Specialist for the fine-

blanking process chain

Case studie
to the topic
Fineblanking
Specialist for the fineblanking
process chain

Fineblanking technology offers an innovative solution for efficient series The stated objective is to improve
production of functional sheet metal parts. Even factoring in the possi- the quality of the cut edges signifi-
ble additional costs of a fineblanking tool system, the unit costs are still cantly by recutting and so eliminate
lower than with a conventional progressive compound tool with recut- the disadvantages of cutting functio-
ting operations since no finishing work is necessary. nal surfaces by shearing, which
comes up against inherent limiting
factors.
Many production specialists have operations must be integrated in
long dreamed of finding the ideal composite tools to obtain completely A well stamped part is not the end
way to fabricate simple or highly finished parts. This is quite logical for of the story …
complex metal parts fully automati- series or mass production and is So far so good, but whether the com-
cally and without time-consuming highly cost-effective. Even here, bination of shearing plus recutting
remachining before feeding them to though, a certain amount of rewor- ultimately offers practical advanta-
the next stage of the manufacturing king is unavoidable, since, depen- ges compared with precision blan-
process. This is only possible to a ding on the material, nature of the king, or better still fineblanking, is
limited extent in the metal-removing workpiece, tool design, functional open to justifiable doubt. Although
machining sector, but is largely feasi- requirements and wanted output recutting can be "integrated without
ble with sheet metal processed by rate, it is essential to produce certain problem in a conventional multistage
means of stamping and forming. functional surfaces by recutting or stamping process", as one of the
However, it is important here to shaving for example, and finally the results from the studies states, the
make some fine distinctions that parts must also be finished by means recutting oversize allowance and the
have far-reaching consequences, of vibratory grinding or some such punch-die clearance for the particu-
since no two stamped parts are alike. process. For this reason as much as lar sheet metal material being pro-
Although it is more rational to fabri- any, the subject of "producing func- cessed have a very significant
cate simple sheet metal parts by tional surfaces by recutting" has impact on the quality of the functio-
techniques such as blanking, stam- been investigated in extensive stu- nal surfaces. The report also states
ping, laser processing, forming, and dies in collaboration with the that straight cutting of up to 80% of
punching - especially when combi- Metalworking and Foundry the sheet metal thickness is achieva-
ned stamping/bending systems are Technology Department of Munich ble. While this should be acknowled-
used - the situation is rather different Technical University (TU) and at the ged in its own right, it misses the
when it comes to more complex Institute for Machine Tools and point that the real requirement is to
functional parts. In this case all work Control Technology at Dresden TU. obtain a functional surface (face) by
means of stamping, although the
same report does admit that recut-
ting only functions over a specific
working range because of the
punch-die clearance limits. A further
advantage is quoted, namely that a
comparable production rate is possi-
ble with the same costs because the
tooling is comparable with that used
in “normal blanking” and because
production is carried out on conven-
tional automatic blanking machines.
However, fineblanking on modern
automatic machines is not even
included in the direct comparison.
For all that, high-performance fine-
blanking technology offers enormous
advantages in terms of productivity
and cost efficiency in series and mass
production, as Willi Jürgensmeyer,
A comparison of quality between fineblanking and cutting by shearing. The difference in the managing partner of finova Fein-
straight cut percentage is clearly apparent in this example, which shows a counter-weight. schneidtechnik GmbH, 42897 Rem-

2
scheid, states in no uncertain terms:
“Fineblanking is a great technology
in every respect and we've set our-
selves the task of making our custo-
mers' product and component con-
cepts suitable for production by fine-
blanking. We can offer the strong
professional skills and capabilities of
our 85 employees as well as an
ultra-modern machine pool. This
means we can realize ready-to-
assemble functional components for
our customers to their requirements
from development right through to
just-in-time shipment”.

The innovative smart alternative is

fineblanking…
This is highlighted by the company's The latest generation of Feintool hydraulic fineblanking presses, the HFAplus. The
expertise in the production of fine- increased press forces ranging from 3,200 - 11,000 kN result in a higher production
blanked parts and fineblanking tool output rate.
systems along the whole process
CH-3250 Lyss, the world's leading on-tap flexibility. By switching over
chain. For finova, the realization of a
fineblanking specialist, and the same quickly to other parts we are able to
functional part starts with advising
applies to its pool of modern fine- react immediately to product modifi-
the customer on design and materi-
blanking press systems. finova has a cations and changes of priority and
als technology. It continues with the
total of 8 hydraulic and 3 mechanical deliver ready-to-assemble parts
design and construction of the too-
fineblanking presses built by Feintool direct to our customers' production
ling systems, followed by parts pro-
Group companies with press forces facilities in the numbers required.
duction including finishing by means
varying from 160 to 7000 tonnes, Here we benefit permanently from
of vibratory/orbital grinding and heat
which it operates in multiple shifts. the flexibility and the very high tech-
treatment and also electroplating of
“We currently produce about 350 dif- nical reliability of the fineblanking
the surface by partner companies. In
ferent live fineblanked parts for our press systems”.
a final stage, the parts are measured
customers in many different industri-
and documented for quality and deli-
al sectors in batch sizes from 3,000 Rational and cost-effective pro-
vered just-in-time to the customer. In
up to 2 million units (in the case of duction of functional parts…
matters of tool technology finova
call-off orders)”, states Willi Jürgens- finova processes all materials suita-
works very closely with the Swiss
meyer. “With our modern CNC-con- ble for blanking and forming such as
company Feintool Technology AG,
trolled fineblanking presses and fine- various steels, copper or aluminium-
blanking tool systems with their high- zinc alloys and consumes getting on
ly developed integrated functions, for 8,000 tonnes of material each
we can offer our customers the ideal year. Asked about the secrets of his
combination of high productivity and company's success, Willi Jürgens-

A typical multistage fineblanking tool for

the precision, burr-free fineblanking of Strip layout of a synchronizer cone Detailed view of a fineblanked synchro-
ready-to-install synchronizer cones. nizer cone

3
meyer answers without hesitation:
“To produce quality fineblanked parts
successfully in 3 shifts you need to
have all processes absolutely under
control and be able to rely on the
technology, machines and people.
We have highly qualified personnel,
and in Feintool we have a partner
who speaks the same language as
us. At least as important as the
equipment, however, is the use of
fineblanking technology as an intelli-
gent instrument for the production of
parts with specific functions that are
more or less ready to assemble. The
main thing is to produce the required
functions in the particular parts with
smart, multifunctional fineblanking
tools, without generating additional
costs and without the need for furt-
her operations or press strokes.
Then the time, yield and cost equa-
tion comes out right, especially since
production is carried out in part
unmanned, in multiple shifts. A tho-
Fineblanked synchronizer cone from the
synchromesh system of a manual trans-
mission
rough and objective analysis is Author
important in every case, since possi- Edgar Grundler
ble extra costs of a multifunctional Freelance technical journalist
fineblanking tool system compared in Allensbach
with a conventional progressive tool kommedia@t-online.de
with subsequent recutting are only
justified if the total unit costs are Feintool Technologie AG Lyss
lower because no reworking or addi- Industriering 3
tional handling of the parts is neces- CH-3250 Lyss
sary, although the production rate is Phone +41 (0)32 387 51 11
the same or even fractionally lower”. Fax + 41 (0)32 387 57 80
There is really nothing more to add,
feintool-ftl@feintool.com
especially in view of the fact that
www.feintool.com
finova achieves sales of about €25
million a year with production of
several million fineblanked parts and
is comparatively comfortably positio-
ned in competitive terms despite
strong international competition
thanks in no small part to its policy of
concentrating on fineblanking tech-
nology.
FE finova-02.05
Various levers in the gearbox with high Various components of a car door lock
proportion of forming system