NZ620614B2 - Can manufacture - Google Patents

Abstract

method for manufacture of a metal can body, comprises a first stretching stage, a second stretching stage and a drawing operation. The first stretching stage comprises positioning a sheet metal cup with a sidewall and an integral base, clamping an annular region on the base to define a first enclosed portion which includes a central part of the base, and deforming and stretching at least some of the first enclosed portion to thereby increase the surface area and reduce the thickness of the base. The second stretching stage comprises stretching a second enclosed portion of the base, the second portion including the same area or a second area than the first enclosed portion, the second area including the central part of the base, in which the step of clamping the annular region of the base is adapted to restrict or prevent metal flow from radially outside the annular region into the first enclosed portion during stretching. The drawing operation comprises drawing the cup into a can body by pulling and transferring material outwardly from the stretched and thinned base. sed portion which includes a central part of the base, and deforming and stretching at least some of the first enclosed portion to thereby increase the surface area and reduce the thickness of the base. The second stretching stage comprises stretching a second enclosed portion of the base, the second portion including the same area or a second area than the first enclosed portion, the second area including the central part of the base, in which the step of clamping the annular region of the base is adapted to restrict or prevent metal flow from radially outside the annular region into the first enclosed portion during stretching. The drawing operation comprises drawing the cup into a can body by pulling and transferring material outwardly from the stretched and thinned base.

Description

H:\sbI\InIW'OV'GIWRPOHIVIDCOSBU9533620_l.docx-l6/[lZ/2016 CAN MANUFACTURE This invention relates to the production of metal cups and in particular (but not exclusively) to metal cups le for the production of "two—piece" metal containers or can bodies.

US 4095544 (NATIONAL STEEL ATION) 20/06/1978 details conventional Draw & Wall ironing (DWI) and Draw & Re-Draw (DRD) processes for manufacturing can bodies from cup—sections for use in making two—piece metal containers. [Note that in the United States of America, DWI is instead ly referred to as D&I]. The term "two- piece" refers to i) the can body and ii) the closure that would be subsequently ed to the open end of the filled can body to form the container.

In a DWI (D&|) process (as illustrated in figures 6 to 10 of US 4,095,544), a flat (typically) circular blank stamped out from a roll of metal sheet is drawn through a g die, under the action of a punch, to form a shallow first stage cup. This initiaI drawing stage does not result in any intentional thinning of the blank. Thereafter, the cup, which is typically mounted on the end face of a close g punch or ram, is pushed h one or more annular wall—ironing dies for the purpose of effecting a ion in thickness of the sidewall of the cup, thereby resulting in an elongation in the sidewall of the cup and forming a can body. By itself, the ironing process will not result in any change in the nominal diameter of the first stage cup.

Figure 1 shows the distribution of metal in a container (or "can") body resulting from a conventional DWI (D&l) process. Figure 1 is illustrative onIy, and is not intended to be precisely to scale. Three regions are indicated in figure 1: — Region 1 represents the un-ironed aI of the base 1. This remains approximately the same thickness as the ingoing gauge of the blank, i.e. it is not affected by the separate manufacturing operations of a conventional DWI process.

— Region 2 represents the ironed mid—section 2 of the sidewall. Its thickness (and thereby the amount of ironing required) is determined by the performance required for the container body.

- Region 3 represents the ironed top—section 3 of the ll. Typically in can making, this ironed top—section is around 50—75% ofthe thickness of the ingoing gauge.

In a DRD process (as illustrated in figures 1 to 5 of US 544), the same drawing technique is used to form the first stage cup. However, rather than employing an ironing process, the first stage cup is then subjected to one or more re-drawing operations which act to progressively reduce the diameter of the cup and y elongate the sidewall of the cup. By themselves, most conventional re-drawing operations are not ed to result in any change in thickness of the cup material. However, taking the e of container bodies manufactured from a typical DRD process, in practice there is typically some thickening at the top of the finished container body (ofthe order of 10% or more). This thickening is a natural effect of the re-drawing process and is ned by the compressive effect on the material when wing from a cup of large er to one of smaller diameter.

Note that there are alternative known DRD processes which achieve a thickness reduction in the sidewall of the cup through use of small or compound radii draw dies to thin the sidewall by stretching in the draw and re—draw stages. atively, a combination of ironing and re—drawing may be used on the first stage cup, which thereby reduces both the cup’s diameter and sidewall thickness. For example, in the field of the cture of two—piece metal containers (cans), the ner body is typically made by drawing a blank into a first stage cup and subjecting the cup to a number of re-drawing operations until arriving at a container body of the desired nominal diameter, then followed by ironing the sidewall to provide the desired sidewall thickness and height.

However, DWl (D&l) and DRD processes employed on a large commercial \1nuzrwovmWRPoanDCOSBTxQS}3620_l.(locx-16/0212016 scale have a serious limitation in that they do not act to reduce the thickness (and therefore ) of material in the base of the cup. In particular, drawing does not result in reduction in thickness of the object being drawn, and ironing only acts on the sidewall of the can body.

Essentially, for known DWI (D&l) and DRD processes forthe manufacture of can bodies for two—piece containers, the thickness of the base remains broadly unchanged from that of the ingoing gauge of the blank. This can result in the base being far r than is required for performance purposes.

The metal ing industry is fiercely competitive, with weight reduction being a primary objective because it reduces transportation and raw material costs. Typically, containers such as cans for packaging food or beverage products are formed from a coil of single d steel of less than 0.35 mm thickness. By way of example, around 65% of the costs of manufacturing a typical two-piece metal food container with side walls ironed to 0.127 mm (0.005" (5 thou)) derive from raw material costs.

There is therefore a need for improved light-weighting of metal cup— sections in a cost—effective manner.

Unpublished patent application PCT/EP11/051666 in the name of Crown ing Technology, Inc. describes a method of manufacture of a can body which uses a stretching operation to achieve a base which is r than the ingoing gauge of the metal sheet prior to stretching, without requiring loss or waste of metal. The present application is in the name of the same Applicant and represents an improvement of the invention of that unpublished application which relates to improving the effectiveness of the stretching s by completing it in two or more separate hing stages. The improvement of embodiments of the present invention increases stretch in previously unstretched and/or under-stretched portions of the cup-sections.

Note that in this document, the terms "cup—section" and "cup" are used interchangeably. Furthermore, the term "container" and "can" are often used to refer to the same product. quaxaUnlu'wovuIWRPonh]\DCC\PXA\10008430_l .docx-l 8/04/20 1 6 According to a first aspect of the t ion, there is provided a method for manufacture of a metal can body, the method comprising the following stages: i) a first stretching stage comprising: positioning a cup having a sidewall and an al base, the cup being formed of metal sheet, clamping an annular region on the base to define a first enclosed portion which includes a central part of the base, and deforming and stretching at least some of the first enclosed portion to thereby increase the surface area and reduce the thickness of the base; ii) a second stretching stage comprising: stretching a second enclosed portion of the base, the second portion including the same area or a second area than the first enclosed portion, the second area including the central part of the base; in which the step of clamping the annular region of the base is adapted to restrict or prevent metal flow from radially outside the annular region into the first enclosed portion during stretching; and iii) a drawing operation comprising drawing the cup into a can body by pulling and transferring material outwardly from the stretched and thinned base.

In the packaging industry, in which cans for the packaging of both food and ge products are manufactured, it is considered essential to use lightweight material, for example less than 0.35mm ess for single reduced steel.

Typically, the second stretching operation comprises clamping a second annular region of the base to define a second enclosed n which defines a ent area from the first enclosed portion but which includes the central part of the base; and deforming and stretching at least some of the second ed area, to reduce the thickness of the base still further; in which the annular clamping operations are adapted to restrict or prevent metal flow from radially outside the clamped regions into the enclosed n during stretching.

The method of ments of the present invention focuses r on the region of least amount of stretch (i.e. percentage thinning) in the broadly spherical hing method of unpublished patent application PCT/EP11/051666, which is at the centre of the base of the cup.

The method is directed at increasing the level of stretch in this area of the cup still further for a number of reasons: - This area is at the centre of the finished can, and normally is not a performance critical area. The metal thickness ore is also not critical, and the further stretching of the cup base achieved gives the benefit of further reduction of the metal content in the can, without significantly reduced pressure performance.

- By using an additional stretching of the centre part ofthe cup, as opposed to the periphery of the stretched area in the cup base, when the cup is redrawn in the ker, a greater amount of metal is transferred into the body wall. This is because the periphery of the cup base is r, and a r volume of metal is transferred for a given area.

— By using two or more stretching operations, it has been found to be possible to control base thickness still further.

In a first embodiment, the first stretching operation stretches only a first ed portion which is the central portion of the cup base, typically into a domed profile. The second stretching operation of this embodiment may provide a stretch punch having a larger diameter and deeper profile than that used for the first operation. The second ion may include supporting the dome formed in the first stretching operation whilst g the outer portion of the dome. Thus the second enclosed portion may have a larger area than the first enclosed portion. By working specifically on the central portion of the cup in the first stretching operation, there is increased stretching al in this region, as compared to the single operation process of PCT/EP 11 /051666. in another embodiment, the first stretching operation may include stretching substantially all the base of the cup, and forming a first stretched profile with a large diameter and flat central portion. This embodiment includes clamping of a second annular region by clamping only that l portion ofthe base. in other words, the step of clamping of a second annular region comprises clamping a second annular region, defining a second enclosed n, which comprises substantially only a erwovmwRPoflleCC‘SB'IWSB3620_l.docx-l6/0y2016 l part of the base. The two stretching operations of this embodiment are completely independent of each other.

In a third embodiment of this invention, the second stretching operation may comprise a reverse stretching of a central part of the base. The corresponding apparatus used for this embodiment may se a cup holder with a central reverse forming feature (domed former) and the stretch punch may have a ponding recess in its central portion.

Stretching in the method of this ment is typically in two stages but in a single movement of the press. By stretching both the inner and outer portions of the dome in that single movement, this may increase the risk of splitting. Alternatively, it is preferable to use an apparatus with an independently driven component as reverse forming tool and central dome former rather than being incorporated with the cup holder. The method thus includes advancing a central dome former and stretch forming the inverted dome after first stretching and therefore completion of the outer portion of the dome.

According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for manufacture of a metal can body from a cup formed of metal sheet, in which the cup has a ll and an integral base, the apparatus comprising: i) a cup holder on which a cup is mountable; ii) a first clamp ring which is adapted to clamp a first annular region on the base to define a first enclosed portion which includes a central part of the base; iii) a first h punch which is adapted to deform and stretch at least some of that central part of the base to thereby increase its surface area and reduce the thickness of the base; iv) a second clamp ring which is adapted to clamp a second r region on the base and defines a second enclosed portion having a different area from that of the first enclosed portion but including the central part; in which the first clamp ring and the second clamp ring are adapted to ct or prevent metal flow from ly outside respective clamped regions into the first enclosed portions and the second enclosed portion, respectively, during stretching; v) a second h punch which is adapted to deform and stretch at least some of the second enclosed portion to reduce the thickness of the base further, and vi) means for drawing the cup into a can body by pulling and transferring outwardly material of the stretched and thinned base.

The apparatus has features which are provided for carrying out corresponding steps of the alternative stretching methods as described above. Thus, in one embodiment, the second stretch punch includes a complementary support surface for supporting the stretched part of the enclosed portion. in r embodiment, the second clamp ring restrains material radially outside the central portion of the base from flow into the enclosed portion and the second stretch tool contacts the stretched central part from the first stretching operation for further stretching of that part. in yet another embodiment, the stretch punch has a central recess and the apparatus es a central protrusion on the cup holder, which, in use, contacts the central portion of the cup so as to reverse stretch that central portion. in this embodiment, both stretch operations are carried out using the same apparatus and in a single action. Alternatively, the central protrusion of the cup holder comprises a double action press with an independent second punch which acts as a reverse forming tool and central dome former and the stretch punch has a profile which is d to form the larger outer dome whereby, in use, the central portion of the cup is formed in a separate operation, during or after tion of formation of the larger outer dome.

The present invention will now be bed, by way of non—limiting example only, with reference to the any drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a side view of a container body of the prior art and resulting from a tional DWl process; Figure 2 is a schematic side view of a first embodiment of the invention showing first and second operations (figures 2b and 20 respectively) of a two stage process; H:ksbnlmm‘ovmWRPonbbDCCSBTWS33620_l .docx- l 6/02/20 1 6 Figure 3 is a schematic side view of a second embodiment of the invention showing first and second operations (figures 3a and 3c respectively) of a two stage process; Figure 4 is a schematic side view of a third embodiment of the invention showing two stages with a single press movement; and Figure 5 is a schematic side view similar to that of figure 4 but having a double action press.

Figure 1 shows the distribution of material in the base 1 and sidewall 2 of a container body of the prior art resulting from a tional DWI process.

An initial "cupping" operation is carried out as described in detail in unpublished patent ation PCT/EP11/051666. The cupping operation can be summarised as s: A cupping press (also known as a "cupper") has a draw pad and a draw die. A draw punch is al with the draw die, and a circumferential cutting element surrounds the draw pad. in use, a flat section of metal sheet is held in position between opposing surfaces of the draw pad and the draw die. Steel tin-plate (Temper 4) with an ingoing gauge thickness (t ingoing) of 0.280 mm has been used for the metal sheet. Although neither the invention of PCT/EP11/051666 nor the present invention is d to ular gauges or metals and even polymer—coated metal could be used, it is considered ial in the metal packaging ry forthe gauge to be kept as low as possible, typically less than 0.35 mm for single reduced steel. A disc is cut from the metal sheet to form a circular planar blank.

The cupper forms a cup profile from the blank by progressively drawing the planar blank against the forming surface of a draw die. The cup thus formed has a ll and integral base. The wall thickness of the cup is essentially unchanged from that of the ingoing gauge of the blank, i.e. negligible stretching or thinning should have occurred. The cup that results from this initial drawing operation was referred to in H:\sbi\lnlcrwovu)\.\l RPonbl\DCC\SBT\953 3 620_l 110cm] 6/02/20 1 6 -8A- PCT/EP1 1/051666, and will also be referred to in this application as the "first stage cup".

In a first embodiment of the present invention, the first stage g comprises, as shown in figure 2a, a cup holder 10, on which is mounted a first stage cup 5. The lower tooling shown in figure 2a ses a clamp ring 20 and stretch punch 15.

In the first operation, the cup holder 10 enters the cup 5 and advances in the direction of the arrow to clamp the outer annulus of the cup base against the clamp ring 20. The cup holder 10 continues to advance with the clamp ring 20 moving the cup down over the stationary h punch . Figure 2b shows the position of the tools at the end of the first operation. The enclosed area within the clamp ring 20 corresponds to the central portion of the cup face so that relative movement between the cup holder, and cup, and the stretch punch leads to stretching of only the central portion of the cup face into a domed profile.

The cup is removed from the cup holder of the first operation tooling and placed on a different holder for the second operation. The two stages are at completely separate tooling stations.

Second stage g used for a second stretch operation is shown in figure 2c. The second operation tools are similar to those of the first operation with the stretch punch 25 having a larger diameter and deeper profile. The cup with stretched inner base, i.e. dome 8, is mounted on a second cup holder 29 and clamped against larger internal er clamp ring 27. In the example of figure 2c, the central portion of the second operation stretch punch 25 matches the profile of the first operation punch , although matching of profiles is not essential, as shown by the dashed line in figure 2c. The central punch portion supports the dome 8 formed in the first operation cup whilst the outer portion 9 of a second operation dome is formed. Second stretching is carried out as in the first operation. in this embodiment, in contrast with the known single stage hing of the unpublished prior art, i.e. PCT/EP11/051666, the first stretching operation works specifically on the central n ofthe cup. As a result there is a better opportunity to stretch this central region, compared with the current single operation process. in other words, the total chord length of the stretched base ing the two stages and two operations is increased over that achieved by the single operation stretching of PCT/EP11/051666.

A second embodiment (method/apparatus) of the present invention using two stages and two ions is shown in figure 3. The first operation tooling of figure 3a es a cup holder 30 for holding the cup 31 as before but with a first stretch punch 35 and a clamp ring 40 which have larger diameters (internal in the case of the clamp ring) than those of the apparatus of figure 2a so that in the first operation the punch stretches the whole ofthe base ofthe cup 31. The profile of punch 35 has a flat central portion 32 so that the first operation predominantly stretches the outer portion of the domed profile.

Figure 3b shows the second operation tooling at the start of the operation.

This includes an inboard clamp ring 45 and second stretch punch 50, which is of smaller diameter than the first operation punch 35.

Initially, the lifter pad 55 is up in line with the clamp ring 45 and stretch punch 50. The stretched cup 31 from the first operation stands on the lifter pad 55. The second operation cup holder 48 enters the first operation cup and advances to the base of the cup. As the cup holder 48 continues to advance, it pushes down the lifter pad 55 until the central portion ofthe cup’s dome is clamped against the clamp ring 45. ued advancement of the cup holder 48, clamp ring 45 and lifter pad 55 stretches the l portion of the dome over the second stretch punch 50 until the cup is stretched to its final form 59, as shown in figure 3c.

Whilst this method requires two operations, these actions of hing the inner and outer portions of the cup base are completely independent of each other.

A third ment of the invention, which combines the two stage stretching in a single movement of the press, is shown in figure 4. The tooling for this method is similar to that of the first operation for the second ment shown in figure 3a, except that the cup holder 60 of figure 4 has a l reverse forming tool 64 and the stretch punch 66 has a corresponding recess 68 in its central portion.

In use, the cup holder 60 enters the cup and advances to clamp the outer annulus 72 of the cup base against the clamp ring 70. The cup holder 60 continues to advance with the clamp ring (70), thereby moving the cup down over the stretch punch 66 and starting to stretch form an outer portion 74 of the base into a dome shape.

The reverse forming tool (domed former) 64 on the cup holder then contacts the centre of the cup and as the g es further, the cup base stretches so that the remainder of outer portion 74 of the dome and the reverse formed e (inverted part) 76 are formed at the same time.

Whilst it is advantageous that the two stages of stretching are carried out in a single movement of the press, by stretching both the outer and inner portions of the dome in that single movement, this may increase the risk of splitting of the cup base. The double action press and tooling of figure 5 provides a solution to this. in figure 5, the reverse forming tool 80 is an independently driven component ratherthan being incorporated in the cup holder 85. In operation, the reverse forming tool 80 can be advanced to stretch form the inverted dome 76 during or after completion of stretching of the outer portion 74 of the dome by the stretch punch 66. This double acting press has the benefits of carrying out the stretching in two independent stages and reducing the risk of splitting.

An example of a drawing operation which causes the stretched and d material of the base of any of the above embodiments to be progressively pulled out and transferred from the base into a reduced diameter ll is bed in unpublished patent application PCT/EP11/051666 with reference to figure 10 of that application. This drawing operation has the effect of ning the stretched regions of the base.

While various embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it should be understood that they have been presented by way of example only, and not by way of limitation. it will be apparent to a person skilled in the relevant art that s changes in form and detail can be made therein t departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Thus, the present invention should not be limited by any of the above bed exemplary ments. [0047A]Throughout this specification and the claims which follow, unless the context es otherwise, the word “comprise", and variations such as "comprises" and "comprising", will be understood to imply the inclusion of -1’IA— a stated integer or step or group of integers or steps but not the exclusion of any other integer or step or group of integers or steps. [0047B]The reference in this specification to any prior publication (or information derived from it), or to any matter which is known, is not, and should not be taken as an acknowledgment or admission or any form of suggestion that that prior publication (or information derived from it) or known matter forms part of the common general knowledge in the field of endeavour to which this specification relates.

Reference signs list Figure 1 1 can base 2 can lower ll 3 can upper sidewall Figure 2 first stage cup (unformed) 8 1St op dome 9 outer portion of 2nd op dome ioistopcuphOMer 1515topsUekflipunch ist op clamp ring 2nd op stretch punch 27 2nd op clamp ring 29 2nd op cup hoider Figure 3 301StopcuphOMed Siistopcup 320enfialpmfionofpunch 3515topsnekflipunch 40ifiopcmmpnng 452mopcmmpnng 482ndopcuphOMer 502ndopshm£hpunch 55Hfierpad pcup Figures 4 and 5 60 cup holder and upper tooi 64reversefornflngfeanne(cenUaldcwne)on uppertooi rpunchtoo 68 recess in lower punch tool 700bmpnng 72 outer dome annulus 74oumrpomonofdmhe 76 inverted dome (reverse forming feature) 80independemfiooifiyrevasefonnmg(cenUaidomefonneo 85 cup holder

Claims (7)

THE CLAIMS DEFINING THE INVENTION ARE AS FOLLOWS:

1. A method for manufacture of a metal can body, the method comprising the following stages: 0 a first stretching stage comprising: positioning a cup having a ll and an al base, the cup being formed of metal sheet, clamping an annular region on the base to define a first enclosed portion which includes a l part of the base, and ing and stretching at least some of the first enclosed portion to thereby increase the surface area and reduce the ess of the base; ii) a second stretching stage comprising: stretching a second enclosed portion of the base, the second portion including the same area or a second area than the first enclosed portion, the second area including the l part of the base; in which the step of clamping the annular region of the base is adapted to restrict or prevent metal flow from radially outside the annular region into the first enclosed n during stretching; and in) a drawing operation comprising drawing the cup into a can body by pulling and transferring material outwardly from the stretched and thinned base.

2. A method according to claim 1, in which the annular region is a first annular region and the first and second stretching stages are carried out in two independent press operations, in which: i) the first stretching stage is a first press operation; ii) the second stretching stage is a second press operation, and comprises: clamping a second annular region of the base to define the H:\Sh\hllcrwovm\NRPonbl\DCC\SB‘I\953362071.docx-lé/UZ/Ztllé second ed portion, the second enclosed portion ng an area that is different from the first enclosed portion; and deforming and stretching at least some of the second enclosed portion, to reduce the thickness of the base still further; iii) the steps of clamping the first annular region of the base and clamping the second annular region of the base are each adapted to restrict or prevent metal flow from radially outside the first annular region and the second annular region, respectively, into the first and second enclosed portions during the first stretching stage and the second stretching stage, respectively.

3. A method ing to claim 2, in which the second stretching ion r includes supporting the stretched part of the second enclosed portion.

4. A method according to claim 2 or claim 3, in which the second enclosed portion has a larger area than the first enclosed portion.

5. A method according to claim 2, in which the second enclosed portion comprises substantially only a central part of the base.

6. A method according to claim 2, in which the second stretching operation comprises reverse stretching of the central part of the base.

7. An apparatus for manufacture of a metal can body from a cup formed of metal sheet, in which the cup has a sidewall and an integral base, the apparatus comprising: i) a cup holder on which a cup is mountable; ii) a first clamp ring which is d to clamp a first annular region on the base to define a first enclosed portion which includes a central part of the base; iii) a first stretch punch which is adapted to deform and stretch at least some of that central part of the base to thereby se its surface area and reduce the thickness of the base; H:‘.sb1\lmcrwovmwRPonbl\DCCxSB"l\9533620J .docx- 1