CA2550142C

CA2550142C - A tool and a method for making a tool

Info

Publication number: CA2550142C
Application number: CA2550142A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Mark Manuel
Original assignee: Floodcooling Technologies LLC
Current assignee: Floodcooling Technologies LLC
Priority date: 2003-12-12
Filing date: 2003-12-12
Publication date: 2012-02-21
Anticipated expiration: 2023-12-12
Also published as: EP1694482A1; CA2550142A1; WO2005065909A1; AU2003304689A1; EP1694482A4

Abstract

A tool (10) and a method for creating the tool (10) which is comprised of several selectively coupled sectional members (12, 16), and which includes at least one cooling channel (14). In one embodiment, each sectional member (12, 16), which is to be used to form the at least one cooling channel (14), has respective indented channels (18, 20). Channel (18) of member (12) registers with a unique one of the channels (20) of member (16) to which member (12) is coupled, thereby forming the unique cooling passage (14). Other embodiments are disclosed which also provide desired cooling paths (14).

Description

A TOOK AND A METHOD FOR MAKING A TOOL
Field of the Invention The present invention generally relates to a tool and to a method fax making a tool and more particularly, to a tool which may be formed by the creation and coupling of members which have certain respective attributes which . .~~epe~a~ i~rely <~rmw -coali~ng °-passages °~wit;hiri wt~h~~
...t.S~T '3i~"~ a'~"h.. _ . .
efficient manner.
$ackground of the Invention A tool, such as a mold, die, or other object formation -a.~~~a=mss= . __~s _ __~ed - _-.t-o_ - __rat~e-t~7.~r _ -~6- ' o~ - ~r-eate -.
. substantially similar objects or products. Conventionally, the tool is formed by machining or "working" a block of material in a certain manner, thereby forming or creating the tool in a desired shape and geometrical configuration.
Alternatively, the tool may be formed by a laminar process in which various sectional members are created ' and selectively coupled (e.g., by gluing, bolting, welding, or bonding), effective to~ allow the coupled members to co~~~.-~-ively form the tool. Particularly, holes are formed within the tool and a slotted pin may be placed within each of the formed holes. Steam is blown through the holes, through the contained pins to create the part and water is then forced through the tool to cool the part. The holes are used both to melt the material which is used to form the part and to cool the part.
The holes and slotted pins are cooperatively effective to allow air, steam, and/or water to pass through the tool .~_._or~i~r-.~ rlo ~~o~~._~ .. e.r~...me~t--=matersal ;~vsu'Ch°' ~~'w ~~tyr~i~; - ~ah~' .
to cool the tool and/or the produced item which may reside within the tool (e.g., the heat travels from the item to the ambient environment through a medium which may be 'contained within and/or which may selectively travel tg.~. __..t~~_._ -p-i-_~) ,-_ _. ~ect-iv_e- to- i~cre~~~'- ' - t -ire--= ~
u~~f~l -. , operating life of the tool and to increase the likelihood of producing an item having a desired shape and attributes.
While the foregoing approach does allow for the creation of cooling passages, it represents a relatively inefficient and costly process which undesirably increases the overall cost of production and may undesirably damage the formed tool. Such damage is particularly undesirable since many of these tools are relatively expensive.

There is therefore a need for a method to selectively create heating or cooling passages within a tool which overcomes some or all of the previously delineated drawbacks of prior techniques. Moreover, there is a further need ~~to create a tool by the use of a method which allows cooling and heating passages to be efficiently formed within the ,tool and which does not potentially cause structural damage to the formed tool. These and other needs _a~. .esse~d ~h~r....,th'~"~~~se~it i~iv~~itioii; "as - ~a -..more -~ul~y.
l0 delineated below.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is a first non-limiting advantage of the present _ xmrenti-on. to ~p~ov~d~-=a' me~tho~ic =f-ar-._er~~ing-~oo~ing passage's--.
IS within a tool which overcomes some or all of the previously delineated drawbacks of prior techniques.
It is a second non-limiting advantage of the present invention to provide a method for creating a tool which overcomes some or all of the previously delineated 20 drawbacks and which, by way of example and without limitation, allows for the efficient formation of cooling passages within the tool.

It is a third non-limiting advantage of the present invention to provide a tool having cooling passages which may be efficiently and integrally formed within the tool and which allow a created item. to be efficiently cooled -5 while concomitantly increasing the working life of the tool.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, a tool is provided and includes at least a first sectional _ . membe.r: -~d--.a s~cond,-...Beeti;e~al -~membe-r--w3~-ich~_._1.s -gele~ct~ive3y. ._ 1'0 coupled to said first sectional member and which cooperates with the first sectional member to form the tool, the at least first sectional member having a first portion and the second sectional member having a second portion which is at 1$ast....~rt~r .. ~.~~_r-ied-= -wi-~- -the- vf3r~t--gartir~n wh-er-t- th~~ ~-15 second sectional mernbex~ is-coupled to the first sectional member and which cooperates with the first portion to form a Gaoling passage within the tool.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, a tool is provided. The tool is made by the process of 20 creating a first member having at least one depressed portion; creating a second member having at least one depressed portion; registering the at least one depressed poY~-~ ~- of the first member with the at least one depressed WO 2005/065909 . PCT/US2003/035828 . portion of the second member by attaching the second member to the first member, thereby forming the tool and causing the first and second -degreased portions to cooperatively foam a cooling passageway within the formed tool.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, a method is provided for making a tool. The method includes the steps of forming a first member having a first portion of a certain shape; forming a second member having a second -por~ron- wo~--a~ -ee-rtain wshag~-,.__ :a_tt~Y~i~g" ti~ew~...fi~st--fneifi~i~r "to~ . . . . . ..
l0 the second member while registering the first portion with the second portion, thereby creating a tool having a passageway which is cooperatively formed by the registered first and second portions.
-~bes'e .and--ot-2~r___f~'aat~res-; - aspects, -ahd --advaz~t;ages of the present invention will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art from a reading of the f ollowing detailed description of the preferred embodiment of the invention and by reference to the following drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a tool which is made in accordance with the teachings of the preferred embodiment of the invention; and Figure 2 is a perspective unassembled view of a pair ' of sectional, members of the tool which is shown in Figure 1;
..F ~e ~.: . .i s -a <.p~~spev~ve= . _~zew w o f~ __the : .to~-1. -~t't2z y-s ~. ..
to 'shown in Figure 1 and which is taken along view line 3-3;
Figure 4 is a perspective unassembled ~ view of a pair of sectional members which are made in accordance with the teachings of an alternate embodiment of the invention in °~m~~z~Qn-~. se~x~l: spar me~rs_;
Figure 5 is a view of an alternate embodiment of the took. which is shown in Figure 1 taken along view line 3-3;
and Figure 6 is a perspective unassembled view of a pair of sectional members which are made in accordance with the teachings of yet another alternate embodiment of the invention.

DETAINED DESCRIPTION OF T$E PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE
INVENTION
Referring now to Figures 1 and 2, there is shown a tool 10 which is made in accordance with the teachings of the preferred embodiment of the'invention. Tt should be , realized that tool 10 may be of any substantially desired shape or geometric configuration and that nothing in this Application is intended to limit the applicability of the irmrentv~-_-~o. ..a -.-partiC~or~.~~--_ -t..__,ti~ -. .t.d~...-_ tip,-_.
~p~~~atii's ; '.
Rather, the tool 10 is one non-limiting example of a tool which may be produced according to the invention.
Particularly, tool 10 is made by the use of a lamination process in which several' sectional members, such ..-~S--'se~ctionai~_-~8~- -12-;lib--aie--=selee~-~:~reljr-:~~nne~=:=arid---tl3en-15, coupled or connected in a predetermined manner in order to cooperatively form the tool 10 having several cooling passages, such as and without limitation cooling passage 14 which is positioned between adjacent sectional members 12, 16. zt should be appreciated that nothing in this Application is meant to limit the applicability of the invention to a particular type, shape, or configuration of sectional members. Moreover, the sectional members 12,16 are used f or illustrative purposes only and are not meant to limit the invention in any manner.
Particularly, as will be noted from the discussion below and according to the preferred embodiment of the 5- invention, cooling passages,. such as passage 14, are selectively formed between adjacent sectional members, such as members 12, 16, by the cooperation of respective portions of the sectional members having a desired shape or .-~gerntte~ri~°- .conf~iguratiwo'rr - 'a~t~-_-t~~~ '~doling''~"p"~-S"s g s''~~all~ow ~ _, .- - - -water, steam, and/or other material to traverse the tool 10 in ozder to cool the tool 10 and to cool the item or product which may be resident within the tool x0. The term "adjacent" means the sectional members are physically oannect~d-, .~ahi~1 -or -as ~a~t-- ~~---~l~e=-=tool''10 . --'-~~s -apptwac~=
is more fully explained below with respect to adjacent sectional members 12, 16. However, it should be apparent that by allowing these cooling passages, such as passage 14, to be created by structural portions or physical attributes and/or characteristics of the sectional members, the need for 'drilling cooling holes" is obviated, thereby reducing/eliminating the potential for damage to the tool 10, concomitantly reducing overall production cost, and overcoming the various other previously delineated drawbacks.
Particularly, each of the adjacent sectional members 12,~16, which are to form cooling passage 14, respectively includes a respective flat or broad surface 13 and at least one depressed or recessed slot, groove, or indentation 18, 20, which may be formed by etching, laser cutting, or substantially any other material removal process. The ---r-~sp~ec~rve- ..po'~t'i~~'- r8"; .. _Z.O,.._ar~ ~" r~g;is~eredw__ _~.e.: g.-~_. -.-eac'li-... . . .
groove T8 at least partially overlays, is at least partially and linearly coextensive with, and/or is at least partially aligned with a unique one of the grooves 20) when the sectional members 12, 16 are connected (e.g., by a _o~tverzti'cira~- _. : l-a~ti~i~"a~ion~ _. gr -oeesy=; .._ _thereby - f-owing -the cooling paths 14. Hence, a cooling path 14, is formed by the registration (e.g., the at least partial "alignment") of a unique one of the portions 18 with a unique one of the portions 20. These portions 18, 20 may be of any desired and respective shape, size, and/or geometric configuration.
Moreover, portions 20 of sectional member 16 may be of a different shape than portion 18 of sectional member 12 although, in Figure 1, these are shown as generally rP:-~:=_._:'lar in nature. Hence, cooling passages 14 may be 9.

selectively formed along any location or path within tool by appropriately causing these portions 18, 20 to be created and to register in the desired location, and/or along the desired path.
5 - An alternate embodiment is shown in Figure's 4 and 5.
Particularly, in this alternate embodiment, the sectional members 26, 28, which are to form a cooling passageway 14,.
each have a pair of opposed and substantially broad flat faces 30, 31. Substantially rectangular spacer members 32 l0 axe selectively placed between the respective faces 30 of the members 26, 28 which are to be coupled and are effective to form cooling passages 32 which traverse through the formed tool. Spacer members 32 may be formed in any desired shape and size and a cooling passage is formed between each pair of spacer members and alongside the "end spacer members" (e. g., the spacer members 32 which are not disposed between two other spacer members).
In yet another embodiment of the invention, as best shown in Figure 6, the broad face 13 of member 12 overlays the portions 20 of member 16. In this manner, face 13 cooperates with portions 20 to form the desired cooling passages 14 through each groove or indentation 20.

zt should be appreciated that the invention is not limited to the exact construction and method which has been described above, but that 'various alterations and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and the scope of the inventions as are delineated in the following claims.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A tool comprising a first member; a second member; and at least one solid spacer member, said at least one solid spacer member being coupled to said first and second members while cooperating with said first and second members to form a tool having a cooling passage, wherein said spacer is attached to said first member by use of a first welded connection, wherein said spacer is attached to said second member by use of a second welded connection, and wherein said solid spacer member is generally rectangular in shape.

2. A tool comprising a first sectional member having a first flat surface portion; a second sectional member having a second flat surface portion; a plurality of substantially identical, generally rectangular shaped, and substantially solid spacer members, wherein each of said substantially solid spacer members are respectively coupled to said first flat surface at any respectively desired location and wherein each of said substantially solid spacer members are respectively coupled to said second flat surface, thereby said substantially solid spacer members cooperatively couple said first sectional member to said second sectional member while causing said first sectional member to be linearly coextensive to said first sectional member while concomitantly forming a plurality of passages between said first and said second sectional members.

3. The tool of claim 2 wherein each of said substantially solid spacer members are welded to said first flat surface.

4. A method for forming a tool comprising the steps of:
creating a first sectional member having a first flat surface portion;

creating a second sectional member having a second flat surface portion;
creating a plurality of substantially identical, generally rectangular shaped spacer members, wherein each of said substantially identical spacer members are solid;
attaching each of said created plurality of substantially identical spacer members to said first flat surface at any respectively desired location; and attaching each of said created plurality of substantially identical spacer members to said second flat surface, thereby causing said substantially solid spacer members to cooperate with said first and second sectional members while causing said first sectional member to be linearly coextensive to said first sectional member to form a plurality of passageways between said first and second sectional members.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein said plurality of substantially identical spacer members are welded to said first sectional member.