The present invention relates to a temperature-control unit for a furnace device for heat treating a plate, in particular a metal plate. The temperature-control unit has a temperature-control body, which is arrangeable in a furnace chamber of the furnace device. The temperature-control body has a plurality of receiving bores. Furthermore, the temperature-control unit has a plurality of temperature-control pins, wherein the temperature-control pins are mounted in the receiving bores movably relative to the temperature-control body. The temperature-control pins are controllable in such a way that a temperature-control group of the temperature-control pins is extendable from the temperature-control body in the direction towards the plate, so that a thermal contact between the temperature-control group of the temperature-control pins and a predetermined temperature-control zone of the plate is generatable.

A hot press-forming method includes a forming step that clamps a steel sheet heated to a temperature not less than an austenite transformation temperature and press-forms the steel sheet into a desired shape by causing a forming concave of a die and a convex of a punch to be close to each other. A formed portion has side and top portions that merge. The side portion rises up from an inner circumferential edge of a flange portion having been clamped by the die and the blank holder. A cooling step cools a region of the steel sheet after the heating step has been completed and before the forming step is completed. The particular region is along an inter-edge area formed between an opening circumferential edge of the forming concave and a top circumferential edge of the forming convex before the forming step is completed.

A method that improves stretch flange formability of a steel sheet by individual treatment matching a material of the steel sheet without performing heat treatment in a die. This method is a method for manufacturing a steel sheet for cold press, and the steel sheet is manufactured by heating an edge of the steel sheet to a temperature within a heating temperature range preset according to a microstructure of the steel sheet and cooling the steel sheet. A region, within an edge of the steel sheet subjected to shearing in a shearing step, where it is estimated that a stretch flange crack is likely to occur when a press component is formed by cold pressing is determined, and a site to be heated and cooled is set within the region. By press-forming the manufactured steel sheet, a target press component is manufactured.

A high strength member according to the present invention is the high strength member having a bending ridge line portion formed from a steel sheet, the member having a tensile strength of 1470 MPa or higher, a residual stress of 300 MPa or lower in an end surface of the bending ridge line portion, and a Vickers hardness (HV) of 200 or higher and 450 or lower in the end surface of the bending ridge line portion.

A method of producing a steel plate member includes: heating a steel plate member to a temperature higher than an austenite transformation finish temperature and subsequently cooling the steel plate member at a cooling rate higher than an upper critical cooling rate; and softening the steel plate member by reheating the steel plate member after the cooling of the steel plate member.

The present invention relates to a temperature-control unit for a furnace device for heat treating a plate, in particular a metal plate. The temperature-control unit has a temperature-control body, which is arrangeable in a furnace chamber of the furnace device. The temperature-control body has a plurality of receiving bores. Furthermore, the temperature-control unit has a plurality of temperature-control pins, wherein the temperature-control pins are mounted in the receiving bores movably relative to the temperature-control body. The temperature-control pins are controllable in such a way that a temperature-control group of the temperature-control pins is extendable from the temperature-control body in the direction towards the plate, so that a thermal contact between the temperature-control group of the temperature-control pins and a predetermined temperature-control zone of the plate is generatable.

A method for producing a component from a blank made of a medium manganese steel having 4 to 12 wt. % Mn and a TRIP effect at room temperature, in which method the blank is mechanically cut to make a prepared blank having the desired dimensions, cut edges are produced on the prepared blank by means of mechanical cutting, and the prepared blank with the cut edges is cold-formed to obtain the component at room temperature or at a temperature above room temperature but below 60 C. The method is distinguished by cost-effective production, improved formability with reduced cracking at the formed cut edges, while simultaneously reducing the forming forces. The mechanical cutting is performed at a pre-heating temperature in the range of 60 C. to less than 250 C.

A method of producing a steel plate member includes: heating a steel plate member to a temperature higher than an austenite transformation finish temperature and subsequently cooling the steel plate member at a cooling rate higher than an upper critical cooling rate; and softening the steel plate member by reheating the steel plate member after the cooling of the steel plate member.

A formed and hardened component made from a metallic material is post-treated by a device for electric resistance heating that has at least one first pair of contact pieces and at least one second pair of contact pieces; contacting a first partial region of the component with the contact pieces of the first pair such that the first partial region is arranged between the contact pieces of the first pair; contacting the second partial region of the component with the contact pieces of the second pair such that the second partial region is arranged between the contact pieces of the second pair; heating of the first partial region of the component to a first temperature by conducting electric current through the component by the first pair of contact pieces; setting the second partial region of the component to a second temperature by the second pair of contact pieces, which is set independently of the first temperature.

A device for providing selective heat treatment on a metal sheet comprising boron steel is provided. The device comprises a laser source for emitting a laser beam onto the metal sheet to provide a selective heat treatment thereon, wherein a defined heat treated grid pattern is formed on the metal sheet by the selective heat treatment. The device further comprises a control unit arranged to control the operation of the laser source for providing the defined heat treated pattern onto the metal sheet; and control the case hardness depth of the defined heat treated pattern based on a temperature parameter and a holding time parameter associated with the operation of the laser source. A method for performing controlling the case hardness depth of a selectively heat treated metal sheet of boron steel is also provided.