1. Remember the following words:

leakage– утечка

maintenance work – эксплуатация, техническое обслуживание

drawing– вытяжка, протяжка

assemble–собирать, монтировать

tooling–оборудование, оснащение, механическая обработка

handling – разгрузка, управление, обработка

fuel pump–топливный насос

housing– корпус

accomplish – выполнять, завершать

in-roads– вторжение

have in common – иметь общее

rubber molding – резина для штамповки, пресс-форма

fluid–жидкость

bed– станина

guide– направляющая

slide –ползун, скользить

lubrication– смазка

power pack – узел привода

2. Read and translate the text. Market penetration by hydraulic presses

In the not so distant past hydraulic presses were looked upon with some degree of suspicion due to fears of their leakage, lack of speed, being incapable of blanking operations, maintenance problems as well as the noise made by hydraulic power packs. Therefore a tendency was to use them for deep drawing and assembly operations. And the training that tool and die makers and manufacturing engineers received, the terms used, the approach to tooling, feeding and part handling were almost always oriented towards mechanical presses. This trend, however, is now changing. And as a result of design improvements major developments are taking place which have already led to a new type of fast-acting presses which are arousing considerable interest in what usually was a predominantly mechanical press field.

Historically a hydraulic press is one of the oldest of the basic machine tools. As a machine it is probably as old as a bicycle. In recent years hydraulic presses have been attracting greater attention. Automotive manufacturers stamp fuel pump diaphragms, assemble shock absorbers and form disc brakes. Aircraft companies form tough titanium housings and forge turbine blades. Not only engineers are interested in hydraulic press market place – our knowledge extends to the physicist with his varieties of valves, the biologist, the dentist and even the makers of food products. These and hundreds of other jobs are being done today in industry by hydraulic presses.

What is a hydraulic press? First and foremost it is a press. Although the term hydraulic press covers a very wide range of types of presses they all have in common the application of force to accomplish work through the controlled containment of fluids. One hundred years or so ago the fluid used to be water – hydraulic presses were all water presses. With the development of the petroleum industry oil was found to be a superior fluid since it lubricated the moving parts of the machine while at the same time providing an excellent medium for transferring pressure. Now one hundred years later because of the oil crisis the industry is on a trend to the use of water, 95% water and 5% soluble oil.

Generally a hydraulic press includes a frame, a bed, one or more hydraulic cylinders, a guide or a slide mechanism to control the ram, a control system and a power source. The construction of a hydraulic press and its characteristics will vary depending upon the intended use. Hydraulic presses are built for rubber molding, forging, various types of metalworking operations, maintenance work, auto repairs and glassware manufactures.

With the providing of the latest kind of fast-acting presses and a successful outcome of further developments hydraulic presses have made significant in-roads into the traditional market for single-acting mechanical presses. The widespread introduction of hydraulic presses is seen in the double and triple-action press field for sheet-metal pressing, where the great advantage over mechanical presses is the controllability offered by hydraulic power.

3. Answer the questions

1. Why were hydraulic presses looked upon with suspicion in the not so distant past? 2. What caused the widespread introduction of hydraulic presses into the market? 3. Where are hydraulic presses used? 4. What do all hydraulic presses have in common? 5. Can you describe a typical hydraulic press? 6. What does its construction depend on? 7. What are hydraulic presses built for?

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