Claims
- 1. A process of forming and shaping a preheated workpiece, said workpiece being made of honeycomb core material and having a top surface, a bottom surface, and side surfaces, by using a press including complementary male and female dies, said process comprising the steps of:
- (a) providing a carrier sheet means for supporting said workpiece, said carrier sheet means being suspended over said female die by two shaft means supported by support tower means;
- (b) loading said preheated workpiece onto said carrier sheet means suspended over said female die;
- (c) applying rotational torque to each of said shaft means whereby said carrier sheet means is wrapped around each of said shaft means thereby applying tension to said carrier sheet means and pulling said shaft means toward each other and into pressing contact with the side surfaces of said workpiece while said carrier sheet means supports the bottom surface of said workpiece;
- (d) closing said male die and said female die against said workpiece while maintaining said shaft means in pressing contact with the side surfaces of said workpiece and while said carrier sheet means supports the bottom surface of said workpiece, whereby said workpiece is formed and shaped by said complementary male and female dies into a formed workpiece of desired shape; and
- (e) opening said male and female dies and removing said formed workpiece.
- 2. A process of forming and shaping a preheated workpiece, said workpiece being made of honeycomb core material and having a top, a bottom, and side surfaces, into a curved shape in the horizontal plane by using a press including complementary male and female dies and having a curved vertical retaining wall means on one side of said female die, said process comprising the steps of:
- (a) providing a carrier sheet means for supporting said workpiece, said carrier sheet means being suspended over said female die by two shaft means supported by support tower means;
- (b) loading said preheated workpiece onto said carrier sheet means suspended over said female die;
- (c) applying rotational torque to each of said shaft means whereby said carrier sheet means is wrapped around each of said shaft means thereby applying tension to said carrier sheet means and pulling said shaft means toward each other and into pressing contact with the side surfaces of said workpiece while said carrier sheet means supports the bottom surface of said workpiece;
- (d) forcing one of said shaft means and said workpiece against said curved vertical retaining wall means thereby causing said workpiece to take on the curved shape in the horizontal plane of said retaining wall means;
- (e) closing said male die and said female die against said workpiece while maintaining said shaft means in pressing contact with the side surfaces of said workpiece and while said carrier sheet means supports the bottom surface of said workpiece, whereby said workpiece is formed and shaped by said complementary male and female dies into a formed workpiece of desired shape; and
- (e) opening said male die and said female die and removing said formed workpiece.
Parent Case Info
This is a divisional of application Ser. No. 08/330,490 filed on Oct. 28, 1994, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,529,480.
US Referenced Citations (17)
Foreign Referenced Citations (5)
Number |
Date |
Country |
0 393 767 A3 |
Oct 1990 |
EPX |
3 393 767 A2 |
Oct 1990 |
EPX |
A-41 30 620 |
Feb 1993 |
DEX |
A-59 022 717 |
Jun 1984 |
JPX |
WO-A-9503933 |
Feb 1995 |
WOX |
Divisions (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
330490 |
Oct 1994 |
|