Shape Punching
Rollforming lines with punch presses put holes, notches, and cutouts into parts as they run. Eclipse Pro manages the punch patterns that describe where those features go, works out how each machine can produce them, and sends the result to the XL controller.
This section covers the whole system: authoring patterns, the machine-side configuration that makes them producible, and the optional segment references that let a pattern describe hole positions on the formed profile instead of the machine.
Vocabulary
| Term | What it is |
|---|---|
| Punch pattern | A named list of punches. Patterns are referenced by order items and are machine-agnostic — the same pattern can run on any machine that can produce it. |
| Punch | One entry in a pattern: what to punch (a tool, a macro, or a shape) and where (an X position along the part, a Y position across it). |
| Shape | A named punch geometry (round hole, slot, cluster, …) defined on the controller. Shape-based punches are the most portable kind — Eclipse maps the shape onto each machine's actual presses and tools. |
| Shape code | The name that identifies a shape, e.g. RD500 for a half-inch round. Names are matched against each machine's shape table. |
| Shape alias | A global name patterns can use in place of a shape code, standing for one or more real shapes — one punch row can mean a cluster of hits. See the shape alias table. |
| Shape geometry | What a shape code's hole actually looks like — kind and size — kept in one global shape geometry library so drawings show true outlines. Used for drawing only; it never changes what is punched. |
| Tooling code | Identifies the profile/product being run (which rolls are loaded). Shape-punching behavior can be configured per tooling code — flips, offsets, segment geometry, and extra punches the profile always needs. |
| Machine shape table | Each XL machine's inventory of presses, tools, and shapes, configured in Eclipse (it can be seeded from the machine's controller configuration). It is Eclipse's model of what that machine can physically punch and where. |
| Solution | The result of solving a pattern for one machine, part length, and material: concrete press/tool operations at absolute positions. Solutions are computed ahead of time and cached; the controller only ever receives solved, absolute positions. |
| Segment reference | An optional way to give a punch's Y position relative to a segment of the formed profile (Web, FlangePlus, FlangeMinus) instead of the machine. See Segment references. |
The pipeline
- A pattern exists — authored in the pattern editor, or imported with an order from an external system (see Punch pattern import).
- An order item references it — the item's product carries the tooling code and material, the schedule assigns a machine.
- Eclipse solves the pattern for that machine: shape codes are looked up in the machine's shape table, per-tooling-code options (flips, offsets) apply, segment references — if any — are resolved to absolute positions using the tooling's profile geometry, and the solver assigns real presses and tools.
- The solution goes to the controller as absolute positions. The controller never sees shape names or segment references — only what to punch and where.
If a step fails — a shape the machine doesn't have, missing profile geometry — the item gets a solution alert on the job instead of a bad part on the floor.
Two ways to give a Y position
Every punch's Y position (across the strip) is one of:
- Machine-referenced (the default): an offset from the machine's center or edge. This is how all punching worked before segment references existed, it remains the default, and it is fully sufficient — segment references are never required. A punch with no segment behaves exactly as it always has.
- Segment-referenced (optional): the punch names a profile segment — the web or a flange — and an offset within it. Eclipse converts that to machine coordinates when it solves, using the tooling's dimensions. One pattern can then serve a whole family of profile sizes, and external design systems can describe the finished part without knowing machine geometry.
The two mix freely in one pattern, punch by punch.
In this section
- Authoring punch patterns — punch types, the X references that make patterns length-parametric, Y references, and repeating punches.
- Shape tables & tooling — the per-machine shape table, the shape geometry library, tooling-code options (flips, offsets, axis positions, per-profile patterns), the layout visualizer, and tooling dimensions.
- Segment references — describing hole positions on the formed profile: segments, anchors, and the alias table for external design software.
- Commissioning segment punching — verifying and tuning a machine so segment-referenced patterns punch true: previews, geometry corrections, and the commissioning worksheet.
- Solution alerts — what each solution failure means, how to diagnose one, and when Eclipse re-solves automatically.
For sending patterns from an ERP or design system, see Punch pattern import.