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Product category: Probes, sensors, tool detection, calibration for machine tools
News Release from: Renishaw | Subject: Tool detection, part inspection, touch probe
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial Team on 11 January 2006

Systems benefit CMMs and CNC machine
tools

High-speed broken tool detection, PC software for part inspection on machine tools and an ultra-compact high accuracy touch probe for small machining centres will be demonstrated in Belgium.

Renishaw will be highlighting its powerful new solutions for the metalworking industry when it attends the Metapro exhibition being held at the Brussels International Exhibition Centre, Belgium, from February 15th to February 18th 2006 Promoted by the organisers as Belgium's national trade fair for the metalworking industry, Metapro will cover the latest technologies for sheet metalworking, welding, machining, surface treatment, automation and measurement

The show will cover 30,000m2 and is expected to attract 200 exhibitors and 14,000 visitors.

Exhibiting in Hall 1, stand number 226, Renishaw will use Metapro to highlight a wide range of its latest technologies that will benefit both users and builders of precision machinery, including CNC machine tools and co-ordinate measuring machines (CMMs).

These include TRS1, a new tool recognition system for high-speed broken tool detection, new PC-based software for part inspection on machine tools and an ultra-compact high accuracy touch probe for small machining centres.

For machine builders there is a new angle encoder for precision position feedback on rotary axes and new software for motion system analysis.

Visitors to Metapro will also be able to see Renishaw's revolutionary new enabling technology that will allow highly accurate, ultra high speed five-axis scanning measurement on CMMs.

The new TRS1 broken tool detection system projects a beam of laser light at a tool and monitors the scattered light that is reflected to determine if the tool has been broken.

This new tool recognition technology distinguishes between the tool and coolant or swarf, whilst it is also fast and reliable under real machining conditions.

More reliable than conventional non-contact systems, the TRS1 comprises a single unit containing the laser source and detection electronics, enabling it to be mounted outside of the working envelope, safe from collision, and saving valuable space on the table.

At Metapro, Renishaw is also highlighting two new PC-based software products for machine tool users.

Productivity+ Active Editor Pro is the next generation of easy-to-use probing and process control software, which targets the entire spectrum of users.

The CAD front-end allows features to be identified with a single click, and the drag-and-drop interface uses the measured data to update machine parameters.

The result is a fully integrated metal cutting and touch probing program, which allows a machine tool to make intelligent decisions on the fly.

Renishaw OMV is a verification package that gives machine tool users powerful CMM-style 3D verification against a CAD model.

The software is targeted at manufacturers of complex and large parts, such as mould tools, and combines freeform and geometric features.

A straightforward point-and-click approach means that the user can see the inspection path as it is generated, and make changes if required.

In combination with Renishaw's non-lobing, high accuracy spindle touch probes, such as the new OMP400 touch probe, Renishaw OMV provides unrivalled accuracy of part verification on machine tools.

The OMP400 touch probe from Renishaw is an innovative, ultra-compact strain gauge probe for small machining centres, offering reduced set-up times, reduced scrap, reduced fixture costs, improved process control and high accuracy on-machine measurement.

Measuring only 40mm in diameter and 50mm in length, the OMP400 touch probe combines the miniaturisation of the highly successful OMP40 touch probe with new advances in strain gauge technology, pioneered by Renishaw's high accuracy MP700 touch probe.

For machine builders attending Metapro requiring precision motion analysis tools, QuickView is a unique software package from Renishaw designed to make its ML10 laser interferometer measurement system an even more flexible and powerful analysis tool.

For years, electronic engineers have relied on oscilloscopes to study high-speed variations in voltage or current.

Now, QuickView software provides mechanical engineers with a similar capability, allowing them to study minute variations in linear or angular displacement, velocity or acceleration.

With a simple graphical interface QuickView allows very flexible operation, avoiding the need for predefined measurement targets and sequences - just point and measure, ideal for ad-hoc system investigations.

Manufacturers of precision manufacturing equipment will also be interested in Renishaw's SIGNUM range of encoders, which offers high accuracy, resolution and repeatability with high speed, high operating temperatures, ultra-low cyclic error and innovative IN-TRAC optical reference mark, which remains phased over the entire speed and temperature specification.

The system offers intelligent signal processing, ensuring excellent reliability and ultra-low cyclic error (typically <+/-40nm), whilst comprehensive SiGNUM software enables optimum set-up and real-time system diagnostics via a PC's USB port.

The SiGNUM RESM angle encoder is a one-piece stainless steel ring with 20 micron scale marked directly on the periphery.

It is highly suitable for precision applications including machine tool rotary axes, and features the IN-TRAC optical reference mark, which repeats, regardless of direction, at operational speeds of over 4,500 rev/min (52mm diameter) and up to 85 deg C.

The SiGNUM RELM high accuracy linear encoder comprises the SR readhead, Si interface and 20 micron RELM scale, which is offered in defined lengths.

Initially available in Invar, which provides a low thermal expansion of 1.4 micron/m/C, the RELM scale is offered with a choice of IN-TRAC reference mark positions and dual optical limits.

Together with the robust, yet highly precise 20 micron spars, this enables the RELM to offer accuracy to +/-1 micron and resolution to 20 nm, satisfying the most demanding precision motion requirements.

Launched at the recent EMO Hannover exhibition, Renishaw's ground breaking Renscan5 technology allows the development of a range of breakthrough five-axis CMM scanning products that will measure at speeds of up to 500 mm/second, and virtually eliminates the measurement errors normally associated with existing three-axis scanning systems.

A five-axis system achieves this by allowing the lighter measuring head to perform most of the motion during inspection routines, minimising the dynamic errors caused when moving the larger mass of a CMM's structure.

Visitors to Metapro will also be able to see REVO the first product to take advantage of the new Renscan5 technology.

The first in a family of revolutionary measuring head and probe systems, REVO will maximise inspection throughput, whilst maintaining a high-level of system accuracy.

REVO uses synchronised motion when scanning to quickly follow changes in part geometry, without introducing its own dynamic errors.

This allows the CMM to move at a constant velocity along a constant vector whilst measurements are being taken, removing the inertial errors that result from acceleration of the machine during conventional 3-axis scanning. Request a free brochure from Renishaw ...

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