Page 22 - MetalForming January 2011

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MetalForming/January 2011
www.metalformingmagazine.com
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moves each full pallet outside of the stacker at the same time that a con- veyor on the opposite side of the stack- er moves a new pallet into the stacking location. Adjustable risers allow access for fork-truck removal of each blank stack from the pallets. The system han- dles blanks from 210 to 1500 mm wide, 300 to 1000 mm long, of steel 0.5 to 2.3 mm thick. Maximum stack height is 18 in.; maximum line speed is 70 strokes/min.
Nearly all of the blanks emerging from the press feed the firm’s pair of 1200-metric-ton transfer presses. The ability to blank continuously just adds to the throughput gain realized via quicker changeovers. With its older blank-stacking setup, the press would stop to allow a tow-motor driver to remove each blank stack and load empty pallets at the two stacking stations.
“That process used to eat up anoth- er 10 to 15 min. of press time per hour,” says Thomas. “Now we can run the blanking line continuously, at that max- imum stroke rate on some of our one- out blanks (as long as feed length is in the 300- to 400-mm range),” says Thomas. “Longer feeds require us to slow the press down a bit.”
Other Enhancements: Indexing Conveyor, Tandem-Line Robotics
In addition to engineering Newman Technology’s new blank-stacking sys- tem, Wayne Trail also came to the res- cue with a solution to improve pro- ductivity at the firm’s monster twin-press tandem. That line stamps one-piece door frames from two-out blanks. At one time, as many as four operators worked at the press-line exit conveyor to remove, stack and palletize the stampings. To reduce end-of-line labor content, Wayne Trail designed and installed an indexing servo-driven end-of-line conveyor, programmable to any desired feed length and speed.
“We can pause the conveyor while the press continues to run,” says Thomas, “so that as many as four stampings stack and nest on the conveyor at a time. Stacking on the
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