A stamping press is a metalworking machine tool used to shape or cut metal by deforming it with a die. A stamping press uses precision-made male and female dies to shape the final product. It is a modern-day counterpart to the hammer and anvil.
A stamping press is a metalworking machine tool used to shape or cut metal by deforming it with a die. A stamping press uses precision-made male and female dies to shape the final product. It is a modern-day counterpart to the hammer and anvil.
A press has a bolster plate, and a ram. [1] Presses come in various types of frame configurations, C-Frame where the front & left and right sides are open, straight-side, or H-Frame for stronger higher tonnage applications. It is very important to size the press and tonnage based on the type of applications, blanking, forming, progressive, or transfer. Strong consideration should be given to avoiding off-center load conditions to prevent premature wear to the press.
The bolster plate is mounted on top of the press bed and is a large block of metal upon which the bottom portion of a die is clamped; the bolster plate is stationary. Large presses (like the ones used in the automotive industry) may be equipped with die cushions integrated in the bolster plate to apply blank holder or counter draw forces. This is necessary when a single acting press is used for deep drawing. The ram / slide is the moving or reciprocating member that the upper die is mounted to. Ram or Slide guidance is a critical element to assure long die life between die maintenance. Different types of slide guides are available, 4 point V-Gibs or 6 point square gibs on smaller presses and 8 point full length slide guides on larger straight side frame presses. The dies and material are fed into the press between the bolster and slide. Good press designs must account for plastic deformation, otherwise known as deflection when frame design and loads are considered. [2]
The vertical motion of the slide acts like a hammer to an anvil. The most common Mechanical Presses use an eccentric drive to move the press's ram slide, length of stroke or slide travel depends on the crankshaft or eccentric, whereas hydraulic cylinders are used in hydraulic presses. The nature of drive system determines the force progression during the ram's stroke. Mechanical presses have a full tonnage rating point above BDC / Bottom Dead Center, normal full tonnage rating points are .187", .25" & .5". Hence a mechanical press has a tonnage curve and should be operated within the press capacity limits. Link Motion mechanical is yet another option, this provides a slide slow down near BDC / bottom dead center for soft touch tooling. This link feature can improve die life and reduce reverse-snap thru tonnage for blanking operations. [3]
On the contrary, Hydraulic Presses do not have a tonnage curve and can produce full tonnage at any point in the stroke. The trade-off is speed, a mechanical press is much faster when compared to hydraulic. On the other hand, Hydraulic Presses are much more practical for deep forming or drawing or parts or when dwell time at the bottom is desired.
Another classification is single-acting presses versus double- (seldom triple) acting presses. Single-acting presses have one single ram. Double-acting presses have a subdivided ram, to manage, for example, blank holding (to avoid wrinkles) with one ram segment and the forming operation with the second ram segment. [4]
Typically, presses are electronically linked (with a programmable logic controller) to an automatic feeder which feeds metal raw material through the die. The raw material is fed into the automatic feeder after it has been unrolled from a coil and put through a straightener. A tonnage monitor may be provided to observe the amount of force used for each stroke. [5]
A reciprocating engine, also often known as a piston engine, is typically a heat engine that uses one or more reciprocating pistons to convert high temperature and high pressure into a rotating motion. This article describes the common features of all types. The main types are: the internal combustion engine, used extensively in motor vehicles; the steam engine, the mainstay of the Industrial Revolution; and the Stirling engine for niche applications. Internal combustion engines are further classified in two ways: either a spark-ignition (SI) engine, where the spark plug initiates the combustion; or a compression-ignition (CI) engine, where the air within the cylinder is compressed, thus heating it, so that the heated air ignites fuel that is injected then or earlier.
Forging is a manufacturing process involving the shaping of metal using localized compressive forces. The blows are delivered with a hammer or a die. Forging is often classified according to the temperature at which it is performed: cold forging, warm forging, or hot forging. For the latter two, the metal is heated, usually in a forge. Forged parts can range in weight from less than a kilogram to hundreds of metric tons. Forging has been done by smiths for millennia; the traditional products were kitchenware, hardware, hand tools, edged weapons, cymbals, and jewellery.
A crusher is a machine designed to reduce large rocks into smaller rocks, gravel, sand or rock dust.
In machining, a shaper is a type of machine tool that uses linear relative motion between the workpiece and a single-point cutting tool to machine a linear toolpath. Its cut is analogous to that of a lathe, except that it is (archetypally) linear instead of helical.
A forming press, commonly shortened to press, is a machine tool that changes the shape of a work-piece by the application of pressure. The operator of a forming press is known as a press-tool setter, often shortened to tool-setter.
A die is a specialized machine tool used in manufacturing industries to cut and/or form material to a desired shape or profile. Stamping dies are used with a press, as opposed to drawing dies and casting dies which are not. Like molds, dies are generally customized to the item they are used to create.
Hydroforming is a cost-effective way of shaping ductile metals such as aluminium, brass, low alloy steel, and stainless steel into lightweight, structurally stiff and strong pieces. One of the largest applications of hydroforming is the automotive industry, which makes use of the complex shapes made possible by hydroforming to produce stronger, lighter, and more rigid unibody structures for vehicles. This technique is particularly popular with the high-end sports car industry and is also frequently employed in the shaping of aluminium tubes for bicycle frames.
A punch press is a type of machine press used to cut holes in material. It can be small and manually operated and hold one simple die set, or be very large, CNC operated, with a multi-station turret and hold a much larger and complex die set.
Punching is a forming process that uses a punch press to force a tool, called a punch, through the workpiece to create a hole via shearing. Punching is applicable to a wide variety of materials that come in sheet form, including sheet metal, paper, vulcanized fibre and some forms of plastic sheet. The punch often passes through the work into a die. A scrap slug from the hole is deposited into the die in the process. Depending on the material being punched this slug may be recycled and reused or discarded.
A hydraulic cylinder is a mechanical actuator that is used to give a unidirectional force through a unidirectional stroke. It has many applications, notably in construction equipment, manufacturing machinery, elevators, and civil engineering. A hydraulic cylinder is a hydraulic actuator that provides linear motion when hydraulic energy is converted into mechanical movement. It can be likened to a muscle in that, when the hydraulic system of a machine is activated, the cylinder is responsible for providing the motion.
The English wheel, in Britain also known as a wheeling machine, is a metalworking tool that enables a craftsperson to form compound curves from flat sheets of metal such as aluminium or steel.
An axial piston pump is a positive displacement pump that has a number of pistons in a circular array within a cylinder block.
Stamping is the process of placing flat sheet metal in either blank or coil form into a stamping press where a tool and die surface forms the metal into a net shape. Stamping includes a variety of sheet-metal forming manufacturing processes, such as punching using a machine press or stamping press, blanking, embossing, bending, flanging, and coining. This could be a single stage operation where every stroke of the press produces the desired form on the sheet metal part, or could occur through a series of stages.
Deep drawing is a sheet metal forming process in which a sheet metal blank is radially drawn into a forming die by the mechanical action of a punch. It is thus a shape transformation process with material retention. The process is considered "deep" drawing when the depth of the drawn part exceeds its diameter. This is achieved by redrawing the part through a series of dies.
A press brake is a machine used for bending sheet metal and metal plate, most commonly sheet metal. It forms predetermined bends by clamping the workpiece between a matching top tool and bottom die.
Blanking and piercing are shearing processes in which a punch and die are used to produce parts from coil or sheet stock. Blanking produces the outside features of the component, while piercing produces internal holes or shapes. The web is created after multiple components have been produced and is considered scrap material. The "slugs" produced by piercing internal features are also considered scrap. The terms "piercing" and "punching" can be used interchangeably.
A tonnage monitor is a meter used on a stamping press to measure the force applied by the ram. In a press, the cutting and forming tools in the die will wear down, requiring increasing effort to stamp the part. A tonnage monitor allows the user to observe this degradation and decide when it is time to sharpen and adjust the die. It generally uses strain gauges attached to the frame or tie rods of the press. The gauges provide an electric signal by means of piezoelectric effect as they are stretched during press operation.
A steam hammer, also called a drop hammer, is an industrial power hammer driven by steam that is used for tasks such as shaping forgings and driving piles. Typically the hammer is attached to a piston that slides within a fixed cylinder, but in some designs the hammer is attached to a cylinder that slides along a fixed piston.
Four-die forging device is a special forging tool designed for manufacturing forgings with long axis by four-side radial forging method in conventional open-die hydraulic forging press. A similar stand-alone machine is known as a radial forging machine.
Press tools are commonly used in hydraulic, pneumatic, and mechanical presses to produce the sheet metal components in large volumes. Generally press tools are categorized by the types of operation performed using the tool, such as blanking, piercing, bending, forming, forging, trimming etc. The press tool will also be specified as a blanking tool, piercing tool, bending tool etc.