Metal deforming – With use of control means energized in response to activator... – Sensing tool or tool-linked part
Patent
1991-02-26
1992-10-20
Larson, Lowell A.
Metal deforming
With use of control means energized in response to activator...
Sensing tool or tool-linked part
72133, 72226, B21D 514
Patent
active
051560348
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention is concerned with the contouring of planar metal sheets and is particularly although not exclusively suitable for contouring of metal sheets for ship building purposes.
The invention is concerned in one aspect with an apparatus for contouring metal sheets and in another aspect with a method for contouring metal sheets. The invention is concerned also with articles comprising or embodying metal sheets made in accordance with the method or apparatus.
Hitherto, contouring planar metal sheets to form three dimensional shapes with simple or compound curvatures has been achieved by a number of means. Typical of such contouring methods are:- heat stretching and shrinking; stretching wheeling rollers; edge shrinking; press and die stamping; shot blasting and peening.
Press and die stamping can produce accurately contoured articles from planar metal sheets using relatively unskilled labour. However in view of the extremely high capital cost of the press and the dies, this process is usually limited to high volume repetitive operations producing articles such motor vehicle body panels.
Shot blasting and peening is generally only confined to relatively thin sheets of soft metals such as aluminum and this process has been used in shaping of aircraft wing skin sections.
The other prior art processes involving heat shrinking and stretching, stretching wheeling rollers and edge shrinking all suffer serious disadvantages. Apart from being very labour intensive and slow, these processes all require an extremely high level of skill and generally produce only mediocre results. With current management practices relating to employment and training of skilled labour, there is a rapidly diminishing number of tradesmen skilled in the art of contouring metal sheets.
While the following description is limited to contouring of metal sheets for use in ship building, it will be abundantly clear to a skilled addressee that the method and apparatus of the present invention are applicable to a wide range of fields requiring contoured sheet material comprised of a plastically deformable material.
Because of the lack of skilled labour and otherwise high labour costs associated with the ship building industry, marine architects have adopted alternative design criteria to achieve cost efficient ship construction in a very competitive industry. Although such design criteria have permitted simpler shell plate profiles to utilize a less skilled labour force, the craft so constructed are not necessarily cost efficient in terms of operational costs nor do they necessarily possess the same characteristics of seaworthiness or structural soundness when compared with craft constructed to traditional configurations.
where cost is not the sole criteria as in the case of luxury motor yachts, the lack of skilled craftsmen and strict survey requirements often gives rise to a ships hull having such a poor shell plate appearance that up to five percent of the total construction cost of the vessel may be represented by the application of filler to disguise these imperfections.
Accordingly it is an aim of the present invention to overcome or alleviate the problems associated with prior art contouring of metal plates.
It is a further aim of the invention to provide an apparatus and method for accurate and reproducible contouring of metal plates.
According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided an apparatus for contouring sheet material, said apparatus comprising:
a support frame supporting at least two roller assemblies, said at least two roller assemblies being rotatable about spaced substantially parallel rotational axes;
drive means to rotatably drive a shaping roller associated with at least one of said roller assemblies;
proximity control means to displace at least one of said roller assemblies relative to another of said roller assemblies, said proximity control means being selectively operable under the influence of pressure sensing means and/or displacement measuring means.
Preferably respective said rotational axes of
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K.P.G. Integrated Engineering Pty. Ltd.
Larson Lowell A.
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