GB1590636A

GB1590636A - Method and apparatus for profiling a strip of material

Info

Publication number: GB1590636A
Application number: GB37787/77A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Plannja AB
Current assignee: Plannja AB
Priority date: 1976-09-13
Filing date: 1977-09-09
Publication date: 1981-06-03
Also published as: NL7709959A; DK404877A; PL200814A1; NO773118L; SE7610105L; SE416624B; FR2364103A1; FR2364103B3; IT1084893B; BE858594A; DE2740582A1; FI772688A

Description

(54) METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROFILING A STRIP OF MATERIAL (71) We, PLANNJA AB, a Swedish joint-stock company, of Fack, S-951 88 Lulea, Sweden, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: This invention relates to a method and an apparatus for profiling a strip of material, preferably thin metal sheet.

Thin sheet metal products heretofore have been manufactured mainly as linear structures having a single profiling direction, because so far no method had been available of producing profiling in more than one direction in a continuous process. Products with more than one profiling direction have properties which substantially widen the application range of thin metal sheet products.

The previous technique, deep drawing, for profiling other than linear profiling, was carried out between two dies with the edges around the portion to be deep drawn locked against lateral movement and, consequently, the strip must be stopped. When the strip to be deep drawn has a greater length than the die, the deep drawing must be carried out in a number of discrete steps, thereby rendering the material flow slow.

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of profiling a strip of material, preferably thin metal sheet, the method comprising the steps of elongating the strip in its longitudinal direction in at least one longitudinally ex tending portion of the strip, and forming the elongated portion in a direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the strip by at least one pair of embossing rolls.

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided an appa ratus for producing a deep pattern in a strip of material, comprising a roll pair with such a radial pressure relative one to the other that a thinning and thereby an elongation of the portion of the strip being worked by the roll pair takes place, and at least one pair of embossing rolls for producing a deep pattern in the elongated portion.

An embodiment of the invention will be particularly described below, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 shows schematically a roll pair for effecting elongation in at least one portion of the strip to be profiled; Fig. 2 shows the strip after passage between the roll pair shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 shows schematically a pair of embossing rolls for providing the elongated portion of the strip with a deep pattern; Fig. 4 shows the strip after its passage between the embossing rolls according to Fig. 3; Fig. 5 shows the strip after linear roll forming; and Fig. 6 shows schematically a profiling line for manufacturing the sheet metal section according to Fig. 5.

In Fig. 1 is shown the first step of working in which a workpiece in the form of an elongate strip 1 is passed between two rolls 2.

As appears from Fig. 1, the width of the rolls 2 is less than the width of the strip 1. When the rolls 2 have a sufficiently high contact pressure, the portion 3 of the strip 1 worked by the rolls 2 will become thinner. Since no material can disappear from the strip 1, the thinned portion 3 is elongated substantially in the longitudinal direction of the strip 1.

The outer portions 4 of the strip 1 are not worked by the rolls 2 and, therefore, do not change in length.

In Fig. 2 a strip 1 worked by the rolls 2 is shown. Owing to the thinning and elongation of the worked central portion 3, this portion forms an indefinite wave pattern as indicated in Fig. 2.

Instead of elongating the strip in one portion, as described with reference to Figs. I and 2, it is of course also possible that elongation takes place in two or more parallel portions with intermediate non-elongated strip portions lying therebetween. This can be effected by arranging the rolls such that a central portion of the strip being advanced is not subjected to pressure. The strip 1, subsequent to the elongation of its central portion 3, is passed between two embossing rolls 5 as shown in Fig. 3. The pattern geometry of the embossing rolls 5 is designed to take up the elongation in the wave-shaped central portion of the strip l. The result of this pattern rolling is a deep pattern strip 1' for example as seen in Fig. 4, which includes spaced embossings 6 extending perpendicularly to the longitudinal direction of the strip l'. It is to be pointed out that by this method of pattern rolling, a strip I without troublesome inherent stresses is obtained. A further advantage of the method is that the strip 1' shown in Fig. 4 can be obtained in a continuous process without any stopping whatsoever in the feeding of the strip.

The strip 1', when desired, can be advanced directly without stopping through a conventional roll forming mill, which lineprofiles the previously unworked outer portions 4 of the strip I ' Thereby, for example, a sheet metal section 1" as shown in Fig. 5 is obtained.

In Fig. 6 is shown a schematic view of a profiling line comprising apparatus as described above. Station A comprises one or two roll pairs 2 according to Fig. 1. Station B consists of one or more pairs of embossing rolls 5, for example of the kind shown in Fig.

3, for effecting a deep pattern in the elongated portion(s) 3. Station C is a roll forming line of conventional type for profiling the outer portions 4 of the strip 1' to obtain a sheet metal section 1" according to Fig. 5.

The arrangement of the different stations as shown in Fig. 6 is only one example. The stations A and B, for example, can also be positioned in station C or after station C.

It is to be observed that the method and apparatus according to the invention need not comprise the roll forming step and the roll forming line, respectively, but strips 1' of the kind shown in Fig. 4 without further forming can be used, for example, as radiator panels. An after-working other than roll forming can also be carried out.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. A method of profiling a strip of material, preferably thin metal sheet, the method comprising the steps of elongating the strip in its longitudinal direction in at least one longitudinally extending portion of the strip, and forming the elongated portion in a direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the strip by at least one pair of embossing rolls.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the strip is elongated in at least one portion by being passed between at least one roll pair with such a radial pressure relative one to the other as to obtain a thinning and thereby an elongation of the portion of the strip being worked by the roll pair.

3. A method as claimed in either claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the forming by the embossing rolls results in a shortening of the portion corresponding substantially to the elongation obtained by the first step.

4. A method as claimed in claim 3, wherein the forming by the embossing rolls brings about embossings in spaced relationship.

5. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein it is carried out in a continuous process without stopping the strip.

6. An apparatus for producing a deep pattern in a strip of material, comprising a roll pair with such a radial pressure relative one to the other that a thinning and thereby an elongation of the portion of the strip being worked by the roll pair takes place, and at least one pair of embossing rolls for producing a deep pattern in the elongated portion.

7. An apparatus as claimed in claim 6, wherein the embossing rolls have such a pattern geometry that the shortening of the portion corresponds substantially to the elongation obtained by passage through the roll pair.

8. An apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein the embossing rolls have a crosssection of gear wheel shape.

9. A method as claimed in claim I and substantially as herein particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

10. An apparatus as claimed in claim 6 and substantially as herein particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. shown in Fig. 3. The pattern geometry of the embossing rolls 5 is designed to take up the elongation in the wave-shaped central portion of the strip l. The result of this pattern rolling is a deep pattern strip 1' for example as seen in Fig. 4, which includes spaced embossings 6 extending perpendicularly to the longitudinal direction of the strip l'. It is to be pointed out that by this method of pattern rolling, a strip I without troublesome inherent stresses is obtained. A further advantage of the method is that the strip 1' shown in Fig. 4 can be obtained in a continuous process without any stopping whatsoever in the feeding of the strip. The strip 1', when desired, can be advanced directly without stopping through a conventional roll forming mill, which lineprofiles the previously unworked outer portions 4 of the strip I ' Thereby, for example, a sheet metal section 1" as shown in Fig. 5 is obtained. In Fig. 6 is shown a schematic view of a profiling line comprising apparatus as described above. Station A comprises one or two roll pairs 2 according to Fig. 1. Station B consists of one or more pairs of embossing rolls 5, for example of the kind shown in Fig. 3, for effecting a deep pattern in the elongated portion(s) 3. Station C is a roll forming line of conventional type for profiling the outer portions 4 of the strip 1' to obtain a sheet metal section 1" according to Fig. 5. The arrangement of the different stations as shown in Fig. 6 is only one example. The stations A and B, for example, can also be positioned in station C or after station C. It is to be observed that the method and apparatus according to the invention need not comprise the roll forming step and the roll forming line, respectively, but strips 1' of the kind shown in Fig. 4 without further forming can be used, for example, as radiator panels. An after-working other than roll forming can also be carried out. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. A method of profiling a strip of material, preferably thin metal sheet, the method comprising the steps of elongating the strip in its longitudinal direction in at least one longitudinally extending portion of the strip, and forming the elongated portion in a direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the strip by at least one pair of embossing rolls.