Method of removing material from a surface of a metal work piece
AssigneeShiloh Industries, Inc.
InventorsHari Prasad, Mark A. Schimming, James F. Keys, John R. Ewolski, Stephen A. Fetsko
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of removing material such as surface treatments, metal coatings, and other material layers from an edge region of a metal work piece where they could potentially contaminate a nearby weld. According to one embodiment, a scraper tool includes a body having a base portion and a tab portion, and several scraping elements attached to the base portion. During operation, the scraping elements scrape one or more surfaces of the edge region so that the depth to which the scraping element engage the metal work piece is generally affected by the amount of rotation of the scraper tool about a pivot axis.
Claims14
A method of removing material from a surface of a metal work piece, comprising the steps of:
- (a) providing a scraper tool having a body that rotates about a pivot axis and at least one scraping element;
- (b) positioning the scraper tool adjacent the metal work piece so that the scraping element can engage a horizontal surface of an edge region of the metal work piece;
- (c) moving the metal work piece with respect to the scraper tool so that the scraper tool rotates about the pivot axis;
- and
- (d) removing material from the horizontal surface with the scraping element, wherein the depth to which the scraping element engages the horizontal surface is affected by the amount of rotation of the scraper tool about the pivot axis.
A method of removing material from a surface of a sheet metal piece, comprising the steps of:
- (a) providing a tool for removing a thin metal coating layer from a horizontal surface of the sheet metal piece, the thin metal coating layer includes aluminum (Al) and/or zinc (Zn) and has a different composition than the interior of the sheet metal piece;
- (b) positioning the tool in close proximity with the horizontal surface of the sheet metal piece;
- (c) causing relative movement between the sheet metal piece and the tool;
- and
- (d) using the tool to remove the thin metal coating layer that includes aluminum (Al) and/or zinc (Zn) without substantially disrupting the interior of the sheet metal piece.
A method of removing material from a surface of a sheet metal piece, comprising the steps of:
- (a) providing a tool in proximity with an edge region of the sheet metal piece;
- (b) causing relative movement between the sheet metal piece and the tool;
- and
- (c) using the tool to selectively remove material from a first thin metal coating layer and a second thin metal coating layer only in the edge region of the sheet metal piece and without substantially disrupting the interior of the sheet metal piece, wherein the first thin metal coating layer is in contact with the interior of the sheet metal piece and includes aluminum (Al) and/or zinc (Zn) and the second thin metal coating layer is in contact with the first thin metal coating layer and also includes aluminum (Al) and/or zinc (Zn).
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.