Patent ID: 7130708

Claim:
A method of adapting a sheet metal forming die set to repetitively make a specified formed sheet metal part having a formed part peripheral edge from a sheet metal blank having a sheet metal blank peripheral edge; said die set comprising a die cavity member with a sheet metal blank binder surface and a binder ring for pressing said blank against said binder surface, said binder surface and binder ring comprising bead and trough surfaces for controlling draw-in of sheet material of said blank into said die cavity during forming of said sheet metal part, said method comprising: producing a computer simulation of the forming of said part under predetermined engineered forming conditions using a simulation of said die set to obtain a data set of simulated draw-in dimensions of locations on said formed part peripheral edge with respect to corresponding locations on said sheet metal blank peripheral edge; making a draw-in map of said simulated draw-in dimensions; and comparing said simulated draw-in dimensions of said map with corresponding draw-in dimensions obtained on a trial sheet metal part formed on said sheet metal forming die set for use in adapting said die set for the repetitive stamping of said specified part.