Beckwood Press Co.
889 Horan Drive
Fenton, MO 63026-2405
(St. Louis)
Phone : 636.343.4100
Fax : 636.343.4424
info@beckwoodpress.com
Press Example Search
Fall/Winter - 2007
Orange County Choppers Reaches Agreement with Beckwood to Build Advanced Press for Production Line
Orange County Choppers (OCC) has reached an agreement with the Beckwood Press Company to build a technologically advanced deep draw hydraulic press to be used in their new facility, opening in February 2008. The Beckwood Hydraulic Press will allow OCC to have the in house capability to form tanks, fenders and other drawn parts for their production line of motorcycles.
Paul Teutul, Sr., founder of Orange County Choppers, chose Beckwood Press Company to provide the latest in hydraulic press technology, integrated with top of the line components such as Rockwell Automation and Parker Hannifin. Beckwood's 4-Post Press will be designed specifically to deliver flexibility and precision through a 4-axis active leveling system for parallelism control during off-center loading. This "Green" machine will be equipped with a VFD (Variable Frequency Drive) for significantly increased energy efficiency over traditional hydraulic & mechanical presses. A dynamic bed cushion also offers control through 4 different travel zones.
Beckwood utilizes proven and standard designs that are tailored to our customer's specific applications. We offer a variety of low cost, high-quality hydraulic presses and servo motion presses from 2-2000+ tons. These presses can be made for virtually any industry, with an unlimited amount of capabilities and options. Beckwood is based in St. Louis, MO USA and has recently celebrated their 31st year in business. More information regarding Beckwood presses can be found at our newly redesigned website at http://www.beckwoodpress.com.
Beckwood Designs Innovative New Automated Assembly System
Beckwood Press Company has recently designed an innovative new automated assembly system for a leading heavy machinery manufacturer. The system, which has been integrated with multiple robots for loading and unloading of part components, assembles and tests bushings to be used in tracked vehicles. Pneumatic and hydraulic cylinders harmonize to achieve a high level of efficiency. The 42 ton capacity machine features a programmable Allen Bradley touch screen operator interface for job storage and recipe handling.
The automation process begins after an independent robot has placed the bushing components onto the automated machine. The compacting cylinders then extend to assemble the bushing. A chain driven rotator is actuated to test the part's quality by spinning the bushing at 100 revolutions per minute for 20 seconds. When part quality verification is complete, a pneumatic cylinder extends and discharges the assembled bushing where a second independent robotic component removes the finished bushing from the machine.
The company recently celebrated their 31st year in business in 2007 and is located on the web at http://www.beckwoodpress.com.
More information about this specific example can be found by visiting http://www.beckwoodpress.com and typing 340 in the bottom search engine.
Beckwood Press Company Goes "Green"
Beckwood Press Company has recently delivered a 1,000 ton Straight Side Endframe (SSE) hydraulic press to a Tier 1 heavy truck parts supplier. The press is powered by a 150 Horse Power motor equipped with a VFD (Variable Frequency Drive) for significantly increased energy efficiency over traditional hydraulic & mechanical presses. By controlling the frequency of electrical power supplied to the motor, the VFD drastically cuts down on unwarranted energy expenditures while maintaining full functionality. Energy cost studies predict a payback of less than two years. Other benefits of the VFD include the ability to program pressing speeds without the expense of proportional valves, and reduced noise & heat levels during idle periods.
Beckwood Press Company utilizes proven and standard designs that are tailored to our customers' specific applications. For more information on this specific example can be found by visiting http://www.beckwoodpress.com and typing 341 in the bottom search engine.
Beckwood Press Company Launches New Hydraulic Press Website
Beckwood Press Company has recently launched their new hydraulic press web site, located at http://www.beckwoodpress.com. Additional sections have been added which include a hydraulic press technology center, a client testimonial segment along with an innovative new display of press examples. The examples have been expanded to include a wide array of hydraulic presses and servo motion presses, sorted by press type and tonnage capacity.
Other new features include: an improved internal search engine designed for ease of use, expanded company information along with an online quick quote form that includes updated features, options and new press technology. Additional updates incorporate a wide array of Beckwood's 4-Post, SSE (Straight Side End-Frame), 2-Post, C-Frame, Benchtop Presses and Accu-Flex Servo Motion Press examples. This press display has been categorized in tonnage ranges and specific application examples for customer usability.
How To... Choose the Right Press for Running Off-Center Loaded Dies
In a perfect world, all tooling and dies would create perfectly balanced loads across the bed of a press. Unfortunately, we do not live in a perfect world and many manufacturers are required to design production systems that require off-center loading in their presses. The reality is that symmetrical loading is sometimes inefficient, and sometimes impractical to achieve and usually no matter what type of structural measures are taken, off-center loads can be problematic.
There are a variety of reasons for off center loading. The most obvious is the geometry of the part being formed is not conducive to an even load. However, the trend to improve production efficiency and reduce costs is spurring an increase in off-center applications as manufacturers consolidate multiple dies or processes into single machines.
3 Simple Questions
By answering the following questions, you can easily determine the right press solution for your application:
1. Is the application going to be evenly loaded?
2. Is the off-center load going to be dedicated?
3. If it is dedicated, will it be the same for every cycle of the press?
The answers to these questions will determine which type of press is ideal for the job.
Dynamic Loading
Manufacturers that are looking for a multiple purpose machine to run multiple processes with varying load configurations are going to experience Dynamic Loading. This type of off-center loading is best accommodated by an Active Leveling System. These presses are equipped with a multi-axis high-speed motion controller, linear transducers to monitor ram position and sophisticated proportional hydraulics. The motion controller provides closed loop servo control of each individual press cylinder to maintain bed to ram parallelism.
Active Leveling control is offered in either 2 or 4 axis depending on the specific application. Two Axis control provides parallelism from left to right or front to rear, while Four Axis control provides control of both left to right and front to rear.
Dedicated Loading
In dedicated applications, the tooling and loading is known at the time of press design and compensation for the off-center loading is engineered into the structure and hydraulic design. To further define dedicated loading, we can subdivide into selective and non-selective applications.
Non-Selective Loading
In applications such as progressive die applications, multiple dies or stations are present in the press at the same time and are actuated simultaneously during each cycle of the press. This is referred to as Dedicated Non-Selective Loading. The press can be designed to handle the specific off-center load through hydraulic and/or structural modifications. This type of system usually results in lower up front costs but results in a press system that is dedicated to and limited to the specific application.
Selective Loading
Selective off-center loading is ideal for manufacturers that want to consolidate multiple processes into a single press system whereby 2, 3, 4 or more dies are always present in a press but only one die set is loaded and actuated per cycle. By utilizing traditional on/off valving and structural balancing, the press manufacturer can electronically shift the press force to center over different locations on the press bed. The operator then "selects" a specific die to be "active" during a given cycle. In addition to decreasing or eliminating die set up time selective off-center loading is an effective solution to save floor space by displacing multiple presses.
Whether the end user's application requires dedicated off-center loading, or a more advanced active level control, emerging technologies in the field of hydraulics are being implemented to insure part quality, reduce die wear and reduce complex setup time. This technology is transforming what was once considered an obstacle, into a reliable method for meeting our customer's off-center loading needs.
Beckwood Adds New Machining Capability to Decrease Lead Times
The Beckwood Press Company announces an expansion of their manufacturing capabilities with the addition of a new HAAS 4-Axis Vertical Machining Center. 
"This new VMC will allow us to accelerate our delivery times for those projects that require precision tooling, automation and assembly equipment in addition to our hydraulic presses," says Jeff Debus, Vice President. "The larger size and capability of the 4-axis control will allow Beckwood to reduce previously outsourced machining requirements."
Beckwood has seen significant increases in requests for single source vendor responsibility, whereby customers are procuring not just new built-to-order hydraulic presses but the tooling, material handling and feed equipment such as pick and place, part transfers and coil feed lines. Beckwood is focused on continual product improvement, technology advances and value added equipment to accommodate all customer integration needs.
Fabtech '07: Nov. 11 - Nov. 14, 2007
McCormick Place, Chicago, IL USA
Booth number 21025
The Fabtech International Show in Chicago, Illinois will be the setting for Beckwood to display its latest examples of technologically advanced hydraulic presses. . The show will be held on November 11th-14th at the McCormick Place Convention Center South. Beckwood will showcase part of this line by displaying their newest compression molding press examples, along with their Servo-Motion Accu-Flex Press (patent pending).
Contact Beckwood Press Company for additional information on Fabtech 2007, or to obtain a free show ticket