Method and apparatus for manufacturing metallic support beams for windscreen wiper blade assemblies
First Claim
1. A method of manufacturing metallic support beams for windscreen wiper blade assemblies, which includes:
- providing a supply of metallic strip feedstock in a cold condition;
providing a pair of opposed, spaced apart, cold forming rollers, said pair of cold forming rollers being mounted so that a spacing therebetween can be varied in a controlled manner;
passing the feedstock in a cold condition through said pair of opposed, spaced apart, cold forming rollers so as to reduce a thickness of at least a portion of said feedstock;
cyclically varying a spacing between the cold forming rollers during said step of passing, thereby to cyclically vary a thickness reduction of the feedstock and form a rolled strip with a cyclically varying thickness, said spacing between said cold forming rollers being cyclically varied so that as a result of a single pass through said cold forming rollers, the thickness of said feedstock is cyclically reduced to form a rolled strip having a thickness that varies cyclically along its length in a ratio of at least 2;
1; and
producing support beams for windscreen wiper blade assemblies from the rolled strip, each support beam having a thickness which varies along its length.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for manufacturing metallic support beams for windscreen wiper blade assemblies, which includes a supply of metallic strip feedstock in a cold condition, the feedstock being passed in a cold condition through a pair of opposed, spaced apart, cold forming rollers. A spacing between the cold forming rollers is cyclically varied during to cyclically vary a thickness reduction of the feedstock and provide a rolled strip with a cyclically varying thickness. The thickness of the rolled strip is varied in a single pass between the cold forming rollers and the feedstock is worked so that the thickness of the rolled strip varies cyclically along its length in a ratio of least 2:1. Support beams are produced from the rolled strip, each support beam having a thickness which varies along its length.
53 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method of manufacturing metallic support beams for windscreen wiper blade assemblies, which includes:
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providing a supply of metallic strip feedstock in a cold condition; providing a pair of opposed, spaced apart, cold forming rollers, said pair of cold forming rollers being mounted so that a spacing therebetween can be varied in a controlled manner; passing the feedstock in a cold condition through said pair of opposed, spaced apart, cold forming rollers so as to reduce a thickness of at least a portion of said feedstock; cyclically varying a spacing between the cold forming rollers during said step of passing, thereby to cyclically vary a thickness reduction of the feedstock and form a rolled strip with a cyclically varying thickness, said spacing between said cold forming rollers being cyclically varied so that as a result of a single pass through said cold forming rollers, the thickness of said feedstock is cyclically reduced to form a rolled strip having a thickness that varies cyclically along its length in a ratio of at least 2;
1; andproducing support beams for windscreen wiper blade assemblies from the rolled strip, each support beam having a thickness which varies along its length. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. An apparatus for manufacturing a support beam for windscreen wiper blade assemblies, which includes:
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a metallic feedstock supply for providing a supply of metallic feedstock in a cold condition; a pair of opposed, spaced apart, cold forming rollers for working the feedstock continuously from the supply in a cold condition so as to reduce a thickness of at least a portion of said feedstock; structure for mounting said pair of forming rollers so that a spacing therebetween can be cyclically varied in a controlled manner; a separation varying means for cyclically varying said spacing between the cold forming rollers as feedstock is passed therebetween so that as a result of a single pass through said cold forming rollers, the thickness of said feedstock is cyclically reduced to form a rolled strip having a thickness that varies cyclically along its length in a ratio of at least 2;
1, the rollers being rotatable in a single direction so that the feedstock is worked and the strip rolled in said single pass; andmeans for producing support beams for windscreen wiper blade assemblies, each of varying thickness, from the rolled strip. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification