Schuler unveils world’s first linear hammer with servo technology
1 min read
Schuler has introduced the first linear hammer with servo technology in the world. A large audience of experts from the forging industry was in attendance to see the line put into operation at the RUD-Schöttler forge shop in Hagen, Germany. Forging hammers were previously driven either hydraulically, pneumatically or by a flat belt. Schuler's development, however, features a linear motor.
"Thanks to the new drive system, the hammer is not only regulated accurately, but also used in controlled operation more precisely than ever before," explains Schuler's managing director Jochen Früh. "The ability to precisely position and control the slide opens up new possibilities – not only for precision forging, but also in terms of energy efficiency."
With its impact energy and slide control, the patented hammer drive is said to enable a high degree of forging precision: the repeat accuracy of the forging blows has a divergence of less than 1%, says Schuler.
"The new drive technology even offers the possibility of precision forging without impact areas," adds Thomas Hüttenhein, general manager of RUD-Schöttler. "This eliminates the previously standard hard-on-hard blows for balancing temperature and material fluctuations."
Suitable for automation with robots, the linear hammer features a control system that adjusts the energy input and number of necessary forging blows automatically (after each blow) until the pre-selected part thickness is achieved. The influence of wear on part accuracy can therefore be compensated by regulating the energy dosage. This improves product quality and makes it possible to document process data in a continuous manner.
According to Schuler, the potential energy savings for users of the linear hammer are up to 20%, while other advantages include the integration of stretching and rolling blows, as well as bending operations, into the actual forging process under the hammer. Furthermore, in the case of low impact energies, the linear motor can be started from any position, thus reducing cycle times by eliminating unnecessarily long slide strokes.
