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:
Mar. 21, 2006
Filed:
Jul. 04, 2002
Mark W. Barber, St. Thomas, CA;
Mark W. Barber, St. Thomas, CA;
Magna Structural Systems, Inc., Aurora, CA;
Abstract
A method for expanding tubular blanks includes pre-expanding or initially expanding a section of the tube by forcing a punch into an open end of the tube. The punching process may be repeated to achieve up to approximately 50% expansion from the original configuration of the blank. Then, the same pre-expanded section can be further expanded by hydroforming such that the blank is filled with pressurized fluid to achieve further expansion of the initially expanded section up to approximately 100% expansion from the original configuration of the blank. As a final step, the open end of the expanded tube may be cut to its ultimate shape.