CONTROLLED AUTOMATION, INC.

BEAMLINE TROUBLESHOOTING

ADJUSTING LAYOUT MARKS

There are two constants that can be modifed to adjust the layout mark depth. These are MARKPRES and MARK, and can be found the in the WEB_DLY, TF_DLY, and BF_DLY sections of the constants.

The MARKPRES constant is the amount of time to extend the punch under pressure when marking. The MARK constant is the amount of time to extend the punch after turning the pressure off when marking. Note that these times are in milliseconds. (Example: 1000 = 1 second).

When a hole is punched in a piece of material the high pressure is applied to the punch, and is turned off when the punch reaches the extend limit switch. Making a layout mark is different. To make a layout mark, the machine first applies high pressure to the punch for the amount of time designated by the MARKPRES constant. Then the high pressure to the punch is turned off and the machine waits the amount of time designated by the MARK constant, then retracts the punch.

We recommend the following technique to achieve a good layout mark. Note that this technique should be used after the hydraulic fluid has had time to warm up.

1. Adjust the MARK constant to zero.
2. Adjust the MARKPRES constant to a low value to ensure the punch tip will not touch the material.
3. Program a layout mark on a piece of material and run the part.
4. Keep adjusting the MARKPRES constant until the punch tip gets as close to the material as possible (without actually touching it) before it retracts.
5. Adjust the MARK constant until the desired layout mark is achieved.

The layout mark constants may need to be adjusted occasionally due to temperature variations in the hydraulic fluid and different thicknesses of material.