Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02639760 2008-09-23
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a profile formed of a strip-shaped rolling
stock
having an initial material thickness and including at least one thickness-
reduced
section having a thickness that is smaller than the initial material thickness
of
the rolling stock, and at least one bend.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Profiles, such as used, e.g., in the mounting or installation technology, are
produced, e.g., from a strip-shaped rolling stock by deformation in a rolling
plant. The profiles can have a round, polygonal, or C-shaped cross-section.
In order to reduce the costs of a material, U.S. Patent No. 4,233,833
suggests,
e.g., to reduce thickness of at least one section of the rolling stock so that
the
material thickness in the thickness-reduced region is smaller than the initial
material thickness of the strip-shaped rolling stock. With the thickness
reduction, which is carried out by a cold rolling process, the strip-shaped
rolling
2655586.1
CA 02639760 2008-09-23
stock widens in the width direction so that the width of the thickness-reduced
section is greater than the initial width of the strip-shaped rolling stock.
When a desired profile is formed of a sectionwise-deformed rolling stock, the
at
least one thickness-reduced section of the rolling stock is so arranged that
it is
located in a statistically little loaded region, e.g., adjacent to the neutral
line in
the primarily loaded directions of the profile. The thickness-reduced section
of
the rolling stock extends along the longitudinal axis of the produced profile.
The drawback of the proposed solution consists in that in order to optimally
use
the material-saving effect, as large as possible thickness reduction is
desired.
The local thinning of the rolling stock, however, can lead to the loss of
stiffness,
which limits the maximal possible reduction of the thickness.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a profile which
is
formed of a strip-shaped rolling stock and which is optimized both with regard
to saving of material and with regard to stiffness.
2
2655586.1
CA 02639760 2008-09-23
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This and other objects of the present invention, which will become apparent
hereinafter, are achieved by providing at least one thickened region in a
region
of the at least one bend and which has a material thickness greater than the
initial material thickness of the rolling stock the profile is formed of.
By the arrangement of the at least one thickened region in the region of the
bend, i.e., in or at the bend of the profile, the stiffness of the profile in
a high-
loaded region of the material-optimized profile is improved. The inventive
profile characterized, at a contour comparable with the contour of a profile
formed of a strip-shaped rolling stock having a constant thickness, by a small
increase of the used material, with the loss of stiffness, which is caused by
thickness reduction, being compensated at least partially by the at least one
thickened region or by resulted increase of local stiffness of the profile. If
necessary, the stiffness of the produced profile can even be increased in
comparison with a profile formed of a strip-shaped material with a constant
thickness. The at least one thickened region is formed by material
accumulation and is formed, during formation of the thickness-reduced section,
3
2655586.1
CA 02639760 2008-09-23
with correspondingly formed rolls during the cold rolling process in the same
rolling step.
Advantageously, thickened regions are provided on both sides of at least one
thickness-reduced section. If the profile has more than one thickness-reduced
regions, advantageously, thickened regions or material accumulations are
provided on both sides of each thickness-reduced section. The material
accumulations, e.g., are provided on one or both sides of the strip-shaped
rolling stock and, thus, on both sides of the deformed profile formed
therefrom.
Advantageously, the at least one thickened region.is provided adjacent to the
at
least one bend. This enables a simple deformation of the strip-shaped rolling
stock and, at the same time, improves the stiffness of the profile despite the
presence of a thickness-reduced section.
The inventive profile has side walls enclosing, a.t least partially, a hollow
space,
with the at least one thickened region being advantageously located adjacent
to
the hollow space. Thus, the at least one thickness region does not project
outwardly of the profile, so that the function or the arrangement of the
profile is
not limited by the thickened region-forming material accumulation.
4
2655586.1
CA 02639760 2008-09-23
Advantageously, the material thickness of the at least one thickened region
corresponds to 1.1-2 times of the initial material thickness of the rolling
stock
the profile is formed of. This insures an advantageous improvement of the
stiffness of the material-optimized profile.
Advantageously, the at least one thickened region has a material width in a
direction transverse to a longitudinal axis of the profile and corresponding
to
1.0-5.0 times of the initial material width of the rolling stock the profile
is
formed of. This likewise insures an advantageous improvement of the stiffness
of the material-optimized profile.
The novel features of the present invention, which are considered as
characteristic for the invention, are set forth in the appended claims. The
invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its mode of
operation,
together with additional advantages and objects thereof, will be best
understood
from the following detailed description of preferred embodiment, when read
with reference to the accompanying drawings.
2655586.1
CA 02639760 2008-09-23
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS:
The drawings. show:
Fig. 1 a cross-sectional view of a profile according to the present
invention; and
Fig. 2 a cross-sectional view of a section of the profile shown in Fig. 1
in the region of material accumulation at an increased, in
comparison with Fig. 1, scale.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF
THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
A profile 11 according to the present invention, which is shown in Figs. 1-2,
has
a C-shaped cross-section with two, extending parallel to each other, side
walls
12 and a connection section 13 that connects the two side walls 12 with each
other. A bend 17 is provided between each of the side walls 12 and the
connection section 13. The free ends 14 of the side walls 12 are bent inward
and, thus, have each a bend 18. The side walls 12 partially enclose a hollow
space 19. The profile 11 extends along a longitudinal axis 15.
6
2655586.1
CA 02639760 2008-09-23
The profile 11 is formed of a strip-shaped rolling stock with an initial
material
thickness W and has two thickness-reduced sections 16 in the two side walls
12,
respectively. The thickness-reduced sections 16 have a material thickness D
that is smaller than the initial material thickness W. On opposite sides of
each
of the thickness-reduced sections 16, there are provided thickened regions 21,
22, respectively, which are formed by material accumulation and have a
material thickness H and a material width B. The thickened regions 21, 22
extend transverse to the longitudinal axis 15 of the profile 11. The material
thickness H of the thickened regions 21 and 22 is greater than the initial
material thickness W of the strip-shaped rolling stock. The thickened regions
21, 22 are located adjacent to the hollow space 19 and extend along the
longitudinal axis 15 of the profile 11. The thickened region 21 in the region
of
the bend 17 of the profile 11 is located directly in the bend 17. The
thickened
region 22 is located, in the region of the bend 18 of the profile 11, directly
adjacent to the bend 18.
The material thickness H of the thickened regions 21, 22 corresponds to 1.1-
2.0
times of the initial thickness W of the strip-shaped rolling stock. The
material
width B of the thickened regions 21, 22 corresponds to 1.0-5.0 times of the
7
2655586.1
CA 02639760 2008-09-23
initial material thickness W of the rolling stock. The thickened regions 21,
22
are arranged between the thickness-reduced section 16 and the bends 17 and 18,
respectively, with the thickened regions 22 being arranged adjacent to the
bends
18, respectively.
In Fig. 1, the thickened regions 21, 22 are arranged symmetrically on the
profile
11. However, this is not absolutely necessary for improvement of stiffness of
a
material-optimized profile 11. The thickened regions 21, 22, which are
arranged on the side wall 12 and/or are located opposite each other, can have
different dimensions or be arranged unsymmetrically. Further, it is not
necessary that all of the thickened regions extend in the same direction. As
shown schematically with dash lines, thickened regions 23 can extend
outwardly, i.e., remotely from the hollow space 19.
Though the present invention was shown and described with references to the
preferred embodiment, such is merely illustrative of the present invention and
is
not to be construed as a limitation thereof and various modifications of the
present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art. It is
therefore not
intended that the present invention be limited to the disclosed embodiment or
8
2655586.1
CA 02639760 2008-09-23
details thereof, and the present invention includes all variations and/or
alternative embodiments within the spirit and scope of the present invention
as
defined by the appended claims.
9
2655586.1
