Shape Corporation

Kirk W Briggs

Peter Sturrus

Richard D Heinz

A die apparatus includes a first die configured to telescopingly engage an end section of a tubular bar, including one or more &ldquo;floating&rdquo; mandrels configured to extend into cavities of the tubular bar, and further including a stationary die member spaced from the mandrel(s). The mandrel(s) and the stationary die member include angled cutting edges that are aligned so that the cutting edges are engageable from a single transverse direction. The mandrel(s) is movably supported on the first die to float parallel the single direction toward and away from the stationary die member. A cutting die has a shearing punch configured to move along the single direction to sequentially engage the angled cutting edges to shear off an angled portion of the end section. The die apparatus is optimally designed for use with a rollformed swept tubular bumper bar having a B-shape and that has walls forming first and second tubular sections that define first and second cavities, with the walls further defining a third cavity between the first and second cavities. In such a die apparatus, the first die includes first, second, and third mandrels configured to extend into the first, second, and third cavities, respectively, of the B-bumper. A method related to the above apparatus is also disclosed.

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Kent City, MI, United States of America

Kirk W Briggs