Apparatus for flanging metal sheets
AssigneeFord Motor Company
InventorsArtur Ruescher, Bruno Strausfeld, Ralph Hoffstadt
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention provides a flanging apparatus for metal sheets for use with metal sheets of the body structure in vehicle manufacturing, with a base frame, with a flanging bed movable up and down, and with flanging jacks movable into the work area of the flanging bed. The invention consists of the fact that a flanging tool has the main, workpiece-specific components, in particular the flanging bed and flanging jacks, and is arranged in the base frame as an exchangeable unit.
Claims11
An apparatus for flanging together metal sheets in a manufacturing process, said apparatus comprising:
- a base frame;
- a flanging bed operative to move from a first position to a second position;
- a flange drive device secured to said base frame and operative to move said flanging bed, said flanging drive device including a flanging lifter disposed upon spacing blocks secured to said base frame;
- a flanging jack disposed upon said flanging bed;
- an exchangeable flanging tool, said tool including said flanging bed and said flanging jack, mounted on the base frame;
- a spindle stroke device operative to displace the flanging bed from a first position through a work stroke;
- a cushion system operative to produce a flanging work stroke;
- and
- a flanging tool base including slidable members therein, said exchangeable flanging tool being disposed on said slidable members such that a first exchangeable flanging tool can be slidably removed and replaced by slidably moving a second exchangeable flanging tool into place.
An apparatus for flanging together metal sheets in a manufacturing process, said apparatus comprising:
- a base frame having a tool pickup opening;
- a flanging bed operative to move from a first position to a second position;
- a flange drive device secured to said base frame and operative to move said flanging bed, said flanging drive device including a flanging lifter disposed upon spacing blocks secured to said base frame;
- a flanging jack disposed upon said flanging bed;
- an exchangeable flanging tool said tool including said flanging bed and said flanging jack, mounted on the base frame and being configured to be positioned through said tool pickup opening of said base frame, said flanging tool further including a base plate and a cover plate cooperating to form a locator detente, said base plate having an opening of at least the size of the flanging bed and the cover plate having an opening of at least the size of a workpiece;
- a spindle stroke device operative to displace the flanging bed from a first position through a work stroke and being disposed upon a cushion system operative to produce a flanging work stroke, said cushion system including a plurality of compressed air cushions;
- a flanging tool base including slidable members therein, said exchangeable flanging tool being disposed on said slidable members such that a first exchangeable flanging tool can be slidably removed and replaced by slidably moving a second exchangeable flanging tool into place;
- and
- a change table configured to receive said flanging tool and disposed adjacent to said base frame.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.