3 Fundamentals of press design

210 Sheet metal forming and blanking
The slide gib is mounted at six points in spherical ball joints (cf.
Fig. 3.1.5). The necking action of the press frame which occurs under
load is compensated by a supplementary internal slide gib in the bed.
Pneumatic slide weight compensation is performed by maintenancefree
bellow cylinders (cf. Fig. 3.2.11). The die mounting area is designed
to permit the use of all feasible die systems:
– single-action dies for individual radiator plates,
– double-action dies which can be used to stamp two adjacent plates
from wide coil stock,
– sandwich dies in which two blanks are fed one above the other and
two plates, i.e. top and bottom plates are pressed at the same time.
The sheet material is fed by an electrical roll feed system located on the
back of the press, above the drive system. Special frame seals prevent
the die lubricating emulsion from penetrating into the driving unit.
Surplus emulsion is collected in a peripheral groove at the press bed or
press frame and returned to the system to perform further greasing or
lubrication work.
The line is controlled by a PLC control system with operator guidance
and program pre-selection for different radiator types. The number
of parts necessary for corresponding lengths can be put into the
controller by specifying the appropriate radiator plate type.
The complete line is supplemented by a decoiler and a die change
cart or a die change system with quick-action die clamping on the slide
or bed plate (cf. Sect. 3.4). Scrap disposal takes place under the die by
means of a scrap chute directly into a scrap container. All the drive
units are accessible from the floor.
4.4.3 Lines for side member manufacture
Production methods
The production of chassis side members for the truck industry is carried
out in two steps: First, a blank is cut out and perforated. Next, the blank
is bent to a U-shape to form a side member, while simultaneously web
necks and where applicable also offsets are formed (Fig. 4.4.12). Leftand
right-hand members, for instance, must be configured in mirror
image to each other and have reduced rib heights in the area of the dri-
Metal Forming Handbook / Schuler (c) Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 1998