The VR Lab has gained important know-how over the years owing to consolidated partnerships with research institutions, suppliers, and customers. The Lab is able to take charge of the customer's needs and respond to them with innovative solutions that are in synergy with the technical office.

Support for product design and engineering

Thanks to the experience accumulated over time and partnerships with raw material suppliers, we are able to suggest to our customers, from among a large variety of materials, the most suitable material for their application.

We guarantee support in the project engineering phase by means of checks and experimental tests. Our autonomy in the development of industrial processes allows us to, as needed, employ new machinery and implement new production and control methods.

Laboratory

The company maintains a laboratory for the study of customer applications of our products and for carrying out real-time checks on products, materials, and processes, and we are committed to the continuous development of this facility. Over time it has been enriched with cutting-edge tools that have favored the growth of specific internal skills that enable us to provide clear and precise answers to customers and suppliers.

Our laboratory is also equipped with a Bruker X-ray diffractometer, which allows us to investigate the crystalline structure of steels and their residual stress. This allows us, for example, to quantify the increase in resistance of our valves after the tumbling process is completed.

This allows us to fine-tune the properties of the steels we are working on depending on the specific requirements of our customers.

The presence of an internal laboratory allows us to continuously pursue improvements and new activities, but also participate in dialogues with universities and research and training institutions.  Our laboratory is essential to cultivating and maintaining this type of approach.

The blanking process for hardened and tempered steels

Vito Rimoldi specializes in blanking techniques for steels with high mechanical strength (up to 2100 MPa) and high fatigue strength. In the blanking process it is essential to create a perfect synergy of complex variables that include the materials, the geometry of the products’ details, and the productivity and quality of the cut.

Our blanking department is equipped with Bruderer presses, on which we have installed sensors in order to monitor various parameters. Our adoption of advanced production process control systems follows from our goal of constantly increasing the quality of our products, with a view to continuous and always-achievable improvement.

The tumbling process

The tumbling process is crucial in the production of reed valves for obtaining the desired results in terms of compressive stress and edge radii.

Vito Rimoldi, in collaboration with La Sapienza University, has carried out in-depth research to develop an innovative tumbling process that improves the performance of reed valves.

This research examined variables such as the use of different recipes of abrasive media, the control of fluids and their quantity, the length and speed of the working cycle of the tumbler, all keeping in mind the need to obtain the desired finishes. Furthermore, thanks to the use of the diffractometer, we can analyze the impact of the tumbling process on the residual stresses of the materials, in order to guarantee optimal finishes with minimum impact on the resistance of the valves.

Control of processing and packaging

Thanks to our strong collaboration with a leading company in the optical inspection systems sector, we have designed and manufactured instruments that allow the measurement, testing, selection, and handling of the sponge gaskets and friction strips we produce.

Our 100% robotically controlled stations allow us to guarantee defect rates on the order of just a few pieces per million products.

Furthermore, flexible system management allows us to monitor production processes on a daily basis, ensuring batch traceability and process review at any time. Once again, our partnership with a leading company in the sector has allowed our company to reach levels of excellence in the areas of production and supply.