Neumayer-Tekfor Revs Up High-Speed Press

During an open house at Neumayer-Tekfor in May, hosted by Hatebur, visitors watched the line in operation and inspected its finished products.

The first installation of the new Hotmatic HM 35 hotforming system.took place at in February at Neumayer- Tekfor GmbH, a forger in Germany’s Black Forest region. Hatebur Metalforming Equipment, the Swiss equipment builder that developed the new press technology, this system is rated to produce 180 forgings per minute.

Neumayer-Tekfor employs over 500 at its plants in Hausch and Schmlln, and produces some 170 million parts per year, mostly for the automotive industry.

As detailed by Hatebur, the HM 35 system has induction heating and four forming stations. It is designed to produce forged parts up to 75 mm in diam. It can hot form parts from bar stock ranging in diameter from 18 to 40 mm.

To show off the HM 35 to other potential users, Hatebur (www.hatebur.ch) staged an open house in May at Neumayer- Tekfor’s Hausach plant, at which some 200 guests representing more than 90 companies from 20 countries watched a public demonstration of the new technology.

The visitors experienced a “live” production run of bevel gears, as well as an “idle run” with 180 strokes per minute. Another highlight of the demonstration was the “forgingfriendly,” lateral discharge. Visitors also were treated to a tour through the Neumayer-Tekfor plant, where they saw many other Hatebur forming machines in operation.

HM35 features

The HM 35 presents operators with several significant features, including:

• AC-servo-infeed — Two AC-servo-motors drive all four feed rolls. The AC-servo-motors facilitate infinitely variable adjustment of the in-feed length and withdrawal of the bar after shearing. Two pneumatic bellow cylinders hold and lower the upper feed rolls during bar transition, and ensure even contact pressure of the feed rolls onto the raw material.
• Shear system — The HM35’s shear system is designed with closed stationary and moving blades, so there is no bar clamping.
• Loading station for transfer of cut-offs — The section is pushed into the first gripper by the loading station. The gripper always positions the section optimally in front of the first operation.
• Transfer unit HM 35 — The upper transfer system has five grippers. The grippers are designed to be quick-exchange units and can be adjusted outside the machine. The first gripper can be opened hydraulically to remove cut-offs. Standard equipment includes three-point grippers for the loading station and for press part transport. The gripper case protects the mechanism against dirt.
• Press ram, double pitman, and crankshaft — The HM 35, like the previous HM 75 XL, has an extrabroad crankshaft and an H-shaped double pitman to support the press load over the entire width of the four forming stations. This also applies for eccentric press load distribution.
• Punch cooler — Optimal punch cooling is provided from below for an intensive punch cooling effect with the objective of increasing tool life.

Hatebur history, developments
In 1930, mechanical engineer Fritz Hatebur established a design office in Neuss, Germany, for building and refurbishing machines for drawing, pressing, stamping, and punching. He invented a revolutionary automatic turret-type hot forging press, and designed automatic nut punching and bolt trimming machines.

In 1933, Hatebur moved to Basel, Switzerland, with his family and a car full of engineering drawings. He proceeded to develop an innovative cold-forming system that landed him many orders. After World War II, the market for metalforming machines picked up and during the 1950s and ‘60s the Hatebur firm grew with the demand.

In 1948, the company introduced the first fully automatic three-station hot forging machine for nuts with horizontally arranged tools. In 1949 it followed that with a cold header, with three forming stations for screws and bolds.

In 1954, Hatebur succeeded in producing ball-bearing races on the Hotformer that had previously been used only for nuts. In the years to come, Hatebur Hotformers are used virtually all over the world to produce bearing races.

In 1968, the Hatebur Development Center opens its doors, with a test center, toolmaking shop, heat treating shop, and laboratory.

In 1981, the company introduced the HFE process for forward extrusion on the Hotmatic Hotformers, and in 1988, the first metalforming machine that changes its own tools was introduced: the Hotmatic AMP 40S with Hydroblock tool changer.

Neumayer-Tekfor is using the HM 35 to produce bevel gear forgings.

In addition to introducing several new models of hot-forming and cold-forming machines, the company has established a presence known around the world. Having founded subsidiary companies in Germany and Japan, Hatebur expanded its organization at the beginning of 2008 with a new branch office in China — Hatebur (Shanghai) Technology Co., Ltd. With this new affiliate Hatebur expects to able to fulfil the needs of Chinese customers for new machines.

Recent, together with Lumag AG , Hatebur founded a new service company to develop its strong position in the repair and overhauling business. Hatebur Lumag- Services offers a broad range of services to customers worldwide.