Product category:
Vertical machining centres (VMC)
News Release from: Whitehouse Machine Tools | Subject: Brother TC-32B QT, FT vertical machining centres
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 09 March 2004
Tapping centres upgrade to 4/5-axis VMC
status
Moving-column drill-tapping machine, having 30 taper tooling, a more powerful spindle motor and a chain-type tool magazine, is now more accurately described as a VMC.
Two new machines at the top end of the Brother range will be launched in the UK by sole agent, Whitehouse Machine Tools, on its stand at MACH 2004 They could more accurately be described as machining centers, as the Japanese manufacturer long ago expanded its turret-type, moving-table, drill-tap machine portfolio into this type of moving-column machine having 30 taper tooling, a more powerful spindle motor and a chain-type tool magazine
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 28 Jun 2002 at 8.00am (UK)
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Designated TC-32B QT and FT, the machines are a quantum step above the TC-32A QT model that has been superseded.
Most notable is that there are now two models instead of one, as the manufacturer not only offers a larger and more rigid, twin-pallet-change (QT) machine than its predecessor, but at the same time has introduced a fixed table (FT) version, Brother's first such machine.
These higher productivity machines, which consume 30 per cent less power, are aimed at sectors requiring larger production volumes, especially subcontractors serving the automotive industry.
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Drill-tap centre is capable of heavy milling
Tapping centres are generally thought of as nimble, high-speed machines having moderate cutting capacity, but this one much heavier metalcutting than others on the market.
The QT model has a machining area over half as big again, with X and Y axis travels now at 550mm and 400mm respectively.
The 600mm x 525mm table represents a 30 per cent increase in size, while maximum table load of 200kg per side is about two and a half times more than before.
Positioning accuracy is 5 microns per 300mm with repeatability of +/-3 microns.
The FT version, however, has an 800mm x 400mm table and is quoted as being able to support fixtured workpieces up to 600kg, although really there is no weight limit.
This places Brother in a different league in terms of the size of component that it can tackle, such as cylinder heads and blocks, transaxle housings and sumps.
A specialism of Whitehouse is the provision of trunnion fixtures and indexing heads to give customers fourth and fifth axes, and many configurations have been supplied.
Such opportunities are extended by the extra capacity of the latest machines, which accept larger and heavier clamping and manipulation arrangements on both the QT and FT versions.
For many applications, the machines can therefore now provide a fast, cost-effective alternative to more expensive horizontal- or vertical-spindle, 4/5-axis machining centers with larger spindle tapers.
At the same time, the control system (Brother's own) has been given new features including simultaneous interpolation of four axes, as compared with 3-axis machining plus positioning capability previously available.
This gives Brother users for the first time the option of accepting mould and die work as well as complex machining of, for example, aerospace components.
4- and 5-axis capability can also simplify more routine jobs and make them more profitable.
There is a high accuracy mode that compensates for vibration generated during axis movements, an improved 12in colour display, 2MB memory, and G and M codes that allow further reductions in machining time.
The control automatically displays both cutting and non-cutting time to assist development of efficient programs.
A variety of canned cycles plus tool life management facilities are available.
New Yaskawa servo drives and encoders with improved resolution result in better machining accuracy and surface finish, especially where the axes change direction while in-cut.
As the encoders are now absolute, there is no longer a need for limit switches or return to machine zero.
A considerable increase in speed accompanies the machine's extended size capacity.
Rapid traverse is 70m/min in all axes, up from 56m/min, while acceleration has been increased by half in X and Z to 1.2G and 1.5G respectively, and to 0.9G in Y.
Cutting feed rate is high at 20 m/min maximum.
Automatic tool change time is 2.1 seconds including not only the physical exchange of the cutter but also spindle deceleration from 16,000 rpm and acceleration to the same speed.
Rigid tapping remains the same at up to 8,000 rpm.
A sample workpiece cited in the brochure, albeit playing to the strengths of the machine with the inclusion of 22 drilled and tapped holes, shows a cycle time reduction of 23 per cent, the biggest decrease being in non-cutting time.
Finite element analysis has been used in the design of the basic structure, endowing the machine with the necessary rigidity for accurate, stable machining at high spindle speeds.
A further improvement is the larger 50mm bearing diameter of the 12,000 rpm (optionally 16,000 rpm) spindle, which offers up to three times more torque in the speed range above 5,000 rpm.
To absorb the resulting higher loads, Brother has provided more widely spaced linear guideways of increased rigidity, and larger diameter ballscrews.
In place of the standard 30 taper, a Nikken NC5 or HSK63 face-and-taper-contact spindle and tooling is available.
This, together with high-pressure through-tool coolant at 70 bar, maximises machining accuracy, metal removal rate and tool life.
To match the faster metal removal rates, care has been taken with swarf management, particularly with regard to angled surfaces, coolant flow and efficient removal of chips via a central trough and optional conveyor running from front to back.
The working area is isolated from the other parts of the machine, including the tool magazine and ATC arm, for enhanced reliability.
MACH 2004 - April 19-23 - NEC Birmingham, UK.
Hall: 5, Stand 5550.
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