Britain's leading ride-on garden machinery manufacturer, Countax, has installed a GBP1 million sheet metalworking cell in a purpose-built extension to its Oxfordshire factory.

Britain's leading ride-on garden machinery manufacturer, Countax, has installed a GBP1 million sheet metalworking cell in a purpose-built extension to its Great Haseley, Oxfordshire factory. The flexible manufacturing system (FMS) comprises two FINN-POWER Shear Genius punching, nibbling and shearing cells with component sorting and stacking facilities, fed from a 12-bay tower capable of storing 33 tonnes of sheet metal. Supplied last year by Press and Shear Machinery, the Finnish-built FMS works round the clock supplementing four older FINN-POWER TP2525 turret punch presses on site.

The new system was needed to meet increased production of components for 15 models of Countax tractor and rider mower plus 13 variants of cutter deck and various attachments.

Around 2,000 part programs are stored and more are being created all the time owing to the regular introduction of design modifications and new models.

Managing the project is Nick Whitman who comments, 'Two aspects of the FMS are worthy of special mention.

First, the proven shearing facility integrated into the two punch presses drastically reduces the time needed to cut straight lines.

For example, one side of a chassis member can be sheared in a couple of seconds with two strokes of the one-metre blade, whereas nibbling the same length used to take nearly two minutes and the edge finish was not so good.

'Secondly and unusually, FINN-POWER was willing and able to modify one of the Shear Genius machines so that it could be accessed from the opposite side.

This allows us to supply sheet metal from a single tower store to both machines by placing them back to back and at the same time to remove all sorted components and skeletons from one side of the FMS.

Reprogramming of the two conveyors feeding the sheet in either direction was necessary to ensure uninterrupted production on both machines.

The execution of all this has been flawless.' Countax started making garden tractors only 10 years ago and its growth has been meteoric.

The company is now the number one British manufacturer exporting up to 40 per cent of output; and its GBP23 million turnover last year will grow significantly in the current financial year owing to the recent acquisition of competitor, Westwood Engineering, Plymouth.

For most of the 1990s, the use of FINN-POWER equipment has been central to the successful implementation of sheet metal manufacturing on site and will continue to be for the foreseeable future.

Said Nick, 'It was by no means a foregone conclusion that we would continue with Press and Shear and FINN-POWER just because we had been using the TP2525s, even though they have been very good and are still operating reliably today.

They were one of the first hydraulic punch presses on the market and were quieter and had a higher punching capacity than the mechanical presses we considered at the time.

'We were, and still are, satisfied that FINN-POWER is among the leaders in the field technologically - if not the leader - but we still looked at all the major suppliers when we decided to invest again, this time in a lights-out, automated sheet metalworking system.

What swung us in favour of the incumbent punch press supplier was the good service we have received in the past.

We have never had to wait more than a day for a service engineer to arrive, and normally only a few hours.' Within three months of installation the FMS was working 24 hours a day.

An interesting feature is the remote monitoring and optimisation of Countax programs from Finland.

Nick says that it was eerie the first time he saw the machining parameters being changed on screen without the apparent intervention of anyone.

FINN-POWER engineers periodically log on remotely to evaluate speeds, feeds and other machine settings to see if they can be improved and to make the appropriate adjustments, not only to the machines but also to the material storage and handling elements of the system.

Fault diagnosis and advice is also easily provided from Finland over the same direct link.

Nick points out that modern punch presses are considerably more efficient than their predecessors.

The Shear Genius achieves 400 hits/min at 25mm hole centres, which is 50 per cent quicker than the TP2525.

The ballscrews have also been uprated to enable faster traversing speeds up to 100m/min.

He is also impressed with the effectiveness of the programmable clamp repositioning which allows about seven per cent more sheet area to be utilised by moving the clamps automatically during the cycle to present otherwise dead areas of the sheet to the turret tools.

The FMS at the Great Haseley factory is devoted to processing 2.5m by 1.25m sheets of mild steel of gauges between 1mm and 3mm, with some galvanised steel in the thinner range.

If a repeat program is not to be used, a newly designed component is downloaded from the company's 3D modelling CAD system to a Radan computer-aided manufacturing station which unfolds the part if necessary, writes the program for the Shear Genius and produces a tooling list.

This information is then downloaded directly to the appropriate punch press control.

Contributing to high production output is good planning of the tooling in the turrets of both Shear Genius machines.

Countax has worked closely with Wilson Tool which has provided tool/die sets with clearances able to span a range of material gauges.

For example, sheet in the range 1mm to 1.6mm thick may be punched with the same tooling, and so on.

Furthermore, careful attention has been paid to how the nine auto indexing stations are utilised in each of the 20-station turrets.

Seven of the nine stations carry indexing tools to produce slots at a variety of angles, avoiding tying up the non-rotating stations with tools set at fixed angles and the frequent tool changes that this would have necessitated.

The other two auto indexing stations in each turret are equipped with multi-tools, one containing eight tools and the other 10.

Punches in the diameter range 3mm to 20mm (the maximum is 24mm) are housed in these stations as well as a couple of square and rectangular tools.

In all, 72 tools are deployed across the two turrets and sheet is fed to the machine which is equipped with the appropriate tools to complete any particular set of nested parts.

In practice tool changes are rare - maybe one per Shear Genius per week compared with two or three a day on the TP2525s due to the smaller number of auto indexing tools.

In common with all modern FINN-POWER machines, the Shear Genius has the ability to up-form features to a maximum height of 16mm using a station in the lower portion of the machine frame to lift the die up towards the tool.

It is also possible to tap the walls of circular up-forms.

Nick is currently evaluating this technology as it would prove useful for producing formed features in bag lids and deck stiffeners which currently go onto a press for a second operation.

Wilson Tool International has launched a new range of turret punch press tooling specifically to suit Murata Wiedemann machines.

Wilson Tool International the world's largest independent manufacturer of punch press tooling has launched a new range of turret punch press tooling specifically to suit Murata Wiedemann machines. The new Wilson Tool range includes 10 standard shapes for 112 and 114 style tools as well as special forms, standard and non-standard keying locations and will allow the award-winning Wilson Wheel Tool to be applied for cost-effective forming and slitting. A major productivity advantage to Wiedemann users will be the availability of Wilson's patented Optima high performance coating which can extend tool life between regrinds by up to 500 per cent.

With the tool coating, galling is reduced on the tips of the punch and corner breakdown is far less of a problem.

Wiedemann's punches can be supplied flat or with roof top shear while special shear styles can be produced to order.

Stripper options are available as customised moulded strippers as well as standard 70dA, which is a very light duty stripper, through to 95dA for heavy duty applications.

Available within the Wiedemann 114 style punch and die adapter set is the award-winning Wilson Wheel range of tooling.

Wheel Tools are available for rolling shear, rolling pincher, rolling offset and rolling rib applications.

In addition, a series of special shaped punches can be specified as well as tooling options involving special tolerances, widths, clearances, die reliefs, lands or ejector holes.

Jenoptik AG and the Trumpf Group have entered into a cooperative relationship in the high-performance diode laser sector, aimed at development of high-performance diode laser technology

The technology group Jenoptik AG and the Trumpf Group have entered into a cooperative relationship in the high-performance diode laser sector, aimed at joint further development of high-performance diode laser technology for industrial applications. Retroactively as of January 1, 2001, Trumpf is acquiring a 25.1 percent share of Jenoptik Laserdiode GmbH, a company in the Jenoptik Photonics division. Until now, Jenoptik Laserdiode GmbH was 100-percent owned by Jenoptik, Laser, Optik, Systeme GmbH in Jena.

The remaining 74.9 percent remains with the laser and optic specialist from Jena, Germany.

Jenoptik Laserdiode GmbH (JOLD) develops, produces and distributes high-performance diode lasers.

These high-performance diode lasers are being utilized by Trumpf as pump sources in the solid-state lasers manufactured by its subsidiary Haas-Laser.

'Two companies, each market leaders in their respective fields, have joined forces here.

The interplay between diode manufacture and industrial application will quickly lead to innovative approaches and new spheres of application,' said Professor Dr.H.C.

Lothar Sp„th, chairman of the board, Jenoptik AG, at the joint press conference in Munich on Tuesday.

Sp„th added that for Jenoptik, this partnership was a logical extension of its strategy to work closely together with the technological and market leaders of different business sectors.

'After ASML in the high-performance optics sector and Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG in the digital camera sector, we have now gained a third powerful partner in Trumpf,' Sp„th said.

Powerful Growth in High-Performance Diode Lasers Lasers in industrial production are a key technology, the economic importance of which greatly exceeds its direct sales figures.

This growth sector is characterized by innovation and dynamics: 'This acquisition will enable Trumpf to cooperate in a technology that is important for Trumpf lasers.

Because of their compactness and high degree of efficiency, high-performance diode lasers have highly promising future prospects.

Diode laser technology has enormous growth potential - and as such is important for the continued development of Trumpf as world market leader for industrial lasers,' said Professor Berthold Leibinger, managing partner of the Trumpf Group.

Because of the strong market growth in the high-performance diode laser sector, Jenoptik is investing around 11 million euros in a new clean-room building at its Jena site, including production machinery for the mass production of high-performance diode lasers.

Production is due to begin as early as this year.

For fiscal year 2001 Jenoptik Laserdiode GmbH is planning to increase its sales by more than 50 percent on the previous year.

A 'totally new concept' in punch press tooling has been developed by Wilson Tool International of Swindon for users of Trumpf, Pullmax, Boschert, Euromac and Omes turret punch presses.

A totally new concept in punch press tooling has been developed by Wilson Tool International of Swindon for users of Trumpf, Pullmax, Boschert, Euromac and Omes turret punch presses. The new tooling designated 2*4*1 is very simple to set on the machine, guarantees punch alignment, eliminates the need to pre-set tools, reduces tool change time, from, at best three minutes, to just 30 secs, and is able to provide an unmatched double the regrind life of the traditional 'Old Style' tools. The Wilson 2.4.1 tool range covers round, square, rectangular and standard shapes in both flat and 'whisper' designs.

It can also be specified with Wilson's patented Optima high performance coating which can extend tool life between regrinds by up to a further 500 per cent.

Now solely manufactured at the European headquarters in Swindon for export around the world, 2.4.1 has a regrind allowance of 6 mm providing further advantages of reduced tool inventory and replacement purchases with correspondingly increased productivity levels from the machine.

The 2.4.1 design allows direct insertion into the machine and utilises a built-in collar to eliminate any need for pre-set fixturing of the tool away from the machine.

The system also eliminates setting error which can occur with the 'Old Style' tooling because the Wilson development incorporates fixed angle positioning of the punch.

Also, during long production runs and heavy load conditions, the 2.4.1 design overcomes problems when the punch can move in the collar.

The new tooling is available on the standard 'next day' Wilson Tool International delivery service, while any specials are guaranteed within seven to 10 days of design approval.

The LVD/Strippit Global 20 turret punch press shown for the first time at a European exhibition provides a combination of high productivity, large sheet capacity and an increased turret size with additional auto-index stations. The Global 20 will be demonstrated with full automatic sheet loading and unloading, part sorting and picking. Based on a bridge frame construction to maintain high orders of stiffness, the Global 20, now available from LVD (UK) of Marlow, delivers axis positioning speeds of 110 m/min.

It includes the flexibility of a 30-station turret with less than one second station to station index time and a choice of three or four auto-index positions.

The machine uses GE Fanuc 180i PC-based control and drives package.

The Global 20's modern design creates an ideal punching machine platform to process work pieces up to 2500 mm by 1250 mm and 6mm thickness without repositioning to an accuracy of +0.10mm and repeatability of +0.05mm.

A servo-driven hydraulic ram is fully programmable, has a 200kN punching force, is capable of producing 800 strokes/min and provides high flexibility for punching and forming applications.

The incorporation of Strippit's patented Smart Stroke, maximises productivity without operator or programmer intervention.

With Smart Stroke, the punching cycle is optimised through automatic determination of the hover height of the ram based on material thickness and distance between holes.

Turret configurations for thin or thick style are available, each with replaceable hardened steel bush guides to reduce wear.

Three 88.9mm Auto-Index stations are included as standard with the option of a fourth for higher tool capacity.

Tooling flexibility can be further enhanced with inclusion of three, eight or 30 station Multi-Tools.

In addition, indexable Multi-Tools can be used to expand the number of auto-indexable tools.

Choice of brush, ball transfer or 50:50 ball/brush tables are available giving improved sheet support and quiet operation.

The three programmable work clamps, included as standard, can be individually programmed to a position on the X-carriage and relocated to a new position within the part program.

This feature virtually eliminates 'no punch' zones.

A programmable work chute of 450mm by 500mm is included.
The PC-based GE-Fanuc 180i control considerably reduces set up times and being Windows based provides powerful features such as diagnostics, increased program storage and networking.