Since February 2009, The Belgian company Penne has been using a servo press to produce components for its next generation of windshield wipers, which ?C together with a coil line and roll feed from Schuler Automation ?C guarantees high output and optimum part quality. For Schuler, this is the first delivery of a forming press with servo direct technology to one of the Benelux states. 

The complete system, comprising servo press and coil line, was handed over to Penne in February 2009. The company started immediately with the production of windshield wiper components. The PSE2-315 blanking and forming press, specially developed for flexible use in part supply companies, boasts a slide stroke of 100 1/min and a press force of 315 metric tons. Its bed measures 3,050 x 1,250 millimeters. Penne''s windshield wiper production will benefit hugely from the advantages of Schuler''s servo presses. Compared with conventional mechanical presses, the output performance is much higher. The ability to individually program the slide speed and movement also ensures high die service life and optimum part quality, explains Bart Desart of Pack Marketing, Schuler''s Benelux representative. These are key factors in the production of delicate yet highly stressed windshield wiper parts.

Schuler''s solution for Penne also includes peripheral equipment: a coil line with roll feed in long-space design supplied by Schuler Automation in Hessdorf, Germany. Its one-sided fanning and decoiling unit is designed for coils with weights of up to six tons, external diameters of 800 to 1,800 millimeters and coil widths of 300 to 800 millimeters. The system also includes a lifting platform, straightening machine with six rollers, threading aid and coil loop bridge. The roll feed boasts a perforation control unit which enables users to program different feed lengths. All in all, this automation solution impresses with its precision and process reliability, which it achieves at the highest level of material requirements, states Bart Desart. The coil line offers an integrated control architecture and visualization system for all components. For the user, that means: a simple tryout phase and fast rectifying of any malfunctions.