Hardened Steel Sheet Blanks With Minimal-Contact Furnace Support
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for producing hardened sheet steel components, such as press hardening and form hardening, face challenges with energy inefficiency and costly, component-specific goods carriers, as well as contact-induced blisters in corrosion protection layers during furnace conveyance.
Innovation Solution
The method involves reducing the surface area of components in contact with conveyors by partially or completely removing deformations in cold forming, allowing for point-shaped or linear support, which minimizes contact and prevents blisters, enabling flexible and energy-efficient production across various furnace designs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If components are conveyed through the furnace using traditional goods carriers, then the components can be heated and hardened, but contact-induced blisters form in the corrosion protection layer
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the harmful contact interaction between the goods carrier and the component surface. By using a conveyor system that conveys the component through the furnace without direct contact (e.g., overhead conveyor, robotic manipulation), the source of blister formation is removed while maintaining the heating and hardening process
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces an intermediary conveyor system that transfers the component through the furnace without direct contact. This intermediary mechanism (such as a non-contact conveyor or robotic system) mediates between the need for furnace processing and the requirement to protect the corrosion layer
2Ease of operation
If component-specific goods carriers are used for each component type, then precise handling is achieved, but manufacturing costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies a universal conveyor system that can handle multiple component types without requiring component-specific goods carriers. The conveyor is designed to accommodate different geometries and sizes through adjustable fixtures or flexible positioning, achieving precise handling for various components while maintaining cost-effectiveness
Solution Approach 2:
The invention uses adjustable parameters of the conveyor system (such as position, orientation, speed, and fixture configuration) to adapt to different component types. This allows a single conveyor system to precisely handle various components by changing operational parameters rather than requiring different physical carriers
3Shape
If complete cold forming is performed before heating, then complex component shapes are achieved, but thermal expansion causes dimensional changes
Solution Approach 1:
The invention performs preliminary cold forming to achieve the basic complex shape, then accounts for thermal expansion by pre-calculating and compensating for dimensional changes. The cold-formed component is heated to austenite temperature, and the expected expansion is compensated for in the preliminary forming stage or through subsequent precision adjustments
Solution Approach 2:
The invention explicitly accounts for thermal expansion by designing the cold forming process to compensate for the expected dimensional changes during heating. The preliminary forming dimensions are adjusted to account for the expansion that will occur when the component is heated to austenite temperature, ensuring final dimensional accuracy
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 approach reduces zinc blisters and allows for flexible use of conveyors without damaging corrosion protection, ensuring high-quality hardened components with reduced energy consumption and lower manufacturing costs.
Implementation Method 1
heating in a continuous furnace to a temperature above the austenitization temperature that is required for the hardening
Implementation Method 2
cooled at a speed above the critical hardening speed and is thus hardened. In this case, the cold forming is carried out so that a dimensional change due to thermal expansion during the austenitization is taken into account
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a method for producing a hardened sheet steel component, wherein sheet steel sheet bars are cut from a coil made of a hardenable steel alloy or steel strip, formed into sheet steel component blanks in a cold forming process, and the blanks are heated in a continuous furnace to a temperature above the austenitization temperature required for the hardening and pressed and quench hardened in a form hardening tool. The blanks have point-shaped or linear beads, raised bumps, or flanges whose free ends or partial lengths are bent relative to the contact element so that the blanks rest on the contact element using only the point-shaped or linear beads, raised bumps, or free ends or partial lengths of the flanges. During form hardening, the beads, bumps or bends are pressed or deformed into the desired geometry of the finished component.