Ford Motor Company Limited

Ford Global Technolgoies, LLC

Mikhail Minevich

Raj Sohmshetty

S George Luckey, Jr

Constantin Chiriac

Vladimir Vladimirovich Bogachuk

Edgar Edward Donabedian

Jason Scott Balzer

Nia R Harrison

Thomas Norton

Liang Huang

David Douglas Friske

Nicholas Dornik

Michael Joseph Niksa

A tow hook includes a monolithic additively manufactured side wall defining a vehicle attachment member, a hollow main body extending from the vehicle attachment member, and a hollow towing member extending from the hollow main body. The vehicle attachment member is configured to rigidly attached to a vehicle and the hollow towing member is configured to securely attach to a towing machine such that the vehicle is towable via the tow hook. The vehicle attachment member can be a threaded shaft with a bore extending along a length of the threaded shaft. The side includes a chamfered plurality of apertures extending from an inner surface of the side wall to an outer surface of the side wall, and having with an inner dimension along a length direction of the hollow main body greater than an inner dimension along a circumferential direction of the hollow main body.

Additively manufactured tow hook

A method of quenching a press hardenable steel is provided. The method includes an initial step of die quenching a part stamped within a stamping die followed by a partial quenching after the initial step of die quenching. In various methods, the press hardenable steel is a 36MnB5 grade steel and/or the initial step of die quenching is performed at a temperature of approximately 200&#xb0; C.&#xb1;10&#xb0; C. in a die configured for 36MnB5 grade steel. At least one method further includes opening the die followed by the partial quenching, the partial quenching comprising spraying a cooling liquid onto the part to reduce a temperature of the part below approximately 130&#xb0; C.&#xb1;10&#xb0; C., with the option of spraying to reduce the temperature of the part below approximately 100&#xb0; C.&#xb1;10&#xb0; C.

Hybrid quench process for hot stamping of steel parts

A method of forming a hot stamped, die quenched, and die trimmed part is provided. The method includes hot stamping and die quenching a blank with a quench die and forming a die quenched panel. The quench die includes at least one slow-cooling channel. The die quenched panel is die trimmed along the at least one localized soft zone that is adjacent a hard zone. The blank may be formed from a press hardenable steel (PHS), and the at least one soft zone may have a ferritic microstructure and the at least one hard zone may have a martensitic microstructure. The at least one localized soft zone may have a microhardness between about 200 HV and about 250 HV and the hard zone may have a microhardness between about 400 HV and about 500 HV.

Methods for die trimming hot stamped parts and parts formed therefrom

A temporary restraining device is provided that includes a head portion, a central body positioned below the head portion, an upper gap defined between the head portion and the central body, and a base portion positioned below the central body, a lower gap defined between the base portion and the central body. The temporary restraining device maintains a predetermined offset between workpieces disposed within the upper and lower gaps for subsequent manufacturing operations.

Device used to temporarily restrain parts and assemblies through manufacturing processes

Methods of heat treating aluminum alloys are disclosed. The method may include forming a sheet of solution heat-treated, quenched, and aged 6xxx series aluminum having a sheet average yield strength of at least 100 MPa into a component. The component may then be attached to an assembly and at least a portion of the assembly may be painted. The method may then include heat treating the assembly to cure the paint and to increase a component average yield to at least 240 MPa. In another embodiment, the method may include progressively forging a sheet of T4-tempered 6xxx series aluminum into a component using multiple dies and artificially aging the component at 210&#xb0; C. to 240&#xb0; C. for 20 to 40 minutes to a component average yield strength of at least 300 MPa. The methods may reduce component cycle time and may reduce strength gradients within the component.

Artificial aging of strained sheet metal for strength uniformity

Growing community of inventors

Livonia, MI, United States of America

Mikhail Minevich