GUIDE AND RETENTION ASSEMBLY FOR A DIE SET

• US 20110192206A1
• Filed: 02/05/2010
• Published: 08/11/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 02/05/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DADCO Incorporated
• Original Assignee: DADCO Incorporated
• Inventors: Cotter, Jonathan P.
• Granted Patent: US 8,567,227 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 72/60
• CPC Class Codes: B21D 37/12 Particular guiding equipment, e.g. pliers; Special arrangements for interconnection or cooperation of dies
• CPC Class Codes: B21D 45/006 Stripping-off devices
• CPC Class Codes: B21D 45/06 Stripping-off devices
• CPC Class Codes: F16C 2322/14 Stamping, deep-drawing or punching, e.g. die sets
• CPC Class Codes: F16C 29/02 Sliding-contact bearings

Abstract

A guide and retention assembly for spaced apart confronting plates of a die set for guiding the plates for relative reciprocal movement toward and away from the other. The assembly includes a housing with a mounting flange and a sleeve with a through bore, and a rod extending through the bore and slidably received in at least one bushing in the sleeve.

Claims

1. A guide and retention assembly for spaced-apart plates comprising:

a housing having a flange, a sleeve, and a bore through the flange and sleeve, the flange constructed for attachment to a first plate with the sleeve received in a hole in the first plate;

at least one bushing received in the bore and located in the sleeve; and

a rod slidably received in the bushing for axial reciprocation relative to the housing, and the rod constructed for attachment to a second plate that confronts the first plate.

2. The guide and retention assembly of claim 1 wherein the flange and sleeve of the housing is a one-piece structure.

3. The guide and retention assembly of claim 1 wherein the at least one bushing includes a first bushing and a second bushing axially spaced from the first bushing, a space located between the first and second bushings for receiving lubricant therein.

4. The guide and retention assembly of claim 3 wherein the at least one bushing includes a third bushing axially spaced away from the second bushing, and a second space located between the second and third bushings for receiving lubricant therein.

5. The guide and retention assembly of claim 1 which also comprises a stop carried by the rod and a seal located near an end of the bore and bearing on the rod to prevent contaminants from entering the bore, and the stop is engageable with the seal to limit axial movement of the rod in one direction relative to the housing.

6. The guide and retention assembly of claim 5 wherein the stop extends radially outward of the rod and is located near an end of the rod, and wherein the seal and the one end of the bore are located near an end of the sleeve distal from the flange of the housing.

7. The guide and retention assembly of claim 1 wherein the rod has a groove located near the construction for attachment of the rod to the second plate, the guide and retention assembly further comprising a wiper seal located near an end of the bore and bearing on the rod to prevent contaminants from entering the bore, and the seal can also be received in the groove to releasably retain the rod in the housing.

8. The guide and retention assembly of claim 7 wherein the seal and associated end of the bore are located at the flange of the housing.

9. The guide and retention assembly of claim 1 wherein the total axial length of the sleeve of the housing is at least two times the total axial length of the flange of the housing.

10. The guide and retention assembly of claim 1 wherein the at least one bushing is an inner cylindrical surface of the sleeve coaxial with the bore.

11. The guide and retention assembly of claim 10 wherein the sleeve is made of a heat treatable metal and the inner cylindrical surface comprising the at least one bushing is hardened.

12. The guide and retention assembly of claim 10 wherein the sleeve is made of a metal and the inner cylindrical surface comprising the at least one bushing has a titanium coating thereon.

13. A guide and retention assembly for plates of a die set comprising:

a housing having a through bore;

at least one bushing received in the bore and carried by the housing;

a rod slidably received in the bushing and extending through the bore for axial reciprocation of the rod relative to the housing;

a first wiper seal carried by the housing near one end of the bore and circumferentially continuously bearing on the rod to prevent contaminants from entering the bore;

a second wiper seal carried by the housing near the second end of the bore and circumferentially continuously bearing on the rod to prevent contaminants from entering the bore;

the bushing being received between the first and second seals;

a stop carried by the rod near one end of the rod for engagement with the first wiper seal to limit axial movement of the rod in a first axial direction relative to the housing; and

a groove in the rod near the other end of the rod and releasably engageable with the second seal to limit the extent of axial movement of the rod relative to the housing in a second axial direction opposite to the first axial direction.

14. The guide and retention assembly of claim 13 wherein the housing is a one-piece structure having a flange portion and a sleeve portion, the flange portion constructed to be connected to the first plate, the sleeve portion constructed for receipt in a hole in the first plate, and the bore extending through the flange portion and through the sleeve portion.

15. The guide and retention assembly of claim 14 wherein the at least one bushing includes a first bushing and a second bushing axially spaced from the first bushing with a space between the first and second bushings for receiving a lubricant therein.

16. The guide and retention assembly of claim 13 wherein the housing is a one-piece structure having a flange portion and a sleeve portion and the at least one bushing is an inner cylindrical surface of the sleeve coaxial with the bore.

17. The guide and retention assembly of claim 16 wherein the sleeve is made of a heat treatable metal and the inner cylindrical surface comprising the at least one bushing is hardened.

18. The guide and retention assembly of claim 16 wherein the sleeve is made of a metal and the inner cylindrical surface comprising the at least one bushing has a titanium coating thereon.