New Fagor Press Hardening Installation in the US

One of the technologies that is taking momentum in the production of structural parts of vehicles is that of hot forming boron steels. Despite being a process used by the majority of European manufacturers, in recent years its use has been extending to markets such as Asia and North America due to the superior performance and weight reductions that it achieves.

The unstacking of blanks is one of the key elements that must be designed to avoid bottlenecks in the installation, either with the current or future production parameters or when faced with possible reductions of cycle times from other elements of the installation. For this reason the Company has opted for a basic configuration using a three-axis linear feeder capable of moving weights up to 120 Kg, ensuring total cycle times, including marking, of 10 sec.

The integrated roller furnace has a useful width of 2200 mm so that the pieces are fed transversely in the direction of feed, ensuring high rates of productivity without excessively increasing the length of the installation.

Thus, only exceptionally long or narrow work-pieces cause reduced processing capability of the installation and, on average, even with a furnace with a usable length of less than 30 metres, it is ensured that this is not a bottleneck in the installation.

The loading of blanks and unloading of parts from the press is one of the most important parts of the installation due to its high degree of automation and synchronization of elements. For this purpose a LR5-120 type feeder has been chosen. It is a general use feeder with four degrees of movement, capable of transferring and positioning an element quickly and flexibly thanks to its 5 high-efficiency servo drives.

The press tonnage is important not only for the forming of the parts but also for ensuring a seal with high surface pressure that allows faster heat transfer and thus reduces the time of die closure. Furthermore, considering that depending on the part size, between 2 to 4 parts can be processed simultaneously in a single operation, the latest installations required by customers, and which is gradually becoming a standard for the stamping sector, have a press of 1200Tn and table dimensions of 3000 x 2200 mm.