Page 15 - MetalForming February 2010

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Newly engineered tools for the recommissioned transfer system—precision machined for each part stage—helped allow SPM to increase press speed from 12 strokes/min. to 27 strokes/min., because transfer motions became more relaxed and part handling became more reliable.
automation because of the existing tim- ing and clearance conditions. This was a huge improvement over the hand- transfer setup, and SPM’s customer vis- ited the plant and bought in on its abil- ity to supply the parts in a transfer mode for the long term.
Tooling Phase Two
The next step in the project addressed three issues simultaneously: • Production-volume ramp-up on
the two existing parts;
• Addition of a third part currently
being run at SPM using an in-die trans- fer mechanism; and
• Additional equipment to improve quick-die-change (QDC) capability.
The volumes for the transmission components were scheduled to increase rapidly, and at the same time SPM decid- ed to configure a third part for the newly automated press. This part had been run- ning in an in-die transfer system that was exhibiting reliability problems.
During phase two of the project, SPM engineers went to work revisiting the finger tooling used for the first two parts, while enabling the tooling to accommodate the third part from the in-die transfer tool. They also sought to incorporate swing-gate access to the press bolster to optimize conditions to implement QDC procedures.
Successfully implementing this phase required a complete die review and optimization as a function of new trans- fer-finger tooling developed for all three stampings. While during the first phase the transfer system had to mimic the exist-
ing timing curve developed with the existing transfer system and longer press stroke, during phase two HMS and SPM worked to generate new timing curves. Finger engagements were considered and clearances modified within the dies based on optimized timing-curve data.
HMS designed and manufactured an engineered transfer tool to replace the fabricated tooling that had been in use, which featured an open-top shov- el design. The new engineered tools, installed in January 2010, have proven to be much more rigid, and the fingers were precision machined for each part stage—parts are gripped front to back, top to bottom and left to right, extreme- ly secure. And, new flat-pack sensors were added, replacing aging sensors so that sensing range was increased and the likelihood of nuisance faults minimized.
Immediate and Considerable Improvements
The improvements were immediate and considerable–press speed jumped from 12 strokes/min. to 27 strokes/min., transfer motions became more relaxed, and part handling became more reliable.
Says Vance Witham, SPM tooling engineering manager: “Complete die review and optimization of the dies to the finger tooling proved to be the most important components in effectively bringing in the new transfer dies. And by creating better transfer timing and part-handling conditions, the process runs much more reliably and there are many more parts in the dunnage bin at the end of each shift.” MF
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METALFORMING / FEBRUARY 2010 13