Page 18 - MetalForming July 2014

Where a tubular-style threaded may be completely unfeasible, a flatpack sensor makes easy work for the die builder.
combination of misfeed, bad timing, poor shut-height setup and other factors, the connecting arms to the ram on a 500- ton press were bent beyond repair. And, the mechanicals in the entire press and half of the tooling were destroyed. The press was sold for scrap.
Forward-thinking manufacturers focus on the goal of staffing their press shops with well-trained technicians and die builders. Investing in your die builders’ education is an investment in die protection.
Your Competitors’ Sensor Implementations
Sensors find use in-die and on the press for a variety of applications. Here are some of the most-promising tech- nology implementations your competitors likely are using today to improve productivity and protect tooling.
Shut-Height Monitoring on Older Presses
Numerous old stamping presses operating in North Amer- ica lack modern press controls, automated setup capabilities or die protection/in-die protection. Even if older presses do have some form of resolvers or glass-disc rotary encoders in place, these can be prone to failure due to vibration, con- tamination or other factors.
Some stampers have outfitted their aging presses with noncontact magnetic encoders to replace manual shut- height-adjustment mechanisms. A rotary magnetic encoder can be added to the press-ram adjustment mechanism, which then connects to a digital display. With this display and manual ram control, the stamper can experience a more finite resolution for different height requirements for different products. And, if a more modern press controller is planned for the future, encoder position data can easily be integrat- ed into a high-speed counter card.
In addition, the magnetic encoder with the press control can enable fully automated recipe-driven setup changes. Even with manual ram control, this setup allows an operator to achieve more consistent, precise and repeatable control, improving setup time and positively impacting product quality.
Sensing Aluminum Brings Challenges
As automotive manufacturers ramp up their use of alu- minum, metalformers must learn how to reliably sense
16 MetalForming/July 2014
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Advances in Die Protection