Plate reduction press apparatus and methods

A plate reduction press apparatus comprising

• dies arranged vertically opposite each other on opposite sides of a transfer line in which a material to be shaped is transferred horizontally, and moving towards and away from the transfer line in synchronism with each other;
• an upstream table disposed at a height;
• a first and a second of upstream up and down table rollers arranged on the upstream side of the dies on the transfer line in such a manner that the upstream up and down table rollers can be raised and lowered, and can support the lower surface of the material to be shaped, which is to be inserted between the dies;
• the second upstream up and down table roller being disposed at a height in close vicinity of a main press apparatus unit on the upstream side of the transfer line, and extending substantially horizontally along the transfer line in a manner such that it can be moved up and down;
• the first upstream up and down table roller is raised and lowered so that the height of a downstream end becomes identical to the height of the second downstream up and down table roller, and has an upstream end disposed slightly lower than the height of the upstream table, and
• a plurality of downstream table rollers arranged on the downstream side of the dies on the transfer line in such a manner that the lower surface of the material being shaped and fed out of the dies can be supported.

A plate reduction press apparatus comprising

• dies arranged vertically opposite each other on opposite sides of a transfer line in which a material to be shaped is transferred horizontally, and moving towards and away from the transfer line in synchronism with each other;
• an upstream table disposed at a height;
• a downstream table disposed at a height;
• a first and a second of upstream up and down table rollers arranged on the upstream side of the dies on the transfer line in such a manner that the upstream up and down table rollers can be raised and lowered, and can support the lower surface of the material to be shaped, which is to be inserted between the dies;
• the second upstream up and down table roller being disposed at a height in close vicinity of a main press apparatus unit on the upstream side of the transfer line, and extending substantially horizontally along the transfer line in a manner such that it can be moved up and down;
• the first upstream up and down table roller is raised and lowered so that the height of a downstream end becomes identical to the height of the second downstream up and down table roller, and has an upstream end disposed slightly lower than the height of the upstream table;
• a first and a second of downstream up and down table rollers arranged on the downstream side of the dies on the transfer line in such a manner that the downstream up and down table rollers can be raised and lowered and can support the lower surface of the material after being shaped and fed out of the dies;
• the first downstream up and down table roller being disposed at a height in close vicinity of a main press apparatus unit on the downstream side of the transfer line, and extending substantially horizontally along the transfer line in a manner such that the first downstream up and down table roller can be moved up and down;
• the second downstream up and down table roller being disposed downstream of the first downstream up and down table roller, and is raised and lowered so that the height of an upstream end is disposed identical to the height of the first downstream up and down table roller, and the height of a downstream end is disposed slightly higher than the height of the downstream table;
• and
• a plurality of downstream table rollers arranged on the downstream side of the downstream up and down table rollers on the transfer line in such a manner that the lower surface of the material after being shaped and fed out of the dies can be supported substantially horizontally at a height substantially the same as the height of the said upstream table rollers.

A plate reduction press apparatus comprising

• inlet transfer devices that are arranged upstream of the press machine, and transfer a material to be pressed, and can be raised and lowered, and
• outlet transfer devices that are arranged downstream of the press machine, and transfer the material being pressed, and can be raised and lowered, in which
• each of the transfer devices is composed of, from the closest point to the farthest point from the dies, feeds rolls, pinch rolls and a transfer table,
• the feed rolls comprising rolls conveying the material to be pressed, and hydraulic cylinders that raise and lower the rolls, thereby adjusting a transfer height of the material to be pressed,
• the pinch rolls comprising rolls arranged above and below the material to be pressed, and hydraulic cylinders that press each roll, and the pinch rolls pinch and press the material to be pressed, the upstream pinch rolls pushing the material into the dies, and the downstream pinch rolls pulling the material out of the dies,
• the transfer table comprising a frame extending in the direction of flow of the material to be pressed, a plurality of transfer rollers arranged above the frame, up/down guides disposed to guide the frame when moving up and down, and up/down cylinders disposed to move the frame up and down,
• the inlet transfer devices are adjusted to transfer height according to information about the thickness of the material to be pressed, that has been input, in such a manner that the center line of the thickness of the material to be pressed agrees with the center line of the press machine, and
• the outlet transfer devices are adjusted to a transfer height according to information about the thickness of the material after being pressed, in such a manner that the center line of the thickness of the material agrees with the center line of the press machine.

A plate reduction pressing method, using a plurality of transfer devices that are arranged upstream and downstream of a press machine having a pressing center line at a height, the transfer devices comprising feed rolls, pinch rolls, and a transfer table, each such device having an adjustable transfer height, where

• based on the thickness of a material to be input and pressed, and an amount of reduction during pressing, the transfer height of the transfer devices is set so that
• the transfer heights of the feed roll, pinch roll, and transfer table upstream of the press machines are set equal to the height of the pressing center line minus half the thickness of the material before pressing, and
• the transfer heights of the feed roll, pinch roll, and transfer table downstream of the press machines are set equal to the height of the pressing center line minus half the thickness of the material after pressing, so that
• the transfer devices can transfer the material to be pressed or being pressed while the transfer devices maintain the height of the center line of the thickness of the material to be pressed, in an unchanged manner during transfer.