Many job shops are considering automated machine loading and unloading systems in order to make more efficient use of their labor. To be effective in environments where short job runs and frequent change-overs are the norm, such automated systems must be flexible and intuitive to set up.
In the case of cylindrical grinding machines, Hans Ueltschi, national sales manager for United Grinding Technologies (Miamisburg, Ohio), says that job shops want an automated loading system that is simple, affordable and compact. Custom loading systems often do not provide the versatility for quick part change-over and require engineering time that can prolong the delivery of a new machine.

This drove Studer, a sister company of UGT, to develop off-the-shelf loading systems for a number of its internal, external and universal grinding machines. The automated systems do not require a dedicated control, but instead are programmed from a simple teach-in screen integrated into the grinding machine’s control software. In most cases, all that must be entered during setup is part size and load/unload locations.
External and universal grinding machines use a gantry-based picking system and loading station attached to the side of the machines. A parts picker travels horizontally between loading locations and workpiece clamping point, and is said to change parts in 7 seconds.

Parts can be presented to the picker via conveyor or pallet loading system. The conveyor version can be quickly adjusted by hand to accommodate different part widths and heights, and it accepts parts up to 300 mm long and 35 mm in diameter. The pallet version allows small parts to be loaded side by side for increased loading capacity. A statistical process control (SPC) chute is available for either loading version to deliver sample parts for SPC measurement purposes.

Internal grinding machines use integrated gravity-fed chutes that deliver parts directly through the machine enclosure. These systems do not require a separate loading station. Two pneumatic grippers are located inside the machine near the chuck and chutes. One gripper picks parts from the load chute and positions the parts in the chuck; the second gripper picks finished parts from the chuck and delivers them to the unload chute. Three-second part changes are possible, according to the company.

These loading systems are available as options on new Studer grinding machines, but they can also be retrofitted to installed machines. Mr. Ueltschi notes that similar systems are being developed for the Studer Mikrosa brand centerless grinders

Rob Murnyack had been turning his professional life upside down in a quest to use CNC machining at his shop. He’d been working for his father for more than 20 years in what had become a successful grinding operation. However, Mr. Murnyack wanted to take the company to the next level—using CNC machining.

“We couldn’t gather a powerful enough argument to nudge my father over the line,” Mr. Murnyack says. “I can’t blame him. He’s 65 and has built a solid business around manual operations, and for him to invest $150,000 to $200,000 to move in a new direction was a tough sell.”

Mr. Murnyack worked out a deal with his father, setting up a kind of “beta site” operation. He took several of his father’s employees, a number of established customers and four manual grinding machines and began Absolute Grinding (Mentor, Ohio) in May 1994. Then, 4 months later, he found himself in Chicago, Illinois at the International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS).

“I wasn’t making a salary at this point,” he says. “Here I was looking at machines that cost $200,000 and more. I thought I was nuts. But at the same time, I realized I needed to make the investment if I wanted to shift gears to CNC.”

Obviously, a lot rode on his first plunge into CNC machining. He chose a Studer S35cnc universal cylindrical grinding machine from United Grinding Technologies (Miamisburg, Ohio). It had a choice of a straight or angular infeed with the grinding wheel mounted left or right; wheel dressing and profiling with continuous path control; automatic grinding and dressing cycles; automatic change-over from external to internal grinding; and an automatic swiveling wheelhead. It also allows the use of up to three grinding wheels in a single workpiece program, as well as a special workhead with a C axis that permits form and thread grinding.

Mr. Murnyack notes that none of his employees were familiar with CNC, so in that respect, the new machine had to be easy to learn. “We literally self-taught ourselves,” he says. “The programming was that easy.”
Three years after he entered the CNC arena, Mr. Murnyack added an S36cnc, a universal cylindrical grinding machine for medium-sized workpieces. His objective was to find a quality machine that could do internal and external grinding for less than $250,000.

One of the bonuses of the grinding machine, according to Mr. Murnyack, was that it allowed the company to do random wheel shapes and more intricate configurations of the grinding wheel and of the grinding cycle. In general, it gave Absolute the ability to tackle complicated projects.

The latest addition to the company’s fleet of Studers is the S31cnc purchased in 2001. Mr. Murnyack thought he should investigate the new generation of CNC machines, which are more flexible than their predecessors and would allow the company to handle a wider variety of parts with a reduction in setup time. The S31 took care of this, with a drive-spindle power of 10 hp, grinding wheels with a maximum diameter of 20 inches, a width of 3.15 inches and an infinite B axis. It permits grinding ID, OD and tapered ID’s on one machine.
“We do four or five setups a day,” he explains. “This is a job shop. We can’t spend 4 hours on a setup. My guys can switch from an ID operation to an OD operation on a different part in an hour with the S31. With other machines, I hear from people in the field that they might spend 4 hours just writing the program. It takes us just 5 minutes to write these programs on the CNC machines.”

Because of the significant time savings the company has discovered when using CNC machines, Mr. Murnyack and his shop employees understand what a difference they can make in a shop’s efficiency. Not only are these machines easy to operate, but they also provide quality machining to complicated projects. They also allow one machine to perform many tasks, rather than wasting time using several machines.

Routine part measurement adds no value to workpieces. It does, however, offer a means to track machining accuracy so that equipment can be adjusted to ensure that parts are produced to tolerance. If a process could adjust itself on the fly, then it would be unnecessary to interrupt production to make such adjustments manually. According to Freedom Technologies, headquartered in East Glastonbury, Connecticut, such a closed-loop centerless grinding process is possible with its Grindline laser measurement system.

The Grindline system allows non-contact laser measurement of ground part diameters ranging from 0.004 to 3.15 inches to 1-micron accuracy. Based upon that measurement data, the system’s software can then signal the grinder’s control to make the necessary adjustments (such as re-positioning wheels as they wear) in real time.

The system can be used with both through-feed and plunge-type centerless grinders. Its main components include a parts conveyor, part cleaning fixture, laser micrometer and dedicated controller. The conveyor receives parts as they exit the centerless grinder and transports them to the cleaning fixture. This fixture uses compressed air to clean parts prior to laser measurement. After cleaning, the conveyor delivers the parts to the laser micrometer to measure their diameters as they pass in front of the beam.
For each new job, users enter a nominal diameter, tolerance control band and out-of-spec tolerance limits. The control band is a safe range within the out-of-spec tolerance limits that allows shops to perform trending analysis. Users can specify the number of times the measured part diameter is permitted to fall outside the control band before the software signals the machine to make the necessary adjustments.

Users can also set up discrete measurement zones to find localized errors that may be caused by a chipped wheel or other similar problem. For example, a 6-inch-long part could be divided into six individual measurement zones along its length. The Grindline software will average the diameter measurements for each zone, rather than over the entire part length, to catch the small error. The software can also determine overall shaft straightness, as well as generate a detailed statistical report for each job.

The Grindline T-Series is designed for through-feed centerless grinders in which parts will have only one nominal diameter. The P-Series can measure multiple diameters for parts ground on plunge-type centerless grinders. Both versions are self-calibrating and can automatically compensate for fluctuating environmental conditions.

In case you haven’t heard, quartz infrared heaters are the “hot” item this heating season. Although they’ve been around for 20 years, homeowners are only now discovering this inexpensive heater that costs nothing to install or maintain and heats your favorite living space for only pennies a day.

At the heart of these infrared heaters are the quartz bulbs. They provide even, non drying, floor to ceiling heat and reduce positive ions in the atmosphere responsible for many respiratory problems.

Similar to incandescent lamps, quartz bulbs are formed by enclosing a tungsten resistance wire within a high purity quartz sheath. The bulbs cost $5 – $15 each, are easy to replace, and last 5 – 7,000 hours, or 3 – 5 years.

The cost of electricity to operate an infrared heater is extremely low. A 1,500 watt unit will consume about 18 cents of electricity per hour if run continuously.

However, a quartz infrared heater doesn’t run continuously and cycles on only 50% of the time. This reduces the effective cost of operation to 9 or 10 cents per hour, or about $1 a day.

If you’re heating a manufactured home with LP gas, the savings could be substantial.

One contributor to the mobilehomerepair.com forum said he ended up spending only $200 for gas last winter simply by lowering the thermostat on his furnace to 62 degrees and letting his quartz infrared heater do the rest.

Likewise, if you own a bricks and mortar home, and want to save money by heating only your primary living space, why spend $2,000 on a pellet stove plus $700 for installation when a $500 infrared heater could achieve the same result?

Further savings can be realized by setting the programmable thermostat to coincide with your daily schedule. Set it to turn on before you get up, off when you leave for work, and back on before you get home from work. Some units even offer weekday/weekend programming.

The safety of a quartz infrared heater rivals that of my favorite oil filled heater. Actually, the quartz heater does the oil filled heater one better by offering a cabinet enclosure that stays cool to the touch. This is a welcome benefit if you have curious kids or pets.

Greenfield Industries (Lyndonville, VT) reduced scrap rate 60% in special tap production by installing CNC thread grinders. Older mechanical grinders often produce scrap parts because of difficulties in achieving special-profile forms, and because machine positioning variations affect size. New CNC thread grinders eliminate these problems by dressing the wheel and grinding relief under full CNC control. The ability to quickly program the CNC grinder to make taps with special forms opened up new markets by substantially reducing the cost of producing tools in smaller lot sizes.

Greenfield Industries is one of the largest producers of high-speed, steel cutting tools in the US. The Lyndonville plant produces special taps that differ from standard ones in their geometries, materials, or applications. The automobile, aerospace, off-road equipment, and piping fabrication industries use most of the tools produced in this facility. They produce the tools to extremely close tolerances- + 0.00025″ (0.0064 mm) pitch diam tolerance is typical.

Greenfield managers examined a range of CNC thread grinders in an effort to increase accuracy and productivity. They selected MX16 universal thread grinders from Normac Inc. (Arden, NC). This machine has a rotary dresser mounted on the same slide as the work, and it dresses the wheel more accurately than mechanical methods because the dressing tool is under CNC control. It can also grind relief to the same high.levels of accuracy. The CNC machine can achieve accuracies of 0.0001″ (0.003 mm) for both dressing and grinding, which is considerably better than mechanical grinders.

The MX16 with a CNC dresser produces any profile in minutes by creating a simple 2-D program. The control includes a routine that programs special thread forms by selecting the basic form from a menu and filling in the dimensions on a profile attribute page. The operator can program most special thread profiles, while a CAD/CAM system or special software usually generates more complicated profiles.

The CNC thread grinder has one rotary and two horizontal linear axes. The grinding wheel mounts on a precision, belt-driven cartridge spindle, which attaches to a cast-iron slide moving on precision linear bearings. The other slide carries the workhead (rotary axis) and the tailstockmounted rotary dresser. A doublenut preloaded ballscrew coupled to a brushless servomotor with encoder feedback drives each linear slide.

The machine control supports G code programming and an RS-232 interface that allows downloading CAD/CAM-generated programs. The machine uses a rotary diamond with a smaller radius than the thread crest for radius profiling. The control has automatic tool radius compensation and calculates the diamond path tangent to the required profile radius.

The new machine has improved control over machining parameters. Mechanical grinders have a dial that lets the operator enter spindle speeds, but actual grinding-wheel surface footage changes as the wheel changes size. Improper speeds or feeds can cause excessive heat that leaves a visible burn on parts. The burn is metallurgical damage, resulting in scrap parts. In other cases, cutting speed activates the natural frequency of the machine or part, causing chatter which also generates scrap tools.

The MX16 controls spindle speed to much finer levels and automatically adjusts for changes in wheel size. This feature provides significant additonal reductions in scrap. The machine reduces possible chatter by measuring wheel balance and adjusting the weights within to bring it back into balance. Improved accuracy eliminates the need to measure every part, and the machines can take faster cuts to reduce the passes needed to finish-form many parts, resulting in a 25% increase in production rates. While higher volumes and simpler forms still run on mechanical grinders, the company uses the CNC grinders for the vast majority of special tool output, including all the most complicated and low-volume work. The new machines quickly paid for themselves by reducing scrap and increasing production rates. They generate considerable additional business by making it more economical to produce low-volume parts.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3618/is_199707/ai_n8768018

The company’s three-axis CNC precision grinding machine comes in models with cross-travels of 6″, 7 1/2″ and 9″. Many components are made from stainless steel to prevent rust and corrosion. The machine is designed for grinding drill blanks, reamer blanks, core pins, gages, form punches and other types of cylindrical work.

New this year is the self-training help software, which comes standard. The machine is able to “talk” the operator through the various stages of the grinding process. Video clips and animations with voice-overs explain operator tasks including setting up the grinding unit, creating complex forms and performing preventive maintenance.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3101/is_3_77/ai_n6187400

A 1,200 mm-length version of the company’s LT1 CNC shaft grinder accommodates long parts such as camshafts for diesel and L6 automotive engines.

In addition to camshafts, the model grinds small crankshafts, pins and concentric diameters in one set up. The company says this grinder is also a useful solution for short-run processing of concentric and non-concentric single- and multiple-diameter shafts.

Capable of grinding speeds as high as 200 m/sec, the machine has been optimized for use with CBN abrasives. Features include a FEA-optimized cast iron bed; linear motor-driven, hydrostatic wheel feed system: motorized hydrostatic high speed spindle: and a stiff, linear-guided foot stock with a high speed rotary dresser. The PC-based open architecture control, ergonomic design for manual or automatic loading and 80 mm to 350 mm diameter wheel size contribute to the model’s flexibility, says the company.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3101/is_12_77/ai_n13683617

A CNC tool grinder is designed for grinding small cutting tools with diameters as low as 0.5mm having overcome problems of vibration, thermal growth, wheel wear and tool run-out

ANCA’s RX7sp CNC tool grinder is for grinding cutting tools with diameters as low as 0.5mm. Grinding tools this small brings its own challenges, such as solving the problems of vibration, thermal growth, wheel wear and tool runout, said ANCA. ANCA said that he RX7sp is the product of an extensive R and D programme carried out to resolve several problems related to grinding small tools.

According to ANCA International Marketing manager, Duncan Thompson, the results more than justify the efforts.

‘There are aspects that make grinding small tools a real challenge.

Machine accuracy is obviously critical, but in addition, grinding process issues of vibration, thermal growth, wheel wear and tool runout have a much more noticeable effect when grinding small tools,’ said Thompson to manufacturingtalk.com.

He said: ‘Our engineering team developed solutions to each problem that combine to produce excellent finished tools’.

The features added to the RX7 CNC tool grinder base to make up the RX7sp model include the following.

* linear scales that increase the positioning accuracy of the axes.

* 3.5kW HSK spindle that gives both face and taper contact on the arbor for improved wheel runout and positional accuracy.

* iBalance software to accurately balance the grinding wheels without taking them off the machine.

* Precision V-block Clamp and Steady as standard to minimise tool runout.

* PLX pallet loader for increased productivity through unattended operation.

* CTV software cycles to compensate for thermal expansion.

All these features are offered on top of the regular advantages of the RX7 platform such as compact design, software flexibility and ease of use.

‘The RX7 platform proved perfect for the job,’ said Thompson.

‘Characteristics like precision, rigidity and compactness are critical to grinding small tools, and the standard RX7 already had those.

It was a natural progression that we would take that design one step further’.

With the RX7sp providing the special performance needed to produce precision tools at 0.5mm diameter, ANCA said it has provided customers with the ability to expand their manufacturing capabilities.

Many will, no doubt, have the ability to tackle small cutting tools for the very first time, said ANCA.

* About ANCA - ANCA was founded in 1974 to design and manufacture high technology computer numerical controls (CNCs) for the machine tool and metal-based industries.

Today, ANCA has become a leading designer and manufacturer of complete, high precision CNC grinding machines in a global niche market, and exports more than 98% of products to customers around the world.

With its core values of precision, innovation, quality and technological excellence, ANCA is today an international organisation of more than 350 employees with a robust set of technological and entrepreneurial skills.

Offices are located in major cities in Europe, North America, South America and Asia; with dealerships represented in over 25 countries.

ANCA continues to understand market demands and produce products and services to benefit its customers.

ANCA has experienced an average annual growth rate of 30% since 2005 and continues to set new production and sales records each year.

Over the past six years, ANCA has sold A$500 million in exports for Australia and is number one in the US, UK and China markets for CNC grinding machines.

Approximately 7% of ANCA’s revenue is ploughed-back into development of new technologies.

In the past three-year period, A$11 million has been re-invested in the Bayswater plant in new equipment to ensure the company stays at the leading edge of production efficiency and product quality.

http://www.manufacturingtalk.com/news/anc/anc137.html

Niagara Gear Corporation announced an 8,000 square foot expansion that features an upgraded gear cutting center, new manufacturing-engineering offices and an expanded gear grinding department. The recently completed expansion brings Niagara Gear’s total plant size to more than 30,000 square feet.

Niagara said the expanded facility will enable it to install a time-efficient inventory system aimed at improving workflow. The expanded manufacturing space also allows for “room for growth,” including the ability to add more machinery.

“The expansion opens the door for future capital equipment purchases because we now have the floor space to do it,” Niagara Gear Corporation vice president and general manager Robert Barden said. “This signifies positive growth for Niagara Gear.”

In keeping with this philosophy, the company has recently purchased a new CNC, Cylindrical Grinding machine. This state of the art technology can offer solutions to satisfy a variety of needs, everything from applications in the tool room to high precision, automated production environments.

Niagara Gear Corporation is an established manufacturer of precision ground spur, helical and pump gears, utilizing the latest in gear grinding technology.

http://www.americanmachinist.com/304/News/Article/False/78222/

To meet increasing demand for tooling regrinds from aerospace companies, a UK specialist tooling manufacturer has added on another CNC tool and cutter grinder for its consistency

Specialist tooling manufacturer and supplier, Industrial Tooling Corporation (ITC), has added another Helitronic 5-axis tool grinder. It complements seven other Walter CNC tool grinders and a Walter Heli Toolcheck tool measuring machine and represents a strategic investment by the company to meet increasing demand for tooling regrinds from aerospace OEMs such as Airbus and Rolls-Royce.

ITC has bought the Helitronic to extend its capacity for high-precision drill and reamer regrinds.

The machine, a Walter Helitronic Power, supplied by Korber Schleifring UK of Honiley near Kenilworth, is part of ITC’s ’substantial’ investment process during 2008.

Sales director at ITC, Roy Talbot, commenting on ITC’s continual programme, said: ‘is evidence of our commitment to the desire to always stay ahead of the competition through guaranteed high-quality output and responsive service.’ He added that the ITC-Walter machine association had extended over the past eight years and is based on good delivery and service back-up as much as it is on cost-effective machines that are fit for purpose.

ITC designs, manufacture and regrinds of a wide range of HSS and carbide tooling for customers in the aerospace, motor sport (Formula One) and die and mouldmaking sectors in the UK and overseas.

The company is also UK stockist of Hanita (Israel) and Metal Removal (USA) products.

As well as the speed and accuracy of the five-axis CNC Walter Helitronic tool grinders, the added consistency that the Walter Heli Toolcheck tool measuring machine has brought to quality control is proving the ideal complement to enable ITC to extend its successful supply relationship with customers like Airbus and Rolls-Royce, said Koerber Schleifring to manufacturingtalk.com.

A variety of power generation form tools, drills and reamers, for example, are supplied to these companies, and manufacturing certification and traceability are essential.

‘We know that the Helitronic Power effectively restores tooling back to original geometry, and the Toolcheck allows us to illustrate that,’ commented ITC technical director, Peter Graves.

He said how Walter’s ‘ancillary’ technologies play a particularly beneficial role at the company.

He gave the example of a previously-installed Helitronic Power tool grinder with a Production Loader accommodates and randomly processes 280 tools of up 32mm diameter and 220mm long.

ITC also uses five other auto loading systems on Walter machines and therefore extends the company’s commitment to ‘lights-out’, unmanned production.

This system complements the seven day shift operators who manage ITC’s total machine park of 17 tool grinders.

* Software saves time - the Walter Cyber grinding tool grinding software offers savings in cutting tool design and production by allowing non-standard new tools to be designed and ‘manufactured’ off-line.

Cyber Grinding eliminates time-consuming and costly prototypes, test batch work and interruptions to production, said ITC.

‘Customers increasingly want cost-effective, high-quality tooling delivered promptly and backed up by a high level of problem-solving technical engineering expertise in extremely short delivery times,’ concludesd Talbot.

‘We make sure we are in a position to respond, hence our continual investment in Walter technology.’

http://www.manufacturingtalk.com/news/sif/sif148.html