Voith Paper's Manchester manufacturing plant has installed a 120-tonne crane from Street Crane to ensure efficient and safe loading and unloading of the grinding machine. The machine will grind and produce perfect geometry and balance in paper machine rollers of up to 115 tonnes. The crane will be used for loading and offloading vehicles and positioning rollers onto a CNC controlled Waldrich Siegen roll grinder and up-rated IRD balancing machine.
This requires precision movement and an auxiliary 10-tonne hoist is provided to permit rotation and final manoeuvring of the load. Major structural elements of the crane include twin box-beam girders for rigidity with eight-wheel carriages to spread the load. Hoisting is achieved via a heavy-duty crab unit based on a twin scrolling open barrel hoist design that ensures the hook follows a true vertical lifting path.
Programmable microprocessor controllers, along with digital frequency inverters on the motor drives, provide smooth acceleration and deceleration for safe transport of the load with no load swing. The overhead crane features a range of safety systems including audible alarm, flashing amber light and an anti-collision system.
Like all cranes from Street Crane, the brake operates on the first reduction shaft in the gearbox so that the load is held securely even in the unlikely event of a motor failure. A wire-free radio remote control allows the operator to adopt the best position for safety and visibility. A conventional pendant control is also provided as a back up.
Showing posts with label CNC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CNC. Show all posts
Mills Academy Offers CNC Programmer Training
Mills CNC has introduced the 360 Training Academy in recognition of the need for precision manufacturers to change existing manufacturing methods and business practices. Jeff Hart, 360 Training Academy manager, said the academy was established and precision manufacturers looking to improve performance should consider CNC programmer training as a strategic and cost-effective way forward. 'Through investing in high-quality training, manufacturers can get the most from their CNC machine tools by sharpening up the knowledge and skills of CNC machine tool programmers and operators, allowing commercial and bottom line benefits to be realised,' he added.Hart said that these benefits include: job set-up completed more quickly and more efficiently; time and resources spent checking and re-checking work is reduced, and the likelihood of having to re-work or scrap jobs is eliminated; machine tool utilisation is improved and production bottlenecks are avoided by being able to exploit the full functionality of machine tools; and higher-value contracts can be won more easily as manufacturers can demonstrate that they have the right people, with the right skills, to deliver on time and on budget.
The 360 Training Academy is part of Mills CNC, a UK machine tool supplier and exclusive distributor of Doosan CNC machine tools in the UK and Ireland. All CNC programmer training courses have been designed and are delivered by industry experts. The courses are practical and hands on - the emphasis being on 'learning by doing'.
Courses take place at Mills CNC's facility in Leamington, which allows course attendees direct access to the very latest Doosan CNC machine tools and the ability to try out their newly learned skills in real time and in a real manufacturing environment. Fanuc programmer courses cover everything from two-axis lathes right through to multi-axis turning centres - and milling machines through to mill-turn centres - with specialist and advanced Custom Macro A and Macro B courses also available. Heidenhain programmer courses cover all aspects of three-, four- and five-axis milling.
All 360 Training Academy CNC programmer courses are supported by course manuals (supplied to course attendees) and, following successful completion, all attendees receive a 360 Training Certificate that details the course they have attended and the skills they have acquired. 'Although the 360 Training Academy is located at Mills CNC - you don't have to be a Doosan machine tool user or existing Mills customer to attend these courses,' said Hart. 'Since the academy was launched in September 2009, more than 40 per cent of course attendees have been users of other CNC machine tools,' he added.
Trumpf Unveils Entry-Level CNC Laser Profiler
Trumpf has introduced an entry-level version of the Trulaser 3030 CNC New laser profiler. The Trulaser 3030 Lean Edition is aimed at manufacturers needing additional and expandable capacity or those who do not currently require high productivity but want to keep their options open for the future. The machine's capacity can be quickly and effectively boosted in line with customer demand thanks to a wide choice of options and retrofit possibilities, according to the company.
The Trulaser 3030 Lean Edition comes with all the technical advantages of the Trulaser 3030 New. The new entry-level version is equipped with a Truflow 3200 laser for cutting sheet up to 20mm and has simultaneous axis speeds of 140m/min. Faster processing is characteristic of the Trulaser 3030 New series and results in more parts being cut in the same amount of time and the reduction of power usage per part.
The laser's hibernation mode also contributes to the machine's overall energy efficiency. The single head, with collision protection, processes an entire range of material thicknesses. The Lensline lens monitoring system and Adjustline for the instant increase of material tolerance are both included in the standard package. The machine can be fed with sheets from the side or the rear.
The automation options start with an automatic pallet changer and include a range of possibilities from a simple Loadmaster loader through to a complete Liftmaster storage and automation system. For process optimisation, a premium cutting package is available as both an option and a retrofit. The components are Pierceline, Fastline and a spray unit that prevents material spatter from sticking.
The Trulaser 3030 Lean Edition comes with all the technical advantages of the Trulaser 3030 New. The new entry-level version is equipped with a Truflow 3200 laser for cutting sheet up to 20mm and has simultaneous axis speeds of 140m/min. Faster processing is characteristic of the Trulaser 3030 New series and results in more parts being cut in the same amount of time and the reduction of power usage per part.
The laser's hibernation mode also contributes to the machine's overall energy efficiency. The single head, with collision protection, processes an entire range of material thicknesses. The Lensline lens monitoring system and Adjustline for the instant increase of material tolerance are both included in the standard package. The machine can be fed with sheets from the side or the rear.
The automation options start with an automatic pallet changer and include a range of possibilities from a simple Loadmaster loader through to a complete Liftmaster storage and automation system. For process optimisation, a premium cutting package is available as both an option and a retrofit. The components are Pierceline, Fastline and a spray unit that prevents material spatter from sticking.
Mazak Event Highlights CNC Machine Tools And More
Mazak has showcased its CNC machine tools, turning centres and control systems at an open day at its European Technology Centre in Worcester. The centre houses 16 machine tools, which were all in action providing live cutting demonstrations. The Megaturn Nexus 900 and Slant Turn Nexus turning centres made their UK debut, as did the VTC-800 30/SR machining centre. Visitors to the open day also saw live demonstrations of the Mazatrol Matrix and Mazatrol Smart control systems.
CNC Router Reduces Time To Market
A manufacturer of personal care products has saved money by switching to a low-cost computerised numerical control (CNC) router that can produce point of purchase displays internally. The manufacturer employed contractors to produce displays but there were delays in getting new designs to retailers and the cost of producing them was continually rising. The company made the decision to create its own displays and searched for an inexpensive, yet easy-to-use router that had the capability to produce plastic and wood components to high levels of accuracy.
It opted for the Isel router, which has allowed the company to design and create new display designs in a single day. Isel's router has features readily found in more expensive machines such as ball screws and servo motors. This manufacturer is saving money on its outgoings and can now turn on immediately to meet the ever-changing design demands of the retail market. Ball screws have a few key advantages over racks: they don't have the 'play' or the requirement for adjustments that racks require, do not wear as easily and are far less likely to leave debris in the mechanism, a cause of skipping and errant motion.
Servo motors, unlike stepper motors, do not lose position, cannot skip steps and are also better for 3D applications as they can change speed 'on the fly' without losing position. The company's products are shipped to retailers with displays made of acrylic sheets that contain the product. The displays range from approximately 220mm high by 200mm wide and 200mm deep, to as much as 600mm high by 300mm wide and 200mm deep, with either two or three tiers of shelves. The product is placed loose in the shelves, which are tilted backwards slightly to keep them secure.
The shelves are held to the walls with acrylic solvents. The company frequently develops different styles of displays in order to accommodate a new product or promotion; subcontractors built a substantial portion of these in the past. The disadvantage with this strategy was that a considerable amount of back-and-forth effort was necessary in order to communicate the company's specific concept for the display.
With the rising cost of production, the process of going from prototype to finished product was proving inefficient as well as expensive. The company set out to look for CNC routers; however, the ones that it saw were either too expensive, very complicated machines, or on the other hand, inexpensive routers. The Isel machine possesses a number of features that are said to deliver accuracy to a level that has previously only been attainable at a much higher price.
Ball screws are provided on all three axes, providing smooth motion, a high level of accuracy and repeatability, plus minimal maintenance. A closed-loop servo control system provides constant position feedback, higher power and smooth continuous motion, which eliminates the possibility of losing position in the middle section. The machine includes a heavy steel ground stress-relieved base and an aluminium T-slot table that can be converted to a vacuum table by installing a vacuum table accessory kit.
The machine comes fully assembled and includes a CNC G-code interface. It is available in three sizes with work envelopes of 750mm by 600mm, 1,250 by 1,200mm and 1,250 by 2,400mm. Each of these models provides a repeatability of 0.025mm, a resolution of 0.005mm and a maximum speed of 6,350mm per minute. A wide range of optional equipment is offered including a laser scanning module, CNC lathe attachment, vacuum blower and a fourth-axis rotary table.
The resultant situation is that the company's designer creates a CAD drawing of a new display then graphically nests the individual pieces required to make the display onto a foot acrylic sheet and saves the resulting drawing onto a CD. The CNC operator generates toolpaths, makes adjustments to compensate for the thickness of the sheet and creates a CNC program for producing the parts. The operator loads a new sheet onto the router, secures it with a vacuum clamp to the table, uploads the program into the machine control and, with a click of the mouse, starts the machine.
The machine establishes the zero point for the z-axis and then runs by itself for 30 to 120 minutes, producing enough parts for as many displays as is possible to nest onto an acrylic sheet. When the machining operation is finished, the pieces are removed and they apply a torch to flame the cut edges to produce a glossy finish. These are delivered to the assembly department where operators put them together by applying acrylic solvent with a syringe.
The accuracy of cutting enabled them to develop a tab and slot construction in some of the displays, which overcame some of the difficulties that assemblers were having in alignment of walls and partitions, providing improved positioning for high-precision line bending. The time required to respond to market trends by creating new displays has been cut to a fraction of its original duration. On several occasions, an idea for a new display has been built and assembled by the end of the day. Building displays in-house also makes it much easier for companies to respond to special requests from customers.
It opted for the Isel router, which has allowed the company to design and create new display designs in a single day. Isel's router has features readily found in more expensive machines such as ball screws and servo motors. This manufacturer is saving money on its outgoings and can now turn on immediately to meet the ever-changing design demands of the retail market. Ball screws have a few key advantages over racks: they don't have the 'play' or the requirement for adjustments that racks require, do not wear as easily and are far less likely to leave debris in the mechanism, a cause of skipping and errant motion.
Servo motors, unlike stepper motors, do not lose position, cannot skip steps and are also better for 3D applications as they can change speed 'on the fly' without losing position. The company's products are shipped to retailers with displays made of acrylic sheets that contain the product. The displays range from approximately 220mm high by 200mm wide and 200mm deep, to as much as 600mm high by 300mm wide and 200mm deep, with either two or three tiers of shelves. The product is placed loose in the shelves, which are tilted backwards slightly to keep them secure.
The shelves are held to the walls with acrylic solvents. The company frequently develops different styles of displays in order to accommodate a new product or promotion; subcontractors built a substantial portion of these in the past. The disadvantage with this strategy was that a considerable amount of back-and-forth effort was necessary in order to communicate the company's specific concept for the display.
With the rising cost of production, the process of going from prototype to finished product was proving inefficient as well as expensive. The company set out to look for CNC routers; however, the ones that it saw were either too expensive, very complicated machines, or on the other hand, inexpensive routers. The Isel machine possesses a number of features that are said to deliver accuracy to a level that has previously only been attainable at a much higher price.
Ball screws are provided on all three axes, providing smooth motion, a high level of accuracy and repeatability, plus minimal maintenance. A closed-loop servo control system provides constant position feedback, higher power and smooth continuous motion, which eliminates the possibility of losing position in the middle section. The machine includes a heavy steel ground stress-relieved base and an aluminium T-slot table that can be converted to a vacuum table by installing a vacuum table accessory kit.
The machine comes fully assembled and includes a CNC G-code interface. It is available in three sizes with work envelopes of 750mm by 600mm, 1,250 by 1,200mm and 1,250 by 2,400mm. Each of these models provides a repeatability of 0.025mm, a resolution of 0.005mm and a maximum speed of 6,350mm per minute. A wide range of optional equipment is offered including a laser scanning module, CNC lathe attachment, vacuum blower and a fourth-axis rotary table.
The resultant situation is that the company's designer creates a CAD drawing of a new display then graphically nests the individual pieces required to make the display onto a foot acrylic sheet and saves the resulting drawing onto a CD. The CNC operator generates toolpaths, makes adjustments to compensate for the thickness of the sheet and creates a CNC program for producing the parts. The operator loads a new sheet onto the router, secures it with a vacuum clamp to the table, uploads the program into the machine control and, with a click of the mouse, starts the machine.
The machine establishes the zero point for the z-axis and then runs by itself for 30 to 120 minutes, producing enough parts for as many displays as is possible to nest onto an acrylic sheet. When the machining operation is finished, the pieces are removed and they apply a torch to flame the cut edges to produce a glossy finish. These are delivered to the assembly department where operators put them together by applying acrylic solvent with a syringe.
The accuracy of cutting enabled them to develop a tab and slot construction in some of the displays, which overcame some of the difficulties that assemblers were having in alignment of walls and partitions, providing improved positioning for high-precision line bending. The time required to respond to market trends by creating new displays has been cut to a fraction of its original duration. On several occasions, an idea for a new display has been built and assembled by the end of the day. Building displays in-house also makes it much easier for companies to respond to special requests from customers.
CGTech Releases Enhanced CNC Simulation Software
CGTech has released version 7.0 of the Vericut CNC machine simulation and optimisation software. Vericut 7.0 features enhancements that reduce the time required for manufacturing engineers to develop, analyse, inspect and document the CNC programming and machining process.CGTech have focused on code optimisation and customer-driven enhancements, reducing the number of pop-up dialogues for day-to-day Vericut users and eliminating any confusion associated with 'apply', 'ok' and 'cancel' buttons. As a result, setting up a new project in Vericut has been simplified. Items formerly in pop-up dialogues have been moved to the Project Tree, where all projects are configured using a configuration panel, automatically displayed as the user selects each branch.
Actions are immediate, so 'apply' or 'okay' clicks are unnecessary. The Component Tree has also been merged into the Project Tree but can be optionally hidden. The Project menu has been simplified with menu actions moved to the Project Tree. Motion Simulation refers to how Vericut calculates the motion path from the NC data and animates it.
The motion in all view types is now coordinated and tool images are consistent, while collision tolerance and motion display are independent. When set to stop at a travel limit, the simulation continues the motion with axis clamped, while any cuts during a limit error are painted red. A five-axis NC block is now one motion and simulation times overall are shorter.
5.x and 6.x collision configurations are upward compatible and read into 7.0. This central location for all collision control eliminates any possibility of duplicate collision checks. The user can define a near-miss collision with cut stock, and all near-miss and actual collision errors are separated in the logger. Components turn red upon first display of the collision contact, instead of at the end of the colliding motion.
Vericut runs standalone, but can also be integrated with CAM systems such as Catia V5, Siemens NX, Pro/E, MasterCAM, EdgeCAM, Delcam Powermill and Open Mind Hypermill. Vericut can read Siemens NX Part Files directly when NX is on the same computer and NX parts can be referenced directly from within Vericut or via the NX-to-Vericut interface. The CATIA V5-To-Vericut Interface has been enhanced with several new features for managing tools.
The user can merge tools from a template with new tools from the Part Operation and optionally put all unique tools in one tool library. The user can also use CATIA-referenced STL models. Vericut holders are named using the holder names already defined in CATIA. Additional features include the option to specify work offset subsystems and set model tolerances for the stock, fixture and design models.
CNC Machine Grinds Super-Hard Materials
The Ewag Compact Line CNC grinding machine is designed for the flexible and precise manufacturing or sharpening of indexable inserts in all materials. Whether the material is carbide, cermet, ceramic or super-hard CBN/PCD, the CNC grinding machine meets all of the requirements for precision and speed - especially with the realisation of complex workpiece geometries.The machine is fitted with the CBN/PCD module for grinding super-hard materials and now also for machining diamond cutting materials. The Compact Line has a compact construction, features ergonomic operation and an integrated robot system. Inside the machine, everything is positioned close to the working B-axis; the travel ranges for axes and robots are therefore kept to a minimum, cycle and downtimes are shortened, and productivity is increased.
The machine interior and control elements are accessible from one position. A rapid change system allows the operator to exchange the grinding wheels easily at the push of a button. The HSKE 50 clamping system for grinding wheels ensures quick and accurate change-over of grinding-wheel sets. The workpieces are fixed to the clamping device with a tension pin. All clamping systems are mechanically installed on the B-axis and are identified by a 'plug-and-play' system. The result is flexibility and short change-over times.
The 'three-in-one' sharpening unit - dressing, regenerating, and crushing - provides good grinding wheel concentricity and high repeat accuracy of processes. 3D measurement of workpieces in one clamping ensures the required tolerances are met from the start. Loading is carried out with the integrated six-axis Fanuc robot, which increases the level of machine automation and permits autonomous multi-shift operation. The Compact Line incorporates five-axis CNC kinematics, direct drive of the grinding spindle and linear technology.
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