There are many ways you can extend the life of your press through preventative maintenance, but we won't be covering that today. What we will be covering is one way to extend press life through adjustable stroke press technology.
An adjustable stroke press has variable stroke length built into the machine. With a manual 15 minute stroke change, the press can do different types of forming all on the same press-- stamping, blanking, coining, and deep drawing.
They key concept here is that only an adjustable stoke press allows you to do this and not worry about damaging the press frame from misuse.
Consider all that goes on inside a press while it's running:
Repeated ram movements, tools making contact with the material being formed, and other dynamic forces. These forces can become harmful and damaging to the press frame and drive system.
However, when stroke length is reduced to the shortest stroke possible, you reduce those harmful forces and increase the life of the press.
In a previous article, we used this graph to illustrate the effect of ram velocity on throughput, but it can also be used to explain longer tool life with an adjustable stroke press:
Though this difference may seem small, when you consider the unnecessary ram movement from the longer stroke (40 mm), that 5 inch/s difference from the shorter stroke (20 mm) has a significant effect on press life.
Therefore, by using a shorter stroke that's achievable with an adjustable stroke press, it's possible to reduce stress to press frame and drive system overtime.
Want to learn more? Contact a sales representative today to talk technical specs of our adjustable stroke presses.