US2736948A - Forging apparatus - Google Patents

Description

March 1956 w. A. BARNES 2,736,948

FORGING APPARATUS Filed July 3, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet l 3 l0 file /0 ,0 i5

'9- Fig.2 Fig.3

Fig 4 H 5 Fig. 6

I N VEN TOR.

March 6, 1956 w. A. BARNES FORGING APPARATUS Filed July 3, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

United States Patent FORGING APPARATUS William A. Barnes, Utica, N. Y., assignor to Utica Drop gorge & Tool Corporation, a corporation of New Application July 3, 1950, Serial No. 171,914

2 Claims. (Cl. 29-35) This invention relates to forging practices in general, and relates more specifically to fields of upsetting and rolling.

The primary object of this invention is to perform two forging operations in one cycle of a forge machine.

Another object of this invention is to produce a workpiece from a work blank, wherein the workpiece has one end enlarged with respect to the work blank, and the other end reduced.

Another object of this invention is to produce such a workpiece in one operative work cycle of a forging machine.

Still another object of this invention is to produce a turbine, or similar type blade, in which the grain flow of the material between the blade and the base is substantially unbroken, thereby providing improved strength characteristics.

Other-objects and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the following description and claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figures 1-6 illustrate progressive steps in one embodiment of a forging process incorporating the principles of this invention;

Figure 7 illustrates diagrammatically the operating parts of a machine embodying the principles of this invention;

Figure8 is a .perspective view of a forging made by the process and apparatus of this invention; and

Figure 9 is a side and bottom view of the finished blade I having two cooperating surfaces, with at least one of said surfaces being curved. The surfaces produce a roll forge action upon a workpiece held between these rollers. In many of the-machines the surfaces have a portion thereof recessed away in order that the surfaces will be in cooperative forging relationship only during a part of one complete revolution.

In the Figures 1 through 6 of the drawings, two rollers 10 are illustrated in their cooperating relationship. No machine structure is illustrated to support and drive the rollers 10, because such machine structures are well-known in the industry and would serve no useful purpose in the drawings. Two rollers 10 are chosen as illustrative, not exhaustive, of the rolling forge action possible.

The rollers 10 each have an annular surface including a curved work portion 25 and a relief portion 26. The

However, all ofrelief portion is simply a conveniently recessed notch in the annular surface of the roller to space the annular surfaces of the two rollers out of forging relationship. Such a relief portion 26 produces a shoulder area 27 between the work portion surface and the relief portion surface. Normally, one complete revolution of the rollers 10 is a full work cycle and completes the forging operation.

Many types of metal structures require a combination of large and small portions in one piece. An example of such a workpiece is a turbine blade for modern high-sped turbines and air compressors. Heretofore, any workpiece requiring an enlarged area was produced by upsetting. A blank of approximately the size of the smallest portion is heated and upset in a series of upsetting operations untill the small stock is enlarged at one end..

The enlarged end may then be forged or machined to produce the enlarged portion of the workpiece. However, there are practical limits of upsetting beyond which useful forgings cannot be produced.

An alternative of upsetting is to start with a large piece of stock and reduce a portion of that large stock to the size of the small area of the workpiece. Such forgingoperations are not always possible, especially if a sharp shoulder is required between the large and small areas of the workpiece, such as in the turbine blade. Either extensive upsetting'or extensive forging from large stock will be likely to disrupt the grain structure of the stock material and disrupt the strength of the finished piece.

According to this invention, an intermediate size stock piece is both enlarged by upsetting and reduced by rollforging in one continuous process. Theprocess is illustrated diagrammatically in the Figures 1 through 6. A machine is provided of suitable structure to support and rotate the rollers 10. A workpiece positioned between the rollers 10, as illustrated in Figure 2, lies in a path which may be called a work path. Rotation of the rollers 10 will cause the shoulders 27 to progress toward one another to indent-or shoulder and grip the blank 12.

Continued rotation of the rollers 10 then will force th blank 12 to move along the work path. The rollers 10 will continue to rotate and forge the portion of the blank 12 rearwardly of the area at which the shoulders 27 make contact with the blank 12. Therefore, to start the work" cycle, the blank 12 can be extended along the work path beyond the shoulders 27 for a selected portion of its. length, and the. area beyond the shoulders 27 will not be forged by the rollers.

According to this invention, the roll-forging and upsetting process. are carried out in one forging cycle. This process is highly saving of time, but other advantages are of even more importance. stronger with the grain structure thereof intact, and flowing evenly between the smalland large portions of the forging. Less metal movement is required in cold forging, and heat damage reduced tremendously in hot forging.

tween two parts of a roll-forge means.

means, or anvil, is mounted in position for contact of the workpiece upon relative movement of the roll-forge means and upset means.

wherein the anvil is stationary, and the workpiece is moved by operation of the roll-forge means, or in ap paratus in which the anvil moves, either before or at the end of the roll-forge operation.

One successful apparatus embodying the features of this invention is illustrated in the drawings. The usual rollforging is altered in this structure by the provision of an anvil 11 lying in the work path to obstruct and/or prevent The finished forging 'is'.

It has been found that thisprocess can be successfully carried 'out in apparatus iteeemovementofithc; blank '12 leaving the rollers 10.

fi ure. 3 th b ank. 12,.is seen to beenlargin 11.

end thereof against the anvil 11. The rollers 1.0 are rotating, and the workpiece blank 12 does not provide enough resistance torthe rotationof:the-rollers -10, so therefore-an upsetting operation takes place. onthat pori X i' the,workpiece blank, 12:. which was extended be-. yond-the shoulders 27.. Suitablemechanism of any convenienptype, may be employed to hold the-anvil 11 against release for a period of time. sufficient ,to produce .the desired amount of upsetting on the workpiece blank 12.

Figures ;1 throughv 4 illustrate, the anvil 11 held againstmovement, andaccordingly illustrate the increasiflanpset size. of the workpiece :blank 12. In Figure theanvil 11. has been released and an upset or enlarged portion 13 has been completed. .Upon the. release of the anvil: 111, the portion 13 can:move away fro'm the rollers '10 .withontzfurther forging, but the'portious of the workpiece blank.12,caught between the surfaces-25 are rolled during the. remainder of the work cycle of the rollers until {a fully rolledblade portion 14 is produced. In Fig urc,6..the finished workpiece, having-the upset portion 13' and the blade portion 14, completed, is illustrated dropping-from the rollers .10.

During the experimental testing of 'this invention, sevoral different methodsof retarding the anvil'll were de-. vis'ed;. each having a certain degree of success. It was found that the anvil could be held absolutely fixed against movement for a period of the work cycle .and then suddenly released, as illustrated in the Figures 1 through 6, or: the anvil could he released gradually in, apredetermincd-ratiowith respect'to the vworkcycle, thereby pro-. ducingevarious effects upon a workpiece. In any event, it isibelievedthatthis is the first combination of roll-forging'anclupsetting, and the process has produced turbine blades and other similar types offorgings having im-. proved strength characteristics and decreased machining costs; heretofore unknown.

Among-the successful types of mechanisms for retarding the movement of the anvil 11 is the retarder-mechanism 15' illustrated in Figure '7 of the drawings. The mechanism 15.-'is of the typeallowing sudden release for production of workpieces suitable for making high-speed turbine blades. The retarderrnechanism.15-ineludes a shafta17ttohold theanvil 11. The shaft 17 is provided with curved-shoulders 16 thereon. Pivot arms 19*having wheelstls thereon proportionedto fit =-the curved shoulder 16, aretpivotallymounted on two sides ofthe shaft 17 and are urged-to pivot toward one another bya strong spring 22; Thearms 19*are pivoted upon a pivotal mounting 20. A plurality of pivot points are-provided for the pivotal mounting 20. The pivot points are holes in-the casting of'the particularforge-machineused for this de-' velopn ent. -Accordingly, the amount of force upon the shaft ill required to cam the'pivot arms 19 out-of -the* cooperating shoulders 16 may be predetermined by, a see lection. of the-pivot point. Furthermore,-the strength oflthe .spring- 22. may be. variedtoalter. the pressure re-. quiredi-to disengagethe wheels 18. frorn the shoulders 16. It will readily be understood that the workpiece 12, when carriedxthrough the process. illustrated: in the Figures 1 through 6, will produce a considerable. end'thrust upon heanvil 111 which lies in the -work-path.- The endthrust is transferred to the shaft 17. Resistance to the-end thrust is-provided by the pivot. arms 19in an: amount determined by the location of-the pivotal mounting 20 and the strength of the spring 22. When the and thrust is sufp. ficient-to cause the wheels -1-8 -torideup .the'shoulders 16', thisdisengagement will take place suddenly and allowthe end-thrustto force theanvil ll and shaft 17. rapidlyalong the work path and out of interferencgwith 'free'movea.

mato s-thenorkni sc b ank 2:

An air cylinder 23 connected to the shaft 17 We rod 24,, is, provided, to return. theshaft 17-. and. anvil .11.,hack into proper relationship with the rollers 10 for the next work cycle.

It is of course understood that the Figure 7 is diagrammatic only, and the actual machine parts to drive the rollers 10 and support theshaft 17 and the air cylinder 23 are not shown because these parts will be readily understood by those familiar with forging practice.

In Figure 9 of the drawings an actual turbine bladeis illustrated. This blade is used fcrsupplyingvairtfor :jet propulsion.

Although the invention has been described in its preferred form with'a certain degree of'par-ticul'arity, it is understood that the present disclosure of the preferred form has been made only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spiritand the scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for upsettingand rollingcompr-ising a pair of oppositely disposed rolls each having'work sur faces on their respective perimeters, support'meansfor rotatively supporting said rolls, each said roll work sur-v face including an arcuate rolling surface and an upset ting surface, said upsetting surface meeting said 'arcuaterolling surface to form a working edge and extending radially inwardly therefrom, an anvil having a support portion and a working surface, said workingsurface of said anvil extending between said oppositely disposed rolls and being located. in a work position-opposite said upsetting surface of said rolls-for -co.-op-.

eration therewith, said support portion of-=-said"anvil-' comprising a load yieldable means holding said anvil: workingsurface in said work positionbetween said rolls whereby said anvil is retracted-from said work position be tween said oppositely disposed rolls when -a predetermined actuating force is exerted between saidupsetting; surfacesof saidoppositelydisposed rollsand saidworking surface of said anvil.

2. An apparatus for upsetting and rolling-comprising a pair of oppositely disposedrolls each'having WOX'KISUT- faceson their respective perimeters, roll support means;

for rotatively supporting said rolls, each said roll work:

surface including an arcuate rolling- -surface and an' upsetting surface, said upsetting surfacemeeting said arcuate rolling surface to form a working edge and ex tending radially inwardly therefrom, an anvil havinga working sura. face;:said working surface of said anvil extending between said oppositely disposed rolls and being located=in a=workposition opposite said upsettingy-surfaceofi s'aidrolls'for cooperationtherewith, load yieldable means for 'positionm ing said anvil and said-roll support meansrelative to eae'h other for-holding said anvil working. surfacein saidwork positionrbetween said oppositely disposed rolls whereby saidrollsand said anvil are retracted relative-to each other from said work position between said oppositely. disposed rolls when a predeterminedactuatingforce is,' exerted between said upsetting surfaceof said oppositely disposed rolls and said working surface of said anvil;

GreatBr-itaiu 1832

Images