Product category:
Workholding - miscellaneous clamping systems, components
News Release from: REM Systems | Subject: Erowa Flexible Manufacturing Concept
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 10 January 2006
Simplified fixturing suits small batches
Part two, of this short series by REM Systems, further explains the Erowa Flexible Manufacturing Concept (Erowa FMC) and proposes the use of off-line presetting.
Part two, of this short series by REM Systems, further explains the Erowa Flexible Manufacturing Concept (Erowa FMC) and proposes the use of off-line presetting Simplified fixturing by mounting the job directly to a pallet is particularly effective for small batch work and one-off jobs
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 8 Nov 2002 at 8.00am (UK)
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In part one, we saw how the Erowa chuck provides a precise location, or datum point, so workpieces are loaded in seconds.
The precise repeatability of the chuck also provides an opportunity to set up off-line and preset, or measure, the position of the workpiece relative to the chuck and tell the machine where the part is located.
For many applications, making a dedicated fixture for each component is a standard requirement for machining activity.
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When the batch size is significant this is the optimal way to go but let us consider the scenario of very small batch sizes or even one-off jobs.
Manufacturing a fixture to precisely locate the workpiece is expensive so let us consider an alternative method of working.
If the workpiece is clamped onto an Erowa pallet then it can be moved around, with precision, from one Erowa chuck to another.
This gives us the opportunity to measure the exact location of the workpiece on, say, a CMM or similar device.
The datum point for this location is, of course, the Erowa chuck or receiver.
This measured location, or offset, can now be transferred to the machine tool.
So when the pallet is loaded onto the machine table the machine will know the precise location of the job in X, Y, Z and C rotation.
Over the past few years Erowa have turned this procedure into a very slick operation.
The job can be clamped simply by screws up through the pallet into the job, or with a simply vice or standard clamp.
The "preset station" now measures the workpiece offset position, relative to the Erowa chuck, and the offset data is stored as raw data, not attributed to any machine.
When the job is allocated to a particular machine then the offset data is translated into a form that can be read by the machine, let us say a short NC program.
To run the offset program and machining program they are just a call-up from a basic structural program with a simple naming rule to avoid errors.
The machining program is now offset to the correct position on the workpiece and is always 'right-first-time'.
Presetting not only guarantees that each job is correct but allows the process to be extended further.
The automation of small batch or single part manufacturing now becomes a reality with high machine utilisation and unattended, lights-out operation.
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