Page 31 - MetalForming April 2013

Greenerd press has been spectacular,” shares DeHosse, noting that “we don’t draw to positive stops, we draw to ram position. With our other two hydraulic presses, we experience significant drift during drawing. With the new press, if we need to reduce draw depth by 0.030 in. we adjust the program and rest easy knowing the accuracy and repeatabil- ity will be there.”
Also included with the press: a bar- code reader that operators use to scan the dies and call up the appropriate forming recipe; and light curtains across the front of the press with mir- rors along the back to reflect the curtain and completely guard the press perimeter.
Consistent Lubricant Application
Before the blanks feel the pressure, they’re run through a Unist SPR-2000 Sproller lubricant applicator, which applies a controlled layer of heavy- duty chlorinated draw lube (Prodraw 150, from Wallover Oil Co.) top and bottom.
“We added the Unist systems in mid-2012,” says DeHosse, “to remove operator inconsistency from when applying lube manually. We experience more forming problems from too much lube, rather than not enough, because excess lube can get trapped between the blank and the blankholder. This can cause radial lube lines to form in the upper lip of the pan. We’ve com- pletely eliminated that problem with the new lube systems.”
After deep drawing, parts travel by conveyor (part of the one-piece flow setup installed in 2010) to a hydraulic trim press, then on to CNC lathes for edge finishing. They then route to a washing system (supplied by Walsh Manufacturing), which in 2010 replaced three separate wash lines— “One more step in the process to implement sin- gle-piece flow,” shares DeHosse.
“We’ve decreased the time it takes to move blanks from the blanking cell to a final buffing operation,” continue DeHosse, “from 4 to 5 days when we were batch processing to as little as one shift.” MF
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