Some metals, such as aluminum or high strength steel, are less formable in a conventional forming press as compared to mild steel. Deep drawing of such metals to form deep drawn parts, such as vehicle door inner panels and body side panels, presents many challenges. Some vehicle manufacturers have more than four press stages in manufacturing lines, some including two draw stages, which improves the ability to form deep drawn parts when compared to a single draw stage. Increasing the press stages, however, results in additional capital costs and more time and energy required to manufacture these deep drawn parts.
In view of the foregoing, a new draw press die assembly is provided. Such a draw press die assembly includes an upper die, a lower die positioned beneath the upper die, a blankholder for supporting an associated workpiece, and a blankholder drive mechanism connected with at least one of the upper die and the blankholder. The blankholder drive mechanism is configured to provide a pulsating movement of the blankholder relative to the upper die.
A method for drawing a metal part includes moving an upper die in a downward direction toward a workpiece positioned on a blankholder. The method further includes controlling a blankholder drive mechanism positioned at least partially within at least one of the upper die and the blankholder to provide a pulsating movement of the blankholder relative to the upper die.
An example of a blankholder includes a main blankholder, a sub blankholder that is moveable relative to the main blankholder, and a blankholder drive mechanism mounted to the main blankholder. The blankholder drive mechanism oscillates the sub blankholder.
With reference to
In the embodiment illustrated in
In the embodiment illustrated in
In the embodiment depicted in
As will be described in more detail below, the blankholder drive mechanism 64 is configured to pulsate or oscillate the blankholder 36 during a press operation. The oscillation motion is synchronized to release the workpiece W by making the upper die 32 and the blankholder 36 release for a fraction of the time. This reduces stress and/or strain in the workpiece W to reduce and/or avoid material fracturing. By better controlling material flow, deeper drawing may be achieved. This pulsating or oscillating movement can occur at a frequency greater than about 15 Hz. In one embodiment, the blankholder 36 is pulsated or oscillated at about 50 Hz. The spindle 70 includes a distal end 76 configured to engage the blankholder 36. The blankholder drive mechanism 64 moves the blankholder 36 in a direction parallel to a direction in which the upper die 32 moves. The blankholder drive mechanism 64 moves the blankholder 36 downward in the direction of arrow 18. An upward force applied to the blankholder 36 by the pins 52 moves the blankholder 36 upward in the direction opposite the arrow 18 when the downward force is not being applied by the blankholder drive mechanism 64. This allows for the oscillating (up and down) movement.
Operation of the draw press 10 will now be described in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. More specifically, a method for drawing a metal part will be described. Even though the method will be described with reference to the draw press 10 described above, the method described below and also referred to in the claims could be used with other draw presses. The method for drawing a metal part, such as the workpiece W, includes moving the upper die 32 in a downward direction (arrow 18 in
Operation of the die assembly 110 will now be described in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. More specifically, a method for drawing a metal part will be described. Even though the method will be described with reference to the draw press 10 and die assembly 110 described above, the method described below and also referred to in the claims could be used with other draw presses and die assemblies.
With reference to
A draw press 10 has been described above that includes either die assembly 30 (shown in
It will be appreciated that various of the above-disclosed and other features and functions, or alternatives or varieties thereof, may be desirably combined into many other different systems or applications. Also that various presently unforeseen or unanticipated alternatives, modifications, variations or improvements therein may be subsequently made by those skilled in the art which are also intended to be encompassed by the following claims.
This application is a divisional application of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/564,134 filed Dec. 9, 2014, which is expressly incorporated herein by reference.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
3201967 | Balamuth et al. | Aug 1965 | A |
3643483 | Minchenko | Feb 1972 | A |
3794458 | Iwasaki | Feb 1974 | A |
3855487 | Boisseau | Dec 1974 | A |
3871586 | Lord | Mar 1975 | A |
3879974 | Biddell et al. | Apr 1975 | A |
4226111 | Wahli | Oct 1980 | A |
4339975 | Carrieri | Jul 1982 | A |
4378717 | Schneider et al. | Apr 1983 | A |
5138857 | Siegert | Aug 1992 | A |
5588344 | Chun | Dec 1996 | A |
6016680 | Matsuoka | Jan 2000 | A |
6021658 | Liinamaa et al. | Feb 2000 | A |
6053027 | Yoshizawa | Apr 2000 | A |
6070521 | Otoshi | Jun 2000 | A |
6199271 | Hahn et al. | Mar 2001 | B1 |
6227090 | Genseberger | May 2001 | B1 |
6810704 | Futamura et al. | Nov 2004 | B2 |
6862913 | Lempenauer et al. | Mar 2005 | B2 |
7102316 | Beyer et al. | Sep 2006 | B2 |
7165437 | Shin et al. | Jan 2007 | B2 |
7293500 | Futamura et al. | Nov 2007 | B2 |
7326008 | Chun et al. | Feb 2008 | B2 |
7415862 | Futamura et al. | Aug 2008 | B2 |
7421878 | Iwashita et al. | Sep 2008 | B2 |
7698797 | Hetrick et al. | Apr 2010 | B2 |
7765848 | Nagai et al. | Aug 2010 | B2 |
7958765 | Baba et al. | Jun 2011 | B2 |
7963141 | Nagai et al. | Jun 2011 | B2 |
8049457 | Okita et al. | Nov 2011 | B2 |
8443643 | Endo | May 2013 | B2 |
8468866 | Miyasaka et al. | Jun 2013 | B2 |
20040031648 | Rasmussen | Feb 2004 | A1 |
20100095724 | Kotagiri et al. | Apr 2010 | A1 |
20110036140 | Miyasaka et al. | Feb 2011 | A1 |
20110132209 | Senda et al. | Jun 2011 | A1 |
20110185785 | Goverdhana et al. | Aug 2011 | A1 |
20110290125 | Ito et al. | Dec 2011 | A1 |
20110308294 | Erlenmaier | Dec 2011 | A1 |
20130151002 | Spiesshofer et al. | Jun 2013 | A1 |
20130180301 | Schoellhammer et al. | Jul 2013 | A1 |
20130180309 | Polewski et al. | Jul 2013 | A1 |
20140326116 | Coleman et al. | Nov 2014 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
4125992 | Feb 1993 | DE |
10344941 | Apr 2005 | DE |
102008011375 | Sep 2009 | DE |
0703018 | Sep 1994 | EP |
0703018 | Mar 1996 | EP |
60191620 | Sep 1985 | JP |
2011073057 | Apr 2011 | JP |
2012020569 | Feb 2012 | WO |
2012123583 | Sep 2012 | WO |
2012139566 | Oct 2012 | WO |
Entry |
---|
Harsch—EP-0703018-A1—Mechanical or Hydraulic Press—Translated Aug. 10, 2020 (Year: 1994). |
Harsch—EP-0703018-A1—Translated Aug. 10, 2020 (Year: 1994). |
Stolte—DE-10344941-A1—Translated May 12, 2021 (Year: 2005). |
Shimzu—JP-60191620-A—Translated May 12, 2021 (Year: 1985). |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20190015888 A1 | Jan 2019 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
Parent | 14564134 | Dec 2014 | US |
Child | 16131589 | US |