What Is a Forming Process?
A forming process is a processing method using a forming machine that can continuously perform multiple forming processes in a single machine.
Specifically, it refers to the forming process that utilizes plastic deformation such as forging, bending, shearing, and drawing. Products with complex shapes that require multiple processes can be formed using only one forming machine, making this process suitable for mass production.
Uses of Forming Processes
The forming processes are used in the manufacture of metal products in a variety of fields. Plates and strips are used to manufacture parts such as pins, clips, springs, retaining rings, and bands. Wire rod is used in the production of various coil parts, coil spring parts, and lead wires for electronic parts.
Principle of Forming Processes
In the forming processes, a single machine can perform multiple forming processes at once. The machine configuration is largely different depending on whether the raw material is a plate or a wire.
1. Multi-Forming Processes
Multi-forming is a processing method using a multi-forming machine. Pressing, drawing, and bending can be performed automatically and continuously using plates and strips as raw materials.
The multi-forming machine consists of three main parts. The feeder feeds the material, the stamping unit presses the material, and the forming unit performs the bending and drawing processes with various bending punches.
2. Wire Forming Processes
The wire forming machine used for wire forming processes are processing machine from which the feeding device and stamping device are omitted from the multi-forming machine. Since the raw material is wire, there is no material transfer or pressing process.
The wire is held in the center of the wire forming machine and is bent by several forming tools arranged around its circumference. After all processes are completed, the wire is separated from the coiled material to form a single product.
3. Roll Forming Processes
In the roll forming process, a sheet of metal is passed through a series of rollers with multiple pairs of frames arranged in succession to deform the sheet of metal into the desired shape. The metal strip conveyed from the coiled material is cut to a predetermined size by a cutting machine and then formed by roll forming equipment. These processes are automated and can be produced continuously.
Also, by changing the roller arrangement, it is possible to process various shapes, such as closed cross section shapes. Furthermore, because plastic forming is performed gradually, it is easy to process high-tension materials such as high-tensile steel sheets, contributing to product weight reduction.
4. Lead Forming Processes
As one of the forming processes, the lead forming processes are known to produce leads for electronic components. To connect electronic components to substrates, it is necessary to shape the leads to match the substrates, and lead forming is used in such cases.
Since electronic components are small and difficult to handle, a variety of jig equipment dedicated to lead forming is available.
Other Information on Forming Processes
Advantages of Forming Processes
The merits of the forming processes are that even products with complex shapes can be formed and that it is suitable for mass production, thus reducing labor hours and costs. When similar forming is performed without the forming processes, it is necessary to go through multiple processes to finish the product as a single part. This increases the processing time, the number of die types, and the costs associated with launching a new product.
Another method to increase productivity in press work is the progressive press, in which multiple processes are formed in a single die set progressively. This method greatly improves productivity compared to a single press, but it is limited in the shapes that can be formed. Forming machines, on the other hand, have both press and bending sections in a single machine, making it possible to process even complex bending shapes in succession.