Method and a production line for manufacturing a product by hydroforming

Abstract

A production line for the manufacture of a product through hydroforming, having a decoiler (11) for unrolling a steel strip (12) from a coil (13), a roll-forming unit (14) for folding the steel strip into a tube (16), a welding unit (17) for welding together the edges of the steel strip, a hydroforming unit (18) having an openable mold (19, 20) to receive the completed tube as the tube is being formed and welded, a cutting arrangement (24, 25) for cutting off the completed product (23) that has been removed from the hydroforming unit, sealing arrangements (30, 33; 35-39) at two ends of the mold for sealing the tube, and a line (38) for the supply of pressure medium through one of the sealing arrangements for placing the tube under pressure. A method for manufacturing a product in such a line is also provided.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.