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About Fourslide Stampings
Fourslide stamping, a process that integrates stamping
and forming operations, creates stamped parts from strips and wires consisting
of steel, copper, aluminum, bronze and many other metals. From these stock
metal strips, manufacturers create small, intricate parts, which may require
bends greater than 90°. During slide forming, sliding tools glide
into the metal blank from four directions at right angles to one another,
bending the metal around a vertical mandrel. The slide forming area is
equipped with timed mechanisms called cams, which regulate slide movement.
These additional movements allow fourslides to produce complex parts with
multiple bends and twists. Highly versatile and precise fourslide stamping
machines can perform a number of operations before ejecting the part,
sometimes completely producing a part in one four-slide operation.
Fourslide stamping differs from traditional metal stamping in several
ways. The main difference lies in the tooling machinery used. Conventional
metal stamping operations utilize a standard punch press that reshapes
metal material through the application of descending compression. The
action of the punch is vertical, allowing for easy production of parts
requiring 90º or less. Fourslide machines contain components capable of
slide forming, a horizontal or vertical option that makes angles over
90º simple to do. In conventional metal stamping machines, cams and slides
would have to be added to produce parts with these large angles. Fourslide
machines have the cams and slides built into them, which reduces production
time and keeps quality high.
Fourslide stamping has several advantages over other metal stamping methods.
Tools for fourslide stamping tools can also cost significantly less than
power press tools, lowering startup costs. Material is purchased to finished
width, reducing scrap. No die set is needed, and flat or round material
can be formed. Fourslide machines can repeatedly produce parts at very
high speeds (30-250 parts per minute) with uniform quality. Fourslide
machines can tap or thread holes. The fourslide process can also control
burr direction and location. Fourslide machines do have the disadvantages
of lacking high press tonnage and the inability to complete deep drawn
shapes.
Featured
Articles
http://archive.metalformingmagazine.com/2001/10/Slide.pdf
http://archive.metalformingmagazine.com/2000/05/USBaird.pdf
Types
- (http://deepdrawn.metalstamper.net)
converts flat sheet metal into three-dimensional shapes—including
cylindrical, shell-like, cup-like, rectangular and square shapes—whose
lengths (depths) exceed the radius of the part. As the flat metal moves
over the die, the metal blank is restrained on either side of the die
opening by a blankholder; the punch then pushes the secured blank into
the die cavity, creating the desired shape.
- (http://electronic.metalstamper.net)
are metal stamped electronic components.
- (http://medical.metalstamper.net)
are metal stamped parts created specifically for use in the medical
industry.
- (http://progressive.metalstamper.net)
utilizes several workstations, unlike the usual single workstation,
through which the sheet metal sequentially moves to complete multiple
operations of the stamping process.
- (http://shortrun.metalstamper.net)
produces between five and ten thousand pieces, and the cost of the
dies themselves
is greater than the cost of the parts produced. Labor costs
are higher
per piece, materials are more costly, setup time is greater and
other cost factors are higher in short run stamping than conventional
stamping,
because of the greater number of operations involved.
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