Page 18 - MetalForming December 2013

Press Feeding–
Options Abound
What’s the best servo roll feed solution for your stamping application? Consider the HMI capabilities, available feed profiles, pilot-release mechanism, the feed-to-press mount style, and
the process used to support the coil as it enters the feed.
BY JIM WARD
When it comes to feeding con- tinuous coil for progressive- die and blanking operations, metalformers must meet three basic criteria for a successful application.
• The press feed must be flexible in its setup adjustment, to accommodate the full range of material thicknesses and widths that may run in that press.
• The feed line must deliver materi- al with sufficient precision, not only moving the required amount of mate- rial into the die but also placing it pre- cisely right to left and front to back, and squarely to the tool.
• The feed line must index the mate- rial at the proper time, while main- taining the speed requirements of the stamping operation.
In addition to these fundamental requirements, many other considera- tions will ultimately determine the effectiveness of the feed line. These include the amount of time and skill required for job setup, how the feed interfaces with the operator, and how the feed interfaces with the press and other ancillary devices within the system.
Jim Ward is general sales manager, Coe Press Equipment, Sterling Heights, MI: 586/979-4400; www.cpec.com
The human-machine interface is a critical feature of servo-driven roll feeds, enabling control and communication between the operator and the press.
Roll and Gripper Feeds— Compared and Contrasted
Metalformers select among two basic types of feeds for indexing con- tinuous coil—roll feeds and gripper feeds. During the last 20 years, servo- driven roll feeds have become the dom- inant solution for press feeding. Servo roll feeds operate independently from the press and can be programmed to
index the material in a way that opti- mizes the output of each die that runs in the press. Stampers can customize the feed recipe for each die, setting parameters such as the starting point of the index, rate of acceleration, maxi- mum velocity, rate of deceleration and ending point of the index.
The flexibility of a servo-driven roll feed also proves beneficial, to ensure
16 MetalForming/December 2013
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