Abstract: A tool for manufacturing blanks and a process for stacking and destacking the blanks in a production line are provided. The tool is incorporated into a blanking die used to trim a metal sheet and form the blanks. When the blanks are stacked, the destacking formations provide gaps between the adjacent blanks. The gaps provide an entry to blast air and thus reliably separate the blanks for pick up, so that only one blank is picked up at a time. The tool includes a deforming unit that has an engagement element for pressing deformations into the metal sheet. The deformations are pressed adjacent to at least one edge of the metal sheet so that when the metal sheet is trimmed, and the blanks are stacked, they are spaced by the deformations by adjacently stacked blanks.

Abstract: A tool for manufacturing blanks and a process for stacking and destacking the blanks in a production line are provided. The tool is incorporated into a blanking die used to trim a metal sheet and form the blanks. When the blanks are stacked, the destacking formations provide gaps between the adjacent blanks. The gaps provide an entry to blast air and thus reliably separate the blanks for pick up, so that only one blank is picked up at a time. The tool includes a deforming unit that has an engagement element for pressing deformations into the metal sheet. The deformations are pressed adjacent to at least one edge of the metal sheet so that when the metal sheet is trimmed, and the blanks are stacked, they are spaced by the deformations by adjacently stacked blanks.