Press monitoring and control system

A press monitoring and control system comprising:

• a press machine including a lower die coupled to an upper die, wherein the lower die includes a top surface supporting a strip of material to be formed into a part after a stripper plate coupled to the upper die contacts the strip of material;
• a part measurement module including a part sensor to measure a critical dimension of the part while the part is in the lower die, wherein the part measurement module generates a part measurement signal corresponding to the critical dimension of the part;
• a part forming rail coupled to the lower die, wherein the forming rail and the upper die form the critical dimension of the part,
• a press configuration module wherein an input module processes a set of input data corresponding to a particular job and generates a data signal;
• a press controller coupled to the press machine, the part measurement module, the part forming rail and the press configuration module, wherein the controller processes the data signal, compares the data signal to a set of parameters corresponding to the particular job, and generates at least one servo signal to adjust at least one servo in response to the data signal;
• and
• wherein the press controller processes the part measurement signal from the part measurement module, compares the part measurement signal to a predetermined part measurement threshold value, and generates a part command signal to the press machine to adjust the forming rail based on the measurement signal.

A press monitoring and control system comprising:

• a press machine including a lower die coupled to an upper die, wherein the lower die includes a top surface supporting a strip of material to be formed into a part after a stripper plate coupled to the upper die contacts the strip of material,
• a part measurement module including a part sensor to measure a critical dimension of the part while the part is in the lower die, wherein the part measurement module generates a part measurement signal corresponding to the critical dimension of the part;
• a part forming rail coupled to the lower die, wherein the forming rail and the upper die form the critical dimension of the part;
• a material measurement module including a material measurement sensor having a first end opposite a second end, wherein the first end is adjacent to the strip of material and the material measurement module generates a material measurement signal corresponding to the thickness of the strip of material;
• a press configuration module wherein an input module processes a set of input data corresponding to a particular job and generates a data signal;
• a press controller coupled to the press machine, the part sensor, the material measurement sensor and at least one servo,
• wherein the controller processes the part measurement signal from the part measurement module, compares the part measurement signal to a predetermined part measurement threshold value, and generates a part command signal to the press machine to adjust the forming rail based on the measurement signal;
• and
• wherein the controller processes the material measurement signal corresponding to the thickness of the strip of material from the material measurement module, compares the material measurement signal to a predefined material thickness threshold value, and generates a material measurement command signal to the press machine to continue or stop forming the part based on the material measurement signal;
• and
• wherein the controller processes the data signal, compares the data signal to a set of parameters corresponding to the particular job, and generates at least one servo signal to configure the press machine in response to the data signal.