PRODUCTION METHOD FOR A SHAPING TOOL COMPONENT OF A PRESS HARDENING TOOL

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a production method for a shaping tool component of a press hardening tool that includes producing a preform by an additive production method from metal material. The preform having an outer wall, which at least partially corresponds to a shaping operating face of the tool component. The preform further includes at least one channel wall of a cooling channel adjacent to the outer wall and at least one recess which is at least for the most part further away from the outer wall than the channel wall. After the preform is produced, the at least one recess is filled with liquid metal, which subsequently hardens and forms a portion of the tool component.

Claims

1. A production method for a shaping tool component of a press hardening tool, the production method comprising: producing a preform from metal material by an additive production method, the preform comprising: an outer wall at least partially corresponding to a shaping operating face of the tool component; at least one channel wall of a cooling channel adjacent to the outer wall; and at least one recess, wherein at least half of the recess is located further away from the outer wall than the at least one channel wall; and filling the at least one recess with liquid metal, wherein the liquid metal subsequently hardens and forms a portion of the tool component.

2. The production method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the additive production method is selective laser melting.

3. The production method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one recess includes an opening at a side remote from the operating face, wherein the liquid metal is poured in through the opening.

4. The production method as claimed in claim 1, wherein a surface of the outer wall is reprocessed by erosive processing after the surface has been produced.

5. The production method as claimed in claim 4, wherein the reprocessing operation is carried out after filling the at least one recess with liquid metal and hardening the liquid metal.

6. The production method as claimed in claim 1 further comprising producing support structures configured to connect a base portion of the press hardening tool to the tool component.

7. The production method as claimed in claim 6, wherein the support structures are produced by the additive production method.

8. The production method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the additive production method is electron beam melting or selective laser sintering.

9. A production method for a shaping tool component of a press hardening tool, the production method comprising: producing a preform made of a metal material by an additive production method, the preform comprising: an outer wall corresponding to an operating face of the tool component; a plurality of channel walls, each channel wall defining a cooling channel that merges into the outer wall; and at least one recess partially enclosed by the outer wall and defining an opening; producing at least one support structure within the at least one recess of the preform by the additive production method; and pouring liquid metal through the opening defined by the recess to fill at least a portion of the recess with liquid metal, wherein the liquid metal subsequently hardens and forms a portion of the tool component.

10. The production method as claimed in claim 9 further comprising removing the at least one support structure before pouring the liquid metal into the recess of the preform.

11. The production method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the additive production method is selective laser melting.

12. The production method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the additive production method is electron beam melting or selective laser sintering.

13. The production method as claimed in claim 9, wherein a surface of the outer wall is reprocessed by an erosive process after the surface has been produced.

14. The production method as claimed in claim 13, wherein the reprocessing is carried out after filling the at least one recess with liquid metal and hardening the liquid metal.

15. The production method as claimed in claim 9 further comprising placing the preform in a container containing a temperature-resistant material before pouring the liquid metal into the recess of the preform.

16. The production method as claimed in claim 15, wherein the preform is placed in the container upside down and embedded into the temperature-resistant material.

17. The production method as claimed in claim 15, wherein the temperature-resistant material is sand.

18. The production method as claimed in claim 15 further comprising removing the preform from the container after the liquid metal hardens and cools.

19. The production method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the preform further comprises at least one continuation, the continuation defining a through-opening.

20. The production method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the outer wall and the channel wall defines the cooling channel.

Description

DRAWINGS

[0030] In order that the disclosure may be well understood, there will now be described various forms thereof, given by way of example, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0031] FIG. 1 is a perspective illustration of a tool component constructed in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure;

[0032] FIG. 2 is a partial sectioned illustration of a production installation having a preform for the tool component of FIG. 1;

[0033] FIG. 3 is a sectioned illustration of the preform of FIG. 2;

[0034] FIG. 4 is a partial illustration of the preform of FIG. 3 during a filling operation;

[0035] FIG. 5 is a schematic illustration of the tool component of FIG. 1 and a milling tool; and

[0036] FIG. 6 is a sectioned illustration of a press hardening tool with the tool component of FIG. 1.

[0037] The drawings described herein are for illustration purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure in any way.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0038] The following description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the present disclosure, application, or uses. It should be understood that throughout the drawings, corresponding reference numerals indicate like or corresponding parts and features.

[0039] FIG. 1 is a perspective illustration of a tool component 1 which can be produced using the method according to the present disclosure. In this case, the tool component 1 forms a portion of a male mold of a press hardening tool 14 (illustrated in FIG. 6). Using the press hardening tool 14, a sheet metal component 40 can be hot-formed and hardened. The shaping takes place inter alia on an operating face 2 of the tool component 1 which is flanked by side faces 3. The tool component 1 also has four continuations 4 with through-openings 5.

[0040] In order to produce the tool component 1, a preform 6 is first produced within a production installation 20 which is illustrated in FIG. 2 in a highly schematic manner. The production may be carried out in this case by selective laser melting (SLM). On a base plate 21 which can be moved in a vertical manner, metal powder 28 is applied in layers by an application device 23. The metal powder 28 may, for example, be a steel powder. The application device 23 is connected to a supply line 24 for metal powder 28 and, as indicated by the double-headed arrow, can be moved in a horizontal direction. It may have a type of nozzle or valve for dispensing powder and a smoothing device, for example, a scraper. In order to inhibit the metal powder 28 from laterally trickling off the base plate 21, stationary side walls 22 are provided.

[0041] When the application device 23 has applied a layer of metal powder 28, using a laser beam 26, a portion of the powder 28 is selectively melted, whereby a layer of the preform 6 which is intended to be produced is produced. The laser beam 26 is produced by a laser 25 and directed by a pivotable mirror 27 onto a provided coordinate location within the surface of the metal powder 28. The activation of the laser 25 and the control of the mirror 27 are carried out in this instance in a computer-controlled manner in accordance with predetermined CAM data of the preform 6. The base plate 21 is in the present example operated in an intermittent manner, that is to say, it is stopped whilst a powder layer is applied and partially melted and subsequently moved downward by a distance which corresponds to the provided layer thickness.

[0042] The preform 6 produced has an outer wall 7 which substantially corresponds to the path of the operating face 2 and the path of the side walls 3. Furthermore, in a state adjacent to the outer wall 7 there are produced a series of channel walls 8 which in this instance merge into the outer wall 7. Each channel wall 8 defines (together with the outer wall 7) a cooling channel 9. As can be clearly seen in FIG. 2, there remains during the production operation a recess 11 which is partially enclosed by the outer wall 7 and which is for the most part further away from the outer wall 7 than the channel walls 8. Smaller part-regions of the recess 1 are in this instance arranged between the channel walls 8 in the vicinity of the outer wall 7.

[0043] As a result of the action of the laser beam 26, the preform 6 produced is heated powerfully, although the molten powder 28 hardens again when the action of the laser beam 26 is ended. An effective heat discharge is not possible either to the surrounding powder 28 or to the surrounding atmosphere (which may, for example, comprise inert gas). Therefore, in order to inhibit thermally related deformations of the preform 6, it is advantageous to support the heat discharge to the base plate 21 by support structures 10 which are connected to the base plate 21 being produced. These support structures 10 on the one hand stabilize the preform 6, but above all they are used for better heat discharge into the base plate 21. The support structures 10 may further serve to space apart the usable portion of the preform 6 from the base plate 21 so that, after the production is complete, the preform 6 can be separated without the usable portion being damaged. Furthermore, it may be advantageous to use the support structures 10 at locations or surfaces which have an angle of less than approximately 45 with respect to the base plate 21. In FIG. 2, three support structures 10 are illustrated only schematically, wherein additional ones may be arranged outside the place of section.

[0044] FIG. 3 shows the completed preform 6 which has been released from the base plate 21. This preform already has the continuations 4 with the through-openings 5 (FIG. 1) as produced during the additive production operation. It can also be seen that the recess 11 has at a side remote from the operating face 2 a relatively large opening 12. As a result of the recess 11 which has been produced during the production operation, the preform 6 corresponds to only a comparatively small part-volume of the entire tool component 1. In particular, the outer wall 7 may have a thickness which is so small that per se it could not withstand the forces which occur during the shaping of the sheet metal component 40.

[0045] The material thickness which is thus lacking in the preform 6 is, as shown in FIG. 4, supplemented by the recess 11 being filled with metal 13. The metal 13 is poured from a crucible 31 in the liquid state into the opening 12. In order to configure the filling operation in an efficient manner, the preform 6 is turned upside down to a degree, and for secure support and for temperature discharge, embedded in a bed, for example, of sand 30 inside a container 29. The metal 13 may, for example, be steel or cast iron. As a result of the presence of the channel walls 8, the inside of the channels 9 remains free, whilst the recess 11 is completely filled with metal 13. After the hardening and cooling of the metal 13, the tool component 1 which is now substantially complete can be removed from the sand 30. In place of sand, other suitable materials can also be used or suitable measures can be carried out for reliable support and temperature discharge.

[0046] Optionally, as illustrated in FIG. 5, an erosive processing operation of the operating face 2 may be carried out in order to overcome any imprecisions which could occur during the additive production operation or as a result of thermal deformations during filling.

[0047] FIG. 6 illustrates in a highly schematic manner the entire press hardening tool 14 in which the tool component 1 is assembled in a modular manner with a stationary base portion 15. To this end, screws 17 are guided through the through-openings 5 and screwed to the base portion 15. During the shaping operation, the sheet metal component 40 of FIG. 1 (for example, after previous austenitization) is shaped between the tool component 1 and a vertically displaceable female mold 16. The female mold 16 is in this instance illustrated as a solid integral component, but could also be produced in a similar manner to the tool component 1. During the shaping operation or directly afterwards, a cooling medium (for example, water or admixtures therewith) is directed through the cooling channels 9, whereby a significant cooling of the operating face 2 and consequently also of the sheet metal component 40 is carried out. As a result of the additive production of the preform 6, the cooling channels 9 may extend with efficient spacing with respect to the operating face 2. A machining processing operation of the tool component 1 can be reduced. Since a large portion of the volume of the tool component 1 is filled by being filled with metal 13, it can on the whole be produced within a short time. Consequently, modular tool components 1 which can be combined with the base portion 15 can be produced in a relatively rapid and cost-effective manner.

[0048] The description of the disclosure is merely exemplary in nature and, thus, variations that do not depart from the substance of the disclosure are intended to be within the scope of the disclosure. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.