A seven-station wheel changer is one of two automation enhancements added to a tooling resharpening machine to raise flexibility and productivity.
ANCA has developed two automation enhancements for its GX7 resharpening machine to deliver new levels of flexibility and productivity to the tool regrinding industry. A seven-station wheel changer has been added to the GX7 to produce the GX7+ model, and an 85-pocket tool loader - known as a GLX - is now available for both machines.
Mounted on the side of the Z-axis saddle, the wheel changer is completely contained within the standard machine canopy.
This ensures the machine footprint is not increased, also reduces the wheel-pack change time.
Furthermore, the operator doesn’t need access to the carousel as wheel packs are loaded via the spindle.
With seven wheel packs available on the changer, the GX7’s standard double-ended spindle has been upgraded to a single-ended 9.7kW (13HP) spindle with automatic HSK32E clamping.
* Very accurate and repeatable location of wheel packs - HSK arbors, provide face and taper contact when located in the wheel spindle.
This results in very accurate and repeatable location of wheel packs - an essential requirement for regrinding applications.
The availablility of seven wheel packs delivers new levels of flexibility for regrind shops as a wider variety of tools can be ground in a single setup, said ANCA to manufacturingtalk.com.
Additionally, the time saved by not having to manually change wheel packs for different tool types significantly increases the machine’s productivity.
ANCA international marketing manager, Duncan Thompson, is confident of the future of the GX7+/GLX combination after its successful introduction at EMO in September.
He said: ‘Looking at the needs of today’s tool regrind shops, we could see that improved flexibility and automation was a key to remaining competitive.
ANCA has delivered this with the GX7+ wheel exchanger, but done so with a simple and elegant design that has enabled us to keep its price competitive’.
* Automatic tool loader - in response to market needs to further enhance the system, ANCA designed the GLX auto loader especially for regrinding applications.
The GLX is a sequential loader that uses a vertical belt to house up to 84 tools of varying diameter and geometry in a series of pockets.
Together with Nikken, ANCA has developed a novel system for changing their AMK type collets.
Using the hydraulically-actuated AMK collets delivers outstanding run-out results and also minimises the initial cost of accessory tooling as only one collet is required for each tool diameter.
The first tool in the diameter run is transferred with the collet, then all transfers of the same diameter after that are the tool only.
Once the run is complete, the collet is transferred back into the loader and a new diameter collet loaded.
During loading, the tools are transferred to the workholding via a CNC-controlled transfer arm.
Innovative design means that collets and tools with diameters ranging from 3mm to 20mm and up to 200mm long can be loaded using a single set of grippers.
The vertical design of the GLX was adopted specifically with the intent of minimising the machine’s total footprint.
The GLX can be installed on both the GX7 and the GX7+ and delivers higher productivity levels on small or large batch runs.
When coupled with the GX7+, the system becomes a highly-efficient, automated system for regrinding, said ANCA.
With seven wheel packs available on the changer, the new level of flexibility means the loader can be filled to capacity with different tool types and diameters that can be automatically ground without interruption or supervision.
This is now possible with the GX7+/GLX combination, which makes ANCA’s new regrinding solution a must for regrinding shops seeking a competitive edge in the industry.
* 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 3 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/anc135.html
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