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A typical application for our FLEXcnc
controls package as a retrofit application, is it's use to control
this heavy-duty horizontal milling machine.
The primary use of the machine is
to perform general purpose milling & boring on large parts in
a job-shop environment. This machine is used in a facility that
focuses primarily on manufacturing large parts such as large
castings found in constructing large machinery.
Prior to conversion to our CNC
operation the machine was controlled via an old
"point-to-point" NC controller. While the machine was in
good shape mechanically, the controller & clutch/break
assemblies were becoming very difficult & expensive to
maintain & because the Acme screws were worn the machine could
not hold tolerances.
Screws were replaced with rolled
ball screws, axes were separated & each was driven with an
individual servo motor (axis clamps were retained). The quill was
changed from hydraulic to servo operation & our MCNC-series
controller package was installed.
The W (quill), X, Y & Z motions
& the spindle speed are controlled via one MCNC140A
controller. The operator station computer used was our MCNC-PC2
init, mounted in an "off-the-shelf" NEMA12 pendant
enclosure along with all of the operator control buttons &
lights.
After conversion, the machine
became accurate, reliable & therefore profitable to use.
Programs are written either on-line at the operator station or
off-line & installed via network-connection or the on-board
floppy-disk drive. The simple-to use operator, canned-cycles;
sequence builder module & profile builder module software with
GUI allows non-CNC trained operators to perform all, regular, work
without their needing to write CNC programs.
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Details in PDF
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