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An apparatus and method for monitoring the force severity of a mechanical press able to do so without utilizing a contact force sensor. The method continually computes values of dynamic deflection for the press being monitored and utilizes these values to compute load on the press at any point in ti

An apparatus and method for monitoring the force severity of a mechanical press able to do so without utilizing a contact force sensor. The method continually computes values of dynamic deflection for the press being monitored and utilizes these values to compute load on the press at any point in time. Also provided is a method and apparatus for generating a theoretical slide displacement curve and an actual displacement curve as well as a system for comparing such curves.

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1. A method of generating a theoretical no-load slide displacement curve for a mechanical press, comprising:determining press variables to account for press parameters which effect slide displacement and thereby have a direct influence on the theoretical no-load slide displacement curve for the mech

1. A method of generating a theoretical no-load slide displacement curve for a mechanical press, comprising:determining press variables to account for press parameters which effect slide displacement and thereby have a direct influence on the theoretical no-load slide displacement curve for the mechanical press; providing a computational device; determining a speed of the press; communicating the speed of the press and values of the press variables to the computational device; generating a theoretical no-load distance above bottom dead center for each increment of a slide stroke, using said speed of the press and said values of the press variables; and plotting the generated theoretical no-load distance above bottom dead center values vs. time. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of determining the press variables comprises:determining an appropriate variable corresponding to a press drive geometry of the mechanical press; determining an appropriate variable corresponding to a connecting rod length of the mechanical press; determining an appropriate variable corresponding to a stroke length of the mechanical press; and determining an appropriate variable corresponding to a bearing size of the mechanical press. 3. An apparatus for generating a theoretical no-load slide displacement curve for a mechanical press, comprising:a speed sensor for sensing a value of press speed; input means for inputting a plurality of variables corresponding to characteristics of the press; and computer processor means for generating a theoretical no-load slide displacement curve, said computer processor means utilizing said plurality of variables corresponding to characteristics of the press and said value of press speed to generate the theoretical no-load slide displacement curve, said computer processor means communicatively connected to said speed sensor and said input means. 4. The apparatus as recited in claim 3, wherein said plurality of variables comprises:a value of a connecting rod length; a value of a stroke length; a value of a press drive geometry; and a value of a bearing size. 5. A method of monitoring performance parameters for a mechanical press, comprising:generating a theoretical no load slide displacement curve for the press; generating an actual slide displacement curve during a load condition of the press; determining a contact point on the actual slide displacement curve, the contact point corresponding to the slide contacting the stock material; establishing a start point on a slide downstroke between top dead center and the contact point; establishing an end point on a slide upstroke between top dead center and the contact point; identifying points on the theoretical no load slide displacement curve corresponding to the start point and the end point; identifying points on the actual slide displacement curve corresponding to the start point and the end point; superimposing the identified start points on the theoretical and actual slide displacement curves; and superimposing the identified end points on the theoretical and actual slide displacement curves so that the theoretical and actual slide displacement curves are compared to obtain indicators of press performance. 6. The method of claim 5, wherein said step of generating a theoretical no load slide displacement curve comprises:determining a speed of the mechanical press; determining an appropriate variable corresponding to a press drive geometry of the mechanical press; determining an appropriate variable corresponding to a connecting rod length of the mechanical press; determining an appropriate variable corresponding to a stroke length of the mechanical press; determining an appropriate variable corresponding to a bearing size of the mechanical press; providing a computational device; communicating the speed of the press and the appropriate variables to the computational device; generating a theoretical no load distance above bottom dead center for each time increment of a slide stroke based upon the speed of the press and the appropriate variables; and plotting the theoretical no load distance above bottom dead center values vs. time. 7. The method of claim 5, wherein said step of generating an actual slide displacement curve during a load condition of the press comprises:monitoring the displacement of the slide of the press; and plotting slide displacement vs. crank angle. 8. The method of claim 5, wherein said step of generating an actual slide displacement curve during a load condition of the press comprises:monitoring the displacement of the slide of the press; and plotting slide displacement vs. time. 9. The method of claim 5, wherein said step of generating an actual slide displacement curve during a load condition of the press comprises:monitoring the displacement of the slide of the press using a non-contact displacement sensor; and plotting slide displacement vs. crank angle. 10. The method of claim 5, wherein said step of generating an actual slide displacement curve during a load condition of the press comprises:monitoring the displacement of the slide of the press using a non-contact displacement sensor; and plotting slide displacement vs. time. 11. The method of claim 5, wherein said step of determining the contact point on the actual slide displacement curve comprises:determining a first inflection point on the actual slide displacement curve; and establishing the contact point on the actual slide displacement curve as the first inflection point on the actual slide displacement curve. 12. The method of claim 5, further comprising:calculating a distance between the theoretical no load slide displacement curve and the actual slide displacement curve at a plurality of increments on the slide upstroke between the contact point and the end point; calculating initially a sum of the distances between the theoretical no load slide displacement curve and the actual slide displacement curve at each increment; shifting the actual slide displacement curve; recalculating the sum of the distances between the theoretical no load slide displacement curve and the actual slide displacement curve at each increment; and repeating the shifting and recalculating steps until the sum of the distances between the theoretical no load slide displacement curve and the actual slide displacement curve at each increment reaches a minimum value. 13. The method of claim 5, further comprising:determining a value of dynamic deflection; determining a value of static stiffness for the press being monitored; providing a computational device; communicating the value of dynamic deflection and the value of static stiffness to the computational device; and calculating load on the press at any point of the slide stroke by multiplying the value of dynamic deflection for a relevant point of the slide stroke by the value of static stiffness. 14. The method of claim 13, wherein said step of determining a value of dynamic deflection comprises:measuring a distance along the ordinate between the theoretical no load slide displacement curve and the actual slide displacement curve. 15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:calculating load on the press for each time increment of a slide stroke; and plotting calculated load vs. time. 16. An apparatus for monitoring a running press, comprising:a speed sensor for sensing a value of press speed; input means for inputting a plurality of variables corresponding to characteristics of the press; computational device for generating a theoretical no load slide, displacement curve, said computational device utilizing said plurality of variables corresponding to characteristics of the press and said value of press speed to generate the theoretical no load slide displacement curve, said computational device communicatively connected to said sensor means and said input means; and a non-contact displacement sensor for sensing slide displacement during an actual load condition of the press, said non-contact displacement sensor communicatively connected to said computational device, said computational device plotting sensed slide displacement vs. a count quantity, said computational device determining a contact point on the actual slide displacement curve which corresponds to the slide contacting a stock material, said computational device establishing a start point on a slide downstroke between top dead center and the contact point, said computational device establishing an end point on a slide upstroke between top dead center and the contact point, said computational device identifying points on the theoretical no load slide displacement curve corresponding to the start point and the end point, said computational device identifying points on the actual slide displacement curve corresponding to the start point and the end point, said computational device superimposing the identified start points on the theoretical and actual slide displacement curves, said computational device superimposing the identified end points on the theoretical and actual slide displacement curves so that the theoretical and actual slide displacement curves are compared to obtain indicators of press performance. 17. The apparatus as recited in claim 16, wherein said computational device comprises:a microprocessor. 18. The apparatus as recited in claim 16, wherein said plurality of variables comprises:a value of a connecting rod length; a value of a stroke length; a value of a press drive geometry; and a value of a bearing size. 19. The apparatus as recited in claim 16, wherein said count quantity is a measure of time.20. The apparatus as recited in claim 16, wherein said count quantity is a measure of crank angle.21. An apparatus for monitoring a load on a mechanical press, comprising:a speed sensor for sensing a speed of the press; a non-contact displacement sensor for sensing slide displacement during an actual load condition of the press; input means for inputting a plurality of press variables corresponding to characteristics of the press; and a computational device, said computational device communicatively connected to said speed sensor, said non-contact displacement sensor and said input means, said computational device generating a theoretical no load value of slide displacement based upon the speed of the press and the plurality of press variables, said computational device computing a value of dynamic deflection by computing the difference between the theoretical no load value and the corresponding actual load value of slide displacement, said computational device multiplying the value of dynamic deflection by a value of static stiffness of the mechanical press to determine a value of load on the press at a point of the slide stroke. 22. The apparatus as recited in claim 21, wherein said plurality press of variables comprises:a value of static stiffness corresponding to the press being monitored; a value of a connecting rod length; a value of a stroke length; a value of a press drive geometry; and a value of a bearing size.