Forging apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9566641-B2
Application number	US-201514937109-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 10, 2015
Priority date	Dec 5, 2014
Publication date	Feb 14, 2017
Grant date	Feb 14, 2017

Abstract

A forging apparatus and method is disclosed in which a die has two separate cavities, each having a first cavity portion and a second cavity portion. A billet of material is received in a first cavity portion and struck by a striking portion of an extrusion punch so as to be forced into the corresponding second cavity portion to form a shaped component. The billet of material can be placed into either of the two cavities for extrusion. This may increase the number of extrusion operations that can be performed by a single die.

First claim

I claim:

1. A forging apparatus comprising:
a die for receiving a billet; and
an extrusion punch for striking the billet when the billet is in the die, wherein:
the die comprises an upper die and a lower die that together form two cavities;
each cavity comprises a first cavity portion in which the billet is received and a second cavity portion into which the billet is deformed when it is struck by the extrusion punch;
the two cavities are identical, with the first cavity portion of one cavity being identical to the first cavity portion of the other cavity, and the second cavity portion of one cavity being identical to the second cavity portion of the other cavity; and either:
(i) the extrusion punch comprises a body portion and a striking portion, each of which has a longitudinal axis and the longitudinal axis of the striking portion is parallel to and offset from the longitudinal axis of the body portion, the striking portion being received by one of the first cavity portions in order to strike the billet; or
(ii) the extrusion punch comprises a body portion and two striking portions, each of the body portion and the two striking portions having a longitudinal axis and the longitudinal axes of the striking portions are parallel to and offset from the longitudinal axis of the body portion, one of the striking portions being positioned to be received by the first cavity portion of one of the cavities in order to strike a billet and the other of the striking portions being positioned to be received by the first cavity portion of the other cavity in order to strike a billet.

2. The forging apparatus according to claim 1 , comprising the extrusion punch of (i).

3. The forging apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the longitudinal axis of the striking portion is offset relative to the longitudinal axis of the body portion such that rotation of the extrusion punch about the longitudinal axis of the body portion by a predetermined angle results in the striking portion moving from a position in which it can be received by the first cavity portion of one cavity to a position in which it can be received by the first cavity portion of another cavity.

4. The forging apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the striking portion and the centreline of the body portion do not overlap.

5. The forging apparatus according to claim 1 , comprising the extrusion punch of (ii).

6. The forging apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a ram arranged to strike the extrusion punch, thereby causing the extrusion punch to strike the billet.

7. A method of extruding a billet into a formed shape comprising:
placing the billet into one of two cavities of a die, each cavity comprising a first cavity portion for billet placement and a second cavity portion; and
striking the billet with an extrusion punch so as to push and deform the billet from the first cavity portion into the respective second cavity portion, wherein:
the two cavities are identical, with the first cavity portion of one cavity being identical to the first cavity portion of the other cavity, and the second cavity portion of one cavity being identical to the second cavity portion of the other cavity; and either:
(i) the extrusion punch comprises a body portion and a striking portion, each of which has a longitudinal axis and the longitudinal axis of the striking portion is parallel to and offset from the longitudinal axis of the body portion, the striking portion being received by one of the first cavity portions in order to strike the billet; or
(ii) the extrusion punch comprises a body portion and two striking portions, each of the body portion and the two striking portions having a longitudinal axis and the longitudinal axes of the striking portions are parallel to and offset from the longitudinal axis of the body portion, one of the striking portions being positioned to be received by the first cavity portion of one of the cavities in order to strike the billet and the other of the striking portions being positioned to be received by the first cavity portion of the other cavity in order to strike another billet.

8. A method of extruding one or more billets, comprising extruding each billet according to the method of claim 7 , wherein:
the die comprises an upper die and a lower die; and
the upper die and the lower die are moved together in order to form the first and second cavities.

9. A method of extruding multiple billets into formed shapes comprising:
extruding at least one billet by placing the billet into one of two cavities of a die, each cavity comprising a first cavity portion for billet placement and a second cavity portion, and striking the billet with an extrusion punch so as to push and deform the billet from the first cavity portion into the second cavity portion of the first cavity, the extrusion punch comprising a body portion and a striking portion, the striking portion being used to strike the billet;
moving the extrusion punch so as to move the striking portion to be aligned with the second cavity rather than the first cavity; and
extruding at least one other billet by placing the other billet into the second cavity of the die and striking the other billet with the extrusion punch so as to push and deform the other billet from the first cavity portion into the second cavity portion of the second cavity.

10. The method of extruding multiple billets according to claim 9 , wherein:
each of the body portion and the striking portion of the extrusion punch has a longitudinal axis, the longitudinal axis of the striking portion being parallel to and offset from the longitudinal axis of the body portion; and
the step of moving the extrusion punch comprises rotating the extrusion punch about the longitudinal axis of the body portion.

11. The method of extruding multiple billets according to claim 10 , wherein the rotation of the extrusion punch about the longitudinal axis of the body portion is through 180 degrees.

12. The method of extruding multiple billets according to claim 9 , wherein the step of moving the extrusion punch is performed when the first cavity is deemed to be worn sufficiently that the formed shapes would not be within design tolerance.

13. The method of extruding multiple billets according to claim 9 , comprising a step of monitoring wear of the first cavity so as to determine when to move the extrusion punch.

14. The method of extruding multiple billets according to claim 9 , wherein the two cavities are identical, with the first cavity portion of the first cavity being identical to the first cavity portion of the second cavity, and the second cavity portion of the first cavity being identical to the second cavity portion of the second cavity.

15. A forging apparatus comprising:
a die for receiving a billet; and
an extrusion punch for striking the billet when the billet is in the die, wherein:
the die comprises an upper die and a lower die that together form two cavities;
each cavity comprises a first cavity portion in which the billet is received and a second cavity portion into which the billet is deformed when it is struck by the extrusion punch;
the extrusion punch comprises a body portion and a striking portion, each of which has a longitudinal axis and the longitudinal axis of the striking portion is parallel to and offset from the longitudinal axis of the body portion, the striking portion being received by one of the first cavity portions in order to strike the billet; and
the longitudinal axis of the striking portion is offset relative to the longitudinal axis of the body portion such that rotation of the ext

Assignees

• Rolls Royce Plc

Inventors

• Mcelroy Graeme

Classifications

• B21K3/04

  blades, e.g. for turbines; Upsetting of blade roots · CPC title

• B21J5/025 Primary

  Closed die forging · CPC title

• B21J9/027

  with punches moving along auxiliary lateral directions (B21J13/025 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B21K3/00 Primary

  Making engine or like machine parts not covered by sub-groups of B21K1/00; Making propellers or the like · CPC title