Four-slide
Encyclopedia
A four-slide, also known as a multislide, multi-slide, or four-way, is a metalworking
Metalworking
Metalworking is the process of working with metals to create individual parts, assemblies, or large scale structures. The term covers a wide range of work from large ships and bridges to precise engine parts and delicate jewelry. It therefore includes a correspondingly wide range of skills,...

 machine tool
Machine tool
A machine tool is a machine, typically powered other than by human muscle , used to make manufactured parts in various ways that include cutting or certain other kinds of deformation...

 used in the high-volume manufacture of small stamped
Stamping (metalworking)
Stamping includes a variety of sheet-metal forming manufacturing processes, such as punching using a machine press or stamping press, blanking, embossing, bending, flanging, and coining. This could be a single stage operation where every stroke of the press produce the desired form on the sheet...

 components from bar
Bar stock
Bar stock, also colloquially known as billet, is a common form of raw purified metal, used by industry to manufacture metal parts and products....

 or wire
Wire
A wire is a single, usually cylindrical, flexible strand or rod of metal. Wires are used to bear mechanical loads and to carry electricity and telecommunications signals. Wire is commonly formed by drawing the metal through a hole in a die or draw plate. Standard sizes are determined by various...

 stock. The press is most simply described as a horizontal stamping press that uses cams to control tools. The machine is used for progressive
Progressive stamping
Progressive stamping is a metalworking method that can encompass punching, coining, bending and several other ways of modifying metal raw material, combined with an automatic feeding system....

 or transfer stamping operations.

Design

A four-slide is much different that most other presses
Machine press
A machine press, commonly shortened to press, is a machine tool that changes the shape of a workpiece.-Servomechanism:A servomechanism press, also known as a servo press or a electro press, is a press driven by an AC servo motor. The torque produced is converted to a linear force via a ball screw....

. The key of the machine is its moving slides that have tools attached, which strike the workpiece to form it. These slides are driven by four shafts that outline the machine. The shafts are connected by bevel gear
Bevel gear
Bevel gears are gears where the axes of the two shafts intersect and the tooth-bearing faces of the gears themselves are conically shaped.Bevel gears are most often mounted on shafts that are 90 degrees apart, but can be designed to work at other angles as well...

s so that one shaft is driven by an electric motor
Electric motor
An electric motor converts electrical energy into mechanical energy.Most electric motors operate through the interaction of magnetic fields and current-carrying conductors to generate force...

, and then that shaft's motion drives the other three shafts. Each shaft then has cam
Cam
A cam is a rotating or sliding piece in a mechanical linkage used especially in transforming rotary motion into linear motion or vice-versa. It is often a part of a rotating wheel or shaft that strikes a lever at one or more points on its circular path...

s which drive the slides, usually of a split-type. This shafting arrangement allows the workpiece to be worked for four sides, which makes this machine extremely versatile. A hole near the center of the machine is provided to expel the completed workpiece.

Advantages and disadvantages

The greatest advantage of the four-slide machine is its ability to complete all of the operations required to form the workpiece from start to finish. Moreover, it can handle certain parts that transfer or progressive dies cannot, because it can manipulate from four axes. Due to this flexibility it reduces the cost of the finished part because it requires less machines, setups, and handling. Also, because only one machine is required, less space is required for any given workpiece. As compared to standard stamping presses the tooling is usually inexpensive, due to the simplicity of the tools. A four-slide can usually produce 20,000 to 70,000 finished parts per 16-hour shift, depending on the number of operations per part; this speed usually results in a lower cost per part.

The biggest disadvantage is its size constraints. The largest machines can handle stock up to 3 in (76.2 mm) wide, 12.5 in (317.5 mm) long, and 3/32 in thick. For wires the limit is 1/8 in. Other limits are the travel on the slides, which maxes out at 3/4 in, and the throw of the forming cams, which is between 7/8 in. The machine is also limited to only shearing
Shearing (metalworking)
Shearing, also known as die cutting, is a process which cuts stock without the formation of chips or the use of burning or melting. Strictly speaking, if the cutting blades are straight the process is called shearing; if the cutting blades are curved then they are shearing-type operations...

 and bending
Bending (metalworking)
Bending is a manufacturing process that produces a V-shape, U-shape, or channel shape along a straight axis in ductile materials, most commonly sheet metal. Commonly used equipment include box and pan brakes, brake presses, and other specialized machine presses...

 operations. Extrusion
Extrusion
Extrusion is a process used to create objects of a fixed cross-sectional profile. A material is pushed or drawn through a die of the desired cross-section...

 and upsetting operations are impractical because it hinders the movement of the workpiece to the next station. Drawing and stretching require too much tonnage and the mechanisms required for the operations are space prohibitive. Finally, this machine is only feasible to use on high volume parts because of the long lead time required to set up the tooling.

Materials

The material stock used in four-slides is usually limited by its formability
Formability
Formability is the ability of a given metal workpiece to undergo plastic deformation without being damaged. The plastic deformation capacity of metallic materials, however, is limited to a certain extent....

 and not the machine capabilities. Usually the forming characteristics and bending radii are the most limiting factors. The most commonly used materials are:
  • Low-carbon cold rolled steel
  • Spheroidized cold rolled spring steel
    Spring steel
    Spring steel is a low alloy, medium carbon steel or high carbon steel with a very high yield strength. This allows objects made of spring steel to return to their original shape despite significant bending or twisting.-Grades:...

  • Type 300 and 400 stainless
    Stainless steel
    In metallurgy, stainless steel, also known as inox steel or inox from French "inoxydable", is defined as a steel alloy with a minimum of 10.5 or 11% chromium content by mass....

     spring steels
  • Copper alloys
  • Beryllium-copper alloys

Use

Items that are commonly produced on this machine include: automotive stampings, hinge
Hinge
A hinge is a type of bearing that connects two solid objects, typically allowing only a limited angle of rotation between them. Two objects connected by an ideal hinge rotate relative to each other about a fixed axis of rotation. Hinges may be made of flexible material or of moving components...

s, link
Chain
A chain is a sequence of connected links.Chain may also refer to:Chain may refer to:* Necklace - a jewelry which is worn around the neck* Mail , a type of armor made of interlocking chain links...

s, clips, and razor blade
Razor blade
Razor blade may refer to* A razor* The Razor Blade, a 1920s racing car* Razor blade steel, a type of steel originally designed specifically for razor blades...

s.

External links

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