A four-slide, also known as a multislide, multi-slide, or four-way, is a

metalworking Metalworking is the process of shaping and reshaping metals to create useful objects, parts, assemblies, and large scale structures. As a term it covers a wide and diverse range of processes, skills, and tools for producing objects on every scal ...

machine tool A machine tool is a machine for handling or machining metal or other rigid materials, usually by cutting, boring, grinding, shearing, or other forms of deformations. Machine tools employ some sort of tool that does the cutting or shaping. All ...

used in the high-volume manufacture of small stamped components from bar or

wire Overhead power cabling. The conductor consists of seven strands of steel (centre, high tensile strength), surrounded by four outer layers of aluminium (high conductivity). Sample diameter 40 mm A wire is a flexible strand of metal. Wire is c ...

stock. The press is most simply described as a horizontal stamping press that uses cams to control tools.. The machine is used for progressive or

transfer Transfer may refer to: Arts and media * ''Transfer'' (2010 film), a German science-fiction movie directed by Damir Lukacevic and starring Zana Marjanović * ''Transfer'' (1966 film), a short film * ''Transfer'' (journal), in management studies ...

stamping operations..

Design

A four-slide is quite different from most other presses. The key of the machine is its moving slides that have tools attached, which strike the workpiece together or in sequence to form it. These slides are driven by four shafts that outline the machine. The shafts are connected by

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 othe ...

s so that one shaft is driven by an

electric motor An electric motor is an electrical machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Most electric motors operate through the interaction between the motor's magnetic field and electric current in a wire winding to generate for ...

, and then that shaft's motion drives the other three shafts. Each shaft then has

cam Calmodulin (CaM) (an abbreviation for calcium-modulated protein) is a multifunctional intermediate calcium-binding messenger protein expressed in all eukaryotic cells. It is an intracellular target of the secondary messenger Ca2+, and the bin ...

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."What Fourslide Metal Forming Does that Power Press Can’t"
July 21, 2015 , Engineering.com/ Moreover, it can handle certain parts that

progressive die Progressive Die 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. The feeding system pushes a strip of metal (as it unrolls ...

s 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 wide, long, and thick. For wires the limit is . Other limits are the travel on the slides, which maxes out at , and the throw of the forming cams, which is between . The machine is also limited to only

shearing Sheep shearing is the process by which the woollen fleece of a sheep is cut off. The person who removes the sheep's wool is called a '' shearer''. Typically each adult sheep is shorn once each year (a sheep may be said to have been "shorn" or ...

and

bending In applied mechanics, bending (also known as flexure) characterizes the behavior of a slender structural element subjected to an external load applied perpendicularly to a longitudinal axis of the element. The structural element is assumed to ...

operations.

Extrusion Extrusion is a process used to create objects of a fixed cross-sectional profile by pushing material through a die of the desired cross-section. Its two main advantages over other manufacturing processes are its ability to create very complex ...

and

upsetting Forging is a manufacturing process involving the shaping of metal using localized compressive forces. The blows are delivered with a hammer (often a power hammer) or a die. Forging is often classified according to the temperature at which ...

operations are impractical because it hinders the movement of the workpiece to the next station. Drawing and

stretching Stretching is a form of physical exercise in which a specific muscle or tendon (or muscle group) is deliberately flexed or stretched in order to improve the muscle's felt elasticity and achieve comfortable muscle tone. The result is a feeling ...

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 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, at which point, the material could experienc ...

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 Cold-formed steel (CFS) is the common term for steel products shaped by cold-working processes carried out near room temperature, such as rolling, pressing, stamping, bending, etc. Stock bars and sheets of cold-rolled steel (CRS) are common ...

* Spheroidized cold rolled

spring steel Spring steel is a name given to a wide range of steels used in the manufacture of different products, including swords, saw blades, springs and many more. These steels are generally low-alloy manganese, medium-carbon steel or high-carbon stee ...

*Type 300 and 400 stainless spring steels *

Copper alloy Copper alloys are metal alloys that have copper as their principal component. They have high resistance against corrosion. The best known traditional types are bronze, where tin is a significant addition, and brass, using zinc instead. Both of t ...

s * Beryllium-copper alloys

Use

Items that are commonly produced on this machine include: automotive stampings, hinges, links, clips, and

razor blade A razor is a bladed tool primarily used in the removal of body hair through the act of shaving. Kinds of razors include straight razors, safety razors, disposable razors, and electric razors. While the razor has been in existence since before ...

References

Bibliography

*. *

External links

Video of a four-slide machine in use.
{{Machine and metalworking tools Industrial equipment Machines