Page 15 - MetalForming December 2015

strength material in coil form, it’s like a giant coiled spring. The stamper must contain the coil with devices that control the direction of material flow, so it will thread hands-free through the equip- ment into the feeder-straightener.”
Advanced Equipment for Advanced Materials
To overcome these issues, Nahanni began looking to invest in technology to help improve safety, processing times and quality, and reduce setup times, all while reducing the footprint required for manufacturing. In partic- ular, Nahanni had been experiencing difficulty in obtaining the required material flatness prior to feeding the press. In addition to the common coil- set issues, it also consistently experi- enced crossbow issues—where the material is curved across the width of the coil.
After extensive discussions, Nahan- ni agreed, in 2013, to run some of its material on Coe equipment featuring the firm’s advanced HD-straightener head, at its Sterling Heights, MI, facil- ity. “Crossbow correction has always been in the realm of leveler capability,” says Zupanec. “We viewed Coe’s abili- ty to address coil set and crossbow on the same machine as a real accom- plishment.”
Nahanni next laid out its require- ment wish list, which included a solu- tion that could run a broad range of materials, material thicknesses (0.030 to 0.300 in.), and increased material strengths; optimize floor space; and enable simple and safe threading.
“At that point,” Foster adds, “we focused on overcoming the technical hurdles of condensing a line that would normally stretch 45 to 50 ft. long and to less than 25 ft.”.
Building on a Good Foundation
Starting with the capabilities of the advanced HD-straightener head, the Coe engineering team continued to design the rest of the solution from the ground up, developing several new concepts. Engineers verified design feasibility with solid modeling, unique
spreadsheet calculations and finite- element analysis, ensuring that the machine would have the right struc- tures in the right places.
Ultimately, Nahanni Steel Products welcomed, in September 2015, a new coil line (Coe’s new SpaceMaster Series 4 compact coil line) that unwinds, straightens and feeds coil stock in yield strengths to 1000 MPa at speeds to 60- 70 strokes/min, within 23 ft. of floor
space. Key to the design is a unique approach to pilot release—the act of momentarily releasing the strip to allow it to be aligned by pilot pins in the die. This momentary release relieves built- up stress and binding of the strip through the feed and die, caused by feed-length variation, misalignment and coil camber.
Most servo-driven roll feeds and feeder-straighteners feature air- or
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