Page 16 - MetalForming July 2010

Servo-Electric Punching, Bending
fixed for punching. While forming, the upper and lower limits of the ram are freely set from its bottom position upwards.
Punch Accuracy Helps Simplify Assembly Process
Punch stroke is numerically con- trolled by the CNC, which provides a fast and optimal stroke. The stroke posi- tion and speed are controlled by the CNC. With forming tools, EEE pro- grams a lower ram speed, forming speed and positioning tolerance.
“We were pleasantly surprised by the increased accuracy of the servo- driven punch,” says Greg Morroni, adding that the increased accuracy of the E5 allowed the company to redesign a line of fabricated outdoor power boxes to eliminate welding.
“We used to outsource welding of the outdoor boxes,” he says, “which must fit perfectly together to make the boxes water- tight. Over the last 10 years, the price we paid to outsource the welding had tripled. Now, thanks to the good fitup we get from
the parts coming off of the E5, we can rivet the boxes together. The punched holes match perfectly, and in the end the redesign reduced our manufacturing cost for the boxes by 50 percent.”
Other features of the E5 noted by the Morroni brothers as helping them opti- mize throughput in their sheetmetal- fabrication operations:
• Individual tool holders that allow the company to design their own turret layouts. Any tooling style from Mate Precision Tooling or Wilson Tool Intl. can be installed in the turret, as well as up to 10 auto-index, forming, or Multi- Tool stations.
• EEE has five full-tonnage auto index stations on its machine, which precisely rotate the punch and die in their tool holders in 0.001-deg. pro- grammable increments.
• EEE has four Multi-Tool stations to increase the number of tools available in a turret, reducing setup time and increasing productivity. Multi-Tool stations offer six, eight, 10, or 24 punch/die combi-
nations in only one station, establishing a turret within a turret.
• Upforming operations to form lou- vers that allow air flow through EEE’s boxes have improved thanks to the machine’s capabilities to form to 0.63 in. height and 5-in. dia.
“Another advantage is that all of the dies are at the same height and there are more high-forming dies in the turret,” explains Tim Morroni, “reducing the risk of material damage and increasing machine uptime. We used to employ a single-sta- tion louver punch, which was signifi- cantly slower and more expensive to run than our upforming solution today.”
• The large work chute of the turret press allows the firm to remove large parts quickly from the machine—as large as 19.6 by 19.6 in.—which then drop onto a conveyor and exit the machine, reduc- ing shaker parts and eliminating skele- tons. “Today, we try to send as many parts as possible down the work chute,” adds Tim Morroni. “It eliminates the labor of shaking parts out and the parts
AND THE DEFENSE WINS IN 2009
• Power Press Machine Guarding & LO/TO Diesetting Citations
• Bellevue Tower Crane Fatality Tip Over
• Arc Flash Electrical Citation
• Roofing Employer Fall Protection
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• Cities allowed to Join Workers’ Comp.
• Refinery Fire & Chemical Accident Citations
• LO/TO Program Citations
• Employment Discrimination Claim • Dump Truck Tire/Wheel Separation
Fatality and Safety Program Citations
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14 METALFORMING / JULY 2010
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