Investigation of an electric servomotor driven linkage press for flexible forming. Design synthesis

Recent trends in decreasing sizes of production lots and frequent design changes have driven the need for flexible equipment. This paper presents the concept of a flexible mechanical press for metal forming. Key features of this press concept are computer controlled servomotor drive and the double toggle press linkage. In this paper, selection of the toggle drive and its dimensional optimization are discussed in detail. Construction of wooden prototypes of the selected designs and design verification are also included. This initial investigation indicates the flexible press design concept to be a viable concept.