Mate Develops RollerBall^®
for Thick Turret Tooling

by Frank Baeumler
Vice President – Marketing
Mate Precision Tooling


   Creating continuous beads or ribs in sheet metal has many applications. To stiffen a larger sheet surface and help it remain stable, creating a channel for fluids to follow, or to introduce elevation changes in sheet metal for aesthetic purposes are a few reasons to use a continuous bead or rib.

   The newest development in thick turret tooling for making beads or ribs is the RollerBall^® forming tool. The concept is basic. Use the Finn-Power punch press auto index and ram control features in combination with three balls held in a tooling system to make new beads and ribs in sheet metal that were not possible before.

   In its normal configuration, the RollerBall tooling system has 2 balls in the upper part of the tool and one in the lower. The balls are each .500" in diameter and the three balls are set up so that they are perpendicular to the travel path. When engaged with the sheet metal, the single ball in the lower tool is centered between the two balls in the upper tool, which creates the deformation in the sheet. Then, by advancing the sheet while keeping the upper and lower parts of the tool engaged with the sheet, the continuous bead or rib is created.

   The RollerBall uses the UltraForm^® holder which receives and positions the ball inserts and makes the tooling system complete. While adjustments to the form can be made by adjusting the ram position with the NC program, the Ultraform holder is easy to use for making micro adjustments at the machine in increments of .002". The Ultraform holder adjusts by pushing a button and rotating the holder. This adjustment enables forms to be exactly controlled to meet your requirements.

   To form a bead or rib in a straight line, no auto index is required. The tool can be brought into position first and then have the sheet advance, or the tool can be ramped in by bringing the tool into position as the sheet is advancing. The specific capabilities of your punch press and the programming software on your machine will determine the options available to you. Many punch presses already have some basic software routines installed for rolling elements.

   To create a bead or rib with curves or turns, use an auto index station. Since the ball has no axis, the tool can be turned in a radius as small as .433" by rotating the auto index mechanism. Use of the auto index in combination with the RollerBall opens up the opportunity for bead forms of nearly limitless variety.

   A variation in the basic RollerBall system is to create an offset form. In this variation, one of the upper balls is installed with shims so that the two balls in the upper tool are not on the same plane. If this configuration is used on the edge of a sheet, an elongated off set form can be made. This is commonly used where an overlap is required to join two sheets. The result is an even and accurate overlapping tab.

   If the RollerBall is used with the offset configuration within the sheet itself, somewhere in the interior of sheet, and it is used with programming to make a complete circle as an example, a large emboss is created. With this configuration of the tool, even embosses that are not circles are possible and become the function of the NC program.

   As the RollerBall evolves, which it is at this time, there are additional ideas that users have asked about. Consider changes in the ball diameter where all three balls are either larger or smaller, but always equal to each other in diameter. Mixing various ball diameters in the same tool creates interesting results. And, an application that requires two beads, side by side, can be produced using a tool configuration of three balls in the upper tool and two balls in the lower tool. These variations and more are possible with your Finn-Power punch press and the new Mate RollerBall.

For more information, please contact:

Mate Precision Tooling
1295 Lund Boulevard
Anoka, MN 55303
Phone: 1-800-328-4492
Phone: 763-421-0230
Fax: 1-800-541-0285
Fax: 763-421-0285
www.matept.com

710 Remington Road
Schaumburg, IL 60173 USA
Phone: (847) 885 3200
Fax: (847) 885 9692
www.finnpower.com

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Copyright © 2001 by Finn-Power International, Inc.