Patent ID: 9636735
Date: 2017-05-02
CPC Classifications: B21D,C21D

Claim:
1. A method of making a workpiece, comprising the steps of: preparing a die assembly including a pair of dies, at least one of the dies having a shoe, a plurality of forming pieces operably coupled with the shoe, and at least one compressible member made of a thermally conductive material sandwiched between the shoe and at least one of the forming pieces; positioning a metal blank in the die assembly and between the pair of dies; moving at least one of the dies towards the other die; compressing the at least one compressible member to move at least one of the forming pieces relative to another forming piece; deforming the blank with the plurality of forming pieces; separating the pair of dies by a predetermined distance such that at least one of the forming pieces disengages from the deformed blank while the at least one compressible member expands to maintain at least one of the forming pieces in engagement with the deformed blank; and conductively cooling a portion of the surface of the deformed blank with the at least one forming piece in engagement with the deformed blank after separating the pair of dies by the predetermined distance such that the conductively cooled portion of the deformed blank acquires a different microstructure than the remainder of the deformed blank.