Stock material or miscellaneous articles – All metal or with adjacent metals – Nonplanar – uniform-thickness material having symmetrical...
Patent
1999-02-04
2000-10-31
Zimmerman, John J.
Stock material or miscellaneous articles
All metal or with adjacent metals
Nonplanar, uniform-thickness material having symmetrical...
428614, 29521, 72363, 723796, 5278314, B32B 328, B32B 1504, B21D 3903
Patent
active
061399744
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention is concerned with forming a composite panel by bonding together at least two overlying sheets of metal. The invention is also concerned with such a composite panel.
There are many applications for composite panels of the type referred to above. For example, such panels can be used in structural applications. One particular application occurs in the automotive industry where such panels can be used as heat shields to protect passengers or heat-sensitive equipment from heat generated by the engine of a vehicle. Such heat shields have to be rigid enough to retain their shape and resist damage while preventing the passage of a significant proportion of the heat generated. A single sheet of metal, eg aluminum or an alloy thereof, can reflect infra-red radiation and reduce convection but it has poor acoustic properties as it acts like a drum.
If a composite panel formed from two bonded sheets of metal is used as an automotive heat shield, better acoustic properties are obtained, since each sheet damps vibrations of the other, and also there is some reduction in heat conduction, because of the interface between the sheets. It is also possible to provide heat insulating material and/or sound deadening material between the sheets.
In order to achieve good acoustic properties, the sheets of a composite panel need to be bonded together at close intervals across their area. This can be achieved by the use of adhesive. However, adhesives can fail under extreme conditions, and their presence prevents the panel from being readily recycled at the end of its life. It is also possible to use a large number of mechanical fasteners, such as rivets or staples, distributed over the area of the panel but this is expensive and provides additional heat conduction paths through the panel. It is also possible to emboss the sheets together to interlock them but this requires expensive tooling.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of forming a composite panel by bonding together at least two overlying sheets of metal so that they are bonded together across an area without the use of adhesive or mechanical fasteners or requiring expensive tooling
The invention provides a method of forming a composite panel by bonding together at least two overlying sheets of metal, characterised in that the method comprises performing a first corrugating operation on each of said sheets so that both sheets are formed with similar corrugations, and positioning said sheets in overlying relationship with the corrugations of each sheet extending in a common first direction and the corrugations of each sheet being nested into those of the other sheet, the method also comprising performing a second corrugating operation on the assembly of the two overlying corrugated sheets, said second corrugating operation being arranged to produce corrugations which extend in a second direction which is inclined at an angle of at least 10.degree. to said first direction.
A method according to the invention results in composite panels which have upstanding ridges with troughs between them, these troughs having reentrant side walls so that the sheets are bonded by the interlocking of the portions of the sheets forming said side walls. Said side walls could also be regarded as undercut folds running across the sheets. A method according to the invention enables the complexly shaped composite panel to be manufactured simply without requiring expensive tooling. All that is required is one or two sets (depending on whether the same set is used for both corrugating operations) of corrugating rollers. Such corrugating rollers are well-known as they are used to corrugate metal sheets for, eg, roofing and to corrugate cardboard. Such rollers have sinusoidal ridges extending along their surfaces. A set of rollers comprises an upper and a lower roller whose ridges mesh with one another and press a sheet into corrugations as it passes through the nip between the rollers.
In a method in accordance with the invention, it is not necessary for the sh
REFERENCES:
patent: 512021 (1894-01-01), Gould
patent: 1013070 (1911-12-01), Savage
patent: 1206487 (1916-11-01), Voltz et al.
patent: 1716402 (1929-06-01), Whippey
patent: 1996004 (1935-03-01), Fraser
patent: 2481046 (1949-09-01), Scurlock
patent: 3217845 (1965-11-01), Reynolds et al.
patent: 3256669 (1966-06-01), Seiwert
patent: 3474585 (1969-10-01), Foster
patent: 3540109 (1970-11-01), Marthaler
patent: 3902348 (1975-09-01), Hale
patent: 4343866 (1982-08-01), Oser et al.
patent: 4656809 (1987-04-01), Wilson
patent: 4831711 (1989-05-01), Rapp
patent: 5157893 (1992-10-01), Benson et al.
patent: 5517743 (1996-05-01), Liebig et al.
patent: 5670264 (1997-09-01), Sheridan
patent: 5939212 (1999-08-01), Ragland et al.
Atkinson Alan William
Bridge David Richard
Cole Andrew Timothy
Federal-Mogul Technology Limited
Zimmerman John J.
LandOfFree
Forming a composite panel does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Forming a composite panel, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Forming a composite panel will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2048884