Die and hot press forming apparatus

Abstract

A die press-forms a tailor welded blank (12A) in a heated state, the tailor welded blank being formed by welding a first plate portion (34) made of a first metal plate material and a second plate portion (35) made of a second metal plate material thicker than the first metal plate material while making the first plate portion and the second plate portion abut against each other. The die includes a refrigerant passage through which a refrigerant flows, and at least one refrigerant ejection path (64) having one end connected to the refrigerant passage and the other end opening to a forming surface of the die (lower die 13). The die includes a first forming surface (51), and a second forming surface (52), farther apart from a forming surface of another die than the first forming surface (51), for forming a step (53) together with the first forming surface (51). The other end of the at least one refrigerant ejection path (64) opens near the step (53) on the second forming surface (52) between the first forming surface (51) and the second forming surface (52). It is possible to provide a die for hot press forming, which can perform quenching even for the step portion of the metal plate material and increase hardness.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.