Patent Application
20180154413
The present disclosure relates to a composite material, manufacturing method and manufacturing apparatus thereof. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to an aluminum extrusion composite member, manufacturing method and manufacturing apparatus thereof.
At present, the aluminum alloy has gradually replaced the steel material in Europe, America and other vehicle components market, and Chinese mainland and Southeast Asian market have also applied aluminum alloy in vehicle body components in recent years. The vehicle body is conventionally made mainly of steel materials, but the lightweight and high strength aluminum alloy material has a sharp increase in the automotive market in recent years.
Although aluminum has its advantage of light weight, its strength is still weaker than iron or steel. Therefore, the material of steel and aluminum alloy is constantly being developed, but the complexity of the manufacturing process and the demand for more investment in process equipment make the production cost of aluminum-iron alloy vehicle components higher than that of the steel material alone.
In view of the above-described problems, it is an urgent problem to provide an aluminum alloy in low cost and in high strength.
The present disclosure provides an aluminum extrusion composite member, manufacturing method and manufacturing apparatus thereof to deal with the above-described problems in the prior art.
In accordance with an object of the present disclosure, an aluminum extrusion composite member includes a hollow aluminum alloy body and at least one metal wire. The hollow aluminum alloy body has a cross-section of substantially the same shape over an entire length thereof, wherein the cross-section is substantially perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the aluminum alloy body. The at least one metal wire is disposed within the aluminum alloy body and arranged along the longitudinal axis of the aluminum alloy body.
In accordance with another embodiment, the at least one metal wire is made of a material of a melting point and mechanical strength greater than aluminum is.
In accordance with another embodiment, the at least one metal wire is located at a corner of the cross-section of the aluminum alloy body.
In accordance with another object of the present disclosure, an aluminum extrusion composite member manufacturing method includes the steps of providing an extrusion mold; introducing at least one metal wire into the extrusion mold; and placing an aluminum material in a container and extruding the aluminum material into the extrusion mold to advance the at least one metal wire to form an aluminum extruded composite member containing the at least one metal wire therein.
In accordance with another embodiment, the aluminum material is extruded to be split and then merged within the extrusion mold, and the at least one metal wire is brought into the aluminum material when the aluminum material is merged within the extrusion mold.
In accordance with another embodiment, the manufacturing method further includes the step of positioning at least one guide pin within the extrusion mold where the aluminum material is merged to introduce the at least one metal wire into the aluminum material.
In accordance with still another object of the present disclosure, an aluminum extrusion composite member manufacturing apparatus includes a container, an extrusion mold and a wire-feeding device. The container is utilized to accommodate an aluminum material. The extrusion mold is connected to the container for shaping the aluminum material, and the extrusion mold has an extrusion channel through which the aluminum material is extruded and shaped into a desired cross-section. The wire-feeding device is located at a side of the extrusion mold for supplying a metal wire to be guided into the extrusion channel.
In accordance with another embodiment, the extrusion channel includes multiple branching passages followed by a merging passage, the multiple branching passages serve as a feed end for the aluminum material and the merging passage serves as an output end for the aluminum material.
In accordance with another embodiment, the manufacturing apparatus further includes a guide pin within the merging passage, and the guide pin is aligned with one of the multiple branching passages.
In accordance with another embodiment, the manufacturing apparatus further includes a reel around which the metal wire is pre-wound, and the reel supplies the metal wire to the guide pin.
Thus, the aluminum extrusion composite member, manufacturing method and manufacturing apparatus thereof disclosed herein integrate a metal wire having a higher melting point and higher mechanical strength than aluminum to the aluminum extrusion member so as to enhance an overall structural rigidity and strength by more than 20%. The manufacturing apparatus can be realized by installing a wire-feeding device on an conventional aluminum extruding machine and modifying the design of the extrusion mold, thereby simplifying the actuating mechanism of introducing the metal wire into the aluminum material and saving the mold manufacturing cost.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are by examples, and are intended to provide further explanation of the disclosure as claimed.
The disclosure can be more fully understood by reading the following detailed description of the embodiment, with reference made to the accompanying drawings as follows:
Reference will now be made in detail to the present embodiments of the disclosure, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts.
Referring to
An aluminum extrusion composite member 100 is a final product of the present disclosure, and it is different from a conventional aluminum extrusion member in that at least one metal wire 104 is embedded into the aluminum alloy body 102, and the metal wire 104 is made of a material of a melting point and mechanical strength greater than aluminum is. The metal wire 104 is located within and extended along a longitudinal axis of aluminum alloy body 102, i.e., a direction that is substantially perpendicular to the cross-sectional view as illustrated in
The aluminum extrusion composite member 100 disclosed herein is made by an aluminum extrusion composite member manufacturing apparatus 200. Basically, the aluminum extrusion composite member manufacturing apparatus 200 includes a container 202, an extrusion mold 204 and a wire-feeding device. The container 202 has a hollow cavity 202a for accommodating the aluminum material 212. The extrusion mold 204 is connected to the container 202 for shaping the aluminum material extruded from the container 202. The extrusion mold 204 has an extrusion channel 206 through which the aluminum material 212 is extruded from the container 202 along a direction 210, i.e., a longitudinal axis direction of the container 202 or extrusion mold 204, and shaped into a desired cross-section. The wire-feeding device is installed at a side of the extrusion mold 204 for supplying a metal wire 207 to be guided into the extrusion channel 206. In this embodiment, the wire-feeding device includes one or more reels 208 around which at least one metal wire 207 is pre-wound. Inside the extrusion channel 206, a guide pin 209 is installed to direct the metal wire 207 from a direction that is substantially perpendicular to the direction 210 towards a direction that is substantially in parallel with the direction 210, i.e., a longitudinal axis direction of the extrusion mold 204.
An aluminum extrusion composite member manufacturing method 300 basically includes the following steps. In step 302, the metal wire 207 is supplied from the reel 208 and guided into the extrusion mold 204. In step 304, the aluminum material 212 is placed into the hollow cavity 202a of the container 202. In step 306, the aluminum material 212 is extruded or pressed into the extrusion mold 204 to advance and bring the metal wire 207 along with so as to form an aluminum extruded composite member 100 containing the at least one metal wire 207 therein. The manufacturing method disclosed herein mainly describes the way to integrate the metal wire into the aluminum material, and it may further include the step of cutting the metal wire according to the demands, the step of aging treatment to strengthen the extruded aluminum material or the step of machining, punching or stamping according to the product design. The extruding temperature, the extrusion squeeze speed or the mold temperature may be adjusted according to the characteristics of the aluminum material.
Referring to
The details of the extrusion mold 204′ are depicted in
According to an exemplary shape depicted in
In sum, the aluminum extrusion composite member, manufacturing method and manufacturing apparatus thereof disclosed herein integrate a metal wire having a higher melting point and higher mechanical strength than aluminum to the aluminum extrusion member so as to enhance an overall structural rigidity and strength by more than 20%. The manufacturing apparatus can be realized by installing a wire-feeding device on an conventional aluminum extruding machine and modifying the design of the extrusion mold, thereby simplifying the actuating mechanism of introducing the metal wire into the aluminum material and saving the mold manufacturing cost.
Although the present disclosure has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain embodiments thereof, other embodiments are possible. Therefore, the spirit and scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the embodiments contained herein.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the present disclosure without departing from the scope or spirit of the disclosure. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present disclosure cover modifications and variations of this disclosure provided they fall within the scope of the following claims.
