Aichelin at EuroBLECH 2014 for the First Time

In the coming week from 21st to 25th October, Aichelin is also taking part in the EuroBLECH trade fair in Hanover for the first time. http://www.euroblech.com Here, in Hall 17, Stand No. F94, the company will showcase the “heatXpress” technology for the direct hot-forming process. This technology enables the transportation of components through the furnace without racks, thereby reducing the investment costs for the operator significantly. “With our innovative, accelerated and energy-saving step-chain conveyor technology for the press-hardening of metal components, we are able to present great arguments for sales to the automotive industry”, explains Dr Thomas Dopler, managing director of Aichelin Ges.m.bH., Mödling.

Speeding up the metal treatment process was the aim of the Aichelin-BSN processing concept, in order to bring metal components up to temperature and into the press as quickly as possible and to thereby enable the achievement of the highly demanding cycle times in the automotive industry. At a required austenitising temperature of 880°C, “heatXpress” attains the shortest cycle times of around 13 seconds, thereby enabling an output of up to 1100 parts per hour (in fourfold production) in the press linked to the furnace, independent of the thickness of the sheets to be processed.

• Additional strengths of this process
  
  
• Unrivalled short conveying times from the furnace into the press; selectable cooling times down to a minimum of 4.2 seconds.
  
  
• High positioning accuracy of the drive system. The racks are positioned +/- 1 mm in front of the press.
  
  
• The drive system is suitable for direct production (sheets directly in the transport system) as well as for indirect production (sheets on racks).
  
  
• The distances between the racks in the furnace can be kept to a minimum, making the furnace length shorter than conventional roller hearth furnaces.
  
  
• No roller breakage caused by intrusion of the sheets´ coating material.
  
  
• No reversing of the furnace drive system is necessary in the event of production downtime or power cuts.
  
  
• Longer maintenance intervals of the furnace doors owing to the layout with two parallel heating chambers.