Product category:
CNC turning centres, mill/turning, multi-tasking centres, horizontal and VTLs.
News Release from: Mori Seiki UK | Subject: Integrated mill turn centres
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 10 August 2005
HMC + lathe equals integrated mill/turn
centre
Three years of research and development have gone into a new range of integrated mill turn centres, which are a combination of the power of HMCs and a successful series of lathes.
Three years of research and development at Mori Seiki have culminated in the launch of the new NT series of integrated mill turn centres, which are a combination of the power of Mori Seiki's NH series horizontal machining centres and its successful NL series of lathes The new machines, to be launched at EMO, are manufactured exclusively at Mori Seiki's Chiba campus, which is currently capable of producing 40 machines per month
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 5 Jun 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
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Dr Masahiko Mori, President of Mori Seiki said, "The NT plays a crucial role in our three year plan to produce 800 machines per month".
"We are building a new factory at our Chiba campus to increase production to 100 NT machines per month." The design of the NT was driven by customer requirements, and from an evaluation of the weak points in existing mill turn centres on the market.
The range incorporates Mori Seiki's DCGTM technology, using two in house manufactured ballscrews on both the X and Z axes.
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The resulting vibration reduction makes 50m/minute rapid feed rates possible combined with accelerations of up to 0.8G and metal removal rates of 550cm3/min.
The machine structure draws on the 'box in box' construction of the NH series, resulting in a particularly rigid and massive design.
The Y axis utilises an octagonal cross section, 400mm across flats, fitting into a V shaped slideway.
From dynamic analysis Mori Seiki engineers found this shape provided the optimum stiffness for supporting the direct drive motors for the B axis and the spindle.
This permits heavy cuts to be taken with the milling head.
Chiba Campus Chief, Akihiro Mochizuki, explained the design principles, "Existing mill turn centres use an inclined bed".
"The resulting forces are not transmitted efficiently through the machine structure".
"We went through several design iterations before positioning the headstock and lower turret above a flat bed structure and marrying it to the vertical box structure of the NH series." He continued, "The castings are much more massive, the machine weighs 18 tonnes, and we also create a much bigger machining area, 750mm in X, 1120mm in Z and 420mm in Y on the NT4200DCG compared with 160mm in Y on the previous model." The arrangement has also assisted chip clearance, as the vertical sides ensure they drop cleanly onto the chip conveyor in the base of the machine.
Mori Seiki has a patent pending on its ball screw cooling and its spindle lubrication.
Coolant is circulated around the entire ball screw support bearing area and in the motor base, while a spiral oil jacket completely encloses the spindle controlling temperatures, lowering friction and eliminating dust ingress.
The thermal control technology on the NT also includes a cooling jacket around the built in motor on the turret - just some of the measures designed to shield the transmission of heat and dissipate it safely, significantly improving the accuracy possible on the NT.
Automatic tool changing on the NT takes place outside the machining envelope.
Akihiro Mochizuki said, "Very small amounts of debris can interfere with tool changing".
"Keeping the ATC separate from the machining area ensures a clean environment and allows us to achieve a chip to chip time of 3.4 seconds, compared with 14 seconds on the MT." Complex integrated machine tools like the NT can be difficult to programme.
Mori Seiki has considered this problem and supplies the machine with its new MAPPS III control system.
Masayoshi Uname, CTL manager for Mori Seiki elaborated, "We monitor the machine tool movements in real time, automatically carrying out interference detection and preventing axis collisions inside the machine".
"Additionally, MAPPS III includes a range of high speed and optimised canned cycles to simplify programming".
"We also offer postprocessors for some of the most popular CAM systems with the machine tool, so that users can start work immediately." Simon Pollard, Chairman of Pollard the sole distributor of Mori Seiki machines in the UK was enthusiastic, "There are nine models and 66 variations in the NT range including headstock, second spindle and lower turret options".
"Mori Seiki is the only machine tool manufacturer currently offering a built in motor capable of rotating around a B axis".
"We are confident that the structure of the NT will be leading edge for the next 10-15 years." * About Pollard - formed in 1911, Fredk Pollard and Co is a privately owned company, and is one of Britain's premier suppliers of high quality, high precision machine tools and workholding equipment.
It works in partnership with its customers using its engineering expertise to cost effectively implement high precision and leading edge technology solutions. Request a free brochure from Mori Seiki UK ...
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