Schuler line produces blanks for trucks

A truck manufacturer has produced blanks for cabs on a Schuler line for almost a year now. The high-tech cut-to-length shear produces blanks from a coil. As one of the first Schuler systems, the line not only features the new uniform visualization, but also an innovative concept for stacking the blanks.

With the so-called Multipiling stacker, the operator can pile different blanks next to and behind one another on the same carrier. Up to 16 types of blanks can be transported in this way with one lift truck – an enormous gain in productivity and flexibility.

The blanking line is also characterized by a high degree of digitized and networked components. On the sheet metal strip of the coils, which are conveyed on a 30-meter-railroad track from the side hall to the decoiler, there is a barcode with information from the manufacturer. The Schuler line matches it automatically with the stored data in the system and ensures by plausibility check that it is also the right material.

If a particularly high edge quality is required, the trimming shear at the beginning of the line can remove the left and right edges of the metal strip. This also reduces the coil diversity. An optical sensor ensures that the coil has as central a course as possible, so that the system can guarantee the necessary precision. In the next step, the circular blades of the slitting shear can cut two to four strips of different widths out of it, if smaller parts are required. The correct setting of the blades can be checked beforehand by the operator by means of a coded magnetic strip on the carrier shaft.

With two different sets of blades, the following cut-to-length shear separates the blanks from the belt. As a result, up to four blanks can be produced in one step. For a roof member of the upper windscreen, for example, an arcuate cut is also possible. Both the slitting and the cut-to-length shear can be pre-equipped during operation to avoid any unnecessary standstill.

Four magnetic conveyor belts separate the blanks before they are finally stacked. The production conditions are recorded by the system continuously from beginning to end and stored – together with the information from the rolling mill – in a barcode on the stack of blanks. In this way, the manufacturer can prove at any time that he has produced the blank under optimal conditions.

In May 2017, the order for the blanking line was received, production started in November 2018.

Source and photo: Schuler AG