06/04/2012

New machine for economic electric motors

Smartline high-speed press with 30 percent speed hike / Presentation at Schuler’s Göppingen facility on June 21-29

back 1 / 1 continue

zoom

close

back 1 / 1 continue

Bild1_02

Sooner or later, electric motors will probably replace traditional combustion engines as a means of powering our cars. The market for machines to produce electric motors is thus also expected to boom in the coming years. On June 21, 2012, Schuler will be presenting its new high-speed press, the Smartline SA-S, to the general public. The new machine is especially well suited to the manufacture of highly energy-efficient electric motors.

The Smartline SA-S can stamp out electric motor laminations which are just 0.2 millimeters thick. “You could almost call them foils,” says Hans Dieter Jung, Divisional Manager for the Drives & Generators market segment at Schuler. During the same process step, the individual laminations are interlocked into packets which will later form the core of the electric motor: “The thinner the laminations, the lower the eddy current losses. This in turn raises efficiency and reduces fuel consumption.”

Fine tuning within fractions of a second

Although it weighs several tons, the machine’s slide has to work within tolerances of hundredths of a millimeter – a tall order in view of speeds of several hundred strokes per minute and a press bed, on which the die is clamped, of up to 3.30 meters (SA-315S-3.3 and SA-500S-3.3). Such precision cannot be guaranteed by the rigidity of the press alone, which consists of an oil-tempered cast-iron body, nor by the play-free slide guiding system. But how then? “The electronics of the depth penetration control check the distance between slide and lamination on every stroke and adjust where necessary on the next stroke,” explains Hans Dieter Jung. “As a consequence, the slide’s bottom dead center position remains constant. This is important for interlocking.” In order to protect the electronics system against dangerous vibrations, it is not located in the slide but in the press body.

The entire process from measurement to adjustment takes just a few hundredths of a second. Conventional presses often travel till stop; that means that the slide is abruptly stopped and the machine is overloaded – in the long run, this benefits neither machine nor die. Until recently, the alternative was to reduce possible overloads by means of manual measurement and adjustment. This step is no longer required with the new Smartline – thus greatly simplifying set-up after die changes.

Torsional drive optimized

The electronics system is also responsible for an increase in output of up to 30 percent. Until now, the bottleneck was always the drive of the turning chamber used to form the packets. It turns the individual laminations by up to 180 degrees in order to balance out any surface irregularities they might have. The optimized software now gets maximum performance from the servo motor and ensures it keeps pace with the rest of the machine by guaranteeing smooth acceleration – like an underground train pulling away without its guests falling over. With a performance of over 100 meters per minute, the servo feeder “FeedMax” can also handle high speeds. Together with the coil line, press and interlocking die, it is centrally controlled and operated via the line’s control monitor. This rules out any potential interface problems. All Smartline components can be supplied by Schuler and thus work together seamlessly.

The new Smartline can be seen in action from June 21 to 26, 2012 at Schuler’s main facility in Göppingen. At the same time, the Coil Winding Expo will take place in Berlin from June 26 to 28, 2012. At Stand 2113 in Hall 1.2, Schuler presents the entire product range for the manufacturing of electric motor laminations.

Registrations for the presentation of the new Smartline in Göppingen can be made by phone at +49 7161 66-866.