Formtek-Maine has recently shipped three press feed lines to Simpson Strong-Tie

Formtek-Maine has recently shipped three press feed lines to Simpson Strong-Tie a leading manufacturer of building hardware and connectors to replace existing equipment in their Stockton, CA facility. Each system can handle cold-rolled steel up to 0.125” thick at 36” wide and 0.250” thick at 6” wide in coils weighing up to 20,000 lb.

The system is equipped with Allen/Bradley Kinetix controls with Compact Logix PLC and our “Total System Control” package. A full-color touchscreen HMI is provided at the straightener to control the back of the line and includes our “auto-ready” feature and a host of on-screen functions: digital roll position readouts, step-by-step thread-up instructions with illustrations, a maintenance schedule with diagrams, a lubrication schedule, and diagnostic fault messages with recommended remedies. A bar code scanner is used to scan incoming coils and call up the job associated with that coil bar code. A second full-color touchscreen HMI at the feeder allows storage of additional features by job number such as passline height, width of coil, yield strength, and material thickness and will automatically set powered features such as the edge guides, feed cabinet, straightener rolls, and side guide rollers upon recall of the job. 

The system includes a 20,000 lb. stock reel equipped with a spring-set brake and a secondary coil clamping arm mounted in a clock-spring guard for added safety, and powered side guide roller type coil keepers with push-button adjustment and automatic setup by job number. The coil car has a 180° rotating top to allow the operator to orient the leading edge properly when loading coils. 

The powered straightener is equipped with our hold-down peeler station on the entry side for hands-free thread-up of coils and includes powered edge guides with push-button adjustment and automatic setup by job number. The straightener is equipped with automatic central lubrication for ease in maintenance and includes smooth chrome plated straightener rolls and our powered high lift head feature for ease in cleaning the straightener rolls between jobs.

The ServoMax feed has powered passline height adjustment, a powered telescoping stock support table, and powered edge guides, all with push-button adjustment and automatic setup by job number. The feed is also equipped with automatic central lubrication for easy maintenance and anti-backup rolls for added safety. We also mounted the customer’s Unist stock lubricator to the feed cabinet.

Two of the lines have been installed by our Formtek-Maine Service Department and are now running. The third line is tentatively scheduled for installation in March. A fourth feed line, 72” wide, is currently under production at the Formtek-Maine plant for shipment later this spring.