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By Mike Wheat

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The New, Cost-Saving Computer Controlled Traverse System

One of the things that HE&M Saw excels at is responding to customer input and solving their problems.  Here’s a typical problem and solution from the engineers and designers at HE&M Saw:

A customer wants a saw that will cut at a constant rate of speed; that is, he wants a saw that he can adjust to cut an exotic type of steel at exactly 9 square inches per minute.  The customer, who refers to tables and calculations provided by both the steel manufacturer and the blade manufacturer, determines this speed.  Part of the equation is determined by the customer’s needs.  The material could be cut faster, but blade life and accuracy might suffer.  It could be cut slower, but production times (and labor costs) would increase.

So HE&M Saw designed the Computer Controlled Traverse System.  This is a system that allows the saw operator to quickly program the exact rate of traverse required for cutting a given material.  Suppose he has a bar that is eight inches by eight inches.  This bar has 64 square inches and must be cut at a speed of 9 square inches per minute to comply with the customer’s specific requirements.  All the operator has to do is enter two pieces of information into the computer:  the width and the cutting rate (in square inches per minute)  On the CCT keypad, the operator punches in an 8 for width and a 9 for rate. He’s finished.  The saw and CCT does the rest.  When the saw begins cutting, the arm will traverse at a rate of exactly 9 square inches per minute.

Here’s a bit of information about using a constant traverse system of cutting:  constant traversing speed is used to maintain a uniform speed through the material.

The advantages are:

Uniform chip thickness
As the blade teeth get dull, the chip thickness will remain constant.
If the material work-hardens, the blade will be forced into the material.
Cutting times will remain constant

The disadvantages are:

Slower cutting times in non-uniform cross-sections.
As the teeth get dull, the blade may cut crooked.
When the blade teeth are too dull to cut, the blade will stall and slip on the wheel Each different width material will require a different traversing rate.

The HE&M Saw Computer Controlled Traverse System specifically addressed the “disadvantages” of the constant feed method.  If the blade teeth begin to dull, the Cut Watcher will notify the operator that a reduction in traverse speed is necessary.  The operator, on seeing that the blade is beginning to cut crooked, simply reduces the traverse speed.  When the blade is too dull to cut at the programmed speed, the CCT will automatically stop traversing and shift into the “cutting force” system.  In other words, under normal circumstances, the saw will never cut faster than the maximum force allowed.  This system saves blades and saves cuts.

The CCT incorporates a sophisticated vector drive motor driving dual precision ball screws and works in conjunction with the lift cylinder to achieve this system.

TESTIMONIALS:

Testimonials to the value of the CCT have come from David Parker of Forged Products in Houston, Texas and Dick Payne of Schultz Steel in South Gate, California.

Parker states that there is a dramatic increase in blade life.  He indicates that the blade on the HE&M Saw Model 8080 is now about three weeks per blade on a saw that virtually runs 24 hours a day, 6-7 days per week.