US 12,186,820 B2
Contact matrix for grounding a ceramic component during electrical discharge machining
Jacob Gregory Thiel, Springboro, OH (US); Yuefeng Luo, Liberty Township, OH (US); Allison Michelle Hanna, Asheville, NC (US); and Caleb Dewayne Myers, Cincinnati, OH (US)
Assigned to General Electric Company, Evendale, OH (US)
Filed by General Electric Company, Schenectady, NY (US)
Filed on Jan. 6, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/142,323.
Prior Publication US 2022/0212276 A1, Jul. 7, 2022
Int. Cl. B23H 1/04 (2006.01)
CPC B23H 1/04 (2013.01) 19 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method, comprising:
electrical discharge machining a ceramic component while a contact matrix is positioned so that electrically conductive contacts of the contact matrix engage the ceramic component and so that an electrically conductive member of the contact matrix is in contact with a grounding structure separate from the ceramic component to provide electrical conduction between the ceramic component and the grounding structure,
wherein the electrically conductive contacts are compliant and pressurized electrically conductive contacts that are biased from a relaxed state into an engaged state in which the electrically conductive contacts undergo deformation into pressurized engagement with the ceramic component.