Forming apparatus
AssigneeSumitomo Heavy Industries, Ltd.
InventorsMasayuki Ishizuka, Norieda Ueno, Masayuki Saika
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A forming apparatus includes: an upper die and a lower die having forming surfaces corresponding to outer surfaces of a pipe with protrusions; a moving mechanism that moves the upper die and the lower die such that a forming space for forming the pipe with protrusions is defined between the forming surfaces of the upper die and the lower die; and a gas supply unit that supplies gas to a forming material to expand the forming material. A control unit controls the movement of the upper die and the lower die by the moving mechanism and the supply of gas to the forming material by the gas supply unit such that the forming material is formed into the pipe with protrusions in the forming space.
Claims15
A forming apparatus that forms a pipe with flanges having a tubular pipe main body and flanges protruding outward from an outer surface of the pipe main body and extending in a direction parallel to an axis of the pipe main body, the forming apparatus comprising:
- a plurality of dies composed of at least three dies having forming surfaces corresponding to the outer surfaces of the pipe with flanges;
- a moving mechanism configured to move the plurality of dies such that a forming space for forming the pipe with flanges is defined between the forming surfaces of the plurality of dies;
- a slide configured to be movable in a predetermined direction by the moving mechanism;
- a heating mechanism configured to heat a forming material which is a base of the pipe with flanges;
- and
- a gas supply unit configured to supply gas to the heated forming material to expand the heated forming material,
- wherein:
- the plurality of dies includes a first upper die, a second upper die is movable with respect to the first upper die and a first lower die,
- the slide is movable in a direction in which the first upper die approaches and separates from the first lower die,
- the first upper die is mounted on the slide,
- the moving mechanism includes a drive unit that moves the second upper die in a direction which is orthogonal to the axis of the pipe main body and crosses a direction in which the slide moves, and
- the pipe with flanges includes at least three flanges, and the flanges are formed by partially folding the forming material such that portions of an inner surface of the forming material come into contact with each other.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.