Patents Examined by Teresa M Ekiert
  • Patent number: 11752535
    Abstract: A hot metal gas forming and quenching system and process thereof are provided. The system includes a hydraulic press, a die assembly, a rapid heating module, and a rapid cooling module. The die assembly includes a progressive die realizing the hot gas bulging and rapid cooling of the workpiece. Through the above system and the process, making pipes with uncoated plates has a lower cost than with coated and plated steel plates, with fewer structural defects and process risks. By using a progressive die, a resistance heating process and hot gas bulging and quenching processes are performed in parallel, and the material is loaded progressively, thereby having a fast pace and a greatly improved efficiency. A heating state of parts is fully protected, oxidation is avoided, and no coating is required. After the workpiece is formed, it can be directly welded to a car body without shot blasting.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 12, 2023
    Assignee: INTELLIGENT AEROSPACE MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY (BEIJING) CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Pengzhi Cheng, Gang Cheng, Yulong Ge, Shangwen Ruan, Yasu Xie, Zenghua Wang, Xiaohang Jiang
  • Patent number: 11752534
    Abstract: Provided herein are an apparatus and method for bending wire. The apparatus includes a feeding system with at least one feed roller pair and a controllable feed motor, at least one control platform axis, and at least one bending unit. The method includes i) providing the apparatus of claim 1; ii) advancing a wire with the feeding system; iii) engaging the wire with the at least one bending unit; iv) bending the wire with the at least one bending unit; v) retracting the at least one bending unit; and optionally repeating steps ii-v to form a desired structure. Also provided herein are algorithms for feeding, engaging, and bending the wire.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 12, 2023
    Assignee: NDSU RESEARCH FOUNDATION
    Inventors: Bashir Khoda, Nazmul Ahsan, Md Habib, Ruinan Xie
  • Patent number: 11752538
    Abstract: A pilot assembly having a shaped portion and a shaped fastener relief for attachment to a die. The pilot assembly includes a fastener with a shaped washer that engages the shaped fastener relief to permit installation and removal of the pilot from the die. The shaped portion of the pilot assembly helps to locate and center the stock down the pilot assembly toward the die.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 2022
    Date of Patent: September 12, 2023
    Assignee: STANDARD LIFTERS, INC.
    Inventors: Scott M. Breen, Joel T. Pyper
  • Patent number: 11738383
    Abstract: Method and means of manufacturing ties, fasteners and rods (15) having a plurality of longitudinal threads by forcing a coil of roll-profiled feed-wire made of steel (11) through a twisting-die made of plastic (1). Also described is: a twisting-die made of plastic (1) that is suitable for twisting profiled feed-wire (11) made of steel; a method of forming a plastic twisting die (1) using an driven tap (31) in the form of a twisted rod (15); and a helically-shaped member (15) having lead measurements (X) along the length of the helical thread that vary less than pitch measurements (Y) along the lengths of the helical threads.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 13, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2023
    Inventors: Richard James Goodall, William Henry Ollis
  • Patent number: 11731186
    Abstract: A container, such as a beverage or food can is provided, which includes a first sidewall, a second sidewall and a bottom portion extending between the first and second sidewalls. The material of the bottom portion is stretched relative to the first sidewall and the second sidewall to form a thinned preselected profile, such as a dome. The material of the container at or about the dome has a substantially uniform thickness. The container is formed from a blank of material, which has a base gauge prior to being formed. After being formed, the blank of material of the container at or about the dome has a thickness less than the base gauge. Tooling having a clamp bead, or a progressive clamp bead, for selectively forming a blank of material into a container, as well as an associated method are also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 12, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2023
    Assignee: Stolle Machinery Company, LLC
    Inventors: Aaron E. Carstens, James A. McClung, Patrick K. McCarty, Gregory H. Butcher
  • Patent number: 11707774
    Abstract: A workpiece material is fed between rollers to bend the workpiece material while rolling, wherein the workpiece has a first thickness portion and a second thickness portion connected to each other with a setting angle of 90 degrees. The first thickness portion increases from an inner side toward an outer side, and a thickness on an outer peripheral side of the first thickness portion is M, and a thickness of a cross section of the second thickness portion is N. The workpiece material is rolled in such that at a completion of bending, a thickness of a cross section of a first thickness portion is m, an outer radius of the first thickness portion is R, an inner radius of the first thickness portion is r, and a thickness of a cross section of a second thickness portion is n, and M equals to m(R/r), and N equals to n(R/r).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 9, 2021
    Date of Patent: July 25, 2023
    Assignees: MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD., AISIN KEIKINZOKU KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Takahiro Tachibana, Jin Shinmura, Arata Yoshida, Hiroaki Matsui
  • Patent number: 11701698
    Abstract: Systems, apparatuses, and methods to bend a tube at a predetermined location and angle are disclosed herein. An apparatus may have a body and a trigger pivotably attachable to the body. The body may have a female component to retain and prevent unwanted longitudinal movement of the tube towards a bottom of the body and lateral movement of the tube. The trigger may have an arcuate surface that contacts the tube to bend the tube when the trigger is squeezed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 21, 2022
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2023
    Assignee: Cryoport, Inc.
    Inventor: Ben Lee
  • Patent number: 11703281
    Abstract: A method for forming large titanium parts includes forming bends into a titanium plate for form a bent part. The bent part is then roll-formed to form contours into the bent part. The surfaces of the contoured part are rough-machined, and the part is then secured to a bladed form fixture. The bladed form fixture comprises a plurality of header boards that secure the part to the fixture. The fixture part is placed in a thermal vacuum furnace and a stress-relieving operation is performed. The part is removed from the fixture and final machining takes place.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 2022
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2023
    Assignee: DUCOMMUN AEROSTRUCTURES, INC.
    Inventors: Andrew Pirie, Ignacio Hernandez
  • Patent number: 11701695
    Abstract: A method for operating a roll stand for the stepped rolling of metal strip is described. The metal strip is initially fed into a roll stand on the infeed side, where it is step-rolled. This creates a leading and a trailing section of the metal strip, each with different thicknesses. After the roll stand, the step-rolled metal strip initially passes through an outfeed-side strip accumulator before it is wound into a coil by an upcoiler. The outfeed-side reel is controlled to a constant strip tension. To keep the outfeed-side strip tension sufficiently constant even in the case of rapid changes in the size of the roll gap and the resulting rapid changes in thickness in the rolled metal strip the control of the strip tension with the aid of the upcoiler is supplemented by a position control for a roller unit in the outfeed-side strip accumulator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 2, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2023
    Assignee: SMS group GmbH
    Inventor: Jürgen Klöckner
  • Patent number: 11705791
    Abstract: A bending unit for bending a bend of a wave winding for a coil winding of an electric machine, having a first holding element for holding a first segment of a wire to be bent, a second holding element for holding a second segment of the wire to be bent and at least one bending mold for bending a transition region of the wire between the first segment and the second segment. The first and the second holding elements are in engagement with each other via at least one mechanical control cam to control a relative pivoting and a relative displacement of the first and the second holding element. Furthermore, a bending device having a plurality of such bending units, a wave winding production apparatus having a plurality of bending units which are synchronized via control cams, and a bending method and a wave winding production method are described.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2023
    Assignee: Grob-Werke GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventors: Frederik Schmid, Ralf Rauscher
  • Patent number: 11697149
    Abstract: A press assembly for forming outer helical splines on a blank includes an upper press shoe assembly and a die shoe assembly. The upper press shoe assembly includes an upper rotatable portion rotatable relative to an upper stationary portion. The lower portion includes a lower rotatable portion rotatable relative to a lower stationary portion. The unfinished blank is supported by the lower portion, and the upper portion is moveable into engagement with the blank. The upper rotatable portion joins with the lower rotatable portion for conjoint rotation relative to the upper and lower stationary portions via upper and lower helical meshes defined between the rotatable and stationary portions. The helical meshes convert downward force into rotation and translation of the blank into a spline forming die of the lower stationary portion to create the outer helical splines.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 21, 2022
    Date of Patent: July 11, 2023
    Assignee: MAGNA POWERTRAIN, INC.
    Inventor: Ronald Kubiak
  • Patent number: 11697147
    Abstract: An apparatus and method are disclosed for the automated manufacture of a duct flange profile to make small duct fittings, including a TDF duct flange profile. The duct flange profile is directed to small part duct fittings with section widths up to about 16 inches in 20 to 26 gauge metal. The apparatus includes a bending head assembly having a drive roller, a pressure roller, an anvil and a bending leaf and a roll form assembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 16, 2021
    Date of Patent: July 11, 2023
    Assignee: HVAC Inventors/Systemation, Inc.
    Inventors: David E. Daw, John T. Ehling
  • Patent number: 11697144
    Abstract: Flatness of a hot-rolled steel sheet in a coil is improved when the hot-rolled steel sheet is wound with a mandrel in a hot-rolling process to manufacture a coil. The mandrel has a protruding shape with a center portion in an axial direction protruding from both end portions when seen from a lateral side in the axial direction. Regarding a peripheral length difference, which is a difference between a peripheral length of the center portion of the mandrel and a peripheral length at a predetermined distance from the center portion, the ratio of the peripheral length difference to the peripheral length of the center portion is preferably 0.0002 to 0.012. The protruding shape may be a trapezoidal shape or a polynomial function shape.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 2020
    Date of Patent: July 11, 2023
    Assignee: NIPPON STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Tooru Akashi, Seiji Arizumi
  • Patent number: 11697146
    Abstract: The invention relates to a bending device (2) for bending a rod-like or tubular workpiece (4), comprising a bending machine (6), which has a bending head (8), which is designed for bending the workpiece (4) in a forming process, and a control means (24), which controls the operation of the bending machine (6), a robot (10), which comprises a multi-joint arm (11) which can be adjusted by motors, having a gripper end (12), which is designed for gripping and holding the workpiece (4), and a control unit (22), which is designed to control the operation of the robot (10), wherein the control means (24) is designed to control the bending machine (6) and the robot (10) during the bending process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 12, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 11, 2023
    Assignee: WAFIOS Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Uwe-Peter Weigmann, Thomas Walker
  • Patent number: 11697143
    Abstract: A method is used to manufacture a tube having a hollow interior for housing an axle shaft. The tube is formed in a single machine having a fixed base and a single press structure movable toward the fixed base. The single machine includes first and second die assemblies coupled to the fixed base and first and second mandrels coupled to the single press structure. The method includes the steps of placing a billet into the first die assembly, pressing the billet into the first die assembly with the first mandrel to producing a pre-formed billet, and moving the pre-formed billet from the first die assembly to the second die assembly. THE method further includes the steps of pressing the pre-formed billet into the second die assembly with the second mandrel to elongate the pre-formed billet and form a hollow interior therein to produce an extruded tube.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 2020
    Date of Patent: July 11, 2023
    Assignee: AMERICAN AXLE & MANUFACTURING, INC.
    Inventors: John A. Pale, David I. Alexander, Mahaveer Khetawat
  • Patent number: 11691191
    Abstract: A roll bender apparatus is disclosed for bending a work piece, the apparatus including a base, a bending roller rotatably disposed on the base, a first guide roller rotatably disposed on base. and a second guide roller rotatably disposed on the base. A first work piece guide assembly is movable about the first guide roller and a second work piece guide assembly movable about the second guide roller. The first and second work piece guide assemblies are oriented to receive the work piece, and the first and second work piece guide assemblies are configured to move about the first and second guide rollers respectively in response to the work piece being bent as the work piece is advanced between the bending roller and the first and second guide rollers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 13, 2021
    Date of Patent: July 4, 2023
    Inventor: Christopher J. Rusch
  • Patent number: 11684966
    Abstract: A device for producing a reinforcement, wherein the device has positioning mechanisms for the automated positioning of a longitudinal wire and a cross wire of the reinforcement to be produced. The device is characterized in that the device has a binding unit, wherein the device is designed to automatically connect the positioned wires by way of a binding element at a binding point by means of the binding unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2023
    Assignee: MBK Maschinenbau GmbH
    Inventor: Jens Lehmann
  • Patent number: 11677203
    Abstract: A compression die configured to crimp a composite core is disclosed. The compression die includes an outer body having a tool engaging surface, and an inner body coupled to the outer body. The inner body has a crimping area, wherein the crimping area of the inner body includes ten planar surfaces. The ten planar surfaces are positioned at an angle with respect to an adjacent planar surface such that the combination of the ten planar surfaces form a decagon shaped channel. Crimping is performed by the compression die by inserting the composite core into an encasing connector, which is then inserted into the decagon shaped channel of the compression die. A radial force towards the center of the decagon shaped channel is applied until an outer circumference of the encasing connector containing the composite core fully engages a surface area of each of the ten planar surfaces.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 9, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 13, 2023
    Assignee: Hubbell Incorporated
    Inventors: Gary Schrader, David Boudreau, Peter Chan
  • Patent number: 11673174
    Abstract: A bridle device and a method for producing a steel strip in which snaking of a steel strip that occurs during production of a high-silicon steel strip is suppressed. The bridle device includes a pair of upper and lower rotatable endless belts or a pair of upper and lower rotatable caterpillars configured to pinch a steel strip. The bridle device is movable or swingable in a steel strip width direction by using a steering mechanism. The bridle device further includes a rolling reduction mechanism configured to perform rolling reduction on a pinched portion of the steel strip by using the pair of upper and lower endless belts or the pair of upper and lower caterpillars. The steering mechanism moves or swings the bridle device in the steel strip width direction, and the rolling reduction mechanism performs rolling reduction on one of end portions in the steel strip width direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 16, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 13, 2023
    Assignee: JFE STEEL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Takashi Doi, Shoji Kasai, Teruhiko Tobe
  • Patent number: 11666957
    Abstract: An apparatus for controlling a strip tension during flexible rolling of metal strip comprises a roll arrangement with at least one dancer roll, the position of said dancer roll being adjustable for controlling the strip tension of the metal strip, at least one hydraulic drive coupled to the dancer roll for adjusting the dancer roll, a hydraulic tank for hydraulic fluid, which is fluidly connected to the hydraulic drive via a hydraulic supply line, a controllable valve arrangement between the hydraulic tank and the hydraulic drive for controlling the hydraulic drive, a hydraulic pump with which the hydraulic drive is supplied with hydraulic fluid from the hydraulic tank, and at least one hydraulic pressure accumulator for temporarily storing hydraulic fluid previously delivered by the hydraulic pump, the hydraulic pressure accumulator being arranged between the hydraulic pump and the valve arrangement, wherein a pressure sensor is arranged in the hydraulic drive for determining the hydraulic pressure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 20, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 6, 2023
    Assignee: Muhr und Bender KG
    Inventors: Andre Sondermann, Andre Feldmann, Alexander Eick, Harald Eichner, Martin Böhmer