US 4,061,452 AGranted

Apparatus for producing spherical articles

AssigneeWolverine Aluminum Corporation

InventorRaymond P. DeSantis

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Abstract

A press apparatus for compacting powder material into generally spherical articles by way of a tooling arrangement comprising a die having a bore, a punch having an upper face defining a generally hemispherical cavity reciprocably movable along the axis of the die bore and a counterpunch positionable over the opening of the die bore. The lower face of the counterpunch defines a generally hemispherical cavity of the same diameter as the generally hemispherical cavity defined by the face of the punch. The generally hemispherical cavities are in alignment with each other and define a spherical mold cavity. During the compacting step, the counterpunch is positioned with its lower face abutting the upper surface of the die plate and compaction of the powder material is achieved entirely by movement of the punch in an upward direction.

Claims4

Dependent claims

An apparatus for compacting powder material into a spherical article, said apparatus comprising a punch and die assembly comprising a stationary die plate, a bore in said die plate, a punch disposed reciprocably in said bore, a compacting face on the end of said punch forming a first half-mold cavity and an annular surface surrounding said first half-mold cavity, a counterpunch having a flat annular end surface engageable with said die plate and overlapping the bore in said die plate without penetrating into said bore, a second half-mold cavity disposed within said counterpunch end annular surface, said second half-mold cavity being of a diameter equal to and being alignable with said first half-mold cavity alignable with said first half-mold cavity, means for reciprocating said punch to a position for compacting said powder material in a molding cavity formed by said first and second half-mold cavities, support and guide means for said counterpunch provided with an end face in constant engagement with said die plate, means for applying a clamping force to said counterpunch with the overlapping portion of the flat end surface thereof in engagement with said die plate, abutment means on said counterpunch for engagement with said support and guide means for transmitting said clamping force to said support and guide means, and a slot in said support and guide means providing clearance for said article partially projecting from said die plate during lateral motion of said support and guide means subsequent to release of said clamping force.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.