Abstract:
A method of manufacturing an irregularly shaped forging includes heating a billet to a predetermined temperature, placing the heated billet within the cavity of a die, advancing a punch into the cavity to begin to disperse the material into a plurality of radially extending extremities of the cavity and continuing to advance the punch into the die to force a portion of the material to enter predetermined clearance zones between the punch and the die to form an irregularly shaped forging having a plurality of axially extending flash portions.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/124,533 filed on May 5, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,174,763. The disclosure of the above application is incorporated herein by reference. 

   BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention generally relates to a method of forging steel components. More particularly, the present invention relates to hotformed irregularly shaped forgings and a method of forging irregularly shaped components. 
   Automobile and other industrial applications often require suspension or power transmission components to be structurally robust in order to react or transmit relatively high loads. Due to the high load requirements, these parts are often constructed from steel using a forging process. With the cost of steel rapidly increasing in today&#39;s market, it has become desirable to reduce the amount of steel scrap generated when manufacturing a steel structural component. 
   For certain irregularly shaped components such as hubs, spindles, flanges and gears, previously known forging methods often require subsequent trimming and/or machining operations to remove flash generated during the forging operation. In one example, a component with radially outwardly and circumferentially spaced apart protrusions is constructed via a forging process depicted in  FIG. 1 . The known process begins by shearing a length of substantially cylindrically shaped material to a predetermined length to form a billet  4 . The billet  4  is heated and placed within a forging die to form a reduced length structure having an increased diameter called a bust  5 . The bust  5  is placed into a subsequent forging die cavity to further shape the material into a finished forging  6 . The finished forging  6  may include a trim ring (flashing)  7  comprised of radially extending flashing several millimeters thick. The flashing extends from a minor diameter of the part up to and sometimes beyond a major diameter of the finished component. The flashing may be formed as a ring or smaller several segments depending on the finished component design. 
   The flashing is necessary to assure that the extremities of the die cavity are filled with steel. As such, known forging dies include passageways for the steel to flow between and around the radially extending protrusions. While this process is effective to increase the likelihood that the areas of the die cavities including the radially extending protrusions are properly filled, this process creates a relatively large amount of scrap for each component produced. For example, typical flashing can range in weight from 50 grams to 400 grams or more, depending on the size of the part. 
   After the forging process is completed, the finished forging with flashing is transferred to a trimming and piercing station where the flashing  7  is removed using a trim die and a punch. The part also undergoes a piercing operation where a slug  8  of material is removed to form a through aperture, if desired. The removed material is scrap. After cooling, the trimmed part is cleaned by means of shot blasting or another suitable method. Lastly, the part is machined into a final shape. 
   While the above-described process is useful for manufacturing forged components, improvement in the part and process may be realized. For example, it may be advantageous to produce an irregularly shaped forging having a reduced quantity of flashing. A reduced amount of flashing may reduce the final component cost by reducing the scrap generated during the manufacturing process. 
   Furthermore, it may be advantageous to define a process for forging a component having a reduced number of process steps. A reduced number of steps may reduce the complexity and the time required to complete the forging process. 
   The forging method of the present invention eliminates the need for a trimming step as previously required and also greatly reduces the quantity of steel converted to scrap during the manufacturing process of forging an irregularly shaped component. Specifically, a method of manufacturing an irregularly shaped forging includes heating a billet to a predetermined temperature, placing the heated billet within a cavity of a die set having a punch and a die, advancing the punch of the die set into the cavity to begin to displace the material into a plurality of radially extending and circumferentially spaced apart extremities of the cavity, and continuing to advance the punch into the die to force a portion of the material to enter predetermined clearance zones between the punch and die. The predetermined clearance zones are circumferentially spaced apart and positioned between the extremities of the cavity to form an irregularly shaped forging pattern having a plurality of axially extending flash sections positioned between radially extending pad sections of the irregularly shaped forging. 
   Further areas of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating the preferred embodiment of the invention, are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description and the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view depicting a series of intermediate forgings developed during a prior art process; 
       FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a finished forged hub constructed in accordance with the teachings of the present invention; 
       FIG. 3  is a perspective view depicting various stages of a forging process of the present invention; 
       FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view of an exemplary punch and die assembly operable to create the finished hub depicted in  FIG. 2 ; and 
       FIG. 5  is a partial enlarged view of the punch and die of  FIG. 4  having the finished hub positioned therein. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   With reference to  FIG. 2 , a finish forged hub constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention is identified at reference numeral  10 . Hub  10  is merely an exemplary embodiment irregularly shaped forging useful to illustrate a method of forging irregularly shaped objects. It should be appreciated that any number of forged parts having radially extending and circumferentially spaced apart protrusions are contemplated as being within the scope of the present invention. Therefore, it is emphasized that the scope of the invention is defined by the claims and should not be limited to the configuration of the embodiment described hereinafter. 
   Hub  10  includes a substantially cylindrical hollow body  12  having a first end  14  and a second end  16 . An integrally formed flange  18  radially outwardly extends from an outer surface  20  of body  12 . Radially extending flange  18  is axially positioned between first end  14  and second end  16 . Radially extending flange  18  includes a plurality of circumferentially spaced apart and radially extending pad portions  22 . A plurality of web portions  24  are positioned between and integrally formed with the pad portions  22 . Each web portion  24  extends between a pair of pad portions  22 . Pad portions  22  and web portions  24  share a common upper surface  26 . Web portions  24  have a reduced thickness when compared to pad portions  22 . As such, web portions  24  each include a lower surface  28  opposite upper surface  26 . Lower surface  28  runs out into a side wall  30  of each pad portion  22 . Each pad portion  22  includes a bottom surface  32  which runs out into outer surface  20  of body  12 . Due to the method of forming hub  10  described herein, side wall  30  will be formed as a substantially smooth, uninterrupted surface. A smooth surface provides an accurate locating feature as opposed to a trimmed surface. The as-forged side wall surfaces are typically used as a datum prior to machining the forging. 
   A plurality of flash portions  34  axially extend from upper surface  26  and an outer peripheral edge  36  of web portions  24 . Flash portions  34  are substantially thin walled sections of material circumferentially spaced apart and positioned between each pad portion  22 . Each flash portion  34  reaches a maximum height at approximately the mid-point of each web portion  24  and tapers to substantially zero height and blends into upper surface  26  as the flash portion  34  approaches one of pad portions  22 . It should be appreciated that an axially extending flash portion may entirely circumscribe upper surface  26  without departing from the scope of the present invention. 
     FIG. 3  depicts various stages of forgings defined during the forging method of the present invention to construct hub  10 . The process begins by cutting a length of material to form a billet  40 . The billet  40  is heated and placed within a forging die to reduce the length of the billet and increase its diameter to form a bust  42 . Bust  42  is subsequently placed in a finish die where a finished forging  44  is formed. Finished forging  44  is transferred to a pierce die where a slug of material  46  is removed to define a through aperture  48 . The flashing  34  is removed in a subsequent machining operation to define a finished part (not shown). One skilled in the art will appreciate that the process of the present invention as depicted in  FIG. 3  does not include the step of trimming to remove radially extending flashing with a trim die and punch. Furthermore, it should be appreciated that the quantity of material dedicated to scrap, shown as flashing  34 , is substantially reduced compared to the quantity of material defining trim ring  7 . 
     FIG. 4  depicts a punch and die assembly  50  having a die assembly  52  and a punch assembly  54  operable to form finished forged hub  10 . Punch assembly  54  is movable relative to stationary die assembly  52  to form hub  10 .  FIG. 4  is drawn to depict a portion of the tooling that forms one of the web portions  24  on the right side of centerline  56 . The portion of the tooling that forms one of the pad portions  22  is shown on the left side of centerline  56 . 
     FIG. 5  is an enlarged view of a portion of punch and die assembly  50  as depicted by the phantom outline in  FIG. 4 . Punch and die assembly  50  is constructed to include extremities  58  of a cavity  60  defined by the area between punch assembly  54  and die assembly  52  when the punch and die assembly  50  is in the closed position as depicted in  FIG. 4 . Extremities  58  define the shape of pad portions  22 . To accomplish such a large change is in shape from bust  42  to finished hub  10  without forming a large radially extending trim ring, a pocket  62  is provided between punch assembly  54  and die assembly  52 . Pocket  62  accepts material that has filled a portion  64  of cavity  60  while material continues to be forced within extremity portion  58  of cavity  60  to form pad portions  22 . 
   It should be appreciated that die assembly  52  includes an inner wall  66  which defines the shape of side wall  30  and outer peripheral edge  36 . An outer wall  68  of punch assembly  54  is overlapped by a portion of wall  66  to assure that the forged material is not allowed to radially extend beyond outer surface  36  and that only an axially extending flash portion  34  may be formed. To allow punch assembly  54  to release from hub  10 , outer wall  68  includes a lead portion  70  having a taper ranging from about 4-15 degrees from vertical. A tapered portion  72  is positioned adjacent lead portion  70 . Tapered portion  72  is angled from about 0-4 degrees from vertical to allow punch assembly  54  to release from flash portion  34 . 
   For the hub embodiment depicted, the radial clearance between outer wall  68  and inner wall  66  ranges from about 0.1 mm to 1.5 mm. This clearance is sufficient to allow axial flash portions  34  to form while pad portions  22  are being forged. Furthermore, pocket  62  is small enough to allow removal of this material with a lathe in a turning operation. The small clearance value minimizes the quantity of steel that will be scrapped once the machining (lathe, mill or grind) operation has been completed. 
   Furthermore, the foregoing discussion discloses and describes merely exemplary embodiments of the present invention. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from such discussion, and from the accompanying drawings and claims, that various changes, modifications and variations may be made therein without department from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.