Page 26 - MetalForming May 2017

Straightening for Fineblanking
inhouse tooling engineering and manufacturing, plus warehousing and distribution.
“Our Canadian opera- tion serves as the center of technological excellence for the Americas,” says Taraschi, “and mentors Util Mexico in best practices.” The facil- ity performs progressive conventional and fineblank stamping, welding, swaging, progressive and multislide hardware stamping, and noise-dampening shim stamping.
Asked to explain the company’s continued devel- opment of fineblanking capabilities, technical direc- tor Alessandro Luppis says: “Our customers continue to specify tighter and tighter tolerances, because these critical dimensions (flatness and external dimensions) interfere with the calipers during braking. We’re typi- cally fineblanking 5- to 8- mm-thick high-strength steels, and in some cases material as thick as 10 to 12 mm, so we need robust pro- cessing equipment. Our newest line can keep up with customer demand for tighter dimensional and flatness tolerances, even as workpiece materials get stronger and thicker, allow- ing us to dramatically improve our competitive- ness on new quotes.”
Essentially a Cold- Extrusion Process
The Canadian plant’s latest fineblanking line features a hydraulic press from Mori Iron Works Co., fed by a uniquely specified feed line from Coe Press Equipment. The feed line features a Coe Fineblanking Edition HD straightener, coil reel with HD holddown arm, and alliga- tor-style peeler-threader.
says Util director of opera- tions Massimiliano Miletto Petrazzini, “which helps eliminate tearing on the edges of the brake backing plates.”
The process employs dies with very tight clear- ances—one percent or less. Parts that typically are cast and machined can be made with fineblanking in a single press setup, achieving dimensional accuracy (with the material thicknesses UTIL works with) to within ±0.05 mm, and edge per- pendicularity to top and bottom faces to within ±0.0125 mm.
“We’ve noticed a trend in the last 3 or 4 years for North American OEMs to more closely align their quality expectations with the Euro- pean OE market,” Petrazzini adds. “For us to stay ahead of the competition, we believed we had to add this new, highly capable line.”
Anatomy of the New Fineblanking Line
Late last year, Util Cana- da took delivery of its new fineblanking line, equipped to take its technology to a new level of precision and robustness and help open doors to new customers and new markets. The line fea- tures a hydraulic press from Japanese supplier Mori Iron Works Co., fed by a uniquely specified feed line from Coe Press Equipment, Sterling Heights, MI. The feed line features a Coe Fineblanking Edition HD straightener, coil reel with HD holddown
Fineblanking employs
complex tooling to produce smooth-profiled finished
parts in just one operation
or press stroke. Unlike conventional blanking, the tool applies counter-pres- sure to the blank that allows the part to be cleanly sheared with exceptionally straight edges and particularly good
flatness tolerances. Parts do not require secondary machinery operations such as grinding or milling.
“Die clearances are one-tenth of those used for conventional stamping,”
arm, and alligator-style peeler-threader. The straightener provides the necessary roll-force delivery and rigidity required to achieve flatness and dimensional- tolerance requirements for producing
24 MetalForming/May 2017
www.metalformingmagazine.com
In addition to a power straightener, the feed line includes a threading table, for hands-free threading; and a coil reel with multiple hydraulic holddowns and motorized end wheels for coil containment. It can process high-strength steels to 620-MPa yield at thicknesses from 3to12mm.