THE COMMITMENT TO EXCELLENCE AND INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS FOR COLD AND WARM FORMING TECHNOLOGIES
The high degree of precision in machining is a must for manufacturing machines that must operate with high frequency. SACMA has chosen to manufacture, in house, all components and has installed the most modern production technology available today on the market, to promote the total quality of all its products. A systematic and rigorous inspection procedure of all manufactured parts before inventory stocking is the best guarantee of interchangeability and availability of spare parts. The correct choice of high tensile materials, the proper heat treatment specifications, the accuracy of surface finish operations of grinding and lapping, make a SACMA machine the most reliable, the most productive and lowest cost machine in manufacturing. All SACMA machines are fitted standard with hydraulic clamping of die side adjustments of threaded sleeves, kick out levers and trim cam in the last station. The M automatic motorization system available on SACMA combined machines, is an important method for reduction of machine set up time and fine tuning adjustments. The preset data present in the data base of parts to be manufactured will determine the automatic adjustment of feed, position of stock stop and die kick out. Hydraulic clamping of adjustments and tools is of great help when setting the machine and guarantees repeatability of the adjustments.
The concept of performing tool change in the shortest possible time represents an undisputed necessity for modern industrial manufacturing of cold forged parts, made in smaller lots, making forming more competitive against traditional machining methods. In developing the tool change system, SACMA made no compromises of rigidity and power of the machines; a typical characteristic of its machines. The CR quick tool change system, standard for machines size 3, 4, 5 and 6, allows for easy removal of the die block, hydraulic clamped, and just as easy removal of the punch blocks bolster and the complete transfer unit. The transfer mechanism of SACMA progressive and combined machines is by far considered the world benchmark, so much, that it has been subject of numerous unsuccessful imitation attempts by others. The precise movement of the transfer fingers, determined by a smooth oscillating mechanism, generated by perfect desmo-drive double cams, imparts to the whole system a perfect control of position, also at the maximum production speed. The multiple adjustments: timing of the transfer phase, variation of the clamping force, variation of the opening/closing speed of the fingers, together with the absence of springs, allow the transfer of long parts and of the shortest parts to take place in safety at maximum speed.
From the forging station the parts are directed to the pointing station by means of a finger type elevator which is easily adjusted in width according to the diameter and the geometry of the shank. The adjustment is made by a micrometric system of easy access to the operator and simple to read. The forged parts are then fed to the pointing unit where the extremity of the shank will be machined by removing metal. It is possible to produce points with different geometries and angles including the famous 90° robot points widely used in the automotive. From the pointing station the blanks are then fed to the flat die thread rolling station. The threading station carries a flat die, alternating motion, main slide. A stop gate and a single starter blade system fitted on the end of the rails guarantees a perfect introduction of the blanks between the roll dies. The match adjustment of the threaded profiles can be obtained either by means of the eccentric mechanism of the connecting rod which drives the slide or by means of a wedge that provides vertical movement of the fixed roll die. The fixed roll die can be adjusted in all 3 dimensions. Special fit plates are used to position the fixed die perfectly parallel to the moving die and at the correct distance from the latter in accordance to the size of the thread. The locking in position of the fixed die is made by manual clamping or hydraulic clamping depending on the size of the machine.
SACMA offers also the SC-MATIC system together with the M version of automatic motorization of adjustments of the wire stop, the wire feed, the threaded sleeves on die ejection axes, the position of die kick-out lever in every station. The system can easily memorize all adjustments for an infinite number of codes and governs all the general alarms and diagnostic of faults. The system is very operator friendly when changing to a new product but also allows an easy intervention when having to adjust a machine during the initial set up of a product which has never been run before.
SACMA offers monitoring systems for controlling the forging and the thread rolling stations. For the forging station the SC500 load monitor, calibrated in KN will monitor the forging loads and the work curve for each blow and the SC700 system monitors whether the part has rotated between stations. For the thread rolling station the SC600 system monitors the loads during thread rolling throughout all the travel of the part through the dies, including the control of the curve of the complete work cycle. A control system at the pointing station will guarantee that the end point has been machined correctly.
The V version of the combined headers has been specially designed for the production of short fasteners. A cup type elevator will feed the forged or trimmed blanks from the heading station to the bowl of a vibratory feeder where the parts will be correctly orientated and fed into the rails that bring to the pointing station for machining the extremity of the shank by metal removal. The pointed blanks thereafter are fed to the rolling station to form the thread.
All the CR quick tool change machines can be supplied as optional equipment with an external set up bench specially made for the adjustment of the tools and pre-centering of the punches to the dies in each station. The bench carries a fixed portion to locate the die box and a moving portion onto which is located the complete punch holder assembly in order to simulate perfectly the movement of the heading slide of the machine up to front dead center. The bench also carries a station where the transfer centering jig is located for set up of the transfer unit.