Sheet metal blanks with reinforced areas
OwnerStephan KAUFHOLD, Michael BLUEMELinventors
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Abstract
A method of manufacturing a reinforced steel or aluminum part, such as a part for a vehicle, from a reinforced blank is provided. The method includes forming a reinforcement patch and joining the reinforcement patch to a base by an additive manufacturing process to form a reinforced blank. After the additive manufacturing process, the method can include forming the reinforced blank by cold forming, warm forming, or hot forming. The full surface of the reinforcement patch bonds to the base, which provides performance benefits compared to welded reinforcement patches.
Claims20
A method of manufacturing a reinforced blank, comprising the steps of:
- forming a reinforcement patch of an iron-based material or aluminum-based material;
- and
- joining the reinforcement patch to a base of steel or aluminum-based material;
- the forming and joining steps including additive manufacturing.
A method of manufacturing a reinforced part, comprising the steps of:
- forming a reinforcement patch of steel, iron-based material, or aluminum-based material;
- joining the reinforcement patch to a base of steel, iron-based material, or aluminum-based material to form a reinforced blank;
- and
- the forming and joining steps including additive manufacturing.
A reinforced part, comprising:
- a reinforcement patch formed of steel, iron-based material, or aluminum-based material joined to a base formed of steel, iron-based material, or aluminum-based material;
- the reinforcement patch presenting a surface area facing the base;
- and
- an entirety of the surface area facing the base being thermally bonded to the base.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.