Patent Application
20070040298
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an assembly and to a method for cooling and/or forming an item and more particularly to an assembly which allows an item to be efficiently cooled and/or formed and to a highly efficient cooling and forming methodology.
2. Background of the Invention
An item, such as an automotive fuel tank, is often formed within a tool. Particularly, the formed item must typically be taken from the tool and cooled in order to complete the formation process. Such a separate cooling operation undesirably increases the item formation process time (e.g., making the overall process inefficient) and increases the likelihood of damage to the item taken from the tool (e.g., the “preformed part” or “prepart”).
Moreover, these tools are conventionally formed or created from a “block of material” which is machined or “worked” in a certain manner in order to form the desired tooling surface used to form the desired item. This tool construction is costly and is complicated, thereby undesirably increasing the likelihood that the created tool will be errantly made, and increasing the likelihood of damage to the partially formed tool.
There is therefore a need for an assembly which allows a pre-formed item to be efficiently cooled and for a tooling assembly which allows an item to be efficiently formed and subsequently cooled in a new and novel manner, thereby addressing the various drawbacks and disadvantages of prior techniques and strategies which have been delineated above. The present invention addresses these drawbacks and disadvantages in a new and novel manner.
It is a first non-limiting object of the present invention to provide an assembly and a method which overcome the various disadvantages of prior techniques and strategies.
It is a second non-limiting object of the present invention to provide an assembly and a method which overcome the various disadvantages of prior techniques and strategies, including those which have been delineated above and which allow an item to be efficiently cooled.
It is third non-limiting object of the present invention to provide an assembly and a method which overcomes the various disadvantages of prior techniques and strategies, including those which have been delineated above and which allow an item to be efficiently cooled.
According to a first non-limiting aspect of the present invention, an assembly is provided and includes a plurality of spaced apart plates which are fixed within a carrier and which cooperatively define the shape of a certain item.
According to a second non-limiting aspect of the present invention an assembly is provided which includes a first carrier portion having a floor which includes a first strip of protruding teeth, a first wall which includes a second strip of protruding teeth, and a second wall which includes a third strip of protruding teeth and wherein the first and second walls cooperate with the floor to form a containment portion and wherein the second and third strips of protruding teeth extend in opposite directions and into the containment portion and are linearly coextensive, and a plurality of plates which are fixedly secured within the containment area, wherein each of the plurality of plates is respectively disposed between two unique teeth of the first strip of protruding teeth, between two unique teeth of the second strip of protruding teeth, and between two unique teeth of the third strip of protruding teeth; and a second top portion which is adapted to selectively engage the carrier portion.
According to a third non-limiting aspect of the present invention, an assembly for forming and cooling a part is provided and includes a substantially rectangular carrier having a floor and two pairs of opposed walls which cooperate with the floor to form a containment cavity, wherein the assembly includes a first strip of teeth which is disposed above the floor and along the entire length of a first of said walls; a second strip of teeth which is disposed along the entire length of a second of the walls and wherein the second strip of teeth is linearly coextensive to the first strip of teeth; and a third strip of teeth which is disposed upon the floor and which is linearly coextensive to the first and second strips of teeth and wherein the first strip of teeth extend into the containment cavity in a first direction and wherein the second strip of teeth extend into the containment cavity in a second direction which is opposite to the first direction; and wherein the assembly further includes a first plurality of plates which are respectively disposed between unique pairs of teeth on the first strip of teeth and between unique pairs of teeth on the second strip of teeth, and between unique pairs of teeth on the third strip of teeth.
According to a fourth non-limiting aspect of the present invention, a method of cooling an item is provided and includes the steps of creating an assembly containing spaced apart plates; and placing the item upon the spaced apart plates; and placing a cooling media in contact with the assembly.
According to a fifth non-limiting aspect of the present invention, a method of forming and cooling an item is provided and includes the steps of forming an assembly which includes a carrier having a plurality of spaced apart plates; forming the item within the carrier by use of the plurality of spaced apart plates; and cooling the formed item.
These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a reading of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment of the invention, including the subjoined claims, and by reference to the following drawings.
Referring now to
Particularly, the assembly 10 includes a carrier portion 12 and a top portion 14 which is adapted to be selectively moved from a first position (shown in
Particularly, as shown perhaps best in
Further, first and second substantially identical teeth strips 34, 36 are operatively disposed along the entire length of wall 20 and are in parallel relation to each other. Third and fourth substantially identical teeth strips 38, 40 are operatively disposed upon the entire length of the wall 22 and are in parallel relation to each other. The strips 38, 40, in the most preferred embodiment of the invention, are substantially identical to teeth strips 34, 36. In the most preferred embodiment of the invention, teeth strips 34, 40 are in a coplanar relationship to each other and the plane which contains the teeth strips 34, 40 is parallel to the floor 18. Similarly, the teeth strips 36, 38 are in a coplanar relationship to each other and the plane which contains the teeth strips 36, 38 is parallel to the floor 18 and is parallel to the plane containing the teeth strips 34, 40. That is, the height of tooth strip 36 from the floor portion 18 is substantially similar to the height of tooth strip 38 from the floor portion 18, while the height of the tooth strip 34 from the floor portion 18 is substantially similar to the height of the tooth strip 40 from the floor portion 18.
Further, as best shown in
Thus, in the most preferred although non-limiting embodiment of the invention, the assembly 10 includes a first portion of plates 70. Each of the first portion of plates 70 have a respective first edge portion 72 which is selectively and frictionally and removably/fixedly received by and between unique pairs of adjacent teeth 78 on strip 34 and by and between unique pairs of adjacent teeth 80 on the strip 36. Further, each of the plates 70 include a second opposed outer edge 84 which is selectively and frictionally and removably/fixedly received by and between unique pairs of adjacent teeth 88 on the strip 38 and by and between unique pairs of adjacent teeth 90 on the strip 40. Moreover, each of the plates 70 include a third edge 94 which is selectively and frictionally and removably/fixedly received by and between unique pairs of adjacent teeth 100 on the strip 50 and by and between unique pairs of adjacent teeth 102 on the strip 52.
In this manner, the plates 70 may be selectively and removably placed within the containment cavity 30 and each of the plates 70 have an outer surface or edge 110 (e.g. the surfaces or edges which respectively abut or receive a pre-formed part or item) which has a certain spatial geometry which allows the various outer surfaces 110 to cooperatively form or obtain a certain spatial shape, such as that which is shown in
It should be noted that in this non-limiting embodiment of the invention, a pair of adjacent plates 70 are separated by a distance equal to the width of the tooth which separates them. Thus, each plate 70 is therefore separated from its adjacent or “neighbor” plates by a certain space or gap 112 which is equal to the respective width of the respective teeth which separate the respective plates 70 from their respective neighbor or adjacent plates 70. In the most preferred embodiment of the invention, this gap 112 is substantially uniform or similar and occurs between each pair of plates 70 which are selectively and fixedly received within the containment cavity 30. In one non-limiting embodiment of the invention, the assembly 10 only includes such plates as plates 70.
However, in an alternate (although non-limiting) embodiment of the invention, a second group of plates, such as plates 130, are used in order to allow for a smooth geometric “mirror image” contour or surface geometry to be realized within the containment cavity 30.
Particularly, as shown best perhaps in
As shown best in
The assembly 10, in the most preferred embodiment of the invention, further includes a source of electrical power 208, such as an electrical battery, which is physically and communicatively coupled to the controller assembly 200 by use of the bus 210 and which provides operating power to the controller assembly 200. The assembly 10, in the most preferred embodiment of the invention, further includes an input/output portion 212 which is physically and communicatively coupled to the controller assembly 200 by use of the bus 214, and a position sensor assembly 220 which is physically and communicatively coupled to the controller assembly 200 by use of the bus 222.
The actuator assembly 204 is coupled to the top portion 14 and, in one non-limiting embodiment of the invention, the top portion 14 includes a surface 225 which is formed by a plurality of plates, such as plates 70 and which cooperates with the surface 110 to form a mirror image of the entire outer surface of the item to be cooled, such as an automotive fuel tank (e.g., each of the surfaces 110 and 225 are substantially identical and respectively form a mirror image of a unique one half to the item or pre-formed part to be cooled or formed/cooled). It should be realized that the controller assembly 200 acts in accordance with its stored program which it may receive through the input/output portion 212 and with a sensed position of the top portion 14 and/or the actuator assembly 204 which it receives from the sensor 220.
Thus, in operation, the item to be cooled (e.g., the preformed fuel tank 300) is placed within the containment cavity 30 and the top member 14 is made to be selectively moved, by the controlled operation of the actuator assembly 204, into an abutting engagement with the contained item 300. In this manner, the surfaces 110 and 225 cooperatively and fixedly receive one-half of the contained item 300. Water or some other cooling medium may then be made to surround the members 14, 12 (e.g., the members 12, 14 may be selectively immersed into a source of water or cooling medium 310 by placement of the members 14, 12 into the cooling medium by a conventional transport assembly or manually). The cooling water or medium 310 rapidly contacts the contained item 300 due to the plurality of equidistantly spaced gaps 112 and the large pre-formed part or item contacting surface area 110 and 225 further cooperatively draw heat away from the contained item 300. In this manner, the contained item 300 is rapidly cooled. After a very short period of time, the portions 12 and 14 are removed from the medium 310 and the cooled item 300 is removed.
In another non-limiting embodiment of the invention, the gaps are filled with some adhesive material and the members 12, 14 may actually form and cool the item 300. It should be realized that the cooling medium may comprise air or some other non-water medium which is applied to the members 12, 14 and the cooling is achieved by use of the large surface area which actually contacts the formed item or product.
It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the exact construction and methodology which has been illustrated and described above, but that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and the scope of the inventions as are more fully delineated in the following claims.
