Page 18 - MetalForming November 2015

Reach Your
CNC Punch-Press
Potential This overview of current capabilities and maintenance tips can help accomplish just that.
Like their traditional stamping- press cousins, turret punch press- es have progressed in perform- ance and reliability. Drive technology, from mechanical to hydraulic to electromechanical (servo), spearhead- ed improvements, with automation evolving to enable elimination of vari- ous secondary processes. Capabilities have increased to such a degree that it’s safe to say that straight punching rep- resents only a fraction of duties per- formed by today’s CNC turret punch presses. Add to that the emergence of combination punching and laser machines, backed by accessories for sheet and part handling, and you have a quite formidable and flexible fabri- cator.
MetalForming recently discussed turret-punch press evolution with Tim Brady, punching and combination- machine product manager at Amada America, Inc., Buena Park, CA. Brady
The latest CNC turret
punch presses feature
advanced servo drives that improve
capability, productivity and energy efficiency over their mechanical and hydraulic predecessors.
16 MetalForming/November 2015
www.metalformingmagazine.com
describes technology advances for fab- ricators looking to upgrade their capa- bilities as well as maintenance consid- erations for extending machine life and ensuring optimum performance.
Reliability, Energy Efficiency Improve
The industry, and Amada in par- ticular, notes Brady, has introduced new generations of drive technology over the years. The original punch presses featured mechanical drives— flywheel, clutch and brake—to acti- vate the ram.
“The mechanical machines, though limited in capabilities, were reliable and somewhat energy-efficient,” he explains.
By the late 1980s, hydraulic punch presses gained a foothold, promising improved process control.
“The hydraulic machines have many more features as far as controllability of the ram, adjusting how deep the ram travels and how quickly it punches, but they are quite energy-inefficient,” says Brady. “The hydraulic pump always runs, and a chiller must keep the hydraulic fluid cool enough. So com- pared to earlier mechanical models, typical hydraulic punch presses con- sume three to four times the power.”
By the mid-2000s, electromechanical servo-drive punch presses appeared. Similar to servo-driven stamping press- es, these punch presses delivered the benefits of both mechanical and hydraulic machines.
“This latest generation of punch presses is very reliable, with very low energy consumption,” says Brady, not- ing that Amada’s entire turret-press lineup consists of electromechanical
BY LOUIS A KREN, SENIOR EDITOR