STRUCTURAL OR CHASSIS COMPONENT FOR A MOTOR VEHICLE, AND METHOD OF MAKING SUCH A STRUCTURAL OR CHASSIS COMPONENT

Abstract

In a method of making a structural or chassis component for a motor vehicle, a blank is provided with at least one material supply in an outer region at a distance to the outer edge to serve as material reserve. The blank is placed in a press tool for shaping the blank into a structural or chassis component by displacing the material supply in a direction of the outer edge and pressing the outer region of the blank against a buttress of the press tool to thereby form the outer region in a recess of the press tool to produce bead.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

Other features and advantages of the present invention will be more readily apparent upon reading the following description of currently preferred exemplified embodiments of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a cross section of a blank for making a structural or chassis component according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross section of the blank with materials supplies respectively formed on both outer regions;

FIGS. 3 a-3c are sectional views of a press tool, showing the shaping process of the blank in three stages;

FIG. 4 is a top and side perspective view of a portion of a structural or chassis component according to the invention; and

FIG. 5 is a sectional view from the front of the structural or chassis component of FIG. 4

Claims

1. A method of making a structural or chassis component for a motor vehicle, comprising the steps of: providing a blank with at least one material supply;placing the blank in a press tool such that at least one outer region of the blank confronts a buttress of the press tool; andoperating the press tool to press the outer region against the buttress and to shape the material supply into the outer region and a recess of the press tool to produce a structural or chassis component.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the outer region is shaped by the press tool to form a bead.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the providing step involves the step of shaping the material supply with an undulated configuration along the outer region at a distance to an outer edge, said operating step including the step of flattening the material supply to displace material in a direction of the outer edge to form the bead.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the bead of the outer region is bent in one direction.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of hot forming the structural or chassis component in the press tool, and hardening the structural or chassis component at least partially.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of cold forming the structural or chassis component.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of finish-forming the blank with formation of holes with tolerance.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the operating step includes the step of displacing the material supply for formation of a bead in a region which does not interfere with a further processing of the structural or chassis component.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the outer region is formed via the buttress with tolerance.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the providing step includes the step of forming the blank with an embossment to form the material supply.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the blank is made of steel.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the blank is made of a light metal.

13. A structural or chassis component, comprising: a cup-shaped body having a cross section of U shape or V shape to define a web, two legs connected to the web, and two flanges, one flange connected to an end of one of the legs and the other one of the flanges connected to an end of the other one of the legs, each of the flanges having a free end formed with a bead which juts out from the flange in a direction of the web; anda cover plate joined to the flanges of the cup-shaped body for closing the cup-shaped body.

14. The structural or chassis component of claim 13, wherein the cover plate is connected to the flanges at their bead-distal side.