Other

Armco Steel Company, L.p.

Aquaform, Inc.

Price Enterprises

Ak Steel Corporation

Gary A Webb

Ralph E Roper

Douglas W Tyger

James Holbrook Brown

Donald F Lowen

An apparatus is provided for forming a tubular fitting from a blank tube having an interior. The apparatus includes a right die plate, a left die plate, a lower die plate and an upper die plate. The right die plate has a first cavity capable of receiving the blank tube. The left die plate has a second cavity aligned with the first cavity. The right die plate has a first guide post and the left die plate has a second guide post. The first cavity is joined to the second cavity to form a forming cavity. The lower die plate is capable of supporting the right die plate and the left die plate. The lower die plate includes a port capable of receiving a fluid line. The upper die plate is capable of moving between a first position and a second position. The upper die plate has guide holes for receiving the first and second guide posts and aligning the upper die plate with the right die plate and the left die plate. The apparatus further includes a fluid delivery means for communicating a fluid via the fluid line to the interior of the blank tube. A plunger is used to pressurize the fluid in the blank tube to expand the tube so that the shape of the tube conforms to the forming cavity.

Hydro compression tube forming die apparatus and method for making the

A apparatus and method for forming a complex-shaped frame member from a blank tube having opposed ends is provided. The blank tube is placed in a first cavity on a lower die. An upper die is lowered from an open position to a close proximity to the lower die. The upper die has a second cavity aligned with the first cavity. A pair of sealing units seal the opposing ends of the blank tube, and a fluid delivery means for communicates a fluid into the tube. A fluid control means pressurizes the fluid in the tube to a low pressure level. A position determining means determines a distance separating the upper die in the closed position from said lower die in the lowered position. A lower die lifting means raises the lower die from the lowered position the determined distance to the lifted position. The fluid control means then pressurizes the fluid in the tube to expand the tube to conform to the forming cavity.

Apparatus and method for hydroforming

A method and apparatus for forming complex shaped frame members from a tubular blank where the blank is transferred from station to station and various tooling are performed on the blank at each station. For example, at a first station the blank is expanded into a tube having a varying cross-section throughout the length of the tube by applying pressure to the interior of the tube and compressive force to the opposed ends of the tube preferably simultaneously. At another station, the expanded tube is preformed by introducing a bend therein. The bend in the preformed tube is then increased at another station. While the expanded tube is being preformed and bent, the flow of material into the die cavity at those stations is controlled to reduce the amount of folding that may occur. The shape of the frame member is finished at another station by introducing a lateral bend and varying the cross-sectional configuration of the bent tube. Holes may then be pierced into the finished frame member at another station by pressurizing the interior of the frame member with hydraulic fluid and striking the frame member with a piercing punch. Final stations crop the ends and flush the interior of the frame member before it is unloaded for further transport.

Apparatus and method for forming and hydropiercing a tubular frame member

A self-contained apparatus for forming metal sheet is adapted for operation within a standard double action press having a base and outer and inner vertically reciprocating slides. A basic die is mountable to the press and specific tooling is replaceably mountable to the basic die. The basic die includes a riser, a manifold and hydraulic cylinder assemblies. A sheet metal blank is positioned on the lower die and is clamped between the upper and lower dies whereby the periphery of the blank is gripped between a male and female bead mounted all around a part print cavity. The cylinder assemblies cause hydraulic fluid to be forced into a region between the clamped blank and the lower die and form the blank in the part print cavity. The male bead exerts varying control on the sheet to allow it to stretch across portions of the cavity while flowing into other portions of the cavity. A locking mechanism prevents the bending of the dies and holds the dies in a closed position thereby assisting the engagement of the male bead with the female bead. As a safety feature, the mechanism is configured to automatically open when the die cavity is moved up. The locking mechanism allows the use of high pressures to make large parts, such as car hoods, doors, deck lids, and quarter panels in conventional double action presses.

Controlled material flow hydroforming

An apparatus and method for forming a one-piece, complex-shaped tubular member from a tubular blank is provided. The tubular blank is placed in a die cavity defining a tube having at least two expanded portions and a bend therein. As the die cavity is closed around the tubular blank to form the bend, the interior of the tubular blank is pressurized to expand the tubular blank into the at least two expanded portions defined by the die cavity. When the bent and expanded tubular blank is removed from the die cavity, the ends of the tubular blank are cropped to form the finished tubular member.

Apparatus and method for forming a tubular member

A sheet metal blank positioned upon a lower die is wrapped around an upper die as the upper die is moved down to a closed position by an outer slide, the blank being clamped between the upper and lower dies whereby the periphery of the blank is gripped between a male and female bead mounted all around a part print cavity in the upper and lower dies, respectively. The outer slide then dwells while an inner slide moves down, engaging and actuating cylinder assemblies, causing hydraulic fluid to be forced into a region between the clamped blank and the lower die, the blank being formed into a part print cavity defined in the upper die. The male bead exerts varying control on the sheet to allow it to stretch across portions of the cavity while flowing into other portions of the cavity. A locking mechanism prevents the bending of the dies and holds the dies in a closed position thereby assisting the engagement of the male bead with the female bead. As a safety feature, the mechanism is configured to automatically open when the die cavity is moved up. The locking mechanism allows the use of high pressures to make large parts, such as car hoods, doors, deck lids, and quarter panels in conventional currently available double action presses.

An apparatus for forming a frame member for an automobile from a tube blank applies internal hydraulic pressure to the blank, tangent bends and preforms the internally pressurized blank into a preformed tube having a desired horizontal profile configuration, then forms the preformed tube into a finally formed frame member having a desired vertical profile configuration and a desired, varying cross-sectional configuration by placing the preformed tube in a stuffing ledge apparatus having a lower die with an upwardly facing ledge and vertically extending, punch engaging surfaces and a punch having a downwardly facing ledge and vertically extending, die engaging surfaces, internally pressurizing the tube, and then ramming the punch downwardly to form the tube into the finally formed frame member, the ledges and vertically extending surfaces substantially completely enclosing a portion of the tube before and while the punch and die come together to form the tube into the finally formed frame member. The forming components in each apparatus are submerged in an aqueous bath, allowing the blank and tube to automatically fill themselves, thereby facilitating sealing and pressurizing of the tube.

Growing community of inventors

West Bloomfield, MI, United States of America

Gary A Webb