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A continuous process for producing a shaped metal member from a feedstock comprising a flat web of metal includes a roll-forming station for shaping the web, a cutting station for cutting the shaped web into individual members, and a processing station for altering a physical characteristic of the m

A continuous process for producing a shaped metal member from a feedstock comprising a flat web of metal includes a roll-forming station for shaping the web, a cutting station for cutting the shaped web into individual members, and a processing station for altering a physical characteristic of the metal comprising the members. The processing may include heat treating and/or shaping. The process may also be operable to carry out further operations such as marking, inspection, sorting and the like. Also disclosed is an apparatus for carrying out the process.

대표청구항 ▼

The invention claimed is: 1. A continuous process for producing a shaped, steel member, said process comprising the steps of: providing a coiled, substantially flat web of steel; providing a roll-forming station, said roll-forming station including a plurality of roller dies operable in combination

The invention claimed is: 1. A continuous process for producing a shaped, steel member, said process comprising the steps of: providing a coiled, substantially flat web of steel; providing a roll-forming station, said roll-forming station including a plurality of roller dies operable in combination to progressively shape said web of steel passing therethrough; feeding said web of steel into said roll-forming station so that the roller dies therein shape said web of steel into a continuous, elongated body of steel having a preselected cross-sectional profile; cutting said continuous, elongated body of steel into a plurality of members, each member having said preselected cross-sectional profile; providing a heating station; feeding said members into said heating station; heating said members in said heating station so as to alter a physical characteristic of said members; shaping said members after they have been heated; and providing a controlled atmosphere around said members from the time said members are removed from the heating station until they are shaped. 2. The process of claim 1, wherein the step of feeding said members into said heating station comprises collecting a plurality of members, grouping said members into a group of at least two members, and feeding said group of members into said heating station collectively. 3. The process of claim 2, wherein said step of grouping said members comprises grouping said members according to their lengths. 4. The process of claim 2 further including a series to parallel feeder, wherein said series to parallel feeder receives said group of said members and places each of said members in said group in parallel with each other. 5. The process of claim 2 further comprising forming at least two of said groups, and sequentially feeding said at least two groups into the heating station. 6. The process of claim 1, wherein said step of heating said members, comprises heating said members for a period of time, and at a temperature sufficient to effect a metallurgical transition in the steel comprising said members. 7. The process of claim 6, wherein said metallurgical transition is an austenizing transition. 8. The process of claim 6, including the further step of quenching said members after they have been heated and after said metallurgical transition has been effected therein. 9. The process of claim 6, including the further step of controlling the atmosphere in said heating station during the time the step of heating said members in the heating station is being implemented. 10. The process of claim 9, wherein the step of controlling the atmosphere in the heating station comprises controlling the atmosphere so as to provide an atmosphere which is selected from the group consisting of: an inert atmosphere, a reducing atmosphere, a nitriding atmosphere, and an oxidizing atmosphere. 11. The process of claim 1, including the further step of forming at least one feature in said web prior to the step of feeding said web into said roll-forming station, said at least one feature comprising an opening defined in said web or a raised or indented feature which protrudes from the plane of said web. 12. The process of claim 1, including the further step of conditioning the edge of said web, said conditioning step being implemented prior to the step of feeding said web into said roll-forming station. 13. The process of claim 1, including the further step of joining portions of the web together after said web has passed through at least a portion of said roll-forming station so that the cross-sectional profile of the elongated body is an at least partially closed profile. 14. The process of claim 13, wherein said step of joining said portions is a welding process. 15. The process of claim 1, wherein said step of cutting said elongated body into plurality of members comprises cutting said elongated body into members having at least two different lengths. 16. A continuous process for producing a shaped, metal member, said process comprising the steps of: providing a coiled, substantially flat web of metal; providing a roll-forming station, said roll-forming station including a plurality of roller dies operable in combination to progressively shape said web of metal passing therethrough; feeding said web of metal into said roll-forming station so that the roller dies therein shape said web of metal into a continuous, elongated body of metal having a preselected cross-sectional profile; cutting said continuous, elongated body of metal into a plurality of members, each member having said preselected cross-sectional profile; providing a heating station; feeding said members into said heating station; processing said members in said heating station so as to alter a physical characteristic of the metal comprising said members; shaping said members after they have been heated; and providing a controlled atmosphere around said members from the time said members are removed from the heating station until they are shaped to a predetermined configuration. 17. The process of claim 16, wherein the step of feeding said members into said heating station comprises collecting a plurality of members, grouping said members into a group of at least two members, and feeding said group of members into said processing station collectively. 18. The process of claim 16, wherein said step of grouping said members comprises grouping said members according to their lengths. 19. The process of claim 17 further including a series to parallel feeder, wherein said series to parallel feeder receives said group of said members and places each of said members in said group in parallel with each other. 20. The process of claim 17, further comprising forming at least two of said groups, wherein each of said groups is sequentially fed into the heating station. 21. The process of claim 16 further including an inspection station, wherein each of said members is inspected to determine if each of said members meets a preselected criteria, and wherein any of said members not meeting said preselected criteria are removed from further processing. 22. The process of claim 21, wherein said inspection station includes a marking device for marking each of said members with identifying indicia. 23. A continuous process for producing a shaped, metal member, said process comprising the steps of: providing a coiled, substantially flat web of metal; providing a roll-forming station, said roll-forming station including a plurality of roller dies operable in combination to progressively shape said web of metal passing therethrough; feeding said web of metal into said roll-forming station so that the roller dies therein shape said web of metal into a continuous, elongated body of metal having a preselected cross-sectional profile; cutting said continuous, elongated body of metal into a plurality of members, each member having said preselected cross-sectional profile; providing a heating station; collecting a plurality of members, grouping said members into at least two groups, wherein each of said at least two groups has at least two members, and sequentially feeding each of said at least two groups into said heating station; processing said members in said heating station so as to alter a physical characteristic of the metal comprising said members; shaping said members after they have been heated; and providing a controlled atmosphere around said members from the time said members are removed from the heating station until they are shaped to a predetermined configuration.