High definition door skin and method of manufacturing the same

Abstract

A cushion assembly for forming metallic door skins in an industrial press, the method of manufacturing a door skin using the cushion assembly and the door skin produced by that method. The cushion assembly has a plurality of gas-filled cylinders positioned around the perimeter of said cushion assembly, a solid interior disposed within said perimeter of said gas-filled cylinders and a transfer pad disposed on top of said gas-filled cylinders. In some aspects, the solid interior comprises a plurality of solid cylinders or blocks wherein the solid cylinders extend through openings in the transfer pad and the openings are sized and shaped to be complementary with said solids cylinders or blocks.

1 . A cushion assembly for forming metallic door skins in an industrial press, comprising:
 a plurality of gas-filled cylinders positioned around the perimeter of said cushion assembly;   a solid interior disposed within said perimeter of said gas-filled cylinders; and   a transfer pad disposed on top of said gas-filled cylinders.   
   
   
       2 . The cushion assembly of  claim 1 , wherein said solid interior comprises a plurality of solid blocks. 
   
   
       3 . The cushion assembly of  claim 2 , wherein said solid blocks extend through openings in said transfer pad. 
   
   
       4 . The cushion assembly of  claim 1 , wherein said solid interior comprises at least one solid block. 
   
   
       5 . The cushion assembly of  claim 4 , wherein said solid block extends through openings in said transfer pad. 
   
   
       6 . The cushion assembly of  claim 1 , wherein said gas-filled cylinders have a chamber that retains pressurized gas. 
   
   
       7 . The cushion assembly of  claim 6 , wherein said pressure of each gas-filled cylinder is regulated. 
   
   
       8 . The cushion assembly of  claim 6 , wherein said gas is nitrogen gas. 
   
   
       9 . The cushion assembly of  claim 1 , wherein said plurality of gas-filled cylinders are detachably connected to a manifold system. 
   
   
       10 . The cushion assembly of  claim 9 , wherein said manifold system is connected to a gas bank that uniformly regulates gas pressure in said gas-filled cylinders. 
   
   
       11 . The cushion assembly of  claim 9 , wherein said gas is nitrogen. 
   
   
       12 . A metallic door skin, comprising:
 a blank having at least one embossment that is at least 1.755 inches wide and said embossment having at least 4 radii across said embossment.   
   
   
       13 . The metallic door skin of  claim 12 , wherein said embossment has a depth less than 0.312 inches. 
   
   
       14 . The metallic door skin of  claim 12 , wherein said embossment has a width range from 1.76 to 3.29 inches. 
   
   
       15 . The metallic door skin of  claim 12 , wherein said embossment has between 4 and 6 radii. 
   
   
       16 . The metallic door skin of  claim 12 , wherein said embossment has a depth range from 0.313 to 0.10 inches. 
   
   
       17 . A method of manufacturing a metallic door skin, comprising:
 inserting a sheet steel blank between a male die and a female die;   pressing said sheet steel blank between said male die and said female die upon a cushion assembly with an industrial press;   supporting said die sets with said cushion assembly having a solid member disposed in an interior of the cushion assembly;   supporting a force exerted by said press around a perimeter of said cushion assembly with a plurality of absorbent cushions; wherein a perimeter of said steel blank is compressed between said die sets and said absorbent cushions of said cushion assembly; and,   punching at least one embossment in said steel blank to produce a door skin.   
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising regulating a pressure in said plurality of cushions. 
   
   
       19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein said pressure is uniformly regulated by a manifold. 
   
   
       20 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein said embossment is at least 1.755 inches wide and said embossment has at least 4 radii across said embossment. 
   
   
       21 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein said embossment has a depth that is less than 0.312 inches.