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A critical success factor for suppliers of formed metal parts is the ability to produce a wide array of parts in a variety of batch sizes. This requirement profile is the classic strength of the hydraulic press. Schuler recently installed a manufacturing system for a Dutch company which raises the flexibility of this press type even further.
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The new machine concept combines a hydraulic press with an automation system by means of four hanging robots with linear positioning. This combination enables extremely flexible machine usage. As the press is equipped with three separate drawing cushions, it can either be used as a single press for the production of large parts, or as a three-station transfer press. Depending on the part to be produced, the robots take care of feeding, transporting between die stations and unloading. This degree of flexibility cannot be achieved with conventional press automation.
At the heart of the new production cell is an hydraulic press with a press force of 15,000 kN. It is equipped with cylinder selection, parallelism controls, bolster and slide cushions with tilting compensation and two sliding bolsters. The parts are spray lubricated for optimum drawing results. After the last forming station, the finished parts are automatically stacked in lattice boxes.
The machine concept is particularly well suited to manufacturers who have to produce a wide spectrum of sheet metal parts in varying batch sizes. The customer in the Netherlands produces parts for manufacturers of construction machines, fork-lift trucks and trucks. The unusual combination of transfer press and robot automation also offers economic benefits. The cylinder selection function guarantees high output even of small parts, and the storage of movement profiles for the press and robots enables short changeover times. As a result, operators can achieve significant productivity gains, especially for the production of small batch sizes. |
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