Page 39 - MetalForming January 2013

which weigh as much as 25 lb., and rotating the coil man- drel multiple times to achieve final coil position.
“It’s a cumbersome process to position the three rear arms, mount the coil, posi- tion the front three arms then thread the coil, with the bend- ing and lifting exposing the operator to back strain and injury,” explains Wenzel. In Miller’s new line, the poten- tially injurious labor and setup time has been reduced via pushbutton positioning of the guides.
Reducing setup time on a press line means more than just address- ing the die area. In this case, setup-time reduction drove innovation throughout the entire line, beginning with coil delivery and material feed. For example, the powered coil guides shown here employ pushbutton positioning, avoiding the potentially injurious labor and lengthy setup time required using manual guides. The guides pre- vent material from sliding to the left or right off of the coil.
toring the status of the line and its components. The controls prevent typical mistakes seen during setup and operation, preventing them from interrupting efficient operation, whether in setup or production. These mistake-proofing options, selected by Miller’s Adam Utecht and Jim Dimpf, prevent operators from wasting time correct- ing typical setup errors.
Traveling Control Panel Integrates Line Functions
A discussion of coil han- dling hints at the central role of the line’s integrated control system, supplied
Coil handling for the new
line also incorporates auto-
mated material feeding into
the press via a servo-driven
roll feed. Where traditional systems employ hand cranks
and lower the feed’s mounting cabi- net during setup to achieve proper passline height, this line features motorized adjustment and encoders that allow for storage of the correct passline height in a job recipe.
during each setup—once to release and again to retighten. The tool-less system on Miller’s line eliminates that step. Also, the air cylinder that auto- matically raises and lowers the upper feed roll and applies downward force to hold material must be set at the correct pressure for each setup. This is one more parameter stored in the feed line’s job-recipe control, and that eliminates time needed for operator adjustment of a manual air regulator.
In addition to the stored parameters, the coil-handling and feed system fea- tures PLC controls and sensors moni-
Further, a tool-less press attach- ment bracket is another time- and labor-saving innovation supplied by Coe. On standard feed-cabinet designs, the operator manually releases bolts that secure the feed cabinet to the press frame, a step requiring the operator to walk completely around the press twice
to raise
by Link Systems, Nashville, TN, and installed at Aida’s factory in Dayton, OH. The system provides controls and diagnostics for the press itself while also tying into every piece of equip- ment, incorporating features to opti- mize setups and provide all-important mistake-proofing. Thus the press con- trol acts as the line control, creating a remote master operator station, according to Wenzel, that can be moved from one end of the line to the other via a press-mounted rail. The station contains operator-interface ter- minals and key pushbuttons for all line processes.
“We brought all of the frequently used controls into one enclosure, and made it portable,” says Wenzel. Opera- tors can move the enclosure to wher- ever needed during setup just by pulling it with them along the rail. This eliminates constant walking back and forth to access various controls and line processes. For example, the rail extends beyond the press to reach end-
A coil support (located on the right in this photo) has a series of metallic side bars that allow it to shift inside the press win- dow during die changes, then be extended to support strip and eliminate sagging as the strip feeds into the press.
Tooling Technology
www.metalformingmagazine.com
MetalForming/January 2013 37