Patent ID: 6986866
Filing Date: 2006-01-17
Classification: B22F

Abstract:
1. A method of fabricating an article having an opening using a press with a uni-axial press motion, wherein the article is intended to be sintered and wherein the press has a die with a cavity extending therethrough along a pressing axis with a top ram and a bottom ram independently movable along the pressing axis within the cavity to define a compression region and furthermore having a removable core rod insertable within a core bore through the cavity at the compression region in a direction perpendicular to the pressing axis, wherein the method comprises the steps of: a) positioning the bottom ram within the cavity below the core bore and positioning the top ram outside of the cavity; b) positioning the removable core rod through the core bore such that the core rod extends completely through the cavity; c) filling the cavity with a predetermined amount of metallurgical powder to form a powder bed having opposing sides; d) moving the die cavity relative to the top ram and the bottom ram to substantially uniformly distribute the powder within the cavity; e) positioning the metallurgical powder about the core rod to control the location of the opening after sintering; f) moving the top ram down and moving the bottom ram up against the metallurgical powder along the pressing axis to uniformly compress the metallurgical powder about the core rod to produce a green part, wherein the green part has a top and bottom and sides therebetween and the green part has a major axis parallel to the pressing axis with a major width thereacross and also has a minor axis perpendicular to the pressing axis with a minor width thereacross; g) retracting the top ram and the bottom ram a predetermined amount to allow decompression of the green part; h) retracting the core rod from within the cavity; and i) ejecting the green part from the die.