FORM 2
THE PATENTS ACT 1970
(39 of 1970)
&
The Patent Rules, 2003
Complete Specification
(See section 10 and rule 13)
A Forging Method To Make A Reinforcement Bracket And An Apparatus
To Make It
Bharat Forge Limited
An Indian company registered under the Indian Companies Act, 1956. Mundhwa, Pune - 411036, Maharashtra, India
The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in
which it is to be performed.

Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates to a manufacturing method for reinforcement bracket. Particularly the present invention relates to the manufacturing of reinforcement bracket using closed die forging method. More particularly the present invention relates to a method of producing as-forged reinforcement brackets using sequential forging operation.
Background of the invention:
Typically, the reinforcement bracket is used in automobile applications. Reinforcement Bracket connects the longitudinal frame and transverse frame of an automobile with the driver’s cabin. It is used in the automobile application as a driver safety component. Reinforcement bracket is capable of lifting the vehicle driver cabin in upward direction in case of emergency. A reinforcement bracket typically has a complex geometry having thin webs, channels, tall ribs, wide spread and bosses. These features make the reinforcement bracket more suitable for casting than forging process. Conventionally, reinforcement brackets are manufactured using a multistep process such as casting, followed by various machining processes. On the basis of the final geometry of the component, a pre-machined shape bracket is prepared using casting. Sequential machining operations like turning, facing, finish machining etc. are applied to the pre-machined shape to produce the final shape using specialized equipment. These conventional methods have following drawbacks:

1. These manufacturing methods consume large amount of resources and are costly.
2. Due to use of casting method, the part produced will have casting defects like porosities, micro cracks, micro/macro segregation etc.
3. The cast product has as-cast dendritic microstructure which has inferior properties. These products have comparatively lower life and safety.
4. As-cast products don’t have the benefits of continuous grain flow lines (as seen in forged product) and the strength properties associated with that.
For improving the properties of the Reinforcement bracket the manufacturing method can be changed from casting to forging. However, forging of reinforcement bracket poses several challenges to the forge master. Typical problems faced during forging are:
1. Poor product quality due to defects like under fill. This is caused by improper material distribution in the initial preform resulting in under fill during finisher operation.
2. Because of the inherent complex die geometry having different planes, a side way thrust comes in to picture that leads to mismatch in top/bottom die.
3. Issue of part handling during forging operation sequence which can result in delay in forging operations like reduce rolling, flattener, bender, blocker & finisher. This leads to drop in forging temperature and subsequently resulting in under fill and poor product quality.

These problems are described in further detail. A reinforcement bracket typically has a complex geometry having thin webs, channels, tall ribs, wide spreads and bosses. Thin webs and channels typically have I-section type geometry which increases the difficulty in forging them. The ratio of thickness to height is 0.3 for a wide spread zone (see Figure 1A), which increases difficulty in forging them. These aspects significantly increase the amount of force required to produce them by forging. The bosses typically are in circular and oval shape. The thin webs are also present at some inclination with respect to horizontal surfaces. This creates problem in defining the parting line in forging die design. Pockets are present in the reinforcement bracket. The regions which represent pockets need to be pierced after forging. Therefore, in forging die design, minimum thickness is assigned to these regions. But these pocket regions’ surface area is larger in reinforcement bracket. A combination of the small thickness and large surface area makes it difficult in producing them through forging before piercing. These complexities make the job of a forge master difficult to produce it through forging. Further, since a huge amount of force and energy is required to produce it, it results in increase in die stresses and reduction in die life.
Thus, there remains a very real and substantial need for a robust manufacturing method, using forging, for the production of reinforcement brackets having improved mechanical properties, and reduced cost, resources and time.

Summary of the Invention:
Present invention discloses a forging method for reinforcement brackets used in automobile applications. A reinforcement bracket connects the longitudinal frame and transverse frame of an automobile with the driver’s cabin. The method of invention comprises a step-wise forging process to achieve final (or near-net) shape of the reinforcement bracket. The process starts with manufacturing of a preform from a cylindrical or RCS (Rounded Corner Square) billet using the process of reduce rolling followed by combined bending and flattening (or buster forging), which is further followed by the steps of blocker forging, finisher forging, trimming and integrated/combined piercing and padding. An ejection system is also provided in both top and bottom forging die to help ejection of the forged part from the die that has complex cavity geometry. An apparatus to carry out the said forging method is also disclosed. One key aspect of the apparatus is the combined station for the steps of buster forging, blocker forging, and finisher forging, which is facilitated by a single die block which comprises of a bottom die and a top die. The bottom and top die are provided with cavities (in the bottom die) and impressions (in the top die) in respect of the buster/blocker/finisher forging.
Brief Description of Figures:
Figure 1 shows the typical reinforcement bracket
Figure 1A shows the reinforcement bracket when viewed in the direction of the
arrow shown in Figure 1

Figure 2 shows the stepwise forging process of manufacturing a reinforcement
bracket according to the invention.
Figure 3 shows the top die of the invention
Figure 3A shows the bottom die of the invention
Figure 3B shows the top and bottom dies with the component to be forged in
between
Figure 4 shows a schematic of the apparatus of the invention
Objects of the Invention:
It is the object of the present invention to manufacture a reinforcement bracket
with a closed die forging process.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a manufacturing method which improves the mechanical properties of reinforcement bracket.
Yet another objective of the present invention is to provide a manufacturing method for reinforcement bracket which reduces resources and energy costs of manufacturing process.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a manufacturing method for reinforcement bracket which produces a near net shape reinforcement bracket.

List of parts:
1 Reinforcement bracket 8d Blocker locator cavity 1a Boss, 1b – Rib, 1c – Internal 8e ejector holes pocket, 1d – deep cavity feature 8f Finisher locator cavity representing a wide spread 8g mismatch lock female
2 First preform 25 8h Blocker projector cavity
2A Buster sink 8i Integral forging die assembly
3 Second preform 9a Mismatch lock – male 3A Blocker sink 9b buster impression
4 Blocker 9c blocker impression 4A Finisher sink 30 9d finisher impression
5 Finisher (with flash) 10 Apparatus of invention
6 Trimmed finisher 10a Reduce Rolling station
7 Trimmed, Pierced and padded 10b Integrated
finisher buster/blocker/finisher forging
8 bottom die (Integral) 35 station
9 top die (Integral) 10c Trimming station
8a, 8b billet locator impressions front 10d Integrated piercing and padding
and end station
8c Handling slot for robot gripper 10e Post-forging operations station
Detailed Description of the Invention:
The present invention is related to method of manufacturing a reinforcement bracket (1) used in automobile applications. Also disclosed are the tools developed to perform the method of invention. The key inventive feature of the present invention is the strength achieved due to step-wise forging operations carried out during manufacturing.
Figures 1 and 1A show a typical reinforcement bracket (1) which comprises components such as ribs (1b) and bosses (1a) interspersed with pockets (1c), configured in a manner that allows it to support the load from a vehicle. It can be connected to the vehicle through a hinge connection so that in emergency

situations, a reinforcement bracket (1) is capable of lifting the vehicle driver cabin in upward direction.
Use of forging technique to manufacture a reinforcement bracket (1) is challenging due to following reasons:
1. The shape of the bracket (1) is such that there are drastic changes in the sections due to presence of ribs, bosses etc.
2. The axial plane of the bracket (1) is not restricted to one plane and hence, different planer geometries are present in reinforcement bracket (1).
3. Moreover, the change in section size is abrupt which further increases the difficulty in material flow and increases required forging load, thus increasing the complexity in forging operations.
4. Finally, it can be seen from Figure 1A that such brackets may have features (1d) that may require deep cavities in the forging dies. Forging material into such deep cavities poses challenges.
Therefore conventionally casting methods are used to manufacture a reinforcement bracket (1).
In order to overcome difficulties during forging a reinforcement bracket (1), the invention discloses a forging method which consists of series of operations such as reduce rolling; combined flattening and bending (or buster), blocker, finisher; trimming; and combined padding and piercing operations.

As shown in Figure 2, the process of manufacturing of a reinforcement bracket (1) according to the invention uses step-wise forging operation to achieve a high strength reinforcement bracket (1). The forging method disclosed here allows material flow into deep die cavities without any forging defects such as under-fills, cold-shuts, laps and folds. The necessary steps of die and tooling design has been taken for every stage which ensures complete material fill up.
In conventional step wise forging method, each step is a distinct step performed using different set of tool/die (e.g. a flattener or a bender). In the case of method of invention, disclosed here for forging a reinforcement bracket (1), the steps of flattening/bending and redistribution of material (in blocker and finisher states) have been combined in one step to be performed using a single die.
Figures 3, 3A, and 3B, show a configuration of bottom and top dies that are used in the method of invention. The bottom die (8) used in the forging operation disclosed here incorporate three receptacles termed as a Second preform/buster sink (2A), a blocker sink (3A) and a finisher sink (4A). The top die (9) used in the forging operation disclosed here incorporate three receptacles or impressions termed as a buster impression (9b), a blocker impression (9c) and a finisher impression (9d).
Further, the steps of piercing and padding operation – which are conventionally carried out at separate piercing and padding stations – are also integrated, i.e.

performed using a single tool. The resulting forged components have better quality, wear resistance, higher strength to weight ratio and continuous/ directional grain flow lines.
As explained in the previous sections, the forging of reinforcement bracket (1) poses several challenges to the forge master. These challenges include under-filling in the finisher operation, mismatch of dies and handling of the part during forging. These problems have been overcome in this invention using the following techniques:
1. Under filling issue: A combined preforming tool i.e. Flattener cum bender has been introduced in the forging process which resulted in improved metal flow simultaneously in all the required three (X, Y & Z – See figures 3 and 3A) directions helping to fill the final finisher cavity completely, thus resolving under fill issue.
2. Mismatch issue: Integral dies blocks have been introduced in this design to address the issue of mismatch. Cavities or sinks (2A, 3A, 4A) and impressions (9b, 9c, 9d) necessary for of each operations are made in the single bottom die (8) and single top die (9) for multiple stages of the forging operation. Further, die locks (8g, 9a) have been introduced to counter the side thrust caused by the part geometry which has helped to eliminate the mismatch issue.
3. Handling issue: New & improved handling system has been introduced at flattener cum bender, and blocker and finisher stages addressing the issue

of cycle time and drop in temperature which has resulted in improved quality of the parts.
As shown in Figure 2, the process of manufacturing of reinforcement bracket (1) according to the invention involves the following steps:
1. Billet cutting into flat-faced billets and preparing billets for preform formation.
2. Making first preform (2) to required size by reduce rolling

3. Making second preform (3) by combined flattening and bending operation.
4. Blocker operation to produce a blocker (4)
5. Forming a finisher (with flash) (5) using finisher forging step
6. Treating the finisher (with flash) (5) by flash trimming,
7. Finally integral/combined piercing and padding process.
8. Post forging operations on final finish part.
Physical nature of the tools that has resulted into development of as-forged Reinforcement bracket:
There are no conventional forging techniques known from the prior art to make a geometrically complex component such as a reinforcement bracket (1). The forging methods disclosed in the invention (flattening cum bending; blocker

forging; finisher forging) may be carried out at individual stations. This would involve using individual die blocks to carry out each of these stages.
However, in the preferred embodiment of the invention, the steps of flattening cum bending, blocker forging, and finisher forging have been carried out at a single station that uses a single forging equipment, preferably a mechanical press, and using an integral forging die assembly (8i) which comprises a separate top and a bottom die (9, 8). Here, the dies (8, 9) have been provided with impressions (9b, 9c, 9d) or sinks (2A, 3A, 4A) corresponding to the individual stages of flattening cum bending; blocker forging, and finisher forging. Impressions (9b, 9c, 9d) corresponding to the three sinks (2A, 3A, 4A) provided in the bottom die (8) are provided in the top die (9) such that at the end of any given stage – flattening cum bending; blocker forging; finisher forging – the output component has the required contours.
To be able to achieve the final product and print dimensions, preform dies have been designed, whose output (preform 2 or the Second preform (3)) is similar to the preform obtained if the reduce rolled preform or the first preform (2) is first made to undergo flattening and then bending operation. Thus, two separate preforming operations are replaced by a single preforming operation. This operation distributes the metal to the required zones in the die geometry.

For the next step of the forging operation, the first preform (2) is placed in the corresponding buster sink (2A) of the bottom die. For accurate placement of the first preform (2) in the buster sink (2A), the buster sink (2A) is provided with billet locator impressions (8a, 8b) that correspond in shape and size to the ends of the first preform (2). The buster sink (2A) is also provided with slots (8c) for handling (by a robot) of first preform (2) following the flattening cum bending stage. The flattening cum bending stage produces a flattened and bent preform (or a second preform (3)) that is subject to the next operation – the blocker forging. Blocker forging produced a blocker (4) that is subjected to the finisher forging operation.
Design and shape of the blocker (4) is another feature, which facilitates the flow of material in the finisher to achieve the target die cavity fill up without defects.
Some novel aspects of the process and apparatus of invention consist of the following:
1. Design of hot part handling system, to be able to transfer the forgings during the hot forging operations achieving the desired cycle time. A robot is used for this purpose. Buster sink (2A) has been provided with respective gripping slots (8c) so that second preform (3) may be gripped by the robot for transferring them to respective next stages of forging.
2. Combine flattener and bender to achieve required material distribution.
3. Designing of trimmer for flash removal from finisher (with flash) (5).

4. The final reinforcement bracket (1) comprises a number of internal pockets (1c), which need to be created using a piercing operation. In conventional forging techniques, given the slenderness of the reinforcement bracket (1) as a whole and of its various components, bending and distortion in the trimmed finisher (6) takes place if the piercing and padding operations are applied separately. To avoid these distortions, piercing and padding operations are carried out in a single step/stroke.
5. Post forging operations.
The process of the invention is now disclosed. The steps of the process of invention are carried out in a number of stages, namely a flattening cum bending stage (or a buster stage), a blocker stage, and a finisher stage. These are closed die operations and use a single set of dies – a top die (9) and a bottom die (8) – with required cavities/sinks (2A, 3A, 4A) or impressions (9b, 9c, 9d) provided in them. The bottom die (8) used in the forging operation disclosed here incorporate three receptacles/sinks termed as a buster sink (2A), a blocker sink (3A) and a finisher sink (4A). The top die (9) used in the forging operation disclosed here incorporate three receptacles/impressions termed as a buster impression (9b), a blocker impression (9c) and a finisher impression (9d). These sinks and impressions correspond to the shape of preforms created by a flattening cum bending operation, a blocker forging operation (or simply the blocker operation), and finisher forging operation (or simply the finisher operation) respectively.

For the respective stages of the forging process, the first preform (2) is placed within the buster sink (2A), the second preform (3) is placed within the blocker sink (3A). The preform generated by the blocker forging operation is termed as a blocker (4), which is placed within the finisher sink (4A).
To facilitate accurate placement of the first preform (2) in the buster sink (2A) of the bottom die (8), the buster sink (2A) is provided with billet locator impressions (8a, 8b) which correspond to the shape of the ends of first preform (2). The bottom die (8) is also provided with slots (8c) in the respective sinks (2A,) for handling of the first preform (2) and the second preform (3) by a robot gripper.
The blocker sink (3A) is provided with a blocker locator cavity (8d) which allows accurate placement of the second preform (3). The second preform (3) is shaped such that it has a blocker projection (not shown) that fits accurately within the blocker locator cavity (8d). The blocker projection is formed through the provision of a corresponding cavity (8d) in the buster sink (2A). The blocker sink (3A) is also provided with ejector holes (8e) through which the respective ejection pins (not shown) operate to loosen and eject the blocker (4) with flash once the blocker forging operation is completed. In the unlikely event that the forged parts may get stuck to the top die, the blocker impression (9c) has been provided with at least one ejector hole (8e) through which the respective ejection pins (not shown)

operate to loosen and eject the blocker (4) with flash once the blocker forging operation is completed.
The finisher sink (4A) is provided with a finisher locator cavity (8f) which allows accurate placement of the blocker (4) within the finisher sink (4A). The blocker (4) is shaped such that it has a finisher projection that fits accurately within the finisher locator cavity (8f). The finisher sink (4A) is also provided with at least one ejector hole (8e) through which respective ejection pins (not shown) operate to loosen and eject the finisher (with flash) (5) once the finisher forging operation is completed. In the unlikely event that the forged parts may get stuck to the top die, the finisher impression (9d) has been provided with at least one ejector hole (8e) through which the respective ejection pins (not shown) operate to loosen and eject the finisher (5) with flash once the finisher forging operation is completed.
The bottom die (8) is provided with at least two mismatch controlling die locks (female - 8g) that correspond to their male counterparts (9a) on top die (9).
The locations of the blocker locator cavity (8d) and the finisher locator cavity (8f) within the corresponding sinks (3A and 4A) of the bottom die are provided in the areas that would correspond to where the internal pockets (1c) within the final reinforcement bracket (1) would lie.

The blocker locator cavity (8d) and the finisher locator cavity (8f) are preferably conical in shape.
Billet Preparation & heating:
- This process starts with a cylindrical/RCS (Rounded Corner Square) shape solid billet with required size and identification.
- The input billet is inspected dimensionally, for material cleanliness and for soundness criteria using ultrasonic testing.
- Billet is heated in furnace at 1150° C to 1270° C temp range.
Reduce rolling operation:
- Primarily this is a rolling operation which is used to redistribute the billet
material at desired position based on the final part geometry. The output of
this operation is a reduce rolled preform or a first preform (2).
Flattening cum bending operation (also termed as a buster operation):
- Any type of forging equipment such as mechanical, hydraulic press capable of applying sufficient amount of force is used for preform making.
- This operation involves two dies – a top die (9) and a bottom die (8) – with required cavities/sinks (2A, 3A, 4A) or impressions (9b, 9c, 9d) provided in them. The bottom die (8) used in the forging operation disclosed here is an integral die block which incorporates three receptacles/sinks termed as a buster sink (2A), a blocker sink (3A) and a finisher sink (4A). The top

die (9) used in the forging operation disclosed here is an integral die block which incorporates three receptacles/impressions termed as a buster impression (9b), a blocker impression (9c) and a finisher impression (9d).
- Both dies (8, 9) are preheated to 250 ~ 300 °C before forging.
- Both the dies (8, 9) are properly lubricated using water based graphite lubricant. Alternatively other oil and water based lubricants can also be used.
- The first preform (2) is used as input to this operation. This operation further redistributes the material from reduce rolled preform (2) by flattening and bending the material simultaneously in one press stroke.
- The output of this operation is a second preform also termed as a buster preform (3).
- This operation also generates a blocker projector on second preform (3), with which the positioning of the second preform within the blocker sink (3A) is achieved for the subsequent blocker forging operation.
At the end of the flattening and bending operation the top die (9) is lifted away from the bottom die (8) and the second preform (3) is gripped by the grippers of a robot and placed within the blocker sink (3A), which is also well lubricated.
Blocker forging operation:

- Any type of forging equipment such as mechanical, hydraulic press capable of applying sufficient amount of force is used for making the blocker (4).
- This operation produces a blocker (4) which has the rough shape of the finish forged part or the final reinforcement bracket (1). The blocker (4) has sufficient volume of the material, and smooth curves and transitions, which further helps to guides the material in the intricate shapes of the finisher during the next stage (finisher forging). Any excess material comes out in the form of flash after the blocker operation is complete.
- The blocker (4) serves as the input to the next stage – the finisher forging operation (or simply the finisher operation).
- This operation also generates a finisher projector (not shown) on the blocker (4), with which the positioning of the blocker (4) within the finisher sink (4A) is achieved for the subsequent finisher operation.
At the end of the blocker operation the top die (9) is lifted away from the bottom die (8) and the blocker (4) ejected with an ejection pin (not shown) and thus loosened from the blocker sink (3A). The blocker (4) is next gripped by the grippers of a robot and placed within the finisher sink (4A), which is also well lubricated.
Finisher operation:

- Any type of forging equipment such as mechanical, hydraulic press capable of applying sufficient amount of force is used for finisher making.
- The blocker (4) is taken as input to this operation. A sufficient amount of force is applied to the blocker (4) during the finisher operation, so as to completely fill up both the die impressions. Any excess material comes out in the form of flash after the finisher operation is complete.
- The output of the finisher operation is a finisher (with flash) (5) which meets the dimensional specification of the final reinforcement bracket (1).
At the end of the finisher operation the top die (9) is lifted away from the bottom die (8) and the finisher with flash (5) ejected with an ejection pin (not shown) and thus loosened from the finisher sink (4A). The finisher with flash (5) of the reinforcement bracket (1) has some unavoidable bend and distortion resulting from the forging operations that it has undergone and owing to the geometry of the bracket (1). The bend and distortion is removed during the operations that follow. The finisher with flash (5) is taken to a flash trimming station to trim or remove the unwanted flash.
Trimming operation:
- Any type of forging equipment such as mechanical, hydraulic press
capable of applying sufficient amount of force is used for trimming.

- Here during the press stroke, the finisher with flash (5) is trimmed, thus
removing unwanted flash from the finisher with flash. The output of this
operation is a trimmed finish forged part/finisher (6).
The trimmed finisher (6) is taken to the piercing and padding station.
Combined Piercing & padding operation:
- Any type of forging equipment such as mechanical, hydraulic press capable of applying sufficient amount of force is used for this operation.
- The trimmed finisher (6) is taken as input to this operation. Initially piercing operation of the internal pockets (1c) is carried out during the initial part of the stroke and further the stroke gets completed by hot padding operation, which removes the bends and distortion in pierced trimmed finisher (6) to produce a trimmed, pierced and padded finisher (7).
Post Forging Operations:
- The trimmed pierced and padded finisher (7) is taken as input to this
operation. Post forging operations include hot inspection, hardness
checking, crack detection shot blasting, heat treatment etc.
The invented forging process sequence described above results into better material compactness and directional grain flow lines along the contours of part geometry. This enhances component strength and life.

Apparatus:
As shown in Figure 4, the apparatus (10) of the invention comprises
a) Reduce rolling station (10a), where a first preform is produced on a reduce roller
b) An integral buster/blocker/finisher station (10b). Here a second preform is produced by a forging equipment preferably mechanical press, followed by respectively producing a blocker and a finisher (with flash) by the same forging equipment used for the buster operation, preferably a mechanical press
c) Trimming station (10c), where excess flash is trimmed from the finisher
d) Combined piercing and padding station (10d), where the trimmed finisher is pierced and padded to produce a trimmed pierced and padded finisher (7).
e) At least one post-forging operations station to carry out post forging operations which may include hot inspection, hardness checking, crack detection shot blasting, heat treatment etc.
f) Robotic equipment to lift, transfer and place in respective stations the various components produced at any of the stations mentioned in a to e above.
In an embodiment, there may be separate buster station, a blocker station and a finisher station provided.

A hydraulic press may also be used instead of a mechanical press.
Advantages of the invention:
1. The invented step-wise forging process will make high strength reinforcement bracket (1) having improved productivity, lower manufacturing cost and better performance in its service life.
2. As compared to the cast product of prior art, the forged product will have continuous grain flow lines, as-forged microstructure (equiaxed and fine grains), better strength, toughness and will be devoid of any casting defects (like porosities, cracks, micro/macro segregation etc.).
3. Step-wise forging process will make good quality and economical product.
4. Technologically new invention of improved preform process of (Flattener cum bending) improved the metal flow in all the directions simultaneously in one forging stroke, thus reducing the number of forging operations from two to one i.e. bending & flattening have been combined into one operation which has helped to reduce cycle time and improve productivity. Also the integral piercing and padding operations reduces the cost of tooling and cycle time.
5. The three operations i.e. combine flattening + bending, blocker forging and finisher forging are performed on one die block i.e. integral die block to reduce the cost and improve the die life.

6. Also improved handling at all stages of flattening cum bending, blocker forging and finisher forging resulted in improved part to part repeatability, which resulted in improved performance, thus resulting in reduced scrap and rework.
7. With the robustness in the manufacturing process and improved quality, the required post forging operations like finishing and grinding cycle time has also reduced.
8. The present invention involves innovative forging steps required to achieve the final shape of the complex geometry part like reinforcement bracket (1).
The present invention provides an arrangement for proper positioning of the preform on the buster, blocker and finisher dies for better material flow and avoid under fill.
While the above description contains much specificity, these should not be construed as limitation in the scope of the invention, but rather as an exemplification of the preferred embodiments thereof. It must be realized that modifications and variations are possible based on the disclosure given above without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be determined not by the embodiments illustrated, but by the appended claims and their legal equivalents.

We claim:
1. A forging method to make a reinforcement bracket (1) characterised in that
said method comprises the steps of:
a. preparing and heating a solid billet with a predetermined size, said
billet being inspected for dimensionality, material cleanliness and
soundness criteria using ultrasonic testing;
b. reduce rolling the heated billet to produce a reduce rolled preform or a
first preform (2);
c. combined flattening and bending said first preform (2) to produce a
second preform (3);
d. blocker forging said second preform (3) to produce a blocker (4);
e. finisher forging said blocker (4) to produce a finisher (5), said finisher
(5) possibly having excess flash;
f. trimming said excess flash to produce a trimmed finisher (6);
g. combined piercing and padding said trimmed finisher to produce a
trimmed pierced and padded finisher (7);
h. subjecting said trimmed pierced and padded finisher (7) to post-forging operations to produce said reinforcement bracket (1).
2. The forging method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said steps of combined
flattening and bending operation (said step c), and blocker forging operation
(said step d) and finisher forging operation (said step e) are carried out at a
single integral buster/blocker/finisher forging station (10).

3. A forging method as claimed in claims 1 and 2 wherein said steps c, d, and e comprise providing an integral die block assembly (8i) consisting of a bottom and top die (8 and 9), and wherein said bottom die (8) has a buster sink (2A), a blocker sink (3A), and a finisher sink (4A) as a single bottom die block and wherein said top die (9) has a buster impression (9b), a blocker impression (9c) and a finisher impression (9d) as a single top die block, respectively corresponding to said buster sink (2A), said blocker sink (3A), and said finisher sink (4A), to accommodate between bottom die sinks and corresponding top die impressions said second preform (3), said blocker (4) and said finisher (5) respectively, and carrying out said steps of combined flattening and bending operation, and blocker forging operation and finisher forging operation, in that sequence.
4. A forging method as claimed in claims 1 to 3, wherein said forging station (10) deploys a forging equipment such as hydraulic or mechanical press to carry out said steps c, d, e, f and g.
5. A forging method as claimed in claim 4, wherein said combined flattening and bending operation is carried out in one stroke of said forging equipment, and
wherein during said combined flattening and bending operation sufficient amount of force is applied to said first preform (2) to completely fill up cavities of said buster sink (2A) and said buster impression (9b) to produce said second preform (3), and generating a blocker projector as a part of said

second preform (3) and with which the positioning of said second preform (3) within said blocker sink (3A) is achieved for the subsequent blocker forging operation, and
wherein at the end of said combined flattening and bending operation said top die (9) is lifted away from said bottom die (8) and said second preform (3) is gripped by the grippers of a robot and placed within said blocker sink (3A), which is also well lubricated. 6. A forging method as claimed in claims 2 to 5, wherein during said blocker forging operation sufficient amount of force is applied to said second preform (3) to completely fill up cavities of said blocker sink (3A) and said blocker impression (9c), to produce said blocker (4) which has the rough shape of said final reinforcement bracket (1); and
wherein said blocker (4) has sufficient volume of the material, and smooth curves and transitions and generating a finisher projector on said blocker (4), with which the positioning of said blocker (4) within said finisher sink (4A) is achieved for the subsequent finisher operation; and
wherein at the end of the blocker forging operation said top die (9) is lifted away from said bottom die (8), and said blocker (4) is ejected from said blocker sink (3A) and said blocker impression (9c) with ejection pins, followed by said blocker (4) being gripped by the grippers of a robot and placed within the finisher sink (4A); and

wherein said blocker forging operation is carried out in one stroke of said forging equipment.
7. A forging method as claimed in claims 2 to 6, wherein during said finisher
forging operation, sufficient amount of force is applied to said blocker (4) to
completely fill up cavity of said finisher sink (4A) and finisher impression
(9d), and for any excess material to come out as a flash at the end of said
finisher forging operation, and
wherein said finisher (with flash) (5) meets the dimensional specification of the final reinforcement bracket (1); and
wherein at the end of the finisher operation the top die (9) is lifted away from the bottom die (8) and said finisher with flash (5) is ejected from said finisher sink (4A) and said finisher impression (9d) with ejection pins and said finisher with flash (5) is next gripped by the grippers of a robot and taken to a trimming station (10c).
8. A forging method as claimed in claims 2 to 7, wherein said flash is removed in the trimming operation using one stroke of said forging equipment capable of applying sufficient amount of force to produce a trimmed finisher (6), and wherein said trimmed finisher (6) is taken to the an integrated piercing and padding station (10d) using said robot.
9. A forging method as claimed in claims 2 to 8, wherein said piercing operation creates internal pockets (1c) of said final reinforcement bracket (1) during the initial part of the stroke of said forging equipment followed by finishing the

stroke to complete the hot padding operation to remove the bends and distortion in said trimmed finisher to create a trimmed pierced and padded finisher (7).
10. A forging method as claimed in claims 1 to 9 where said billet is heated in a furnace at 1150° C to 1270° C temp range.
11. A forging method as claimed in claims 1 to 10 wherein said trimmed pierced and padded finisher (7) is subjected to further operations such as hot inspection, hardness checking, crack detection, shot blasting, and heat treatment to produce a final reinforcement bracket (1).
12. The forging method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 11, wherein said forging equipment is a mechanical press.
13. An apparatus to make a reinforcement bracket using a forging method as claimed in claims 1 to 11, characterised in that said apparatus comprises:
a. a reduce rolling station (10a), where said first preform (2) is produced
on a reduce roller;
b. a flattening cum bending station, where a second preform (3) is
produced by said forging equipment preferably mechanical press;
c. a blocker station, where a blocker forging operation produces a blocker
(4) using said forging equipment preferably mechanical press;
d. a finisher station, where a finisher forging operation produces a
finisher (with flash) (5) using said forging equipment preferably
mechanical press;

e. a trimming station (10c), where excess flash is trimmed from the
finisher;
f. an integrated piercing and padding station (10d), where the trimmed
finisher is pierced and padded to produce internal pockets within the
trimmed finisher and to produce a final reinforcement bracket;
g. at least one post-forging operations station to carry out post-forging
operations;
h. Robotic equipment to lift, transfer and place in respective stations the various components produced at any of the stations mentioned in a to g above.
14. An apparatus as claimed in claim13, wherein said stations for combined flattening and bending, blocker forging, and finisher forging are combined into a single integrated station (10b).
15. An apparatus as claimed in claim13-14, wherein said integrated station uses an integral forging die assembly (8i) that has a top and bottom die (9 and 8), wherein said bottom die (8) has a buster sink (2A), a blocker sink (3A), and a finisher sink (4A) as a single die block and said top die has a buster impression (9b), a blocker impression (9c), and a finisher impression (9d) as a single die block to accommodate said second preform (3), said blocker (4), and said finisher with flash (5), respectively.
16. An apparatus as claimed in claim13-15, wherein said buster sink (2A) has billet locator impressions (8a, 8b) and handling slots (8c) for robot grippers,

said blocker sink (3A) has at least one ejector hole (8e) and a blocker locator cavity (8d), and said finisher sink (4A) has at least one ejector hole (8e) and a finisher locator cavity (8f).
17. An apparatus as claimed in claim15-16, wherein said blocker impression (9c) has at least one ejector hole (8e).
18. An apparatus as claimed in claim15-17 wherein said finisher impression (9d) has at least one ejector hole (8e).
19. An apparatus as claimed in claim13-18, wherein said blocker locator cavity (8d) and said finisher locator cavity (8f) are conical in shape.
20. An apparatus as claimed in any of claims 13 to 19, wherein said forging equipment is a mechanical press.