Punch Press Up-Cycle

During a service call at a plant, the customer asked if I knew of a good used part revolution press that was for sale.  After quizzing the customer about his application and future requirements, I suggested that he consider one of his old full revolution presses that had been removed from service.  His first reaction was that full revolution presses are unsafe and that is why they are being replaced. 

 I said, I can fix that.

Several years before this I had been installing air operated gates for full revolution presses along with their proprietary full revolution press controls. These items were built by a well known national safety control company. This equipment has several short comings. The air gate created pinch points during the opening stroke, I found this unacceptable. Also the down time to replace the polycarbonate window or the gate closed sensor was at least 4 hours.

To solve these problems, I decided to design an air gate. The Safety Cents air gate is a robust design that has 12 cam follower type bearings running in steel tracks and floating gate. The floating gate keeps any binding during the operation at bay. It also makes removing the gate to replace the window a 5 to 10 minute job. The gate closed sensor is located for ease of service. 

For the full revolution press control, I chose an off the shelf ReeR Mosaic M1 programmable safety control. There are several advantages of using this type of control over a proprietary. The M1 unit has a removable memory module that the program is burned into when programmed and does NOT require a battery to maintain memory. If the M1 were to fail, replacing it is a 5 to 10 minute job as the program is in the removable module and the wire terminal blocks can be unplugged. The ReeR M1 is an off the shelf item that is available around the world from many distributors. The ReeR M1 will accept light curtains, floor mats, area scanners, gate switches, and many other safety devices. It is great for implementing safety systems on all types of machines and applications. If your application requires more that one safety relay, the ReeR M1 is the best choice.

The air gate is mounted on a structural aluminum post with hinges.This allows the gat to swing open 180 degrees for press setup. The air gate is interlocked at running position along with the swing out or removable side guards. During operation the press is fully enclosed by the air gate and guarding.

Modes of operation include Jog, Single, & Continuous.

JOG: (Palm Button Only) When in jog mode the ram will only move when the palm buttons are actuated. All safety interlocks are bypassed.

SINGLE: Single mode is for all hand fed operations. Upon the palm buttons or the foot switch (dependent upon selection) are actuated the air gate drops under a controlled gravity decent. Once the gate is at the bottom, it is locked by the air cylinder and the press begins its stroke. When the press reaches the top of stroke the air gate is opened, ready for the next stroke.

CONTINUOUS: (Palm Button Only) When the continuous “Arm” button is actuated, within 10 seconds both palm buttons must be actuated and held for the first full cycle of the press. The press will continuously run until the “Top Stop” button is actuated and the press will stop at the top of the current stroke.

The cost of up cycling a full revolution press to full OSHA compliance typically runs between $12,000 and $18,000 dependent upon press size, options, and location. All work is performed on site at the press location.

For a quote to up-cycle your press, call me at 317-903-3257.

Joe Stein

Greencastle, IN 46135

sales@pressshopeng.com

www.pressshopeng.com

sales@safetycents.com 

www.safetycents.com