
Bertha Benz - famous inventor and wife of Mercedes-Benz founder Karl Benz - is credited with creating the first brake pads out of leather for an early patent of their automobile in 1888.

The first use of brake pads goes all the way back to the 19th century. When importing, the software automatically detects sheet metal thickness to ensure that correct unfolding is guaranteed even in the event of model inaccuracies.These days, drivers typically have a choice between three types of brake pads: ceramic vs. You can also attach this kind of information to already constructed, imported models. Thus the SPI SheetMetal Inventor purposefully supports you already during the design. The software calculates the manufacturable unfolding, which you then pass on to laser, punching, or bending programming and which can be effortlessly used to control the machines. During design, you can define these settings individually for each bend line. The built-in Data Editor database also defines which calculation method is used and how: you can choose between A4 formula, DIN formula, K-factor formula, your own formula, or empirically determined values.

It is not necessary to laboriously create the values for this yourself, they can instead be imported from machine databases such as TruTops Bend. The flat pattern calculation in the SheetMetal Inventor is based on material and bending tool properties from a technology database. In order to determine the blank length of the flat sheet metal component on the basis of the 3D drawing, a compensation value – the shortening factor – must be calculated. This effect must be included in the calculation of the unfolding, i.e., the flat pattern.

During bending, the sheet metal plate undergoes certain alterations because the forming process changes the distribution of material in the workpiece.
