Ends for cans are made in a single press, eliminating the need for separate
shell and conversion presses, balancers, track work, and other equipment,
as compared to existing can end manufacturing systems, while reducing
floor space and capital investment requirements for installation of a new
can end line. A sheet of end material or stock is introduced into the
press and fed to a series of work stations. The sheet is maintained in a
substantially continuous and void free state as the work stations perform
forming operations on the sheet of material to form one or more ends
therein. After the forming operation is complete, the end is ejected from
the press. The maintenance of the sheet of material in a substantially
continuous and void free state permits precise movement of the sheet
through the press, and registration of the sheet relative to the tooling
in the press. This precise movement and maintenance of registration
results in a single press capable of operation at high speeds to produce
large volumes of ends, while doing so in a reliable and cost-effective
manner. In a preferred embodiment, the typical shell conversion operations
are performed first on the sheet of end material, while maintaining the
sheet in a substantially planar and void free state, followed by a shell
forming operation in which the panel and countersink features are formed
and the completed end blanked in a single stroke at the very end of the
forming operations.