Progressive Die designed with VISI-Progress
VISI-Progress is specialized CAD/CAM software optimized for the design and manufacture of progressive, transfer, deep draw and line dies. Specific tool-and-die functionality reduces die design and build time by as much as 35%. And due to its intuitive easy to learn and easier to use user interface, “VISI” also reduces errors design as well as in NC programs.
Extensive Range of CAD Interfaces
VISI works with customer supplied industry standard part files never needing to be remodeled. The list includes IGES, STEP, Parasolid, ACIS, CATIA V4 & V5, Pro/Engineer, Unigraphics, Solidworks, Solid Edge, Inventor, and Mechanical Desktop. What’s more, VISI has the ability to read many corrupt and damaged files to salvage portions of geometry that may not have been damaged.
True Hybrid Modeling
Engineering in the manufacturing industry is moving more and more to solid modeling everyday. But toolmakers have to accomodate the straglers that are still using surface modeling, wireframe, and even 2D CAD. VISI is a true hybrid modeler that can work with CAD files that have co-mingled solid, surface, and wireframe data. It shifts between model types automatically. For example, when one surface of a solid is deleted, the remaining geometries convert to surfaces. Once the hole is repaired with a new surface the model automatically converts back to a solid. No menu pick required.
Powerful Unfolding Tools & Flexible Strip Layout
Step-by-step unfolding within VISI-Progress allows designers to quickly develop progressive and transfer die station geometries. What’s unique about VISI is that the part can be a drawn metal part. The inclusions can be gussets and stiffeners as well as flanges. With thinning occurring up to 20% the unfolding accuracy is still accurate to with 1 to 2 stock thicknesses. Flexible editing allows the addition and removal extra die stages providing the user with complete freedom when developing strips.
Engineering Math is Done for You
During the design process the system maintains and updates all engineering data including material scrap percent; tonnage forces needed for forming, shearing, and stripping. And the data can be read out for the entire die or for individual stations.
Tool Assembly
Building a tool starts with the selection of a die set template from the users library of previous designs. From then on VISI’s Assembly Manager works constantly in the background to maintain a bill of material for the design. Software tools make quick work of developing punch and die hollows including properly generated geometries and clearances for the punch plate(s), stripper plate(s), punches, die plate, lands and tapers and offsets. Even notching punches have punch clearance and guide clearance added properly. Half the users design work is done for him.
Tool Detailing
Once the solid model of a tool design is completed, the solid model geometry can be used to generate all manner of 2D plots. In fact, with very little effort, you can bury your customer with detail drawings of every die component. Hole tables and bills-of-material are both generated automatically. The user simply places them in the plot views.
After a set of plot views have been completely
specified and after an engineering change has been applied, the entire set of plot views can be updated from the solid model with a single menu pick.
Manufacturing Modules
The VISI-Series is a CAD/CAM system. That means, when the design is complete, the file is ready for manufacturing – for the NC programs to be generated.
VISI includes automatic feature-based machining for 2D programs. In fact, it takes less than 10 picks to generate the ASCII text G-Code file for machining a lower show with over 500 holes in it. That’s because VISI maintains a manufacturing process standard for any and every feature that could appear in a plate. For example, when the software sees a 3/8 inch tapped hole, it would generate a spot drill, tap drill, tap cycle, and chamfer to user specification. It does pockets too always picking the right tool for the pocket geometry.
Multisurface 3D machining for form stations is world class. Machining to a surface, machining to a mesh, roughing, re-roughing, ISO machining, pencil milling, high-speed machining disciplines, cruise missile rapids (or straight), 5-axis machining – VISI has it all.
VISI’s wire EDM programming is above the rest. Given a solid with a cutout to be wire machined, VISI automatically finds the geometry, creates the upper guide, creates the lower guide, and connects up the guides properly. The NC programmer needs only specify the e-group with which to machine.
