Tooling Update

LOGOPRESS Corp., Besancon, France, along with its North American distributor and technical center Accurate Die Design, Inc., New Berlin, WI, has introduced a new add-on to its SolidWorks-based Logopress3 die-design software. The add-on, called Progressive Blank Companion, allows die designers to model, in minutes, the 3D complex-shaped intermediate stages of a progressively formed part. Use it to design progressive, transfer and line dies, or for creating prototype tooling.

Says Ray Proeber, president of Accurate Die Design: “Designers can, very quickly, partially unform specific areas of a complex-shaped model and leave the rest of the complex shape intact.” (Proeber invites readers to view an online video illustrating the use of the new add-on at his company’s website, www.accuratediedesign.com).

Progressive Blank Companion includes tools for constraining specific edges, faces or pilot holes, and allows the designer to lock the material in a specific direction. It also provides localized information about thinning and thickening, as well as measuring stress and strain.