Hot stamping system and method
AssigneeMagna International Inc.
InventorsJohn Richard Potocki, Tad Stewart Wiseman
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system for forming a plurality of hot stamped steel parts for automotive applications includes a furnace with a stack of sealed chambers, each containing an individual heater, for simultaneously heating a plurality of blanks. Each chamber is removable from the furnace, so that if the heater contained therein malfunctions, the heater can be repaired while the other chambers continue to heat the blanks. Each chamber also comprises a shelf including a plurality of driven rollers for conveying the blanks through the furnace. A blank feeder also including a plurality of driven rollers extends continuously from the furnace to a hot forming apparatus. The hot forming apparatus includes a plurality of cavities for shaping one or more of the blanks into a plurality of the parts.
Claims20
A system for hot forming a plurality of parts, comprising:
- a furnace including a plurality of shelves stacked vertically relative to one another, each of said shelves including a plurality of first driven rollers for conveying a plurality of blanks through said furnace;
- said furnace including a plurality of heaters for heating said blanks, each of said heaters being disposed adjacent one of said shelves, and each of said heaters and said adjacent shelf being removable from said furnace;
- a hot forming apparatus for shaping said heated blanks;
- and
- a blank feeder for conveying said heated blanks from said shelves of said furnace to said hot forming apparatus.
A method for hot forming a plurality of parts, comprising the steps of:
- conveying a plurality of blanks along a plurality of shelves of a furnace;
- heating the plurality of blanks using a heater disposed adjacent each shelf;
- removing the heater and the adjacent shelf from the furnace when the heater is malfunctioning while continuing to heat the blanks on the other shelves;
- conveying the heated blanks from the furnace to a hot forming apparatus;
- and
- shaping the heated blanks in the hot forming apparatus.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.