Method for producing a hardened sheet steel component

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for manufacturing components from sheet steel, wherein a sheet steel blank is cut out from a flat, hot and cold rolled steel strip coated with a zinc-based coating and either the sheet steel blank is heated in at least some regions to a temperature above Ac3 and then formed in a press hardening tool in the hot state and quench hardened or the sheet steel blank is cold-formed into a preformed sheet steel component and the preformed sheet steel component is heated in at least some regions to a temperature above Ac3 and then quench-hardened in a form hardening tool, wherein the heating takes place at a heating rate that is variable over the furnace dwell time and depends on the zinc layer thickness, wherein the heating takes place at an average heating rate r1 in the temperature range from room temperature to 530° C. and takes place at a maximal heating rate r2 in the temperature range between 530° C. and 670° C., where r1<r2.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.