Product category:
CNC turning centres, mill/turning, multi-tasking centres, horizontal and VTLs.
News Release from: Mori Seiki UK | Subject: NL series CNC mill/turn centres
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 26 September 2005
Mori Seiki's NL CNC lathes top 2000
The NL Series lathes have been on the market for a year and that over 2,000 machines sold testifies their high stability, quality and flexibility, says Mori Seiki.
The NL Series lathes have been on the market for a year The convincing features of these machines are their extremely stable structure and high quality
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 5 Jun 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
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Over 2,000 sold machines testify to Mori Seiki's sensitive feeling for the needs of the users.
'An ear for the market' is one of the key principles at Mori Seiki, one of the world's largest manufacturers of machine tools.
In the train of deteriorating quality plaguing the standard lathes on offer, those responsible at Mori Seiki resolved to check this development with a high-quality range, the NL Series.
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Intended to cover the whole spectrum from the manufacture of single parts to mass production and be equally suitable for both roughing and finishing, this Series has enjoyed patent success - the first year saw over 2,000 NL machines sold in a total of thirty variants.
* Stability is the basis of precision machining - all NL machines are characterised by very high stability.
To achieve this aim the developers redesigned the machine bed, spindle, carriage, and tailstock.
With the aid of dynamic structural analysis they managed to double the torsional rigidity of the NL machines compared with conventional lathes, an achievement that can also be put down to the guideways 30% wider than the predecessor models.
The NL machines, though, should also perform with precision in heavy-duty cutting as well, so the engineers at Mori Seiki employed flat guideways along the X axis: their larger bearing faces provide for better stability and damping than roller guides.
Modifications to the headstock's form and fastenings improved axial stability, and larger bearing diameters not only raise the spindle's stability, but at the same time increase the spindle's bore.
This benefits the quality of the machining result as well as the spindle's accelerating and braking behavior.
* Revolutionary turret concept - the success of the NL Series is also based in its range of variants.
Market surveys have shown that in many cases today the demand is for complete machining.
And for this reason Mori Seiki offers these lathes also with counter spindle, Y axis, and twelve-tool turret head.
This last, a highlight of the NL Series, features an integrated servomotor that when needed engages in special tool receivers for driving directly the corresponding milling, drilling, or grinding tool.
Drive belts and similar therefore become superfluous, and vibrations are prevented.
The better power transmission facilitates for example an enormous cutting performance.
For instance, the turret of the NL 2500 can receive cutter heads with maximum diameters of 80mm.
Not only the performance undergoes enormous improvements, also the thermal effects are virtually eliminated by an oil jacket cooling the motor.
* Focus on temperature stability - a further important advantage of the NL Series is the design measures intended to reduce the cutting heat transferred to the machine.
The head spindle, one of the greatest heat sources, is cooled via an oil duct that spirals around the spindle over its whole length.
The converter-controlled oil cooler provides for a constant temperature over the spindle's whole length.
Unlike many other lathes, this cooler is not installed near the spindle, but on the rear of the machine.
Consequently the heat radiated from the cooler cannot be transferred to the machine bed and prove detrimental to the machined results.
Also the hot exhaust air from the cooler is now directed away from any contact with the machine.
The machine bed is completely paneled to prevent any chip heat from transferring to the machine.
On request, also the recirculating ball screws on the NL machines can be cooled over their whole lengths.
* User-friendly details - Mori Seiki takes particularly great trouble for operator convenience, and this becomes evident in many details, for example the NC tailstock powered by a servomotor, a standard feature on the variants without counter spindle.
Startup and return positions, configurations, etc, can all be programmed at the MAPPS II dialog controller.
This software features a great many practical functions facilitating the programming of NL machines, including 3D machining simulations, an extensive milling menu, a program manager, and many maintenance functions.
The time involved in generating a manufacturing program is therefore considerably reduced.
Likewise maintainability was one of the crucial criteria that the Mori Seiki engineers placed at the forefront of machine development.
Large openings in the machine paneling facilitate access to the underlying maintenance units like lubricant oil tank and pneumatic fittings.
The coolant tank can be pulled out at the front and does not require the chip conveyor to be removed.
A special design, the cartridge system simplifies spindle replacement whereby only the motor's core has to be drawn out. Request a free brochure from Mori Seiki UK ...
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