Claims
- 1. A method of forming a dome from a substantially round blank wherein a surface area requirement of said dome is greater than a surface area of said blank, said method comprising the steps of:shear forming said blank, said shear forming step comprising the steps of; coaxially securing an inside surface of the blank to a rotatable flat-nosed conical mandrel; rotating said blank on said flat-nosed conical mandrel; heating a predetermined portion of said blank; and applying a force to an outer surface of said blank such that said blank is shear formed in a shape of said flat-nosed conical mandrel to form a deformed blank; additional shear forming said deformed blank in predetermined locations such that a thickness of said blank in said predetermined locations is reduced to form a stretched blank; removing said stretched blank from said mandrel; inside spinning said stretched blank to form a dome shaped blank, said inside spinning step comprising the steps of; coaxially securing an outside surface of said stretched blank within a rotatable concave dome mandrel; rotating said stretched blank on said concave dome mandrel; heating a predetermined portion of said stretched blank; and applying a force to an inner surface of said stretched blank such that said stretched blank is deformed to form said dome shaped blank; removing said dome shaped blank from said concave dome mandrel; final dome spinning said dome shaped blank into said dome, said final dome spinning step comprising the steps of; coaxially securing an inside surface of said dome shaped blank to a rotatable convex dome mandrel; rotating said dome shaped blank on said convex dome mandrel; heating a predetermined portion of said dome shaped blank; and applying a force to said outside surface of said dome shaped blank such that said dome shaped blank is deformed in a shape of said convex dome mandrel to form said dome; and flange spinning said dome, said flange spinning step comprising the steps of: rotating said dome shaped blank on said convex dome mandrel; heating a flange portion of said dome shaped blank; and applying a force to a surface of said range portion such that said flange portion is deformed such that a thickness of said flange is increased and such that a length of said flange is decreased.
- 2. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said step of additional shear forming said deformed blank in predetermined locations comprises the steps of:heating a predetermined portion of said deformed blank; applying a force to an outside surface of said deformed blank such that a thickness of said predetermined portion of said deformed blank is decreased and such that the surface area of said stretched blank is greater than the surface area of said deformed blank.
- 3. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein each of said steps of applying a force comprises applying a force with a roller.
- 4. The method as claimed in claim 3 wherein said step of applying a force to said outside surface of said deformed blank comprises applying a force having a vector of between 5 and 50 ton in relation to said outside surface of said deformed blank.
- 5. The method as claimed in claim 2 wherein each of said heating steps comprises heating to a temperature of a maximum of 700 degrees Fahrenheit.
- 6. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising the step of annealing said substantially round blank.
- 7. The method as claimed in claim 1 further comprising the step of solution heat treating said dome.
- 8. The method as claimed in claim 1 further comprising the step of age heat treating said dome.
- 9. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said dome is an aluminum alloy, and wherein said method further comprises the steps of solution heat treating and age heat treating said dome to a T62 temper.
- 10. A method of forming a dome from a substantially round blank wherein a surface area requirement of said dome is greater than the surface area of said blank, said method comprising the steps of:shear forming said blank, said shear forming step comprising the steps of; coaxially securing an inside surface of the blank to a rotatable flat-nosed conical mandrel; rotating said blank on said flat-nosed conical mandrel; heating a predetermined portion of said blank; and applying a force to an outer surface of said blank such that said blank is shear formed in a shape of said flat-nosed conical mandrel to form a deformed blank; additional shear forming said deformed blank in predetermined locations such that a thickness of said deformed blank in said predetermined locations is reduced to form a stretched blank; removing said stretched blank from said mandrel; inside spinning said stretched blank to form a dome shaped blank, said inside spinning step comprising the steps of; coaxially securing an outside surface of said stretched blank within a rotatable concave dome mandrel; rotating said stretched blank on said concave dome mandrel; heating a predetermined portion of said stretched blank; applying a force to an inner surface of said stretched blank such that said stretched blank is deformed to form said dome shaped blank; removing said dome shaped blank from said concave dome mandrel; solution heat treating said dome shaped blank; and final dome spinning said dome shaped blank into said dome, said finish spinning step comprising the steps of; coaxially securing the inside surface of said dome shaped blank to a rotatable convex dome mandrel; rotating said dome shaped blank on said convex dome mandrel; and applying a force to said outside surface of said dome shaped blank such that said dome shaped blank is deformed in a shape of said convex dome mandrel to form said dome; and flange spinning said dome, said flange spinning step comprising the steps of: rotating said dome shaped blank on said convex dome mandrel; heating a flange portion of said dome shaped blank; and applying a force to a surface of said flange portion such that said flange portion is deformed such that a thickness of said flange is increased and such that a length of said flange is decreased.
- 11. The method as claimed in claim 10 wherein said step of additional shear forming said deformed blank in predetermined locations comprises the steps of:heating a predetermined portion of said deformed blank; applying a force to an outside surface of said deformed blank such that a thickness of said predetermined portion of said deformed blank is decreased and such that the surface area of said stretched blank is greater than the surface area of said deformed blank.
- 12. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein each of said steps of applying a force comprises applying a force with a roller.
- 13. The method as claimed in claim 12 wherein said step of applying a force to said outside surface of said deformed blank of said spin stretching step comprises applying a force having a vector of between 5 and 50 ton in relation to said outside surface of said deformed blank.
- 14. The method as claimed in claim 11 wherein each of said heating steps comprises heating to a temperature of a maximum of 700 degrees Fahrenheit.
- 15. The method as claimed in claim 10, further comprising the step of annealing said substantially round blank.
- 16. The method as claimed in claim 10 further comprising the step of age heat treating said dome.
- 17. The method as claimed in claim 16 wherein said dome is an aluminum alloy and said step of age heat treating said dome comprises age heat treating said dome to a T8 temper.
REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation in part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/067,297, filed Apr. 27, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,006,569.
US Referenced Citations (2)
Number |
Name |
Date |
Kind |
3815395 |
Sass |
Jun 1974 |
|
4170889 |
Tanimoto et al. |
Oct 1979 |
|
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09/067297 |
Apr 1998 |
US |
Child |
09/421830 |
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US |