How a cookie cutter is made - GIF

[Jon]

How a cookie cutter is made.



Previously:

ladder walking - video

[marksbug]

aka slow mans finger masher!!! I like it!!!

[PJs]

Very cool but labor intensive for all the dies and setups and PLC(?) code to time and drive the pneumatic's. Also noted the placement of the seams for the cutter ring. So many shapes and size available now...thinking about this setup making a Christmas tree.

Thanks Jon...gets the noodle, noodling.

[marksbug]

I think it could be simplified ( opperation of tool) like a round ring with cams on it to close them in the order or all at 1 time with just 1 movemment.and a roller on the end of each segment for eaze of operation. it could be lever operated or numatic...they also need not retract quite so far.

[PJs]

Without any context to this machine and the company producing only Ginger Bread cookie cutters (and maybe a couple of others) it is difficult to set any antecedence to their thinking and process goals. It may be that they are a Mom & Pop shop that put this thing together in a decent rudimentary way to crank out small runs based on the other operations, like forming, cutting and feeding the raw cutter cylinders. So yes, as marksbug stated a series of cams could be used actuate and time the operations manually, instead of a PLC or similar controller.

My hit is this may be a prototype as at :03 the die head at 4 O'clock (previous view was 180°) has a top plate that probably helps hold the cylinder down during the forming of the other cylinders yet is 4th in timing. Note: that gravity is holding the form in place and perhaps it isn't until the 3 previous ops it starts to lift the opposite side and the hold down plate is needed?!?

If one were to want to produce all the various types and sizes and be flexible for new designs in some higher quantities to keep them cost effective and salable, the first thing would be to make the setup modular and quick change, imho. If deciding to use this type of equipment, the rams would need multiple position mounting with a quick change die yoke, the center mold needs a drop-in/lock-down in approach. Probably adding perhaps an automated (timed) feed chute for the raw cylinders and a magnetic picker of some kind to drop the formed pieces into a bin...it would also be better if this were a vertical headstock assembly to facilitate the automation. This could all be done with simple ladder logic micro-PLC's and pneumatic's.

Full scale brain surgery/rocket science I would probably make a much larger machine which would form and side crimp the cylinders from 8' sheet stock, and feed the tube to a headstock that would form the top crimp, feed forward on to the die to a stop, part it off, then form the shapes with the cylinder dies, then eject/drop to an output hopper bin. "Crayon Overview"

Funny how the simple Gif lights a candle of verbose diagnostics and visions of the future innovation...

PJ

[Jon]

Why are the steps sequential? Is this just incidental, or is there a good reason for not doing all of these presses at once?

[PJs]

Why are the steps sequential? Is this just incidental, or is there a good reason for not doing all of these presses at once?

It's possible they could be done at one time as long as the punch dies don't interfere with each other to form the radii at the extremities. When all are closed you can see a slight gap between the dies at the radii which tells me they had to work the dies carefully with the timing to get a nice radii without deformation. My guess is that doing them all at once might cause some deformations at the quadrants of the radii and perhaps the straighter lengths. Single acting gives the ring time to settle for the next one to fire and doing it sequentially around the perimeter allows the stretching metal to move toward the seam at the crotch, as the last op to take up any additional stretched metal...that is why I mentioned the seam location previously. Note the slight gap at the seam in the final pic of the cutter. I do think the timing could be a bit faster though.

Great Tool Talk post and good question Jon, Thanks!

[Jon]

Single acting gives the ring time to settle for the next one to fire and doing it sequentially around the perimeter allows the stretching metal to move toward the seam at the crotch, as the last op to take up any additional stretched metal

OK, this makes sense.

Great Tool Talk post Jon, Thanks!

Thanks! I've been upping my Tool Talk game recently. BTW, the inventor of the welding robot just showed up: My robot was just posted to this site

[marksbug]

doing in a sequance dosent pull or push the material giving a form not desired.(wrinkles,streaches,riped etc) first one holds it then the second holds the next then then next and so on. doint it willy nilly like 180 degrees apart you may have too much on one side and not enough on the other side for the next bends.
long ago in another life when i was programming&running cnc mills, mostly prototype aerospace&defense stuff,and some prototype stuff for the big automakers.we also did some small stuff for mom & pop type shops that did a lot of stuff like this. and of coarse we took care of the fishing fleet&charter boats in the aera after all it was a small drinking village with a fishing problem.....( Destin FL). I do miss having the cnc equipment at my fingertips.

[marksbug]

I also made multi stage punch press dies witch thought me a lot...most of with I have probably forgot. and making big switch&gauge pannels full of holes cutouts some threaded holes and engraved for each switch or light...about 2' wide....and...probably 40"long...after it was all cutout drilled,taped,engraved(all on the same mill that I had to program&run off a print that a engineer did.....) and after it was done it had to be bent in atleast 3 angles for 3 diferent planes of switches & lights&gauges... of coarse the engineers havent a clue about bend raidi and how it moves everything..... I did about 4 sample's that did not fit...( thats a **** load of time&programing) it was .125 5052 aluminum I think. well after they didnt fit and the engineers werre pulling all thier hair out....it was up to me to figure all the bend raidi.....( I aint no math wiz.... ) so i figured it all,reprogramed, machined, then took to the bender and set it to where I wanted the bends and....sent it to them... the dam thing fit perfectly , then to make a pile of them, no problem. that and oh so many other issues with "engineers" has led me to...somewhat let it go in one ear and out the other with some filtering when a engineer is telling me something....( along with a few arguments).From my exp they all seem to be the same.... and are a necessary evil... well pain in the butt knowitall that usualy hasent a clue....I appoliguize to any "engineers out there if this offends you, but you should unserstand as Im sure you have also ran into engineers before. The shop owner was a engineer....I think his son was too,I had to redoo his/ their work oh somany times. usualy without his knowing it to make the product right. I wonder how many times they reworked the cookie cutter tool before it worked as desired.