We have set ourselves the goal of constantly developing our core competence of cold forming the outer surface of round workpieces. The world of drive technology is continually changing, growing and facing new challenges every day. Close contact with our customers and goal-oriented cooperation with our partners are the fundamental prerequisites for outstanding individual solutions.
Forward with healthy innovative power
Speed, weight, precision and maximum service life combined with compact, adaptable, robust, safe and economical products. These quality features in turn work together with resource and energy efficiency. Today, the ideal mechanical component must meet the highest performance requirement at increasingly lower cost. The intensive and successful cooperation between Eichenberger and the technology leader Festo, Esslingen, Germany, has existed for many years. With the acquisition of Eichenberger Gewinde AG by Festo AG in 2016, valuable synergies became possible. This cooperation and combined innovative strength will generate a lot of "extra" motion in electromechanical drive technology of the future.
Servo press technology in the age of Industry 4.0
Electric servo presses, also known as joining modules, are used for force-displacement monitored joining by press-fitting, for joining by forming such as riveting or clinching, for stamping, punching or for testing suspension components, for example. The specifications include high precision, short cycle times, immense pressing forces and often also pronounced speeds. A typical field of application for servo presses is automated assembly processes that require high repeat accuracy and monitored joint quality, including the possibility of documentation. Universally applicable joining modules are used in the automotive industry, aerospace technology, medical technology, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and many other industries.
The increasing fusion of modern information and communication technology with classic industrial processes is changing and transforming production areas to reflect Industry 4.0. This also affects metal forming technology. The vast increase in the quantity of data, the complex networking of the systems and the adaptability and flexibility required from the components necessitate a broad understanding of digital, fully automated production processes. In-depth knowledge of the structure and programming of digital plant networks (controls, peripherals, drives, safety technology) is essential. In modern servo presses, such as the Festo YJKP servo press kit, a lot of data is collected and evaluated, be it stroke, ram position, feed rates, braking or acceleration ramps and so on. The servo press kit YJKP is therefore already providing Industry 4.0 features.
Electrozylinder ESBF, powerful with
17 kilonewton maximum force and a stroke of 1500 mm (photo: Festo AG & Co. KG)
Carefree package YJKP servo press kit
Presses are often oversized. Users report that only 10% of the output of a preconfigured press is used. The Festo YJKP servo press kit addresses precisely this point. It enables electric press applications of up to 17 kN. Integration into your own system concept is simple and the price is unbeatable. The modular servo press kit provides the software functions that users really need for their application and delivers an optimal cost-benefit ratio for high-precision and repeat-accuracy press systems. This flexible, pre-assembled system solution consists of modular operating software and coordinated standard components from Festo - the electric ESBF spindle drive, the EMMS-AS motor, the CMMP-AS motor controller, the CECC-X controller and a force sensor.
The system components of the servo press kit (photo Festo SE & Co. KG)
The ballscrew at the heart of the system gurantees carefree operation
In the modular system, the user is able to select, for example, a force range of 0.8 to 17 kN, a stroke length of 100 to 400 mm or an axial or parallel motor attachment. The acceleration is an incredible 25 m/s². When it comes to the aligned component parts, the focus is the high-precision electric cylinder ESBF. This powerhouse excels over its entire lifetime of more than 10,000 km without relubrication while performing a perfect pressing operation. The real heart is inside, the cold-rolled drive element! The electrically driven ballscrew from Eichenberger converts the rotary motion of the motor into a linear motion of the piston rod. An impressive efficiency of over 90 % ensures optimum drive performance. The inductively hardened Carry ball screw series excel with their extremely high load capacity, flexibility and spindle diameters from 4 to 40 mm and attractive prices. High-speed movements require lead screws with large pitches. Carry combines speed, precision and minimum space requirements. The servo press can be used with spindle pitches from 5 to 40 mm, depending on size and customer requirements.
Carry type FGR nut with mounting thread and tube type ballscrew
What makes the Carry ballscrew the ideal functional element?
The core competencies of Eichenberger Gewinde AG lie in thread rolling and hardening. A thread is produced by dynamically forming rods under enormous force between two rotating rolling tools. Thread rolling leads to considerable increased strength (depending on the material, 30 % to 50 % is possible), excellent surface roughness and reduced notch sensitivity.
Typical manufacturing processes for threads, such as milling, turning or whirling, involve metal-cutting. The drawback of this is that the fibre flow of the steel is interrupted. This contrasts with thread rolling, a process that does not cut the longitudinal fibres but just redirects them. A "smoothly rolled", compressed surface results, which is essential for a long service life of the spindle. A huge advantage of rolled spindles is that the profile of the thread rolling die is transferred 1:1 to the ball track of the spindle. This means that the ball track of the spindle is running 100 % concentric to the outer diameter. The end machining of the spindle on the outer diameter (collet etc.) leads to optimum coaxial values. The rolling friction coefficient of steel balls is 0.003 to 0.001 compared to the sliding friction of steel on steel (lubricated) of 0.1 to 0.05. These excellent sliding properties ensure minimal abrasion and leave minimal surface for contamination. Quiet rolling of the balls becomes child's play.
Core competence: thread rolling
While a pure hardening process is exclusively dedicated to toughening steel, we strive to achieve the best possible combination of hardness and precision. The variety of dimensions poses a special challenge to be considered. The key is to find the ideal hardness tolerance in each case in order to achieve the optimum level of precision. The smaller the dimensions, the more expertise and intuition are required for hardening.
Core competence: inductive hardening
The Carry ballscrew application in the ESBF electric cylinder for the YJKP servo press kit also features an integrated tube type ball return system that has been tried and tested thousands of times. This underlines the robustness and load capacity of the Carry ballscrew.
