Layered metal shims cut assembly times and costs

Paul Boughton

Wherever components are joined into functioning assemblies, layered sheet metal shims from Georg Martin help cut assembly times and costs.

For example for Swiss press manufacturer Beutler Nova,  who use four pretensioned, vertically installed linear guide units for the twin-stand construction of their AZ 630 blanking press with a single connecting rod.

When connecting the zero-backlash linear units to the press carcass during final assembly, the guide rails must be positioned very precisely in the press carcass with shims to guarantee a high-quality blanking result. Until recently, solid steel plates, painstakingly ground to the right size and thickness before fitting were used as spacers.

Because the processing time averaging two days was simply too long for Beutler Nova, an alternative was sought. It presented itself at a trade fair in the form of layered sheet metal shims from Georg Martin.

Today the press manufacturer uses only layered steel shims M-Tech L to fit the linear guide units. These highly durable shims with an overall thickness of 2.0mm can be reduced to the required size by simply peeling off layers of 0.05mm by hand with a knife, directly at the assembly location. This clearly speeds up fitting: once the required measurements have been taken, the shims are simply peeled off to their required thickness before being installed. Georg Martin supplies the shims as a ready-to-install and predrilled pressing.

The shims are available in various product lines in steel, stainless steel, aluminium and brass.
 
For more information, visit www.georg-martin.de

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