Cooling of dies using solid conductors

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10722930-B2
Application number	US-201615384669-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 20, 2016
Priority date	Dec 20, 2016
Publication date	Jul 28, 2020
Grant date	Jul 28, 2020

Abstract

Dies for forming components, such as sheet components, and methods of producing the dies are disclosed. The die may include a bulk material and a forming surface. A solid conductor may be formed in the bulk material. The solid conductor may be spaced from and extend adjacent to the forming surface and have a melting point that is greater than a melting point of the bulk material. The solid conductor may be configured to absorb heat from the forming surface. There may multiple solid conductors within the bulk material, for example spaced apart and extending along an axis. The solid conductor may be a bundle of carbon fibers, which may be pitch-based. The solid conductor may be conformal to the forming surface, for example, having a constant spacing therefrom. The solid conductor may be cast-in to the die during its production.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A mold die, comprising:
a bulk material and a forming surface; and
a solid conductor within the bulk material, spaced from and extending adjacent to the forming surface and having a melting point that is greater than a melting point of the bulk material, the solid conductor configured to absorb heat from the forming surface, the solid conductor is a bundle of carbon fibers.

2. The die of claim 1 , wherein the solid conductor has a substantially constant spacing from the forming surface.

3. The die of claim 2 , wherein the forming surface includes a non-planar region, and the solid conductor has a substantially constant spacing from the non-planar region of the forming surface.

4. The die of claim 1 , wherein the solid conductor is integrally formed within the bulk material.

5. The die of claim 1 , wherein the bundle of carbon fibers includes pitch-based carbon fibers.

6. The die of claim 1 , wherein the bundle of carbon fibers are spaced from and extending adjacent to the forming surface, each having a melting point that is greater than the melting point of the bulk material and being configured to absorb heat from the forming surface.

7. The die of claim 6 , wherein the bundle of carbon fibers extend along a first axis and are a first set of carbon fibers.

8. The die of claim 7 , wherein the first set of carbon fibers is evenly spaced apart.

9. The die of claim 7 , wherein the bundle of carbon fibers includes a second set of solid conductors, spaced from and extending adjacent to the forming surface, and extending along a second axis that is non-parallel to the first axis such that the first set of carbon fibers intersects the second set of carbon fibers.

10. The die of claim 1 , wherein the solid conductor is a first solid conductor and the die further includes a second solid conductor in contact with the first solid conductor at a first end and configured to be cooled by a liquid coolant at a second end;
the second solid conductor configured to transport heat from the first solid conductor to the liquid coolant, thereby cooling the forming surface.

11. The die of claim 6 , wherein the bundle of carbon fibers are a first set of carbon fibers and the die further includes a second set of carbon fibers that are each in contact with the first set of carbon fibers at a first end and extend into a bath at a second end, where the second end is configured to be cooled by a flowing liquid coolant.

12. A mold die, comprising:
a bulk material and a forming surface; and
a plurality of spaced apart bundles of carbon fiber integrally formed in the bulk material, each bundle spaced from the forming surface and configured to absorb heat from the forming surface, wherein each bundle of carbon fiber extends adjacent to the forming surface and has a substantially constant spacing from the forming surface.

13. The die of claim 12 , wherein the plurality of bundles extend along a first axis and are a first set of bundles and a second set of spaced apart bundles of carbon fiber, spaced from and extending adjacent to the forming surface, extends along a second axis that is non-parallel to the first axis such that the first set of bundles intersects the second set of bundles.

14. A mold die, comprising:
a bulk material and a forming surface; and

a solid conductor within the bulk material, spaced from and extending adjacent to the forming surface and having a melting point that is greater than a melting point of the bulk material, the solid conductor configured to absorb heat from the forming surface, the solid conductor including a bundle of fibers having a thermal conductivity of at least 400 W/mK.

15. The mold die of claim 14 , wherein the solid conductor has a substantially constant spacing from the forming surface.

16. The mold die of claim 14 , wherein the forming surface includes a non-planar region, and the solid conductor has a substantially constant spacing from the non-planar region of the forming surface.

17. The mold die of claim 14 , wherein the solid conductor is integrally formed within the bulk material.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Luckey Jr S George
• Ren Feng
• Houston Daniel Quinn

Classifications

• F28F21/02

  of carbon, e.g. graphite · CPC title

• B22D19/06

  for manufacturing or repairing tools · CPC title

• B21D37/20

  Making tools by operations not covered by a single other subclass · CPC title

• F28D2021/0029

  Heat sinks · CPC title

• F28F7/02

  Blocks traversed by passages for heat-exchange media {(F28D7/0008 takes precedence)} · CPC title