Back to results
US 4,045,986 AGranted
Forming ductile materials
AssigneeT.I. Superform
InventorsDavid Brian Laycock, Anthony John Barnes
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Loading patent…
Loading patent…
AssigneeT.I. Superform
InventorsDavid Brian Laycock, Anthony John Barnes
Estimating the term…
In the shaping of ductile metal sheet, especially superplastic alloy sheet, by the application of pressure differentials, the peripherally clamped sheet is first urged, by pressure differential in one direction, against a female molding surface to form a partially shaped bubblelike preform and then a male mold is advanced towards the sheet from the other side and a reverse pressure differential is applied to cause the pre-form to conform to the shape of that mold. The active area forming the pre-form may be restricted by an apertured plate adjacent the clamping plane, matching the overall outline of the body, and a plate the other side matching closely the profile of the body may confine the action of the reverse pressure only to that part of the sheet that engages the progressively increasing part of the male mold that extends through the clamping plane so that the sheet locks progressively onto the sides of the male mold to obtain an approximately uniform wall thickness in the finished body.
A method of forming a shaped body from a sheet of ductile metal, said method comprising clamping the periphery of sheet in a given plane, applying a differential pressure across said sheet to force said sheet into at least partial contact with a molding surface lying on that side of said sheet which is then at the lower pressure, said sheet being thereby partially shaped, advancing a male mold towards the opposite side of said sheet to project at least partially through said clamping plane, and applying reversed pressure conditions to cause said sheet to come into engagement with said mold and eventually take up the contours of said mold.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.