Resiliently mounted, segmented hot forming tool and method for producing a hot formed and press-hardened steel component having a sharply defined transition region

A method of producing a hot formed and press-hardened steel component, with strength properties that are partially different from each other, said method comprising the following steps:

• heating a blank made of a hardenable steel alloy in a heating station, with a first region being heated to above an austenitizing temperature, and a second region being heated to below the austenitizing temperature, and forming, between the first region and the second region, a transition region;
• transferring the resulting heated blank from the heating station into a temperature control station or a hot forming and press-hardening tool, with the temperature control station or the hot forming and press-hardening tool being configured so as to be segmented and having a temperature control segment, with the temperature control segment being disposed in a region of the resulting transition region of the partially differently temperature-controlled blank;
• temperature controlling the transition region before or during press hardening;
• and
• hot forming and press hardening the heated steel blank to form the steel component including a hard region and a soft region, and an in-between transition zone, with the transition zone being smaller in terms of surface area than the transition region,
• with the transition region between the first region and the second region being produced with a width between 50 mm and 200 mm, and
• the transition zone between the hard region and the soft region being produced with a width between 1 mm and 50 mm.