Method of shaping sheet metal of inferior formability
AssigneeNissan Motor Co., Ltd.
InventorsMegumi Nakanose, Tsuneo Kakimi, Michiyoshi Shiraishi
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Abstract
In regard to sheet metals of inferior formability as typified by titanium alloys, each end face of a blank is covered with a cover plate of a metal which surpasses the blank material in formability, and the covered blank is subjected to a usual shaping operation in which the steps of heating the blank and pressing the heated blank are cycled a plurality of times, so that the blank can be protected against contamination attributable to exposure of the hot blank to the atmosphere and hence saved from having a large margin in the thickness thereof. A lubricant layer is preferably formed between the blank and each cover plate for a further improvement on the formability.
Claims8
A method of shaping a sheet metal of a comparatively inferior formability, comprising the steps of:
- enclosing a blank of the sheet metal in an air-tight sealed holder of another metal surpassing the sheet metal in formability, said holder including a top plate and a bottom plate arranged parallel to the top and bottom end faces respectively of said blank, said holder also including a frame surrounding the side of said blank and connecting said top and bottom plates, said frame having a height greater than the thickness of said blank and a cross-sectional area larger than the end face area of said blank to thereby have a space in said holder around said blank;
- filling said space with a filler capable of being in a liquid phase at least at an elevated temperature;
- heating the assembly of said holder, blank, and filler to a temperature above said elevated temperature;
- and
- exerting a load on said top plate of the heated assembly so that said load is transmitted to said blank.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.