PRESS RAM FOR A FINE BLANKING PRESS

Abstract

A press ram for a fine blanking press comprises a ram plate section configured to carry a fine blanking tool and at least two guide sections positioned on opposing sides of the ram plate section. The ram plate section comprises an upper surface, a lower surface, and two opposing side surfaces. The at least two guide sections of the ram plate section are configured to guide movement of the press ram relative to a press frame during a fine blanking process. The at least two guide sections extend in a vertical direction to a level that is higher than the upper side of the ram plate section.

Claims

1. A press ram for a fine blanking press, the press ram comprising: a ram plate section configured to carry a fine blanking tool, the ram plate section comprising, an upper surface, a lower surface, and two opposing side surfaces; and at least two guide sections positioned on the two opposing side surfaces of the ram plate section and configured to guide movement of the press ram relative to a press frame during a fine blanking process, wherein the at least two guide sections extend in a vertical direction to a level that is higher than the upper surface of the ram plate section.

2. The press ram according to claim 1, wherein the at least two guide sections extend in the vertical direction to a process plane, wherein process material is fed along the process plane during operation of the fine blanking press.

3. The press ram according to claim 2, wherein the at least two guide sections each define a central recess configured to accommodate the process material to be fine blanked.

4. The press ram according to claim 1, wherein each of the at least two the guide sections comprises at least one guide element extending in the vertical direction, wherein the at least one guide element is configured to engage one of the at least two vertically extending guide elements of a press frame of the line blanking press.

5. The press ram according to claim 1, wherein the ram plate section and the at least two guide sections are formed as separate components.

6. The press ram according to claim 5, wherein a gap is defined between each vertically extending guide element of the at least two guide sections and corresponding vertically extending guide elements of the press ram of the press frame of the fine blanking press, wherein the gap is configured to be adjusted manually or automatically.

7. The press ram according to one claim 5, wherein a position of the at least two guide sections is configured to be adjusted vertically with respect to the ram plate section.

8. The press ram according to claim 1, wherein the at least two guide sections further extend in the vertical direction to a level that is lower than the lower surface of the ram plate section.

9. The press ram according to claim 1, wherein the at least two guide sections are positioned symmetrically on the opposing side surfaces of the rm plate section.

10. The press ram according to claim 1, wherein the press ram is comprised of one or more metals, metal alloys, non-metal alloys, composite materials, temperature insulating materials, ceramics, plastics, rubbers, and epoxy chemical-based components.

11. The press ram according to one claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the press ram is comprised of different material substructures.

12. The press ram according to claim 1, wherein components of the press ram are formed using at least one of forging, casting, welding, 3D printing, molding, and mold injection.

13. A fine blanking press comprising: a press frame including two or more guide elements extending along a vertical axis; a press ram comprising a ram plate section configured to carry a fine blanking tool, the ram plate section comprising, an upper surface, a lower surface, and two opposing side surfaces; and two or more guide sections positioned on the two opposing side surfaces of the ram plate section and configured to guide movement of the press ram relative to a press frame of the fine blanking press during a fine blanking process, wherein the two or more guide sections extend in a vertical direction to a level that is higher than the upper surface of the ram plate section.

14. The fine blanking press according to claim 13, further comprising: a press drive configured to drive the press ram; a fine blanking tool carried by the ram plate section of the press ram; and a ram cushion.

15. The fine blanking press according to claim 14, further comprising at least one temperature sensor arranged on at least one of the press ram, the press frame, the two or more guide elements of the press frame, the press ram, the ram cushion and the press drive.

16. The fine blanking press according to claim 15, further comprising at least one pressure sensor positioned on at least one of the press ram, the press frame, the two or more guide elements of the press frame, the press ram, the ram cushion, and the press drive.

17. The fine blanking press according to claim 14, further comprising at least one acceleration sensor positioned on one of the press ram, the press frame, the two or more guide elements of the press frame, the press ram, the ram cushion, and the press drive.

18. The fine blanking press according to claim 14, further comprising at least one of a strain gauge and deformation sensor positioned on one of the press ram, the press frame, the two or more guide elements of the press frame, the press ram, the ram cushion, and the press drive.

19. The fine blanking press according to claim 18, further comprising at least one deformation actuator configured to deform a shape of the press ram.

20. The fine blanking press according to claim 14, further comprising at least one position sensor positioned on one of the press ran, the press frame, the two or more guide elements of the press frame, the press ram, the ram cushion, and the press drive.

21. The fine blanking press according to claim 14, further comprising at least one fluid pressure sensor positioned on one of the press ram, the press frame, the two or more guide elements of the press frame, the press ram, the ram cushion, and the press drive.

22. The fine blanking press according to claim 14, further comprising at least one fluid viscosity sensor positioned on one of the press ram, the press frame, the two or more guide elements of the press frame, the press ram, the ram cushion, and the press drive.

23. The fine blanking press according to claim 14, further comprising at least one fluid flow sensor positioned on one of the press ram, the press frame, the two or more guide elements of the press frame, the press ram, the ram cushion, and the press drive.

24. The fine blanking press according to claim 14, further comprising at least one wear sensor positioned on one of the press ram, the press frame, the two or more guide elements of the press frame, the press ram, the ram cushion and the press drive.

25. The fine blanking press according to claim 14, further comprising a controller configured to receive measurement data from at least one sensor control the fine blanking press in response to the received measurement data through one of an open loop control and a closed loop control.

26. The fine blanking press according to claim 25, wherein the controller is configured to control at least one actuator in response to the measurement data received from the at least one sensor using one of an open loop control and a closed loop control.

27. The fine blanking press according to claim 14, further comprising at least one cooling channel configured to transport a cooling fluid, wherein the at least one cooling channel is at least partially located in one of the press ram, the press frame, the two or more guide elements of the press frame, the press ram, and the ram cushion.

28. The fine blanking press according to claim 25, wherein the controller is configured to control a flow of cooling fluid through at least one cooling channel in response to measurement data received by at least one sensor.

29. The fine blanking press according to claim 25, wherein the controller is configured to actively monitor and control parameters of one or more components of the line blanking press.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0038] Embodiments of the invention will be explained in more detail below with reference to the following drawings, showing schematically:

[0039] FIG. 1 illustrates a partial cross-section side view of an embodiment of a fine blanking press:

[0040] FIG. 2 illustrates the embodiment of the fine blanking press of FIG. 1 upon the occurrence of uneven forces;

[0041] FIG. 3 illustrates the embodiment of the fine blanking press of FIG. 2 including sensors;

[0042] FIG. 4 illustrates the embodiment of the fine blanking press of FIG. 2 including further sensors;

[0043] FIG. 5 illustrates the embodiment of the fine blanking press of FIG. 2 including further sensors;

[0044] FIG. 6 illustrates the embodiment of the fine blanking press of FIG. 1 upon the occurrence of uneven forces and including sensors;

[0045] FIG. 7 illustrates the embodiment of the fine blanking press of FIG. 2 including further sensors;

[0046] FIG. 8 illustrates a partial view of an embodiment of a press frame of the fine blanking press of FIG. 1 including cooling channels; and

[0047] FIG. 9 illustrates an embodiment of a ram plate section of the embodiment of the fine blanking press of FIG. 1 including cooling channels.

[0048] In the drawings the same reference numerals shall denote identical or functionally identical parts.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0049] The fine blanking press shown in FIG. 1 comprises a press frame 10 with feet 11 for positioning on a floor. On opposite inner sides facing one another, the press frame 10 comprises vertically extending guide elements 12, for example slides or rails. Inside the press frame 10 a press ram is arranged vertically moveable. The press ram comprises a ram plate section 14 with an upper side 16 which is configured to carry a fine blanking tool. The press ram further comprises guide sections 18 arranged on two opposite sides of the ram plate section 14. The guide sections 18 each comprise vertically extending guide elements 20, comprising for example also slides or rails, engaging with the vertically extending guide elements 12 of the press frame 10 for guiding vertical movement of the press ram inside the press frame 10 along the axis Z in FIG. 1. As can be seen in FIG. 1, the upper side 16 of the ram plate section 14 is arranged at an angle α of 90° towards the vertical axis Z. It can further be seen that the upper side 16 of the ram plate section 14 is arranged at an angle of 0° with regard to the horizontal axis G. Furthermore, a sliding tolerance gap between the vertically extending guide elements 12 of the press frame 10 and the vertically extending guide elements 20 of the guide sections 18 of the press frame at an upper side is shown at XC and at a lower side is shown at Xd. In the operating position shown in FIG. 1, XC equals Xd.

[0050] Further, a press drive 22 is provided comprising a hydraulic cylinder 24 for vertically driving the press ram in operation of the fine blanking press. The press ram, more specifically the fine blanking tool to be arranged on the upper side 16 of the ram plate section 14, thereby interacts with a working table to be arranged above the press ram in order to fine blank a process material being fed to the fine blanking press in operation along a process plane PP. The process material may for example be a metal sheet being unwound from a coil. Consequently, the fine blanking press may comprise a feeding mechanism, for example driven feeding rollers, for feeding the process material to the fine blanking press in the process plane PP. The fine blanking press may further comprise a chopping unit for chopping scrap material after the fine blanking process. Furthermore, cushions may be provided in the press ram, in particular the ram plate section 14, and/or in the working table.

[0051] As can be seen in FIG. 1, the vertical guide sections 18 of the press ram extend to a vertically higher level than the upper side 16 of the ram plate section on both opposite sides of the ram plate section 14. The guide sections 18 further extend also to a vertically lower level than the lower side 26 of the ram plate section 14 on both opposite sides of the ram plate section 14. In this manner, the effective guiding area, formed by the engagement of the vertical guide elements 20 of the guide sections 18 with the vertical guide elements 12 of the press frame 10 is considerably larger than the height of the ram plate section 14. The ram plate section 14 together with the vertical guide sections 18 thereby forms an H-shape, as can be seen well in FIG. 1. A controller 28 for controlling operation of the fine blanking press shown in FIG. 1 can be seen at reference numeral 28.

[0052] FIG. 2 shows a situation which may occur during operation in which an uneven force acts on the press ram. In FIG. 2 this is shown by force F1 acting on the left side of the ram plate section 14. This in turn leads to a small tilting of the press ram with regard to the horizontal axis G, as shown in FIG. 2 at reference Y, whereby the tilting is possible until the guide contact points SCP 3 and SCP 4 are reached. Due to the enlarged guiding area the allowed tilting is much smaller than in prior art press rams. Accordingly, also the tolerance gap X shown in FIG. 2 is much smaller. The blanking point BP is only very slightly displaced with regard to the vertical axis Z, namely by the angle α2.

[0053] As explained above, a number of sensors not limited in their number or their type may be provided on different components of the inventive fine blanking press. This is shown in FIGS. 3 to 7 for different embodiments, which may be combined with one another, and with the embodiments shown in the further Figures in any possible manner.

[0054] For example in FIG. 3 a number of pressure sensors P1 to P18 are provided on different components and different positions of the fine blanking press, more specifically the press ram with its ram plate section 14 and guide sections 18, as well as on the press frame 10. Further, several temperature sensors T1 to T26 are shown provided also on different components of the fine blanking press.

[0055] In FIG. 4 a number of acceleration sensors A1 to A3, as well as a number of pressure sensors P5 to P20 are shown arranged on different components of the line blanking press.

[0056] In FIG. 5 a number of strain gauge sensors STR1 to STR19 are shown provided on different components of the fine blanking press.

[0057] In FIG. 6 a number of position sensors PS1 to PS14 are shown arranged on different components of the fine blanking press.

[0058] In FIG. 7 further position sensors PS15 to PS22 are shown arranged on different components of the fine blanking press.

[0059] In FIG. 8, where the press ram is not shown for explanational purposes, an embodiment is shown with cooling channels CF1 to CF4 in the press frame 10. In FIG. 9 an embodiment is shown with cooling channels CD1 to CD4 in the ram plate section 14 of the press ram.

[0060] Measurement data of all sensors arranged on the inventive fine blanking press may be fed to the controller 28 of fine blanking press. On this basis the controller 28 may control the fine blanking press in order to achieve a desired process and thus optimum quality of the produced parts. For example, the controller 28 may control the temperature of cooling fluid through the cooling channels CF1 to CF4 and CD1 to CD4 based on measurement data received from sensors, for example the temperature sensors. In this manner, the temperature of the press components can be kept within a desired temperature range at all times by means of a controlled equipment like, but not limited to, heat exchangers, heaters, chillers, or the like. The controller 28 may carry out a closed loop control but as well an open loop control is possible in terms of system cost reduction.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0061] 10 press frame [0062] 11 feet [0063] 12 guide elements [0064] 14 ram plate section [0065] 16 upper side [0066] 18 guide sections [0067] 20 guide elements [0068] 22 press drive [0069] 24 hydraulic cylinder [0070] 26 lower side [0071] 28 controller