FEATURE ON PRESSES AND COIL HANDLING

Siderforgerossi Group renews its production capacities

For more than 50 years, the old counterblow hammer from Bêché –now a Schuler brand – has been faithfully performing its duties at the Siderforgerossi Group. But now the time has come for a renewal at the Busano Canavese production site near Turin: in the future, a Schuler DG50h counterblow hammer will take up residence to produce large steel and aluminium forgings for the oil and gas, automotive, mining, and aerospace industries.

“We’re very pleased that our customer has once again awarded the contract to Schuler,” says managing director Frank Klingemann. “Air-powered counterblow hammers are characterised by high availability, as can be seen from the long service life of the predecessor model.”

As the drive components are not in the vibration range, there is low downtime and maintenance,and thus a high degree of utilisation, reports Schuler. The pneumatic drive also allows a high number of consecutive strokes without any drop in stroke frequency – in the case of the DG50h, up to 36 per minute. Notably, the energy-efficient expansion of the drive medium during the impact stroke results in an almost unchanged working capacity of 500 kilojoules at different die heights up to a maximum of 900 mm. Commissioning of the system weighing 355 tonnes will take place later this year.

The scope of supply also includes an intuitive control system, which Schuler has developed specifically for work-bound forging units. Functions include various impact programs, monitoring of impact energy, part thickness and temperature, and documentation of die and production data. Access to the operating instructions is also possible, as is remote maintenance and connection to the customer’s network.
For further information www.schulergroup.com/en

Precision press will advance innovation and sustainability

Taking advantage of new export opportunities has seen a Middlesex manufacturer invest more than £300,000 in a new high-speed precision stamping press line.Eden Ltd, a specialist in optical air-blown fibre and cables fittings for the global telecommunication industry, renewed a 35-year working relationship with Bruderer UK to place the order for the BSTA 180-36B press, fitted with the latest high-speed precision servo feeder.

The machine is already delivering greater accuracies, with Bruderer UK’s quick lift-ram technology – that dynamically adjusts bottom dead centre position whilst in operation – meaning the business can guarantee process stability and part quality to customers regardless of the volumes required.

“A pre-owned Bruderer BSTA 30 was one of the first machines I bought when I started the business back in 1993,” explained Dave Hawkins, chairman of Eden.“It’s given us tremendous service and reliability, so when we were looking to advance our press shops technology to make parts ten times quicker to compete with Far East competition, there was only one investment I was going to make and the new Bruderer press is going to be fantastic for us.”

He continues: “We’ve seen demand increase significantly since lockdown, as we’re one of the few companies worldwide that control all elements of manufacturing in-house. We haveinvested some £1.5m over the past 18 months, culminating in the acquisition of the high-speed precision press.”

The Bruderer UK technical team worked with Eden to spec the BSTA 180-36B to its exact requirements, adding a high-speed precision BSV75 servo feeder (including automatic material thickness adjustment) and other options to help accelerate tool development, tool changeovers and the efficiency of the whole process.
For further information www.bruderer.co.uk

Heavy press dies handled quickly and easily

In Eltville am Rhein, Jean Müller develops and produces around 40,000 components for distributing, controlling, securing and measuring electrical energy in low-voltage networks. For handling particularly heavy punch-press tools for manufacturing a new product series, the family-run business was initially looking for a new transport cart. In the end, however, the company acquired a complete die-changing system from Roemheld, comprising racking and a lifting cart with integrated docking system and radio remote control. Similar technology is available in Britain and Ireland through Roemheld UK.

A the heart of the joint solution is the manoeuvrable, electrically-driven Roemheld RWA 4000 die-changing cart, which is capable of carrying a load of up to 4 tonne. It has a die-changing table with integrated hydraulic ball bars and a pull-push system that facilitates automatic insertion of the dies on a press bed.

During transport, the hydraulic balls in the cart table are lowered and, consequently, the die is prevented from slipping. A safety circuit ensures that the RWA 4000 only moves when the ball bars are retracted. Removable safety bars at the front and sides of the support surface additionally secure the die. Users can control the cart from a central panel on the drawbar, on which a multi-function display sits. Alternatively, employees can adjust the most important cart functions remotely via the radio control.

Jean Müller’s new system has been in continuous three-shift operation since the spring of 2022, the year that the company celebrated its 125th anniversary. The distances the dies have to travel to the presses is now shorter, resulting in a time saving of 15 minutes for each changeover, which happens up to three times per shift.
For further information www.roemheld.co.uk

Strong demand for servo roll feed equipment

The Atkin Automation division of Group Rhodes is celebrating a number of major contract wins to manufacture a number of roll feeds for companies in the northwest and southeast of England. Specifically, the orders include the production of an RFC 100-300 mm wide heavy-duty unit, an RF70-100mm wide machine and an RF100-50 unit to run heavier narrow strips in galvanised steel. All units will feature multi-pitch and tool-gag functions to enable the manufacture of complex punched components for construction metalwork.

Atkin is also producing an RF70-300 unit for a manufacturer of clamping systems in the automotive sector and has won a contract to produce three smaller decoilers to serve the grinding process used in the manufacture of technical/craft blades. A further order for four bespoke units from the same company, complete with a vertical to horizontal tilt mechanism, is also on the expanding order book.

With further promising sales enquiries in the pipeline, the future looks very positive for Atkin Automation. The company is currently busy working on prospective orders with press builder and sister company Rhodes Interform for the design and manufacture of complete metal-forming lines.

Geoff Barker, sales manager for Atkin Automation, says: “We’ve had a very busy 12 months and the fact that so many customers are returning to us with new equipment orders is testament to the service we provide.”
For further information www.grouprhodes.co.uk

Pheonix Tooling rises to the proving-out challenge

A Black Country specialist in precision press-tool design and manufacture is targeting £3m turnover by 2025 after it completed a £1.1m investment drive that included the installation of a complete new press line.Phoenix Tooling & Development, which supports customers in the automotive, construction, white goods, electric vehicle and medical sectors, has extended its long-standing relationship with Worcester Presses to purchase a new 500-tonne Ching Fong press and full coil line.

The GTX 500-D offersa long tool bed (3.4 x 1.5m) and is equipped with a 3-in-1 Tomac decoiler, straightener and feeder line that allows the business to build larger tools and, more importantly, prove-out complex tooling projects.This is a major development for the Aldridge-based business, with the company now able to give its growing customer base full confidence that the tooling produced will stamp components to the required production rates, quality and consistency. The business also has the equipment needed to simulate full production testing and support a seamless handover process to its clients.

“We relocated last year and thought about whether to persevere with our 1930s Wilkins and Mitchell 300 tonne press,” says Martin Mulvey, managing director of Phoenix Tooling & Development.“After careful deliberation we decided to use the move as the perfect time to search for a more powerful press with better control and ancillary equipment that could accelerate our try-out and commissioning processes.”

He continues: “Worcester Presses has been superb. Russell and his team spent lots of time exploring our requirements, challenging our approach, and then identifying possible solutions – the best one being the impressive Chin Fong GTX 500-D and Tomac 3 in 1 TLF4-800 coil line.”
For further informationwww.worcesterpresses.co.uk