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US 2003/0188564 A1Published application
Ductile material lance joiner
OwnerColin Maxwell Wadeinventor
Life of this patent
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OwnerColin Maxwell Wadeinventor
Estimating the term…
The present invention relates to a joiner (1) for lance joining ductile materials, such as metal sheets (7, 8), and in particular to a joiner including a die assembly (4) and a punch assembly (2). The die assembly (4) includes a die anvil (44) and an anvil surface (46). There are at least two die blades (56, 57) around the anvil (44), the blades extending in a longitudinal direction (10), generally above and below opposite sides (29) of the anvil surface (46) to form a die aperture (66) for the punch (2). Each blade (56, 57) is arranged to move away from the anvil (44) to openup the aperture (66) when ductile material (7, 8) is forced in the longitudinal direction (10) into the aperture (66) and against the anvil (44) by the punch (2). Each blade (56, 57) has a cutting edge (63, 64) above the anvil (44) facing towards the die aperture (66) for cutting through the ductile material (7, 8) to make a lance joint when the material is forced into the aperture. The assembly (4) also has at least one biasing means (70) by which the blades (56, 57) are biased towards the anvil (44) to constrict the aperture (66). Each blade (56, 57) can be removed from the anvil (44), rotated relative to the anvil surface (46) about the longitudinal direction (10), and then returned to the anvil (44) to present a different cutting edge (62, 65) above the anvil (44) and facing towards the die aperture (66).
A die (4) for a ductile sheet material lance joiner (1), comprising:
A die (4) as claimed in any preceding claim, in which there is a pair of straight and parallel cutting edges (63,64;62,65).
A die (4) as claimed in any preceding claim, in which each die blade (56,57) is mirror symmetric about a plane extending through the die blade (56,57) in the longitudinal direction (10).
A die tool for lance joining two or more layers of ductile material (7,8), comprising a base plate (14), a recess (15) in the base plate (14), and a die (4), the die being seated in the recess (15), wherein the die (4) is as claimed in any preceding claim, and the recess (15) serves as a die blade shield to limit the movement of the die blades (56,57) away from the anvil (44).
A ductile material joiner (1) for lance joining two or more layers of ductile material (7,8), comprising a punch (30) and a die (4) with a die aperture (66) matching the punch (30), wherein the die (4) is as claimed in any preceding claim.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.