Mechanical Presses
Mechanical presses are a type of press that work using mechanics rather than hydraulics or pneumatic power. They move when a mechanism like a toggle, crank, or knuckle joint transfers energy to their main slide. The moving mechanism gains this energy from a flywheel, which is usually driven by an electric motor. The flywheel builds energy and releases it to the mechanism.
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Types of Mechanical Presses
Mechanical presses may be classified as single, double, or triple action. These categories correlate to the number of rams or slides that the presses possess.
Most often, manufacturers use mechanical presses to form, shear, impact, extrude, punch or assemble metal materials. To do so, they attach dies and/or tools to the rams and/or slides and then apply force from any number of angles until the metal deforms.
Benefits of Mechanical Presses
Mechanical presses offer many benefits. First, with them, manufacturers can get highly accurate and repeatable results. Also, mechanical presses are a good bit faster than hydraulic presses, producing the highest production rates. However, they do not press with equal force. Also, while they are not as versatile as hydraulic presses, they can vary their function using special slide motions. Another advantage of mechanical presses is the fact that they are easy to assemble and operate. Furthermore, they have low set-up costs.