Page 23 - MetalForming February 2016

a close look at angles and positions. And, should something unexpected happen, the slower you’re running the less the damage will be.
“It’s much safer, too” says Patil. “This feature allows users to prove-out new dies quickly and efficiently while min- imizing the risk of accidents and die damage.”
The soft-stop feature on Aida’s new servo control is designed to prevent unnecessary nuisance press shutdowns in the event of delayed signals from sensors. “In the old mechanical world,” says Patil, “the sensor signal is either there or it isn’t. And if it isn’t, the press shuts down and the operator has to go through what often is a time-consum- ing restart process. Maybe the lack of a signal from the sensor indicated a real issue, but maybe the signal was mere- ly delayed by milliseconds and the press really did not need to be com- pletely shut off.”
Now, with the soft-start feature, if a sensor signal is lagging, rather than shut off the press the control will pause the slide at a safe position and wait for a delayed signal from the sensor. Using a preset delay period allows for the action being sensed to either occur, so the press can continue, or, if the signal doesn’t eventually come, shut off the press in a hard e-stop.
The productivity benefits of such process control can be significant, Patil notes. For starters, an operator forced to troubleshoot and restart presses due to nuisance stops—let’s say delayed scrap or part ejection, for example— may not be able to tend to more than one press.
“Or, Patil adds, “consider a press and feed setup capable of running a die at 60 strokes/min. that is forced to run at 55 strokes/min. because the feed might be lagging a fraction of a second —at the higher speed, that lag time can trigger a shutdown every few min- utes. Now, with the soft-start feature, the stamper can run at top speed and if the sensor signals a feed lag, the press will just stop momentarily until the feed catches up.”
Connectivity Enhances Training and Troubleshooting
Finally, as Sutherland noted, Eth- ernet and VPN connectivity create a clear path to improved troubleshoot- ing. “As long as the customer con- nects the control to its network, we can log in and help diagnose any- thing that might be happening with the overall line,” Patil explains. “Often, by the time a service-tech
arrives onsite he can have a report from us telling him what to look for, and in what order he should perform certain diagnostic checks. Ethernet connectivity also lets us conduct remote training. We can communi- cate with the operator right on the shop floor as he seeks to fine-tune a program, for example. This saves valuable time during setup and helps improve OEE.” MF
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