Page 28 - MetalForming July 2013

25 Years of MetalForming
and sometimes presses. Stamping high- er-strength steels can affect the size, strength, power and overall configu- ration of every major piece of the press line, including coil-handling equip- ment, coil-feed systems, straightening machines and presses.
“Nowhere in the coil-feeding sys- tem will higher-strength materials require more attention than in the coil straightener,” the article continued. “Straighteners are recognizable by their large roll diameters and relatively wide spacing. The roll diameters and center distances vary depending on material thickness and coil width. The rated capacity of most pressroom straight- eners is based on processing mild steel with yield strengths below 340 MPa. Higher-strength steels, due to their higher yield strengths, have a greater tendency to retain their coil set. This requires greater horsepower to straight- en the material within an acceptable level of flatness. Larger-diameter rolls and wider roll spacing also are required
to work the material effectively. Increas- ing roll diameter and center distances on straighteners to accommodate high- er-strength steels will limit the range (thickness and width) of materials that can be straightened effectively.”
Toward the end of their article, Keel- er and Ulintz summarized the times, when they wrote:
“Working with higher-strength materials will require stamping com- panies and tool and die shops to work closely with higher-strength-material producers and tool-steel suppliers in order to select the proper tool steel, heattreatment and surface-coating application appropriate for the sheet- material type and strength levels being processed.”
The “R” Word
This brings us to late 2009, when the proverbial you-know-what really hit the fan. But while many used this economic disaster (call it a recession) to write the obituary for American man-
ufacturing, I wrote in my September 2009 signed editorial:
“U.S. manufacturing is in fact not extinct, but merely hibernating. As it awakens, it will be hungry, for materi- als, equipment, automation and trained—perhaps retrained—work- ers...Feed your hibernating company by focusing on generating new busi- ness and extending your business offerings in ways you might not have thought about before. Our newly restored U.S. factories will have fewer ‘routine’ jobs than ever before. In their place should be jobs conceived for people who innovate and create— designers and engineers, researchers and developers—for the people who advance and expand their skills to meet new challenges.”
And that’s where we’ve been for the last few years. We’ve seen an onslaught of productivity gainers hit our produc- tion floors, from software-based tools for paperless die design and develop- ment, to automation equipment that
New Union Sheet Feeder
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Manual feeding of metal sheet blanks is labor intensive, potentially slow or inefficient. There is injury potential as well. The Union Sheet Feeder is specifically designed to automatically destack, align and feed steel sheets up to five parts
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• Feeds sheets ranging in sizes from 20” to 44” wide and 60” to 76” long, with thicknesses varying from .050” to .125”.
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574-267-3211
E-mail: sales@uniontoolcorp.com www.uniontoolcorp.com
26 MetalForming/July 2013
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