A German premium-car manufacturer recently launched production on the world’s fastest press line — Schuler’s Servoline L. Equipped with a blank loader, crossbar feeder and an end-of-line system, the compact line can reach speeds of up to 23 strokes per min.

Moreover, the line’s ServoDirect technology not only ensures high output, but also flexibility, energy efficiency and low part costs.

Klaus Linnig, managing director of Schuler’s automotive division, said: “Schuler’s Servoline L makes a decisive contribution toward raising the economic efficiency of modern press shops. We could only achieve such high speeds by completely re-designing the crossbar feeder to allow the fast and reliable transportation of two-out and four-out parts.”

In the first stage, two crossbar robots supplied by Schuler alternately remove the tailored blanks and place them on a conveyor belt. If required, the blanks are then washed, lubricated and fed into the optical centering station.

A camera records their position and conveys the data to two robots that exactly position the blanks so that the crossbar feeder can feed them precisely into the first press.

In order to guarantee maximum part quality, the drawing press is equipped with a servo-hydraulic bed cushion. The crossbar feeder then transports the parts from press to press. After the last forming stage, the crossbar feeder hands over the parts to a shuttle from which two robots alternately take the finished car body parts and lay them on conveyor belts.

Moreover, die and tooling change is automatic and takes just 3min. The Servoline L is designed for the production of steel and aluminum parts.