METHOD FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF MOTOR VEHICLE BODY PARTS
A method for the manufacture of motor vehicle body parts is disclose. The method includes providing blanks of flat material, deep-drawing of a first deep-drawing contour on the blanks by means of a first forming tool, and deep-drawing of a second deep-drawing contour by means of a second forming tool.
This application claims priority to German Patent Application No. 102013011951.0 filed Jul. 18, 2013, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
TECHNICAL FIELDThe technical field relates to a motor vehicle body structure, and more particularly to a method for the manufacture of motor vehicle body parts, in particular by the deep-drawing of blanks of flat material.
BACKGROUNDDeep-drawing methods are generally known in motor vehicle manufacture. For the deep-drawing of blanks of sheet metal, generally forming tools are used having at least two parts, designated as a punch and a die, wherein the die generally has a recess into which the blank is pressed by the punch during the deep-drawing. The shape of the finished deep-drawn part is predetermined by the shapes of the punch and die. When body parts for different vehicle models with different dimensions are required, generally an appropriate forming tool must be provided for each variant of such a deep-drawn part, which involves considerable costs.
In order to be able to manufacture different body models efficiently and economically, it would be desirable in principle to only make particular body parts model-specific and to combine these with other components which are comprehensively identical over the models. If, however, such a standard component has to be combined with different types of model-specific body parts, then all these model-specific types of body parts must have a suitable interface for the mounting of the component which is comprehensively identical over the models. In order to form this interface, the tools used for the deep-drawing of these body parts must be precisely congruent locally, which in turn increases the expenditure in the manufacture of the tools.
SUMMARYIt is an object of an embodiment of the present disclosure to provide a method for the manufacture of motor vehicle body parts, by which variants of a given body part can be provided simply and economically for different vehicle models. The problem is solved by a method for the manufacture of motor vehicle body parts in accordance with the following process: (a) provision of blanks of flat material; (b) deep-drawing of a first deep-drawing contour on the blanks, by means of a first forming tool, in order to obtain semi-finished parts; (c) deep-drawing of a second deep-drawing contour on the semi-finished parts by means of a second forming tool. The method enables the economically priced manufacture of numerous variants of a motor vehicle body part in different ways.
A first way is to select the first or the second forming tool from a set of several forming tool. Thus, if for example a set of n first forming tools and a set of m second forming tools is available (wherein at least one of these sets contains more than one tool), by means of a total of n +m tools up to n x m variants of the body part can be obtained. Even if one of the sets contains only one single tool, a cost saving is able to be realized, because the forming tools respectively only form one part of the body part and therefore generally can be formed smaller, but in any case more simply, than a tool with which the entire body part is formed.
Generally, the model-specific body parts will differ from one vehicle model to the other in at least one dimension. It is therefore expedient if in step (a) blanks with different values of a dimension are provided for these different vehicle models and the selection of the first or of the second forming tool to carry out step (b) and/or (c) takes place by means of the value of the dimension.
A second way, for the placing of the first and second forming tool to carry out the deep-drawing step (b) or (c) includes determining respectively different reference points on the blank. When the position of at least one of the reference points is different depending on the variant of the body part which is to be manufactured, different positions of the deep-drawing contours result in a variant-specific manner. In extreme cases, any desired multiplicity of variants of a motor vehicle body part can thus be manufactured with only two tools, in which these are positioned differently on the blank.
When blanks are provided with different values of a dimension according to the variant, the distance between the reference points is preferably different according to the value of the dimension. Typically, the dimension in question is a longitudinal dimension of the blank.
The first and the second deep-drawing contour are preferably formed on marginal areas of each flat material blank which are separated from one another. Thus, both deep-drawing steps can take place simultaneously, or respectively, if the first takes place before the second deep-drawing step, it is ensured that the shape of the region of the blank which is formed by the second tool is always identical independently of the first deep-drawing step which has been carried out previously. In particular, the first and the second deep-drawing contour can be formed on opposite longitudinal edges of the blank. This is expedient in particular in the case of a body part which is to be installed in a longitudinal beam of a motor vehicle body.
Alternatively, the first and the second deep-drawing contours can also be formed on opposite head ends of the blank. A central section of the blank connecting these head ends can be reinforced before or after the deep-drawing by roll-forming This variant is expedient in particular for transverse beams of motor vehicle bodies, which can have different lengths in a model-specific manner and are connected at their head ends with other body parts, in particular longitudinal beams.
The present disclosure will hereinafter be described in conjunction with the following drawing figures, wherein like numerals denote like elements, and:
The following detailed description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the present disclosure or the application and uses of the present disclosure. Furthermore, there is no intention to be bound by any theory presented in the preceding background or the following detailed description.
The part of one of the longitudinal beams, shown in
The central transverse beam 11 is composed of two roll-formed profiles 16, 17 with a respectively hat-shaped cross-section, which are welded to one another along their longitudinal edges. The rear transverse beam 10 is also composed of two roll-formed profiles, which form here a cross-section which is open towards the rear. The latter is only supplemented in a later stage of manufacture by a body sheet to a hollow profile.
The distance, increasing towards the front, between the sections 25, 28 is filled by two deep-drawn wall parts 29, 30 of the assembly 24. The wall parts 29, 30 have at their front edge respectively an approximately rectangular cutout 31, which is shaped in order to receive the roll-formed profile 13 of the transverse beam 12. As the extension 14 covers the lateral end of the heel plate 6, the transverse beam 12 must be placed and fastened between the upper shell 23 and the assembly 24, before both are joined together and are welded along flanges 32, 33 of the roll-formed rear sections 26, 27 or respectively 34, 35 of the front section 25 and of the wall parts 29, 30. Thereby, the distance between the longitudinal beams is established before the mounting of the transverse beams 10, 11.
The extensions 18, 19 for fastening the central transverse beam 11 project to different extents towards the center of the vehicle, so that the central transverse beam 11, after the connecting of the upper shell 23 with the assembly 24, can be placed from above onto the extensions 18, 19 and can be welded therewith.
The structure of the longitudinal beams, explained above, of shaped parts 9, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30 facilitates the manufacture of different body types, which differ in the length both of the passenger compartment 5 and also of a trunk 8 adjoining behind the latter (see
In the case of the wall parts 29, 30, the lower flanges 36 are respectively of identical shape in both the models which are shown, and extend only in the longer model further forward by the distance I, in order to continue the reinforcement by the doubling of material up to the front connection 15. The upper flanges 35 and the cutout 31 receiving the roll-formed profile 13 are displaced forward by a distance s in the longer model, whilst maintaining their shape, this distance being able to be selected to be shorter, equal to or longer than the length difference 1. The lower flanges 36 on the various models of wall parts 29, 30 are shaped and cut with an identical set of tools, independently of the values of s and 1; specific tools only come into use on shaping of the upper flanges 35, according to the value of s, as will be explained in further detail with the aid of
By the values of 1 and s being established independently of one another, the position of the heel plate 6 and the wheelbase d2 can be varied respectively independently of one another; in the longer of the two models shown in
According to the various models of the front section 28 and of the wall parts 29, 30 of the assembly 24, different models of the front section 25 of the upper shell 23 must also be provided. Two such models of the front section are illustrated in
In order to manufacture the wall part 29 in different lengths, sheet metal coils with different widths a, b can be provided, in order to separate from these respectively blanks 51a, 51b. These blanks 51a, 51b are initially flat, as shown in
The two blanks 51a, 51b are respectively processed in succession in a deep-drawing device. For this, the blanks are firstly fixed between two clamping jaws 52 of the deep-drawing device. Regions 53 of the blanks 51a, 51b clamped between the clamping jaws 52 are highlighted in
As shown in
In
When the two deep-drawing steps above or respectively beneath the clamped region are carried out in succession, it is also possible to distribute them to different deep-drawing devices and thus for example to form in a first device the lower flange 36 which is identical for all models of the wall part 29, and to subsequently distribute the blanks 51a, 51b to respectively different deep-drawing devices, in order to form the model-specific upper flange 35 therein.
A process with successive deep-drawing steps is also shown in
In the illustration of
While at least one exemplary embodiment has been presented in the foregoing detailed description, it should be appreciated that a vast number of variations exist. It should also be appreciated that the exemplary embodiment is only an example, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the present disclosure in any way. Rather, the foregoing detailed description will provide those skilled in the art with a convenient road map for implementing an exemplary embodiment, it being understood that various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements described in an exemplary embodiment without departing from the scope of the present disclosure as set forth in the appended claims and their legal equivalents.
Claims
1-11. (canceled)
12. A method for the manufacture of motor vehicle body parts comprising
- (a) selecting one of a first deep-drawing contour and a second deep-drawing contour for a body part;
- (b) providing blanks of flat material;
- (c) deep-drawing of the blanks on a first forming tool when the first deep-drawing contour is selected to form the body part; and
- (d) deep-drawing of the blanks on a second forming tool when the second deep-drawings contour is selected to form the body part.
13. The method according to claim 12, further comprising selecting the first forming tool and the second forming tool from a set of several forming tools.
14. The method according to claim 13, wherein blanks are provided with different values of a dimension, and selecting the first forming tool and the second forming tool takes place by means of the value of the dimension.
15. The method according to claim 12, further comprising placing the first forming tool for carrying out (c) relative to a first reference point of the blank, and placing of the second forming tool for carrying out (d) relative to a second reference point of the blank.
16. The method according to claim 15, wherein carrying out (b) blanks are provided with different values of a dimension, and the distance between the reference points is different according to the value of the dimension.
17. The method according to claim 14, wherein the dimension is a longitudinal dimension of the blank.
18. The method according to claim 12, wherein the first and second deep-drawing contours are formed on marginal regions of each flat material blank which are separate from one another.
19. The method according to claim 12, wherein the first and second deep-drawing contours are formed on opposite longitudinal edges of each flat material blank.
20. The method according to claim 12, wherein the first and second deep-drawing contours are formed at opposite head ends of each flat material blank.
21. The method according to claim 20 further comprising roll-forming a central section of each flat material blank connecting the head ends.
22. The method according to claim 12 wherein the body parts comprise parts of body substructures including beams of motor vehicle bodies for different vehicle models.
Type: Application
Filed: Jul 18, 2014
Publication Date: Jan 22, 2015
Inventors: Udo Mildner (Limburg), Lothar Teske (Aschaffenburg)
Application Number: 14/335,645
International Classification: B21D 22/20 (20060101); B21D 53/88 (20060101); B21D 35/00 (20060101);