Product category:
Bar feeders, loaders and parts catchers
News Release from: IEMCA Division, Igmi SpA | Subject: Boss bar feeders
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 11 January 2002
Bar feeders enter into dialogue with CNC
lathes
The family of Boss bar feeders now features a new serial function which "dialogues" with the lathe.
The family of Boss bar feeders now features a new serial function which "dialogues" with the lathe Two software configurations are possible: The first configuration makes use of a serial port on the operator panel (OP) by which it informs the lathe (according to the setting made by the operator) the position of the bar pusher or the length of the loaded bar
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 10 Oct 2008 at 8.00am (UK)
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The position of the bar pusher is transmitted by an interface signal, sent when requested by the lathe, which in turn processes the information received.
The length of the loaded bar is transmitted by the feeder during bar changeover cycles.
The second configuration involves the issue of data by means of the serial port on the programmable controller (PLC_CN).
The position of the bar pusher or loaded bar length is transmitted as in the first configuration, though the response is particularly rapid; this factor makes the second configuration particularly suited to applications in which the bar feeder is required to transmit information to the lathe in only a few milliseconds (e g when the lathe requests information before moving the workpiece forward).
The length of the loaded bar is transmitted by the feeder during bar changeover cycles.
The advantages for the lathe in the latter case are many: the pieces that remain to be machined can be detected; accordingly, machining of the last pieces can be modified to optimise bar use.
The return stroke of the headstock can be adjusted to the remnant left in the bar feeder, or the lathe can record the length of the bar left in the bar feeder.
These data can then be loaded into the control program of the customer magazine.
This new system has been welcomed by some of the most important lathe manufacturers in the industry and successfully used by many customer companies, such as Metal Work, which currently employs two IEMCA bar feeders with this system.
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