"Playing in the Champions League is much more fun than on the football pitch," smiles Jürgen Leicht. He is neither a soccer player nor a coach, but Managing Director of Leicht Stanzautomation in Ölbronn-Dürrn, just under ten kilometers from Pforzheim. And the conversation is not about ball sports, but about the increasing demands of the market - his market. The company develops, manufactures and sells automatic strip welding machines and the entire strip winding and unwinding technology for stamping and forming technology worldwide. Its customers include well-known suppliers from the automotive and electrical industries, aerospace and medical technology. They also include the furniture industry and manufacturers of white goods.

The requirements of the market? Jürgen Leicht opens the door to the meeting room and steps onto the balustrade overlooking the assembly hall. It is remarkably clean and structured. At the assembly stations, employees are screwing or adjusting assemblies and machines. "The customer wants the highest product quality. In order to be at the top of the game," he continues, "we respond with solutions that we model accordingly. When designing our machines, for example, we pay attention to durability and reliability. We always keep design and functionality in mind." And because Leicht Stanzautomation does not manufacture everything itself, the market leader attaches great importance to selected suppliers, or rather partners. For many years, this has included Stöber Antriebstechnik from Pforzheim.

With the new generation of automatic multiple winders, Leicht Stanzautomation can significantly increase performance compared to the previous version. © Stöber drive technology

Seven drives in the Leicht system

"We have installed gearboxes, motors, drive controllers or complete automation solutions from Stöber in almost all of our systems," says Leicht. For example, in the new generation of automatic multiple winders from the ASW series: the SI6 drive controllers are being used here for the first time. The special feature of the machine is that it automatically changes the bobbins. This means that there is no production stop at the upstream punching machine. The bobbins are simply changed to the next free bobbin as soon as the preselected quantity is reached. "With the Stöber drive controller, we can noticeably increase performance compared to the previous version," says the Managing Director with satisfaction.

Dynamics and speed are very important for the user to be able to work economically, he says. The faster the processes are, the more productive the machine is. The time factor is crucial for customers to be competitive. "We have installed a total of seven drives in the system," describes Leicht, pointing to a bevel gearbox that tilts the feed head, while another space-saving angular gearbox takes over the precise feed of the belt. The highly dynamic drive controllers work unnoticed and reliably in the background, even during demanding movements. The STO (Safe Torque Off) and SS1 (Safe Stop 1) functions are integrated. In the SI6 series, these are certified in accordance with EN 13849-1 and can be used without production-interrupting function tests. The automatic rewinding of components after punching takes just a few minutes with the new machine, the reels are driven by coaxial servo geared motors and the change from reel to reel takes just under two seconds with a planetary gearbox.

This is ensured by the SI6 drive controllers from Stöber. They also save a lot of space in the control cabinet when used in bayed technology. © Stöber drive technology

"The drive controller, which is only 45 millimetres narrow, is designed as a baying device," says Stöber sales representative Markus Stolowski, who has been supporting Leicht Stanzautomation for years. "A single SI6 drive controller can control up to two axes. Thanks to the baying concept, the number of axes to be controlled can be freely scaled." Installation of the individual components is extremely simple. The patented Quick DC-Link modules enable standard copper rails to be simply clicked into place for power distribution, as well as easy installation and connection of the drive controllers.

"The Heidenhain EnDat 2.2 encoder system provides the electronic geared motor nameplate, which handles the parameterization of motor and gearbox data easily and reliably," explains the Stöber expert. "Whereas previously only motor parameters could be transmitted, we now make it possible to transmit additional application-relevant gearbox data fully electronically." The motor's encoder and power connection are made via a common cable connection.

The individual devices are connected to the central PS6 supply module. This means that neither decentralized power supply units nor fuses and cabling are required for each axis, reports Stolowski. "The user saves an enormous amount of space in the control cabinet. In plain language: Lightweight punching automation can enable a considerable amount of winding technology on a small footprint. The new ASW is also easily accessible and the user can operate the system conveniently via a ten-inch display.