Focus on metal forming
The ‘dieless’ princi ple
Sheet metal dieless forming
In 1999, Amino Corporation & Shigeo
is a technology which
Matsubara (Japan) filed a patent (published
in 2005) on a dieless sheet forming appa-
adopts the principle of rapid
ratus for progressively forming a sheet into
a three-dimensional shape. Since then, its
prototyping to form sheet
dieless NC sheet metal forming system has
metal parts without using
found customers in Europe (such as IBF,
Germany in 2005), mainly in the automotive
traditional dies and moulds sector. The dieless machine is built by Amino
Corporation and marketed by its European
I
n standard cycles of sheet metal press- agents, Next Factory (based in Italy).
ing, presses and dies are used which
are specifically designed for sheet metal
straining. The classic drawing die is gener-
ally composed of three main elements: die,
blank-holder and punch. These form the
heart of the process and most of the overall
cost of the die is determined by their design,
milling, control and assembly. These manu-
facturing stages can take time and time
must also be spent setting up the press die.
The costs of maintenance and storage must
also be borne.
However, a dieless alternative (need-
ing neither die nor blank-holder) which
employs a fixed tool (equivalent of the
punch) may offer a solution for small series
batch work and prototypes. Sheet metal die-
less forming is a technology which adopts
the principle of rapid prototyping to form
sheet metal parts without using traditional The ‘dieless’ system
dies and moulds. The dieless NC sheet metal forming sys-
Dieless NC forming research has been tem is a numerically-controlled incremen-
conducted by several universities, with tal forming process that allows the rapid
some researchers equipping a CNC mill- production of complex 3D shapes in thin
ing machine with a spherical end tool and sheet metal, without the expense of costly
a deep-drawing die ring to deep-draw the punch and die manufacture. It can be ideal
sheet incrementally into the cavity. It was for prototype and development work and
thought that this prototyping technology can competitively produce a small batch
could find a niche in industrial applications run of work (reducing operational cost
because it reduces prototyping time as well without being influenced by quantities of
as part modification. products).
26 May/June 2007 International Sheet Metal Review
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48