Clamp Structure Constitutes Sole Initial Metal-deforming Force-reaction Means (i.e., Is Passive Tool) Patents (Class 72/316)
  • Patent number: 11541442
    Abstract: A processing machine for flat material parts includes a machine frame, a lower beam, an upper beam, at least one processing tool, and a control unit and an infeed table on which the flat material part to be processed can be placed for positioning in the processing machine. A support loading unit with a plurality of suction cups is provided for the positioning of the flat material part on the infeed table. The infeed table can be moved from a parking position in an extension direction to a loading and unloading position and back again. The support unit is mounted on the movement axis assigned to the processing tool or tools for a pivoting movement into the same direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 13, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2023
    Assignee: Thalmann Maschinenbau AG
    Inventor: Stefan Kern
  • Patent number: 11279171
    Abstract: A fixing device for repairing an aluminum alloy wheel hub includes a base and universal wheels connected with the bottom of the base through support legs, wherein one side of the bottom plate is connected with air cylinders; the top of the bottom plate is connected with a fixing plate through a rotating shaft mounted rotationally; corresponding sides of vertical plates at the two sides of the fixing plate are each connected with a pressing plate through two sets of springs; adjusting bolts penetrate through the middles of the vertical plates; a first groove is formed in the middle of the fixing plate; two sets of guide rollers are rotationally mounted in the first groove; a top plate is fixedly mounted at the top of the bracket; a push plate is connected with the bottom of the top plate through a second hydraulic cylinder.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2022
    Assignee: CITIC Dicastal CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Liqun Zheng
  • Patent number: 10449588
    Abstract: A shaping tool for shaping a portion of a workpiece. The shaping tool includes a clamping assembly with a clamping device having multiple clamping segments and a compressing head having a depression on one end for forming a portion of the workpiece. The compression head including an attachment feature on the opposing side for connecting to a shaping piston of a shaping assembly. The compression head and the clamping device being structurally connected in a circumferential manner as a single tool unit and are arranged on a common longitudinal axis together with the shaping assembly, which is actuated by fluid pressure and together with the clamping assembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 22, 2019
    Assignee: VOSS Fluid GmbH
    Inventors: Gerd Berghaus, Harald Pott, Heinz-Werner Papenhoff, Alexander Erbe
  • Patent number: 9455611
    Abstract: The present invention comprises a process for assembling a stator core assembly to replace existing stator cores in electric power generators. First and second stator core modules are positioned adjacent to one another such that one end of a fastener assembly in the second stator core module is nested in a counter-bore of the first stator core module and one end of a fastener assembly in the first stator core is nested in a counter-bore of the second stator core module.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 27, 2016
    Assignee: SIEMENS ENERGY, INC.
    Inventors: David Thomas Allen, Victor A. Siegel, Jr.
  • Patent number: 9044803
    Abstract: A flaring tool includes a tubular first holding member. A collet well extends into the first holding member. A collet has a primary end positioned in the collet well. A second holding member is coupled to the first holding member. A collet channel extends into the second holding member. The collet well aligns with the collet channel when the second holding member is coupled to the first holding member. The collet has a secondary end that is positioned in the collet channel. A punch channel extends into the second holding member. The punch channel is aligned with the collet. A punch is insertable into the punch channel. The first holding member and the collet receive the line through the first holding member and the collet. The punch compresses the end of the line between the punch and the collet so the end of the line is flared.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 5, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 2, 2015
    Inventor: Jeffrey A. Propst
  • Publication number: 20150026977
    Abstract: A method for manufacturing an assembled camshaft for valve-controlled internal combustion engines, in which at least one cam disc with a base circle region and cam region is machined on the running surface and has a cam-disc recess, includes shrinking the cam disc onto a corresponding shaft designed with a defined dimensional overlap by cooling the shaft and heating the cam disc. Temporally before being shrunk onto the shaft, the at least one cam disc is clamped by a clamping device such that a tension force acts on the recess wall region, which defines the cam-disc recess, the tension force corresponding to a predetermined extent to the state of stresses and/or deformation state of the recess wall region after the operation of shrinking the cam disc onto the corresponding shaft. The running-surface machining of the at least one cam disc takes place when the cam disc is clamped by the clamping device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 2, 2014
    Publication date: January 29, 2015
    Inventors: Ulrich BOEHME, Adrian FINK
  • Publication number: 20150000364
    Abstract: Compact tube and pipe expanders and flaring tools requiring reduced actuation force by a user. A flaring tool includes a flaring block and a yoke clampable to the flaring block by a clamping mechanism. The yoke includes a housing having a threaded release portion movable between a first position and a second position. A flaring cone of the yoke has a tapered flaring surface adapted to engage an internal surface of a tube and deform at least the engaged portion of the tube against the flaring block into a flared condition. A threaded feed screw is operatively coupleable to the flaring cone to move the flaring cone into engagement with the internal surface of the tube to deform it. The tool has a handle to rotate the feed screw.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 17, 2014
    Publication date: January 1, 2015
    Inventors: Joseph J. Houle, David Wortelboer
  • Patent number: 8875370
    Abstract: A panel loading method for loading an inner panel to an outer panel that has a bent portion provided by bending a periphery thereof, the outer panel and the inner panel being overlapped to integrate the outer panel and the inner panel at the periphery thereof. The method includes: providing at least one of the outer panel and the inner panel by an elastic body; disposing the outer panel onto a panel receiver so that the bent portion is directed upward; placing a guide plate on or above the bent portion; loading the inner panel into the outer panel from above the guide plate; and inserting the inner panel into an inside of the bent portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 20, 2011
    Date of Patent: November 4, 2014
    Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hideo Kunita, Tetsuji Nakashima
  • Patent number: 8800337
    Abstract: A lead pin correction device includes a holding unit holding an electronic device having lead pins; a pressing unit pressing the electronic device held by the holding unit in an extending direction of the lead pins; and a correction fixture including holes having a shape corresponding to a shape of the lead pins after correction. Further, the shape of the lead pins is corrected so as to fit the shape of the holes by inserting the lead pins into the holes by pressing the electronic device with the pressing unit while distal ends of the lead pins are inserted into the holes, the electronic device being held by the holding unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 23, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 12, 2014
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventor: Shigeru Fujita
  • Publication number: 20140165687
    Abstract: A clamping device for a bending press includes a clamping die with a space formed therein, a clamping holder rotatably disposed within the space of the clamping die around a rotation shaft formed thereto, an upper cam block and a lower cam block respectively disposed within the clamping holder and slidable along the horizontal direction, and of which a cam slant surface is formed at a front side of the upper cam block and the lower cam block respectively, an upper clamping block and a lower clamping block contacting each cam slant surface of the upper cam block and the lower cam block, and clamping an end of a pipe disposed therebetween by sliding along a slant direction of the clamping holder, and a pressing unit selectively pressing the upper cam block and the lower cam block.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 24, 2012
    Publication date: June 19, 2014
    Applicant: SUNGWOO HITECH CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Mun Yong Lee, Sang Jin Ha
  • Publication number: 20140047889
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for forming a flange on a panel. The flange is formed under compression to provide a reduced outside radius on the finished flange. The flange may be formed about an outside corner with a distal edge of the flange being restricted by a limiting edge formed on a die. Alternatively, the flange may be formed into an inside corner of a die with a compressive force being exerted on a distal edge of the flange by a compressing tool while a forming tool forms the flange with a reduced final outside radius.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 20, 2012
    Publication date: February 20, 2014
    Applicant: FORD GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
    Inventor: Sergey Fedorovich Golovashchenko
  • Patent number: 8539807
    Abstract: Pipe to be upset is conveyed via walking beam though a series of induction heating coils and one end is heated to a maximum temperature of 2350 degrees F. Thereafter, a robot transports the pipe into a forging machine where the pipe end is upset in one or more die pockets. For those types of pipes where the pipe end temperature falls below an acceptable temperature during upsetting, the robot delivers the pipe end to an auxiliary induction heating coil and is re-heated to an acceptable forging temperature. The robot then transports the pipe back into the forging machine where the pipe end is forged to its final upset dimensions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 12, 2009
    Date of Patent: September 24, 2013
    Assignee: National Oilwell Varco, L.P.
    Inventors: Kenneth Auburn Dial, Joe Douglas Toler
  • Patent number: 8353106
    Abstract: A device and method for fixing or repairing a wheel or rim of an automobile, truck, motorcycle or other vehicle is provided. The device has an adjustable shaft having a first side and a second side. The first side may act as a brace secured against the interior of a rim of, for example, an automobile. The second side may be the work end of the device which may be formed to fit the interior wall(s) of the rim. When the rim is heated and the shaft is extended, the device may allow a user to fix a dented rim. A bracing bar may be extended perpendicularly from the shaft and may act to secure the device in place while the work is performed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 6, 2010
    Date of Patent: January 15, 2013
    Assignee: Rimsmith Tool, LLC
    Inventors: Herbert Lauer Lasser, Kickey Steven Lutterbach, Adam M. Sworden, Joel P. Sanchez, Cesar P. Sanchez
  • Patent number: 8281636
    Abstract: In a heading device for elongate workpieces having a hydraulic chucking unit and an shaping ram, which is movable axially from a retracted idle position against the workpiece, the chucking unit comprises a housing having a sliding body which is hydraulically displaceable in the axial direction of the workpiece from a starting position into a clamping position (and vice versa), in which at least two chucking segments which are situated uniformly around the workpiece are inserted, which, on their side facing toward the shaping ram, press against a locking plate which is inserted into the housing and can be fixed therein, are movable radially against the workpiece by a displacement of the sliding body in its clamping position, and each receive at least one clamping jaw, which can be pressed by the chucking segment holding it radially against the workpiece for its clamping.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 27, 2010
    Date of Patent: October 9, 2012
    Assignee: Wafios Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Jörg Möck, Dirk Taigel
  • Publication number: 20120240652
    Abstract: Compact tube and pipe expanders and flaring tools requiring reduced actuation force by a user. A flaring tool includes a flaring block and a yoke clampable to the flaring block by a clamping mechanism. The yoke includes a housing having a threaded release portion movable between a first position and a second position. A flaring cone of the yoke has a tapered flaring surface adapted to engage an internal surface of a tube and deform at least the engaged portion of the tube against the flaring block into a flared condition. A threaded feed screw is operatively coupleable to the flaring cone to move the flaring cone into engagement with the internal surface of the tube to deform it. The tool has a handle to rotate the feed screw.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 21, 2012
    Publication date: September 27, 2012
    Inventors: Joseph J. Houle, David Wortelboer
  • Publication number: 20120219382
    Abstract: A fastening pin has an enlarged head part, and a shaft part. The shaft part includes a large diameter section formed below the enlarged head part, a middle shaft section formed below the large diameter section, and a small diameter section extending from the middle shaft section to a leading end of the fastening pin. The large diameter section includes a round portion formed below the enlarged head part and a taper portion formed between the round portion and the middle shaft section. A diameter of the large diameter section at a side of the enlarged head part is larger than a diameter of the large diameter section at a side of the middle shaft section. The middle shaft section has a uniform diameter from a side of the large diameter section to a side of the small diameter section.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 1, 2012
    Publication date: August 30, 2012
    Applicant: MAX CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yasunori Aihara, Toshimichi Arai
  • Publication number: 20120131975
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method and a forming machine suitable for manufacturing a product having various diameters from a workpiece, such as a metal cylinder or plate, in which the workpiece is clamped down in a clamping device, the workpiece and a first tool are rotated about an axis of rotation relative to each other, the workpiece is deformed by means of said first tool by placing the tool into contact with the workpiece and moving the workpiece and/or the tool in a direction along the axis of rotation. At least a second tool is placed into contact with the workpiece at a position behind the first tool, seen in the working direction, and the workpiece is also deformed by means of said second tool. Thus, parts of the workpiece that have been deformed by the first tool are deformed by one or more subsequent tools practically immediately.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 7, 2012
    Publication date: May 31, 2012
    Inventor: Johan Massee
  • Patent number: 7997113
    Abstract: A hemming system and method is taught. The system and method employs tool platen assemblies comprising an anvil and one or more beam assemblies which are configured on the tool platen assembly and which tool platen assembly can be removed and replaced in the hemming system without the need for reconfiguration of the tool platen components. This allows for relatively rapid change over for the hemming system to hem different components. Further, the lift table of the hemming system includes a lift plate which moves the anvil through a predefined constant vertical stroke, but the start and end positions of that constant stroke length can be changed by inserting and removing a set of spacers from the anvil lift path. When the spacers are in the lift path, the lowered position and the raised position of the anvil are both higher than the corresponding lowered position and raised position when the spacers are removed from the lift path.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 11, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2011
    Assignee: Magna International Inc.
    Inventors: Thomas Dermody, Michael W. Dorsett
  • Patent number: 7918118
    Abstract: A method of using an electromagnetic forming machine to hem a panel assembly includes providing an inner panel and an outer panel. The outer panel has a plurality of flanges and a plurality of relief areas. An electric forming machine is provided having a coil for discharging electric energy to generate a magnetic field. The inner panel is positioned such that portions of the outer edge of the inner panel are aligned with the flanges of the outer panel to form a loose assembly of panels. The loose assembly of panels is positioned proximate the electromagnetic forming machine such that the coil surrounds the flanges and is disposed substantially coplanar with a plane formed by the relief areas. The electromagnetic forming machine is activated to generate a magnetic field causing the flanges to bend over.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 5, 2008
    Date of Patent: April 5, 2011
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventor: Sergey Fedorovich Golovashchenko
  • Patent number: 7870774
    Abstract: In an initial state of roller hemming processing, an erected flange 65 begins to be bent by a roller 48. At this time, a first plate 63 and a receiving face 15 are brought into tightly contact with each other at a contact point 70 between the roller 48 and the erected flange 65 by strongly pinching by the roller 48 and an auxiliary roller 51. On the other hand, in portions other than the contact point 70, the receiving face 15 tends to be separated from the first plate 63 by reaction. Since slider blocks 22 and 22 are movable along rails 21 and 21 on a side of the receiving die 10, the receiving die 10 rotates clockwise in the drawing about the contact point 70. A tight contact in the contact point 70 is guaranteed as the receiving die 10 rotates about the contact point 70. As a result, the hemming processing with a good shape can be achieved without wrinkling, ruffling, or deformation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 22, 2006
    Date of Patent: January 18, 2011
    Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Eisaku Hasegawa, Yoshiyuki Kinouchi, Takeshi Nakamura, Noriko Uematsu
  • Publication number: 20100300173
    Abstract: In a heading device for elongate workpieces having a hydraulic chucking unit and an shaping ram, which is movable axially from a retracted idle position against the workpiece, the chucking unit comprises a housing having a sliding body which is hydraulically displaceable in the axial direction of the workpiece from a starting position into a clamping position (and vice versa), in which at least two chucking segments which are situated uniformly around the workpiece are inserted, which, on their side facing toward the shaping ram, press against a locking plate which is inserted into the housing and can be fixed therein, are movable radially against the workpiece by a displacement of the sliding body in its clamping position, and each receive at least one clamping jaw, which can be pressed by the chucking segment holding it radially against the workpiece for its clamping.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 27, 2010
    Publication date: December 2, 2010
    Applicant: WAFIOS AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT
    Inventors: Jörg MÖCK, Dirk TAIGEL
  • Patent number: 7762115
    Abstract: A golf club adjustment tool for adjusting at least one of loft angle or lie angle of a golf club. The golf club adjustment tool includes a body having a first clamping portion and a second clamping portion. A first end of a first lever is attached to the second clamping portion. A second lever may be removably mated with the body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 4, 2007
    Date of Patent: July 27, 2010
    Assignee: Karsten Manufacturing Corporation
    Inventors: John P. Fife, Jr., James Wells
  • Patent number: 7762112
    Abstract: The invention relates to a fitting device for producing the arrangement for locking a sealing element, arranged at the front end on a rotor of a turbine, against a displacement in the circumferential direction, the sealing element locking moving blades arranged on the rotor against an axial displacement. Furthermore, the invention comprises a method of producing the arrangement for locking a sealing element, arranged at the front end on a rotor of a turbine, against a displacement in the circumferential direction. The quality of the fitting can be further increased by means of a modular, mobile fitting device which secures the sealing element for the duration of the bending operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 25, 2007
    Date of Patent: July 27, 2010
    Assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Marcus Brücher, Christian Bäumler, Andreas Föhrigen, Detlef Gruhn, Armin Hülfenhaus, Adam Przybyla, Sabine Rintzel, Melanie Uckert, Claus Vögelin, Uwe Wegmann
  • Patent number: 7735348
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method and a bending press for bending the boundary edge of a planar sheet for shaping into an open seam tube, with an upper tool shaped to correspond to the bend radius to be achieved and an opposed lower tool which may be displaced vertically, between which the boundary edges of the sheet which is clamped in place in the press frame may be bent into the desired boundary contour. The lower tool is provided with a straight working surface and mounted to pivot about a rotational axis whereby the pivot range is at least so large that a permanent planar contact between the working surface of the lower tool and the bottom face of the boundary edge is possible during the bending.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 10, 2005
    Date of Patent: June 15, 2010
    Assignee: Euroipe GmbH
    Inventors: Manfred Sawitzki, Johannes Gross-Weege, Wolfgang Hartjenstein, Ludwig Oesterlein, Manfred Lenuck
  • Publication number: 20100095732
    Abstract: A support jaw arrangement for sliding lateral support of rod-shaped and tubular workpieces prior to their entrance into a forming groove of a bending head of a bending machine. The support jaw arrangement includes two support jaws, one on each side of the workpiece. Each support jaw is fastened on a holder to a support bracket which, guided in a longitudinally displaceable manner on a guide block, is displaceable by a drive device from an initial position retracted against the direction of transport of the workpiece parallel to the same, to an end position extended in the direction of transport of the workpiece. One support jaw supports the workpiece in a laterally sliding manner in a region from its tangential entrance into the forming groove, up to a point at a predetermined distance in front of the same while the other support jaw assumes a retracted initial position.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 15, 2009
    Publication date: April 22, 2010
    Applicant: WAFIOS Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventor: Jürgen WOLF
  • Patent number: 7607331
    Abstract: Method and apparatus hems the edges of inner and outer panels by bending a peripheral flange of the outer panel over edge portions of the inner panel to form a panel assembly. A press apparatus has a lower platen and an upper platen. The outer panel is placed onto the lower platen and the inner panel is placed onto the lower panel with the peripheral flange of the outer panel surrounding the inner panel. The upper platen is lowered to capture the inner panel atop the outer panel. A first portion of the peripheral flange is hemmed by closing hemming dies over the first portion of the peripheral flange to bend the flange onto the inner panel. A second portion of the peripheral flange is hemmed by passing a hemming roller mechanism along the second portion of the peripheral flange to bend the flange onto the inner panel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 1, 2007
    Date of Patent: October 27, 2009
    Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations, Inc.
    Inventors: John E. Carsley, Anil K. Sachdev, Richard M. Kleber
  • Patent number: 7594420
    Abstract: The present invention is a novel machine for repairing damaged wheel rims whereby pressure is applied to a damaged rim from a plurality of pressure applicators, and whereby all of the pressure applicators may be used without impairing the sightline of the user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 15, 2008
    Date of Patent: September 29, 2009
    Inventor: Brian Len
  • Publication number: 20090056402
    Abstract: A material shaping tool having a base, a clamping assembly, and a ram assembly. The base includes a material segment supporting surface for receiving a material thereupon. The clamping assembly includes a clamping surface, and is moveable between a cleared position and a clamping position, wherein in the clamping position a material segment is held between the clamping surface and the transport assembly. The ram assembly is configured to be moveable within a channel in the transport assembly, and to act on an edge of the material segment so as to shape the edge of the material segment and/or to straighten the edge of the material to within acceptable tolerances. Alternatively, the shaping structure can impart a desired shape or distortion into the edge of the material segment.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 2, 2008
    Publication date: March 5, 2009
    Inventors: Travis J. Boesch, Brett Roe
  • Publication number: 20080264135
    Abstract: A bending machine designed to bend and shape sheet metal comprises a blade-holder unit (10) with a “C” shaped cross-section, mobile along two mutually orthogonal directions with respect to a fixed bed, and on which one or more bending blades are fixed. This machine comprises a kinematic system for driving the operating units, in which servomotors (15, 21, 22) and epicyclical reduction gears are used for the movement of the blade-holder unit (10). Moreover, the blade-holder unit (10) of the bending machine uses an articulated mechanism consisting of two mechanical units (13, 14) which form a closed kinematic chain with five members connected by five kinematic turning pairs.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 22, 2004
    Publication date: October 30, 2008
    Inventors: Luigi Patuzzi, Maurizio Felici, Mikael Norbert Haag
  • Patent number: 7415857
    Abstract: A step-by-step bending machine has a first movable bending member, a second cooperating adjustably fixed bending member, and a third central positionally fixed bending member on an opposite side of a plate to be bent from the first and second members and positioned between the first and second members. The second and third members hold the plate while the first member bends the plate against the third central member. The second member is positionally adjustable to accommodate thickness of the plate. The first member is positioned by cooperating pairs of positioning rams and is moved against the plate by parallel main rams.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 2005
    Date of Patent: August 26, 2008
    Inventor: Davor Petricio Yaksic
  • Patent number: 7347079
    Abstract: WHEEL RECONDITIONING DEVICE, composed of a base (1), from whose upper facing extends a vertical, rear column (2), from which extend forward one upper cross brace (3) and one intermediate cross brace (4), the latter equipped with axles (5) and (6) for the positioning and fixation of the wheel, and which interconnect with the upper cross brace (3) by means of a frontal, vertical and mobile column (11), and additional swinging cross brace (13) connected to the upper cross brace (3), responsible for the fixation of the wheel in the desired position for use of the hydraulic jack.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 2005
    Date of Patent: March 25, 2008
    Assignee: Indústria de Màquinas e Ferramentas Carjac Ltda.
    Inventor: Vicente Moreno Moreno
  • Patent number: 7263866
    Abstract: The golf club hosel bending fixture immovably secures a golf club head therein in order to adjustably bend the hosel angle of the club head to “fine tune” the characteristics of the club. The fixture includes an angularly articulating crown jaw assembly, a relatively fixed lower jaw assembly generally opposite the crown jaw assembly, a longitudinally disposed back jaw assembly, and a club head face jaw disposed at the base of the crown jaw track in order to remain aligned with the crown jaw. The jaw clamp and base mechanisms are laterally symmetrical, in order to provide for both left- and right-hand club heads. Two orthogonal gauges are provided to check both loft and lie angles of the hosel relative to the club head and face. The gauges may be adjustably positioned to either side of the fixture, to check either left- or right-hand club heads.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 27, 2005
    Date of Patent: September 4, 2007
    Inventor: Mondher Latiri
  • Patent number: 7237420
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a device for the deformation of workpieces, in particular for the plastic shaping of pipe ends, with a shaping unit actuated by the pressure of a fluid and with a prestressing unit arranged on a common longitudinal axis and actuated by the pressure of a fluid and also with clamping elements of conical design which can be clamped by means of the prestressing unit, in each case at least one separate pressure space being designed in the shaping unit and in the prestressing unit, which space can be pressurized independently of the pressure space of the other unit in each case. In this connection, the shaping unit and the prestressing unit are interconnected but completely closed off in relation to one another.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2003
    Date of Patent: July 3, 2007
    Assignee: Voss Fluid GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventor: Gerd Berghaus
  • Patent number: 7207203
    Abstract: A method of forming a workpiece using an apparatus is provided. The apparatus includes a first stage including a die fixture, a die actuator coupled to the die fixture, and a holding member configured to cooperate with the die fixture to hold the workpiece. The method includes holding the workpiece to the first stage die fixture using the first stage holding member, and conforming the workpiece to a first predetermined dimension using the first stage die fixture.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 2004
    Date of Patent: April 24, 2007
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventor: Randall Stephen Corn
  • Patent number: 7188505
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for producing bent snowmobile studs for use in an assembly are disclosed. The assembly comprises a bent stud having a head and proximal and distal shank portions and a fastener which is adapted to connect with respect to the distal shank portion of the stud. The head and shank of the stud are engaged by members which are mechanically pivoted with respect to one another such that the shank is bent. The assembly prevents rotational movement between the stud and the track.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 2003
    Date of Patent: March 13, 2007
    Inventor: Russ Wankowski
  • Patent number: 7159435
    Abstract: A straightening apparatus for large diameter thick wall pipe has an expander head at one end of a beam inserted into the pipe and having a radially displaceable saddle positionable at any selected location along the beam. The saddle may be shifted along the beam by a linear actuator and the saddle applies a radial force to the inner wall of the pipe in a bending operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 19, 2004
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2007
    Assignee: SMS Meer GmbH
    Inventors: Uwe Feldmann, Manfred Kolbe, Arno Topüth, Hans-Jürgen Fischer
  • Patent number: 7134309
    Abstract: A pre-hemming apparatus for use with a hemming die includes a driving member adapted to be centrally disposed below the hemming die. A plurality of link arms are operatively, pivotally connected to the driving member. A lever arm is operatively connected to each link arm. A flanging member is operatively connected to each lever arm at an end thereof. A plurality of mounts for supporting the lever arms are adapted to be mounted to a side of the hemming die. Each lever arm is pivotally connected to one of the mounts intermediate ends of the lever arm. An actuator is operatively engagable with the driving member. Actuation of the driving member moves the flanging members towards the hemming die through the lever arms and the link arms for pre-hemming, and away from the hemming die cycling the apparatus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 19, 2005
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2006
    Assignee: TESCO Engineering, Inc.
    Inventor: James B. Toeniskoetter
  • Patent number: 7069765
    Abstract: A shuttle assembly for use with an end forming machine includes a shuttle and a release mechanism coupled to the shuttle. The shuttle includes a main body, a tool-receiving bore formed in the main body, and a lock mechanism associated with the tool-receiving bore. The lock mechanism is movable between a locked position where a ball detent of the lock mechanism is biased to extend into the tool-receiving bore and an unlocked position where the ball detent is removed from within the tool-receiving bore. The shuttle assembly further includes a release mechanism coupled to the shuttle for moving the locking mechanism from the locked position to the unlocked position. The release mechanism includes a release lever coupled to the shuttle for pivotable movement relative to the shuttle to engage the ball detent and move the ball detent out of the tool-receiving bore.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 14, 2003
    Date of Patent: July 4, 2006
    Assignee: Manchester Tool & Die, Inc.
    Inventors: John Charles Grove, Joseph George Deal, Bradley Alan Vigar
  • Patent number: 7059164
    Abstract: The present invention provides a plate material processing machine with a bending function which enables even a bending piece with two or more bending portions to be bent and which enables materials to be bend so as to have different bending directions, dimensions, angles, or the like using the same tools. An upper tool 21 and a lower tool 22 are provided which fix a plate material W by sandwiching it between themselves. An upper tool-side bending tool 23 and a lower tool-side bending tool 24 are provided on sides of the upper tool 21 and lower tool 22, respectively, so as to elevate and lower freely. The upper tool-side bending tool 23 and the lower tool-side bending tool 24 perform elevating and lowering operations relative to the upper tool 21 and the lower tool 22 to bend a plate material piece Wa of a plate material W sandwiched between the upper tool 21 and the lower tool 22.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 9, 2004
    Date of Patent: June 13, 2006
    Assignee: Murata Kikai Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Hiroshi Kobayashi
  • Patent number: 6993952
    Abstract: A multipurpose horizontal press having a fixed workpiece-holder for a tubular workpiece to be drawn or tapered comprising a press body (1) surmounted by a worktable (2), having a superior surface (3) and an inferior surface (4), on the worktable (2) being positioned horizontally an operating hydraulic cylinder and, in correspondence with a through opening (70), a bridge (8) to which inferiorly a superior jaw (12) having its concavity facing downward, is rigidly connected. Opposite to the bridge (8) a support element (13) extends under the inferior surface (4) and supports a clamping hydraulic cylinder (14), having a rod (15) facing upward and provided with an inferior jaw (16), being sledge vertically inside the bridge (8) toward the superior jaw (12) and away from it.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 7, 2001
    Date of Patent: February 7, 2006
    Assignee: New Tech S.r.l.
    Inventor: Alessandro Caporusso
  • Patent number: 6935153
    Abstract: A tool for forming flares in, for example, corrugated elliptical tubing. The tool may have a retaining portion having a longitudinal axis located between an impact surface and a die head. The die head is coupled to the retaining portion on a first side, and on a second side the die head has a guide plug extending from an inner area of a flare surface normal to the longitudinal axis; and a bottoming surface extending from a periphery of the flare surface. The bottoming surface is oriented at an angle to the flare surface. A saw guide may be used to obtain an appropriate extension of the tube from a stop which the flare is formed against.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2003
    Date of Patent: August 30, 2005
    Assignee: Andrew Corporation
    Inventors: Gary Frigo, Bounthavy Thavisouk, John McCarthy
  • Patent number: 6843097
    Abstract: An expansion section for expanding the distance between longitudinal side surfaces of an opening of a tube when being inserted a predetermined depth into the opening is formed an expansion wedge body, and guide protuberances are protrusively formed on the respective longitudinal sides of the expansion section. The guide protuberances are inserted into the spaces provided on the respective sides of the opening of the tube, thereby guiding the expansion section into the opening.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 7, 2003
    Date of Patent: January 18, 2005
    Assignee: Calsonic Kansei Corporation
    Inventors: Koji Tatsuta, Kenji Shimizu, Shizuo Matsumoto
  • Patent number: 6834524
    Abstract: Apparatus for swaging a ferrule or ferrules onto an outer wall of a cylindrical member includes a hydraulic power section and an adapter tool. The hydraulic section is disposed within a housing, and the adapter tool is at least partly retained in the housing and also is fully removable from the housing without affecting the hydraulic power section of the apparatus. The hydraulic section includes a piston that is moved under force of hydraulic pressure applied thereto from a hydraulic pressure source. The adapter tool includes a driven swaging die that is moved from a retracted position to an extended position in response to movement of the piston. The sleeve and anvil are releasably secured together so that the adapter tool can be removed from the housing as a unitary assembly. Size changes can be accommodated by removing a first adapter tool of a given size and replacing it with a second adapter tool of a different size.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 2002
    Date of Patent: December 28, 2004
    Assignee: Swagelok Company
    Inventor: Lonnie E. Johnston
  • Publication number: 20040231392
    Abstract: A multipurpose horizontal press having a fixed workpiece-holder for a tubular workpiece to be drawn or tapered comprising a press body (1) surmounted by a worktable (2), having a superior surface (3) and an inferior surface (4), on the worktable (2) being positioned horizontally an operating hydraulic cylinder and, in correspondence with a through opening (70), a bridge (8) to which inferiorly a superior jaw (12) having its concavity facing downward, is rigidly connected. Opposite to the bridge (8) a support element (13) extends under the inferior surface (4) and supports a clamping hydraulic cylinder (14), having a rod (15) facing upward and provided with an inferior jaw (16), being sledge vertically inside said bridge (8) toward the superior jaw (12) and away from it.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 4, 2004
    Publication date: November 25, 2004
    Inventor: Alessandro Caporusso
  • Publication number: 20040187543
    Abstract: A tool for forming flares in, for example, corrugated elliptical tubing. The tool may have a retaining portion having a longitudinal axis located between an impact surface and a die head. The die head is coupled to the retaining portion on a first side, and on a second side the die head has a guide plug extending from an inner area of a flare surface tangential to the longitudinal axis; and a bottoming surface extending from a periphery of the flare surface. The bottoming surface is oriented at an angle to the flare surface. A saw guide may be used to obtain an appropriate extension of the tube from a stop which the flare is formed against.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 27, 2003
    Publication date: September 30, 2004
    Applicant: ANDREW CORPORATION
    Inventors: Gary Frigo, Bounthavy Thavisouk, John McCarthy
  • Patent number: 6751996
    Abstract: A forming tool for pipe ends with a fixing device holding the pipe and a flanging die acting on the projection of the pipe end, where the flanging die has a mandrel which can be driven into the pipe end. A forming die surrounds the mandrel. The mandrel and the forming die are held in a housing. A limiting die surrounding the forming die being provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 19, 2002
    Date of Patent: June 22, 2004
    Assignee: ITT Manufacturing Enterprises, Inc.
    Inventors: Andreas Sausner, Manfred Durst
  • Publication number: 20040083785
    Abstract: A tool for flanging coated brake pipes has a basic body with a receiving groove and a clamping jaw with a clamping groove. The receiving groove and the clamping groove form a clamping channel, in which the brake pipe can be received snugly. To achieve the snug hold of the brake pipe without unacceptable deformations as well as the coaxial alignment of this brake pipe in relation to a pressure piece of the basic body, by which the flanged head is formed, different surfaces of the receiving groove and of the clamping groove are provided. Thus, the surfaces may be provided with a surface roughness with an arithmetic average peak-to-valley height Ra of 5.0 to 10.0.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 15, 2003
    Publication date: May 6, 2004
    Inventor: Horst Klann
  • Patent number: 6708548
    Abstract: The invention relates to a device for forming an end area of a workpiece (2), especially for cold press-forming an end area of a pipe, comprising two force transmitting elements (7, 9) which are guided in a common housing (3). The device is characterised in that a first pressure chamber (26) is located between the two force transmission elements (7, 9) and in that a second pressure chamber (28) is allocated to the second force transmission element (9). When the first force transmission element (7) is in the bracing position, the second force transmission element (9) can be displaced in relation to the first force transmission element (7) in order to form the workpiece.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2002
    Date of Patent: March 23, 2004
    Assignee: Parker-Hannifin GmbH
    Inventors: Dieter Ehrke, Udo Hunkenschroeder, Frank-Stefan Runte, Martin Ziehl
  • Patent number: 6619096
    Abstract: A die post assembly that supports a metal panel in a position to allow an implement such as a roller or die steel to flange, pre-hem or hem an edge of the panel. A die post support surface is disposed on a panel support element and an edge member of the assembly. The die post support surface is shaped to support the panel and includes a bearing surface that supports an overlying portion of the panel against deformation as the marginal edge portion of the panel is bent in a flanging or hemming operation. The edge member includes the bearing surface and is supported on the panel support element. The edge member comprises a material more durable than the material of the panel support element. This material is sufficiently durable to allow the edge member to support a series of metal panels over a large number of hemming or flanging cycles without flowing or otherwise deforming due to heat and pressures typically generated in such operations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 17, 2000
    Date of Patent: September 16, 2003
    Assignee: UNOVA IP Corp.
    Inventors: William R. Hartley, Timothy A. VerVaecke
  • Patent number: 6604395
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for bending probe pins that is semi-automated and uses machine vision to eliminate human error.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 23, 2001
    Date of Patent: August 12, 2003
    Assignee: St Assembly Test Services Ltd.
    Inventor: Chong Meng Lee