BBG supplies electric composite press for US aerospace company

In their technical center in Oxford/Michigan, they manufactured composite prototype parts for the aircraft manufacturer together with the customer. They convinced with their production technology “made by BBG”. The company ordered a pilot plant including molds for the production of lightweight composite parts.

Long years of experience with composite presses
BBG benefited from their decades of experience in the development and manufacture of mold carrier and press systems. Although hydraulic presses are still widespread today, especially in the field of composite production, their customer has intentionelly chosen their system equipped with an electric drive.

The four main advantages of their electric composite press:

1. The high level of efficiency of the electric drive, which reduces energy consumption to 35 Wh per production cycle.
2. The high dynamics that contribute to short cycle times.
3. The electric drive is much easier to maintain than the hydraulic variant.
4. The particularly quiet operation.

The press comes from Mindelheim, the molds from BBG North America
The company manfacture all machines and systems in Mindelheim and ship them from there to their international customers. Their Mindelheim team also manufacture the composite press specifically configured for use in aircraft construction. The molds are manufactured by BBG North America and then shipped concurrently with the press and commissioned at our customer’s facility.

Composite press specification:

• The mold mounting plates are 2,200 x 1,500 mm, and molds can be moved and positioned without any effort thanks to integrated pneumatic roller bars.
• The angle of traverse of the lower carrier plate is 0 to 27 degrees, and that of the upper plate is 0 to 75 degrees. This opens the press wide enough for operators to access the mold comfortably.
• Maximum capacity is 3,500 kilograms for the lower plate, and 3,000 kilograms for the upper plate.
• Intelligent pressure control allows for a press force of 60 US tons – which corresponds to about 535 kN – and an infinitely variable adjustment option from 50 kN onwards.

Easy Control 2.0 ensures ease of handling
The composite press is operated via the Easy Control 2.0 user interface developed by BBG itself. The man-machine interface simplifies the programming and operation of the press while increasing productivity and improving process reliability at the same time.

In this way, reliable results can be achieved in production and the system is simple and easy to handle. The user interface shows functions and workflows of the press and the mold. Workflows can be adapted quickly and easily without any PLC knowledge.