Flatbed Die Cutting Technology: How does it really Work?

March 23, 2017

A barebones description explained how Flatbed Die Cutting Machines operate. Certainly, that account is accurate. It holds true across the discipline, all the way through to the humblest hobbyist appliance. Nevertheless, there's not enough practical information in that explanation. The building blocks are in place, though, so all that's required is a little more detail, enough to describe a real world machine.

A Procedural Die Cutting Machine Breakdown

This may sound obvious, but the start of the process really is the best place to begin a detailed look into a practical die cutting setup. It's here that the delivery mechanism is configured. Run a virtual camera past the delivery cubicle, and what do we see? It's a cartridge or tray piled high with blanks. A complex armature assembly is pulling individual sheets from the feed tray and onto a conveyance table at speed. From here, the spring-loaded rollers and plastic bumpers guide the blanks into the machine proper.

The Die Cutting Unit

The shaped cutting rules rise and fall to cut, score, or emboss the blanks. Imagine a precisely timed mechanical assembly, a heavy plate that's part of a clockwork-accurate cycling motion. Below the powered plate and its mounted cutting rules, a counter plate works in concert with the shaped blades to accommodate the processed shape. In essence, as this "platen" is pressed down by a hydraulic or mechanical sub-assembly, it mates with its counter plate to produce a two-sided cutting operation. Similarly, an embossing operation can be achieved by mating an imprinting rule with a negatively etched "deembossing" cutout on this counter panel. Obviously, since this is a highly controlled mechanism, it's essential that blank feed timing, steel rule cycling, and counter plate alignment tolerances are maintained.

Explaining Blank-Manipulating Mechanics

Rubber pads and air-powered suction cups are installed all over industrially-graded flatbed die cutting machines. The rubber inserts hold the blanks in place for a split-second while they're cut by the falling platen. Meanwhile, the feed section uses hollow suckers and a vacuum to lift the blank and convey it into the machine. Over on the stripping station, the same engineering solutions are parting the cut merchandise from the process waste, which leaves the finished product free to be packaged at the output unit.

When no material curvature is needed and when blank thickness could be an issue, flatbed die cutting technology gets a welcome nod of approval. The unit is a well-timed mechanism, a large piece of equipment that uses air, hydraulics, cutting rules, and a pair of plates to precisely cut or score fast-moving sheets of paper, rubber, metal, and all mediums between so that hundreds, if not thousands, of absolutely identical cutouts can be dependably produced for countless applications.

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