Page 31 - MetalForming September 2016
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action with other equipment in a press cell—feeding and transfer equipment, for example. This discussion will be picked up and further developed dur- ing day two of the event.
About Transfer Automation
“The marriage of servo-based trans- fer systems to servo presses is a good one,” says Linear Transfer’s Stirrett, on the topic of complete servo-based stamping systems. “And, that marriage has become stronger with the intro- duction, a few years ago, of transfer interfaces by the press builders. Such interfaces allow a transfer system (from any supplier) to obtain a continuous signal from the press, so that the trans- fer-system motion control can precisely follow the motion of the press, com- pletely synchronized.”
Stirrett notes that he’s seen servo- based transfer presses operating “like night and day” when compared to con- ventional mechanical transfer presses.
“In the medical industry,” he offers
as an example, “I’ve seen multiple sta- tions of a transfer die running in a con- ventional press replaced with one sta- tion, leveraging the press’s ability to control forming speed at different points in the press stroke. There’s no question that this technology is mini- mizing the number of die stations and simplifying the forming process.”
On the transfer-system front, Stirrett will describe two specific technology trends:
• The use of linear motors in very high-speed and high-acceleration applications, to decrease system com- plexity by eliminating belts, gear boxes, ballscrews and the like; and
• The use of carbon-fiber booms to reduce transfer-system weight and, therefore, increase system capacity.
“Last but not least,” Stirrett adds, “servos following servos (press to trans- fer system) creates a much cleaner, repeatable and robust process. The ability to run in pendulum mode, along with the quick response capabilities of
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