Conductive post-furnace heating of sheet for hot forming

Abstract

A method for producing components by hot forming comprises (a) heating a first portion and a second portion of a blank in a furnace to a temperature that is below AC3 temperature to provide a heated blank; (b) transferring the heated blank from the furnace to a conductive post-furnace heat station; (c) heating the first portion of the heated blank in the conductive post-furnace heat station to a temperature above the AC3 temperature by thermal conduction to provide a post-heated blank, while the second portion of the heated blank is sufficiently spaced from of the conductive post-furnace heat station so that the second portion of the heated blank is not heated in the conductive post-furnace heat station to the AC3 temperature; (d) transferring the post-heated blank from the conductive post-furnace heat station to a press; and (e) forming the post-heated blank into the shape of the component in the press.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.