Neff Press Custom Applications: Part Quality Assurance

12-ton C-Frame with Ram Control System

Our Mission: A major medical equipment manufacturer contacted Neff to build a press for research and development using opposing rams for drawing and forming. The application required 12 tons with an accurate and repeatable ram control system.

Our Solution: Neff Press Inc designed and manufactured (1) 12ton c-frame press with the following specifications: Overall system footprint 50” x 40” x 78” Tall. The gap opening has 18” daylight, 7” stroke, and 7” Throat. The press used a 5hp power unit with an upper and lower 12ton cylinder. Neff provided fork lift holes in the bench for easy mobility.

The press controls system consisted of an Allen Bradley PLC, and an Allen Bradley touch screen. We used linear transducers and pressure transducers for feedback, diagnostics, and calibration. Neff provided proportional speed control and proportional tonnage control to help with feedback requirements for position (+/- .005 up to 7” stroke) and force accuracy (.005” +/- 250lbs). This system also included an energy saver program as well as a multiple counters, distance reversal, dwell, and job storage.

1200 Ton Coining Press with Force Over Distance Monitoring

Clean-room compatible 15-ton Column Press with Ram Control System

Final Product: Medical Products

Our Mission: Neff was contracted by a North American medical company to provide a press for a clean-room molding application. The press required a special ram control package with Ethernet capability that featured real time display of temperature, pressure, position, and dwell time. The controls package on this press included closed loop control of the press position, velocity, pressure, and pressure ramp rate. The customer also needed us to integrate the customer supplied dual zone oil system for heating and cooling the mold via the HMI.

Our Solution: Neff Press Inc designed and manufactured (1) 15ton column press with the following specifications:
The Footprint 8” x 8” between the posts, 12” daylight, and 10” stroke. Clean-room compatible, remote power unit, and controls enclosure (see below). The bushings were lube free and the platens made of stainless steel parallel within 0.002”/ft. The customer required an accurate response from the pressure and position control and the goal was to
receive feedback in real-time on the HMI. We used dual pressure transducers for true net force feedback and a servo proportional valve for directional control and accurate positioning. The press features position repeatability to within +/- 0.001” and force accuracy to within +/- 500 lbs. Neff used a variable displacement pump for low energy consumption during periods of dwell as well a 2.5 gallon accumulator to allow rapid response on the pressure and position control. The hydraulic system was configured to run on a biodegradable hydraulic fluid. The press was built in compliance with ANSI and OSHA safety standards.

In addition the control station (clean-room) was stand alone and allowed all system variables to be adjusted and displayed on the operator interface. The clamp and pressing cycle were programmed to customer specifications and all set-point variables would be saved in an alphanumeric recipe.

4-Post Bearing Insertion Press
Tooling and Fixturing
Force Over Distance Monitoring
Specialized Controls
Color Touch Screen Operator Interface
Light Curtain Guarding

Final Product: Motorcycle Transmission Component

Our Mission: Many hydraulic presses are utilized to clamp an assembly and subsequently insert other components into that assembly. Neff has supplied presses to do this type of operation before, however without any data feedback. The problem that is often encountered is that even when a component such as a bushing fully inserted (i.e. the bushing shoulder fully bottoms on its assembly), there is no assurance that the press fit is correct. Tolerance stack-up in the bushing size and the mating hole size will sometimes present a too loose or too tight condition resulting in costly part failures in the field.

Our Solution: Neff's Force-vs-Distance Measurement and Data Acquisition System was integrated into a special 12Ton column press to rectify this problem. The system allows the machine operator to key in minimum and maximum force set point values and the distance window that these figures will be evaluated within. Each inserted component has its own force and distance feedback plus its own individual set points. Allowable values for maximum and minimum force are determined by doing trial runs with the upper and lower limits of interference fits between the inserted component that was faulty and the amount of force achieved during the pressing cycle. Based upon this measurement, the operator can now make the decision not only that a bad part is present, but also can determine why it is bad, (i.e. the bushing was too large or the mating hole was too small or too large).

The system has successfully indentified failed parts that would not have been caught with previous inspection procedures. The bottom-line story is that these faulty parts could have caused serious problems if they failed in the field.

Special 7-Ton Bench Model Press with Force over Distance Monitoring System

Final Product: Steering linkage component for a Automotive Supplier

Our Mission: Our customer, a tier2 automotive supplier, was searching for a press that included precise force and linear control for their final quality assurance process. Their current process involved a manual upset to collapse an internal spacer to a specific height. Consistency of parts, production rates, and operator know how, were variables that needed to be addressed.

Our Solution: Neff designed and manufactured a special 7-ton bench model press, and tooling that allowed the ram to travel to a specific distance (repeatability +/- .001”), and develop the required force with a repeatability of +/- 25 1bs. The ram traveled until it generated 500 lbs of force, at this point it was triggered to note the position and then travel .032” and have a repeatability of +/- .001”. This new process allowed for consistent parts, supervisory control of stroke parameters (through the operator interface), and increased production capabilities. Another unique characteristic of this press was its ability to switch from force control to position control midway through the stroke.

12-Ton Assembly Press
Servo Ram Control/Parts Quality Assurance
Leak Proof

Final Product: Pressure Sensors for Anti-Lock Brakes

Our Mission: Neff's customer, a Fortune 500 automotive supplier, required a press for a precision assembly operation. The customer needed to install multiple pressure sensors on a valve body. The total ram travel distance for the application was 6mm and necessary repeatability was .001". In addition, the press would be going in a "clean room" and the machine could not emit any hydraulic oil mist into the work environment.

The Solution: Neff supplied a 12-ton bench model C-frame press with our Servo Ram Control and Parts Quality Assurance (see PQA tutorial), and a special "leak proof" option for the hydraulic system. The press was controlled by an Allen Bradley SLC 5/03 series PLC via a PanelView 600 MMI and equipped with a load cell, linear transducer and servo valving to provide stroke repeatability to customer's .001" specification. Programmable status outputs were made available for displaying the customer's various run-time conditions.

Neff also modified the press to contain any hydraulic leaks should they occur. The press frame, hydraulic power unit and cylinder were altered to minimize the possibility of a system failure, and enclosed to capture any oil in a worst-case situation.

75-TON C-FRAME WITH SERVO RAM CONTROL

Final Product: Aerospace Components

Our Mission: Our customer, an east coast supplier of a multitude of aerospace components, needed to upgrade their press equipment with a machine that would combine superior quality control and reduced set-up and change-over time on a large variety of parts.

Our Solution: Neff Press designed and built a special 75-ton C-frame equipped with a 15-ton die cushion with a 3” stroke and 12”x12” pin pad, and a 2-ton knock-out cylinder with a ½” stroke. Using hydraulic servo valving, the stroke of the press is repeatable to .001”. Ram speeds, as well as tonnage on the main ram, die cushion and knock-out are all electronically programmed via the operator interface. The press is controlled by an Allen Bradley SLC 5/03 PLC and allows storage for up to 450 part recipes which can be called up by the touch of a button. The customer also purchased software and programming to allow the recipes to be “dumped” to PC, as well as graph cycle history on a PC-based spreadsheet. In addition, the package included a wireless hand-held scanner to allow operator to scan for part verification or job set-up before running the material.

Neff has over 40 years of experience manufacturing, engineering and integrating industry standard components to solve customers manufacturing needs. Contact Neff Press at 800-325-8612 for further details on this application or on many others.