The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 08, 2001
Filed:
Sep. 16, 1998
Glenn S. Daehn, Columbus, OH (US);
Vincent J. Vohnout, Columbus, OH (US);
The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH (US);
Abstract
The present invention includes a method of forming a metal work piece into a target shape, said method comprising the steps: (a) obtaining a metal work piece, said work piece having an original shape; and (b) forming said metal work piece by mechanical action while simultaneously subjecting said work piece to hydraulic forming, so as to deform said metal work piece from an original shape to a target shape. The present invention includes a method of forming a metal work piece into a target shape, the method comprising the steps: (a) obtaining a metal work piece, the work piece having an original shape; (b) disposing the metal work piece in a mold comprising at least one hydraulic actuator, the mold comprising: (i) an male mold portion having a mold side and a back side; (ii) a female mold portion having a mold side and a back side; the mold side of the male mold portion and the mold side of the female mold portion adapted to mate so as to deform a work piece disposed therebetween; (iii) at least one of the mold portions comprising at least one hydraulic actuator; and (iv) a hydraulic power source adapted to produce at least one hydraulic pulse through the at least one hydraulic actuator, so as to be capable of deforming the work piece; (c) closing the mold sides upon the metal work piece while causing at least one hydraulic pulse to pass through the actuator, so as to deform the metal work piece from the original shape to the target shape both by direct molding contact and hydraulic pulse forming. Preferably, the at least one hydraulic pulse comprises a series of hydraulic pulses.