Automatic loading small chucked components

The global automotive industry appears to have passed its crucial stage, according to EMAG Maschinenfabrik GmbH. The biggest increases in turnover figures last year were experienced in China, India, USA, and Russia. However, the rapidly increasing number in vehicles also brought some production challenges – for instance the sub-contractors’, have to deal with the increasing output levels and also have to ensure that process safety and component quality do not suffer.

Grinding machine

Specifically, the builder of pointed machine tools identified the need for “sub-contractors” to respond to the rising levels of automotive output, and to ensure that production process safety standards and component quality are not impacted adversely once production rates rise.In fact, even the smallest components with complex geometries have to be produced with increasing levels of precision. In the development of the VLC

100 G Vertical Grinding Center from EMAG, the grinding specialists have made sure that the machine concept offers efficient, error-free machining processes for the production of small chucked Components.

Small chucked components are typically produced in large quantities. The demand for  components, such as gearwheels, planetary gears, chain gears and flanged components for cars, for instance, have necessary quantities that typically go into the millions; and short cycle times in the production of these components have become mandatory. For instance, the internal contour of a gearwheel must be ground in the shortest possible time and the machine’s workholding unit must be loaded with a new workpiece just as quickly. In many production environments this represents a critical moment, because the idle time is commonly a decisive factor in establishing the economic viability of the whole process.

Automatic loading scores heavily

High output levels and short cycle times for small chucked components (maximum diameter 100mm) were EMAG’s primary objectives in the design of the VLC 100 G vertical grinding center. The machine uses an onboard pick-up system to load itself while one workpiece is being machined by the operator or the automation system is placing new workpieces on the conveyor belt. This reduces idle time and increases output rates. Another advantage is the vertical machining concept: the design ensures that the grinding sludge falls to the bottom of the machine, and then evacuated.
 
Quality control is integrated

Measuring processes can also be integrated into the machine, making quality control an integral part of the whole process. The measuring probe is located between the machining area and pick-up station, where it is protected from contamination.

Two different grinding wheel

An important feature of the VLC 100 G Vertical Grinding Center is that it offers the possibility to use two grinding spindles, which can be used to perform different grinding operations, or to handle both rough- and finish-grinding work.  In other words, the first wheel performs the “rough” job of removing excess material from the raw-part at high feedrates (the CBN wheel is specially designed to absorb the necessary forces), while the second wheel (with different specifications) takes over the finishing work to guarantee a perfect surface finish on even the most challenging geometries. With the help of this intelligent tooling combination, EMAG design engineers have succeeded in drastically reducing the grinding time of even very complex components.

“For the removal of large amounts, two wheels offer a shorter cycle time than one, with the first wheel designed to do the rough-grinding and the second one in charge of finisNike Sportswear