FEATURE ARTICLE -
Automating the tool change process. As the manufacturing industry is becoming more competitive than ever, fabrication workshops continue to seek ways to improve production speed and efficiency. While modern press brakes operate at higher speeds and with greater efficiency and accuracy over machines from a decade ago, bottlenecks in tooling setup and configuration continue to hamper machine output and productivity. For many facilities that change tooling setups several times each day, a significant amount of production time can potentially be lost between bending jobs due to the time it can take for machine operators to manually unload press brake tooling, locate and load the next set of tools, plus configure tool placement and alignment in the machine before the next job can commence. In addition, there is the potential risk of injury for operators manually handling heavy tools as well as the risk of damaging expensive tooling through mishandling or an incorrect setup. The amount of time required for each manual tool changeover can vary greatly based on several factors that include the experience and speed of the machine operator, the amount of tooling to be removed and loaded, returning tools to storage, locating and
loading the next set of tools and the complexity of the new tooling setup. Effective tool storage and management creates challenges for most workshops. Quite often, production delays can occur through the additional time required to locate the tooling for a bend job. In many cases, press brake punches and dies are stored on shelves or racking in the workshop and shared amongst two or more machines. An efficient production facility relies on diligent operators to manually manage the storage and placement of tools; however, this is not always the case. Just consider how much production time is currently being lost as machine operators spend time searching for tools or maybe just trying to locate one final piece to complete a setup. Or perhaps the required tooling is
Automatic Tool Changer (or ATC) press brakes are making machine setup and tool changeover faster, more reliable and a lot more efficient. 16
already in use on another machine. For facilities that process many different parts each day and on tight production schedules, having all the tools available and readily accessible for each machine is essential. Press brake manufacturers are addressing these issues with intelligent mechanical systems that completely automate the tool change process. Automatic Tool Changer (or ATC) press brakes are making machine setup and tool changeover faster, more reliable and a lot more efficient compared to a manual tool change process. These systems also free up time for operators to perform other tasks or get material blanks ready for bending so production can start as soon as the tool change process is complete. Offered as an option from the press brake manufacturer, an ATC is either incorporated into the design of the machine or as a separate integrated module. While designs and functionality vary and are unique to individual manufacturers, ATC press brakes generally comprise the same basic elements. This begins with a tool storage area, either contained within the machine footprint or attached externally, a motorised system that transfers the tools between the storage area and the machine tool holders and finally, a mechanism that sets the position and spacing of the tools along the length of the machine. PRESS BRAKE BUYER’S GUIDE
