Product category:
Large milling and boring machines (over 2000mm in X)
News Release from: Unisign | Subject: Uniport-7 gantry-type machining centres
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 22 July 2002
Large defence industry fabrications
machined
Two large and powerful gantry-type machining centres have been recently installed in the UK for machining large welded constructions for the defence industry.
The quality and flexibility of the Unisign gantry-type, Portal Machining Centres have yet again resulted in the sale of two Uniport-7 machines, recently installed in the UK A company near Manchester has two new large Uniport 7 gantry-type machines installed in the last few weeks
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 12 Jan 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
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Both machines where bought at Unisign in the Netherlands, via the UK-agent Machine Tool Investments in Birmingham.
The machines are an exact copy of each other, and are being used for the manufacturing of large welded constructions for the defence industry.
With an X-axis of 18 and a Y-axis of 3000mm, each machine has a machining area of 54m2.
Further reading
Large gantry miller has integrated spindle head
A Unisign gantry-type, travelling gantry miller is machining large steel frames for a German manufacturer of wood processing machines, Homag.
Five axis centre generates high metal removal
At EMO, Unisign demonstrated its Unipro 5p, five-axis, high speed vertical machining centre, shown with its Siemens Sinumerik 840 D CNC interfaced with an Open Mind CAD/CAM system.
Powerful machining centre turns and mills
A powerful, portal-type vertical turning and milling centre, for five-sides machining, has its pallet changer located sideways at the rear to improve operator access to the machining area.
The integrated spindle (ISO-50) on the Uniport 7 is rated at 42kW and 6000 rev/min.
It features an automatically shifting two-stage gearbox and applies a maximum cutting torque of 1430Nm.
For powerful five-side machining jobs, they use two Unisign heads, which are automatically changed onto the spindle nose.
Both heads are clamped by four hydraulically activated collets and the positioning is achieved over a highly accurate Hirth coupling.
The first is a right angular head with automatic C-axis positioning 72x5deg and the same spec as the main spindle.
The second being a universal angular head with a C-axis 72x5deg and additional A-axis 72x5deg positioning rated at 36kW and 2.500 rev/min.
Both main spindle head and the right angle heads are water-cooled.
The machine has automatic toolchange via a double gripper tool changer which loads tools to the normal spindle nose or to the right angle heads.
Cutting tools are stored in a 61-pocket chain on the backside of one of the columns.
The system handles tools up to 200mm diameter and up to 500mm long.
The operator can load larger tools by hand.
Unisign can supply the Uniport 7 series with X axis of 4000 to 18000mm, Y-axis of 2600 to 4600mm and Z-axis of 1000 or 1200mm.
Clearance between the columns can be 2000 to 4000mm.
Tool storage on the gantry bridge can be increased to 240 tools.
New features on the 2002 Uniport-7 models are the two operator platforms with enclosure guarding on both sides of the travelling bridge.
Enclosure guarding equipped with windows and working area access door, mounted between the operator platform and the machine working area.
This option in combination with a moveable control panel in cross direction, allows the machine operator to start up a NC-program with the control panel close to each side of the work piece.
If the control is used within the machine's work area, the Feed-Override of X-, Y- and Z-Axis is automatically reduced to 10% for safety reasons.
New on all Unisign machines, from April 2002, is Unisign Remote Access for Sinumerik 840 D.
For service purposes, Remote Access offers access to the machine's CNC-Control from the Unisign Service Department in the Netherlands via Modem- or Network Connection.
Remote Access enables the checking of the machine status and error messages.
Also, machine parameters and CNC-programs may be checked and - if necessary - changed online.
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