Page 17 - MetalForming December 2012

ager. “So we looked for an alternative solution.”
That solution came early in 2012 in the form of four 200-ton Komatsu gap- frame presses linked by a servo-trans- fer system, from Linear Transfer Automation, Barrie, Ontario, Canada. In fact, Linear Transfer, along with its distributor Production Resources Inc., completed the entire turnkey project for Tennessee Steel, including a blank destacker, die carts (two per press), quick-die-change apparatus (hydraulic clamps, lifters and bolster extensions), safety light curtains, magnetic con- veyors, electric scrap shakers, and even a new press foundation.
”Compared to the quotes we got for a transfer press, the solution we pur- chased from Linear Transfer and PRI cost us about half,” says Price.
Rounding out the plant’s equipment list: three overhead cranes (one 25-ton model and two 10-ton cranes), a few forklifts and a truck and trailer rig.
A Workhorse
The transfer line runs two shifts/day producing three torque-converter part numbers for Exedy—turbine and impeller cores, and torque-converter supports. A fourth part number is slat- ed to make its way to the line early next year—turbine shells—which will require running the transfer line around the clock. Of the firm’s 18 employees, four are trained on the transfer line. Two work the line at a time. Blanks feeding the transfer line come from the plant’s blanking press, and account for 20 percent of that press’s output; the remainder of the blanks gets shipped up the hill to Exedy.
“The cores are the easiest to run on the line,” says Price. “They are small (183-mm-dia. blanks), from 1-mm material and are lightweight. These take only three press operations, and here’s where the custom engineering provided by Linear Transfer really helps. They engineered the line so we can place an outbound conveyor anywhere between the presses, to remove parts from the line. We have the conveyor mounted on casters so we can easily
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