Patent ID: 7743637

Claim:
A method for producing a cylindrical workpiece having a profile on a circumference thereof comprising: providing a tool comprising a drawing unit and a rolling unit, wherein the drawing unit consists of a die upper part which is fixedly connected to a ram and a die lower part, and the rolling unit consists of an upper bearing shell and a lower bearing shell accommodating concentrically arranged profiling rollers; said method further sequentially comprising: producing a raw piece from a flat blank by means of a forming procedure wherein the blank is drawn downwards via a drawing ring; and roll-forming the profile on the circumference of the workpiece by forcing the raw piece through the concentrically arranged profiling rollers using the ram whereby the raw piece is taken past the profiling rollers by the vertical downward movement of the ram with the die upper part; wherein a lubricant inlet is provided in at least one rolling unit to force lubricant under pressure between the upper bearing shell and the lower bearing shell so as to directly contact a backside portion of the profiling rollers; a lubricant outlet is provided in the at least one rolling unit; and the pressure fed lubricant is forced, via a lubricating line, between the bearing shells and the profiling rollers so that the lubricant covers the profiling rollers and enters the region in which a front side portion of the profiling rollers are in engagement with the raw piece, and wherein the steps of producing the raw piece and the roll-forming are performed using the same ram during a single downward stroke of the ram.