50 Years of Nibbler Technology
Berthold Leibinger's invention of advanced punching in hand tools is celebrating an anniversary
The hand-guided TRUMPF power nibbler is celebrating its 50th birthday. The first tool, based on technical principles developed by Berthold Leibinger, came to market in 1959. Its advantage: It cuts sheet metal flexibly, rapidly, and without spraying sparks. Designed for a variety of applications, the TRUMPF nibblers have become essential to industry and hand workers.
The great success of electrical nibbling tools for TRUMPF began in 1959, when the company introduced the "THN100". It was based on one of the first patents obtained by development engineer Berthold Leibinger. The "THN100" was a tool with a punch that pushed through the fixed die plate with a stroke movement to stamp the material. Making a series of punching strokes to create a cut-line in the sheet metal was called nibbling.
Power tools for nibbling existed before 1959. But these nibblers had very low maneuverability around curves. The TRUMPF tool, on the other hand, could be turned in all directions within the kerf because the machine was connected to the die plate through the hollow cutting punch. The "THN100" could travel around curves with unlimited mobility. This was its special - patented - distinguishing feature.
And so TRUMPF received the title of "Nibble King," as a trade journal called it in 1960, to reflect the company's activities and successes in this area. At first, nibbling was a seldom-used method of sheet metal processing. But TRUMPF was early to recognize the advantages of this cutting procedure in sheet metal processing and used it in stationary machines as well as in electrical and compressed air tools.
Professor Berthold Leibinger, for many years President of TRUMPF and now Chairman of the Supervisory Board, remembers: "In those days, the nibbling process made it possible to cut sheet metal thicknesses of up to one millimeter with hand-guided tools. The basic technical principle has endured, just like the advantages it made possible. The tools are agile, with distortion-free cutting, controlled chip discharge, and no significant warming."
In contrast to angle grinders, nibblers do not generate sparks that would damage clean surfaces. Spark-free work is just as important in breaking down tanks that have been filled with oil or chemicals. Here too, nibblers are the tool of choice. And this is possible because over the past 50 years, TRUMPF has made enormous improvements to the performance capacity and handling of these tools. The largest nibbler - a hydraulic TruTool N1500 - can even cut stainless steel sheets up to 15 mm thick. It is used mainly to dismantle heavy installations that are an explosion or a contamination risk.
Large areas of application are covered by numerous smaller tools, industry-specific in design and constantly being improved. In the past year of 2008 alone, TRUMPF brought three new nibblers of various sizes and performance capacities to market: the rapid TruTool PN130, the cordless TruTool N200 with Li-ion battery and the flexible TruTool N500 with "reverse gear."
TRUMPF GmbH + Co. KG
Johann-Maus-Straße 2
71254 Ditzingen
Germany
Anke Roser
+49 7156 303-30428
anke.roser@de.trumpf.com
