Forging Press Automation & Control

Case Study #1

Project: 1000-Ton Eumuco

Scope: This Eumuco forging press needed a complete control upgrade to bring it to current OSHA and ANSI safety standards. The customer reached out to Toledo Integrated Systems to provide a turn-key solution including installation, commissioning and press calibration. The scope of the project was to supply a new electrical control in an operator console, which included a soft start upgrade to the main motor control. The electrical upgrade also included new dual safety valves for the separate clutch and brake valves, all new pressure switches and a four-channel tonnage monitor.

Press Control System Included:

Method: The TIS engineer assigned to the job took an investigative trip to the customer to gather existing electrical schematics as well as pictures of the press and working area. This information is essential since it is all the engineer has to design the new press control. The engineer was responsible for developing the new electrical drawings in addition to the PLC and HMI programs for the press control. One of the benefits of a forging press is that there typically is not a lot of sensors or I/O on the machine. The engineer on this job was able to utilize a single slant face console to house all the press control hardware as well as the operator interface hardware.

One of the special characteristics of this press was that the main motor was a wound rotor motor. A wound rotor motor is an induction motor where the rotor windings are wired to external resistance which allows for very small in-rush current on startup of the motor. Instead of replacing the main motor with something new, TIS supplied a new Allen-Bradley soft start. This solution helped the customer save money by reusing the main motor as well as the existing resistor bank but also allowed for improvement by using a new, up to date soft starter.

This press also had separate clutch and brake safety valves. The scope included replacing these valves and keeping them separated. When you have separate valves like that, you have special programming to get the timing of those valves correct. The engineer on the job had to program the press so that the clutch turned off just after stroking through bottom and then turn on the brake to get the press to stop at top. This job utilized the Press Pilot 150 clutch/brake controller so to accomplish the special valve timing, the engineer did some custom programming to allow the customer to adjust the brake engagement time.

Working through all the aspects of the new control system, the engineer developed the schematics. Once the schematics are proofed, the hardware is ordered and assembled at the TIS panel shop. After the operator console was fully constructed, the engineer connected power to perform initial tests and to set up communications before going to the field.

TIS shipped the new control to the customer and the engineer assigned to the job traveled to perform the turn-key installation. Upon installation, the customer fabricated an operator platform to increase efficiency. The PWi tonnage monitor as well as the load sensors were installed on the press to provide load monitoring. Working closely with the customer, TIS installed the new control system and confirmed proper functionality. Lastly, the press was calibrated using TIS manufactured auto cells to ensure proper tonnage monitoring.

Results: During the startup, we ran numerous tests on the main motor to get it working with the new soft start. Upon stroking the press, we noticed that the flywheel was stopping exceedingly fast and was not operating normally. The engineers were able to diagnose a bad bearing thanks to the many years of experience working with presses. At the end of the project, the customer was completely satisfied with the product. The operators found the new control intuitive and easy to use which also helped efficiency and production.

Case Study #2

Scope: Two large forging presses were controlled through one outdated PLC. The end-user wanted these controls separated and brought up to date with regards to hardware and safety. Our team needed to integrate new controls into the existing line and interface with a sheer and ABB robots.

Products (For Each Press):

Method: Our team was on-site to monitor the tear-out and installation process. We were able to successfully separate the two forging presses and start with our I/O checks.

One press was relatively simply to integrate. It was a single station with no interfacing required, just basic forging controls and safety. The other press however required interfacing with the shear, ABB robots and trim press. Our control engineers were able to integrate with the PLC 5 (sheer PLC) through the HMI and the ControlLogix (Robots) through remote I/O.

This specific process required a blend of robotic/human operator involvement. Once the billet was out of the sheer, the first ABB robot would grab the billet and place it in the first station of the press die. The operator would then adjust the billet as needed and run three or four blows on the billet. Once finished, the operator would send the second robot in, through the HMI, to extract the billet and place it in the trim press. After the billet was trimmed, the process would restart.

Results: We were able to successfully separate the two forging presses and bring both press controls up-to-date with regards to automation, hardware and safety.

Before	After