Abstract: A vehicle reinforcement beam is roll formed from a metal sheet to provide a multi-tubular reinforcement beam that includes two adjacent tubular sections that share a common center wall. The outer sections the metal sheet extend from opposing ends of the common center wall and are formed to enclose the adjacent tubular sections. An edge portion of the metal sheet that is bent to have a bend radius of about 3-9 mm, where the edge portions attach in abutting and continuous contact with the common center wall to form crevices between the adjacent tubular sections along the first and second faces. A weld is formed in each of the crevices to define crevice ribs in general alignment with and at each of the opposing first and second ends of the common center wall that are configured to improve bending strength and torsional strength of the reinforcement beam.

Abstract: A vehicle reinforcement beam is roll formed from a metal sheet to provide a multi-tubular reinforcement beam that includes two adjacent tubular sections that share a common center wall. The outer sections the metal sheet extend from opposing ends of the common center wall and are formed to enclose the adjacent tubular sections. An edge portion of the metal sheet that is bent to have a bend radius of about 3-9 mm, where the edge portions attach in abutting and continuous contact with the common center wall to form crevices between the adjacent tubular sections along the first and second faces. A weld is formed in each of the crevices to define crevice ribs in general alignment with and at each of the opposing first and second ends of the common center wall that are configured to improve bending strength and torsional strength of the reinforcement beam.

Abstract: A reinforcement beam is roll formed from a metal sheet for use in a vehicle bumper system. The reinforcement beam includes adjacent tubes having a common center wall and lateral portions extending from opposing sides of the common center wall that are roll formed simultaneously in the same rotational direction to enclose interior volumes of the adjacent tubes and to define top and bottom walls and front and rear wall of the reinforcement beam. The front walls of the adjacent tubes each include a channel rib depressed into the interior volume of the respective adjacent tube longitudinally along the reinforcement beam for stiffening the respective front wall. A weld is formed separately in each of the seams between the front walls and between the rear walls, thereby defining a crevice rib between the channel ribs to improve the bending strength and torsional strength of the reinforcement beam.

Abstract: A multi-sheet beam includes sheets pre-shaped and/or pre-formed to have integral features and to cause a final beam shape with non-radiused corners and optimal impact properties when assembled, including beams with constant or varied cross sectional shapes. The non-radiused corners offer excellent impact strength over radiused corners. The sheets are selected to have desired (different) thicknesses and material properties for optimal impact results and low beam weight. To assemble, the sheets are fixtured together and welded to form box beam, such as a two-tube monoleg beam, preferably using welding processes having low heat-affected-zones around the weld. The multiple sheets can include grades of aluminum with high tensile strength well above extrudable grades of aluminum. Alternatively, the multiple sheets can be any grade of steel, such as high strength and ultra high strength steels. The fixturing and assembly technique minimizes capital expense on extruding machines and/or roll forming machines.

Abstract: A multi-sheet beam includes sheets pre-shaped and/or pre-formed to have integral features and to cause a final beam shape with non-radiused corners and optimal impact properties when assembled, including beams with constant or varied cross sectional shapes. The non-radiused corners offer excellent impact strength over radiused corners. The sheets are selected to have desired (different) thicknesses and material properties for optimal impact results and low beam weight. To assemble, the sheets are fixtured together and welded to form box beam, such as a two-tube monoleg beam, preferably using welding processes having low heat-affected-zones around the weld. The multiple sheets can include grades of aluminum with high tensile strength well above extrudable grades of aluminum. Alternatively, the multiple sheets can be any grade of steel, such as high strength and ultra high strength steels. The fixturing and assembly technique minimizes capital expense on extruding machines and/or roll forming machines.

Abstract: A reinforcement beam is roll formed from a metal sheet for use in a vehicle bumper system. The reinforcement beam includes adjacent tubes having a common center wall and lateral portions extending from opposing sides of the common center wall that are roll formed simultaneously in the same rotational direction to enclose interior volumes of the adjacent tubes and to define top and bottom walls and front and rear wall of the reinforcement beam. The front walls of the adjacent tubes each include a channel rib depressed into the interior volume of the respective adjacent tube longitudinally along the reinforcement beam for stiffening the respective front wall. A weld is formed separately in each of the seams between the front walls and between the rear walls, thereby defining a crevice rib between the channel ribs to improve the bending strength and torsional strength of the reinforcement beam.

Abstract: An apparatus forms a sheet into a beam having four exterior walls and a common center leg extending between an opposing two of the walls. The apparatus includes a roll former forming the sheet into the beam cross section, a welding station with top and bottom laser welders, and a weld box fixture having inwardly-biased external mandrels (biased by actuators) and outwardly-biased internal split mandrels (biased by springs) that interact to hold a desired shape of the beam in the weld fixture, and also includes a sweeping unit and cutoff device. By this arrangement, the internal and external mandrels, in combination with a bias of the actuators and springs, control a shape of the beam by flexure and movement of material of the sheet when in the weld box fixture during a welding process of the welder.

Abstract: A roll former for forming a sheet into a continuous multi-tubular reinforcement beam. The roll former includes a first set of rollers that are configured to bend the sheet to form a common center wall in generally perpendicular orientation relative to first and second lateral portions of the sheet that extend in opposing directions from respective first and second radiused ends of the common center wall. The first set of rollers also form radiused edges on the first and second lateral portions. A second set of rollers is configured to form a channel rib longitudinally along each of the first and second lateral portions. A third set of rollers is configured to bend the first and second lateral portions simultaneously and equally to abut the first and second radiused edges with the respective first and second radiused ends of the common center wall to define adjacent tubes of the beam.

Abstract: A roll former for forming a sheet into a continuous multi-tubular reinforcement beam. The roll former includes a first set of rollers that are configured to bend the sheet to form a common center wall in generally perpendicular orientation relative to first and second lateral portions of the sheet that extend in opposing directions from respective first and second radiused ends of the common center wall. The first set of rollers also form radiused edges on the first and second lateral portions. A second set of rollers is configured to form a channel rib longitudinally along each of the first and second lateral portions. A third set of rollers is configured to bend the first and second lateral portions simultaneously and equally to abut the first and second radiused edges with the respective first and second radiused ends of the common center wall to define adjacent tubes of the beam.

Abstract: An axle assembly includes an axle housing assembly including a housing structure having an interior cavity with a sump, a lubricant disposed in the sump having a liquid lubricant level, and a differential mounted in the axle housing assembly for rotation about a first axis. The differential includes a ring gear generating an annular stream of lubricant adjoining the ring gear above the liquid lubricant level during operation of the differential at a rotational speed greater than a predetermined rotational speed. The housing structure includes an interior surface on which a deflector is coupled. The deflector extends into the interior cavity and has a first face having an impingement portion and a first edge adjacent the impingement portion. The impingement portion extends into the stream and deflects a portion of the stream towards the first edge. The first edge disperses the portion of the stream into the cavity.

Abstract: A reinforcement beam for a vehicle bumper system comprises a single sheet deformed to define first and second tubes sharing a common single center wall. A channel rib is formed on each tubes and a crevice rib over the center leg forms a third rib. Edges of the sheet are deformed to a radius so that their surface consistently engages an associated radiused corner formed on ends of the center leg, which facilitates consistent abutting line engagement of material surfaces, and thus facilitates consistent welding. In a preferred beam, front wall sections of each tube are coplanar and form a face of the beam, with each channel rib and crevice rib providing added stiffness to the beam, and yet nothing extends forward of the coplanar front wall sections. Related apparatus and methods are also disclosed.

Abstract: An axle assembly includes an axle housing assembly including a housing structure having an interior cavity with a sump, a lubricant disposed in the sump having a liquid lubricant level, and a differential mounted in the axle housing assembly for rotation about a first axis. The differential includes a ring gear generating an annular stream of lubricant adjoining the ring gear above the liquid lubricant level during operation of the differential at a rotational speed greater than a predetermined rotational speed. The housing structure includes an interior surface on which a deflector is coupled. The deflector extends into the interior cavity and has a first face having an impingement portion and a first edge adjacent the impingement portion. The impingement portion extends into the stream and deflects a portion of the stream towards the first edge. The first edge disperses the portion of the stream into the cavity.

Abstract: The invention relates to an external cavity, continuously tunable monomode laser source, comprising, in a resonant cavity, resonating at the emission wavelength &lgr;e, a retroreflecting wavelength dispersing device, arranged to produce a selectivity curve with a peak 80 s. According to the invention, additional fine-control means, enable, from the approximate continuous tunability position, to monitor the deviation &lgr;e-&lgr;s during the variation of the emission wavelength ke while preventing this deviation from reaching one of the limits causing mode hopping. Such a configuration enables to avoid imperfections usually associated with mechanical adjustment and to guarantee continuity of the wavelength variation and to compensate for the latter as long as its fluctuations remain smaller than approx. &Dgr;&lgr;e/2 where &Dgr;&lgr;e is the distance between two successive resonance modes of the cavity.