Integrated Solution Spray Lubrication: 
Manual Work was Yesterday

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For future-proofing in Tawesco's press shop, a spray lubrication system with an integrated transport unit from Eckardt Systems is among the solutions used.

In the middle of the Tatra Trucks site in Kopřivnice, Czech Republic, is Tawesco's location. The producer of tools, stamping, and welding parts was established in 1995 as a spin-off of the commercial vehicle manufacturer, which is among the four oldest existing car manufacturers worldwide. Tawesco produces visible, outer skin, and body parts for agricultural machinery. Here, they often deal with large-format and relatively thick starting material, with blanks over 1 meter (approx. 3 ft) in width and 6 millimeters (approx. 0.23 inches) in thickness being commonplace, and a workpiece often weighs as much as 70 kilograms.

For a long time, muscle power was primarily needed in Kopřivnice. "We used to manually smear the sheets with Vaseline and push them into the press," recalls Michal Raška, responsible for the further development of process infrastructure at Tawesco. Three to four different presses were required for one operation, which took correspondingly long. "In the stamping operation, we often could only produce one larger part per hour, and laying the material required two employees," says Raška. In short: the processes in the press shop were in urgent need of a thorough refresh.

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Integrated Solution Sought

For the stamping operation, those responsible at Tawesco wanted a coordinated solution comprising material feeding, lubrication system, and press to enable seamlessly interlocking processes. For the pre-press area, Tawesco decided to collaborate with Eckardt Systems. The company from Bretten in southwestern Germany has specialized in lubrication, cleaning, and preservation solutions for forming processes for over 30 years and already had some references in the Czech industry.

Two factors played a key role in the considerations: how to curb the enormous overconsumption in manual lubrication, and how to achieve maximum process reliability with all material differences. "To achieve the greatest possible flexibility here, there is no way around spray lubrication," explains Daniel Assmann, Head of Sales at Eckardt Systems, who was responsible for overseeing the Tawesco project.

First, the types of oil used at Tawesco had to be examined for their suitability for spray application. For the heavy sheet metal pieces, lubricants with viscosities around 570 mm²/s (0.00613 ft²/s) were used. "Especially in stamping, these areas can be problematic for spray application because the oil is literally too thick for the spray nozzle, especially when short application intervals need to be achieved," says Assmann. After extensive testing at Eckardt Systems, it became clear that the previous lubricants needed to be replaced by better alternatives, which were duly found.

Spray Chamber for two Types of Oil

The spray system realized for Tawesco is designed for blanks with a maximum width of 1700 millimeters (approx. 67 inches) and a maximum length of 2500 millimeters (approx. 98 inches). The thickness can be up to 6 millimeters (approx. 0.23 inches), with a weight up to 120 kilograms. The spray chamber of the Eckardt system is equipped with 17 spray nozzles each, above and below, for each type of oil, applying at intervals of 100 millimeters (approx. 3.93 inches). "In general, a single set of nozzles is sufficient even when using multiple oil types," explains Daniel Assmann. "Each type simply replaces the previous one in the nozzle. In this case, however, the viscosity, meaning the flow behavior of the media, differs so much that both types would essentially obstruct each other within the same nozzle. Therefore, each spray medium receives its own set of nozzles, which is then used accordingly."

Before the lubricant is dispensed, air is pre-fed inside the nozzle body. This ensures that when the nozzle opens, the spray immediately exits in the finest atomization. When closing the nozzle, the medium supply stops first, while the spray air remains active a bit longer, preventing any dripping of the spray medium. This functional principle ensures that even in high-speed systems, the required amounts reach the intended surface areas precisely.

Precise Application

In Tawesco's press shop, it's not about high-speed lubrication, but rather precise area application. This is ensured in the Eckardt system control using the "chessboard method." The maximum possible lubrication area of the system is divided into individual fields of 100 x 100 millimeters (approx. 4 x 4 onches), corresponding to the spray area of a single nozzle.

The application fields on the top and/or bottom of the blank can be individually selected and assigned with spray intensities graded in ten-percent steps. "Especially this capability significantly contributes to us being much more efficient with lubricant application than before," says Michal Raška of Tawesco.

The spray chamber of the Eckardt system is mounted on a telescopic arm. When maintenance is needed or nozzles have to be replaced, it can be easily pulled out from the machine frame. The extraction system, also developed by Eckardt, removes the resulting oil mist right in the spray chamber. The solid components fall into the extraction box, and the rest is extracted through multiple filter stages, allowing the cleaned air to be released back into the work environment. On the entry and exit sides of the spray system, there is a transport system with six belt conveyors each, which was also realized by Eckardt Systems.

The integrated transport and spray unit from Eckardt Systems has been running successfully since early 2023. "When it comes to punching, we are now talking about 200 percent faster processes," sums up Michal Raška, "and the cost savings are also enormous."

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