading reaches the target sensor value.

10. A sintering system as in claim 9 , wherein the densification sensor comprises a sensor selected from an optical sensor, an electrical sensor, and a gas sensor.

11. A sintering system as in claim 9 , wherein the densification sensor location is selected from a location outside of the sintering furnace, a location inside of the sintering furnace, and a location both outside and inside the sintering furnace.

12. A method of operating a sintering furnace comprising:

during a sintering process to sinter green objects in a sintering furnace, and after the sintering furnace has reached a sintering temperature, accessing sensor data from a densification sensor that indicates a degree of densification of a token green object;

starting a furnace cool down phase if the sensor data has reached a preset target; and,

if the sensor data has not reached a preset target, starting the furnace cool down phase if the sintering furnace has been at the sintering temperature for a time period that exceeds a maximum sintering time.

13. A method as in claim 12 , further comprising:

if the sintering furnace has not been at the sintering temperature for a time period that exceeds the maximum sintering time, accessing updated sensor data from the densification sensor; and,

starting the furnace cool down phase if the updated sensor data has reached the preset target.

14. A method as in claim 12 , further comprising:

prior to the sintering process, receiving information about the green objects; and,

based on the green object information, determining a process profile to control the sintering process.

15. A method as in claim 12 , further comprising:

prior to the sintering process, taking a pre-process sensor reading;

comparing the pre-process sensor reading with a sensor reference;

determining that the pre-process sensor reading is not within an acceptable range of the sensor reference; and,

providing a notification to check the location of the token green object in the furnace prior to proceeding with the sintering process.