3 Fundamentals of press design

Sheet metal forming lines
ver’s cab. Both operations are generally executed in a single line using
two die sets.
When manufacturing side members, two different methods are used
in conjunction with different types of production lines. These are distinguished
from each other already in the blank feed stage.
Side members with a length of up to 7 m are generally manufactured
from plates, which have a maximum thickness of 4mm. The plates are
fed into the press on an intermittent basis transversely to the longitudinal
axis of the press. With each stroke the blanking die in the press
punches a contoured blank from the plate. The blank is then bent in
the next station to become a side member.
To produce side members with a length ranging from 4 to 13 m,
blanks with a thickness of 5 to 10 mm are available. The blanks are
generally cross-cut directly off the coil to the contoured blank width
(cf.Sect.4.6.1) in order to ensure optimum material utilization. The
camber shaped blanks produced using this method have to be corrected
in a separate unit by straightening. The straightened blanks are fed
individually into the longitudinal axis of the press and processed to cre-
Fig. 4.4.12 Side members used in truck production
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