Mar
UNISIG’s automated rifle barrel cell quickly and accurately produces rifle barrel blanks, using robotic automation for maximum production. Watch as barrels are gundrilled, reamed, and ready for rifling.
Mar
Alta Precision’s landing gear struts are displayed in the finished product.
Industry: Aerospace
Customer Product: Commercial Aircraft Landing Gear
UNISIG Solution: B700 Drop Bed BTA Drilling Machine
Alta Precision is an industry-leading manufacturer of commercial aircraft landing gear in Montreal, QC, Canada. When they recently expanded their production facility to introduce a new landing gear product, it was an opportunity to invest in updated capabilities.
Alta was faced with sourcing equipment to handle the complexities of manufacturing landing gear struts for the aerospace industry. By nature, their components are highly stressed, complex, with thin walls in tough metals such as 300M alloy steel. They require a profiled deep hole to be drilled and machined down the center.
At 9 in [230 mm] in diameter and over 7 ft [2.1m] deep, this hole can only be performed on a dedicated deep hole drilling machine, not a conventional machining center. In addition to having the capability to machine these bores to strict tolerances, Alta was seeking a solution that allowed ergonomic setup and operation, with the versatility and power to handle a variety of complex parts in different lengths, on the same machine.
Their landing gear struts offered an additional challenge, with an asymmetrical feature that both requires a swing of 54 in [1370 mm], and acts as an off-center weight on a workpiece which is counter-rotated during the drilling process, essential for achieving the required straightness tolerances. All of these challenges exist in a single type of component that is essential to Alta’s business.
“In our industry, this is what’s known as a sole source contract. We’re the only supplier that makes this, so we have to deliver.” explains Alta president Guillermo Alonso, “Our customer has no backup, so we have no room to fail. Having an unreliable machine that can’t perform isn’t an option.”
UNISIG created an ideal solution by optimizing its proven B700 machine model to meet the specific demands of this application, while satisfying Alta’s requirements for a powerful, accurate, and efficient machine.
The standard B700 deep hole drilling machine uses counter-rotating part and tool for maximum accuracy, and is rated for solid drilling of holes up to 8 in [200 mm] in diameter, and counterbored holes up to 12 in [300 mm] in diameter, powered by automatically shifting headstocks. The tool headstock is rated at 124 hp [94 kw], while the work headstock has 90 hp [67 kw], allowing Alonso’s team to utilize the power needed to cut through their tough alloys with ease and reliability. High performance spindle drivers deliver this power while monitoring the spindle motor speed, to automatically adjust output characteristics, regulating speed control to extremely close tolerances, regardless of spindle loading.
The B700, like many UNISIG machines, is capable of performing the BTA deep hole drilling process, along with alternative methods such as counterboring and forming, which are used on Alta’s landing gear struts for hole profiling. The machine feed thrust is generated by 4 in [100 mm] diameter servo-driven ballscrews, preloaded for high rigidity and zero endplay, improving tool life, depth control, and surface finish across multiple processes, especially bottom forming. These features enable Alta’s workpieces to be machined to the highest tolerance standards possible, and confirming their place as an industry leader.
UNISIG’s solution for Alta Precision developed from this machine, with design updates to reach specific design and performance goals, most notably being the drop-bed design to accommodate the extreme swing of the strut workpieces. The drop is specifically engineered for the range of parts that Alta was anticipating, but does so without sacrificing machine ergonomics or having major foundation requirements. Workpiece spindle orientation and lock function simplifies part loading and unloading by starting and ending cycles in the most convenient orientation to the operator. Spindle orientation is also in effect on the tool side, ensuring the tool exits the workpiece at cycle end without risk of impacting the finish surface.
“UNISIG had the flexibility to listen to my needs, to take the time to understand, and to work with the design requirements” says Alonso. “They really sat down and were active in the conversation, and brought the confidence of the design to the table. The machine is working perfectly.”
The B700 drop bed machine allows operators to program part length through the CNC, which automatically positions the workpiece headstock relative to the pressure head. Operators can set up and run parts quickly and easily, no matter what variations come their way. Alonso also comments that the ease of operation is notable, and the entire machine is accessible for operators – setup, indicators, controls, everything they need to run the highest precision parts.
UNISIG’s team managed the project from beginning to end. “Everything came together and our UNISIG machine is an integral part of the cell for this component. We have a reliable machine and a reliable process.” remarks Alonso. From initial design discussions, to engineering and process development, to manufacturing, installation, and training, “It was all seamless” he says.
Oct
Feb
Industry: Mold, Automotive
Customer Product: Plastic Injection Mold Tooling
UNISIG Solution: USC-M38 Mold Drilling and Machining Center
Mar
Originally posted in Moldmaking Technology, March 2014
Mold shops that recognize the potential of technology and equipment, and prioritize both accuracy and productivity will increase their competitiveness in the marketplace. The key is utilizing machines that are engineered to reduce the time-consuming elements of mold manufacturing, increase mold quality, enhance accuracy and eliminate opportunities for human error.
The mold-building process addresses a challenging combination of machining tolerances, further complicated by tedious workpiece setups that enable the machine to interact with the workpiece more precisely across machining and drilling steps.
Machines designed to handle specific moldmaking challenges—such as increasing throughput by eliminating many of the major time-intensive elements involved in creating a mold—are an optimal solution for mold manufacturers looking to gain an advantage. These machines have features that reduce the need for costly fixtures and extended changeovers, and enable a single setup for several machining processes while allowing operations to be performed on all four sides of a workpiece.
A mold on such a machine can be produced using a roughed-out workpiece that is clamped to the table with modular locating components. The part is milled on four sides and drilled at very high feed rates using high-performance gun drills and BTA tools. With the same setup and fixturing, compound angle machining, intersecting bores, pocketing and complex surface milling can be completed accurately and efficiently. Probing for critical features can then be performed. The mold manufacturer saves days in production time.
A capable machine also will meet the high tolerance demands of complex mold profiles. Features contributing to this include a rigid B-axis table that can handle heavy workpieces as well as high moment capacity. Another essential feature is a headstock carrying milling and drilling spindles that can tilt on an A axis without a loss in rigidity, and allows B-axis rotation at extreme angles and larger than typical travels. All of this leads to the elimination of tedious changeover work, which can save valuable time and effort that can then be applied to using advanced technology and creating better molds.
Machines that combine a range of machining and drilling operations, including high-performance milling and deep-hole drilling, can further increase efficiency. These feature multi-axis positioning and are equipped with capable headstocks with geared transmissions, and 50-taper spindles. A deep-hole drilling headstock capable of conventional gundrilling as well as BTA high-performance drilling will be five-to-seven-times faster than gundrilling alone to further increase productivity and maintain accuracy.
Highly productive machines take advantage of opportunities for automating the machining process as well, and they are extremely accurate in dynamic situations regardless of axis orientation. These machines typically are outfitted with several beneficial options, such as glass scales and direct-feedback angular encoders. They also are able to take advantage of volumetric compensation with a standard contouring control. Furthermore, workpiece probing, laser presetting and large-capacity automatic toolchangers allow unattended operation with greater versatility than previously possible. In addition, process feedback further improves a machine’s capabilities by allowing tooling to be pushed to the limit with the assurance of automatic cycle interruption before something catastrophic occurs.
The seamless integration of multiple technologies and operations in a single machine can be advantageous. Parametric 3D programming, sophisticated post processing, tool management and on-machine verification are common in more and more shops as the technology becomes affordable. Capable machines are engineered to optimize this technology, and this in turn drastically improves the process that competitive mold manufacturers use to succeed.
The UNISIG USC-M50 is a capable, durable machining center that combines accurate deep-hole drilling with machining capabilities, enabling moldmakers to perform many necessary machining processes with one setup while maintaining the accuracy required for mold manufacturing.
The USC-M50 machine performs high-speed face milling on a large mold at Concours Mold’s plant in Ontario.
Deep hole drilling is performed on a mold at Concours Mold.
