Neff Press Custom Applications: Special Trim Press Programming

MULTIPLE 25-TON, 4-POST COLUMN PRESSES WITH SPECIAL PROGRAMMING

Final Product: Automotive Interior Trim

Our Mission: Our customer, a Midwestern manufacturer of interior trim parts for the automotive industry, needed several unique presses to do a series of trimming operations for a process new to their business. The challenge was integrating the customer's existing pneumatic secondary operations with the press program.

The Solution: Neff supplied a pair of 25-ton 4-Post Column presses with work areas sized at 46" L-R x 28" F-B with 28" of daylight and 18" of adjustable stroke. The presses featured light curtain press guarding, a ratcheting ram safety lock system, and was controlled by an Allen Bradley 1200 series PLC. The 15HP power unit was specially mounted under the bench to save space in a low ceiling facility. Special programming was developed so that when actuated, the press would advance to a predetermined position, one or more auxiliary operations would take place, and then the press would finish it advance and return to top. The customer could control the number of auxiliary cams via a selector switch (1, 2 or 0) for running different parts.

The customer was so satisfied with the presses that they also purchased a 15-ton version with similar programming and features for lower tonnage applications.

Our Mission: Our customer, an automotive brake parts supplier, needed another 100 ton C-frame press for trimming the flash from the casting. This customer bought a similar press from Neff a few years earlier for the same application. Hand grinding of castings was a problem due to the amount of labor needed and the inconsistency related to operator change over.

The Solution: Neff supplied a DF100-50M hydraulic C-frame press with several unique features. First of all Neff increased the standard frame dimensions to 50” daylight (net with a guided platen), 22” throat, an oversized bottom bolster (42” L-R x 33” F-B x 4” thick), and several cut-outs for part escapement.

The customer required a special Ram Control System with job recipe storage capabilities. Neff included servo-valves for position control, a proportional valve for tonnage control, and our standard linear transducer/pressure transducer included in this specific package. Each of these components and their functionality were programmable via the Allen Bradley PanelView 1000 Plus Operator Interface (Ethernet compatible). The press used an Allen Bradley SLC 5/03 PLC as a control platform. Neff supplied a detailed pictorial for maintenance purposes, due to 24 hour operation and the “no downtime” required on this press. Neff Press included safety light curtains with mirrors to guard the entire C-frame of the press.

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.