Coldwater Machine designs, ships flexible HVAC fabrication line

Coldwater Machine Co., Coldwater, Ohio, a Lincoln Electric Company, has shipped a flexible wrapper and control panel fabrication line to Texas for the fabrication of 14 different sizes of air-conditioning units. Per customer specification, Coldwater was the designated integrator responsible for coordinating the coil processing equipment and the mechanical press and tooling suppliers, as well as for the quick die change, postmechanical press operations, and the master controls of the entire line.

The process begins with feeding of the coil stock to a 400-ton mechanical press featuring two automated gag dies that transition to accommodate different-sized panels. The coil is fed into the press in variable increments as the louvers are stamped into the materials.

Once the louvers are stamped, the material is indexed out of the press, sheared, and transferred to the bead and toggle station, comprising two side-by-side, 40-ton servo-hydraulic presses that stamp that part at the same time. From there the material goes into the final form station, which also features two 40-ton hydraulic presses for bending the panels. Each final form press has its own linear encoder tracking the position of the press to ensure the two presses are in the exact same position. A robot then reaches in to pull out the part and place it on a conveyor.

Based upon the controls logic, the system knows where to position the part for each of the various part runs. Any part changeover is seamless based on the stored part recipe.

The material for all 14 parts is 0.029-in.-thick cold-rolled steel. Die change at the louver press is completed in less than five minutes.