EP1779940B1 - Method for manufacturing braided structural members of metal and structural member thereby obtained - Google Patents

Abstract

The fabrication of braided metal structures comprises : (A) forming a number of holes in a plain metal plate (10) in pre-established and memorized positions; (B) stamping on a half thickness of the plate, blow by blow, along a pre-established mesh to the place between two consecutive holes; (C) realizing, by staggering, all the stampings in the longitudinal plane to delimit the array of longitudinal bands; (D) proceeding with a second stamping in a different plane to form a number of bands in the same plane to form the assembly of useful plate surface and the corresponding mesh. An independent claim is also included for the braided metal structure.

Description

The invention relates to a method for manufacturing braided metal structures and such a structure. It is therefore related to the technical sector of metal braiding and, in particular, braided metal products. These products may be, for example, plates, trays, panels, chairs, furniture.

According to the prior art, there is known, for example, the realization of metallic metal chairs braided including two sets of parallel strips arranged in perpendicular planes to form a grid. FIGS. 1 and 2 show the implementation of the configuration of a braided grid. Beams of the metal strips (A - B) are alternately arranged, over and under, in perpendicular planes thereby providing an alternative overlap of the transverse strips with respect to the longitudinal strips.

Such an embodiment has certain disadvantages inherent in this technology. The superposition of the bands or bundles of strips (A - B) between them in different planes causes their support against each other, in the overlapping parts, without any connection between them, except that subsequent welding operations are executed. This technique is expensive to implement with regard to the number of welds to be made in the different plans considered. Thus, generally, with respect to this constraint, the metal strips are not secured to each other and when the products designed with such strips are outside, the appearance of rust and rupture zones is very common.

Thus, the shaping and manufacture of braided metal products has very limited applications in relation to these constraints.

The applicant's approach was therefore to think of another solution taking into account the constraints of the prior art by removing them, and offering, by the implementation of a new solution, a multitude of possibilities of arrangements. end products with varying shapes and designs, without environmental constraints.

• à partir d'une plaque métallique pleine, formation d'une pluralité de trous dans une position pré-établie et mémorisée, les trous étant de configuration établie et obtenue à l'aide de poinçons appropriés,
• à la mise en oeuvre d'une opération d'emboutissage à mi-chair, sur la moitié de l'épaisseur de la plaque, au coup par coup, selon un maillage pré-établi à l'endroit entre deux trous consécutifs, et correspondant à la partie pleine de la plaque, l'opération d'emboutissage à mi-chair se faisant dans un sens longitudinal de la plaque, selon une bande définie,
• à réaliser, par décalage, toutes les opérations d'emboutissage à mi-chair dans les plans longitudinaux de la plaque pour délimiter les faisceaux de bandes longitudinales,
• la phase suivante concernant à orienter différemment l'outillage dans un plan axial orienté par rapport au sens longitudinal de la plaque en fonction des formes à obtenir et à procéder à une seconde opération d'emboutissage partiel à mi-chair dans un plan différent de celui de la première ligne de mise en forme, et à former une pluralité de bandes dans le même plan le tout jusqu'à former l'ensemble de la surface utile de la plaque et le maillage correspondant.

According to the invention, the method of manufacturing braided metal structures is remarkable in that it consists in implementing the following operations:

• from a solid metal plate, forming a plurality of holes in a pre-established and stored position, the holes being of established configuration and obtained by means of appropriate punches,
• at the implementation of a half-thickness stamping operation, on half the thickness of the plate, on a piecemeal basis, according to a pre-established mesh at the location between two consecutive holes, and corresponding at the solid part of the plate, the deep-drawing operation being carried out in a longitudinal direction of the plate, in a defined band,
• to perform, by offset, all the operations of deep-drawing in the longitudinal planes of the plate to delimit the bundles of longitudinal strips,
• the next phase to orient the tool differently in an axial plane oriented with respect to the longitudinal direction of the plate according to the shapes to be obtained and to carry out a second part-deep-drawing operation in a plane different from that of the first forming line, and to form a plurality of strips in the same plane the whole to form the entire useful surface of the plate and the corresponding mesh.

The implementation of this method allows to obtain various forms of cutting and braiding, in visual aspects of different axial planes and in the context of a continuous manufacturing automation.

A braided metal structure according to the invention is defined in claim 2. Claims 3 to 5 relate to uses of the structure of the invention.

These and other characteristics will be apparent from the rest of the description.

• la figure 1 est une vue d'une structure métallique tressée selon l'art antérieur,
• la figure 2 est une vue en coupe selon la ligne A.A. de la figure 1, selon l'art antérieur,
• la figure 3 est une vue en perspective d'une structure en métal tressé selon l'invention,
• la figure 4 est une vue en plan selon la figure 3,
• la figure 5 est une vue partielle en coupe selon la ligne B.B. de la figure 4,
• la figure 6 est une vue schématique illustrant la présentation de la plaque métallique à plat avant façonnage,
• la figure 7 est une vue suivante de la figure 6, après la première opération de découpe des trous selon le maillage pré-établi,

For fixing the object of the invention illustrated in the drawing figures where:

• FIG. 1 is a view of a braided metal structure according to the prior art,
• FIG. 2 is a sectional view along line AA of FIG. 1, according to the prior art,
• FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a braided metal structure according to the invention,
• FIG. 4 is a plan view according to FIG. 3,
• FIG. 5 is a partial sectional view along line BB of FIG. 4,
• FIG. 6 is a schematic view illustrating the presentation of the flat metal plate before forming,
• FIG. 7 is a following view of FIG. 6, after the first hole cutting operation according to the pre-established mesh,

In order to make the object of the invention more concrete, it is now described in the figures of the drawings.

FIG. 6 shows an example of a plate (10) to be worked by the method according to the invention. This sheet metal plate is solid in dimensional characteristics established from manufacturing production considerations and mesh to achieve. In a first phase of operation 7, the plate is arranged with the formation of a plurality of holes (10a) according to a pre-established grid, these holes being of square, rectangular or other configuration, obtained using appropriate punches. whose profiles are complementary. The positioning of the holes and their shape are chosen according to the final appearance to be obtained from the braided plate.

The next step is to define strips to be shaped, from the dimensions, width and length of the plate to be worked and to proceed to the successive operations of stamping half-flesh, on the one hand for all bundles strips (C) located along the same longitudinal axis, and step by step with the desired offset. The width of the bands worked, and thus shaped, depends on the shape of the mesh.

When the operations have been carried out in a first longitudinal direction (x-x), the half-flesh pressing operations continue in the second plane perpendicular (y-y) to the previous one if the mesh is regular.

Mid-body stamping operations are done using a numerically controlled machine capable of performing the aforementioned operations.

After executing a first line in a longitudinal plane, the operation continues with an axial offset, parallel to the first line (L1 - L2 ... LN), to form the entire useful surface of the plate in the longitudinal direction. Then the forming tools are rotated at 90 ° to make, by pressing halfway, complementary operations in the oblique direction, for example, transverse, line by line (La, Lb, Ln), to obtain a braiding complete along the axes (XX - YY) of the worked metal plate. The numerically controlled machine executes the successive operations in a very short time after programming. The braided metal plate, according to the method of the invention, remains monoblock without interstice since there is no longer crossing zone and overlap bands. The visual aspect of the finished product gives the braided appearance. Referring to Figure 3, each of the faces of the braided plate has a mid-flesh stamping appearance.

Without departing from the scope of the invention, it is conceivable that the braiding is performed according to non-regular visual aspects with a simple adaptation of tools and programming software, which gives great freedom in the formation of the product obtained.

The method, object of the invention, finds multiple applications and, by way of example, not limited to, those cited relating to braided metal structures for furnishing, making furniture, displays, panels, and a way for any product having a substantially flat face to form support planes or sitting or decoration. The resulting product can remain flat or be shaped by bending or otherwise. Depending on the applications, it can be framed.

The advantages are apparent from the invention. It emphasizes the new design of a monobloc braided metal plate obtained at a very low manufacturing cost, and not deteriorating by the external environment. The numerically controlled machine and its programming software offer a wide possibility of adaptation of the visual appearance to obtain.

Claims (5)

1. Method for fabricating braided metal structures, consisting in carrying out the following operations:

   - using a solid metal plate (10), formation of a plurality of holes (10a) in a predefined and memorised position, the holes (10a) having a configuration established and obtained using an appropriate punch,

   - the application of a mid-body stamping operation, on half of the thickness of the plate (10) one after the other, in a predefined mesh at the place between two consecutive holes, and corresponding to the solid part of the plate (10), the mid-body stamping operation taking place in a longitudinal direction of the plate (10) along a predefined strip,

   - by offset, all the mid-body stamping operations in the longitudinal planes of the plate (10) to delimit the sets of longitudinal strips (C),

   - the next phase being concerned with orienting the tool differently in an axial plane oriented with regard to the longitudinal direction of the plate (10) according to the shapes to be obtained, and in proceeding with a second partial mid-body stamping operation in a different plane from that of the first line formed, and in forming a plurality of strips in the same plane, until the entire useful surface of the plate (10) and the corresponding mesh are formed.
2. Braided metal structure obtained using the method according to Claim 1, comprising in one-piece, and without interstices, a plurality of strips (C) in a longitudinal plane and a plurality of strips in an axial direction oriented with regard to the longitudinal plane with transverse lines (La, Lb, Ln), the strips (C) all being conformed to mid-body on half of the thickness of the plate (10), for obtaining a complete braiding.
3. Use of a braided metal structure, according to Claim 2, in home furnishing products.
4. Use of a braided metal structure, according to Claim 2, for the preparation of boards.
5. Use of a braided metal structure, according to Claim 2, for the preparation of decoration products.

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