METHOD UTILIZING POWER ADJUSTED SWEEP DEVICE
First Claim
1. A method comprising steps of:
- 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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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
12 Claims
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1. 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. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method comprising steps of:
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providing a sheet of steel and having a strength suitable for use as a bumper reinforcement beam on a vehicle;
providing a roll-forming apparatus capable of forming the sheet into a continuous beam having a cross section and strength suitable for use as the bumper reinforcement beam on a vehicle, the roll-forming apparatus including an adjustable sweep station, an actuator, and a controller operably connected to the sweep station 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 using the sweep station to impart different sweeps while continuously running the roll-forming apparatus. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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Specification