Sheet Metal Casket Shell Forming via Roll Deformation
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing process for forming sheet metal casket shells is labor-intensive, energy-consuming, and prone to damage due to multiple handling steps and intricate profiles, requiring multiple operations like welding, grinding, and sanding, which also generates dust and debris.
Innovation Solution
A method that forms a sheet metal casket shell from a single piece of sheet metal by securing its ends, rolling it into a tube, and using a female die and roll forming rollers to deform it into the desired profile, reducing handling and enabling automated grinding and sanding.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If multiple separate panels are welded together to form the casket shell, then the shell can be assembled from standardized components, but the process becomes labor-intensive and requires multiple handling operations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple separate panels into a single integrated sheet metal blank with a pre-defined developed profile. This single blank includes all four walls (two side walls and two end walls) laid out in a continuous pattern, eliminating the need to assemble multiple separate components. The blank is formed in one piece and then folded along predetermined lines to create the three-dimensional shell, reducing labor intensity and handling operations while maintaining the benefits of standardized manufacturing.
2Shape
If intricate profiles are welded onto panel corners, then the desired aesthetic and functional shape is achieved, but the welding and grinding operations become complex and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates the intricate corner profiles directly into the developed profile of the single sheet metal blank before forming. The profiled edges and corner details are already present in the flat blank design, so when the blank is folded and formed into the three-dimensional shell, these profiles are automatically created without requiring subsequent welding or grinding operations. This preliminary incorporation of the final shape into the blank design eliminates complex post-forming operations.
3Manufacturing precision
If multiple pressing operations are performed on separate panels, then each panel can be optimally formed, but the repeated handling increases susceptibility to dents and dings
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines all four walls into a single continuous sheet metal blank that is formed in one integrated pressing operation rather than separately forming multiple panels. The single blank is placed in the press and formed into the three-dimensional shell in one operation, eliminating the need to handle and reposition multiple separate panels. This reduces the opportunities for dents and dings while maintaining optimal forming quality through the use of a dedicated die design.
4Shape
If welding operations are performed on intricately profiled corners, then the desired shape is achieved, but energy consumption and material usage increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent pre-forms the intricate corner profiles as integral features of the single sheet metal blank's developed profile. When the blank is formed into the three-dimensional shell, these profiles are created through the pressing operation itself rather than requiring subsequent welding operations. This eliminates or significantly reduces welding energy consumption while maintaining accurate corner profiles, as the shaping is achieved through mechanical forming of the metal blank rather than thermal welding processes.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This method reduces labor, energy consumption, and material usage while producing a stronger shell with fewer handling risks and less environmental impact.
Implementation Method 1
moving the roller outwardly so as to contact an interior surface of the tube and deform the tube toward a die cavity of the female die, and rolling the roller around a perimeter of the interior of the tube so as to deform the perimeter of the tube toward the die cavity of the female die
Data Source
AI summary
A method of forming a pair of opposed side walls and a pair of opposed end walls of a sheet metal casket shell from a single piece of sheet metal. The piece of sheet metal has opposite ends and a length equal to the combined length of the pair of side walls and the pair of end walls of the casket shell to be formed. The opposite ends of the piece of sheet metal are secured together to form a tube. A roll forming roller is positioned in an interior of the tube. A female die configured to produce a desired profile for the side walls and the end walls of the casket shell is positioned around an exterior of the tube. The roller is moved outwardly so as to contact an interior surface of the tube and deform the tube toward a die cavity of the female die. The roller is rolled around a perimeter of the interior of the tube so as to deform the perimeter of the tube toward the die cavity of the female die. The desired profile for the side walls and the end walls of the casket shell is thereby produced.