Patents by Inventor Frederick I. Saunders

Frederick I. Saunders has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Quick plastic forming of aluminum alloy sheet metal
    Patent number: RE43012
    Abstract: A method is disclosed for stretching magnesium-containing aluminum alloy sheet stock into intricate shapes such as are required in automotive body panels. The sheet stock, at a temperature in the range of about 400° C. to about 510° C., is stretched under the pressure of a working gas into conformance with the surface of a forming tool. The sheet forming pressure is increased continually in a controlled manner from ambient pressure to a final forming level in the range of about 250 psi to about 500 psi or higher. A portion of the sheet can experience strain rates substantially higher than 10?3 sec?1 and the forming of the sheet can be completed within 12 minutes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 15, 2002
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2011
    Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC
    Inventors: Moinuddin S. Rashid, Kulsum Rashid, legal representative, Chongmin Kim, Edward F. Ryntz, Frederick I. Saunders, Ravi Verma, Sooho Kim, Paul E. Krajewski