Page 24 - MetalForming June 2011

1One Hydraulic
Press Supplants Three Mechanicals
Ilsco Corp., Cincinnati, OH, is no stranger to changing with the times and technology. Founded in 1894 as a family-owned business, the firm began as the Incandescent Light and Stove Company, selling gas systems. Today it manufactures 15,000 UL-list- ed electrical components in copper and aluminum, and is one of the largest direct suppliers of mechanical con- nectors to U.S. and Canadian electrical OEMs. It operates out of six locations throughout North America, including its 250,000-sq.-ft. plant in Cincinnati, with 220 employees.
The Move from Mechanical to Hydraulic
For many years, Ilsco relied on mechanical presses to form its prod- ucts, at one time operating as many as 50 mechanical presses from 5 to 150 tons. Now, thanks to more efficient equipment and press automation, its press count is down to just 15.
One key trend, notes manufacturing engineer Keith Tipton, is the switch from manufacture of copper connec- tors to aluminum. As the availability of aluminum extrusions grew, the com- pany was able to receive shaped extru- sions and, depending on the part, machine, stamp and form completed connectors on one press.
However, says Tipton, the firm con- tinued to seek ways to consolidate dies and processes, and reduce the number of presses on its floor.
“We consider full-revolution press-
Ilsco’s 75-ton hydraulic press features an integral knockout cylinder mounted in the main ram for punching, trimming and marking electrical connectors in aluminum up to 1⁄2 in. thick, and for forming copper.
22 MetalForming/June 2011
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es old technology,” he says. “They are laborious to set up and are not on the leading edge of safety. The more we learned about hydraulic, the more interested we became.” Besides solving maintenance and setup difficulties, Ilsco believed that hydraulic-press technology would allow it to consoli- date dies and reduce the number of mechanical presses by providing adjustable stroke length and adjustable
tonnage.”
Ilsco’s hydraulic press of choice: a
75-ton model (from Greenerd Press & Machine Co., Nashua, NH) with an integral knockout cylinder mounted in the main ram for punching, trim- ming and marking electrical connec- tors in aluminum up to 1⁄2 in. thick, and for forming in copper. The press includes a heavy, welded frame that optimizes rigidity and minimizes