ProForm® Hydro Form Embossing Equipment

1. Minimum Distortion

The hydro form process applies hydrostatically equalized holding forces to the entire die surface and substrate before forming occurs. These “blank holding” forces are applied first to the non-embossed areas clamping the material and allowing the embossed areas to be embossed without wrinkle.

2. Better Registration

The hydro form process utilizes one-sided tooling minimizing the opportunity for miss registration between to halves. Pin registration is incorporated into the tooling to insure precise location of graphic to tool. Pin registration also improves sheet-to-sheet repeatability.

3. Eliminates Thermal Expansion Problems

The hydro form process does not require heat in order to achieve most embossed shapes. This eliminates problems associated with thermal expansion of substrate and tooling. The absence of heat also eliminates the potential damage to ink and/or substrate.

4. Less Damaging

The one-sided tool combined with the soft diaphragm universal counter die creates less stress on the substrate than traditional match metal embossing tools.

5. Design Flexibility

Because tooling is one-sided, unique embossing geometries are possible with hydro form that cannot be achieved with traditional tooling. Examples include tactile devices, negative draft angles, dual level and deep draw shapes.