Roll-former apparatus with rapid-adjust sweep box
First Claim
1. An apparatus comprising:
- a roll-forming apparatus adapted to roll-form a sheet of material into a continuous beam having a longitudinal line level, the continuous beam having a first surface and an opposing second surface; and
a sweep station in-line with the line level and adapted to form a longitudinal shape into the continuous beam;
the sweep station including a primary bending roller tangentially engaging the continuous beam along the line level and an armature for holding the continuous beam tightly against the primary bending roller for a distance partially around a downstream side of the primary bending roller to form a sweep and further including actuators for adjustably moving the armature at least partially around the downstream side of the primary bending roller between at least first and second positions for imparting at least first and second different longitudinal shapes, respectively, into the continuous beam.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A computer controlled roll-forming apparatus is adapted to provide a repeating pattern of different longitudinal shapes to a continuous beam “on the fly” during the roll-forming process. A sweep station on the apparatus includes a primary bending roller tangentially engaging the continuous beam along the line level and an armature for biasing the continuous beam against the primary bending roller for a distance partially around a downstream side of the primary bending roller to form a sweep. Further, actuators adjustably move the armature at least partially around the downstream side of the primary bending roller between at least first and second positions for imparting multiple different longitudinal shapes into the continuous beam. In one form, the apparatus also includes a coordinated cut-off, so that when separated into bumper beam segments, the ends of the individual beam segments have a greater sweep than their center sections.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. An apparatus comprising:
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a roll-forming apparatus adapted to roll-form a sheet of material into a continuous beam having a longitudinal line level, the continuous beam having a first surface and an opposing second surface; and
a sweep station in-line with the line level and adapted to form a longitudinal shape into the continuous beam;
the sweep station including a primary bending roller tangentially engaging the continuous beam along the line level and an armature for holding the continuous beam tightly against the primary bending roller for a distance partially around a downstream side of the primary bending roller to form a sweep and further including actuators for adjustably moving the armature at least partially around the downstream side of the primary bending roller between at least first and second positions for imparting at least first and second different longitudinal shapes, respectively, into the continuous beam. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. An apparatus comprising:
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a roll-forming apparatus adapted to roll-form a sheet of material into a continuous beam having a line level, the continuous beam having a first surface and an opposing second surface;
a sweep station in-line with and downstream of the roll-forming apparatus and adapted to form a longitudinal shape into the continuous beam;
the sweep station including a first roller and a second roller opposite the first roller that opposes the first roller to pinch the continuous beam therebetween, and including a mechanism for controllably adjusting a position of the second roller, the first roller being positioned to tangentially engage the first surface of the continuous beam and being maintained in a relatively stationary position when roll-forming the continuous beam, the second roller also being positioned to tangentially engage the second surface of the continuous beam, the first roller defining a first axis of rotation and the second roller being movable by the mechanism along an arcuate path around an adjustment axis that is on a same side of the continuous beam as the first axis and that is located at or upstream of the first axis so that, upon adjustment, the second roller moves toward a position that is more downstream relative to the first roller. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15)
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16. An apparatus comprising:
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a sweep apparatus including axles for supporting rollers that are adapted to form a sweep into a continuous beam;
an armature operably mounted on a stationary one of the axles, the armature supporting at least a particular one of the rollers for imparting a sweep into the continuous beam; and
an automated adjustment device for repeatedly arcuately adjusting an angular position of the armature to create a repeating pattern of longitudinal shapes in the continuous beam, including automatically moving the particular one roller toward different downstream positions relative to the other roller to change the sweep being imparted into the continuous beam.
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17. An apparatus comprising:
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a sweep apparatus having a primary bending roller tangentially engaging a continuous beam, an opposing holding roller adjustable to different positions downstream of the primary bending roller and that holds the continuous beam against the primary bending roller to cause a desired sweep to be imparted into the continuous beam, and at least one stabilizing roller tangentially engaging the continuous beam upstream of the primary bending roller;
first, second, and third drive motors driving the primary bending roller, the holding roller and the stabilizing roller, respectively; and
a controller independently controlling a drive speed of each of the first, second, and third rollers at different speeds to control and manage stress on the continuous beam while in the sweep station in order to form a more consistent swept shape of the continuous beam. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19)
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20. A method comprising steps of:
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providing a sheet of high strength material having a tensile strength of at least 80 KSI;
providing a roll-forming apparatus capable of forming the sheet at speeds of at least about 900 feet per hour, the roll-forming apparatus including an adjustable sweep station, an actuator, and a controller operably connected thereto for automatically rapidly adjusting the sweep station to generate different sweep radii; and
roll-forming the sheet to form a continuous beam having a continuous cross section and, simultaneous with and near an end of the roll-forming, sequentially and repeatedly imparting different sweeps while running the roll-forming at a line speed of at least about 900 feet per hour.
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Specification