Patent ID: 8291595

Claim:
A method for producing a link rod with a U-shaped profile made from a one-piece sheet metal shell for a multi-link axle of a passenger car, the sheet metal shell being formed as a shaped part of two part shells in a mirror-image arrangement to each other and a back connecting said part shells and having bearing eyes at both ends thereof which are formed each by a pair of aligned holes in the part shells having collars provided at the edges of said holes and forming inner bearing support surfaces, the method comprising the following manufacturing steps: the back of what is to become the U-shaped profile is formed in a sheet metal blank; the first limb of what is to become the U-shaped profile is bent by 90°; the bent first limb is holed at both ends and the edges of the holes are formed outward thus forming collars with inner bearing support surfaces; the second limb of what is to become the U-shaped profile is bent so that it is in parallel to the first limb; the bent second limb is holed at both ends and the edges of the holes are formed outward thus forming collars with inner bearing support surfaces, wherein the holing and forming tools required for this step pass through the holes in the first limb while being guided by them.