Cradle / Straightener / Feeder System Used to Queue, Thread, and Feed Heavy-Gauge Steel Coils at Farm Tillage Tool Manufacturing Company
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The .250" thick 1085 steel rolling onto the blanking press at Osmundson seems more like coiled "plate". It represents a very heavy-duty uncoiling and coil feeding application. |
Uncoiling and straightening tough, 1085 high carbon steel up to almost .250" thick calls for some seriously heavy-duty material handling automation. Osmundson Manufacturing (Perry, IA) knows full well the demands of working with heavy-gauge steel. As a major producer of farm machinery tillage tools, their products include forged and stamped components such as cultivator sweeps, landsides, subsoilers, plow spikes, and disc blades.
A single blanking press, fed by a special coil cradle/straightener/ feeder system, designed and built by Sesco Products Group creates the blanks for most of the hundreds of different tool products that Osmundson makes. Uptime expectations for the press are high, with changeover occurring frequently in order to allow die details to be re-sharpened. Upcoming coils are queued on the Sesco Products system, with automated coil threading and coil feed program storage assisting quick-change efforts.
Unlike mandrel-supported payoff machines, coil in these type of feeding systems are "bottom fed" by powered nest rollers in the cradle. No loop pit is necessary . The Sesco Products system is very condensed and can be used as a space-saving solution in medium-gauge stamping applications as well.
1. Prior to coil change: the threading / peeler / debender roller
bar is also used to contain the coil as it is depleted during payout. |
 2. After a coil is depleted, the Sesco coil storage ramp, located directly behind the cradle, tilts up to ease the incoming coil into the empty cradle nest. |
 3. The integrated threading / peeler / debender is also used as a coil catcher as it is transitioned into the coil nest rolls. |
 4. The leading edge of the coil is advanced under the threading roller bar. |
 5. Coil is threaded through the pre-straightening roller (note swivel arms) and into the main straightener unit, which is integral with the servo roll feeder. |
Coil change . . . controlled and fast
A pre-straightening roller (outside of the main straightener/feeder unit) works in combination with a unique bumper roll (that swivels on two pivot arms) to perform multiple functions during coil threading and subsequent coil feeding.
The bumper roll, called a "threading roller bar" acts alternately as a coil stop, a peeler, a threading assist and a dekinker. The result is a coil change process deemed "hands-free," meaning that, except for cutting the bands, only the Sesco Products equipment touches the coil during the series of loading and threading steps. Coil change and threading is typically accomplished in under ten minutes.
Sequence described via series of photos is shown right. Some guarding has been removed for clarity.
Straightener/Feeder Versatility
According to Kenny Mooney, (production supervisor) at Osmundson, " the rolls on the Sesco straightener are fully adjustable. Coil 'memory' is a big factor with coiled steel of this gauge, and we can easily alter the over bend to compensate for it and make sure the material is flat when it's in the blanking press." The upper rolls are hydraulically positioned, and rollers are rugged enough to flatten bent tail ends of steel up to .250". A digitally controlled DC drive accurately feeds the coil to the press.
Coil widths from 6 " to 48" can be accommodated on the system. An edge control unit with a photoelectric sensor reads the edge of the strip to detect camber, allowing for adjustment for coil strip misalignment. A zig-zag feature is also occasionally used to optimize material usage (and minimize scrap), according to Mooney. It employs a camber compensation shifting device that moves the entire straightener / feeder unit side to side during stamping.
Jim Huyck, Purchasing Manager at Osmundson, sums up their decision to make the move to a cradle / straightener / feeder system: "The uncoiler that this system replaced could only handle steel up to .120" thick. The Sesco equipment gives us the flexibility we need combined with the kind of rugged design that's required when you're handling this type of material."
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