Forging device for the production of a piston blank, and method for the production of the piston blank by means of said forging device

Forging apparatus (1) for the production of a piston blank (28) that has a piston crown (29) and skirt elements (23) attached to the piston crown (29), which are connected with one another by way of box walls (27, 27′),

• having a forging mold (7, 10, 11) with an essentially cylindrical and continuous recess, corresponding to the radial outer surface of the piston blank (28),
• having a forging base (8) that delimits the one side of the recess, and
• having a center die (14) that consists of a mandrel (21) with a conically tapering extension (24) mounted on the mandrel, the shape of which extension corresponds to the inner surface of the piston blank, and which mandrel can be introduced into the forging mold (7, 10, 11) by way of the other side of the recess, with the extension (24) leading,
• wherein the forging mold (7, 10, 11) has two lateral jaws (10, 11), which are mounted in the forging apparatus (1) at a slant relative to the longitudinal axis (3) of the forging apparatus (1), so that they can be moved in directions that can be represented by arrows (16, 17) that lie at a slant, for molding of the radially outer surfaces of the box walls (27, 27′) and for molding of a circumferential cooling pocket (20) disposed in the piston crown (29) radially outside the box walls (27, 27′), wherein the arrows (16, 17) that lie at a slant enclose an angle of α≦25° with the longitudinal axis (3) of the forging apparatus (1) and run toward one another in the direction of the forging base (8).