im p act sp eed s allo w t o ext en d service life co n sid erably. Th ro u gh t h is o p t im izat io n o f wo rkin g an d fo rm in g co n d it io n s im p ro ved p art q u ali-
t y an d in creased t o o l life are ach ieved wh ile in creasin g st ro kin g rat es. Th e variet y o f p art s wh ich can be p ro d u ced o n t h ese lin es in clu d e
evap o rat o r p lat es, bearin g elem en t s, h in ges, h ard ware fit t in gs an d o t h - er co m p o n en t s su p p lied t o t h e au t o m o t ive in d u st ry as well as p art s fo r
refrigerat o rs, lo ck elem en t s an d clu t ch d isks.
4.4.2 Production lines for the manufacture of flat radiator plates
Th e co m bin ed fo rm in g an d co in in g o f large-p an el p ress p art s, su ch as t h o se n eed ed t o m ake t h e p lat es fo r flat rad iat o rs, calls fo r a p ress sys-
t em wit h ext rem e syst em ro bu st n ess t o get h er wit h a gen ero u sly d im en - sio n ed d ie sp ace. In view o f t h e wid e variet y o f rad iat o r d esign s, a u n i-
versally ap p licable d ie t ech n o lo gy co n cep t is req u ired . High p ro d u ct io n o u t p u t levels are o n ly ach ievable u sin g fu lly au t o -
m at ed p ro d u ct io n lin es wh ich p erm it set -u p wit h in a sh o rt p erio d fo r t h e p ro d u ct io n o f d ifferen t p art s. Sp ecial p ress syst em s, wit h a n o m in al
p ress fo rce o f bet ween 4,000 an d 10,000 kN Fig. 4.4.11
, h ave been d evelo p ed fo r t h e m an u fact u re o f flat rad iat o r p lat es.
In o rd er t o ach ieve t h e largest p o ssible syst em ro bu st n ess, a bo t t o m kn u ckle-jo in t d rive syst em was select ed cf.
Fig. 3.2.3 . Th is p rin cip le is
d ist in gu ish ed by t h e h igh ly co m p act , lo w-d eflect io n co n st ru ct io n o f t h e kn u ckle-jo in t bearin g an d t h e p ress bed . As blan ks wit h large su r-
face area req u ire large bed su rfaces, a d o u ble kn u ckle-jo in t syst em is p ro vid ed t o im p ro ve p ress bed su p p o rt . Th is d esign co rresp o n d s in
p rin cip le t o t h e sin gle kn u ckle-jo in t syst em illu st rat ed in Fig. 3.2.5
. Th e wid ely sp aced lin k jo in t s o f t h e d o u ble kn u ckle-jo in t en su re t ilt -
resist an t d rive o f t h e p ress fram e. Th e h eigh t p o sit io n o f t h e u p p er d ie is ad ju st ed by t wo wid e p o wer d riven wed ges wh ich co ver t h e en t ire d ie
wid t h . Du e t o t h e red u ct io n in fo rm in g sp eed an d t h e o p t im ized weigh t o f t h e slid e fram e co n st ru ct io n , t h e kn u ckle-jo in t d rive syst em en su res
a h igh st ro kin g rat e in co n ju n ct io n wit h sm o o t h , q u iet p ress o p erat io n . An o p t im ized weld ed d esign o f t h e p ress fram e allo ws even wid er
m ach in es, wit h a fram e wid t h o f u p t o aro u n d 2 m , t o be ru n at h igh sp eed s. A p ress wit h a n o m in al p ress fo rce o f 7,100 kN, a fram e wid t h o f
208
Sheet metal forming and blanking
Metal Forming Handbook Schuler c Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 1998
1,860 m m an d a wo rkin g st ro ke o f 80 m m can p ro d u ce 80 st ro kes p er m in u t e in co n t in u o u s o p erat io n .
Th e m ach in e is based o n a m o d u lar d esign an d can be eq u ip p ed , as req u ired , wit h o r wit h o u t a h yd rau lic d raw cu sh io n in t h e p ress bed an d
slid e cf. Sect . 3.1.4
. Th e wed ge ad ju st m en t o f t h e slid e en su res t h e h igh d egree o f rigid it y req u ired fo r d rawin g an d co in in g wo rk.
Th e m o d ified kn u ckle-jo in t geo m et ry an d t h e co n n ect in g ro d lin k- age p reven t t h e kn u ckle-jo in t syst em fro m bein g fu lly ext en d ed at t h e
bo t t o m d ead cen t er. Th e bo t t o m d ead cen t er h as alread y been reach ed wh en t h e kn u ckle-jo in t syst em is st ill lo cat ed so m e 2 t o 3 m m befo re
t h e m axim u m ext en d ed p o sit io n . Th is d esign feat u re elim in at es an y p o ssibilit y o f p ress jam m in g, an d t h e n eed t o u se a h yd rau lic o verlo ad
safet y syst em . Th e p ress fo rce m o n it o rin g can t ake p lace exclu sively wit h elect ro n ic m easu rem en t syst em s.
209
Sheet metal forming lines
Fig. 4.4.11 Bottom drive knuckle-joint press
for the manufacture of flat radiator plates nominal press
force 6,300 kN
Metal Forming Handbook Schuler c Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 1998
Th e slid e gib is m o u n t ed at six p o in t s in sp h erical ball jo in t s cf. Fig. 3.1.5
. Th e n eckin g act io n o f t h e p ress fram e wh ich o ccu rs u n d er lo ad is co m p en sat ed by a su p p lem en t ary in t ern al slid e gib in t h e bed .
Pn eu m at ic slid e weigh t co m p en sat io n is p erfo rm ed by m ain t en an ce- free bello w cylin d ers cf.
Fig. 3.2.11 . Th e d ie m o u n t in g area is d esign ed
t o p erm it t h e u se o f all feasible d ie syst em s: – sin gle-act io n d ies fo r in d ivid u al rad iat o r p lat es,
– d o u ble-act io n d ies wh ich can be u sed t o st am p t wo ad jacen t p lat es fro m wid e co il st o ck,
– san d wich d ies in wh ich t wo blan ks are fed o n e abo ve t h e o t h er an d t wo p lat es, i. e. t o p an d bo t t o m p lat es are p ressed at t h e sam e t im e.
Th e sh eet m at erial is fed by an elect rical ro ll feed syst em lo cat ed o n t h e back o f t h e p ress, abo ve t h e d rive syst em . Sp ecial fram e seals p reven t
t h e d ie lu bricat in g em u lsio n fro m p en et rat in g in t o t h e d rivin g u n it . Su rp lu s em u lsio n is co llect ed in a p erip h eral gro o ve at t h e p ress bed o r
p ress fram e an d ret u rn ed t o t h e syst em t o p erfo rm fu rt h er greasin g o r lu bricat io n wo rk.
Th e lin e is co n t ro lled by a PLC co n t ro l syst em wit h o p erat o r gu id - an ce an d p ro gram p re-select io n fo r d ifferen t rad iat o r t yp es. Th e n u m -
ber o f p art s n ecessary fo r co rresp o n d in g len gt h s can be p u t in t o t h e co n t ro ller by sp ecifyin g t h e ap p ro p riat e rad iat o r p lat e t yp e.
Th e co m p let e lin e is su p p lem en t ed by a d eco iler an d a d ie ch an ge cart o r a d ie ch an ge syst em wit h q u ick-act io n d ie clam p in g o n t h e slid e
o r bed p lat e cf. Sect . 3.4
. Scrap d isp o sal t akes p lace u n d er t h e d ie by m ean s o f a scrap ch u t e d irect ly in t o a scrap co n t ain er. All t h e d rive
u n it s are accessible fro m t h e flo o r.
4.4.3 Lines for side member manufacture
