Claims
- 1. A method of providing stress relief in an elongated longitudinally curved panel having a central portion and at least one upstanding longitudinally extending side flange comprising the steps of:
providing an elongated panel having a central portion and a longitudinally extending zone of material, forming apertures in said longitudinally extending zone of said panel, bending said zone relative to said central portion, and bending the panel longitudinally.
- 2. The method of claim 1 wherein said zone is bent relative to said central portion prior to the panel being bent longitudinally.
- 3. The method of clam 1 wherein said apertures are formed by punching the apertures in the panel.
- 4. The method of claim 1 wherein at least some of said apertures are closed.
- 5. The method of claim 4 wherein at least some of the apertures are open.
- 6. The method of claim 1 wherein said apertures have a shape selected from the group consisting of V-shaped, Y-shaped, X-shaped, U-shaped, W-shaped, M-shaped, triangular-shaped, diamond-shaped and half-moon crescent shaped.
- 7. The method of claim 1 wherein said zone is bent to be perpendicular to said central zone.
- 8. The method of claim 7 wherein there are two zones, one on either side of said central zone.
- 9. The method of claim 1 wherein said central portion intersects with said zone along a line of intersection and said line of intersection is curved in a longitudinally extending direction.
- 10. The method of claim 1 wherein said panel is bent with rollers.
Priority Claims (2)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
98203023.1 |
Sep 1998 |
EP |
|
98204279.8 |
Dec 1998 |
EP |
|
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/393,370, filed Sep. 10, 1999, which corresponds to and claims priority to European Application No. 98203023.1, filed Sep. 11, 1998, and to European Application No. 98204279.8, filed Dec. 17, 1998. Each of the above-referenced applications is hereby incorporated by reference as though fully set forth herein.
Continuations (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09393370 |
Sep 1999 |
US |
Child |
10679968 |
Oct 2003 |
US |